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The general court of Massachusetts Bay Colony decrees that every town of fifty families should have an elementary school that every town of 100 people should have a Latin school. The goal is to ensure that puritan children learn to read the bible and receive basic information about their Calvanist religion. -
Thomas Jefferson puts forward a proposal called "A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge." Thomas Jefferson was passionate for education and thought that in order to preserve Democracy children had to be educated. He believed that all children rich and poor (except for slaves) deserved at least the fundamentals of early education. This proposal to guarantee three years of public schooling for all children, with advanced education for a few selected students. This proposal was denied. -
Catherine Beecher was a member of a prominent activist and religious family, Catherine Esther Beecher was a teacher and writer who believed in equal access to education for women and advocated for their roles as teachers and mothers. Catherine founded a school where women were trained to become teachers. At the end of this training these women would leave their families and go out to the expanding west to their new school assignment. -
During the the early colonial period Massachusetts was a strong lead in promoting education. Therefore, in 1827 Massachusetts passed a law that makes public schools free for all children in any grade. This law also required towns with 500 people or more to open public high schools for all students. -
Horace Mann was an educational, slavery abolitionist, and Whig Politician, Horace Mann was a promoter of education. In 1837, Horace Mann becomes the first head of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. Horace Mann visited 1000 schools over the course of 6 years and found a system built on inequality. He wrote a report about his findings. He noted that the schools were in poor conditions and that the number of students were extremely high. -
African Americans mobilize to bring public education to the South for the first time. After the Civil War and with the end of slavery, African Americans in the South made alliances with white Republicans to push for many political changes. One of the first changes made was rewriting state constitutions to guarantee free public education. White children would benefit more from this than black children. -
Plessy v Ferguson was landmark in the U.S. Supreme Court decision that states "separate but equal" was not a violation of constitutional rights. Homer Plessy was a creole of color who rode in a whites only part of a train. Homer Plessy refused to get off the train. Plessy was in violation of Louisianas Separate Car Act of 1890. This case was taken up to the U.S. Supreme Court and it was ruled that there was no violation of constitutional rights. -
Brown v Board of Education was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. This ruling states that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional. This was major win for the civil rights movement. The case started when the public school system in Topeka, Kansas, refused to enroll the daughter of local a black man named Oliver Brown at their local elementary school. -
Title 14 is a federal civil rights law that is a part of the Amendments of Education of 1872. This was also a follow up to Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title 14 prohibits the discrimination in educational programs funded by the government based solely on sex. Title 14 was written by Birch Bayh and Representative Edith Green was the one to hear the testimonies of women experiencing discrimination. When this passed in 1972 only 42% of students enrolled in an American college were women. -
On November 29, 1975 president Gerald Ford signed into effect the Education of all Handicapped Children Act. This Act guaranteed a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for all students with a disability in every single state. Prior to the passing of this law, many students with disabilities were denied access to school. Including students that were blind, deaf, intellectually disabled, and or emotionally disturbed. This act also required those schools to provide one free meal to them. -
Plyler v Doe was a landmark decision in the Supreme Court of the United States. Plyler v Does ended a state statute that denied funding for education of undocumented immigrant children in the United States and allowed them access to basic educatrion. It also ended an independent school district's attempt to charge an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each student to compensate for lost state funding.