Landmark Legislation that has Impacted Education

  • Two- track educational system

    Two- track educational system
    Thomas Jefferson proposes a two-track educational system, with different tracks in his words for "the laboring and the learned." The scholarship would allow a very few of the laboring class to advance, Jefferson says, by "raking a few geniuses from the rubbish. This system's goal was to separate the privileged from the working-class individuals. This impacted only working-class families because they were on the unfair side of things.
  • The first public high school in the U.S., Boston English,

    The first public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens. Then the English Classical School opened and was all male students. Which also was the seat for America’s first high school of any kind. English Classical places its emphasis on more general studies. This was a positive thing for male students but negatively impacted female students.
  • The rise of the Common School 1830

    The rise of the Common School 1830
    The common school movement began in New England as reformers. Horace Mann is often referred to as the Father of the Common School. His message to the working classes was the promise that "education … is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery" Mann was joined in his crusade for common schools by like-minded reformers in other states. This impacted students that attended common schools in a positive way.
  • Laws forbidding teaching slaves

    Laws forbidding teaching slaves
    By this time, most southern states have laws forbidding teaching people in slavery to read. Even so, around 5 percent become literate at significant personal risk. This negatively affected slaves because they were not legally allowed to learn to read and write. Slaves that knew to and write did it by significant risk.
  • The Survival and spread of common schools

    The Survival and spread of common schools
    Massachusetts had become the first state to abolish legal segregation; it took yet another full century for the united states Supreme Court to extend that practice to the entire nation by declaring in the famous Brown v. board of Education. This was a positive step for white and color students because it gave them the chance to all come together. It also let them just focus on learning and not the color of their skin.
  • 1864 Illegal to Native Americans to be taught in their native languages

    1864 Illegal to Native Americans to be taught in their native languages
    Congress makes it illegal for Native Americans to be taught in their native languages. Native children as young as four years old are taken from their parents and sent to boarding schools, whose goal, as one BIA official put it, is to "kill the Indian to save the man." Native Americans were affected negatively because they were not able to speak their negative language. They are forced to be someone other people want them to be.
  • Plessy V Ferguson

    Plessy V Ferguson
    The Supreme Court voted a seven-to-one majority to uphold the separate but equal act. The Separate Car Act required Louisiana railways to provide separate but equal accommodations for whites and African Americans. Homer Plessy was asked by the Committee of Citizens to sit in the white's only car. When Plessy was told to leave the "whites only" car, he didn't leave. Plessy went to trial and was convicted. This was a negative impact on Plessy because, in the end, he was convicted.
  • 1932 A survey of 150 school districts

    1932 A survey of 150 school districts
    A survey of 150 school districts reveals that three-quarters of them use so-called intelligence testing to place students in different academic tracks. This is a negative effect on students that are not good at test-taking. This can be a positive thing for students who are good test takers and are up to date on the curriculum. A test can be helpful if they are made equally for all students.
  • Brown V the Board of Education Topeka

    Brown V the Board of Education Topeka
    The Brown v. the board of education, Topeka case. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in The Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas. State segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was unconstitutional. This decision marked the end of "separate but equal act." Taking away the separate but equal act gave everyone an equal chance.
  • Title IX

    Title IX
    Title IX the Education Amendments is enacted by Congress and is signed into law by Richard Nixon. The title prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs or activity receiving any federal financial aid. Title IV states: No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Giving all students an equal opportunity.
  • Education of all Handicapped Children Act

    Education of all Handicapped Children Act
    This act required all public schools to accept federal funds to provide equal access to education for children with physical and mental disabilities. Public schools were required to evaluate children with disabilities and create an educational plan with parent input that would closely resemble the educational experience of non-disabled students. This was a positive impact for students that were disabled but still wanted their education.
  • Plyer v. Doe

    Plyer v. Doe
    Texas Legislature authorized local school districts to deny enrollment in public schools to students depending on their immigration status. A group of students from Mexico couldn't establish that they were legally admitted they brought a class-action lawsuit challenging the policy. The school filed a petition with the Supreme Court. The court based its ruling on the fourteenth amendment and voted in favor of the students. This had a positive impact on students that couldn't prove their status.