History of Education free essay sample

In the decades that made up the fifties, sixties, and seventies numerous events that would paint the canvas of American education took place. Equality was an idea that some thought we would never see. Civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. saw this idea of equity as an obtainable dream that was in the hearts of all Americans. Though desegregation and the fair treatment of African Americans was at the forefront of the civil rights movement, there were several issues that would be brought to the attention of law makers, federal judges, and the education system. Such issues included segregation, bilingual students, and special needs education. In 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the court in one of the most influential cases to ever be presented on the floor of the Supreme Court: ? it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms. 1 This ruling, made in the case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, KS, effectively overturned a decision made in the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. For nearly sixty years, it had been considered constitutionally justified to segregate the public education system. The opinion delivered by Chief Justice Warren served as a platform from which the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964 would be propelled. Before this would occur, many obstacles would have to be conquered. On September 2, 1957 Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus defied a federal court order to desegregate public schools by dispatching the State National Guard unit to prevent 9 African American students from entering Central High School. It wasnt until a federal judge had issued an injunction against the Governors use of National Guard troops and President Dwight D. Eisenhower had dispatched one thousand Army troops to the school that the students were able to attend their first day on September 25. Shortly thereafter, the case of Cooper v. Aaron was presented to the Supreme Court. The request by the Little Rock Arkansas School Board to temporarily suspend their plan to desegregate was denied. It was the thought of the Chief Justices that if this request was granted it would be the first of many attempts to delay desegregation thereby further hindering the education of African American students. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions in cases such as Green v. Kent County School Board (1968), U. S. v. Montgomery County (1969), and Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971), were all in support of desegregation. Title IV of the CRA of 1964 called for the desegregation of public schools. Title VI assured nondiscrimination when funds were distributed to federally assisted programs. Years of turmoil and strife led to the 1974 Equal Education Opportunities Act (EEOA). The EEOA provided that no state could deny equal education based on race, color, sex or national origin. The EEOA pointed out a set of students that had been previously overlooked. Those of different national origin also had a different native language. The case of Lau v. Nichols addressed the needs of bilingual students. It was ruled that school districts must provide remedies for non-English speaking students. The ASPIRA Consent Decree of the same year required that Limited English Proficient (LEP) students must be taught, at least partly, in their native language. A year later, in 1975, the National Association of Bilingual Education was founded proving that we had taken another step towards equity in education. One of the most overlooked issues of the time period was the special needs student. Samuel Kirk coined the term learning disability at a Chicago conference in 1963. A year later, the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities was formed. Later, it became known as the Learning Disabilities Association of America. It was some seven years later in 1971 when the Supreme Court ruled that students with mental retardation are entitled to a free public education. The case of Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Pennsylvania served as a catalyst to bring to the public eye the needs of the mentally handicapped. The next year, Mills v the Board of Education of Washington, D. C. extended the ruling of PARC v. Pennsylvania to include students with disabilities. This ruling also required that educational alternatives must be provided that fit the childs needs. The Rehabilitation Act, which became law in 1973, required accommodations in school including participation in programs and activities as well as access to buildings. Section 504 of this act guaranteed people with disabilities would enjoy civil rights in the context of federally funded institutions. 504 plans are used today in place of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for those students who do not qualify for special education. The Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) became law in 1975. This law required free and appropriate public education (FAPE) that was suited to meet a students individual needs. If we look at this era as a whole, its a lot to take in. Several monumental legislative actions were taken to ensure that all students were granted an opportunity to receive an adequate education. We often times look at these decades and think only of the racial implications. We do it a great injustice if we do not take into account the other areas that were significantly impacted. Due to the outspoken nature of critics of a broken education system, we now have a system in place that takes into consideration the needs of all students. Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame University and a member of the Civil Rights Commission, said it best in the Commissions 1961 annual report: Americans might well wonder how we can legitimately combat communism when we practice so widely its central folly: utter disregard for the God-given spiritual rights, freedom and dignity of every human person. 2