U.S. History
Public Education
Public schools were established in order to prepare people to become responsibile citizens, to improve social conditions, to promote cultural unity, to help people become self-sufficient and to enhance individual's happiness. It is considered a neccessary expression of democratic society. (ASCD Infobrief:Public Education and Democratic Society) There is a major reform movement that won widespread support in the 1800s. The man who led this movement was Horace Mann, "the father of American public schools." (Reform Movements)
One reason to establish tuition-free public schools was to create a unique American culture and character that could be used to mold the large number of recent immigrants to our country in the reformer’s image. This would include instructing the young in the blessings of democracy. Other reasons for reform were that private schools were elitists, which means that education is not provided for most of the American youths. If education could be provided at no cost, then more children can attend school. The poor children can get education and improve their social status. Then the democracy that no social differences could be achieved. (Mises Institute)
To remain true to democratic purposes, public schools depend on these core conditions: public support, public participation, and mutual responsibility between schools and the public. The most important one is public support.
Public support means adequate fundings to support school facilities. Schools cannot prepare students a healthy and informed future without safe buildings, high quality materials and well-prepared staff.
(ASCD Infobrief:Public Education and Democratic Society)
In Massachusetts, Horace Mann became the state's supervisor of education. The citizens voted to pay taxes to build better schools, to pay teachers higher salaries and to establish special training schools for teachers, so that students can get better education. In addition, Mann lengthened the school year to 6 months and made improvements in school curriculum. By the mid-1800s, most states had accepted three basic principles of public education: that school should be free and supported by taxes, that teachers should be trained and that children should be required to attend school. (Reform Movements) To Mann and his followers, education was the only way to preserve democracy, for an educated electorate was essential to the workings of a free political system. (The Unfinished Nation)
Citation:
Membership (ASCD Infobrief:Public Education and Democratic Society)
http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/policy-priorities/dec96/num07/toc.aspx
Education (Reform Movements)
http://reformmovements1800s.weebly.com/education.html
The Common School Movement and Compulsory Education (Mises Institute)
https://mises.org/library/common-school-movement-and-compulsory-education
The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people
By: Brinkley, Alan.
McGraw-Hill
2004
Some places such as Massachusettes, educators were generally capable men and women, often highly trained. However, in other areas, few literate teachers and limited funding hindered education. Many children had no access to schools at all, which causes uneven public education. The goals of educational reformers was teaching children the social values of order, discipline, and respect for authority. Some reformers also believed that Indians could be civilized by education. Despite limitations and inequalities, the achievements of the school reformers were impressive. By the beginning of the Civil War, the United States had one of the highest literacy rates of any nation of the population of the South. (The Unfinished Nation)