-
John F. Kennedy Dies
s assassinated. Schools close as the nation mourns its loss. Lyndon Johnson becomes president. -
Civil Rights Act
It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin -
Project Head Start
a preschool education program for children from low-income families, begins as an eight-week summer program. Part of the "War on Poverty," the program continues to this day as the longest-running anti-poverty program in the U.S. -
Dr. Martin Luther King Assasination
Nobel Prize winner and leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee -
Indian Education Act
becomes law and establishes "a comprehensive approach to meeting the unique needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students" -
Equal Educational Opportunities Act
It prohibits discrimination and requires schools to take action to overcome barriers which prevent equal protection. The legislation has been particularly important in protecting the rights of students with limited English proficiency. -
Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142)
becomes federal law. It requires that a free, appropriate public education, suited to the student's individual needs, and offered in the least restrictive setting be provided for all "handicapped" children. States are given until 1978 (later extended to 1981) to fully implement the law. -
The Refugee Act of 1980
reforms immigration law to admit refugees for humanitarian reasons and results in the resettlement of more than three-million refugees in the United States including many children who bring special needs and issues to their classrooms. -
Emergency Immigrant Education Act
is enacted to provide services and offset the costs for school districts that have unexpectedly large numbers of immigrant students. -
Barack Obama
defeats John McCain and is elected the 44th President of the United States. Substantial changes in the No Child Left Behind Act are eventually expected, but with two ongoing wars as well as the current preoccupation with our nation's economic problems, reauthorization of NCLB is unlikely to happen any time soon
