| 1784 |
The Regents of the University
of the State of New York is created to oversee Columbia College and
institutions providing secondary education. |
| 1795 |
New York State begins to fund
public education. In New York City, school funding is allocated to
charity schools. |
| 1842 |
The first Board of Education
is established in New York City. |
| 1843 |
The Brooklyn Board of Education
(separate from the NYC Board) consolidates its school districts. |
| 1847 |
The College of the City of
New York opens under the name of the Free Academy. |
| 1874 |
New York State adopts the
compulsory school attendance law. |
| 1880s |
Then New York City Board of
Ed. and the Brooklyn Board of Ed. begin to open all schools to black
students. Prior to the 1880s, black children were required to attend
"colored schools." |
| 1897 |
The Board of Examiners forms.
The agency is responsible for creating teacher certification exams.
This is an effort to promote a merit-based system and to eliminate
patronage. |
| 1898 |
The boroughs of New York City
consolidate. The Brooklyn Board of Education becomes part of the Board
of Education of New York City. |
| 1898 |
Half a million students attend
New York City schools. Thousands of children are turned away from
schools because of the lack of facilities. Some schools hold half-day
sessions to try to accommodate twice as many students. |
| 1900 |
The last New York City school
excluding the enrollment of black children closes. |
| 1916 |
Teachers form the New York
Teachers Union (affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers).
The union has no bargaining power, but the union articulates teachers
concerns in regards to salary, budgets, and administrative and educational
policies. |
| 1921 |
United Parents Associations
forms. Parents across the city are able to provide input on school
policies on a local, city, and state level. |
| 1950s |
An "anticommunist purge"
expels teachers, targeting union members. |
| 1950s |
The NYC public school system
enrollment reaches one million students. NYC has some of the most
prestigious public schools and some of the worst urban schools in
the nation. The high school dropout rate is 50 percent. |
| 1950s-1960s |
NYC attempts to offset
severe segregation in its schools (a result of severe residential
segregation) by redistricting and offering voluntary transfers. |
| 1960s |
NYC parents demand more control
of their community schools. |
| 1968 |
The Ocean-Hill Brownsville
erupts in a conflict over community control of schools. |
| 1969 |
The state Legislature creates
32 community school disticts in New York City to administer the city’s
elementary and middle schools. Community school boards are able to
select principals and community superintendents and approve district
budgets. The Chancellor retains power over budgetary resources and
purchases and the high school division. |
| 1974 |
A consent decree between the
New York City Board of Education and ASPIRA, a Puerto Rican organization
focusing on the education of Latino youth, dictates that the Board
of Education deliver quality bilingual education services to students
demonstrating need. Students scoring in the lowest percentile on the
Language Assessment Battery, an exam developed to measure language
proficiency, are entitled to bilingual and ESL classes. |
| 1975 |
The Education for all Handicapped
Children Act is passed by the federal government mandating that public
schools serve all children regardless of disability. The Act also
states that any related services (such as medical counseling or transportation)
that would aid a handicapped child in obtaining an education must
be provided. |
| 1979 |
The Jose P. v. Amback
ruling states that New York City schools are required to create School-Based
Support Teams to ensure the evaluation and placement procedures for
special education stay within the timelines mandated by the state. |
| 1996* |
The NYS legislature dismantles authority of Community School Boards to hire school principals and determine district budgets, in response to criticism of some boards rife with patronage and corruption. |
| 2002* |
The NYS legislature abolishes Community School Boards and gives the Mayor complete control over public schools, including the selection and hiring of the Chancellor. The Community School Boards are replaced with Community Education Councils (CEC). The Community Education Councils are volunteers charged with advising the community school district superintendent. The Community Education Councils have no formal district budget powers. There are 11 members on each CEC: nine are elected and two are appointed by the borough president. An advisory board, known as the Panel for Educational Policy, replaces the Board of Education. The Panel for Educational Policy has 13 members: the Chancellor and seven other mayoral appointees, along with one appointed by each borough president. |
| Source: The Encyclopedia
of New York City. New York: Yale University Press, 1995. *Information post-1995 available on the NYS Assembly website. |
