Government Takes a More Active Role.

Public education once had been the sole domain of the state and local governments. Local school boards selected texts, hired teachers, and even determined where children of different colors could attend school. The 1950s, however, brought Uncle Sam into education as never before, dramatically shifting the balance of power between states and the national government and making equal access to education a civil right.

Midcentury White House Conference.

An early indicator that the government planned to take a more active role in education came in December 1950, when the Midcentury White House Conference on Children and Youth convened. Some six thousand delegates and observers attended meetings held to discuss how the American educational system might be improved. The conference recommended increased federal aid to states for education, government support for college tuition, abolition of racial segregation in schools...