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1642 Massachusetts Bay Colony Legislation
In this colonial era law, Massachusetts Bay colony selectmen were authorized to enter homes and verify that parents provided education to their children. Although loosely enforced, this legislation is important because it made education compulsory, setting a precedent for our current compulsory public education system. It also secularized educational oversight, as it transferred control from the clergy to non-religious officials (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 105). -
Horace Mann’s Service on the Massachusetts State Board of Education
In his twelve years as secretary of education, Horace Mann left a long-lasting impact on schools. He unified schools into state systems across the North (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 127). During his time in office, public education assets increased twofold, teacher salaries increased, and the school year was lengthened by a month (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 130). His efforts are important because they led to the universality of public education (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 127). -
Brown v. Board of Education
This landmark ruling was significant because it ended the era of “separate but equal” schools. Segregating schools leads inherently to unequal outcomes and as such, this ruling opened the door to equality in education regardless of race (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 151). However, it also led to a controversial 2007 ruling in which schools must take a “colorblind” approach to students (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 154). -
Education for all Handicapped Children Act
This act is important because it was the precursor to the current Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It guaranteed basic educational rights to students with disabilities who had little, if any, access to public education. It enabled many students to be integrated into general education classrooms, minimized barriers to education, and required specific individualized educational programs to be tailored to students’ needs (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 159-160). -
No Child Left Behind Act
This act radically changed public schools by linking school funding to test scores (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 163). It placed the onus of eradicating inequalities on schools by holding them accountable to increasing marginalized students’ achievement and penalizing schools that failed to meet this goal (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 164). Results have been mixed, with elementary and middle schools showing some gains and high schools experiencing no change (Kaplan and Owings, 2015, p. 165).
