The history of the role of the federal government in public education dates to 1785. The history of conservative's attempting to undermine public education dates to the Brown vs Board of Education (1954) that declared separate schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. In 1962 the Justices ruled that Prayer had no place in the class room and violated the establishment clause of the first amendment this is the reason that conservatives believe that the Federal Government had taken over the schools.