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Act of 1647
Act of 1647, The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decrees that every town of fifty families should have an elementary school and that every town of 100 families should have a Latin school. -
1817 Establishment of a system offering free public primary schools
A petition presented in the Boston Town Meeting calls for establishing of a system of free public primary schools. The priamary support came from business owners and the wealthy. -
1827 Free public schooling for all
Massachusetts passes a law making all grades of public school open to all pupils free of charge. -
1848 "Age grading" is introduced
This method proved so successful that it became the "standard" in public education across the country. -
1865-1877 African Americans for education
African Americans unite to bring public education to the South for the first time. They make alliances with white Republicans to push for political changes, including the rewriting state constitutions to guarantee free public education. -
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the state of Louisiana has the right to require "separate but equal" railroad cars for Blacks and whites. This decision means that the federal government officially recognizes segregation as legal. Southern states requiring segregation in public schools resulted from this decision.. -
1918 Everyone now HAS to attend elementary school
Compulsory attendance through elementary school becomes law in each of the 48 states. -
1930-1950 NAACP Lawsuits
The NAACP brings a series of suits over unequal teachers' pay for Blacks and whites in southern states. At the same time, southern states realize they are losing African American labor to the northern cities. Because if these two major issues, resulted in an increase inf spending on Black schools in the South. -
1954 Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court unanimously agrees that segregated schools are "inherently unequal" and must be abolished. -
1957 Federal court orders integration
A federal court orders integration of Little Rock, Arkansas public schools.The Governor sends in the National Guard to prevent the integration of Black students into the school. President Eisenhower sends federal troops to enforce the court order because a State Governor use military power to defy the U.S. federal government. -
1971 Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Children sues the Commonwealth
Prior to this ruling, Pennsylvania law allowed public schools to deny admission to students with cognitive disabilities. This case found the law to be unconstitutional and required that the state ensure the right to free education for children with disabilities at an appropriate level for the individual child. -
1988 IDEA inacts "stay put" clause for students on IEPs.
Honig v. Doe. This decision mandated that a child's IEP cannot be changed or deviated from until the Parents of the students agree., They can follow through with other discipline action if they suspect a student’s behavior may be dangerous.
