<P> Some scholars believe that transformation of the Pell Grant program to a loan program in the early 1980s has caused an increase in the gap between the growth rates of white, Asian - American and African - American college graduates since the 1970s . Others believe the issue is increasingly related more to class and family capacity than ethnicity . Some school systems have used economics to create a different way to identify populations in need of supplemental help . </P> <P> In 1975 Congress passed Public Law 94 - 142, Education for All Handicapped Children Act . One of the most comprehensive laws in the history of education in the United States, this Act brought together several pieces of state and federal legislation, making free, appropriate education available to all eligible students with a disability . The law was amended in 1986 to extend its coverage to include younger children . In 1990 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) extended its definitions and changed the label "handicap" to "disabilities". Further procedural changes were amended to IDEA in 1997 . </P> <P> In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released a report titled A Nation at Risk . Soon afterward, conservatives were calling for an increase in academic rigor including an increase in the number of school days per year, longer school days and higher testing standards . English scholar E.D. Hirsch made an influential attack on progressive education, advocating an emphasis on "cultural literacy"--the facts, phrases, and texts that Hirsch asserted are essential for decoding basic texts and maintaining communication . Hirsch's ideas remain influential in conservative circles into the 21st century . Hirsch's ideas have been controversial because as Edwards argues: </P> <Dl> <Dd> Opponents from the political left generally accuse Hirsch of elitism . Worse yet in their minds, Hirsch's assertion might lead to a rejection of toleration, pluralism, and relativism . On the political right, Hirsch has been assailed as totalitarian, for his idea lends itself to turning over curriculum selection to federal authorities and thereby eliminating the time - honored American tradition of locally controlled schools . </Dd> </Dl>

Who didn't support compulsory education at urban public schools in the late nineteenth century