Oresta

I would assume Helen was referring to Colonial education. It could be described as "public" in the sense that colonial legislatures enacted laws "to give impetus to those towns which had failed to establish schools on their own initiative." Boston had already voted to establish a school in 1635. It was supported by private subscription and income from a parcel of land set aside for this purpose. (Emphasis mine)
The 1642 Massachusetts Law was the first of the colonial enacted laws to require elementary education for children. The curriculum criteria were reading English, knowing the capital laws, the the catechism, and apprenticship in a trade. Such schools were supported with a combination of tuition fees and public funds.
Undoubtedly the purpose of literacy was to read the Bible in order to thwart "that Olde Deluder Satan", as one law put it. But universal literacy was recognized from colonial beginnings as necessary for the larger general welfare of the society.
The source of this is A Cultural History of Western Education, R. Freeman Butts. This old McGraw Hill university text (1955) is an excellent source of everything you ever wanted know about western ed, but were afraid to ask.

2tadpoles

Yep. Our school system was a copy of the Prussian model, which Horace Mann found quite appealing. The system of schooling in Prussia produced lots of worker bees that didn't ask questions....just what America needed for the Industrial Revolution. Mann also was an admirer of the Prussian military.

While looking for links on the history of public education, I came across this one out of Michigan:
<a href="http://www.mackinac.org/2027" target="_blank">http://www.mackinac.org/2027</a>

Although it doesn't mention much about religion being the original reason for schooling in America (or not), it has quite a bit of information.

Toto

The Mackinac Center is a highly ideological pro-free market institution, so take that information with their agenda in mind. The MC is funded by a lot of right wing foundations and takes a libertarian stand on most issues where that coincides with its corporate sponsorship - right to work laws and anti-unionism in general, and avoids "social issues". It has been accused of being opposed to public education because its agenda is to replace public education with private religious education, although I don't see any religious content on its pages.

Anunnaki

Hmm. This is quite interesting since there is a sign 4 miles down the road from me here in Rehoboth Massachusetts that says "Welcome to Rehoboth,the birthplace of public education."

This claim is also boasted <a href="http://www.town.rehoboth.ma.us/" target="_blank">here</a> on the front page of the Rehoboth webpage.

"Welcome to Rehoboth, one of Massachusetts oldest and most historic towns. Rehoboth was first established in 1643, originally a part of the Plymouth Colony. Currently, it is a small suburban town located in southeastern Massachusetts with roughly ten thousand residents. Rehoboth was the birthplace of public education in North America and today still has an excellent educational system.
"

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: Anunnaki ]</p>

Oresta

Toto
Although religious intent is not clear -- if any -- the organization is certainly hostile to public education. It is interesting that the brief history of MI education on the above link doesn't mention that Michigan was the first state to establish a state Board of Education, among if not the first to establish educational standards for teacher certification, and the state where a landmark state supreme court case (Kalamazoo, 188?) decided that communities are required to provide public education for a full twelve years. Most townships at the time offered only 6 or 8 years.
The MC version would have it that we initially had a "market-based" education system and lost its benefits with the government establishment of public education. State history doesn't support that contention. Michigan has fostered education from its beginnings as a state in 1837. Many of the state universities began as land grant normal colleges, established to train teachers.

ohwilleke

John Dewey, one of the important figures in shaping the public education system in the U.S. that exists today and making public education widespread based his ethical philosophy in naturalism.

Source:<a href="http://www.siu.edu/~deweyctr/" target="_blank">The Center for Dewey Studies </a>

[ June 12, 2002: Message edited by: ohwilleke ]</p>

Buffman

Oresta

Stuart v. School Dist. No. 1 of Village Kalamazoo, 30 Mich. 69 (1874)

Max Bane

Maybe Helen is referring to the "Old Deluder Satan Act" of 1647 in Massachusetts. It goes like this:
You can see that the first paragraph is just a lot of Reformation dogma against Catholic clergy and Latin masses. Anyway, even if Massachusetts did begin public education to ensure that children could read the bible, that's entirely separate from the United States government and the U.S. constitution. And as someone pointed out earlier, it's not ironic at all -- ideally, just about anyone who completes, say, the 8th grade in American public schools should be able to pick up a bible and read it, interpreting it for themselves, just as those New England old-timers wanted.

Oresta

Oresta
Stuart v. School Dist. No. 1 of Village Kalamazoo, 30 Mich. 69 (1874)

Thanks, Buffman, for pulling this up with the correct date.