The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education is an educational entitlement of all students in the United States who are identified as having a disability, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The status of creation and evolution in public education has been the subject of substantial debate and conflict in legal, political, and religious circles.

In American schools, the Genesis creation narrative was generally taught as the origin of the universe and of life until Darwin's scientific theories became widely accepted.

The movement for compulsory public education (in other words, prohibiting private schools and requiring all children to attend public schools) in the United States began in the early 1920s.