by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
The first American public school was authorized in 1643 in Dedham, the Massachusetts Bay Colony—nearly 150 years before the United States was established.
After the revolution, kindergarten to 8th grade began to be stressed and the Land Ordinance of 1785 established a mechanism for funding public education. Until at least the 1840s, however, most schools continued to be privately owned and operated.
In Pennsylvania, the Free School Act of 1834 became law in April of that year and established a foundation for public schools and school boards to oversee them.
There was much debate about public education and adversaries threatened its survival. Thaddeus Stevens was at the forefront of the dialogue.
The 175th anniversary of public education in Pennsylvania is being recognized by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association with a re-enactment of Thaddeus Stevens’ famous speech defending free schools.
Little did those early defenders imagine that the state would grow to 501 school districts—with charter and cyber schools, online courses and a growing home school population.
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