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Founding of First Public School In America
On April 23rd, 1635 the first public school opened in America in Boston, Massachusetts. It was available to children between the grades of 7-12 with a focus on helping students become college ready. The school focused on teaching Latin and Greek to their students. The school still exists to this day, but the name and location have changed over the years. -
Marbury v. Madison
Although not directly related to Education, Marbury v. Madison is what gave the supreme court the authority to strike down legislative and executive actions as unconstitutional. Since this the Supreme court has struck down nearly 500 laws, with many of them being related to our education system. If Judicial review did not exist then the world we live in today would be extremely different for everyone. -
Plessy V. Ferguson
The Supreme Court decision in the case of Plessy V. Ferguson addressed the constitutionality of segregation, with the court ruling that as long as accommodations were equal to all races then local governments had the right to segregate. This is where the term "separate but equal" was coined, which many may have heard back in history classes. With this decision many southern states would go out of their way to carve separate spots for people of color in public areas. -
Brown V. Board of Education
Brown V.Board of education was a historic decision in which the supreme court ruled that segregation was no longer legal on basis. With this ruling schools and public areas were integrated allowing for people regardless of their color to be in the same area. Prior to this minorities would often be forced to use separate things such as water fountains or bathrooms, from their white counterparts. While forms of racism still existed after this, it helped lay the ground work for a more fair society. -
Green v. County School Board
Although De Jure segregation or segregation by law, was ruled as unconstitutional by the supreme court, many states found ways around this. One such way was by allowing parents to "choose the school" their child went to. While this may sound harmless, it severely hampered the federal governments efforts of integrating schools across America. The reason for this being was that many white people choose to not attend schools with high minority populations. -
Title IX
Title IX is the name for a federal law which banned discrimination in education on the basis of sex. While something like this was definitely necessary in America at the time, many outspoken activists believe the equal rights amendment, which had failed to pass in the past would do a much better job at protecting female rights. Regardless of which is better, this piece of legislation is instrumental to this day and nearly everything in education thats decided upon is centered around this. -
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez
San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez was a landmark decision that reaffirmed that states have the right to fund schools partially or solely through local property taxes. Because of this we have schools in lower income areas that suffer from less funding. These primarily reside in minority areas, so these students usually receive a lower quality level of education. Because of this many are put at a disadvantage very early on in their life. -
Lau v. Nichols
Although the Bilingual Education Act, passed by congress in 1968, gave schools the option to provide supplemental learning instructions for non English speakers, it wasn't mandatory. prior to this ruling studies have shown that in 1972 roughly only 100,000 non english speakers out of the five million in our education had access to these programs since many schools chose not to fund it. Now schools are forced to give non native English speakers a meaningful education. -
Education of all Handicapped Children Act
The Education of all Handicapped Children Act was signed by President Gerald Ford on November 29th, 1975. This act mandated that all schools accept federal funding and create a educational path,along with the parent that would emulate students of non disabilities as closely as possible.Because of this students with disabilities are able to learn in the same schools as us and not feel that they are being forced away to separate areas. Additionally students can feel more connected to their schools -
The Federal Tribal College Act
This act grants funding to colleges or universities that reside on Native American Reservations. Before this Native American's had little to no options for local colleges are were often times forced to leave their reservations and attend "foreign" schools. Some did not like this, because they felt they would be forced to assimilate by attending these schools. Now, some natives have the option of obtaining a higher education without having to leave their families. -
Pyler v. Doe
In Pyler v. Doe the supreme court ruled that it is unconstitutional for states to deny education to students regardless of their immigration status. Some states were attempting to charge undocumented immigrants fees in order to attend their schools, since their parents may not have been paying local taxes because of their lack of citizenship. This ruling to this day allows those who are undocumented to attend school and get the same level of education as native born people in America. -
Sharif by Salahuddin v. New York State Education Department
Most states prior to this ruling were awarding merit scholarships solely on the basis of how well a student does on their SAT. The supreme court found that the reliance solely on SAT scores discriminated against females, since they typically scored lower than their male counterparts. Now many things are considered before giving out financial academic awards, such as a students grades through high school. While some still believe this isnt fair enough its certainly a step in the right direction. -
Chipman v. Grant County School District
This ruling upheld Title IX by not allowing schools to discriminate against female high school students on the basis of pregnancy or currently having a child. To this day schools and employers in the private sector have no right to discriminate against women based on this and must provide reasonable accommodations when needed.