Core Essays

23 February 2016

An 1840 Massachusetts Legislature Committee Prediction on a Government-Controlled Education System

In 1840, Horace Mann was pushing the state of Massachusetts to establish a government-run education system after the model of the state-run schools of Prussia and France.  A legislative committee upon evaluating this proposal made three predictions:
  • It would destroy America's republican principles.
  • It would be a tool to increase government power.
  • It would spread propaganda and diminish the influence of parents on their children.
All of these predictions have come true.  The committee appears to have failed to anticipate how broadly incompetent a government-controlled education system would be, however.

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