America is often described as melting pot. However, I believe America is better described as a mosaic with the different people and different cultures meshing together but still maintaining their distinctness. Each group that makes up America has their own story to tell. Within the social foundations of American education, there is the plight of African Americans fighting to end the racial segregation of schools; Native Americans pushing back against the efforts to assimilate them, Catholics who fear that Protestant dominated schools will threaten the religious beliefs of their children and women who wish to be seen more than domestic servants. There are also socioeconomic factors involved that hinder the educational obtainment of children
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Native American reservations during the 19th and 20th centuries were mired in deep poverty. The economic conditions of the reservations left many Indian tribes wholly dependent on the federal government for survival. The reservations were more like wards of the state than semi-independent nations. The structure of the constitution does not adequately address how the needs of Native Americans should be met. Reservations are not considered a part of the states they reside in therefor the states have no obligation to provide education for them. Secondly, reservations do not pay property taxes which are the primary way public education is funded. It is impossible for reservations to remain economically viable as isolated pockets within states. Instead they will become pockets of poverty within the states they reside …show more content…
In cities that had a substantial Catholic population, the community pulled their resources together and set up parochial schools. The Supreme Court, in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, affirmed the right of parents to send their children to private schools (Pulliam & Patten, 2013, p. 306). In 1947, in what would prove to be another landmark case, Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that states could reimburse parents of children attending private schools for the costs it took transporting their children to and from school. Although the Supreme Court stopped short of approving public funds for the financing of private and parochial schools the decision was still seen as a victory by many Catholics.
Women have faced many challenges in gaining access to public education. Women were seen mainly as domestic servants for the majority of U.S. history. Women were only given a basic education while males were allowed to pursue their education all the way up to the university level. One obstacle that women faced was when they did receive an education it was in a form that only worked to reaffirm societies’ view of them as being subservient to men. In the mid-1800s, American women attended single gender schools called seminaries which taught women domestic skills and readied them for
Native American reservations during the 19th and 20th centuries were mired in deep poverty. The economic conditions of the reservations left many Indian tribes wholly dependent on the federal government for survival. The reservations were more like wards of the state than semi-independent nations. The structure of the constitution does not adequately address how the needs of Native Americans should be met. Reservations are not considered a part of the states they reside in therefor the states have no obligation to provide education for them. Secondly, reservations do not pay property taxes which are the primary way public education is funded. It is impossible for reservations to remain economically viable as isolated pockets within states. Instead they will become pockets of poverty within the states they reside …show more content…
In cities that had a substantial Catholic population, the community pulled their resources together and set up parochial schools. The Supreme Court, in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, affirmed the right of parents to send their children to private schools (Pulliam & Patten, 2013, p. 306). In 1947, in what would prove to be another landmark case, Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that states could reimburse parents of children attending private schools for the costs it took transporting their children to and from school. Although the Supreme Court stopped short of approving public funds for the financing of private and parochial schools the decision was still seen as a victory by many Catholics.
Women have faced many challenges in gaining access to public education. Women were seen mainly as domestic servants for the majority of U.S. history. Women were only given a basic education while males were allowed to pursue their education all the way up to the university level. One obstacle that women faced was when they did receive an education it was in a form that only worked to reaffirm societies’ view of them as being subservient to men. In the mid-1800s, American women attended single gender schools called seminaries which taught women domestic skills and readied them for