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Few "public" Schools
Schools were supported by the community only. Students went to school for 2-3 years. Few boys of wealthier went on to Grammar school and even fewer boys continued for a higher education. The New England Primer was used to teach basics through rote memorization. -
Jefferson Proposed Public Education
Thomas Jefferson proposes 3 years of guaranteed public education for the general public with scholarships for those with more "potential" to gain a higher education.
Voted 3 times and lost 3 times.
He reasoned that education was essential for the success of a democratic community. -
Webster publishes Blueback Speller
An American approach to training children -
Jefferson founded University of VA
University of Virginia was the first state-supported school of a higher education system. -
Mann appointed Secretary of MA Board of Education
Horace Mann was the first such appointed position in the US. His major contribution was reporting the conditions of the MA's schools from his observations of riding horseback from district to district.
*Crusader for Common Schools emphasizing equality. Claiming common schools would be the "equalizer of conditions of men." -
Current Education Stats
4 month school year / $2.81 spent per child -
Bishop Hughes
A flood of Irish Catholics immigrated to America. Because of the deep Protestant foundation of the US public education at the time, catholics were opposed to sending their children to school. Bishop Hughes lead the movement demanding proportionate funding for a catholic education system. -
The Great School Debate
Because of the demand for funding for Catholic education, debates were held by school officials. Other religious sects came forward demanding their share as well. -
Bible Riots
Riots targeted at Irish Catholics -
Catherine Beecher
Beecher pronounced that women not men should educate children and established schools for training teachers in western cities. She advocated that young ladies find godly work as Christian teachers away from the larger Eastern cities. The Board of National Popular Education which was her idea trained teachers in four-week sessions in Connecticut and then sent them out West. She believed that women had a higher calling to shape children and society. -
Current Education Stats
7 month school year / $4.80 spent per child -
First elected Board of Education
New York City elected the first Board of Education to appoint teachers, inspect schools and regulate teacher qualifications. -
Douglass fights segregation in schools
Frederick Douglass struggles to end segregation after his daughter Rosetta is asked to leave school. -
Roberts vs. City of Boston
Benjamin Roberts sues Boston for not allowing his daughter, Sarah, to attend a school closer to her home rather than forced to attend the segragated school. In April 1850, the Supreme Judicial Court issued its ruling in favor of Boston. -
Hughes organized Catholic School system
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School Segregation abolished in Massachusetts
Roberts brought the issue up to the state legislature with the help of his lawyer Charles Sumner and in 1855, the state of Massachusetts banned segregated schools in the entire state. This was the first law against segregated schools in the country. -
Civil War Ends
With the end of the Civil War, 4 million slaves were finally free to go to school. Congress required that the States provide a public education system. -
Current Eduation Stats
$63 million spent
7.6 million students in attendance -
Current Education Stats
$141 million spent
12.7 million students in attendance
More schools with more students than any other country -
Plessy v. Ferguson: Separate but Equal
Plessy was charged for sitting in a whites-only rail car. Courts found in favor of segragation, setting the precedence for "separate but equal" segregation laws. -
School & Society
John Dewey published "School & Society" attacking the current school system. Became known as the "Father of Progessive Education" -
World's Fair
Showed off progessive public school in America, teaching more students than any other nation. -
Current Education Stats
6% Graduation Rate -
The Gary Plan
The Gary Plan of schooling, keeping kids in motion moving from class to class, made its way to over 200 schools including all the way to New York City from Gary, Indiana. -
John Hylan attacks Gary System
The Gary Plan was seen to prepare students only for the factory. -
Career Tracking
Elwood P. Cubberly was the head of education at Harvard Science of School Management, promoting career tracking. -
IQ Testing
Lewis Terman created the IQ Test. Russell Robinson, with an IQ of 145, demonstrated the inaccuracies of the IQ test by becoming a successful rocket scientist. The test signaled him to become a YMCA secretary and instead he became a top engineer at NASA. -
Current Education Stats
$1 Billion spent on education
17% graduation rates -
National Industrial Recovery Act
The Act banned child labor and required children to attend school until age 16. -
Current Education Stats
45% Graduation Rate (students stayig in school longer) -
Current Education Stats
Baby boomers filled the schools. Schools took on responsibility of health and vaccinations and encouraged technological training.
3 out of 5 students graduated
50% students went on to college -
Inequalities of education
17 states segregated schools by law
Average schooling for Mexican-Americans was 5.4 years.
72% of children with disabilities were not enrolled in school.
No female sports or scholarships. -
Current Education Stats
African-Americans with diplomas - 13.7%
Med/Law degrees awarded to women - .095%
Average school attendance - 9 years -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Linda Brown's father (1 of many) tried to enroll her into an all-white school. Upon denial the NAACP took the case to court regarding unequal education. Court found segregation unequal and banned separate schools. Step in the right direction for education opportunities but had adverse effects on teachers. 30,000 teachers were diplaced because of desegregation. -
Arkansas protests desegragation
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus brought in the National Guard to keep 9 black students from entering the previously all-white school. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the law. -
National Defense Education Act
Promoted higher level math and science in response to Soviet's launch of Sputnik. -
Civil Rights Act
As a former school teacher, President Lyndon B. Johnson was a huge advocate for equal education, waging a war on poverty and inequality. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned racial segregation and discrimination on all federally funded programs. Schools would lose funding if they did not integrate! -
Elementary & Secondary Education Act
The Act increased federal funds to aid disadvantaged students. -
Mexican-American Students Strike
87% of students in Crystal City, TX were Mexican-American.
Most Mexican-American students did not make it to high school. Those who did were discouraged to attend college. Students were frustrated because there culture/language/history was not present in the schools. After not being heard by the school board, 2/3 of the student body went on strike. -
Women's Education Opportunities
1% of Medical and Law degrees were awarded to women.
7.4% school athletes were women. -
Mexican-American School Reform
Mexican-Americans made up 4 out of the 7 school board seats. Schools reformed to accept and promote Mexican-American culture and history. Most white students and teachers left but many previous dropouts re-enrolled in school. -
Detroit Busing Plan
Some of Detroit's city students were bused to the suburbs and suburban students were bused to the city in order to created integrated schools in segregated communities. -
Integrated Schools
91% of all blacks attended integrated schools. -
Title 9
Title 9 was modeled after the Civil Rights Act, whitholding funding to schools that discriminated based on sex. -
Enforcement of Title 9
Female students charged the federal government for not enforcing the law. -
Supreme Court Busing Decision
The Supreme Court ruled that the suburbs were not responsible for the condition of the city schools. If a city wanted to desegragate their schools, it was the city's responsibility. -
Choice Experiment
In East Harlem, experienced teachers were asked to create small, alternative public schools within existing buildings. The experiment created a competition between all the individual schools. -
Current Education Stats
African-Americans with Diploma - 51.4%
Med/Law degrees awarded to women - 30%
Average school attendance - 12.5 years -
A Nation at Risk
A report commissioned by the Department of Education during the Reagan administration arguing that America was in a "learning crisis." Excellence in Education strategy was developed to place pressure on the states to achieve and measure higher standards. The bottom line became test scores. -
Current Education Stats
Higher Graduation requirement in 35 states
Annual Cost of Testing - $500 million -
Vouchers in Wisconsin
President George Bush Sr. supported the voucher program which was first adopted by Wisconsin. -
Education Alternatives Inc
Baltimore hired EAI, a private for-profit co., to manage 9 of its public schools. EAI worked to create a competition among service providers and contract workers in order to better manage limited funds. However, the Baltimore experiment failed as not enough emphasis was put into the diverse and in depth needs of the schools academic needs. -
Charter Schools Skyrocket
Congress approved $80 mil to construct new charter schools nationwide. -
Public Schools Need Funds
Public schools were getting creative with ways to save and earn funds, including displaying product logos such as Pepsi and playing commercial-filled Channel 1 News each morning to students. -
Current Education Stats
Students Schooled at home - 2.5%
Limited voucher plans in operation in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida.
Students using vouchers .03%
Charter schools in US - 2,100
Charter schools operated by private cos. - 173
Public Schools in US - 90,000
Public School enrollment - 47.8 bil (almost 90% of students) -
No Child Left Behind Act
President George W. Bush sponsored the No Child Left Behind Act in order to bring up standards and measurements for achievement.
