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Established in 1635, Boston Latin School was the first public school in the United States. -
The Office of Education (later changed to today's Department of Education) was signed into establishment by Andrew Johnson. The federal office was initially created to gain statistics on schools nation wide. This was the beginning of the federal government's role in education.
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The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act was approved by Congress providing grant, supplies, and other necessary assets for schools to provide lunches to students. -
After Linda Carol Brown was rejected from her neighborhood's all white school, her parents filed against Topeka's Board of Education for violating the Fourteenth Amendment. The case, along with various other cases of this nature, made its way to the Supreme Court. The court unanimously deemed that school segregation was unconstitutional, banning legal segregation in public schools. -
The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was passed during the Cold War in an attempt to prepare students to get ahead of the Soviet Union. The act provided federal funding for schools to enhance their curriculums in the areas of science, math, and modern foreign languages to meet the needs to strengthen national defense. -
Starting in 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) under the National Center for Education Statistics has been used to gather data across the country in efforts to better understand and enhance education. The NAEP tests students over the subjects of reading, math, science, writing, arts, civics, geography, economics, U.S. history, and technology and engineering literacy. -
In 1972 Title IX of the Education Amendments was passed prohibiting discrimination in federally funded schools and their programs based on sex. -
The Equal Educational Opportunities Act was passed, prohibiting schools from denying equal educational opportunities based on race, sex, color, or national origin, along with providing resources to students deprived educationally.
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Although the Office of Education was established in 1867 by Andrew Johnson, it wasn't until the Cold War era that sparked a greater need for federal funding in public schools with an emphasis on adding equal opportunities to students across the country. So in October of 1979 the Department of Education Organization Act was passed and began operating in May of 1980. -
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed, reinstating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which includes Title I. NCLB focused on holding schools accountable for student education by mandating yearly state testing to ensure student growth to meet educational goals, along with Title I providing federal assistance for programs aimed to benefit low-income students.