EDUCATION REFORM By Lindsey Kerstetter

WHAT IS IT? Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education.

-In the early 1800s, Massachusetts was the only state that required free public schools. Reformers argued that a republic such as the United States requires educated citizens. -In 1814, New York State passed a law requiring local governments to set up tax-supported school districts. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

-In Massachusetts, Horace Mann urged legislators to provide more money for education. The state built new schools, extended the school year, raised teachers’ pay, and established colleges to train teachers. -By the 1850s, most northern states had set up free tax-supported elementary schools. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

HORACE MANN -Lived from He was born in -Horrace mann once said that education should be free and universal, nonsectarian, democratic in method, and reliant on well-trained, professional teachers.

EDUCATION FOR SLAVERY -A few northern cities set up separate schools for black students. -In the North, a few African American men and women opened their own schools. -Some African Americans went on to attend private colleges such as Harvard, Dartmouth, and Oberlin. -In 1854, Pennsylvania chartered the first college for African American men.

EDUCATION FOR THE DISABLED -In 1817, Thomas Gallaudet set up a school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. -In 1832, Samuel Gridley Howe founded the first American school for the blind.