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The following was shared by a friend on her Facebook account. She and her family are vacationing in Nebraska and came across this small plaque in the old schoolhouse at Pioneer Village. I thought it was very interesting…
FIRST PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL
1821
The first public high school in America opened in Boston, Mass., in 1821. It was called "English High School" for boys 12 to 15, admitted by examination, to prepare them for "mercantile and mechanical employment". In 1826 a separate high school was opened for Boston girls, but operating costs exceeded the city's budget and it closed.
In 1834, when Pennsylvania attempted to set up a public education law, over 30,000 petitions of objection were signed by irate citizens who believed a public high school to be an unconstitutional burden on taxpayers and undemocratic interference with parents to control the education of their children, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the law and by the time of the Civil War there were over 300 high schools in existence in the United States.
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• Sep. 7, 2009 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>
Isn't it amazing how things have changed. I think people made things happen a lot easier back then. It's good to know that so many people cared about their kids' education.
We have signed on to Google Chrome and suddenly I can load most peoples' blogs that I wasn't able to before. So, hello again! Hope your school year is a good one. We are not starting school until we return from Yellowstone, the first part of October. It will take all my resources to prepare for this trip. I sure hope it doesn't snow!
Have a terrific week!
Kate
Edited by callmekate on Sep. 8, 2009 at 1:05 AM