1830:

The first common, or public, schools open in St. Augustine and Tallahassee.

1869:

The legislature establishes a state board of education.

1954:

The Supreme Court rules against segregated schools, including those in Florida, in Brown v. Board of Education.

1959:

More than 200,000 Cuban refugees fleeing the Castro regime come to south Florida over the next decade. Schools in Dade County eventually invest more than $100 million in bilingual education programs.

1996:

The state’s first charter school opens in Miami.

1999:

Florida institutes its A+ program to grade schools according to the performance of students on the state assessment test.

2002:

Congress passes the federal No Child Left Behind law.

2008:

Florida merges A+ and NCLB requirements into its differentiated accountability program.

2010:

The state legislature passes, and Gov. Charles Crist vetoes, a law that would have required pay for performance in all Florida districts.