California - History of Race, Equity and Education Timeline by Nicole Cathey

1821

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

First public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens for white students.

*MA passes the first state law making all grades of public school open to all white pupils free of charge in 1827.

1830s

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Most southern states have laws forbidding the teaching of enslaved people to read. Even so, about 5% of enslaved African Americans became literate at great personal risk.

1896

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Frederick Hoffman's book, Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, is published. A key measure for him was the differential rates of tuberculosis between whites and blacks. And what he found was that African Americans had very, very high rates of tuberculosis. He also found high rates of syphilis and venereal diseases. But for him, though, tuberculosis was key because he felt that this was the signal index of whether or not African Americans would be able to survive outside of slavery.

He would say, "Well, given these high rates of tuberculosis and other kinds of infectious diseases, we expect the Negro and the Native American to become extinct. They just simply will not be able to survive the rigors of civilization because in part, their bodies are not fit for those environments. Their intellects aren't fit to compete with us. They are not capable of engaging with us in the rough and tumble world of the marketplace. And therefore, they will simply die off."

1908

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Binet-Simon test (originally developed to identify children who were behind in academic performance so they could receive remedial education) is renamed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. Part of the change is the invention of the Intelligence Quotient, designed as a way to sort people by intellect level.

Intelligence testing became a tool used by the eugenics movement. Race and ethnicity were often used to classify students who scored poorly on the tests.

By 1932, a survey of 150 school districts revealed that 75% of larger U.S. cities were using intelligence testing to place students in different academic tracks.

1935

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The federal government’s Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) commissioned surveys of American cities that assessed mortgage risk for lenders. The surveys included “residential security” and “racial concentration” maps of all surveyed cities. Risk was tied to the presence of minorities, which made it harder to get a loan in a majority Hispanic or black area.

1940

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

During the 1940s, Orange County, CA schools used this chart to enroll students.

1942

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This 1942 sign details the places where people of Japanese descent were allowed to live.

1946

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The 1946 ruling of Melendez v. Westminster gives Mexican students in California equal rights to education.

1954

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal", and therefore violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, the decision's 14 pages did not spell out any sort of method for ending racial segregation in schools, and the Court's second decision in Brown II (1955) only ordered states to desegregate "with all deliberate speed".

1957

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled at the formerly all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to safely help the students enter the building, when the Arkansas governor blocked their entry.

1964

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed public, intentional discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in government agencies and facilities, public accommodations, education, and employment; established a federal enforcement structure and empowered victims of discrimination to sue and the government to withhold federal funds from violators.

1963-1982

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

In 1963, a lawsuit, Crawford v. Board of Ed. of Los Angeles^[18] was filed to end segregation in the district. The California Supreme Court required the district to come up with a plan in 1977. The board returned to court with what the court of appeal years later would describe as "one of if not the most drastic plan of mandatory student reassignment in the nation."^[18] A desegregation busing plan was developed to be implemented in the 1978 school year. Two lawsuits to stop the enforced busing plan, both titled Bustop, Inc. v. Los Angeles Bd. of Ed., were filed by the group Bustop Inc. and were petitioned to the United States Supreme Court.^[19]^[20] The petitions to stop the busing plan were subsequently denied by Justice Rehnquist and Justice Powell. California Constitutional Proposition 1, which mandated that busing follow the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution passed in 1979 with 70% of the vote. The Crawford v. Board of Ed. of Los Angeles lawsuit was heard in the Supreme Court in 1982.^[21] The Supreme Court upheld the decision that Proposition 1 was constitutional.

1965

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the act secured the right to vote for racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South.

1965

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) into law. It establishes high standards and accountability, provides fair and equal opportunities to receive an education, and provides funds for professional development, instructional materials, and the promotion of parental involvement. The sections of the act include:

Title I – Financial Assistance To Local Educational Agencies For The Education Of Children Of Low-Income Families
Title II – School Library Resources, Textbooks, and other Instructional Materials
Title III – Supplementary Educational Centers and Services
Title IV – Educational Research And Training
Title V – Grants To Strengthen State Departments Of Education
Title VI – General Provisions

1968

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

In 1968 Congress passes the Bilingual Education Act, providing the first funding to encourage schools to incorporate native-language education into their curriculum.

1968

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Fair Housing Act, also called Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, U.S. federal legislation that protects individuals and families from discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, or advertising of housing. The Fair Housing Act, as amended in 1988, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, disability, family status, and national origin.

1971

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Supreme Court rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.

1972

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Congress adopted the Indian Education Act of 1972. The Act is based on the following premises:
1) American Indians have unique academic needs, especially with respect to language preservation; 2) a continuum of services, pre-school through post-secondary education, is imperative; 3) the trust relationship between the federal
government and Indian people must be reinforced across governmental agencies; and 4) every Indian student, regardless of federal recognition status, deserves equal access to federal funding aimed at educational improvement.

1972

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

1974

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Equal Educational Opportunities Act is passed. The act guaranteed education free of bias and discrimination, or unequal treatment, for all people. The EEOA is one of a set of federal laws that works to prohibit discrimination in schools. Specifically, EEOA bans discrimination based on race, nationality, color, or sex against faculty, staff, and students. It requires schools to take action to overcome barriers which prevent equal protection. The legislation has been particularly important in protecting the rights of students with limited English proficiency.

1974

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

In 1974, Milliken v. Bradley clarified the distinction between de jure and de facto segregation, confirming that segregation was allowed if it was not considered an explicit policy of each school district. The Court held that the school systems were not responsible for desegregation across district lines unless it could be shown that they had each deliberately engaged in a policy of segregation.

1974

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Lau v. Nichols was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously decided that the lack of supplemental language instruction in public school for students with limited English proficiency violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court held that since non-English speakers were denied a meaningful education, the disparate impact caused by the school policy violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the school district was demanded to provide students with "appropriate relief".

1975

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children.The IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities.Infants and toddlers, birth through age 2, with disabilities and their families receive early intervention services under IDEA Part C. Children and youth ages 3 through 21 receive special education and related services under IDEA Part B.

1977

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

In response to civil rights legislation, the federal Office of Management and Budget issues Directive 15, creating standard government race and ethnic categories for the first time. The categories are meant to aid agencies, but they are arbitrary, inconsistent, and based on varying assumptions. For example, "Black" is defined as a "racial group" but "white" is not. "Hispanic" reflects Spanish colonization and excludes non-Spanish parts of Central and South America; while "American Indian or Alaskan Native" requires "cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition" - a condition of no other category. The categories are amended in 1996, and "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander" is added.

1978

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted in 1978 because of the disproportionately high rate of forced removal of Native American children from their traditional homes and essentially from Native American cultures as a whole.

It also gave Native American parents the legal right to deny their children’s placement in off-reservation schools and boarding schools.

1978

dbaiz — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Proposition 13 passes, leading to disinvestment in public education that moves California from #1 in per pupil spending to #47 in 2018.

1982

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

In June 1982, the Supreme Court issued Plyler v. Doe, a landmark decision holding that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status. By a 5-4 vote, the Court found that any resources which might be saved from excluding undocumented children from public schools were far outweighed by the harms imposed on society at large from denying them an education.

1984

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

A Nation at Risk is published. President Ronald Reagan developed an education reform program because of the report targeting schools that were deemed failing. The term "at-risk" was then expanded to refer to "failing" students themselves.

1990s

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

During this decade many districts won release from court ordered desegregation plans.

A report by the Harvard Civil Rights Project said that while schools in the South still have more integration of African-Americans and whites than before the desegregation movement, they lost ground in the 1990s.

The report also highlights that segregation of Latinos from non-Hispanic whites in schools is even greater than it is for African-Americans.

1995

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Gloria Ladson Billings introduces the theory of "culturally relevant pedagogy". It rests on 3 criteria or propositions: a) students must experience academic success; b) students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence; and c) students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order.

2000

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Since 2000, 71 predominately white communities have attempted to secede from their school districts. Of these, 47 communities have been successful at splitting from their districts.

States such as Alabama make it easy for a town to create its own district.

2001

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

This five-year research study (1996-2001) focused on English language learners (ELLs/LEPs) long-term academic achievement in Grades K-12. This study includes qualitative and quantitative research findings from five urban and rural research sites in the northeast, northwest, south-central, and southeast U.S. It was designed to answer urgent policy questions of interest to the federal and state governments of the United States, since this demographic group is projected to be 40 percent of the school-age population by the 2030s and most U.S. schools are currently under-educating this student group. Overall, this research provides whole school district views of policy decision-making that is data-driven regarding designing, implementing, evaluating, and reforming the education of Language Minority students.

2002

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

President Bush signs the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, requiring states to track progress of subgroups, including minorities and special education students.

2009

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The state-led effort to develop the Common Core State Standards was launched in 2009 by state leaders, including governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states

2009

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, 18 U.S.C. § 249 was signed into law by President Barack Obama. Conceived as a response to the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., both in 1998, the measure expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. Shepard was a gay student who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming; Byrd was an African American man who was tied to a truck by two white supremacists, dragged behind it, and decapitated in Jasper, Texas.

2015

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students. The new law builds on key areas of progress in recent years, made possible by the efforts of educators, communities, parents, and students across the country.
STATE LEADERS HAVE TO FOLLOW CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS:
- Report results for more student subgroups
- Continue to have 95 percent state test participation
- Identify the lowest-performing schools, approve locally developed improvement plans, and monitor the schools’ progress
- Report data on the distribution of effective teachers
- Consult a prescribed list of stakeholders when developing the state’s plans.
- Makes funds more flexible (e.g., Title II and Title IV transferable)

2015-16

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Based on civil rights data released by the U.S. Department of Education, ProPublica's Miseducation website is an interactive database that examine racial disparities in educational opportunities and school discipline. https://projects.propublica.org/miseducation/

2015-2020

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

A Washington Post analysis has found that black Americans are disproportionately affected by police violence. The data focuses specifically on police shootings and it mainly relies on police reports, news accounts and social media postings. Since the start of 2015, 4,728 people across the country have died in police shootings and approximately half - 2,385 - were white. Out of the remainder, 1,252 were black, 877 were Hispanic and 214 were from other racial groups. The data looks different as a share of the population, however. Black Americans account for less than 13 percent of the population but they are shot and killed by the police at a rate that's over twice as high as for white Americans.

In July 2014, a cellphone video captured some of Eric Garner's final words as New York City police officers sat on his head and pinned him to the ground on a sidewalk: "I can't breathe." On May 25 of 2020, the same words were spoken by George Floyd, who pleaded for release as an officer knelt on his neck and pinned him to the ground on a Minneapolis street for 8 min and 46 seconds. This event continues to lead to calls for actions across the country and the world.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/

2017

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Violence erupted in the college town of Charlottesville on Aug. 12 after hundreds of white nationalists and their supporters who gathered for a "Unite the Right" rally over plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by counter-protesters, leading Virginia’s governor to declare a state of emergency. James Fields Jr., ultimately pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes and was sentenced to life in prison for ramming his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 35 other people.

2020

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic and President Donald Trump declares it a national emergency. As countries around the world order businesses to shut down and people to stay at home, schools plunge into remote learning. The pandemic itself--and the shift to remote learning--shine a light on the educational inequities that affect black and brown children.

A report published by the Society for Research on Child Development states: "Black Americans are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at rates that far exceed other racial and ethnic groups. Through inequitable policies and practices, Black Americans are forced into conditions that elevate their risk for COVID-19, and consequently, place Black children at the epicenter of loss in multiple domains of life."

2020

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and more murdered by police.

2020

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Millions have mobilized in support of Black Lives Matter in protests that still continue to today. Data suggest that over 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations, making it the largest movement in the country’s history, the New York Times reports.

2020

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and Asian Pacific Policy & Plannig Council (A3PCON) launch “Stop AAPI Hate”website to track incidents of COVID-19 discrimination.

2020

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget notifies agency heads Sept. 4 that federal workplaces will no longer be allowed to conduct “divisive, anti-American propaganda” training that focuses on race theory and white privilege. The Office of Personnel Management must review and approve training materials going forward.

Jan 6, 2021

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

A mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol, where Congress had convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. The insurrectionists clashed with police, scaled walls, broke windows, and carried Confederate and Trump flags throughout the Capitol’s halls. Members of Congress and their staffers sheltered in place before being evacuated from the building.

2021

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

Derek Chauvin is convicted on three accounts of murdering George Floyd.

2021

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

The video of the police shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago was released days after the killing of Duarte Wright in Brooklyn Center, MN and the pepper spraying of Lt. Caron Nazario in Windsor, VA all happening during the trial of Derek Chauvin. Ma'Kiah Bryant is shot within hours of Chauvin's conviction reading.

2021

rscott27 — 2025-07-25 16:36:38 UTC

After a year of remote and hybrid learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school systems are designing plans for reopening. https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-continues-aggressive-plan-safely-reopen-schools

1619

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:06:05 UTC

In August 1619, a ship arrived in Point Comfort, Virginia, carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans, the first on record to be brought to the English colony of Virginia. They were among the 12.5 million Africans forced into the trans-Atlantic slave trade through the Middle Passage.

The school curriculum linked to the New York Times' 1619 Project— an initiative that aims to reframe U.S. history by putting the legacy of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at its center— is the target of lawmakers, who seek to ban the materials in states.

Lawmakers Push to Ban '1619 Project' From Schools https://www.edweek.org › teaching-learning › 2021/02

Chalkbeat reports efforts in 17 states to expand education on racism and bias, while in 36 states there are efforts to restrict that kind of education. https://www.chalkbeat.org/22525983/map-critical-race-theory-legislation-teaching-racism

1973

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:14:29 UTC

The Oakland Community School was opened in 1973 and operated by the Black Panther Party in Oakland. The alternative school grew out of No. 5 in the Black Panther

Party’s Ten Point Program, which called for educating black and poor people about

their true history in the United

States.

2000

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:25:39 UTC

The lawsuit Williams v. California, filed in 2000 by the ACLU and other civil rights organizations, argued that thousands of California public school students, particularly those in low-income communities and communities of color, were being denied equal educational opportunity. The case was settled in 2004, resulting in a landmark agreement and new legislation aimed at addressing the issues raised in the lawsuit.

2010

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:29:16 UTC

the California State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics and English language arts. This adoption marked a significant change in educational standards, aiming to prepare students for college and careers in the 21st century and to address longstanding achievement gaps.

2014

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:37:24 UTC

In 2014, the California State Board of Education suspended the API and began work on a new accountability system that includes measurements of academic achievement, school climate, parent involvement, implementation of academic standards and other indicators of school conditions and student performance. In March 2017, state education officials released the California School Dashboard

2017

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:44:21 UTC

State Board of Education adopts the California English Learner Roadmap

Voters approve Proposition 58, repealing bilingual education restrictions enacted by Proposition 227 in 1998. This change allowed school districts more flexibility in designing English language programs, including the option to offer dual-language programs for both English learners and native English speakers.

2018

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:50:20 UTC

December 2018, California's updated School Dashboard identified 374 school districts and county offices of education (out of approximately 1,000) as needing additional assistance through the state's System of Support. The higher number in 2018 was largely attributed to the inclusion of new indicators on the Dashboard, specifically chronic absenteeism and college/career readiness. Support was differentiated in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).

2022

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:53:39 UTC

Aspire Public Schools highlights its commitment to equity, acknowledging that society provides varying opportunities based on factors beyond individual control.
Aspire's "Our Collective Movement" report emphasizes their anti-racist core values and dedication to addressing opportunity gaps for Black and Latinx students, exacerbated by learning loss and trauma during the pandemic.

2021-2023

ncathey — 2025-07-26 02:58:31 UTC

Aspire's Equity Focus at a Glance

Rooted in Mission: Committed to high-quality education in historically underserved communities, especially for Latinx and Black students.
Championing Black Excellence: Celebrates and honors Black culture across schools.
Equity in Action: Identifies and addresses systemic issues impacting students, staff, and schools.
Inclusive Learning Environments: Supports student growth, college readiness, and belonging.
Family as Partners: Prioritizes meaningful engagement and communication with families.
Investing in Educators: Builds an internal pipeline to recruit and retain diverse teachers.
Innovative Support for Students with Disabilities: Uses a co-teaching model to ensure access to grade-level learning and close achievement gaps.

1998

ncathey — 2025-07-26 03:00:59 UTC

Aspire Public Schools was founded to open and operate small, high-quality, tuition-free charter schools in low-income neighborhoods