Mike McCabe

Few issues related to American education policy have consistently stirred more controversy over as many years as has the question of how best to teach students whose first language is something other than English.

In a nation whose history is marked by waves of newcomers arriving from countries around the world, the appropriate language of public education has been debated since the first European settlers arrived in the 17th century, and the pendulum of public opinion on the subject has swung many times.

The debate...

With the adoption of Public Act 239 in the summer of 1972, lawmakers in Michigan sought to generate new revenues in support of the state’s public education system by embracing a mechanism with a storied past in American history — the public lottery. In doing so, the Wolverine State became the first in the Midwest to establish a modern state lottery, following the lead of a handful of northeastern states and helping to usher in a new wave of interest in state-sanctioned gambling across the entire country.

When 11-year-old Henry Campbell and his parents appeared before Judge Richard Tuthill in a crowded Chicago courtroom on July 3, 1899, the course of juvenile justice in America took a historic turn. Held just two days after the effective date of a landmark Illinois law, the Campbell hearing was the first to be held in the nation’s first juvenile court.

Not far from the North Dakota state Capitol in Bismarck stands a sleek, glass-covered building that, at first glance, belies its historic ties to the state’s progressive-era roots.

Despite its modern façade, however, the Bank of North Dakota — the nation’s only state-owned and state-operated bank — stands in part as a testament to the agrarian revolt that engulfed the young state and eventually ushered in a sweeping series of government reforms almost 100 years ago.