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Ye Olde Deluder Satan
This law required towns to appoint and pay for teachers to instruct children to read and write. These funds were raised by taxation among other ways. Selectmen were to fine and punish parents who were not educating their children. The town, as opposed to any religious authority, had control of the schools. -
The first public high school
The first public high school was in Boston, MA, as a result of the work of middle-class and business people. It was free to young men to prepare them for life in a profession or to further their education in college. The school taught in English the subjects of reading, writing, grammar, science, math, history, and logic. The school remained under public control. -
Horace Mann creates first State Board of Education
Horace Mann was a proponent of universal, free, and secular education for the children of America. He is known as the "Father of American Education." As the first secretary of education in MA, he organized a state school system in MA, then in other Northern states. Mann believed education and freedom were necessary for all citizens. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The US Supreme Court voted unanimously that African American children can attend public schools serving white children. They agreed with the African American children of Topeka, Kansas, saying that "separate but equal" was actually unequal. -
Public Law 94-142
Public Law 94-142 defined children with disabilities as well as endured their basic educational rights with specific services. These services include free and appropriate education, special education services, and the least restrictive learning environment to learn. This law allows children who previously were denied an education because of disability the right to learn with their peers in the general education classroom as much as possible.
