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First public school
The first American school was in the thirteen original colonies, it opened in the 17th century. It was called the Boston Latin School and founded in 1635, this was the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States. This was a boys-only public secondary school that was led by Philemon Pormont, a member of a strict Protestant religious and political group. The school taught Latin and Greek and was centered on the humanities. -
Young ladies academy
The Young Ladies Academy opens in Philadelphia and becomes the first academy for girls in America. America did not offer many educational opportunities for girls. While there were a few private girls’ schools, it was widely believed that girls could not be educated beyond the very basics of reading, writing, and math or given a higher education. That changed when the school opened and let the women have the same opportunity as men to learn and thrive. -
Funds for children in poverty
George Peabody funds the two-million-dollar Education Fund to aid children in poverty in the southern states. Peabody made a system of self-help by which the Foundation would provide challenge grants to local communities. The Fund would seek locations where there were lots of numbers of students and cooperative officials who would combine the relatively small grant with tax money to build the school. They were able to build better schools and make it easier for kids to succeed in school. -
plessy v ferguson
This was the year that the U.S. Supreme Court made the decision to make racial segregation under the “separate but equal” Belief. Everyone was treated “equal” under the law but was divided. This stemmed from Homer Plessy who was seven-eighths white - took a seat in a "whites only" car of a train in 1892. He was arrested after he refused to move to the car reserved for blacks. This made Separate facilities for blacks and whites that satisfied the Fourteenth Amendment so long as they were equal. -
Brown vs board of education
Separate is not equal, it was not fair to separate kids depending on the color of their skin. There were many cases across the country of black kids wanting to go to all-white schools but it was against the law. This was the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the "separate but equal" principle set by the Plessy vs Ferguson case. It was rough for kids because it was legal but unsafe for the kids. It took a long time for this change to happen. -
Ruby Bridges
First-grader Ruby Bridges was the first African American to attend William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She becomes a class of one as parents remove all Caucasian students from the school. Now that it was legal for anyone to go to an all-white school, many black families feard the worst. She was the first one to step up and it was hard but she went to the class which set an example that it was possible for it. -
Bilingual classes
Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 in order to make schools provide bilingual education programs. This was a federally funded program through Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Students who were not born in the US and not knowing English should have the same opportunity as kids who were born here, this made more and more kids thrive in school without the thought of leaving them behind. -
Title IX
This is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal funding, including any athletic programs. This was very important because there was so much discrimination against your sex at that time. This holds schools liable for sex discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual assault. Schools were not paying attention to theses assaults until there was a law put in place to make them take action. -
Education of all handicapped children act
Schools have become more accepting but there were still struggles with making it equal. The act made all public schools accept federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical/mental disabilities. This had a positive impact on millions of children with disabilities in every state and each community across the country. It took a step forward on helping to make every kid in school thrive and not be left behind depending on their disabilities. -
The federal tribal college act
The U.S Congress funds the Tribal College Act at $2,831 per Indian student for TCU operating budgets which made people from the Indian tribe be able to go to school and get the scholarship. There were many community colleges made that were near them which made it capable to go to school and succeed. Soon started programs making the problem more known that they were not given the same opportunity so the money was raised which helped many students. -
Plyler vs doe
A School District began charging $1,000 a year for unauthorized immigrant students to attend school there. This was really unfair for families who had undocumented children but soon four families came forward and made a case. In 1982, the Supreme Court issued Plyler vs Doe, the decision said that states cannot deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status. They viewed education as a right, and because they weren’t hurting the state by going to school. -
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
This was an act that was passed which made more than $90 billion to be available for education, including the Race to the Top initiative, a program designed to reform K–12 education. The Act is an extraordinary response to promote economic recovery and growth and helped to improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need.
