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The Massachusetts School Law of 1642 required an education in reading and writing for all children.
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The New England Primer was used to teach reading and Protestant principles.
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Originally, only larger New England towns were required to build schools. Education was not free nor public outside of New England. Some parents paid for their children to attend dame schools. This changed with the development of Common Schools.
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By the beginning of the Revolutionary War, most Americans were only educated enough to read the bible and pay taxes.
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The average schooling in one's lifetime was less than 82 days.
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Jefferson proposed to guarantee three years of schooling for all children with advanced studies for some. Female students were only to be given three years of schooling. There was to be no education provided for slaves.
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Thomas Jefferson's bill came up for a vote three times, but it was defeated every time.
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Noah Webster, called "The Schoolmaster of America," developed The Blueback Speller. The Blueback Speller was used to teach students about the United States and the people who lived there.
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Horace Mann became the first Secretary of Education for the Board of Education in Massachusetts. He traveled between districts on horseback to report on the conditions of schools. Mann found that school conditions varied greatly between towns. Horace Mann wanted to change public schools and developed a new system of "Common Schools." He believed that these common schools should be free with no distinction between the rich and the poor.
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Statewide school systems are beginning to develop.
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Catharine Beecher found colleges for women and encouraged women to be teachers. She made it seem respectable for women to leave their families and head out west to teach.
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The average school attendance in Massachusetts was four months. The annual cost per pupil was $2.81.
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Many of these residents were poor Irish Catholics. New York public schools were mostly Protestant, anti-Irish, and anti-Catholic.
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Bishop John Hughes believed that city funds should be available for Catholic Schools. Other religions asked for funds too.
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John Hughes became bishop of New York. He fought against Catholic children being forced into the Protestant faith in school. He helped lead to the establishment of private Catholic schools.
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The average school attendance in Massachusetts was seven months. The annual cost per pupil was $4.80.
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These were the result of anti-Catholic feelings. Thirteen people died and a Catholic church was burned down.
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A petition was put forth to the Boston public school committee calling for an immediate end to segregation.
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Roberts v. Boston reaches the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Ben Roberts tried to enroll his daughter, Sarah, in a better school near their home but was denied because of her race.
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Archbishop John Hughes helped establish a national system of private Catholic schools.
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The first law was passed in Massachusetts which abolished segregation in schools.
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Former slaves are now free to be literate. States had to promise free education to all children.
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The average public school enrollment was 7.6 million. The annual expenditures were $63 million.
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The average public school enrollment was 12.7 million. The annual expenditures were $141 million.
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The United States was providing more schooling to children than in any other nation.
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The Supreme Court rules against segregation.
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School: The Story of American Public Education [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00795BC38B4368D4
