1785 & 1787 - Land Ordinance & Northwest Ordinance "...set aside Section 16 in every township in the new Western Territory for the maintenance of public schools."
1787 - U.S. Constitution Article 1 Section 8 "provide for the general welfare"
1791 - 10th Amendment - (powers reserved to the states) Public education not mentioned as a federal power, so historically has been delegated to local and state governments.
Early 1800s - More than 77 million acres of land in the public domain granted as endowment for the support of public schools.
1867 - Office of Education established to help states develop effective school systems.
1868 - 14th Amendment - All citizens equal under the law.
1890 - Second Morrill Act - Land Grant Colleges - "separate but equal".
1917 - Smith-Hughes Act - Vocational education.
1944 - GI Bill - Post secondary assistance for nearly 8 million WWII veterans.
1946 - George-Barden Act - Agriculture, industrial arts, home economics for high school students.
1954 - Brown v. Board of Education - "Separate but equal" deemed unconstitutional.
1958 - National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in response to Soviet Sputnik - federal dollars for science, math instruction.
1965 - Elementary and Secondary Education Act - Established comprehensive set of programs, including Title I of federal aid to disadvantaged.
1960s & 1970s - Anti-poverty and civil rights laws increased role of federal government in education.
1964 - Title IX - Prohibited discrimination based on race, sex, disability.
1965 - Head Start "War on Poverty"
.
1980 - Department of Education authorized by Congress as a Cabinet level agency.
1980 - Education a priority issue.
1993-2000 - Goals 2000 competitive grants.
2009 - Race to the Top:
Present time - shift from local control to state and federal involvement with about 10% of local school budgets federally funded.
Sources:
1. ED.gov - U.S. Dept. of Education - Overview "The Federal Role in Education".
2. Encyclopedia of American History, Vol.2, pp. 395-96.
3. LWVUS Public Education Study Background Papers 2011
Presented by Catherine Troka
LWV Sacramento County
7-13-2011
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League of Women Voters of Oakland, California. All rights reserved.
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