WE HAVEN’T COME THIS FAR
JUST TO COME THIS FAR!
David Little
Executive Director
Leanne E. Winner
Director of
Governmental Relations
Rural Schools
North Carolina
Association of New School Boards Association
York State
American Colonial Period
(pre-1635)
No formal system of education delivery
Education occurred primarily in the home
Parents would teach:
◦ Basic reading and arithmetic
◦ Practical learning for life and work
America’s First Public School
Boston Latin School
Founded April 23, 1635 in
Colonial Boston
Rev. John Cotton credited as
Founder
Rev. Cotton and other Puritans of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony
came from a tradition of formal
education and learning in England
◦ Wanted to create a school like the Free
Grammar School of England
Public funding set aside to pay
Headmaster and an Assistant
Colonial and Early American
Period
Other towns in the Mass Bay Colony voted to pay a tax for
local education
1642: Massachusetts Bay Colony makes first compulsory
education law
◦ Method of delivering education not specified
1647: Old Deluder Satan Act: towns with 50+ households
required to hire a schoolmaster to teach town’s children how to
read and write; towns with 100+ households had to hire a Latin
teacher
Public education not well established- some towns offer public
schools other towns don’t
18th Century American School
Houses
The Birth of the Common
Schools
Horace Mann: first secretary of the State Board
of Education for Mass (1837)
Advocated and pushed for a system of free
public schooling open to all children
Democratic values: accessible education for
children from different social classes
Locally run and funded by taxes or charity
Influence spread around the country
Curriculum focused on basic skills (the 3 R’s)
Emphasis on creating a unified nation through
education, leading to more social harmony
Horace
Mann
th
19 Century American School
Houses
Early-20th Century American
School Houses
Modern School Houses
Public Education Challenges
and Threats
Organized Labor/Public
Employee Unions
Collective Bargaining
Agreements
Teacher Strikes
Tenure Laws
Public Education Challenges
and Threats
“City pays exiled teachers to
snooze as “rubber rooms”
return” – NY Post
“Teacher Melts Down, Disrupts,
Curses, Quits, Walks — And Files
To Get Job Back” – Michigan
Capitol Connection
Public Education Challenges and
Threats
Student Safety
School Shootings
Public Education Challenges and
Threats
Unfunded Mandates
Teacher & Employee Recruitment and
Retention
Public Education Challenges and
Threats
School Vouchers
Education Savings Accounts
Charters and For-Profit CMOs
The Voucher Family
Public Education Challenges
and Threats
Changing US Demographics
Non-English Learners
Immigration
Public Education Challenges and
Threats
General funding levels/anti-tax
organizations
Federal regulations
Keeping pace with growing
student enrollment
Economic and racial segregation
Summer learning loss
Testing and accountability
Contact Information
Leanne E. Winner
Director of Governmental
Relations
North Carolina School Boards
Association
[email protected]
919.747.6686
David Little
Executive Director
Rural Schools Association of
New York State
[email protected]
518.250.5710