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Committee of Ten
Formed by the National Education Association, this group worked to standardize education in America. They came up with, among other things, the idea of 12 years of school (8 for elementary and 4 of high school). -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Established the system of "seperate but equal" in public schools. -
National School Lunch Act
This law, signed by President Truman, created a program that would provide low-cost or free lunches to students that qualified for assistance. -
Civil Rights Movement
This movement put pressure on the public schools to make equal opportunities for students of all races. -
Brown v. Board of Education
This iconic court case overturned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, and made the segregating of public schools unconstitutional. The rational was that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Thus by law, students of minorities could attend predominantly white schools, and vice versa. -
Launch of Sputnik
The launch of this Russian spacecraft made Americans call for a reform in education in order to keep up with Russian schools. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Act, signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson, serves as a system for funding elementary and secondary schools, while giving equal oportunities to all students, and also forbidding the establishment of a national curriculum. -
Title IX
This gave equal opportunity to both girls and boys in public schools. -
Colombine Shooting
This was the first major school shooting which set the norm of higher security of schools. -
No Child Left Behind Act
Enacted by Congress in 2001, NCLB is essentially a system that awards schools for meeting certain academic standards and penalizes schools that don't.