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Engel v. Vitale: New York Regent's Prayer
This landmark decision in 1962 paved the way for multicultural education. It stated that "state officials may not require students to recite prayers before the school day". Although this might not seem important, it was the beginning of religious and educational separation. With both of those kept separate, they could focus on educating equally for all religious, cultural, and racial groups regardless. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act was a huge step in Multicultural Education. Banning all discrimination of any kind against race, color, sex, religion, or national orientation, the act was instrumental in changing how we learn today. Although not all work was done quite yet, it was a major breakthrough and put us in the right direction, culturally. -
Passing of the ESEA Act
With the passing of this act in 1965, our educational system was impacted greatly. For the first time we started prioritizing minorities and poverty stricken students and putting their needs first. This paved the way for such programs as "Title 1" and "Bilingual Education". Now with funding for such classes, it opened up many opportunities for the diverse group of students we often did not think about. -
Mills v. Board of Education of Washington D.C.
Mills v. Board of Education streamlined a pathway for students with disabilities that were often overlooked or provided with insufficient resources to thrive in our educational system. Far too often they were not given the tools they needed to thrive, and this court decision changed that and provided an alternative method to education to better cater to such students. With services to apply to their needs, it became clear that we were moving in the right direction. -
Immigrant and Refuge Educational Assistance
Under the presidency of Jimmy Carter, immigration law and millions entering the United States ushered in a new era of Education for refugees. With all of these new people living in the country, new laws had to be made to ensure that all racial, cultural, and religious groups had ample opportunity to educate themselves. With the 1980 Refuge Act and Refuge Educational Assistance Acts, the nation made strong steps toward providing an education for truly everyone. -
Plyler v. Doe, U.S. Supreme Court
Plyler v. Doe was an instrumental decision in our educational system. Texas tried to deny education to undocumented immigrants and make them pay for tuition, which the court deemed unacceptable and against the law. Hence this case was a message to all undocumented students and citizens alike that we as a country will not deny education to anyone who is willing to learn, regardless of status. -
University of Phoenix Online Campus
Although you may not agree, the creation of such online education was a huge step in multicultural education. With the availability to nearly all students on an online platform and the readiness of information, the establishment of this school system moved us ahead light-years in understanding the world around us and educating ourselves. Now possible to learn from almost anywhere, the barriers of diversity, ethnicity, culture, religion, nearly no longer existed because anyone could learn. -
James Bank: Multicultural Education Book
With the writing of this book by James Bank, it gave all readers an open window into the world of multicultural education and why we should value diversity and our differences. It established the thought that even though we are all individuals, we share our sets of similarities and educating us all equally is important. -
Parents v. Seattle School District
The U.S. Supreme Court determined that race could no longer be a factor in determining which schools students are placed. I find it appalling that it took this long to see this changed, but nevertheless it was beneficial to providing all students with a culturally and racially diverse environment to learn. -
Free Community College Education, Obama
Among all these events that shaped education as we know it, this one is extremely important. Barack Obama announced a program that would provided college education to those who worked hard for it, regardless of student background. Rich, poor, race, disability, religion, none of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was receiving a quality learning experience and ensuring that we keep moving forward in our multicultural education.
