America's public schools can be traced back to the year 1640. The Massachusetts Puritans who created these first schools assumed that families and churches bore the primary responsibility for raising a child. The responsibility of the school was intended to be focused on: 1. Teaching basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills; 2. Cultivating values that serve a democratic society (some history and civics implied).
At the beginning of this century, society began to assign additional responsibilities to the schools. Politicians, business leaders and policy makers began to see the schools as a logical site for the assimilation of newly arrived immigrants and the perfect place for the social engineering of the first generation of the "Industrial Age". The practice of increasing the responsibilities of the nation's public schools began then and has accelerated ever since.
Please note that as new responsibilities were added, few of the existing functions were ever removed; most of the added functions are highly valued by many Americans; and, arguably, all of these things may need to be taught. As Americans we must decide the role of parents, schools and communities if we are to effectively prepare our children to succeed in the 21st. century.
Nationally known educational consultant Jamie Vollmer presented this historic overview of education at the Maine Education Association's 1998 Professional Issues Conference. It was reprinted with his permission in the August, 1998 MEA Voice Magazine.