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First Free Schooling
Boston Latin School was the first free school in America. This set a precedent for all states to require free public education in the 1900s. -
Common School Movement
Around the time of the civil war, Horace Mann preached the importance of access to education. He believed that being educated was the best way to maintain a functioning society. This was the start of the government having a large role in the education of children. -
Schools for Teacher education
Massachusettes opens a school geared towards teacher education. The did this under the belief that education was the best way to create a democratic society. That started with educating teachers on how to properly teach their students. -
Department of Education
The Department of education was established in order to evaluate and maintain good teaching policies across the country. This was a big step towards making education a federally run endeavour. -
Plessy V Ferguson
This court case ruled that "separate but equal" was constitutional and was applied in any public institution. In the case of schools, white and black students could not be in schools together. As a result of this ruling, black schools were less funded, had poor teachers, and overall were not equal to white schools. -
The Feminization of Education
By the early 1900s teaching turned from a male-dominated profession into a female-dominated one. This was something that was good and bad in the progression of education. On one hand, women were able to take a valuable role in teaching the future generation while making a living. On the other hand, since women were still less valued than men, teachers were paid less because they were women. This is a problem that still stands today in the education system. -
Brown v Board of Education
As a result of the Plessy v Ferguson ruling, segregated black schools were not equal to white schools. Due to this, Brown filed a lawsuit explaining that the 14th amendment states that the government cannot deny any person equal protection of the laws. Brown eventually won this lawsuit thereby reversing Plessy v Furguson, and desegregating schools. -
Title IV
This act prohibited discrimination based on sex in any federally funded education program or activity. This allowed for women to participate in any activity a man could, including sports. This also protects women in the case of sexual harassment or assault. -
Education for All Handicapped Children
This law was put in place to ensure equal rights to education for persons with disabilities. It gave rights to students with disabilities and their families to have a say in their education as well as to hold schools accountable for the treatment of these children. This law has been remedied many times and is now referred to as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. -
No Child Left Behind Act
This act requires every state to have an academic standard and a test for measuring that children are meeting this standard. This act provides additional aid for the teaching of underachieving students to catch up to their peers. If children do not reach the set "proficiency" score in reading or math the schools are subject to scrutiny or restructuring.
