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First "Free" School Opens
The first "free school" in Virginia opens. However, education in the Southern colonies is more typically provided at home by parents or tutors. -
Two-Track Educational System
Thomas Jefferson proposes a two-track educational system, with different tracks for "the laboring and the learned." -
First Public High School
First public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens. -
Superindendent was elected
There was a territorial provision made for a superintendent of public instruction to be elected by popular vote. Henry H. McAfee was the first superintendent to be elected. The job of a superintendent at this time was, general supervision of schools,File and make available all county superintendents’ reports,and report regularly to the legislature the condition of the schools.. -
First Public School
The first publich school was established by O.J Goldrick in Auraria. It was a log cabin and it had 13 students at the time. -
New Law
A law abolished the office of territorial superintendent and provided that the territorial treasurer discharge the duties of the office for $100 per year. -
First Superindent
The eighth territorial assembly recreated the office of public instruction at a salary of $1,000 per year. When Colorado became a state in 1876, Joseph Shattuck of Greeley became the first superintendent of public instruction. The qualifications for the office were that the person must be a citizen of the state and at least 21 years of age. Also at that time the Board of Education consisted of the Attorney General, Secretary of State, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The duti -
Union and County High Schools
Two types of high schools were created by law. One was the Union which made highschool optional for schools in their district. The other was County which required all of their districts to attend high school. -
Plessy v. Ferguson decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the state of Louisiana has the right to require "separate but equal" railroad cars for Blacks and whites. This decision means that the federal government officially recognizes segregation as legal. One result is that southern states pass laws requiring racial segregation in public schools. -
Unegual Pay
The NAACP brings a series of suits over unequal teachers' pay for Blacks and whites in southern states. At the same time, southern states realize they are losing African American labor to the northern cities. These two sources of pressure resulted in some increase of spending on Black schools in the South. -
The Colorado State Constitution
The Colorado State Constitution was amended to provide for an elected state board of education with powers to set up qualifications for and selection of the Commissioner of Education and a professional staff for the Department of Education. -
First Elected Colorado State Board of Education
In Novemeber of 1950 the Colorado State Board of Education was elected by the people for the first time. Nettie S. Freed was the head of this board being declared the first Commissioner of Education. -
Brown v. Board of Education
In Topeka the Supreme Court unanimously agrees that segregated schools are "inherently unequal" and must be abolished. Almost 45 years later in 1998, schools, especially in the north, are as segregated as ever. -
First ACT
The ACT Test is first administered. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act becomes law. It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. -
Boards of Cooperative Services Act
This act helped districts to share resources and share costs. This helped them to be able to afford different programs that schools alone may not be able to get. An example would be a program to help handicapped students. They got a specialized teacher that would travel between districts helping the students. -
School District Organization Act
This act was designed to help school districts organize school boards, school administrators, and planning committees. Its ultimate goal was to better establish boundries of the school districts, help make the benefits equally spread throughout the state, and improve overall the public school system. -
Preaching Religion in School
In yet another case regarding school prayer (Santa Fe School District v. Doe), the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the district's policy of allowing student-led prayer prior to football games violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. -
CAP4K
The CAP4K was passed in 2008 which restructures the state's education system. For example, it changes the way diplomas are, the cirriculum for preschool readiness plans, and updated standards and testing. Its goal was to allign the learning standards of preschool through secondary education to help kids benefit more from their learning experience. -
Standardized Testing
President Obama joins the "too-much-testing" movement as his new plan calls for limiting "standardized testing to no more than 2% of class time."