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The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the federal illegality of discrimination based upon race, color, religion, or national origin. Title IV of this act specifically pertained to the desegregation of public schools, and empowered the U.S. Attorney General to enforce this rule. This act was the very foundation of multicultural education. -
Epperson, et al. v. Arkansas
In late November of 1968, the United States Supreme Court overturned a decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court that had upheld a state statute barring the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools. The United States Supreme Court found that this decision was upholding a religious standard, and was therefore unconstitutional. This ruling establishes the importance of separating religion and state, laying the foundation for prohibiting religion as a potential means of discrimination. -
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was enacted, which prohibited discrimination or exclusion of any person based on sex to any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. This is most commonly recognized for it's lawful inclusion of women in sports. This act impacts multicultural education in establishing the right of all to fair and equal access to all forms of activities provided at schools, regardless of sex. -
Release of Apple II Personal Computer
In 1977 the Apple II personal computer was released. This would be one of the most successful early personal computers, and became widely used in schools with educational programing such as Oregon Trail. The computer would eventually revolutionize education, including multicultural education, allowing access to different types of learning and eventually access to the world wide web, an outlet for students to easily and quickly gain access to information connect with students around the world. -
Board of Education v. Pico
In 1982 the case for removal of a selection of books from junior and high school libraries due to offensive content was argued before the United States Supreme Court. This case was eventually decided in the language of the 1st Amendment to find that the Constitution limits the power of school boards to remove books from libraries. This prevented the loss of many works, including those of African American authors, from schools and continued access to multicultural literature. -
Plyer v. Doe
In 1982 the United States Supreme Court overturned a Texas law denying undocumented immigrant children access to public education. The Supreme Court argued the Fourteenth Amendment grants protection to all under jurisdiction of the United States, and additionally argued that denying those children access to public education could increase the burden on social and welfare systems. This was an important early decision for multicultural education, and still continues to be a debated topic. -
California Proposition 187
In 1994, California voters voted in favor of California Proposition 187, also known as the Save Our State initiative. This prohibited illegal aliens from access to public services, including education. An injunction was issued against most provisions of this decision, and therefore no enforcement of this proposition was enacted. This decision continued the debate about international students, and showed the support for multicultural education regardless of legal status. -
Illegal Immigation Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act
In 1996 President Bill Clinton signed in to law the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act. In one section, this act specifies that public universities are prohibited from offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants unless they elect to offer this rate to all students, regardless of their residence. This act showed a government opinion that while any student can attend college, it must be fair and established an important opinion on multicultural education. -
No Child Left Behind Act
In 2001 President George Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, which seeks to use standardized education benchmarks to improve individual education. To receive Federal funding, schools had to develop and adhere to assessments in basic skills, and could face consequences for not meeting goals. This act has been accused of unfairly hurting states where more students require assistance with English language skills and other minority based issues, hurting multicultural education. -
Every Student Succees Act
The Every Student Succeeds Act is passed, replacing No Child Left Behind granting individual states and districts more personalized control of the standards students are held to. In addition, this act requires schools to provide college and career counseling to students and access to advanced placement classes. This act specifically seeks to improve outcomes for lower sectors and provide more tailored standards for each state, therefore improving the path for multicultural education.
