Harold Howe, 84; U.S. Education Chief for President Johnson
Harold Howe, 84, former U.S. commissioner of education under President Johnson, died Saturday in Hanover, N.H. The cause of death was not announced.
As commissioner, Howe was instrumental in increasing federal involvement in education. He implemented the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, which provided unprecedented federal funds for school districts.
Howe was a senior lecturer in Harvard’s graduate school of education from 1982 to 1994; worked at the Ford Foundation from 1968 to 1981; and in 1993 published “Thinking About Our Kids: An Agenda for American Education.”
Born in Hartford, Conn., Howe graduated from Yale, where he earned a master’s degree in history. He served in the Navy during World War II.
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