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Massachusetts Education Law of 1642
The Law of 1642 required parents to see to the religious and lawful education of their children. The purpose of which was to prepare them to be good Puritans. If the government deemed that the parents were lapsing in that responsibility, the government could remove the children from the home and place them elsewhere (Kaplan & Owings, 2015). This law made it a legal requirement to educate children. -
Massachusetts Education Law of 1647
This law was also called "Ye Olde Deluder Satan" law. It was proposed because of the continued negligence of parents to uphold the Law of 1642. The Law of 1647 decreed that that every town of fifty families should hire a teacher to instruct the children and that every town of 100 families should setup a grammar school (Kaplan & Owings, 2015). This law paved the way for formal schooling. -
Secretary Horace Mann
Horace Mann is named the first Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. Mann advocated universal public education. He championed common schools that would offer a high quality education to even the poorest families (Kaplan & Owings, 2015). Horace Mann's common schools were a precursor to modern public education. -
Brown v. Board of Education
U.S. Supreme ruling that mandated the desegregation of public schools. This ruling partially overturned Plessy v. Fergusson, the law that made segregation legal under the pretense "separate but equal." The court agreed that the separation of educational facilities was inherently unequal (Kaplan & Owings, 2015). This was an important moment in education and in the civil rights movement. -
Education For All Handicapped Children Act
This law is also referred to as PL (Public Law) 94-142. It stipulated that all federally funded, public schools must provide free educational services to students with disabilities. These services would include: an individualized education program, special education services, due process procedures, and least restrictive learning environment (LRE) (Kaplan & Owings, 2015). This law paved the way for educational reform that evolved teaching philosophies to being more student centered.
