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1830's Common Schools
Providing free, public education for all. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
Back in May of 1896, our world still provided separate railway carriages for white and black people. A man by the name of Homer Plessy decided to test these rules and took an empty seat in the vehicle meant only for white people. Plessy went on to file a petition against the judge Hon. John H. Ferguson for the violation of the 14th amendment. In April of 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson, the court ruled that this situation did not violate the United States Constitution. -
Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka
Since Plessy v. Ferguson, the court ruled that the separation of race in certain areas was legal. Brown v. Board included five cases; Brown v. Board, Briggs v. Elliott, davis v. Country School Board of Prince Edward County, Gebhart v. Belton, and Gebhart v. Belton. On May 17th 1954, the court ruled that “racial segregation in public schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment” (archives.gov). This decision created a turning point in education and our history. -
Title IX
According to ed.gov, Title IX states "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of 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". This act allows anyone, regardless of sex, to access education. Title IX was created to help eliminate sex discrimination within education, gifting students the opportunity to learn and be educated equally. -
Education of all Handicapped Children Act
As stated in the title, this act involved handicapped children and their education. The Education of all Handicapped Children Act passed in November of 1975. It was decided that all children, regardless of disability, were able to pursue a free public education. -
Pyler v. Doe
Pyler v. Doe included advocates such as; Peter D. Roos and Peter A. Schey who argued against the appellants. John C. Hardy and Richard L. Arnett were also advocates that spoke against the appellees. The issue at hand was questioning if illegal aliens should be able to join public schools for free. Pyler v. Doe was first argued in December of 1981 and overall decided that schools were not allowed to charge immigrants for public education. -
DeRolph v. State of Ohio
In December of 1991, the state of Ohio's supreme court ruled that the state's way of educational funding was unconstitutional. This went on to happen four times, and a solution was never created. This act is important because it shows that even individual states have issues with the way education is being funded, and how the funds are distributed. -
Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools
This act provided knowledge to students about the ability to take action against sexual harassment in schools. This act was pursued from a situation involving a female student. She had claims of sexual harassment at a school, when the school’s admin and teachers told her that there wasn’t much she could do. However this act showed that she could sue and would be protected under the Title IX act. -
Sheff v. O’Neill
The Connecticut Supreme Court was made aware that students were being segregated and that minority students were not receiving equal education compared to white students. Students from Hafford, Connecticut came together to pursue action against the inequality in their schools. In conclusion, the state of Connecticut agreed to provide their students with equal education opportunities. -
No Child Left Behind Act
This act was focused on getting rid of achievement gaps, to ensure that no child is left behind. It would fo on to promote equality and provide an equal education for all. -
Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. State of New York
The Campaign for Fiscal Equity came to the state of New York, arguing that the financial systems of schools in the state were unconstitutional. Which affected students and their protected rights to pursue an education. In conclusion, the state decided to eliminate these practices in order to create an appropriate and equal education for all. -
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School district
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School district was first argued in 2006, on December 4th. This case involved two different school districts, in which both allowed students to choose which school they would like to attend. If the school was overenrolled, the district would go to race. Meaning, they would look at race as a way to decipher where to place a student, in order to push racial balance/equality. However this act ruled that this process was unconstitutional.