Center on Education Policy www.cep-dc.org 5
The rationale was that when children from diverse backgrounds interacted in the same
classrooms, they would find common ground, learn to respect each other, and learn skills of
getting along. Some reformers further envisioned that educating children together would help
forge a common American culture. This ideal was compromised, however, by segregated school
systems and other exclusionary practices that persisted into the 20
th
century.
Children of color were discriminated against in access to public education.
In the early years of the nation, non-white groups were often excluded from school. When these
groups did gain access to public schooling, they were often underserved or educated in separate
schools, by law or by custom. Almost all of the Southern states enacted laws that prohibited
teaching African Americans to read. After the Civil War, Southern states restructured their state
constitutions as a condition for reentry to the Union. These new constitutions established free
education as a basic right for both races and created structures for governing and financing public
education. But the political power to implement this vision was fleeting; beginning in the 1870s,
white supremacists took control of Southern state governments and passed “Jim Crow” laws that
enforced segregation in public schooling and other major aspects of life. In some states and
communities, Latinx students or Chinese American students were forced to attend segregated
schools. And many American Indian children were sent to federally run day or boarding schools,
where the goal was often to assimilate the students into white culture and discourage their Native
culture.
Access was unequal for other groups.
Schools were slower to provide full access to girls than for boys. When public schools did open up
to girls, they were sometimes taught a different curriculum from boys and had fewer
opportunities for secondary or higher education. Children with disabilities were often kept at
home or put in institutions where they received little or no education.
Increased immigration placed new demands on public schools.
As waves of immigrants arrived in the US in the 19
th
and early 20
th
centuries, public schools were
the main institution charged with teaching immigrant children the English language and
assimilating them into American culture and values.
5
However, this process involved tradeoffs for
immigrant families, who were expected to surrender their heritage and language and even
“Americanize” their names. There were also ample instances of bias against new immigrants and
discrimination by the majority Protestant population against Catholics and other non-Protestant
religions. (This led the Catholic church to create a system of private parochial schools that grew in
enrollments through the mid-1960s.)
5
http://www.civiced.org/pdfs/PrinzingDan.pdf