Public Education and Inequality

Horace Mann was one of the most influential
person to contribute to bringing education public. 

 The reason that public schools were created was the U.S. depends on science and technology, so it provided training for better jobs. It was key for a stable and prosperous democratic nation. Education provided financial security and social class. This also assimilated millions of immigrants. Some problems with this first public school was that it was only 4 months of school for 8-14 years olds only. The students were also miserable because they were mistreated by their teachers. 

Majority of the students were white. Whites were encouraged
To go to schools. 

Public schools provided child care for parents. It also took kids from working in the factories. Children needed to learn how to read, write, and understand math. 
These schools perpetuated inequality. White and blacks had very different opportunities. 62% of the children attending these schools were white and 34% were black. Europeans were encouraged to learn. These schools also replaced native languages with English.