PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN

THE UNITED STATES

Will Slade
July 19, 2016
Public Education in the US
History and purpose
Status today
History
1647 Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony
1779 Thomas Jefferson proposes two track education system:
Laboring and Learned
1830s southern states outlaw literacy education for slaves
1839 Ohio adopts bilingual education for German and English
1847 Louisiana adopts bilingual instruction in French and English
1850 New Mexico adopts Spanish-English bilingual education
1845 1848 The US annexes Texas, US invades Mexico, takes
what is now the US Southwest.
History
1861 1864 U.S. Civil War
1864 A law passed banning Native American
children from being taught in their own languages
1865 1881 Slavery is abolished; Reconstruction
sees black leaders, briefly
1875 first Jim Crow laws, which discriminated
based on race
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson reinforced segregation
laws claiming services could be separate but equal
1905 U.S. Supreme Court requires California to
educate the children of Chinese immigrants
History
1914-1921 First World War many states outlaw German
instruction and foreign language instruction in general
1923 ban on foreign languages was struck down as
unconstitutional, but bilingual schooling was still largely dismantled
1924 Congress makes Native Americans U.S. citizens for the
first time
1910 1950 Great Migration of Black Americans from rural
south to urban north
1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka outlaws
segregation and all
1968 and 1974 Bilingual Education Act provided funding for
language minority education
1994 Prop 187 in California passes banning undocumented
immigrants from public school stricken as unconstitutional
History
1974 Lau v. Nichols class action lawsuit on
behalf of Chinese speaking students in San
Francisco found that schools need to provide
access to education for students with limited
English
1981 Plyler v. Doe Supreme Court struck
down a Texas law that prevented undocumented
immigrants from receiving education
1998 bilingual education outlawed in California
Purposes of Public Education
Educate people on religion to save their souls
Educate everyone in literacy, history, and
civics to make a good democracy
Educate some people for labor and others
for learning
Promote assimilation for diverse groups
Promote social mobility or reinforce existing
social structure
 Bilingual Education
English Only
Early Transition Spanish helps with basic literacy
and numeracy, then learn English
Late Transition Same but later
Dual Language/ Dual Immersion/ Maintenance
Bilingual promote both languages with a goal of
bilingualism and biliteracy
Two-Way Dual Language Combine English and
Spanish dominant students to promote
bilingualism and biliteracy
Special Education
1976 Students with Disabilities Act
Mainstreaming and Inclusion
Resource room students go to a special
education room regularly to receive
specialized instruction
Self-contained classroom students spend
most of their day learning in a special
education room
Different types of schools
Public
Charter
Private
Home School
Testing and Choice
Accountability through testing has increased
over the past few decades
Schools are rated on subpopulation scores
Funding and job placement is based on ratings
Washback and teaching to the test
Education Authority in the US
Local School Districts
Regions
State Board of Education: Texas Education
Agency created the Texas Essential
Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the STAAR
test
US Department of Education-- Created the
Common Core Standards
Twenty-First Century Skills
Resources
Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation
<https://www.raceforward.org/research/reports/historical-timeline-
public-education-us>

Dr. Quintard Taylor, Jr.s United States History timeline

<http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1800_1900_timeline.
htm>

Rethinking Schools: History of Bilingual Education

<http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/12_03/langh
st.shtml>

Diane Ravich: The death and life of the great American school system:
how testing and choice are undermining education:
<http://www.capitolreader.com/bonus/The%20Death%20and%20Life%20
of%20the%20Great%20American%20School%20System.pdf>
Resources
Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation
<https://www.raceforward.org/research/reports/historical-timeline-
public-education-us>

Dr. Quintard Taylor, Jr.s United States History timeline

<http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1800_1900_timeline.
htm>

Rethinking Schools: History of Bilingual Education

<http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.asp?path=archive/12_03/langh
st.shtml>

Diane Ravich: The death and life of the great American school system:
how testing and choice are undermining education:
<http://www.capitolreader.com/bonus/The%20Death%20and%20Life%20
of%20the%20Great%20American%20School%20System.pdf>
Resources
National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/ataglance.asp
The Texas Education Agency
http://tea.texas.gov/
The National Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/