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Engel v. Vitale
This case was eventually brought into the federal stage in the Supreme Court in April of 1962, by a group of families in New York. The families, led by Jewish-affiliated Stephen Engel, brought up the fact that school prayer was unconstitutional. They won the case a couple of months later. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The US Supreme Court passes and enacts an act effective in July 1964, which prohibits discrimination against race, color, sex, religion and so on. -
Bilingual Education Act
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs this act (also known as Title VII) in 1968. While a few states had already enacted such a law, it became federal law to recognize and see to the needs of students who are limited in speaking English. There would be amendments to the law added later. -
Title IX
While mainly seen as a boon for women participating in sports, new education amendments were added by the Supreme Court in 1972, where discrimination against sex was emphasized. -
Plyler v. Doe
A case started in December 1981 was decided by the Supreme Court 5-4, that a law in Texas violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The law denied undocumented students of their education. This verdict also disallowed tuition to be offered to these students. -
Georgia becomes first state to enroll 4 year olds
Georgia becomes the first state to give universal education to 4 year olds. Subsequently, more than half of the parent's would allow children of this age to enroll. -
Columbine Massacre
In the spring of 1999, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado was shot up by two students. At 15 students dead and 23 wounded, the massacre resulted in the most casualties in US history until the Virginia Tech shootings years later. -
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
In mid-2001, Congress passes a bill called the No Child Left Behind policy. It held schools accountable for what their students accomplish and penalizes schools if they make minimal progress annually. The bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush in early 2002. -
Fisher v. University of Texas
Sugar Land, Texas-student, Abigail Fisher, files a lawsuit against the University of Texas after she was denied admission by the institution, which she believed was racially motivated. The Supreme Court rules that affirmative action was constitutional if it is "narrowly tailored". A second case that further looked into this issue was commenced in 2016. -
A proposal for free college?
President Barack Obama proposes a plan that would allow students to experience two years of free community college. The plan is currently under review by Congress.
