on the changes that came about in education because of U.S. Congress P.L. 94-142, American Association of University Women 1992, the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights: A Better Chance to Learn, and U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

               Since the passing of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) there have been many amendments to the law. Brown v. Board of Education over turned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) which was passed in 1896 which allowed racial segregation in schools throughout the United States. The ruling of Brown v. Board of Education stated “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”(p. 138) After this landmark ruling racial segregation in schools was no longer allowed but there was still discrimination on the bases of disability and language as well as the still growing debate of gender inequality between boys and girls. It would be another 25 years before a law would be passed that would benefit children with disabilities (1975) as well as Lau v. Nichols (1974) which addressed students who didn’t receive special help in school because of their inability to speak the English language fluently. Another type of discrimination that is still talked about in the 21^st century is equality in the education of young girls. The American Association of University Women says “Girls are being steered away from the very courses required for their productive participation in the future of America,” (p.149) The differences in all of these different rulings in education are non-existent when it comes to the education of young people. Should there still be discriminations between the sexes or even between children with disabilities and those who don’t have one?

            As a student that fits into two of these categories because I’m both female and took English as a second language during my early years in school I can affirm the notable differences in my early childhood education. One of the benefits I received came from the ruling of Lau v. Nichols which said “ that school districts re compelled under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide children who speak little or no English with special language programs which will give them an equal opportunity to an education.” (p. 160) When I entered school in 1989 I only knew the little bit of English I learned on Sesame Street or what I could learned from my older sister. The school immediately placed me in both a regular kindergarten class as well as English as a second language class that was taken during an outside period. The curriculum was much the same for anyone in a regular kindergarten class except when students were being taught sentence structure in the regular class those of us in ESL would also learn to speak the words we were writing. By third grade I no longer required to receive ESL classes but because the teaching methods were different from a regular composition classes I learned quickly that the way I wrote and spoke English was more advanced than other students in the same grade level. Since Lau V. Nichols was passed schools can no longer discriminate against children who can’t speak or comprehend the English language, nor can they deny them language training. (p. 162)

            Female students when I was growing up did feel the impact of being discriminated because of gender. Even though Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendment prohibits the discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funds (p. 149) Alice McKee wrote in the American Association of University Women report “How Schools Shortchange Girls” stating that “the truth behind another myth – that girls and boys receive equal education” personally this statement was true when I was in school during the early 1990’s. Even through my years in middle school I noticed the differences in the way boys were taught from the girls. I always exceled in English and History but my scores in Math and Science always failed to make top marks. The report states that “Adolescence is a difficult period for all young people, but it is particularly difficult for girls, who are far more likely to develop eating disorders and experience depression.” (p. 150) Even the rate of girls who drop out of school for family reasons was high in the late 20^th century. Today girls are told to stay in school some are bullied to the point of suicide which has become a growing epidemic today. They are bullied for many reasons either they’re too pretty for some girls or if the boys all like this girl the some of the other girls in the class will become hostile towards her. Like these girls I was a victim to bulling in school the report’s findings on the lack of self-awareness that is associated with education is true. Since the topic of bulling has become a national debate schools today have adjusted to finding ways to combat bulling as well as help girls gain more self-esteem. I’ve learned that the amount of young women in Lehman is a lot higher than young men maybe if some of these young women become teachers and use their own experiences to teach, than the next generation of girls would not have to deal with the discrimination of the sexes.

            It may take another ten years before education is reformed fully to stop discrimination of any level. A change in curriculum will have to arrive one that teaches equality not only with gender roles but also a curriculum that involves authors from both genders and all nationalities. Children with disabilities would have a chance fully share classrooms with their peers and not be separated. Girls would excel in the sciences and math. As well as students who come from other countries would fully learn to speak English but also teach other students their own languages. We have to learn to adapt to the ever changing world so that no one is left behind.