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Requires every town of at least 50 families to employ a schoolmaster to teach their children to read and write and every town of at least 100 families to set up a grammar school to prepare boys to attend Harvard College. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/old-deluder-satan-act-of-1647/ -
An alternative to Boston Latin, the school is established to prepare boys for success in business and industry. Girls are not admitted until the 1970s. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/first-public-school-america/ -
Establishes legal precedent for “separate but equal” policies, including school segregation. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/plessy-v-ferguson -
Strikes down an Oregon statute that requires all children to attend public school, upholding a parent’s right to make educational decisions for their children. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/pierce-v-society-of-sisters -
Public schools may not prevent minority students from attending white schools, declaring that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and overturing Plessy v. Fergusson. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-of-education -
Declares that all children, regardless of race, color, sex, or national origin, are entitled to equal educational opportunity. Prohibits deliberate segregation and discrimination in education and requires adequate services for English learners.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-21/equal-educational-opportunities-act-1974-signed-into-law-nixon -
Requires every state to establish statewide academic standards and assessments and provides the first federal funding for charter schools.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED379792 -
Reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Increases federal regulation of public schools by requiring states to establish statewide academic standards and assessments and take steps to improve ineffective schools.
https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/no-child-left-behind-an-overview/2015/04 -
Reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, replacing No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, and allows states greater flexibility in creating school accountability systems. Requires multiple measures of student achievement and at least one non-academic metric
https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/laws-preschool-grade-12-education/every-student-succeeds-act-essa -
Race-based affirmative action in college admissions declared unconstitutional.
https://law.stanford.edu/2023/12/12/students-for-fair-admissions-v-harvard-faq-navigating-the-evolving-implications-of-the-courts-ruling/