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The Old Deluder Satan Act was passed in Massachusetts, which was backed by Puritan leaders, who saw New England's changes in education. Puritans wanted people to read the bible for themselves. So, towns where 50 or more families resided were instructed to provide support in reading and writing. Then towns with 100 or more inhabiting families established grammar schools. -
Thomas Jefferson suggested a bill that would allow access to “…all free children, male and female.” A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge would educate the masses and reward the best and brightest with a scholarship to attend the College of William and Mary.
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Benjamin Rush argued that creating a national system of public schools would decrease taxes, as it was a grave concern for civilians. He insisted that orphans, bachelors, and childless individuals would benefit in safety as more poor people would become educated, honest, and hard-working. -
Between 1815-1850 the Antebellum era created fear in people that moral and cultural decay would occur. This era was comprised of fewer farmers who were outrun by stronger, urban growers, the banks influenced economic and political circumstances, and transportation ingenuity expanded to steam travel and railroad. Ultimately this pushed forward the common school movement in hopes of forming “patriotic and law-abiding citizens.” -
Horace Mann became secretary to the state board of education. "The Father of American Education." As a former Massachusetts legislator and lawyer, he stood by the belief that universal education could create political and social order. He said, “education…is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery.” -
The war against Mexico ends with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which gave the United States almost half of what was then Mexico, now the U.S. Southwest. Everyone living in these areas, mostly Mexicans and Native people, has assured citizenship rights. As well it lets users of the Spanish language include it in education. However, 150 years later, in 1998, California broke that treaty by passing Proposition 227, making it illegal for teachers to speak Spanish in public schools.
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Homer Plessy, seven-eighths Caucasian, and one-eighth African bought a first-class ticket on the East Louisiana Railway. Regardless, he was told to move to stagecoach where coloreds' go, he refused—imprisoned for violating a general assembly act in 1890. He pleaded for a writ of error, but Plessy vs. Ferguson decided it's Louisiana's right to segregate Blacks and Whites on railways. Henceforth, the US government recognized segregation as legal and ensued a use in many places like public schools.
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Linda Brown was not permitted to attend a white school close to home; thus, she had to take a bus to a farther African American school. Linda’s father and 20 other parents sued the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education. In his case, Brown v. the Board of Education, Topeka, the judge decided that running schools by the “separate but equal” stance violated the 14th Amendment. This change allowed black children to integrate into schools, once only white, although others did not quickly respect it. -
During the Vietnam War, many young people protested in support of peace. Mary Beth Tinker and her brother wore the black bands as a silent protest. The school believed that the symbolism of the armbands would create disruption, so both siblings were suspended for not removing them. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students as the school had violated their First Amendment rights since more students have freely protested in their schools. -
Many Women’s colleges only portioned about 1% of their budget toward female sports. Despite the passage of the civil rights act of 1964, it did not protect from gender discrimination. Hence the Title IX of the Higher Education Act was passed by Congress in 1972 to prohibit discrimination based on sex in federally funded education programs.This civil rights law positively impacted women in sports who could now earn athletic funding, awards, scholarships, and even turn their sport into a career.
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People with disabilities were treated as “out of sight, out of mind.” It was not until after WWII the veterans, disabled, protested for medical help. In acknowledgment, the US Congress enacted the Education of all Handicapped Children Act. This helped fund schools to create evaluations and specified educational courses with parents. However, the promotion of EHA in public schools decreased enrollment of private disability schools, for instance, the schools for the blind, a loss for students. -
In Texas, a school district tried to charge each undocumented student a $1000 annual tuition fee. Also, Texas had a law that withheld school funding from those same students. Congress made a landmark decision with Plyer v. Doe, which ruled that no student would be denied a free public education based on immigration status. In one perspective, schools’ funding would be negatively impacted by students who cannot guarantee the long-term presence or working in the US, unfortunately. -
Khadijah Sharif, Amida Salahuddin, and others argued that awarding scholarships solely on SAT scores was discriminatory toward female students with lower scores than males. In the case of Sharif by Salahuddin v. New York State Education, it was decided to use high school grades & SAT scores to determine scholarship eligibility. Females students now had an increased likelihood of attending college.However, any great test taker but inadequate in school settings could lose potential scholarships.
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Barbara Grutter applied to the University of Michigan and was denied. She argued in court that the University’s Law School undermined her Equal Protection rights to admit minority students over her. The Supreme Court decided on Grutter v. Bollinger that colleges have an honest interest in diversifying their campuses. Grutter did not receive the verdict she wanted, but colleges remembered that meeting a quota in diversity is not the goal. Education for all is the most important thing after all. -
A student with learning disabilities switched to a private school after the public school failed to meet his needs (a free and appropriate public education, or FAPE). In Forest Grove School District v. T. A., the Supreme Court ruled the school could be forced to reimburse the student if FAPE had not been provided, regardless of whether the student had previously received special education. Furthering their importance, the case pushed public schools to be more aware of students’ needs. -
Proposition 58 in California repealed the infamous Prop 227, which broke the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848. After Prop 227 in 1998, students were required to be taught in an English-only environment ending bilingual programs. Under Proposition 58, the public school systems have the right to choose the way they see as appropriate for their students to learn English. Students will benefit culturally from learning in strictly English classes or a bilingual setup taught by a native speaker.
