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Brown v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court decided "segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities," (The National Center for Public Policy Research, n.d.). This decision began the process for equity in education based on race. African Americans and other minorities could no longer be denied entrance into a school because of their race. It was the beginning of desegregation of schools. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act called for equality for everyone. The purpose was to end discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex or national origin" (History, 2016). The Civil Rights Act was implemented to end segregation in all public places. This law changed society in the United States. People could no longer be denied the right to eat in a restaurant or shop in a store because of discrimination. -
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 "prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity" (U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). The purpose of Title IX is gender equality. The most popular use of Title IX is in sports. An example is that schools are to offer the same number of sports for girls as they do for boys. Title IX has been generally used to help females have the same number of opportunities as males. -
Rehabiliation Act
The Rehabilitation Act "includes a variety of provisions focused on rights, advocacy and protections for individuals with disabilities" (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Section 504 of this law protects the rights of students with disabilities who are in programs that receive federal funding. Because of this law, individuals such as homebound students can still receive a fair opportunity at education. Special provisions are implemented to provide these students an opportunity for success. -
Lau v. Nichols
The Supreme Court decided that "students with limited English proficiency (LEP) who were not provided with special programs to help them learn English were being denied their rights" (Bruner, 2015). Lau v. Nichols required schools to provide students with an opportunity to learn the English language so that they could have an equal opportunity to become successful in the classroom. As a result, bilingual programs were implemented. -
Plyler v. Doe
The Supreme Court ruled that "Texas law denying access to public education for undocumented school-age children violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment" (Sass, 2016). This decision allowed undocumented students the right to a free public education. The new law drastically changed schools who received many undocumented immigrant children. As many of these students are graduating high school, there is a movement pushing for the right to higher education for these students. -
Proposition 187
The goal of Proposition 187 of California was "to make illegal aliens ineligible for public benefits" (Ballotpedia, 1994). Although the proposition was approved by the people's vote, it was not allowed to become law due to an injunction from a federal judge. This proposition is believed to have sparked a movement against illegal immigrants. The proposition focused on the millions of dollars that are spent by taxpayers each year on illegal immigrants because of equity laws. -
No Child Left Behind
No Child Left Behind reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965, which ensures "that students served by Title I are given the same opportunity to achieve to high standards and are held to the same high expectations as all other students in each State" (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Although the intention of NCLB was that of equity, it created a culture of over testing for students, and education became focused on 'teaching to the test.' -
Free Community College Plan
President Obama proposed to provide two years of free community college to all Americans. If the plan was to be approved, students could receive this education as long as he or she "attends school at least half-time, maintains a roughly C+ average, and is on track to complete their program or transfer to a four-year school" (The Huffington Post, 2015). Although this plan is still just a proposal, the idea of free higher education for all Americans is promising for future students. -
Transgender Bathroom of Choice
The Obama administration told states they must "allow transgender students to use bathrooms matching their gender identity" (Grinberg, 2016). The goal of this directive was to provide equity to transgender students, but many argued that this violates the rights of non transgender students, especially in situations such as the locker room. Although faced with losing federal funding, many states chose to disregard the directive and sued the Obama administration over the directive. -
