Two important education events from history

Two events in the history of education that were very important were Brown v. The Board of Education Topeka Kansas and The Economic Opportunity Act. These two events were important to the history of education because they changed the way we looked at education. Brown v. The Board of Education Topeka, Kansas changed the how children went to school and who they would go to school with. Brown v. Board of Education was a crucial court case that changed the lives of many African- American families. The Economic Opportunity Act changed the lives of disadvantaged families who could not send their children to school. This act made it possible for those children to get the education they deserve and need.

In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the board of education in the city of Topeka, Kansas. The suit was filed by thirteen parents on behalf on their twenty children asking that there be no segregation in the elementary schools. As directed by the NAACP each parent attempted to enroll their children in the elementary school and each one was rejected and sent to the other schools (Brown Foundation, 2004). Brown v. the Board of Education Topeka Kansas was an important set of court cases, five total, in which the Supreme Court overturned early rulings on "Separate but Equal" facilities in the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896. The Supreme Court decided that the "separate but equal" facilities were not constitutional anymore. On May 17, 1954, in a 9-0 decision the court stated the facilities were not equal and as a result de jure segregation was ruled a violation of The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment (Brown Foundation,2004). This win paved the way for the integration of schools and the Civil Rights Movement.

The Equal Opportunity Act of 1964 provided better resources to disadvantaged families provide more education to all and decrease welfare and unemployment. Lyndon B. Johnson signed this act on August 20, 1964 and was important to Johnson's War on Poverty (Garson, 2003). This act included programs to promote the health, education and general welfare of the poor. Some of its programs that are still around today include Head Start and Job Corps (Garson, 2003). This program helped a lot of disadvantaged families send their kids to school so that they could get a good education and do something good for themselves.

These two events in education history had a lot of importance because of how they changed the lives of many people. Brown v. Board of Education changed the lives of all African- American people because the Supreme Court changed the law. "Separate but Equal" was not equal at all and the Courts changed that so that it was unconstitutional. The Equal Opportunity Act made it so disadvantaged families could send their children to school so they could get good careers and do something good with their lives. Both of these events made a difference in peoples lives and made a difference in history.

Sources

Brown Foundation, 2004, http://brownvboard.org/summary retrieved September 17, 2008

Garson, 2003, http://www.volstate.edu/geades/FinalDocs/1960/eoc.html retrieved September 17, 2008