Editing Education reform (section)

=== Reconstruction and the American Industrial Revolution ===
During [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]], from 1865 to 1877''',''' African Americans worked to encourage public education in the South. With the [[Plessy v. Ferguson|U.S. Supreme Court decision]] in [[Plessy v. Ferguson]], which held that "segregated public facilities were constitutional so long as the black and white facilities were equal to each other", this meant that African American children were legally allowed to attend public schools, although these schools were still [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregated]] based on race. However, by the mid-twentieth century, [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] groups would challenge racial segregation.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=The Supreme Court . Expanding Civil Rights . Landmark Cases . Brown v. Board of Education (1954) {{!}} PBS|url=https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www.thirteen.org}}</ref>

During the second half of the nineteenth century (1870 and 1914), [[Industrial Revolution in the United States|America's Industrial Revolution]] refocused the nation's attention on the need for a universally accessible public school system. Inventions, innovations, and improved production methods were critical to the continued growth of American manufacturing.<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/> To compete in the [[World economy|global economy]], an overwhelming demand for literate workers that possessed practical training emerged. Citizens argued, "educating children of the poor and middle classes would prepare them to obtain good jobs, thereby strengthen the nation's economic position.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Shapiro|first1=Sarah|last2=Brown|first2=Catherine|title=The State of Civics Education|url=https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/02/21/446857/state-civics-education/|access-date=2021-04-10|website=Center for American Progress|date=21 February 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref>" Institutions became an essential tool in yielding ideal factory workers with sought-after attitudes and desired traits such as dependability, obedience, and punctuality.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Becker|first1=Sascha O|last2=Hornung|first2=Erik|last3=Woessmann|first3=Ludger|date=2011-07-01|title=Education and Catch-up in the Industrial Revolution|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/mac.3.3.92|journal=American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=92–126|doi=10.1257/mac.3.3.92|s2cid=1637350|issn=1945-7707}}</ref> [[Vocational school|Vocationally oriented schools]] offered practical subjects like shop classes for students who were not planning to attend college for financial or other reasons. Not until the latter part of the 19th century did public elementary schools become available throughout the country. Although, it would be longer for children of color, girls, and children with special needs to attain access free public education.<ref name=":32">{{Cite journal|last1=Dzuback|first1=Mary Ann|last2=Katznelson|first2=Ira|last3=Weir|first3=Margaret|date=1987|title=Schooling for All: Class, Race, and the Decline of the Democratic Ideal.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2151511|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=102|issue=1|pages=146|doi=10.2307/2151511|jstor=2151511|issn=0032-3195}}</ref>