School systems in the United States are operated at the state and local levels of government. Compulsory education can be trace back to 1890, buy the laws were poorly written and poorly enforced. It wasn't until the nineteenth century that a national system of formal education was developed.

The founding fathers of the United States felt education was essential for the prosperity and survival of the nation. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson led the "Crusade Against Ignorance". Jefferson was the first leader to suggest a system of free schools for all and the schools should be supported through taxation. His proposal was to provide the children of Virginia for a minimum of three years. The best of those students would continue their schooling through adolescence at the public's expense and the best of those students would be sent to publicly funded colleges. Unfortunately, his proposal did not gain widespread support and never materialized.

Jefferson's idea became the basis of the nineteenth century education systems. The American School System originated in the 1830s and 1840s. The "system" was a nice term, but it was really a disjointed collection of local, regional, and usually private. The type of schooling was dependent on the resources, the values, and the city activities of religious groups looking to further their own ends. The disjointed system created different types of schools for different reasons. Most institutions were boys from wealthy families and public government was not involved in financing or controlling schools.

Common School Reformers attacked the disjointed and localization of education. The felt education should be free for all elementary age children and be financed by public funds,schools should be accountable to local school boards and and state government; and compulsory attendance for elementary aged children. The reformers argued education could,transform all youths into virtuous, literate citizens; education could build a distinctive, new nation to compete with other countries; appeal to the economic and religious tensions of rising immigration by creating a common bond; and preserve social stability, prevent crime, and prevent poverty.

Proponents of the Common School included Horace Mann and Henry Barnard. Mann was the Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts, and in 1937, he supervised the creation of a statewide common school system. Barnard's efforts were similar to Mann's and in 1849 he became the Superintendent of common schools in Connecticut.

The Catholic Church opposed the Common School Reformers because they felt their moral values were based in Protestant beliefs and proper education could not separate intellectual development from moral development. The Catholic Church responded by creating their own school system.

Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory attendance in 1852; followed by New York in 1853. By 1918, all states had passed compulsory attendance laws.

Compulsory education along with child labor laws meant more teenagers had more time to attend school. Education also was seen as an acceptable alternative to labor and provided form a meaningful life prior to working, attending college, and/or starting a family.

Most states now have compulsory attendance to the age of sixteen.

JUVENILE CORRECTIONS

On January 1, 1825, Reverend John Stanford founded The House of Refuge in New York City.  This was the first systematic attempt to separate juvenile from adult criminals.  The focus was on correction; not punishment.  Children between the ages of seven to fourteen were sentenced at criminal proceedings.  Joseph Curtis was the first director.  His aim was to develop a child's individuality and enhance the power of self-empowerment through the use of education.  His inability to control behaviors led to Curtis becoming a strict disciplinarian with rigid rules.  Violations of the rules were dealt with corporal punishment and solitary confinement.  Consequently leading to a high rate of escapees.

N.C. Hart was the Refuge's second director and his focus was on work; not education.  He felt the inmates should work eight hours a day and many were sent out to work on farms or they were indentured.  Although his philosophy was thought of as "timely and praiseworthy", the Refuge was actually a prison which was reflected by the treatment and appearance. 

The population of the Refuge grew rapidly; and it accepted all children in need.  The House of Refuge became a reformatory for delinquents and a repository for street waifs.  Due to the influx of population, a larger institution  with the capacity of over 1000 children, was opened in 1854 on Randall's Island.

The Reformers of 1901 dubbed the House of Refuge - "The Chamber of Horror".  The House of Refuge closed in 1935 and moved to a new location operated by the New York State Department of Corrections.

During the 1840s, the Refuge Movement began and enter the Child Savers.  Proponents of the movement surrounded their beliefs around the "Rehabilitative Ideal" - Delinquency is a form of social pathology and exposure.  They also felt the older the criminal - the greater the "sickness" - and the more difficult to make a child "better"; hence the Medical Model. 

The greatest impact of the Child Savers was the Reformatory System - a special form of institutionalized discipline for teens and young adults.  They felt these youths needed to be removed from their environment and they were imprisoned for their own good.  The Reformatory was to be a guarded sanctuary with a combination of love and guidance with firmness and restraints.  The believed children in these situations should not be offered "due process" because the goal was reformation and rehabilitation; not punishment.  Sentencing was indeterminate to the age of eighteen.

Establishment of reform schools were on the rise.  Many were racially and sexually segregate with harsh discipline, corporal punishment and poor physical care.