Journal Common Schools

This article explained the process of developing public schools. It started with the “common school reform movement” which was anything but over night. A basic education consisted of fundamental literacy skills from a mom or local woman. Any education that they had was almost valueless. The upper class was using tutors while the lower class was settling with no real education system at all.
The change was finally brought during the American Revolution when people started to notice the importance of an educated population. It is disturbing to know that in the land of free the classes were segregated rated so strongly in schooling. Because the students were limited in their schooling it prevented them from ever improving classes in life. As schools began to be created Dr. Benjamin Rush established a school for woman. To advocate education for woman at this time was rare and very impressive of Dr. Rush. As the article continued though it shared that his reasoning was not as heroic as his actions lead to believe. The reason he had created the school was because he felt that it was important that the girls that would one day become the mother of the country’s leaders should be able to offer them a the best moral education possible. Even in through their education they were trapped into an assigned future. Education is supposed to be the key to a brighter future, so to have schools to lock them in the life of motherhood is ironic.
Horace Mann worked with others to reach new goals. They wanted more school terms, smaller classes with age limits and separations, more students that would be taught by highly educated teachers, and text book shat were American rather than British. Horace Mann’s seemed to be crazy to people for fighting for these school requirements that are necessary for students to learn. It is hard to comprehend that people were working hard to prevent wonderful ideas from happening in the public school system. A basic education is one of the most important things in the country currently; an America with different values doesn’t feel like the same country at all. The opposing opinions on public education was that there should be no tax funding for these schools because it was wrong to pay “what they considered local issues,”(Common Schools). How could the education of the population be a local issue? How would the values of a democratic country that is supposed to give everyone an equal opportunity to work for a better life be shown in a country with no public schools? Those issues cause no change in the schooling system.
When the world began to quickly develop and the cities were blooming the job market started to change. The work world was looking offering job that required an education, such as an accountant. These jobs acted as proof to people that schools were needed. Although the proof was evident in the country change didn’t come over night. The changes in school took a long time to progress.
The big change came with McGuffey’s First Eclectic Reader (1836). McGuffey’s book was a schooling program that contained lesions and story that connected with the people reading them. It started with basic vocabulary and grammar and then worked its way up to harder leaves throughout the book. It is fascinating that even in the 1800’s they used a quick fix system to improve their lifestyle. We have followed that pattern even to this day. This program that was just simple teaching books was a large piece in the public school movement. It is fascinating to know that one book could make such a difference in America’s history.

"common schools." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .