Day 21-Education

The ability to learn is taken for granted. I don't have the data on that, it is just a given. In the United States, school is a given. When children are 5 and older, it is mandatory  to attend a school.  Public Education has been the mainstay of the country since 1918 (Fisher Act {1}) The Constitution of the United States of America does not provide for the education of children, before Congress instituted the public school system, it was left up to the individual parents, the states and the society as a whole to see to the education of our children. . The Department of Education was formed in 1867 to collect data on schools throughout the United States. {2} Up to this time, there were school houses, home schools, private schools, and they all taught children the basics. Some were taught foreign languages, some were only taught the rudimentary skills of readin, ritin, and rithmatic.  Now while the three 'R's have been a staple and a basis of all other education, there is so much more out there to learn... 
Not all children were able to actually have a clssroom, many had a one room school house where all grades learned side by side from one teacher. My Mother, her siblings and my inlaws were all taught in one room school houses.
There have been some acts of Congress that have actually been landmarks in the society of the United States and they had to do with education. 1917 Smith-Hughes Act that gave federal aid to schools..the 1918 Child Labor Law{3}, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Public Law 94-142 The Education for all Handicapped Children Act, and the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act had bipartisan support and passed through Congress{4}... These laws have all leveled the playground so to speak for all children to have access to public education.OK, so the Child Labor law isn't to do with education, but it helped enable children to have the time to go to public schools. Before this time in history, children were able to work the same hours as adults, in the same type jobs, in the same hazardous conditions...



1...The Cabinet Papers 1915-1984. National Archchives. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/fisher-act.htm
2...The Federal Role in Education. US Department of Education. http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html
3... http://www.lawnix.com/cases/hammer-dagenhart.html
4...http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html