Massachusetts_Public_School_Law

Massachusetts Public School Law Tina Petersmarck HIS 110 September 22, 2010 Peter Genovese Massachusetts Public School Law In the early years, children had to follow the footsteps of their parents. Fathers will teach the young males the family business such as the agricultural techniques to farm, and teaching the importance of buying and selling there products and trades. Whereas, the young females usually will, follow in their mothers footsteps by learning how to be good homemakers. This consists of learning how to gather crops, sew, cook, clean and manage the household, along with rearing, and raising the children. In the middle colonies, the responsibilities of education of children rely soley on family and church. Many parents taught their young to read and write at home, the intense load of farm work set limits on the time spent educating ther young, which led to any attempts to try to send the children to public school, as there were too many “chores” left for completion. Other cultures such as the African slaves virtually have no access to an education with no efforts to establish literacy enforced. However, on occasion the African slave would receive some guidence from a mistress or master, and learn how to read and write. Because the Native American tribes were already an established culture and had his or her own languages and barter systems, the philosophy of the tribes is that of; no need to learn the “English ways.” As time past on, more diverse cultures started invading the land of the Native American, Some tribes thought learning the English language would be an important tool to communicate there wants and needs. By force of government, brought some tribes to learn to speak, read, and write the English language through their childern with the assistance of the local government or some mislead missionaries. The one development in the colonial culture, which contributes to the growth of the American identity, is the 1647 Massachusetts law requirement for public schools in each town, which became an evolutionary process. In 1647, the Massachusetts government became the first North American government to order all towns of 50 families to maintain a schoolmaster, or receive fines for non-compliance. America finally came to the relization of the importance of the children’s education. The law requires every town of 50 families or more to select a teacher to edify the children of that region. The motivation came from the Puritan General Court, to avoid the Old Deluder “Satan” from influencing the town’s adolecents. The laws intent is to create a religious place where children can learn grammar skills to prepare them for college, and prepare the young males for the ministry. The religious beliefs remain as an essential requirement to maintain the view of personal knowledge of the Scriptures. This did not ensure all children would receive an education, the public issue arose for the female population, after the American Revolution; education for girls did not appear to be a priority, or of any importance. By 1650, most of towns met the new law requirements for grammar schools; the remainder of the town’s people would ignore the mandates and pay the fine, keeping the children home and active in home labor. “The Massachusetts Civil Code of 1660 reiterated the school laws, but still met with a lack of implementation; to enforce it, a fresh act was passed in 1668” (Holland, 1881, p. 1). By 1867, the creation of The Department of Education is to help states establish effective school systems. Education for girls became considerable in the late 1700s and in 1787; the first academy in America for girls opens in Philadelphia. The first African American school opened in 1787, in New York City, prior to this school, there were no schools in the southern states. A few teachers taught African Americans in secret night schools, if caught; the individuals left town by force, or imprisoned. In 1868, the Native Americans establish a meeting place for ministries and education for the young. A half a century ago, the families of Carolina initiated the lawsuit that did change America. “This lawsuit was the first of five across the country that would lead to the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education” (Knight, 2004, p. 1). To this day, the law of education has made many significant changes and contributions in the world of education. Since 1647 and onward, each new law that passes changes the way schools run and benefit the children to higher his or her education for preperation of the future. Educational organizations, like those in existence today were also available in colonial times, only with more advancement today. In a sense, New England is the lead way of the current schooling system in the USA. The decision of the Supreme Court in 1954 ruled racially segregated schools unconstitutional and set in motion a series of events that continue to shape the American people’s lives today, and contribute to the creation of a growing America identity.   | | | | |  | References Brinkley, A. (1999). Society and Culture in Provincial America. In American History: A Survey (pp. 1-32). : The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Holland, J. G. (1881). Excerpt from Massachusetts School Law of 1647. Retrieved from http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu Knight, J. S., & Knight, J. L. (2004). Courage: The Carolina Story That Changed America. Retrieved from http://www.museumofthenewsouth.org