School Finance

From the Colonial Period to 1900

The period from the mid-1600s through the very early 1800s is considered the pre-public era in school finance in America. In general, this era saw most education paid for privately; there was little public financial responsibility for schooling. The earliest education in the Colonies in the 1600s in Massachusetts was in the form of apprenticeships for young men only. They not only learned a trade, but also studied religious principles and the law. This education was paid for by the apprentice, himself, in the form of labor services to the “teacher.” The “dame” schools, schools that taught both boys and girls, were supported by neighbors who hired a local woman to teach the alphabet and reading (and homemaking to girls). “Common” schools that taught writing, paid for by the families of children who attended, also appeared at this time. At this time the only tax-supported public schools were for the poor. The [Page 790]first widespread education in the Colonies was primarily the responsibility of the churches and supported financially by the churches.

In 1647, Massachusetts passed the first mandatory education law. It required payment by the parents or master of the student or by all the community members, allowing for both private and public financing, thus authorizing the collection of taxes for schools and establishing the framework for using property to fund education. New Hampshire followed suit in 1693, with both the facility and the teacher supported with taxes paid by all citizens. This was the beginning of the first tax-supported schools in America; thus, the first public schools.

By the end of the 17th century, as the population in the Colonies grew and people began moving farther from central areas, they began demanding their own schools and taxed themselves to support the schools. Tax-supported public schools spread through New England, while schools throughout other parts of the Colonies continued to be supported by tuition-type payments. Even as early as colonial days, opposition to school funding existed. As the population centers changed, the people demanded that their tax money go to education in their specific districts rather than to the clergy or church in the central communities. They no longer wanted to pay for a traveling teacher. They wanted their own full-time schools and were willing to pay for them with taxes.

Although public support of education had been introduced, generally, throughout the 1700s most education was still privately funded. By 1791, 4 of the 14 states having their own constitutions had specific education clauses. By this time, academies had replaced many of the earlier Latin grammar schools. The academies taught more practical subjects necessary to maintain the growing economy. The federal government's first effort to fund education occurred during the last quarter of the 1700s. Federal ordinances required land be set aside and either used for educational purposes or sold, the proceeds to be used to finance public education. A short time later, in 1788, with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, individual state's responsibility for public education was established. After great dissension by early policymakers over where responsibility for education rested, they compromised by including Article X, which states that that which is not identified as a federal duty will be the obligation of the states. However, despite the growing recognition of the need for everyone to be educated and promotion of “free” public education by such prominent Americans as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington, most schools continued to be funded privately by parents, charitable organizations, or religious groups. The first law making all elementary grades available to all students “free” of charge passed in 1827 in Massachusetts, and the first publicly supported high school opened in 1820 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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