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Civil Rights Act
The Civil Right's Act was passed banning discrimination based on age, gender, sex and country of origin. This new law also ended segregation of public spaces. Federally funded programs that encouraged discrimination also came to a stop in public schools. Public schools are no longer segregated, the first step toward diversity in the education system. -
Head Start Program
The Head Start Program begins, providing preschool education to low-income families over an 8-week summer program. This program allowed low-income families to provided their children a preschool program, when they otherwise may not have been able to afford it. This is one of the longest running anti-poverty programs to date and was enacted during the War on Poverty. -
Bilingual Education Act
Bilingual Education Act was created, requiring schools to have bilingual educational programs, benefitting students who had a low english proficiency in reading, writing and language. Students who were bilingual could now learn the same material without being disadvantaged due to their first language, opening the door to a more equal educational system. -
Segregation
Judge Arthur Garrity Jr. orders the end of segregation in schools, after black parents allege that black students receive an inferior education compared to white students. Due to the fact that black students typically lived in predominantly black communities, they were bussed to more affluent areas to increase diversity, this did not come without backlash in many predominantly white communities. -
Plyler v. Doe
Plyler V. Doe rules that Texas school's cannot deny or charge tuition undocumented students because it violated the 14th amendment of the Constitution. This change allowed school aged children to attend public schools free of charge, and provided these immigrant children with an education. -
Massachusetts Education Reform Act
The Massachusetts Education Reform Act required a common curriculum and state wide testing of students. Many other states followed Massachusetts example and began state wide testing of their own. This did not accommodate all students equally, as tests were standardized. -
Columbine Shooting
The Columbine High School shooting was the deadliest school shootings, leaving 15 students dead and 23 wounded. This event changed the course of the American education system, as school shootings rose at an alarming rate and are becoming an unfortunate norm.This event changed as similar more current events are changing American culture. -
Higher Education Act
The Higher Education Act is amended, expanding it's coverage to higher education. More funding was authorized to low and middle class students for graduate studies. This amendment to the Education Act increase affordability of graduate programs to many student who may have not been able to afford them otherwise, increasing the diversity of higher education. -
Parkland Massacre
An armed student kills 17 students at a Florida high school. This is the 18th school shooting of 2018. This shooting resulted in one student being charged with 17 counts of murder. Survivors become politically active, demanding change in gun laws and overall school safety. Students are now taking charge of their own safety in schools and trying to put an end to the violence. -
March for our lives
Students march together at the Capital to demand gun law reforms after yet another school shooting. School shootings became more and more frequent after the Columbine shooting, creating fear for students. The American culture for students has drastically changed, and students begin fighting for their safety.
