Teaching America: 250 Years of Public Education

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, AACTE (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) proudly launches Teaching America: 250 Years of Public Education, an initiative to honor the educators, institutions, and movements that have shaped our nation’s past — and will define its future.

America’s story cannot be told without educators.

For more than two centuries, educators have helped build communities, strengthen democracy, expand opportunity, and prepare generations of Americans to lead, innovate, and serve. Yet the story of public education is not one of uninterrupted progress. It is a story of aspiration and struggle, achievement and exclusion, and expansion and resistance.

Public education emerged from the common school movement of the nineteenth century, fueled by the belief that education was essential to democracy. But the promise of education was not extended equally to all. Throughout our history, many Americans were denied the right to learn or denied equal access to quality schools because of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, language, geography, or economic circumstance.

Enslaved Africans were prohibited from learning to read in many states. Native American children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to boarding schools intended to erase their cultures and languages. Girls and women faced barriers to educational opportunities. Students with disabilities were excluded from schools altogether. Immigrant children and English learners often encountered discrimination. Segregation and unequal funding created separate and unequal educational opportunities for generations of Black Americans and other historically marginalized communities.

Yet Americans repeatedly expanded the promise of education through advocacy, courage, and law.

Landmark decisions and legislation helped move the nation closer to its ideals. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) declared racial segregation unconstitutional. Title IX expanded opportunities for women and girls. Lau v. Nichols (1974) recognized the rights of English learners. Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1971), Mills v. Board of Education (1972), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act affirmed that children with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education. These and other milestones demonstrate that educational opportunity has been strengthened through persistent efforts to make America’s promise more inclusive.

Public education has also evolved in response to national challenges and opportunities. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 sparked investments in science, mathematics, and teacher preparation. The creation of the U.S. Department of Education under President Jimmy Carter in 1979 reflected a national commitment to educational opportunity and excellence. Through wars, economic crises, social change, and technological revolutions, educators have remained central to the nation’s progress.

At every stage of this journey, educators have stood at the center.

Teachers, school counselors, principals, superintendents, special educators, and college faculty have nurtured scientists, artists, military leaders, entrepreneurs, physicians, public servants, and citizens. They have strengthened communities and sustained democracy itself.

As we commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, AACTE recognizes that the work of education remains unfinished. Questions of access, trust, achievement, and opportunity continue to challenge our nation. But history teaches us that when America invests in educators, America invests in its future.

Through this America250 initiative, AACTE will celebrate the stories of educators past and present, amplify voices from across the profession, and invite Americans to reflect on a simple but profound truth:

America’s story cannot be told without educators.

Educators shaped America’s past. They will define America’s future.

And as we embark on our next 250 years, we recommit ourselves to ensuring that the promise of education — and the right to learn — belongs to everyone.