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Compulsory Education Laws
Before 1852 when Massachusetts passed the first compulsory education law, there were no laws forcing children to attend school. This law was meant to force all children to attend formal education through at least elementary school. However, it wasn’t until 1918 when all states adopted similar laws.
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Brown v. Board of Education
This legendary U.S. Supreme Court case from Topeka, Kansas was a huge progression for African Americans students in the public school system. It overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson case from the previous years, stating that there was no “separate but equal” in the education system and that the law was unconstitutional based on the fourteenth amendment.
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Charter Schools In Public Education
With general public education becoming more of an end than a beginning to learning, charter schools were introduced in the U.S. to improve the public education system. The first was a primary school in Minnesota and since then many more have begun in all states. They are funded by the public’s money and must abide by the state and local standards in education but have a focus area.
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No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)
NCLB is an Act of Congress with the goal of helping disadvantaged students in the public school system by a standard-based education reform. This forced states to develop standardized tests to access the students on critical information at various grade levels in order to recieve school funding. This was meant to keep students from falling behind by holding the school systems accountable.
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The Announcment of Obama's "Race To The Top"
The Race to the Top is a contest from the US Department of Education with hopes to start a change in state K-12 education. Each state was awarded points for meeting various criteria based on education policies, standardized testing and other factors that show the state’s successes. With this contest, Obama hoped to improve the public education system and collect education data.
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