Equal Opportunity in Education
Equal Opportunity in Education
Jessica Deighan
Grand Canyon University
EDU-215
November 14, 2010
Equal Opportunity in Education The education system in the United States has not always looked the way it does today and it was not that long ago when children of different races or sex could even go to the same schools as each other. Yet through many strides done by educational activists the United States government continues to stand by its intention to try to free our schools of racial, sexual, religious and monetary discriminations. This is an ongoing struggle that will need to continue to be fought however to be sure no child is truly left behind or slips through the cracks.
The United States first monumental step toward taking discrimination out of the public education system was when the Supreme Court desegregated the country 's public schools from the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. For almost a century preceding this case, the United States Education system had been dominated by racial segregation. This was endorsed in 1896 by the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated that as long as separate facilities for separate races were "equal," then segregation didn’t violate the 14th Amendment (Lutz, 2005). During the Brown v. Board case the Supreme Court had to pay special attention to whether the 14th Amendment 's Equal Protection Clause prohibited the operation of separate public schools for whites and blacks. Another case similar to this was Mendez v. Westminster School District in 1946 where five Mexican-American families sued the Orange County School District claiming that their own children, along with thousands of other “Mexican” children of were being forced into segregated schools for Mexicans. In this case the judge ruled in favor of the five families and found that segregated schools were in direct of denial of equal protection and unconstitutional.
In 1965 The United States made another push to try and provide help
Jessica Deighan
Grand Canyon University
EDU-215
November 14, 2010
Equal Opportunity in Education The education system in the United States has not always looked the way it does today and it was not that long ago when children of different races or sex could even go to the same schools as each other. Yet through many strides done by educational activists the United States government continues to stand by its intention to try to free our schools of racial, sexual, religious and monetary discriminations. This is an ongoing struggle that will need to continue to be fought however to be sure no child is truly left behind or slips through the cracks.
The United States first monumental step toward taking discrimination out of the public education system was when the Supreme Court desegregated the country 's public schools from the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. For almost a century preceding this case, the United States Education system had been dominated by racial segregation. This was endorsed in 1896 by the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated that as long as separate facilities for separate races were "equal," then segregation didn’t violate the 14th Amendment (Lutz, 2005). During the Brown v. Board case the Supreme Court had to pay special attention to whether the 14th Amendment 's Equal Protection Clause prohibited the operation of separate public schools for whites and blacks. Another case similar to this was Mendez v. Westminster School District in 1946 where five Mexican-American families sued the Orange County School District claiming that their own children, along with thousands of other “Mexican” children of were being forced into segregated schools for Mexicans. In this case the judge ruled in favor of the five families and found that segregated schools were in direct of denial of equal protection and unconstitutional.
In 1965 The United States made another push to try and provide help
References: Post Brown vs. the Board of Education: The Effects of the End of Court-Ordered Desegregation written by Lutz, Byron F in the Federal Reserve System. 58 pp.located at http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED505598&site=ehost-live&scope=site Teacher Preparation: Reforming the Uncertain Profession written by Duncan, Arne in Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v75 n5 p13-22 Jan 2010. 10 pp. located at http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ873639&site=ehost-live&scope=site Are Zero Tolerance Policies Effective in the Schools?: An Evidentiary Review and Recommendations found in American Psychologist, v63 n9 p852-862 Dec 2008. 11 pp. located at http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ824556&site=ehost-live&scope=site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendez_v._Westminster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX