The Common school - Gellian Fernandez Disla
As we read through the Story of American Public Education's "Common School" section, I was surprised by how much the early American education system was shaped by the idea of who should go to school and what type of education they got and how that idea changed over time. There were words and ideas that helped me understand the way that the idea of school changed. One word that stuck out to me was charity. The word charity showed how schools back then worked for those who were considered "poor" These schools were viewed not as a right, but they were looked at as help. The term "charity schools" meant that getting working-class kids an education wasn't yet something that everyone in the community cared about. People treated these schools like it was something given away to the less fortunate, like it was food or clothing. Like getting to go to school was a handout. This made it seem like there was unfairness and division with the students based on th...