Editing Education reform (section)

==== Horace Mann ====
[[File:Horace Mann.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Horace Mann]], regarded as the father of American public education]]
In the United States, [[Horace Mann]] (1796 – 1859) of Massachusetts used his political base and role as Secretary of the [[Massachusetts State Board of Education]] to promote public education in his home state and nationwide.<ref>Jonathan Messerli, ''Horace Mann: A Biography'' (1972)</ref>  Advocating a substantial public investment be made in education, Mann and his proponents developed a strong system of state supported [[Common Schools Act of 1871|common schools]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Gruver|first1=Rebecca Brooks|last2=Kaestle|first2=Carl F.|date=1983|title=Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3122899|journal=Journal of the Early Republic|volume=3|issue=4|pages=501|doi=10.2307/3122899|jstor=3122899|issn=0275-1275}}</ref>'''.'''

His crusading style attracted wide middle class support. Historian [[Ellwood P. Cubberley]] asserts:
: No one did more than he to establish in the minds of the American people the conception that education should be universal, non-sectarian, free, and that its aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue, and character, rather than mere learning or the advancement of sectarian ends.<ref>Ellwood P. Cubberley, ''Public Education in the United States'' (1919)  p.  167</ref>
In 1852, Massachusetts passed a law making education mandatory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Compulsory Education Laws: Background|url=https://www.findlaw.com/education/education-options/compulsory-education-laws-background.html|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Findlaw|language=en-US}}</ref>  This model of free, accessible education spread throughout the country and in 1917 Mississippi was the fina<big>l</big> state to adopt the law<big>.</big><ref>{{Cite web|title=History Of Education Timeline {{!}} Preceden|url=https://www.preceden.com/timelines/331186-history-of-education|access-date=2021-04-11|website=www.preceden.com|language=en}}</ref>