Editing Education reform (section)

=== Colonial America ===
In what would become the United States, the first public school was established in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 23, 1635. Puritan schoolmaster Philemon Pormont led instruction at the [[Boston Latin School]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=BLS History|url=https://bls.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=206116&type=d|access-date=2021-04-18|website=bls.org|language=en}}</ref> During this time, post-secondary education was a commonly utilized tool to distinguish one's social class and social status. Access to education was the "privilege of white, upper-class, Christian male children" in preparation for university education in ministry.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Educational Reforms {{!}} Boundless US History|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/educational-reforms/|access-date=2021-04-18|website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref>

In colonial America, to maintain Puritan religious traditions, formal and informal education instruction focused on teaching literacy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=AMERICAN EDUCATION|url=https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/ae1.html|access-date=2021-04-11|website=oregonstate.edu}}</ref> All colonists needed to understand the written language on some fundamental level in order to read the Bible and the colony's written secular laws. Religious leaders recognized that each person should be "educated enough to meet the individual needs of their station in life and social harmony.<ref name="encyclopedia.com">{{Cite web|title=The Education Reform Movement {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/education-reform-movement|access-date=2021-03-29|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>" The first [[Massachusetts Education Law of 1647|compulsory education laws]] were passed in Massachusetts between 1642 and 1648 when religious leaders noticed not all parents were providing their children with ''proper'' education.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Matzat|first=Amy|date=2021-04-11|title=MASSACHUSETTS EDUCATION LAWS OF 1642 AND 1647|url=https://www3.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/masslaws.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www3.nd.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000229092227/http://www.nd.edu:80/~rbarger/www7/masslaws.html |archive-date=2000-02-29 }}</ref> These laws stated that all towns with 50 or more families were obligated to hire a schoolmaster to teach children reading, writing, and basic arithmetic.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Massachusetts School Law (April 14, 1642) {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/massachusetts-school-law-april-14-1642|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><blockquote>"In 1642 the General Court passed a law that required heads of households to teach all their dependents — apprentices and servants as well as their own children — to read English or face a fine. Parents could provide the instruction themselves or hire someone else to do it. Selectmen were to keep 'a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors,' young people whose education was neglected could be removed from their parents or masters.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Massachusetts.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009710032|title=The charters and general laws of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay|date=1814|publisher=T.B. Wait|series=Laws, etc. (Charters and general laws)|location=Boston}}</ref>"</blockquote>The 1647 law eventually led to establishing publicly funded district schools in all Massachusetts towns, although, despite the threat of fines, compliance and quality of public schools were less than satisfactory.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Edmonston|first=Jack|title=Massachusetts: The nation's leader in public education|url=https://www.capecodtimes.com/opinion/20170605/massachusetts-nations-leader-in-public-education|access-date=2021-04-18|website=capecodtimes.com|language=en|archive-date=2021-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418014639/https://www.capecodtimes.com/opinion/20170605/massachusetts-nations-leader-in-public-education|url-status=dead}}</ref><blockquote>"Many towns were 'shamefully neglectful' of children's education. In 1718 '...by sad experience, it is found that many towns that not only are obliged by law, but are very able to support a grammar school, yet choose rather to incur and pay the fine or penalty than maintain a grammar school."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Science.|first=Columbia University (New York, N.Y.). Faculty of Political|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/637671970|title=Studies in history, economics and public law|publisher=Columbia University|pages=20–21|oclc=637671970}}</ref></blockquote>When John Adams drafted the [[Constitution of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Constitution in 1780]], he included provisions for a comprehensive education law that guaranteed public education to "all" citizens. However, access to formal education in secondary schools and colleges was reserved for free, white males. During the 17th and 18th centuries, females received little or no formal education except for home learning or attending [[Dame school|Dame Schools]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Massachusetts Passes First Education Law|url=https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/massachusetts-passes-first-education-law.html|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www.massmoments.org|date=14 April 2006 |language=en}}</ref>  Likewise, many educational institutions maintained a policy of refusing to admit Black applicants. The [[Code of Virginia|Virginia Code of 1819]] outlawed teaching enslaved people to read or write.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=1101292 |title=History of Virginia Codification |last1=Ross |first1=William E. |journal=The Virginia Law Register |year=1905 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=79–101 |doi=10.2307/1101292 }}</ref>