Discuss the state of education in the 1930s.This includes laws passed, initiatives enacted, or policy shifts.

Very little in the 1930s goes far in its discussion
without mentioning the Great Depression.  Education in the time period is no different. 
Essentially, at the start of the 1930s, education, which had enjoyed a great support
from big business and industry which made sure that schools produced a ready and able
work force, experienced massive retrenchment like much of American society.  The Great
Depression cast its net wide, and laws regarding education were passed on to the state
level, as the federal government had its plate filled with what to do about the crippled
state of the United States.  Local business people pushed for schools to become for
profit centers, abandoning universal access for free education.  Some areas slashed the
teacher workforce, while others passed laws that closed schools, entirely.  Local
ordinances were passed regulating the pay that teachers received.  Most of the focus in
the classroom, where there was a classroom, was on producing students who had trade
skills or possessed basic competencies that could translate into some hope of work,
though that was difficult to find.  One of the most interesting developments of the time
period in education was the political action of the teachers.  The 1930s represented the
first moment where Progressive teachers demanded that political action involving the
voices of teachers be taken to both the political and social level.  Teachers broke out
of the "red schoolhouse" mode and actually became dynamic laborers who stood with other
unions in seeking to have their voices heard on issues by both elected official and the
society, at large.  With the recent demonstrations in Wisconsin over collective
bargaining, this fight still is on- going.