Compulsory Educational Attendance Laws

Historical Background

The first compulsory education law was passed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1642. The law removed control of education from the clergy and placed it under the direction of citizens or “selectmen” of the colony.

It required parents and craftsmen or masters to make sure that their children were able to read. In 1647 a general school law, known as “The Old Deluder Satan Act,” was passed requiring towns in the colony to establish schools. The law took its name from its first line, which made reference to Satan. It was based on the belief that children had to be able to read the Bible and other religious texts in order to overcome his influence.

The first state in the United States to enact a compulsory education law was Massachusetts in 1852. Extremely limited in scope, the law required that children under fifteen years of age could only be employed if they had received a minimum of three months of schooling prior to their employment. Compulsory education laws were proposed in Illinois as early as 1838, but were only first enacted in 1883. The last state to require compulsory education was Mississippi in 1918.

Compulsory education at the high school level became widespread throughout the United States during the Great Depression. The shortage of jobs available to youth made schools a good place for them to be instead of out on the streets where they would compete with adults for scarce jobs and potentially become unruly. In this context, schools took on a greater custodial function—one that they still maintain to a large degree today.

Court Rulings

Whether or not the state has the right to compel students to attend only public schools was decided by the Supreme Court in the case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925). In 1922, Oregon passed a law requiring all children between the ages of eight and sixteen to attend public schools. The idea was to provide all children with a uniform education subject to state control. It was argued that Oregon had an interest in making sure that its future citizens were educated sufficiently to hold jobs, to vote, and to understand and appreciate “American values.” The law had the effect of closing down all private education—in particular, Oregon's Catholic schools.

It was eventually overturned on the basis that it interfered with the rights of parents to direct the [Page 169]upbringing and education of their own children. The decision did not interfere with the state's right to regulate, in terms of minimal standards, the teaching and content of the curriculum. Thus, it could require that teachers in a private school have a certain minimal level of education and that even a private school curriculum include subjects such as civics and American history.

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