Editing Education in the United States (section)

==History==
{{main|History of education in the United States}}

===19th century===
[[New England]] encouraged its towns to support free public schools funded by taxation. In the early 19th century, [[Massachusetts]] took the lead in [[education reform]] and [[public education]] with programs designed by [[Horace Mann]] that were widely emulated across the North. Teachers were specially trained in [[Normal schools in the United States|normal schools]] and taught [[the three Rs]] (reading, writing, and arithmetic) and also history and geography. Public education was at the elementary level in most places.

After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] end in 1865, cities began building high schools. The [[Southern United States|South]] was far behind [[Northern United States|northern]] standards on every educational measure and gave weak support to its segregated all-black schools. However, northern philanthropy and northern churches provided assistance to private black colleges across the South. Religious denominations across the country set up their private colleges. States also opened state universities, but they were quite small until well into the 20th century.

In 1823, [[Samuel Read Hall]] founded the first [[Normal schools in the United States|normal school]], the Columbian School in [[Concord, Vermont]],<ref>[http://oldstonehousemuseum.org/srhallbio.html Samuel Read Hall Biography at the Old Stone House Museum website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405231650/http://www.oldstonehousemuseum.org/srhallbio.html|date=April 5, 2010}}, Retrieved on July 3, 2009</ref><ref name="melrosemirror.media.mit.edu">{{cite web|url=http://melrosemirror.media.mit.edu/servlet/pluto?state=303034706167653030375765625061676530303269643030353130353631|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060920192639/http://melrosemirror.media.mit.edu/servlet/pluto?state=303034706167653030375765625061676530303269643030353130353631|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 20, 2006|title=An early Yankee=April 1, 2005|access-date=January 16, 2014}}</ref> aimed at improving the quality of the burgeoning common school system by producing more qualified teachers.

During [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]], the [[United States Office of Education]] was created in an attempt to standardize educational reform across the country. At the outset, the goals of the Office were to track [[statistical data]] on schools and provide insight into the educational outcomes of schools in each state. While supportive of educational improvement, the office lacked the power to enforce policies in any state. Educational aims across the states in the nineteenth century were broad, making it difficult to create shared goals and priorities. States like [[Massachusetts]], with long-established educational institutions, had well-developed priorities in place by the time the [[United States Office of Education|Office of Education]] was established. In the South and the West, however, newly formed common school systems had different needs and priorities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Steudeman|first=Michael J.|date=May 2018|title=From Civic Imperative to Bird's-Eye View: Renegotiating the Idioms of Education Governance during the Reconstruction Era|journal=History of Education Quarterly|language=en|volume=58|issue=2|pages=199–228|doi=10.1017/heq.2018.3|issn=0018-2680|doi-access=free}}</ref> Competing interests among state legislators limited the ability of the Office of Education to enact change.

In the mid-19th century, the rapidly increasing Catholic population led to the formation of [[parochial school]]s in the largest cities. Theologically oriented [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]], Lutheran, and Jewish bodies on a smaller scale set up their own parochial schools. There were debates over whether tax money could be used to support them, with the answer typically being no. From about 1876, thirty-nine states passed a constitutional amendment to their state constitutions, called [[Blaine Amendment]] after [[James G. Blaine]], one of their chief promoters, forbidding the use of public tax money to fund local parochial schools.

States passed laws to make [[Compulsory education|schooling compulsory]] between 1852 ([[Massachusetts]]) and 1917 ([[Mississippi]]). They also used federal funding designated by the [[Morrill Land-Grant Acts]] of 1862 and 1890 to set up [[land grant colleges]] specializing in agriculture and engineering. By 1870, every state had free elementary schools,<ref>Paul Monroe, ''"A cyclopedia of education"'' (4 vol. 1911) covers each state</ref> albeit only in urban centers. According to a 2018 study in the ''[[The Economic Journal|Economic Journal]]'', states were more likely to adopt compulsory education laws during the Age of Mass Migration (1850–1914) if they hosted more European immigrants with lower exposure to civic values.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bandiera|first1=Oriana|last2=Mohnen|first2=Myra|last3=Rasul|first3=Imran|last4=Viarengo|first4=Martina|date=2018-06-09|title=Nation-Building Through Compulsory Schooling During the Age of Mass Migration|journal=The Economic Journal|volume=129|issue=617|pages=62–109|doi=10.1111/ecoj.12624|issn=0013-0133|url=http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/eopp/eopp57.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808164135/http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/eopp/eopp57.pdf |archive-date=2017-08-08 |url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Following Reconstruction the [[Tuskegee University|Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute]] was founded in 1881 as a state college, in [[Tuskegee, Alabama]], to train "Colored Teachers," led by [[Booker T. Washington]], (1856–1915), who was himself a freed slave. His movement spread, leading many other Southern states to establish small colleges for "Colored or Negro" students entitled "A. & M." ("Agricultural and Mechanical") or "A. & T." ("Agricultural and Technical"), some of which later developed into state universities. Before the 1940s, there were very few black students at private or state colleges in the North and almost none in the South.<ref>Walter R., Allen, Edgar G. Epps, and Nesha Z. Haniff, ''College in Black and White: African American students in predominantly White and in historically Black public universities'' (SUNY Press, 1991).</ref>

Responding to the many competing academic philosophies being promoted at the time, an influential working group of educators, known as the [[Committee of Ten]] and established in 1892 by the [[National Education Association]], recommended that children should receive twelve years of instruction, consisting of eight years of [[elementary education]] (in what were also known as "[[Grammar school#United States|grammar schools]]") followed by four years in [[High school in the United States|high school]] ("freshmen", "sophomores", "juniors" and "seniors").

Gradually by the late 1890s, regional associations of high schools, colleges and universities were being organized to coordinate proper accrediting standards, examinations, and regular surveys of various institutions in order to assure equal treatment in graduation and admissions requirements, as well as course completion and transfer procedures.

===20th century===
By 1910, 72% of children were attending school. Between 1910 and 1940 the [[high school movement]] resulted in a rapid increase in public high school enrollment and graduations.<ref name=Spooner>Spooner, F. (2014). Serving students with healthcare needs. In M. Agran (Ed.), Equity and full participation for individuals with severe disabilities: A vision for the future (p. 239). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Pub.</ref> By 1930, 100% of children were attending school, excluding children with significant disabilities or medical concerns.<ref name=Spooner/>

Private schools spread during this time, as well as colleges and, in the rural centers, [[land grant colleges]].<ref name=Spooner/> In 1922, an attempt was made by the voters of Oregon to enact the [[Oregon Compulsory Education Act]], which would require all children between the ages of 8 and 16 to attend [[State school#United States|public schools]], only leaving exceptions for mentally or physically unfit children, exceeding a certain living distance from a public school, or having written consent from a county superintendent to receive private instruction. The law was passed by popular vote but was later ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in [[Pierce v. Society of Sisters]], determining that "a child is not a mere creature of the state". This case settled the dispute about whether or not private schools had the right to do business and educate within the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jorgenson|first=Lloyd P.|title=The Oregon School Law of 1922: Passage and Sequel|journal=The Catholic Historical Review|volume=54|issue=3|pages=455–466|publisher=Catholic University of America Press|jstor=25018244|year=1968}}</ref>

By 1938, there was a movement to bring education to six years of elementary school, four years of junior high school, and four years of high school.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788381,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826053451/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788381,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2010-08-26|title=Education: 6-4-4 Preferred|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=1938-08-22|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], enrollment in high schools and colleges plummeted as many high school and college students and teachers dropped out to enlist or take war-related jobs.<ref>Campbell, pp 78–9, 226–7</ref><ref>Grace Palladino, ''Teenagers: An American History'' (1996) p 66</ref><ref>Steven Mintz, ''[[Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood]]'' (2006) pp 258–9</ref>

The 1946 [[National School Lunch Act]] provided low-cost or free [[School meal|school lunch meals]] to qualified low-income students through subsidies to schools based on the idea that a "full stomach" during the day supports class attention and studying.

The 1954 Supreme Court case [[Brown v. Board of Education|Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas]] made racial desegregation of public elementary and high schools mandatory, although white families often attempted to avoid desegregation by sending their children to private secular or religious schools.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nordin|first1=Virginia Davis|last2=Turner|first2=William Lloyd|year=1980|title=More than Segregation Academies: The Growing Protestant Fundamentalist Schools|journal=The Phi Delta Kappan|volume=61|issue=6|pages=391–394}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Carper|first=James C.|year=1983|title=The Christian Day School Movement|journal=The Educational Forum|volume=47|issue=2|pages=135–149|doi=10.1080/00131728309335955}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Carper|first1=James C.|last2=Layman|first2=Jack|year=1995|title=Independent Christian Day Schools Past, Present, and Prognosis|journal=Journal of Research on Christian Education|volume=4|issue=1|pages=7–19|doi=10.1080/10656219509484824}}
</ref> In the years following this decision, the number of Black teachers rose in the North but dropped in the South.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Oakley D, Stowell J, Logan JR|title=The impact of desegregation on black teachers in the metropolis, 1970–2000|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=39|issue=9|pages=1576–1598|date=2009|pmid=24039318|pmc=3769798|doi=10.1080/01419870902780997}}</ref>

In 1965, the far-reaching [[Elementary and Secondary Education Act]] ('ESEA'), passed as a part of President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s [[War on poverty]], provided funds for primary and secondary education ('Title I funding'). Title VI explicitly forbade the establishment of a [[national curriculum]].<ref>"The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 forbids federally determined curricula." [https://archive.today/20120801233604/http://www.hoover.org/pubaffairs/dailyreport/archive/2864556.html Hoover Institution&nbsp;– Daily Report Archives&nbsp;– Secretary Riley Reignites the Math Wars]</ref> Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 created the [[Pell Grant]] program which provides financial support to students from low-income families to access higher education.

In 1975, the [[Education for All Handicapped Children Act]] established funding for [[special education]] in schools.

The Higher [[Education Amendments of 1972]] made changes to the [[Pell Grant]]. The 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical and mental disabilities. The 1983 [[National Commission on Excellence in Education]] report, famously titled ''[[A Nation at Risk]]'', touched off a wave of federal, state, and local reform efforts, but by 1990 the country still spent only 2% of its budget on education, compared with 30% on support for the elderly.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=U.S. spending|date=April 19, 1990|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|page=43}}</ref> In 1990, the EHA was replaced with the [[Individuals with Disabilities Education Act]] (IDEA), which placed more focus on students as individuals, and also provided for more post-high school transition services.

===21st century===
The [[No Child Left Behind Act]] of 2001, passed by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, provided federal aid to the states in exchange for measures to penalize schools that were not meeting the goals as measured by standardized state exams in mathematics and language skills. This made [[standardized test]]ing a requirement.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jesse Rhodes|title=An Education in Politics: The Origins and Evolution of No Child Left Behind|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fDvg6r8oHKIC&pg=PA179|year=2012|publisher=Cornell U.P.|pages=179–81|isbn=978-0801464669}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Steven Brill|title=Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_e6RjCtpcAC&pg=PA84|year=2011|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=84|isbn=9781451611991}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/factsheet.html|title=Archived: Fact Sheet on No Child Left Behind|date=2006-05-03}}</ref> In the same year, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] diluted some of the century-old "Blaine" laws upheld an Ohio law allowing aid to [[parochial school]]s under specific circumstances.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=00-1751|title=Zeman vs Simmon-Harris, US Supreme Court certoriari 00-1751|date=June 27, 2002|work=findlaw.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021002104112/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=00-1751|archive-date=October 2, 2002|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2006 [[Commission on the Future of Higher Education]] evaluated higher education. In December 2015, then-American President [[Barack Obama]] signed legislation replacing No Child Left Behind with the [[Every Student Succeeds Act]].<ref name="Hirschfeld Davis">{{cite news|last=Hirschfeld Davis|first=Julie|title=President Obama Signs into Law a Rewrite of No Child Left Behind|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 10, 2015|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/us/politics/president-obama-signs-into-law-a-rewrite-of-no-child-left-behind.html|access-date=December 18, 2015}}</ref>

The [[Great Recession]] of 2007–2009 caused a sharp decline in tax revenues in all American states and cities. The response included cuts to education budgets. [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009|Obama's $800 billion stimulus package]] of 2009 included $100 billion for public schools, which every state used to protect its education budget. In terms of sponsoring innovation; however, then-President Obama and then-Education Secretary [[Arne Duncan]] pursued K-12 education reform through the [[Race to the Top]] grant program. With over $15 billion of grants at stake, 34 states quickly revised their education laws according to the proposals of advanced educational reformers. In the competition, points were awarded for allowing charter schools to multiply, for compensating teachers on a merit basis including student test scores, and for adopting higher educational standards.

There were incentives for states to establish college and career-ready standards, which in practice meant adopting the [[Common Core|Common Core State Standards Initiative]] that had been developed on a bipartisan basis by the [[National Governors Association]], and the [[Council of Chief State School Officers]]. The criteria were not mandatory, they were incentives to improve opportunities to get a grant. Most states revised their laws accordingly, even though they realized it was unlikely they would win a highly competitive new grant. Race to the Top had strong bipartisan support, with centrist elements from both parties. It was opposed by the left wing of the Democratic Party, and by the right wing of the Republican Party, and criticized for centralizing too much power in Washington. Complaints also came from middle-class families, who were annoyed at the increasing emphasis on teaching to the test, rather than encouraging teachers to show creativity and stimulating students' imagination.<ref>[[Jonathan Zimmerman]], "Education in the Age of Obama: The Paradox of Consensus" in Zelizer, ed., ''The Presidency of Barack Obama '' pp 110–28.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=McGuinn|first=Patrick|year=2012|title=Stimulating reform: Race to the Top, competitive grants and the Obama education agenda|journal=Educational Policy|volume=26|issue=1|pages=136–159|doi=10.1177/0895904811425911|s2cid=154566214}}</ref> Voters in both major parties have been critical of the [[Common Core]] initiative.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ferguson |first=Maria |year=2015 |title=Washington View So you want to be an education president?. |journal=Phi Delta Kappan |volume=96 |issue=6 |pages=72–73 |doi=10.1177/0031721715575307 |s2cid=145724054}}</ref>

During the 2010s, American [[Student loans in the United States|student loan debt]] became recognized as a social problem.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/25/opinion/sunday/student-debt-loan-default-college.html|title=Opinion &#124; the Student Debt Problem is Worse Than We Imagined|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2018-08-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/309760-student-debt-is-americas-most-pressing-economic-problem|title=Student debt is America's most pressing economic problem|date=2016-12-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-17/the-student-loan-debt-crisis-is-about-to-get-worse|title=The Student Loan Debt Crisis Is About to Get Worse|last=Griffin|first=Riley|date=2018-10-17|work=Bloomberg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/11/28/student-loan-debt-crisis/|title=Betsy DeVos: Student Loan Debt is Now A 'Crisis'|website=[[Forbes]]|date=July 16, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/student-loan-debt-crisis/|title=Will a Student Loan Debt Crisis Sink the U.S. Economy?}}</ref>

Like every wealthy country, the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]] and [[SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant|Delta]][[SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant|cron]] hybrid variant had a [[impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States|great impact on education in the United States]], requiring schools to implement technology and transition to virtual meetings.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Nagel|first1=David|date=2020-03-06|title=More Than Half of All States Have Shut Down All of Their Schools |url=https://thejournal.com/articles/2020/03/16/more-major-education-systems-shut-down.aspx|access-date=2020-06-10|website=THE Journal|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Herold|first=Benjamin|date=2020-04-01|title=The Scramble to Move America's Schools Online - Education Week|work=Education Week|url=https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/03/26/the-scramble-to-move-americas-schools-online.html|access-date=2020-06-19}}</ref> Although the use of technology improves the grading process and the quality of information received,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Technology in Classrooms: Pros and Cons – Future Educators|date=June 22, 2019 |url=https://www.futureeducators.org/technology-in-classrooms-pros-cons/|access-date=2020-06-18|language=en-US}}</ref> critics assess it a poor substitute for in-person learning, and that online-only education disadvantages students without internet access, who disproportionately live in poor households, and that technology may make it harder for students to pay attention.<ref name="weforum.org">{{Cite web|title=The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how|url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/|access-date=2020-06-19|website=World Economic Forum|date=April 29, 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Zilibotti/>

Some colleges and universities became vulnerable to permanent closure during the pandemic. Universities and colleges were refunding tuition monies to students while investing in online technology and tools, making it harder to invest into empty campuses. Schools are defined as being in low financial health if their combined revenue and unrestricted assets will no longer cover operating expenses in six years. Before COVID-19, 13 institutions were in danger of closing within 6 years in New England.<ref name="Fern">{{Cite web|last=Fern|first=Deirdre|date=8 May 2020|title=Amid coronavirus pandemic, a growing list of colleges in financial peril|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/05/08/metro/amid-pandemic-growing-list-colleges-financial-peril/|access-date=2020-06-19|work=The Boston Globe|language=en-US}}</ref> With the presence of COVID-19, that number has increased to 25 institutions.<ref name="Fern"/> In the United States due to the financial impact caused by COVID-19, 110 more colleges and universities are now at risk of closing. This labels the total number of colleges and universities in peril due to pandemic to be 345 institutions.<ref name="Fern"/> While prestigious colleges and universities have historically had financial cushion due to high levels of enrollment, private colleges at a low risk have dropped from 485 to 385.<ref name="Fern"/> Federal COVID-19 relief has assisted students and universities. However, it has not been enough to bandage the financial wound created by COVID-19. Colby-Sawyer College located in New Hampshire has received about $780,000 in assistance through the [[United States Department of Education]].<ref name="Fern"/> About half of this money was dispersed amongst the student body. Colby-Swayer College was also capable of receiving a loan of $2.65 million, to avoid layoffs of their 312 employees.<ref name="Fern"/>

[[Yale University|Yale]] economist [[Fabrizio Zilibotti]] co-authored a January 2022 study with professors from the [[Columbia University]], [[New York University]], [[University of Pennsylvania]], [[Harvard University]], [[Northwestern University]], and the [[University of Amsterdam]], showing that "the pandemic is widening educational inequality and that the learning gaps created by the crisis will persist."<ref name=Zilibotti>{{cite journal |author1=Francesco Agostinelli, Matthias Doepke, Giuseppe Sorrenti & Fabrizio Zilibotti |title=When the Great Equalizer Shuts Down: Schools, Peers, and Parents in Pandemic Times |date=December 2020 |volume=206 |issue=104574 |doi=10.3386/w28264 |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w28264 |access-date=27 July 2022 |journal=Journal of Public Economics |issn=0047-2727 |id=28264 |quote=Online education is an imperfect substitute for in-person learning, particularly for children from low-income families. Peer effects also change: schools allow children from different socio-economic backgrounds to mix together, and this effect is lost when schools are closed.|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cummings |first1=Mike |title=COVID school closures most harm students from poorest neighborhood |url=https://news.yale.edu/2021/01/05/covid-school-closures-most-harm-students-poorest-neighborhoods |website=news.yale.edu |publisher=Yale News |access-date=27 July 2022 |date=5 January 2022}}</ref> As of result, COVID-19 educational impact in the United States has ended by March 11, 2022, as Deltacron cases fall and ahead of the living with an [[Endemic COVID-19|endemic phase]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}