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First Schools founded
In 1647, the General Court of Massachusetts rules that every town of fifty families or more should have at least one school. This decision is to ensure that Puritan children learn to read the bible and receive basic information about their religion. -
Free public school
The state of Pennsylvania calls for free public education but only for children living in poverty. -
School becomes compulsory
In 1851, the state of Massachusetts passes its first compulsory education law. This is done to ensure that children are brought up to be "civilized" and obedient. Quality that would be desired in workers and to ensure that they don't contribute to social disruption. -
Plessy V Ferguson
In 1896, a man named Homer Plessy, boarded a train and refused to ride in the car designated for "blacks". During this era, segregation was prominent in every aspect of life. Black and white folks boarded separate trains, attended different schools and even used different drinking fountains. The Supreme court unfortunately ruled against Plessy and favored the "separate but equal" doctrine. -
Brown V. Board of Educaion
In 1952, Oliver Brown filed a class-action suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas after his daughter, Linda Brown was denied entrance to one of Topeka's all-white schools. In this lawsuit, Brown claimed that schools for black children we not equal to schools for white children. He also claimed that segregation violated the 14th amendment. The Supreme Court issued a decision in May of 1954 ruling unanimously that separate schools were inherently unequal. -
Cooper V. Aaron
In 1958, the Arkansas state legislature attempted to defy the Brown V. Board decision by opposing desegregation and passing a law excusing students from mandatory attendance in integrated schools. Arkansas argued that states should have the power to nullify a supreme court decision if they found it unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that states do not have the power to decide what is unconstitutional and that states are obligated to follow decisions made by federal courts. -
Tinker v. Des Moines
In this Supreme Court decision, it was decided that "students do not leave their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door. In 1969, Mary Beth Tinker and her brother wore black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. School admin prohibited the use of these armbands out of fear of disruption. This case made it all the way up to the Supreme Court in which the decision was made in Tinker's favor. -
Title IX
Title IX is a civil rights law that was passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. This was part of follow-up to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 that prohibited discrimination against any persons based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Act did not prohibit discrimination based on sex in federally funded entities or educational institutions. President Nixon signed and passed Title IX in response to this. -
Education For All handicapped Children Act
The Education For All Handicapped Children Act was passed by US congress in 1975. This act mandated all federally funded schools to provide equal access to Education to all children with physical and mental disabilities. Public schools were required to put together an Educational plan and include parents' input for all children with disabilities along with evaluations. Schools were also required to implement processes where parents could dispute decisions over their child's education. -
Plyler V. Doe
In 1982, undocumented children living in the United States were not eligible to receive free, public education. However, in the case of Plyer v. Doe, a 5 to 4 majority in the Supreme Court decided that these education laws were in violation of the 14th amendment. This decision came under the basis that undocumented children are people too, therefore they should be protected by the 14th amendment as well. This decision was and is fundamental to the future of every undocumented student in the US