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America's First Public School
The first public school to open was a Latin Grammar School in Boston, Massachusetts known as the Boston Latin School. This school was a boys only school, and it prepared people such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams for college by teaching them Latin and Greek. It is still open today and now teaches both boys and girls in grades 7-12.
[https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/apr23/first-public-school-america/]
Video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNCaf0EEv_c] -
National Teachers Association
This is an association made up of teachers, administrators, and other educators that work with elementary or secondary schools and colleges or universities. It gave the opportunity for teachers to have a united front and work together to improve schools and the teacher's working conditions. Today, it includes millions of members and is called the National Education Association now. [https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Education-Association] -
Plessy vs Ferguson
This court case allowed there to be segregation in schools. It comes from the separate but equal doctrine where public facilities were separate between African Americans and whites but were seemingly equal. It challenged the Fourteenth Amendment and the Equal-Protection Clause which stated that any person had equal protection under the law. [https://www.britannica.com/event/Plessy-v-Ferguson-1896] -
Public Schools became Free
Not every community could afford a public school, but this changed that. Horace Mann and Henry Barnard wanted the opportunity for all children to have an education. By 1918, every child who happened to be American was enforced to attend elementary school. [https://people.howstuffworks.com/public-schools1.htm] -
Brown vs Board of Education
This court case switched around Plessy vs Ferguson and stated that separate is not equal and ended segregation in the classrooms or in education. The supreme court had found that the equal protection law under the Fourteenth Amendment was being violated. [https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka]
Video Link: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1siiQelPHbQ] -
Math and Science become Important in Education
The Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite into orbit which caused much concern from the Americans thinking that the Soviets conquered them into space. This lead to people believing that math and science were very important in the education curriculum. The National Defense Education Act was passed in 1958 which donated more than a billion dollars to the science curriculum.
[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14829195] Video Link: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2WaJdflqT0] -
Separating Prayer from Education in Engel vs Vitale
The New York State Board of Regents organized a voluntary prayer to be said at the start of every school day. Some people thought this went against the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause. The court had stated that the state could not arrange prayers in the public school because it violated the Establishment Clause. [https://www.oyez.org/cases/1961/468] -
Federal Funding for Education
President Lyndon B. Johnson had created the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that funded and helped support primary and secondary education. Title I was introduced through this which funded school districts that had a high percentage of students coming from low-income families. [https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/education/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965/] -
Title IX is a Law
This became a part of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Title IX prohibits injustice based on a person's sex in any education program or activity. This is most known for giving equal protection to girls participating in school athletics. [https://www.epa.gov/ocr/title-ix-education-amendments-act-1972] Video Link: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KymR6N1HT88] -
No Child Left Behind Act
President George W. Bush signed this as a law which put schools in charge of student's futures. Under this law, states must give students standardized tests in math and reading starting in third grade. The states must record the results for the student population altogether and the results for particular groups of students like English-learners.This shows what the school may need to improve on.
[https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/no-child-left-behind-overview-definition-summary.html]
