Amish and Mennonite Schools

The Amish and Mennonites of North America are Christian groups that trace their roots to the Anabaptist movement that began during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The Anabaptists were severely persecuted by established church and state authorities. Many eventually migrated to North America. Key leaders of the Anabaptist groups were Menno Simons and Jacob Amman.

Today, hundreds of small one- or two-room Amish and Old Order Mennonite (OOM) schools dot the rural landscape of 26 U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario. Most Amish and OOM peoples use a horse and buggy for transportation, value manual labor, eschew modern electronic devices, and use the German language during worship. The schools of both groups provide a solid eighth-grade education in core subjects such as reading, spelling, mathematics, English, social studies, and writing. The schools stress that community is more important than self. In addition to these small schools, less-conservative groups of Mennonites, such as the Mennonite Church USA, operate larger elementary, middle, and high schools in several states and Canada.

For most of the 20th century, Amish and Mennonite children attended public one-room schools. The Amish and Mennonite people were quite satisfied with the public schools and were happy to support the teachers and activities at the rural school. However, consolidation efforts and conflicts over age requirements soon created problems for Amish parents in some communities.

The first Amish school in the United States began in 1925 as a result of overcrowded conditions in a public one-room school near Dover, Delaware. Because the school board was not interested in building another one-room school, the Amish decided to build their own school. Public school officials were cooperative in this endeavor because it reduced expenses for the public schools.

In contrast to the cooperation evidenced in Delaware, conflicts arose in several states. In 1937, the East Lampeter school district, located in Pennsylvania, decided to close 10 one-room schools and bus children to a consolidated school. About the same time, the state of Pennsylvania raised the legal age to withdraw from school with a farm permit from 14 to 15. The Amish were not happy about having their children bused to a large school and were not convinced that modern curriculum and teaching methods provided the best education for their children. One father was jailed for not sending his 14-year-old daughter to school. Because of these issues, the Amish decided to build two small schools for their children in 1938. After many years of quiet dissent and numerous fathers being jailed, the Amish were granted the right to operate their own schools in Pennsylvania under an agreement worked out by Governor George M. Leader in 1956. A key component of this agreement is the vocational plan, which requires eighth-grade graduates to enroll in this plan until the age of 16. This plan requires Amish youth to learn work skills under the tutelage of their parents or other members of the community.

Amish in Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin had similar problems and, whereas state agreements were reached in Ohio and Iowa, the issues in Wisconsin [Page 67]precipitated the landmark 1972 Supreme Court case of Wisconsin v. Yoder. This decision ruled that the Amish could have their own schools and could limit formal school-based education to the eighth grade.

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