History of American Education Dan Driscoll

1. History of American Education Dan Driscoll

2. The History of American Education Separate Benefits, Equal Burdens • Million WWII African-American vets • 1940’s: 3 of 4 African-Americans living in south • What was experience of AA vets with GI Bill? • Curry’s Dr. Sarah Turner: Closing the Gap or Widening the Divide: The Effects of the GI Bill and World War II on the Educational Outcomes of Black Americans

3. The History of American Education • From Green to Black and White • Segregation throughout south > “hard seg” in schools • Enrollment data by race not systematic • Empirical data > 28% white vets used GI Bill higher ed > 12% AA vets • Three themes (Turner): de jure segregation, counseling support, black college resources

4. The History of American Education • De Jure Segregation • Southern schools closed to AA > higher ed choices about 100 schools > small, limited-enrollment HBCs • Counseling Support • Instrumental for vets > not available equally > dozen black counselors GA and AL; none MS • Black College Resources • Vets strained resources everywhere > schools open to AAs in south small, couldn’t expand • 1945: 45% HBCs under 250 students, 92% under 1,000 > non-seg college average (1949-50) 1,500 students, HBCs 729, under half

5. The History of American Education • Excess Demand, Inadequate Supply • More than 20,000 AA vets turned away by black colleges in south • 21 black college survey > 55% vet applicants turned away • Little enrollment outside south > limited counseling info, fear of “persistence of discrimination” at northern schools • How important HBCs to AA ed? > 1945: 90% AA degree holders grads of historically black colleges

6. The History of American Education • On-The-Job Training Disparities Similar • Southern VA Centers > few black counselors • 102,200 vets 12 southern states got OJT > 7,700 AA vets > 1 in 3 vets AA • 246 OJT programs Atlanta > 6 had AA participation • Seg workplace worsened problem > few jobs other than menial > little training required

7. The History of American Education • Geographic Differences • In north, west AA vets had same participation, educational attainment as whites • GI Bill widened black/white education divide in south > whites advanced, AAs did not • Rankin’s intentions succeeded in south > AAs shut out > failed north and west

8. The History of American Education One Forgotten Hero Brigadier General Teddy Roosevelt, Jr.

9. The History of American Education GI Bill As Education “Critical Turn” • Higher ed “democratized” > opened to farmers, miners, ironworkers, shopkeepers • College attainment normative > higher ed expectation passed on to vets’ sons, daughters > reset ed high water mark • Ed generally, higher ed in particular vocationalized > path toward social mobility

10. The History of American Education GI Bill As Education “Critical Turn” • Redefined role, purpose of secondary schooling > gateway to college • Put an end to non-degreed teachers > teaching truly one of “learned professions” at all levels • All the legacy of World War II vets > arguably the enduring mark of “The Greatest Generation”

12. History of American Education Past, Present and Future • The narrative continues – what have we seen? • Education’s linkage to the larger society • Education’s challenge to the established order • Education is a long and difficult process • Education’s great divide over purpose • Education’s “class” conflicts • Education’s enduring importance