The 1980s Education: Chronology

1980:      A Gallup poll shows parents believe the three worst problems in the nation's schools are discipline, drug use, and poor curriculum.

1980:     September One million fewer American children begin kindergarten than in 1979.

1981:      The administration of President Ronald Reagan tries to alter the nutritional requirements of school-lunch programs, including defining ketchup and pickle relish as vegetables.

1981:     January A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution "does not require or even allow" public school officials to permit student prayer meetings in classrooms before school.

1982:     August 10 A federal judge throws out a Louisiana creationism suit saying it had no place in federal courts; the Louisiana law required balanced treatment between the teaching of creation science and evolution science in the classroom.

1982:     September The National Assessment of Educational Progress announces that in five years Hispanic nine-year olds have made improvements in their reading skills at a level twice the average for children that age.

1983:     July 11 The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a ban on sweep searches of students by dogs.

1983:     November 21 In the first such case in Wisconsin, a teacher is awarded $23,000 in punitive damages from a student who hit him three times in the face.

1984:     May 7 Texas repeals its textbook restriction, passed in 1974, requiring evolution to be presented as "only one of several explanations" of how the universe began.

1984:     September 11 Los Angeles school officials report that students are now required to maintain a C average with no failures in order to participate in extracurricular activities.

1984:     December 17 Ten Arkansas teachers sue to block the state from requiring them to take a literacy test and a competency exam in their subject area.

1985:      A study reveals that one-third of the nation's teachers report they are uncomfortable using computers; nearly all, however, want more training.

1985:     July 8 Research by the Youth Suicide Center states that 11 percent of the nation's high-school seniors have made a suicide attempt sometime in their lives.

1986:      In the first federal study of the nation's teachers in fifteen years, the U.S. Department of Education announces that most put in long workweeks, are quite likely to have advanced degrees, and earn an average salary of $22,701 a year. One-third of male teachers and one-fifth of female teachers have a supplementary job.

1986:     August 28 Nobel laureates speak out at a news conference against creationism, claiming that to "teach that the statements of Genesis are scientific truths is to deny all the evidence."

1987:     June 19 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a Louisiana state law requiring the teaching of creationism alongside evolutionary theory is unconstitutional.

1987:     August 17 Setting what could be a mandate for textbook publishing nationwide, the California Board of Education unanimously passes a measure requiring more facts on religion in history textbooks.

1987:     September 28 A Teachers College study finds that U.S. secondary-school students know less about science than their predecessors did in 1970; U.S. students also lag behind their contemporaries in England and Japan.

1988:     January 18 The Education Commission of the States releases a survey on illiteracy that claims that the majority of illiterate people in America are white.

1989:     February 27 Three out of four American students do not master enough math to cope in college or on the job, reports the National Research Council.

1989:     October 23 An annual survey reveals that fewer students are drinking alcohol and using drugs than two years ago, but more are smoking cigarettes.

1989:     December The American Institute for Research announces that forty-four states are now requiring teachers to pass competency tests, up from just ten in 1980.