The article, ‘A Struggle for Educational Equality, 1950-1980’, reflects the existence of segregation, discrimination, and inequality in the United States schooling system between 1950 -1980.

After the postwar, the school was expected to protect children from nuclear threats, inoculate them from disease, and prepare them for a technological future. However, their experience in the United States schooling system was very bad as they were exposed to severe inequalities. Severe inequalities marked the 1950s as the average schooling for Mexican Americans was 5.4 years. Also, 17 states in the United States enacted a law that segregate African – Americans. Over 72 percent of disabled children were not enrolled in school and scholarships, women athletics Teams, colleges, as well as Professional schools were not available due to the severe inequalities and segregation.  The continuous racial segregation resulted to protest and fight in Topeka, Kansas. The fight led to the surface display of integration in high school while the school activities were segregated. In the elementary schools, there were a limited number of African – American schools (4), while the white schools were 18. This article explained that elementary school was strictly segregated. Despite the racial segregation in Topeka, the African - American teachers that were recruited or employed were highly qualified and held Master’s degrees. The major limitation in the African – American schools during this period was that they had vastly limited resources compared to the white schools.

The article explained that the NAACP and the parents began the fight for equality. The former uses education to eliminate segregation as the organization took the case to the Supreme Court. The school board held a meeting in which they expressed their desire for the same education but continue with the doctrine of separation. Although the Supreme Court refutes the doctrine and accepts equal education.

Despite the decision of the court, the whites continue their racial discrimination and segregation as the black children were not allowed to attend school together with their white counterparts. The most notable example is the Little Rock Nine in 1957.  About 98 percent of black children were still being segregated by attending segregated schools decades after the Supreme Court decision.

Integration began to take place gradually. However, in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. The act withheld funding for schools that failed or ignore to integrate while providing funds for schools that complied with the law. This move resulted in to increase in the number of schools that comply with the integration of white and black children together. The monetary incentive played a crucial role in this transformation. Within 8 years of enacting the law, more than 91 percent of schools were integrated.

In 1968, the Bilingual Education Act was passed by Congress, and in 1970, the students of Chicano protested and demand that Chicano history be taught by Chicano teachers while students must be allowed to speak Spanish. In 1974, the San Francisco school district was sued by Lau in a case that was taken to the Supreme Court for specialized instruction in English. This led to the establishment of the National Association for Bilingual Education in 1975.


Comments

  1. A good overview of the deep-rooted and long-term problems that plagued the country and its public schools and some of the major remedies for these challenges during this time period..a short 30 years of great change and transformation of public education.

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  2. I liked this response. The schooling back then had many challenges with segregation and it is great to see that it changed. No student should have to go through that or be criticized for what they look like.

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