There is now—and has always been—a direct correlation between education and wealth in the United States. In the beginning, even basic education was reserved for the children of the rich and college was a finishing school for the next generation of the aristocracy. Over time, the culture changed and education became something that was recommended, then eventually required, for all children. COVID-19 has widened student achievement gaps largely along economic lines, and stands as a searing reminder of educational disparities still pervasive among American students. Today, the 15% of students who don't graduate high school likely fall into the lowest-earning demographic in American society, with median weekly wages of $592, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Using sources like news reports, government data, and historical records, Stacker developed a list of 50 moments that helped to define the history of American education. It is, of course, an incomplete list. Volumes have been written just about individual Supreme Court cases that redefined the American classroom. What follows, however, is a chronology of the events that connect colonial Puritan homeschooling to online homeschooling in the age of the coronavirus.
Since knowledge is power, education has always been a source of controversy. The storylines of race, gender, economics, religion, culture, geography, and politics drove and were driven by the history of education. Along the way, generations of children learned their ABCs and times tables from teachers they would remember for the rest of their lives.
As of January 2019, just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., there were 130,930 K-12 schools in the United States. The total includes 91,276 public schools, 32,461 private schools, and 7,193 charter schools. Nearly 51 million children get their education at those schools and another 1.69 million were being homeschooled—a number that likely climbed dramatically amid the pandemic when, even a schools reopened, many parents and guardians opted to keep their children learning from home.
Keep reading to learn 50 major moments in the history of the Americaneducation system.
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