| A link exists between democracy, industrialization, and | | | | develop a more efficient school system, and proposed |
| universal education which can be traced all the way | | | | that the government set up what he called "common |
| back to our founding fathers in the late 18th century, | | | | schools" - schools funded by taxes - in his state of |
| shortly after our Revolution. They, most notably | | | | Massachusetts. The idea caught fire, and soon spread |
| Thomas Jefferson and Noah Webster, felt that the | | | | to other states which began to see the advantage of |
| American education system should be the tool with | | | | an educated work force as the United States began |
| which they could create a uniform national culture by | | | | to pass other world powers in technology. Many also |
| blending together all nationalities and religions. This | | | | noted that these "common schools" were doing an |
| system would be based on standardized texts which | | | | admirable job of merging and mixing the many |
| would get to the core principles of republican | | | | different cultures now in America. |
| government. They went on to include that if the | | | | Every state government soon had at least some |
| American voting system was to be successful, they | | | | mandatory education laws in place by 1918 - most |
| would need informed and educated people who can | | | | required students to attend school until at least the 8th |
| make sound decisions. Unfortunately, this vision was | | | | grade or the age of 16. High school continued to be a |
| not carried out, as two decades later, in the early | | | | form of higher education, as most students did quit |
| 1800s, the country remained split, with many states | | | | school after the mandatory 8 years. |
| thinking of themselves as independent from the | | | | Shortly after this, however, industrialization made |
| country as a whole. | | | | another big push, and fewer and fewer people were |
| This education mess seemed to mimic the politics of | | | | making a living from agriculture anymore. This growing |
| the time. Education was not uniform at all, and was | | | | economy called for more white-collar jobs. Now nearly |
| primarily administered by separate localities, with no | | | | 95% of all people under the age of 25 who enter high |
| coordination among them. For the most part, only the | | | | school have graduated, and 67% of all of those |
| rich were able to afford the tuition fees necessary for | | | | graduates went on the college - the highest of any |
| public schooling. High school was even rarer, and | | | | nation. The percentage of people going to college is |
| college was nearly unheard of. | | | | currently higher than the percentage of people who |
| One man, Horace Mann, saw the urgent need to | | | | went to high school in 1910. |