I was wondering if anyone could reccomend some good books about the history of education and how American public schools emerged. Was it really true that most people couldn't afford schooling and so the governments "had to" create the public school system, etc?
Sheldon Richman throws out a few author names in this interview:
Also, Lew Rockwell interviews John Taylor Gatto here. Gatto's books are listed at the bottom.
Political Atheists Blog
Free The Schools and Education for All by Harry Browne.
This book should help.
Coulson sets out to compare the school systems of civilizations both ancient and modern, seeking to determine which systems achieved the aims of parents and the public at large and which did not. His historical study ranges from classical Athens and ancient Rome, through the Islamic world of the Middle Ages, to nineteenth-century England and contemporary America.
As far as I know, it was not true that people could not afford schools. I have heard Walter Block talk about this, but I can't remember where.
Education: Free and Compulsory
http://mises.org/daily/2226
But you don't need schooling anyways.
Unschooling (Sudbury Valley 'School')
Jeff:Was it really true that most people couldn't afford schooling and so the governments "had to" create the public school system, etc
Johannes-
I think you're partially right. The progressives certainly played their part.
i've read Rothbard's mongraph a few years ago but i don't recall it covering much about the history of how public education came to be.
Jeff: i've read Rothbard's mongraph a few years ago but i don't recall it covering much about the history of how public education came to be. I looked at it before linking it and your memory is wrong. VforVoluntary.com | Youtube.com/Nielsio | Reddit.com/r/austrian_economics | Post Points: 5
Thx for the links. i added some of these books to my Amazon wishlist!
thx to everyone who responded, i knew i came to the right place.
But wheren't the government pretty deeply involved in education already before the liberal forces started to take root?
Seems to me, if you listen to Gatto, that public education didn't really take off in the U.S. until the late 19th century. There may have been some aspects of it earlier, but not nearly as much until later.