A Brief History of Public Education in the United States

7/31/2019 A Brief History of Public Education in the United States

1/5

A Brief History of Public Education in the United States

Mike and Carolyn Riggs

In early America private education was the rule of thumb, with parents providing most, if

not all, of the instruction for their own children. Religious families wanted their children tolearn how to read the newly available King James Bible, which became the focus of

educational pursuits, and literacy was high.

However, things began to change in the 1640s when Massachusetts School Laws providedthe first step toward compulsory government-directed public education in the United States.

In 1642 educational supervision was transferred from clergymen to select men of thecolony, and other New England and most mid-Atlantic colonies soon followed suit. It took

another century for publicly funded schools to show up in the South.

Although implementation of the laws was inconsistent, they initially focused on personalknowledge of the Scriptures for temporal living and eternal salvation under the authority of

Puritan leaders. Schools were to teach reading of English, knowledge of laws, catechism of

Religion, and apprenticeship in honest labor (1642). The 1647 law described Satan as thedeluder who kept men from the knowledge of the Scriptures.1 And therefore a teacher, paidby families or by the community, was to be appointed by every group of fifty households.

Communities as large as one hundred households were to provide a grammar school foruniversity preparationor pay a fine.2

In the early 1800s, after 150 years of family-, church-, and community-guided education,

Horace Mann took public education to a new level when he helped establish laws to exclude

sectarian teachings from Christians, Catholics, and Jews from public schools by promotingnon-sectarian schools.3 The establishment of universal, public-funded education was his

driving force; public schools were supposed to change society and establish a utopian state

with freedom, moral virtue, and social harmony. Thus, Mann became the Father of the U.S.Common School.

In 1816 in England, Robert Owen declared that society may be formed so as to exist

without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any, misery, andwith intelligence and happiness increased a hundred-fold; and no obstacle whatsoever

intervenes at this moment, except ignorance, to prevent such a state of society frombecoming universal.4 In 1825, when Owens two-year-old American community failed, he

said people raised and educated under the old system could not adapt to the communistway of life: people must be educatedbefore they could successfully create a socialist

society. Consequently, Owen promoted education by the state at public expense.5

The 1897 pedagogic creed of John Dewey, who was the Father of Modern Education saideducation was the fundamental method of social progress and reform.6 He proposed that

education should be a continuing reconstruction of experience, with no outside goal. Thechilds activity should be the starting point for all education in order to avoid arresting the

childs nature and failing to give the child the complete possession and command of all hispowers as preparation for the future. According to Dewey, a humanist, the teacher should

not impose certain ideas or habits on the child, and literature should neither precede nor bethe basis for social experience. Dewey concluded his creed saying, I believe that every

teacher should realize the dignity of his calling; that he is a social servant set apart for themaintenance of proper social order and the securing of the right social growth. I believe that


2/5

in this way the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer in of the truekingdom of God.7 The teacher was to be the vehicle for Deweys socialistic goals.

In his book N.E.A.:Trojan Horse in AmericanEducation, Blumenfeld explains: To

Dewey, the greatest enemy of socialism was the private consciousness that seeksknowledge in order to exercise its own individual judgment and authority. High literacy gave

the individual the means to seek knowledge independently. . . . Thus the [hidden] goal wasto produce inferior readers with inferior intelligence dependent on a socialist educational

elite for guidance, wisdom and control. Blumenfeld explained, It would have been hard toimpress parents of America with the virtues of illiteracy.8 Since the 1930s when the big

switch in reading instruction took place, reading skills have plummeted.

Dewey and the NEA have been intensely hostile to individualism and have promotedsocialism without giving the American people a choice.9 Dewey gave hearty preference and

aide to socialistic statist values while quietly and consistently overriding family andindividual rights.

The Humanistic viewpoint says man is the source of knowledge and guidance above Godand Scriptureand that God does not exist or is no longer involved in the affairs of man in

contrast to the Biblical view of God as the Almighty Creator. Humanists propose that man,born good instead of sinful, is at the pinnacle of an evolved state and he bears theultimate responsibility to achieve utopia through science and socialism. 10

Following closely on the heels of previously established laws, in 1960 prayer in public

schools was officially banned. In 1965 the Head Start program began reaching youngerchildren with government money. Subsequent results indicated a lack of significant

academic differences between participants and non-participants by second grade. Fundingfor public education has increased dramatically since the early 1900s. However, despite the

fact that the literacy rate has declined alarmingly11 some claim victory.12 Charles J. Sykesbook,Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves

But Cant Read, Write, or Add, clarifies how outcome-based education has eroded our

schools. Public school students rank near or at the bottom of international tests in math andscience.13

Those who have guided and controlled public education in the United States, such as HoraceMann and John Dewey, have actively and fervently excluded Christian beliefs and values in

favor of promoting humanistic, man-centered beliefs and values. The two foundations aredirectly opposed; if you do not actively pursue Gods foundation, you are at least passively

pursuing mans foundation. While Christians debate about when to begin teaching and themanner for teaching children, Humanists plot how to separate children from parents as early

as possible for the good of mankind. Many Humanists are convinced of the need for theirgoals and pursue them relentlessly. They pursue salvation as a society, because they are

unwilling to consider accountability to God any more than Cain or Nimrod did in Genesis.

Because Christians hold to a supreme God, authoritative Scripture, individual sin and

salvation, and accountability for eternity, humanists are convinced that Christians are anenemy to be overcome.

In 1994 Maurice Roberts wrote about being battle-weary. He described the danger of being

asleep with a fire or a thief at the door and no awareness or care about the danger. Thecharacters in his article are in dreamland reveling in an unreal and delusional world.14

Watchmen of today are asleep. The battle seems too big or is someone elses responsibility.

But we must refuse to slumber away. Roberts said, When soul-sleepiness is widespread,


3/5

men are all taken up with childish dreams and empty trifles. They make great sound andbluster about small matters of procedure and right order. But they may as easily overlook

the great matters of justice, mercy and truth as those Pharisees who strained at a gnat andswallowed a camel (Matt. 23:24). The cry of allor almost allis for more sleep, and woe

be to him who tries to wake them! We must pray for grace to stay awake and plunge intoGods truth till our dreams of worldly ease are thrown aside. We must be wakeful servants,

watchmen at the door.15

Why are you homeschooling your children? What foundational truths does your familywholeheartedly embrace? Have any enticements encouraged you to commune with godless

man (Psalm 1)? What do the educational highlights of our nation tell you? Will yourrelentless pursuit of God and His truth outlast the wiles of godless men? What is your hope,

your compelling motivation? May God richly guide you in your convictions and in decisionmaking.

1. Massachusetts Education Laws of 1642 and 1647.

2. Samuel Blumenfeld, N.E.A.:Trojan Horse in American Education, (The Paradigm

Company, Boise, Idaho, 1997), pp. 3, 9-17, 23, 37-38, 41-43, 96, 102, 124-128, 164,242.

3. Horace Mann, Common School Journal, Twelfth Annual Report, (1848).4. Robert Owen,Address Delivered to the Inhabitants of New Lanark, (London: Hatchard,1816).

5. Ibid.6. John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed, School Journal, vol. 54 (January 1897), pp. 77-80.

7. Ibid.8. Blumenfeld, p. 105-106, cited in Dewey, The School and Society, (Chicago, 1899;

reprinted inJohn Dewey, The Middle Works, 1899-1924, volume 1: 1899-1901, edited byJoAnn Boydston, Southern Illinois University Press, 1976), p. 19.

9. Blumenfeld., p.103, 106.10. Edwin Henry Wilson, The Genesis of a Humanist Manifesto, (Amherst, New York:

Humanist Press, 1995).

11. Charles J. Sykes, Dumbing Down Our Kids, (St. Martins Press, New York, New York,1995), pp. 17-21.12. Blumenfeld, 126-128.

13. Sykes, 17-21.14. Maurice Roberts, The Danger of Becoming Battle-Weary,Banner of Truth Magazine,

Issue 375, December 1994.15. Ibid.

Educational Milestones in the U.S.

Dates Events1

1440 Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press in Germany.1535 In October the first English printed Bible is completed.

1620 The Mayflowertransports Pilgrims to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1636 Harvard College seminary begins, aided by a government grant.

1642 Harvard Board of Overseers adds government members.

1642-8 Massachusetts School Laws are implemented.

1806 Samuel Weber becomes Harvards first Unitarian president.

1816 The Institution for the Formation of Character is established in England.

1819 Prussian (German) education favors statism over parental rights.

1829 American educators lobby for public education.


4/5

1835-7 The first look-say primer appears. Horace Mann applauds it for liberating childrenfrom Calvinist academic tyranny.

1837 Horace Mann is the first Secretary of the MA Board of Education; Froebele startskindergarten in Germany.

1838-9 The First Normal School is a state financed/controlled teachers college,symbolizing

statisms triumph to Mann.1845 Two State Normal Schools open; opposition to state-controlled teacher training

ends: secularism flourishes.

1848 The first U.S. kindergarten is established in Wisconsin, is private, and is

German-speaking.

1849 New York initiates free schools at public expense.

1850 Catholics establish schools.

1857 The National Teachers Association promotes public U.S. Schools.

1859 Darwins The Origin of Species is published.

1860 There are sixty-nine public U.S. high schools.

1870 The National Teachers Association becomes the National Education Association.

1873 The first public U.S. Kindergarten opens There are soon forty-two public U.S.kindergartens.

1880 The new National Council of Education promotes absolute faith in science ofprogressives.

1900 Enrollment in Free Schools, with 700,000 high school students, overtakes

enrollmentin private academies.

1902 There are 3,422 public U.S. kindergartens.1905 U.S. public education gets 22 percent of U.S. public expenditures.

1906 NEA 50th- Year Anniversary papers highlight Prussian education. Control ofeducation passes from church to state.

1910 The U.S. Bureau of Education says twenty-two out of a thousand Massachusetts10- to 14-year olds are illiterate.

1917 The National Education Association moves its headquarters to Washington, D.C.

1918 U.S. Office of Education promotes socialism in the Cardinal Principles of SecondaryEducation.

1929 In December Dewey is awarded Life Membership in the NEA for his seventieth

birthday.Neuropathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton says look-say reading could cause reading

disability and be an obstacle to reading progress.

1933 John Dewey and other humanists establish theHumanist Manifesto (reaffirmed in

1973 with more signers).

1946 Colliers magazine says one third of U.S. school children lag behind in reading.

1955 Why Johnny Cant Readispublished.

1960 Prayer is banned from public schools, and there is a $5.6 billion U.S. education

expenditure.

1965 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act begins a Head Start/Title program.

1967 Research by a Harvard Graduate School of Education professor supports phonics.1970 There is a $40.6 billion U.S. education expenditure.

1972 Thirty-two percent of students in New York City are reading at or above gradelevel.

1981-4 Why Johnny Still Cant Readis rejected by the NEA.1983 There is a $141 billion U.S. education expenditure. The NEA spends 3.1% of its

82-83 budget on instructional, professional development and 19% of its budget onUniserv, its totalitarian, controlling arm to further political goals.


5/5

1984 The Boston Globe declares illiteracy a handicap like deafness and blindness.Adults

40% functionally illiterate.1993 The U.S. Department of Education says nearly half of adults read and write too

poorly to hold decent jobs.3

1994 Goals 2000 Educate America Act and School-to-Work Opportunities Act are passed.

1995 There is a $256 billion U.S. education expenditure.2011 Private education is on the rise. No Child Left Behind increased taxpayer dollars for

education; however, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says 80,000 of thenations 100,000 public schools could be declared failing in 2011solution: dumb

down the passing grade.4

1 Many dates and events are public knowledge. Others are documented by SamuelBlumenfeld, N.E.A.Trojan Horse in American Education, (The Paradigm Company, Boise,

Idaho, 1997), pp. 3, 9-17, 23, 37-38, 41-43, 96, 102, 110, 124-128, 164, 242.2 Gale Encyclopedia of Education: Early Childhood Education: Preparation of Teachers:

information from Answers .com.3 Charles J. Sykes, Dumbing Down Our Kids, (St. Martins Press, New York, New York,1995), pp. 28-32.4 Marvin Olasky, Thousands Left Behind, World, (Gods World Publications, Asheville, NC,August 27, 2011, Vol. 26, No. 17), p. 76.

Mike and Carolyn graduated their two children from homeschool and have six grandchildren.Carolyn especially enjoys occasional homeschooling activities. Mike and Carolyn are co-

founders ofLamp and Quill International, a devotional Bible curriculum for all ages, andco-authors ofThe Trojan Horse in Christian Education. They delight in seeing the eyes of

children (and adults) light up with spiritual insights and life-changing goals. See TOSreviews. www .lampquill.com.

Copyright 2011, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in

the Fall 2011 issue ofThe Old Schoolhouse Magazine, the trade magazine for homeschool

families. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go anddownload the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.
http://www.answers.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.tosmagazine.com/http://www.tosapps.com/http://www.answers.com/http://www.answers.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.lampquill.com/http://www.tosmagazine.com/http://www.tosapps.com/http://www.answers.com/

Documents

A Brief History of Public Education in the United States