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The labor unions of 1825 gave a big push for equal education for all children, no matter the social class. Publicly funded schools became a reality for many Northern states by 1850, however, the trend had not yet impacted the Southern states.
The call for equal eduction of not only children of the wealthy class, but also working class was very important to the development of equal public education. The creation of printing press and a low-cost newspaper contributed to the success of the working class labor unions. With the use of publications in rally for free public schools, the popular opinion was greatly influenced. This was one of the first steps in moving towards equal, public education. -
In 1862, the Morril Act was granted funds to set up universities of agriculture and mechanical arts. As result from this act, more than 11 million acres of public land was set aside for new institutions to teach these college subjects.
The Morrill Act is an influential piece of educational history because it began the encouragement of not only college education, but also, creating new establishments and also expanding on old ones. This continues to be applied today as new fields of work are continuously being developed and result with a need for new institutions to train students on these subjects. The Morrill Act is pertinent today as states continue to receive government funding to continue to develop university programs. -
The "Cardinal Principles Report of 1918" has been a significant document since it was passed. The report acknowledged the diversity among students in public schools and called for a more diverse curriculum to adapt with the changing times.
"Cardinal Principles" advocated for general education for students along with an increase of non-traditional courses. This intended to develop all parts of the student and allow them to explore courses within their own interests. This is important to the development of the education system because it created a break from the traditional education that had been previously used. Students were guided to make decisions by counselors and through the courses they had taken, encouraging independence. -
The court case "Brown vs Board of Education" was a suit filed on behave of the children of Kansas. The suit claimed the black and white schools were separate, but not equal.
This is significant in the history of American education because the Supreme Court had a unanimous ruling that separate schools were not equal and therefore, deemed unconstitutional. Although desegregation did not occur directly after this court ruling, it was the first major step towards equality between races which has been, and continues to be an issue in society. Being a step towards equal education, this was also a step towards equal opportunity among students which is extremely important. -
In 2002, The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLA) was passed to provide equal education for all students. The act also worked to insure only highly qualified teachers would be hired to teach at public schools.
With this act, public schooling was made more equal for children from different student populations such as low-income, minority and disabled students. The NCLB act was impactful to education because it was able to decrease the achievement gap between black and white students. This moves the nation closer to an equal education for all which is necessary to improve quality of life. In most cases, achievement on testing was raised for all student groups making this act fairly successful.
