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Coral Way
First Bilingual Public School for Spanish and English speaking students. This school was located in Florida and served many Cuban refugees after the Cuban Revolution. This school program taught students in their first language and also incorporated Cuban culture into the curriculum. This would set an example of how to educate students in the future. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This law impacted hiring, promotion, and firing practices as well as access to public places. It also put into motion the desegregation of public schools and laid the groundwork for future progress. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
This act was part of President Johnson's "War on Poverty". The ESEA helped schools get money in order to support low income students. It has been reauthorized and amended every five years since it was enacted in 1965. In 1968 an amendment began The Bilingual Education Act and the Education of the Handicapped Act. -
Project Head Start
Another part of Johnson's "War on Poverty" , Project Head Start began as an 8-week summer program. It transitioned from a summer program to a full time and has helped combat poverty and given children the opportunity to learn in early childhood. It is an early childhood education program for pre-school children from low income families. . -
Diana v. California State Board
Diana was a Spanish speaking student who was placed in a class for mentally retarded students based on test scores. The issue was that she was given the test in English. The courts found this unconstitutional and said that students needed to be tested in their native language to avoid this type of error in the future. -
Equal Education Opportunities Act
This law prohibited discrimination and racial segregation of students. With the Equal Education Opportunities Act, schools were required to provide students with equal opportunities in education regardless of their race, color, sex, or national origin. This law also impacted the education of non-English speakers by requiring schools to remove barriers for non-English learners. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
This law had a huge impact on children with disabilities. It required all schools receiving federal funding to provide equal access to education for the disabled. It also required schools to create a plan with parent involvement for the disabled student. The plan also introduces the idea of the "least restrictive environment" that gave the handicapped access to classrooms and time to interact with non-impaired students. -
Plyler vs. Doe
In 1975, Texas enacted a new policy prohibiting illegal immigrants from attending school. In response, a class action lawsuit was filed. In the case of Plyler vs. Doe the Supreme Court ruled that schools could not deny students a free public education because of their immigration status. This decision gave illegal immigrants equal access to the public education system. -
The Immigration Nationality Act of 1990
This was the first of comprehensive immigration reform. It increased the number of immigrants allowed into the country and also created new visas. There were employment based visas as well as a new lottery system for immigration. This Act brought in diverse groups and changed the landscape of the country allowing in more people from "low admittance" countries who were underrepresented in the US. -
The No Child Left Behind Act
Signed into law by President George W. Bush, this act focused in on the education system. It required states to measure students academic abilities through standardized testing. This changed the way students were taught because of the consequences brought about by low test scores.
