History of Public Education
(continued)
Public Education in the United States (excerpts from MSN Encarta)
(Continued from Delivery System)
Not everyone accepted publicly funded and controlled schools as the
only way to provide education. The most significant opposition came
from members of the Roman Catholic Church, who believed that the
moral values taught in public schools were biased toward
Protestantism. Arguing that proper education could not separate
intellectual development from moral development, Catholics created
their own separate school system.
In 1925 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Pierce v.
Society of Sisters that states could not compel children to attend
public schools, and that children could attend private schools
instead. In 1994, 11 percent of American students in elementary and
secondary schools attended private institutions. Most of these
attended Catholic schools.
By 1918 all states had passed laws requiring children to attend at
least elementary school. As the 20th century progressed, most states
enacted legislation extending compulsory education laws to the age
of 16. Most students found it more enjoyable—and more profitable in
the long run—to stay in school beyond the legal limits than to
leave, or drop out, before graduating.
Especially since the 1960s, education reformers have argued that
special programs and resources were essential to guarantee genuine
equality of education to disadvantaged youth. Title I (later called
Chapter I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
provided federal funds for supplementary education programs targeted
toward poor and black children. Most of these funds were spent on
young children, according to a prevailing theory that educational
disadvantages could best be eliminated at an early age, before their
effects had become more difficult to reverse. The federal Head Start
program, established in 1965, created special education programs for
preschoolers and remains one of the most admired achievements of the
War on Poverty programs of the 1960s.
The federal government has also provided financial assistance for
educational programs for other disadvantaged groups. The Bilingual
Education Act, part of the 1967 amendments to the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, authorized federal funds for school
districts having substantial numbers of students with limited
mastery of English. Estimates of the number of students in the
United States with limited mastery of English range from 2.5 to 4.6
million, or from 7 to 10 percent of the U.S. student population.
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 mandated
individualized instructional programs for students with
disabilities. It also called for placing such students, whenever
possible, in regular classrooms rather than separating them from
mainstream students. In 1994 the U.S. Department of Education
reported that 6.6 percent of all Americans below age 21 received
special education services.
Today, formal education serves a greater percentage of the U.S.
population than at any time in history. It has also assumed many of
the responsibilities formerly reserved for family, religion, and
social organizations. Most Americans expect schools to provide
children with skills, values, and behaviors that will help them
become responsible citizens, contribute to social stability in the
country, and increase American economic productivity. The federal
government also requires schools to correct social inequality among
students of different racial, ethnic, social, or economic
backgrounds. |
