3 ms·

Certainly we had public education in the 1800s(?) What is the difference between public education (like we had then) and "nanny state" education? (I'm asking

• patio11 18y ago
  At the time he visited, public education was rare and voluntary. The first US law mandating attendance at school was introduced in 1852 by Massachusetts, sometime after the reported 90%+ literacy rates were achieved. (I have significant skepticism that it was actually 99.96%, but 90% sufficient to read and write at what we'd consider a grade school level these days, sure.)
  • andrew1 18y ago
    996 out of a thousand would be 99.6%, but I agree with your suspicions.
    • jodrellblank 18y ago
      "would be"? You mean it isn't? (I've been reading http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=486574 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=486574 )
  • mseebach 18y ago
    Well, extrapolate the data, from a largely rural society where you could get through life without ever reading a single word, and today, where literacy is held in somewhat higher regard, and the effect of mandatory education on literacy rates doesn't look that profound. I'd say the basic introduction to liberal arts and natural sciences are much better arguments for mandatory education than literacy rates.
• nazgulnarsil 18y ago
  There was no public education on any sort of large scale until at least the 1840's, and not really widespread until the reconstruction era government.
  • jibiki 18y ago
    That's fascinating. What I was taught about education in that era involved the whole "1 room schoolhouse" thing (which probably says a lot about the quality of the public education I received.)