USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of education in Dutchess County > Part 2
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If this should come about, the public must see that certain things are not permitted by the Federal Government. The American people must not let the government dictate what to teach or how to run a classroom. If a national basis
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of distribution is considered, the public must make sure that all the people receive the opportunity for education regardless of race or color, in whatever part of America they may be, and the public should see that all poor people in America have the same chance for education. The Federal Govern- ment can be of great value in stepping up education, provid- ing it does not assume control or dictate what to teach and how to teach it.
The pattern of elementary education was much differ- ent during our country's early history from that of the pres- ent day. There were no large, costly architectural master- pieces of buildings in those early days. Elementary classes were held in vacant shops, empty barns, or basement rooms. There were no adequate schoolhouses to be found anywhere. Many times the schools were rotated from place to place to care for many children. There was an inadequate teacher preparation program and short school terms were common. The idea was to provide education for as many children as possible, and the rotating school was the answer. By the nineteenth century, however, a new idea became popular, the monitorial school. This was developed in England by Joseph Lancaster, a Quaker who was interested in the edu- cation of the poor. It was for this reason that he devised a way in which a great many children could be taught at one time by one teacher. Each teacher had, as his assistants, a group of older students called monitors. The children would meet in a large room, and the teacher in charge would teach some small bit of information to the monitors who, in turn, would teach it to the children in small groups. This idea was brought to New York in 1806 by the Free School So- ciety. This Lancastrian system spread from New York State to other parts of the country and in many places was used in secondary as well as elementary schools. It was the official system of education in the New York public schools until 1853 when the schools were taken over by the board of education.
With the passing of the rotating and monitorial schools in America, there gradually developed the element- ary schools as we know them today. The average elementary school today provides children with an environment con- ducive to learning some of the things found necessary for
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living in a democratic society. Today the school teaches facts, develops habits and skills and appreciations, and in general prepares the children for the society in which they are to live.
There is no common practice concerning the grades that make up the modern elementary school. In the tradi- tional elementary school, the child enters at the first grade and continues on for eight grades; however, children often require more than eight years to complete the eight grades. Nevertheless, there are still a large number of these eight- grade schools, particularly in the rural areas, where one- room schools predominate. They are also found frequently in villages having only one elementary and one secondary school. In some cases, one building houses the entire school system, with the lower grades on the ground floor and the high school on the second floor.
The common pattern of school organization in a city school system is the six-year elementary school, followed by a three-year junior high school and a three-year senior high school. This system is usually referred to as the 6-3-3 system. In some cities, both systems are in use, the 8-4 and 6-3-3.
The simplest elementary school organization is the one-room school, which is now rapidly passing from the American scene due to centralization and consolidation. In the one-room school the teacher has complete control of the school, she teaches all the subjects to all pupils enrolled, and is also responsible for the physical condition of the school. Most of the time, despite the responsibility, the one- room school teacher is a beginning teacher who receives the lowest pay in the teaching profession.
The consolidated school is usually organized much like a village school. You will have a superintendent of schools who is elected by and works under the local school board. In many cases he is also the principal of the school. There- fore, if the school system is small, he has complete control of the school program. The teacher's duty in this type of school is strictly to teach the children. In the average large city there are usually several elementary schools, which are under the direction of the superintendent of schools. Usual- ly there will be an assistant superintendent in charge of
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elementary education. The principals of the elementary schools work with the assistant most of the time, and the teacher's contact with the administration is through the principal of the school in which he teaches.
The junior high school, which is now becoming firmly established as a three-year school, was started about the turn of the century.
The junior high school did not grow out of the needs of public education as envisioned by superintendents or principals. Neither was it dreamed up by school board members or demanded by the patrons of the school. No, the new organization of the school system was planned by national committees under the chairmanship of university presidents. 8
During the last part of the nineteenth century, higher education in America was largely influenced by German edu- cation. Many university presidents, aware that in America boys and girls entered college when they were about two years older than was customary in Germany, sought to remedy the situation. 9
It was not pointed out, however, that in Germany there were two systems in use, one that led to college, and one that didn't. Those that went to college in Germany were a selected few.
Two committees studied the question of making the American secondary program conform to the German higher education program.
The purpose of a committee was to study the reor- ganization of secondary education to facilitate the economy of time ... Each group advised that the subject matter in the field it represented should begin at an earlier point in the course of study ... The committee also decided that some of the secondary-school work might well begin at an earlier grade-for example, algebra and Latin in the sev- enth or eighth grade. 10
Educators agreed that these grades must be enriched by eliminating non-essentials and adding new subjects formerly taught only in the high school ... In our opinion these problems can be solved most quickly and surely by making the seventh and eighth grades part of the high school, and under the immediate direction of the high school principal. 11
Thus the junior high school was proposed as a time saver. The senior high school, by moving some of its sub- jects down into the seventh and eighth grades, could prepare students to enter college at an earlier age. 12
It is difficult to set an actual date or place of the be-
8 Ibid, 392-93
9 Ibid, 394
10 Ibid, 354
11 Ibid, 394
12 Ibid, 354
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ginning of the junior high school. During the first decade of this century, many school systems experimented with various forms of this new idea. Many cities claim the honor of having established the first junior high school, among them, Berkeley, California; Richmond, Indiana; Saginaw, Michigan; and Los Angeles, California. However, after 1910, regardless of where it started, there was a rapid in- crease in the number of junior high schools throughout America.
It has only been in the past few years that the three- year junior high has been in existence. Until then, the junior high school department of the six-year high school was only a two-year segment. In the past, the junior high school was included in the same building as the senior high, but, with the development of the three-year system, many cities now have separate buildings in which to house the junior high school.
The present high school is an outgrowth of the old academy, such as the one established by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1751. The basic language of the acade- mies was English rather than the language of the Church, and studies included all forms of English, such as grammar, composition, reading, writing and speaking, as well as lit- erature. Other subjects of the academies included penman- ship, drawing, arithmetic, science, and modern foreign lan- guages. The big problem with the academies was the cost of attending. They were all private, and to attend the students had to pay high fees. Also many of the academies were located in isolated areas, making it necessary for the students to live at the academy, which only served to in- crease the cost of attendance. Therefore, a form of high school education was limited and something had to be done. In 1821 the first public high school in America was establish- ed in Boston, Massachusetts. It was called the English Clas- sical High School, and the curriculum was patterned after that of the academy. The main courses of study were re- lated to practical life and earning a living. High Schools did not accept girls until 1856, when the first co-educational high school was opened in Chicago.
After the Civil War, public, tax-supported high schools spread rapidly. The movement was opposed by re-
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ligious groups, owners of academies, and taxpayers who objected to paying for secondary education.
Financing secondary education became a problem and was taken to the courts. The most famous case of this type originated in Kalamazoo, Michigan and it ended in the Michigan Supreme Court. The group that brought the suit in Kalamazoo claimed there was no legal basis to support a high school. The Court's decision, as handed down in 1874, was so clear and decisive in support of the public high schools, that it was very influential in stopping the numer- ous similar cases across the country. The Kalamazoo case settled for all time the question of tax-supported free public high schools and established them as part of the American school pattern. Today, public high schools are supported by taxation and are open to all children.13 High school edu- cation is no longer a privilege of the few, but the right of every boy and girl in the United States.
This chapter has given only briefly, an overall picture of the development of the modern American school system. It has been a long hard struggle. Many battles had to be fought and won, and many are still being fought to im- prove the system. The most recent is taking place in the South, and it could, possibly, end the segregated school for- ever.
13 It must be remembered that even in the segregated schools, such as those in the South, the schools are open to all students, even though they may be of only one race. By this I mean that all-Negro schools are open to all Negroes, and all-white schools are open to all white students.
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DEVELOPMENT OF NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM
ON OR NEAR THIS SPOT THE FIRST SCHOOL IN NEW YORK WAS OPENED BY THE DUTCH SCHOOLMASTER ADAM ROELANTSEN IN 1638 ACCORDING TO CUSTOM AT THAT TIME THE SCHOOL WAS HELD IN THE HOME OF THE SCHOOLMASTER THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY THE NEW YORK SCHOOLMASTERS CLUB 1910
OFFICERS 1909 - 1510 JOHN HOLLEY CLARK PRES. J.HOWARD HULSART.V. FREs. ANDREW W. EDSON 22 V. rnEs. CHARLES J. JENNINGS SEC. HENRY E. HARRIS TREAS. C
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON SITE THOMAS O. BAKER CHAIRMAN THOMAS M. BALLIET THOMAS S. O'BRIEN JOHN F. CONROY VERNON L.DAVEY HOMER C. BRISTOL MATTHEW D. QUINN
PLAQUE on Southeast wall of Produce Exchange Quadrangle, 1-9 South Street - 2 Broadway, New York City, marking site of state's first school.
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CHAPTER TWO DEVELOPMENT OF NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM
It appears that the school established in New Amster- dam in 1638 could very well be the first school in America, and is the oldest recorded school in all the colonies. 1
-
It is believed that the first official declaration relating to common school education in the Colony of New York ap- peared in the so called "Freedoms and Exemptions" granted by the Dutch West India Company to settlers in the New Netherlands on June 7, 1629.2
This grant stated that patrons and colonists provide for a minister and schoolmaster, "that thus the service of God and zeal for religion may not grow cool and be neglected among them." Adam Roelantsen was the first official school- master in New York, and his school was located on the tip of Manhattan Island.3 Today a plaque may be seen on the southeast wall of the Produce Exchange Quadrangle, 1-9 South Street - 2 Broadway, which marks the site of this early school, the first in New York State.
The school was supported partly by public funds and is still in existence today, under the name of the Collegiate School, Inc., an elementary and secondary school for boys, conducted by the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the
1 There seems to be a dispute as to just when Adam Roelantsen came to America. It is generally believed to have been in 1638, but there are also many references to the year 1633. A public school supported by voluntary contributions was reported to have been established in Boston on February 13, 1635. There is also reference to a public school sup- ported by direct taxation in Dorchester, Massachusetts. This school was supposed to have been established on May 29, 1639.
2 Education in New York State, published by University of the State of New York, 1954, 12.
3 The Dutch West India Company was required by the States General of Holland to maintain a clergyman and a schoolmaster. The schoolmas- ter's expenses are entered in early estimates of the company's ex- penses. The first schoolmaster, Adam Roelantsen, arrived in 1633( ?). With his advent a school tax was levied. The schoolmaster was also gravedigger, court bellringer, and pereentor .: Chris DeYoung, Intro- duction to American Public Education, MeGraw Hill, 1942, 170.
13
---
Elementary School in New York in 1613. In the Dutch period, school was maintained in the city tavern shown above.
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City of New York, which was granted an absolute charter by the Regents on June 16, 1945. While this school is now sup- ported by the Dutch Church, records show clearly that it was the purpose of the Dutch colonists to make education public. Peter Stuyvesant, director-general of New Netherlands from 1647 to 1665, was largely influential in the public education movement of the colony.
This first school was strictly elementary in its nature. The Dutch felt that, although children needed higher educa- tion, such as was endorsed later in New England, they should also get a good elementary education. Roelantsen's career seems to be a little dubious at times. He appears to have been involved in no less than fifteen law suits, one of which was brought against a debtor for the payment of a wash bill. This leads one to wonder if the schoolmaster of those days might not also have been public laundryman. Among the early laws of public importance for the colony is the fol- lowing :
Each householder and inhabitant shall bear such tax and public charge as shall hereafter be considered proper for the maintenance of clergymen, comforters for the sick, schoolmasters, and such like necessary officers.'
It appears that many other schools were established in the colony. This is brought out by the fact that, as early as 1642, it was customary, in marriage contracts, whenever the bride was a widow having children, for the parties to "prom- ise to bring up the children decently, according to their abil- ity, to provide them with necessary clothing and food, to keep them at school, to let them learn reading, writing, and a good trade."" The only other school on record in the early days was the one established by Jan Stevensen, with no ex- act date given. However, this was a private school, while Roelantsen's was supported partly by public funds.
After the British took Manhattan from the Dutch in 1664, many of the Dutch settlers left. Many of the school- masters either returned to Holland or migrated to other colonies, and Dutch schools became of little importance. However, the English were slow in establishing schools of their own. It was not until 1702 when "one able skilled and
4 Edwin G. Dexter, A History of Education in the United States, 1904, 14.
5 Ibid, 14.
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forthe first meting of the Regent of the
.Howersity of the State of New york , at the.
House of rer John fimmore in the City of . the york . .. the 4 th day of may in the you four lord of 84 and of our Andyundine. the Fighth .
Present
L'avis a Harris
Mit mes ling le Anjasanel
Intered that the us sonstment die Resident In Colombia Votre be defined until a future mating
Ordered that the Seaswar and Sonting I i'll mand and receive For the Ide hammer and Med
First page of the minutes of the first meeting of the Regents, held in New York City, May 4-5, 1784.
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orthodox person to be schoolmaster,"" was appointed in New York City. His salary was fifty pounds, which was raised by public tax. This school lasted for only seven years. There were probably other schools between 1664 and 1702 but the records were poorly kept, and there is no specific mention of any.
In 1732, a more successful move was under way to es- tablish a school in New York City in which Latin, Greek, and mathematics would be taught. Public provision was made for the support of the school, in which twenty young men from various counties of the state would receive free educa- tion. These twenty men were to be recommended by coun- ty officials. The Justices of the Supreme Court, the rector of Trinity Church, and the mayor, recorder, and alderman of the City of New York, were constituted a committee to visit and manage the school. They had the power to secure and remove the teacher. This is the beginning of a long strug- gle in New York State to remove education from the Church and put it under state control. In 1754, Columbia University was founded, the end result of the above undertaking.
Up to the time of the Revolution, the elementary schools in New York City were largely fostered and supported by the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel.
The schools that were in existence in the last part of the eighteenth century were either private, church or char- ity schools. The church schools were for the regular mem- bers of the church group and were sometimes free. This was particularly true of schools established by the Friends and the Church of England. In these schools the church would sometimes pay the fees of pupils without funds, or it might support a district school for them. This was frequently the custom in New York as well as in other large cities. Early state constitutions did not mention education.
However, there were several political leaders in New York State who did realize the importance of education. Among these were Governors George Clinton (1777-95) and DeWitt Clinton (1817-22 and 1824-28). Governor George Clinton, twice during the period of the Confederation, and later under the Constitution, brought this problem to the at-
6 Ibid, 76.
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YORK
NEW YORK'S FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL WAS ESTABLISHED AT CLERMONT
IN 1791
STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT 1935
tention of the legislature. In 1784 he wrote to the legisla- ture: "The neglect of the education of the youth is among the evils consequent on war. Perhaps there is scarce any- thing more worthy of your attention than the revival and encouragement of learning."? It was also in 1784 that the Board of Regents was established. This was the first state Board of Education in the United States.
The first state legislation regarding schools seems to have been made in 1786, when it was ordered that unappro- priated lands within the state should be laid out in townships ten miles square, and that in each of them one section should be reserved for the "gospel and schools." Just five years later, in 1791 the first public school in the State of New York was established at Clermont. It was placed in the village on the edge of the road, in front of the site where the Town Hall now stands.
Of the origin of this school, Dr. Finegan of the De-
7 Paul Monroe, Founding of American Public School System, 1940, 214.
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partment of Education of the State of New York said, in an address delivered at Buffalo in 1912 :
The Legislature authorized the use of the surplus excise revenue which was not needed to support the poor, to pur- chase a site, erect a school, house and maintain a school. Chancellor Livingston was appointed a member of a com- mission to see that the act relating thereto was made ef- fective.8
There had been private schools and church schools prior to this date, but the Public School in Clermont was the first public school authorized and supported by the state.
In 1793 and 1794 the Regents pleaded in their report to the legislature, that common schools be established in New York State. Again in 1795 the Regents begged for the establishment of public institutions of learning.
As a result, at least in part, of the effort of the Board of Regents, an act was passed in 1795 entitled "An act for the encouragement of schools." This act provided that twen- ty thousand pounds should be annually appropriated for five years for the encouragement and maintenance of element- ary schools throughout the state. By 1800, there were 1,350 schools with a total attendance of 60,000 pupils.ยบ Though many efforts were made to renew this act, all failed, and at the end of the five year period, it was no longer in existence. The people felt that some "religious society" should provide the opportunities for an education.
In 1805, the Public School Society of the City of New York was chartered. The society aimed to establish a free school "for the education of such poor children as do not belong to, or are not provided for, by any religious society."10 It was also in 1805 that the New York State Legislature passed an act to raise a fund for the encouragement of "Com- mon Schools." This act was the beginning of the common school fund which is now "preserved inviolate" in the Con- stitution. By this act, the net proceeds of the sale of five hundred thousand acres of vacant and unappropriated lands in the state was established as a permanent fund for the sup- port of common schools. In 1812, an act was passed provid- ing for the appointment of a Superintendent of Common Schools, to be named by the Council of Appointment, at an
$ Thomas Hunt, A Historical Sketch of the Town of Clermont, Hudson Press, Hudson, N. Y., 1928, 126.
E. G. Dexter, op. cit., 77.
10 Ibid, 78.
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annual salary of three hundred dollars. The duty of the Su- perintendent was to digest and prepare plans for the im- provement and management of the common school fund, and for the better organization of common schools.
The Superintendent of Common Schools who took office in 1813 was the first State School officer in the nation. The appointee to this new and historically significant office was Gideon Hawley, of Albany, who was appointed January 14, 1813. He became known as the Father of Common Schools. The school law adopted at the time Mr. Hawley was appointed, provided for the districting of the state for school purposes, and the distribution of the school fund on a per capita basis of school population. It should also be pointed out that New York State was the second state, pre- ceded only by Massachusetts, to establish a state institution for the training of teachers, which it did at Albany in 1844.
The inspection of schools and the examination of teachers were the duties of the township commissioners. However, these duties interfered with other functions of the officers, so that in 1841 county superintendents were provid- ed for, and two years later the township officials were re- lieved of their school functions. Unfortunately, in 1847 the county superintendents were deposed, a move which hindered the efficiency of the school system. They were reinstated in 1856.
In 1849, a free system of schools was provided for the entire state. This move met with much opposition in its early days, but has now grown to be one of the strongest school systems in America. In 1854 the State Department of Public Instruction was established. At this time the du- ties of the Secretary of State as Superintendent of Common Schools were taken over by this new board, with a State Superintendent of Public Instruction elected by the legisla- ture. This department lasted for fifty years, and during this period it exercised not only advisory and supervisory powers, but also directory and judicial powers over the entire public school system.
In 1904, with the close of the State Department of Public Instruction, a new form of school authority was cre- ated. This was the school commissioner, to be elected (after six years, the first appointment to be by the legislature) by
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