Jill Dellano and Meg Taylor

Biography Born in Franklin, Massachusetts. Born on May 4, Lived in poverty and hardship. Only went to school three months out of the year. Attended Brown University. Studied law. Was a State Representative, then a Senator. Helped establish a state mental hospital in Worcester.

Achievements Became first Secretary of the State Board of Education. Campaigned for education which improved schools. Established the first Normal for Teachers. Established free libraries. Teachers pay was doubled. 50 new secondary schools built. Edited the “Common School Journal” and wrote 12 Annual Reports.

Horace Mann and the reformers main purpose was to bring school districts under centralized town authority.

Horace Mann Middle School

He wanted education to be a birth right of every child in America. Established high school. Public school soon stood as one of the characteristic features of American life. Horace thought scho0ls should be taught principles of Christianity, but not the aspects in which other religions disagree.

6 main principles for public schools 1. No longer remain ignorant. 2. Public should pay for schools. 3. Children from different backgrounds. 4. Not afflicted any particular religion. 5. Taught with methods of a free society. 6. Education provided by well trained teachers.

Connections to today Because of Mann, every child has the right to go to public school from kindergarten throughout high school. Mann’s compromise about religion was probably the only one to satisfy both sides. There are 98,905 K-12 public schools in the U.S. More the 49 million children attend public schools.

Majority of children go to public schools

Quotes “A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them.” “A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.” “Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power.” “Education alone can conduct us to that enjoyment which is, at once, best in quality and infinite in quantity.”

Conclusion Overall, Horace Mann was a great contributed to our public school system today. He fought for tuition-free schools. He also started the concept of state-sponsored schools. He believed that everyone should have the right to be educated which is why he fought so strongly for setting up public schools.

This painting was painted in the mid 19 th century. It’s a painting of the school of Hard Knocks. The artist is unknown and we think this is appropriate because it is a painting of a teacher and students learning.

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