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Massachusetts Bay Colony
The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decrees that every town of 50 families should have an elementary school and that every town of 100 families should have a Latin school. The goal is to ensure that Puritan children learn to read the Bible and receive basic information about their Calvinist religion. -
Thomas Jefferson proposes...
Thomas Jefferson proposes a two-track educational system with different tracks for, in his words, “the laboring and the learned.” Scholarship would allow a very few of the laboring class to advance, Jefferson says, by “raking a few geniuses from the rubbish.” -
Creation of townships
The Continental Congress (before the U.S. Constitution was ratified) passes a law calling for a survey of the “Northwest Territory” into “townships,” reserving a portion of each township for a local school. From these “land grants” eventually came the U.S. system of “land grant universities,” the state public universities that exist today. The land for these land grants is taken from Native peoples. -
The Young Ladies Academy in Philadelphia
The Young Ladies Academy opens in Philadelphia, becoming the first academy for girls in the original 13 colonies/states. The reasoning to open the school stems from earlier proposals in France where Francois Fenelon states that "an ignorant woman is fit neither for wifehood nor motherhood." -
Massachusetts Public Schools
Massachusetts public schools allow admission to both boys and girls, but girls can only attend from April to October. -
Free public education in PA
Pennsylvania state constitution calls for free public education by requiring wealthy people to pay for the education of the poor. -
New York Public School Society
New York Public School Society is formed by wealthy businessmen to provide education for poor children. Schools are run on the “Lancasterian” model, in which one “master” can teach hundreds of students in a single room. These schools emphasize discipline and obedience--qualities that factory owners want in their workers. -
Free public primary schools in Boston
A petition presented in the Boston Town Meeting calls for establishing a system of free public primary schools. Main support comes from local merchants, businessmen and wealthier artisans. Many wage earners oppose it, because they don’t want to pay the taxes. -
Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons
The Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, the first permanent school for deaf Americans opens in Hartford, Connecticut. By 1863 there are 22 schools for the deaf in the US. -
Boston English High School
First public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens. -
Slave literacy laws
By this time, most southern states have laws forbidding teaching people in slavery to read. Even so, around 5% of enslaved people become literate. -
Calvin Stow
Calvin Stowe, husband of Harriet Beecher-Stowe, becomes an advocate for a state-backed educational system. He is quoted as saying "unless we educate our immigrants, they will be our ruin…. The intellectual and religious training of our foreign population has become essential to our own safety." -
Horace Mann
Horace Mann becomes head of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. Edmund Dwight, a major industrialist, thinks a state board of education is so important to factory owners that he offered to supplement the state salary with extra money of his own. -
State bilingual education laws
Ohio passes the first state law allowing bilingual education in German and English. Louisiana passes a similar law in 1847 allowing schools to teach in French and any other language requested by parents, and in 1850 the New Mexico Territory permits Spanish and English. By the end of the 19th century, over a dozen states pass similar laws, and many localities informally provide bilingual instruction in Norwegian, Italian, Polish, Czech and Cherokee. -
State-sponsored "normal" schools
The first state-sponsored "normal school" (teacher training school) opens in Lexington, Massachusetts. -
Gender in the Teaching Profession
1830s-1840s - Up until this time, teachers, especially in small and rural schools tended to be farmers, surveyors, innkeepers, etc. who kept school in their off-season. The more educated schoolmasters were young men who saw the schoolroom a stepping-stone on their way to careers in the church or the law. As public schools begin to open, there is a greater demand for teachers, so communities turn to women to staff the schools. By 1900, nearly 75% of U.S. teachers are women. -
Catholic or Protestant control in New York City
1840s - Over a million Irish immigrants arrive in the United States, due to the Irish potato famine and opportunities in the factories. Irish Catholics in New York City struggle for local neighborhood control of schools to prevent their children from being "force-fed" a Protestant curriculum. -
Massachusetts Reform School
Massachusetts Reform School at Westborough opens as the first publicly funded reform school. Boys who are convicted of crimes are sent here instead of prison. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
The war against Mexico ends with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The Treaty guarantees the continued use of the Spanish language, including in education, and citizenship for those living in the newly acquired territories. -
Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth
Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe establishes The Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth, an experimental boarding school in South Boston for youth with "intellectual deficiencies." The goal of the school is to prepare children with disabilities to live with the rest of society. -
Massachusetts compulsory education law
State of Massachusetts passes its first compulsory education law. The goal is to make sure that the children of poor immigrants get “civilized” and learn obedience and restraint, so they make good workers and don’t contribute to social upheaval. -
California bars Black and Chinese children from schools
Two years after California becomes a state, the legislature passes a bill barring "Black" children from schools. Shortly after, the Supreme Court rules that Chinese people are an inferior race so any provisions that apply to "Blacks" also apply to Chinese. -
School meal programs
The Children's Aid Society of New York initiates a program serving meals to students attending vocational school. This fails to catch on until 1894, when in Boston and Philadelphia, two reform organizations start providing nominally priced lunches to schoolchildren. -
Freedmen's Schools
1865-1877 - During Reconstruction, the Freedmen's Bureau uses its authority to provide buildings for schools. The Freedmen's Schools teach formerly enslaved adults and children how to read, especially labor contracts and legal documents. -
California "formula of ten"
The California legislature mandates a "formula of ten": When African Americans, Asian Americans, or American Indians numbered ten students, a school district must create separate schools for whites and non-white children. The law includes a provision allowing districts to admit non-white children to white schools when it is impractical to establish separate schools, but only if a majority of the white parents do not object. -
Ward v. Flood
Harriet Ward, a woman "of African descent" attempted to enroll her daughter Mary Frances, in an all-white school in San Francisco. When the principal refused to admit her, Ward filed a lawsuit. Ward v. Flood (1873) was California’s first case challenging educational segregation. In its ruling, the California Supreme Court foreshadowed the logic of the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), using the principle of “separate but equal.” -
California Political Code 1662
California legislators pass Political Code 1662. Among other things, Chinese, Indian, and deaf students are excluded from public schools. It is repealed in 1880. -
Constitutional amendment mandating free public school?
Congressman James Blaine proposes an amendment to the US Constitution that would mandate free public schools and forbid direct government aid to educational institutions that have a religious affiliation. The amendment failed to pass by four Senate votes. At the state level, eventually all but 10 states passed laws known as "Blaine amendments," which ban the use of public funds to support sectarian private schools. -
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School opens as the first federally-funded off-reservation Indian boarding school. The school strove to "civilize" and "Christianize" students, believing this might enable them to advance themselves and thrive in dominant Euro-American society. Its founder sought to "Kill the Indian; Save the Man" by punishing Native behaviors and languages, and implementing assimilationist policies like American-style haircuts and replacing students' real names with European ones. -
From schools to asylums
1870s - 1880s - Schools for students with developmental disabilities become asylums where the institution takes over custodial care. As enrollment increases, educational programs are dropped and students become known as "inmates." Higher-functioning students are taught functional skills and used as laborers to reduce costs. Institution superintendents begin asking the states to pay for indigent custodial care, arguing that this would relieve communities of their poorhouses and almshouses. -
Tape v. Hurley
In Tape v. Hurley, the California Supreme Court finds that the exclusion, based on ancestry, of a Chinese American student in public school, is unlawful. -
Wisconsin's Bennett Law
The Bennett Law passes in Wisconsin, requiring the use of English to teach major subjects in all public and private schools. Opposition to the law comes predominantly from Catholic Polish Americans, some Norwegian communities, and parochial schools operated by German-Americans. In support of the act, Wisconsin Governor William Hoard invokes nativist, anti-Lutheran, and anti-Catholic rhetoric, claiming that he is a better guardian of Wisconsin's children than their parents or pastors. -
Curriculum standardization
A committee from the National Education Association recommends that all pupils have 12 years of schooling, and outlines major topics including Latin, Greek, English, 'Other Modern Languages', math, and science. The committee says that "...every subject which is taught at all in a secondary school should be taught in the same way and to the same extent to every pupil so long as he pursues it, no matter what the probable destination of the pupil may be, or at what point his education is to cease." -
Plessy v. Ferguson
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson 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. One result is that southern states pass laws requiring racial segregation in public schools. -
Special education in Rhode Island
Rhode Island opens the first public special education class in the U.S. By 1923, almost 34,000 students are in special education classes. These classes are primarily available in large cities. -
School board reconfiguration
1893-1913 - The size of school boards in the country’s 28 biggest cities is cut in half. Most local district-based positions are eliminated, in favor of citywide elections, which results in local immigrant communities losing control of their local schools. Makeup of school boards changes from small local businessmen and some wage earners to professionals (e.g. doctors and lawyers), big businessmen, and other members of the richest classes. -
State laws about compulsory education
By 1900, 34 of the then 45 states have laws calling for compulsory education of all children under the age of 14. By 1918, every state required students to complete elementary school. -
Kentucky's Day Law
The Day Law is passed in Kentucky, prohibiting "white and colored persons from attending the same school." When Berea College, an integrated, private, coeducational school, challenges the law, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Kentucky's right to prohibit integration. -
Stanford-Binet IQ Test
Lewis Terman publishes the Stanford-Binet IQ Test, offering U.S. educators a simple, quick, cheap and seemingly objective way to "track" students according to their ability. A version of this test, and other "intelligence measures" continue to be used in schools today to determine qualification for special education and gifted programs. -
Smith-Hughes Act
The Smith-Hughes Act passes, providing federal funding for vocational education, including agriculture, trades, and homemaking. -
Beattie v. Board of Education
In Beattie v. Board of Education, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that a student can be excluded from school because of a disability. The student in this case had a condition that caused involuntary drooling and facial contortions, and was expelled from school because his condition "nauseated" teachers and students. Courts agreed with school officials who argued the student required too much time of the teacher and caused disruptions to the learning environment. -
English-only laws in Nebraska
Anti-German sentiment spurs Nebraska to pass a law that "No person, individually or as a teacher, shall, in any private, denominational, parochial or public school, teach any subject to any person in any language other than the English language." In 1920, a teacher was charged with teaching German to a 4th grader and the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the law was struck down. -
Butler Act in Tennessee
Tennessee passes the Butler Act, which prevented the teaching of the evolution of man from "lower orders of animals," or from denying the Biblical account of mankind's origin. This law was challenged later that year in the famous Scopes Trial, which upheld the law. -
Farrington v. Tokushige
In Farrington v. Tokushige, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously struck down a law in Territory of Hawaii that made it illegal for schools to teach foreign languages without a permit. -
Gong Lum v. Rice
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Gong Lum v. Rice that school officials in Mississippi could exclude a Chinese-American child from the local "white" school. The court stated that the plaintiff, Martha Lum had "the right to attend and enjoy the privileges of a common school education in a colored school" or her father could send her to a private school at his own expense. -
Alvarez v. Lemon Grove
The California Supreme Court case Alvarez v. Lemon Grove, the first successful desegregation case in the United States, is ruled in favor of allowing Mexican American students in elementary schools since Mexican Americans are considered ethnically White. -
Tracking by "Intelligence testing"
A survey of 150 school districts reveals that three quarters of them are using so-called intelligence testing to place students in different academic tracks. -
Unequal teachers’ pay for Blacks and whites
1930-1950 - 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. These two sources of pressure resulted in some increase in spending on Black schools in the U.S. South. -
G.I. Bill
At the end of World War II, the G.I. Bill of Rights gives college scholarships to thousands of working class men for the first time in U.S. history. However, by 1946, only 1/5 of the 100,000 black G.I.s who had applied for educational benefits were actually registered in college. Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), under increased pressure from rising enrollments, were forced to turn away an estimated 20,000 veterans. -
Mendez v. Westminster
Five Mexican-American fathers file and win the Mendez v. Westminster lawsuit challenging forced segregation of students into “Mexican Schools” in Orange County, CA. The legal argument was not that the Mexican-American students should be considered white, but that segregated schools violate equal protection laws. However, because of the case's narrow focus, it does not impact the overall legality of racial segregation in schools. -
National School Lunch Act
President Truman signs into law the National School Lunch Act which provides low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools. The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses, while at the same time providing food to school age children. -
Anderson Bill in California
The Anderson Bill in California passes as a direct result of Mendez v. Westminster. This measure repeals all California school codes mandating segregation dating back to the 1850s. It is signed into law by then Governor Earl Warren, who seven years later would preside as Supreme Court Chief Justice in Brown v. Board of Education. -
Formation of Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service forms, merging the College Entrance Examination Board, the Cooperative Test Service, the Graduate Records Office, the National Committee on Teachers Examinations and others, with huge grants from the Rockefeller and Carnegie foundations. These testing services continued the work of eugenicists like Carl Brigham, creator of the SAT, who research sought to prove that immigrants were feeble-minded. -
McCollum v. Board of Education
In McCollum v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools is a violation of the Establishment Clause under the First Amendment. -
Wheelchair rights in NYC schools
Judith Heumman is denied attendance at her local public school because her wheelchair is deemed a fire hazard. In 1970, she is denied a teaching license for the same reason, so she sues the New York City Board of Education. She becomes the first person in a wheelchair to teach in New York City. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agrees that segregated schools are “inherently unequal” and must be abolished. -
Federal troops enforce school integration in Arkansas
A federal court orders integration of Little Rock, Arkansas public schools. Governor Orval Faubus sends the Arkansas National Guard to physically prevent nine African American students from enrolling at all-white Central High School. President Eisenhower sends federal troops to enforce the court order because he can’t let a state governor use military power to defy the U.S. federal government. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act establishes "Title 1"
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act creates the "Title 1" program to distribute funding to schools and school districts with a high percentage of students from low-income families -
NYC Teachers Strike
In an experiment by the New York City Board of Education, the Ocean Hill–Brownsville area of Brooklyn is opened as a decentralized school district under a separate, community- elected governing board with the power to hire administrators. The largely African American community clashes with mostly white and Jewish teachers union over curriculum, school environment, and personnel decisions, leading to teachers strike that lasts from May to November. -
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
After 3 students in Des Moines, Iowa are suspended for wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students’ First Amendment rights are protected, so long as their speech or expression does not “materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school." -
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex
Title IX of the Education Amendments prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex from any education program or activity receiving federal assistance. Some consequences of this law include:
-Making it illegal for schools to exclude or expel pregnant or parenting students
-Increased funding for girls athletic programs
-Requiring schools to respond appropriately to reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence against students -
Keyes v. School District No. 1
In Keyes v. School District No. 1, a lawsuit filed by Denver black and Latinx parents, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that, although there were no official laws supporting school segregation in Denver, "the Board, through its actions over a period of years, intentionally created and maintained the segregated character of the core city schools." This case was key in legally defining "de facto" segregation. -
Lau v. Nichols
Lau v. Nichols marks a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the lack of supplemental materials for language instruction in public schools for students with limited English proficiency violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
Milliken v. Bradley
In Milliken v. Bradley, a case dealing with the planned desegregation busing in Detroit, the U.S. Supreme Court makes a distinction between de facto (not officially sanctioned) and de jure (officially sanctioned) segregation. The court rules that segregation is allowed if it is not considered an explicit policy, and that school systems are not responsible for desegregation across district lines unless it could be shown that they had deliberately engaged in a policy of segregation. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act requires public schools to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day to students with physical and mental disabilities. This act established that public schools were required to evaluate disabled children and create an educational plan with parent input that would emulate the educational experience of non-disabled students. The act was reauthorized in 1990 as the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” -
California's Proposition 13
Proposition 13 in California and copy-cat measures like Proposition 2½ in Massachusetts freeze property taxes, which are a major source of funding for public schools. As a result, in twenty years California drops from first in the nation in per-student spending in 1978 to number 43 in 1998. -
Plyler v. Doe
After a public Texas school district charges undocumented immigrant students a $1,000 tuition fee, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Plyler v. Doe that undocumented children have the same right to attend public schools as do U.S. citizens. The court also states that denying education to undocumented children would contribute to "the creation and perpetuation of a subclass of illiterates within our boundaries, surely adding to the problems and costs of unemployment, welfare, and crime." -
"A Nation at Risk"
President Reagan’s National Commission on Excellence in Education publishes “A Nation at Risk,” which warns that "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people." This report has been cited as an precursor to education reforms such as high-stakes testing, the Common Core Standards, increased teacher credentialing requirements, and the charter school movement. -
School vouchers
Milwaukee, Wisconsin becomes the first public school district to offer school vouchers. The vouchers originally fund tuition only for non-religious, private institutions, but the program eventually expands to include private, religious institutions. By the 2006-2007 school year, Milwaukee schools are paying more than $100 million in school vouchers. -
Massachusetts Education Reform Act
The Massachusetts Education Reform Act requires a common curriculum and statewide tests (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System). Other states follow Massachusetts' lead and implement similar, high-stakes testing programs. -
California's Proposition 187
California voters pass Proposition 187, which requires public school districts to verify the immigration status of all students and their parents, and deny admittance to students who could not prove legal immigration status. The law faced several legal challenges, but it is not fully repealed until 2014. -
Gun-Free Schools Act
The Federal Gun-Free Schools Act requires local educational agencies to expel, for at least one year, any student who is determined to have brought a weapon to school. To enact this and other zero tolerance policies, there is a significant increase in uniformed School Resource Officers (police officers assigned to schools). By 2008, 40% of K-12 schools have police officers stationed on campus. -
"No promo homo" laws
Alabama passes legislation that sex education course materials and instruction should include that “homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.” Altogether 9 states have passed "No promo homo" laws that explicitly prohibit or limit the mention or discussion of homosexuality and transgenderism in public schools. Two states have had these laws overturned. -
California's Proposition 209
California passes Proposition 209, which outlaws affirmative action in public employment, public contracting, and public education. -
Arizona’s Proposition 203
Businessman Ron Unz sponsors a ballot measure outlawing bilingual education in California. In 2000, he sponsors similar legislation in Arizona. California’s proposition 227 passes with 61% of the vote, and Arizona’s Proposition 203 passes with 65% of the vote. The California law is repealed in 2016. -
Utah–East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District
In the case of Utah–East High Gay/Straight Alliance v. Board of Education of Salt Lake City School District, a federal court ruled that denying access to a school-based gay–straight alliance violates of the Federal Equal Access Act. Therefore, schools that receive public funding are required to give students the right to use facilities for extra curricular activities. -
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is signed into law. The law mandates high-stakes student testing, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels, and provides penalties for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the goals of NCLB. -
Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act
The Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act provides almost $1.3 billion for career and technical education, and requires that states receiving Perkins funds must ensure access for “populations who face difficulty in attaining education and employment.” These populations include students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, foster children, single parents and single pregnant women, displaced homemakers, and individuals with limited English proficiency. -
Ben Gamla Charter School in Florida
In Hollywood, Florida, Ben Gamla Charter School becomes the first Hebrew-English charter school in the United States. Three days after opening, the county school board orders the school to suspend its Hebrew classes because the curriculum referred to a website that discussed religion. -
Khalil Gibran International Academy in New York
In Brooklyn, New York, the Khalil Gibran International Academy becomes the first public school in the United States to emphasize Arabic language and culture. In the wake of its opening, founding principal Debbie Almontaser is forced to resign after the New York Post attacked her and the school for failing to condemn the word "intifada" in an interview. -
Texas social studies curriculum
The Texas School Board adopts revisions to the Texas social studies curriculum. The revised curriculum plays down the role of Thomas Jefferson among the founding fathers, questions the separation of church and state, and claims that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists during the Cold War. -
Title IX protections for transgender students
The U.S. Department of Education issues guidance explaining that transgender students are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title IX. Public schools are to to treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity in academic life. -
Immigration status in Alabama schools
Alabama requires public schools to check the immigration status of students. Though the law does not require schools to prohibit the enrollment nor report the names of undocumented children, opponents nevertheless contend it is unconstitutional based on the Plyler v. Doe ruling. -
Arizona’s House Bill 228
Arizona’s state legislature passes bill HB 2281 which prohibits any curricula that: "Promote the overthrow of the United States government... Promote resentment toward a race or class of people…. Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group…. Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals." Under this law, the state can withhold up to 10% of a district’s funding for a violation. -
Chicago school closures
The Chicago Board of Education votes to close 50 schools, the largest mass closing in U.S. history. School officials claim the closures are necessary to reduce costs, and to improve educational quality. Efforts of Chicago teachers and other opponents to stop the closings, including three lawsuits, are unsuccessful. Around the same time, other cities, including Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., also close large numbers of public schools. -
Transgender student policy in Minnesota
The Minnesota State High School League votes to adopt a policy allowing transgender students to join female sports teams. Minnesota is the 33rd state to have a formal transgender student policy. -
Racial demographic shifts
As schools open in fall 2014, a demographic milestone is reached: minority students enrolled in K-12 public school classrooms outnumber non-Hispanic Caucasians. -
“Brown at 60: Great Progress, a Long Retreat, and an Uncertain Future.”
The Civil Rights Project publishes, “Brown at 60: Great Progress, a Long Retreat, and an Uncertain Future.” This report shows what many teachers already know: a decline in non-Hispanic Caucasian students, a large increase in Latinx students, and the growth of segregation, both by race and poverty, particularly among Latinx students in central cities and large metropolitan suburbs. -
Anti-Muslim laws in Tennessee
Tennessee lawmakers introduce a new bill designed "to officially stop Islamic religious indoctrination in Tennessee schools." The version of the law passed in 2016 does not mention any particular religion, but requires that school boards ensure standards "do not promote religion and do not amount to indoctrination or proselytism." -
U.S. Department of Education report on school suspensions
According to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Education, students of color are suspended and expelled at three times the rate of white students. Students with disabilities are twice as likely to receive out of school suspension as students without disabilities. -
Title IX transgender protections revoked
The U.S. Department of Education issues a statement revoking Obama-era guidelines that transgender students are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title IX. In 2018 Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announces that Title IX does not allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their gender identities. -
"Disturbing Schools Law" in South Carolina
The ACLU wins a lawsuit challenging South Carolina's "Disturbing Schools Law," first passed in 1919. Over 20 states have such laws, which allow criminal penalties for anyone "disturbing school." Originally intended to protect students from adults, now over 10,000 children, some as young as 7, are charged each year under these laws. Analyses of these laws have found them disproportionately enforced against students of color, students with disabilities, and students identifying as LGBTQ.