150 years of commitment State made schools priority right from the start

By Jeff Leverich

WEAC Research Coordinator

Quality public education has always been a top priority for Wisconsinites. In fact, one of the reasons settlers sought statehood was to acquire federal education funds.

The Wisconsin Constitution, ratified on March 13, 1848, established a statewide superintendent of education as one of three original offices. Arguments ensued when preliminary suggestions called for paying the superintendent more than the governor. Higher pay for the governor won the day, but the discussion depicts the importance incipient Wisconsinites placed on public education. A second constitutional provision also reflects this concern. It states that statewide education must be equally funded “as much as practicable.”

An essential component of democracy

Wisconsin, of course, was not alone in promoting public education in the 19th century. Nationally, the Common School Reform Movement commenced in the 1830s in the Northeast. A central theme was that public education was an essential component of democracy.

Public education, it was asserted, was the linchpin to democracy where “nurseries of freemen” could help individuals rise to their full potential based on skills and intelligence.

Arguments about “idle youth” in burgeoning urban centers, and about the need to “Americanize” immigrants also were melded into rationales for public schooling as the 19th century progressed. Yet, the overarching theme was democracy.

Infusing democratic ideals

Wisconsin leaders, too, espoused these ideas. John McMynn, who founded the Wisconsin Teacher’s Association in 1853 — which then was composed of administrators — also launched the Wisconsin Journal of Education, the primary vehicle promoting public schools in the state. Its pages were infused with democratic ideals.

The first nine presidents of the association all had familiarity with Northeastern educational ideas. Two presidents, including McMynn, were editors of the journal, two became state superintendents, two were superintendents of city school systems, and the remainder held university posts. Early leaders of the association were a significant factor in forging Wisconsin’s system of public education.

Educational leaders sought a unified system

Wisconsin had a smattering of six to eight private elementary schools as early as 1836 when territorial status was gained. A major 1860 inventory identified 4,211 school houses — one-third of log construction and the rest clapboard structures. It was the “loose-jointed nature” of this tremendous growth that worried educational leaders who sought various means to mesh local district schools into a unified system.

Once local disputes about cost and location were resolved, district schools were easy to create. Anyone could found a township simply by sending platting information, along with election results for requisite town officers, to the county court. Town supervisors then had the authority to form school districts.

The state required public notice before the election of school officers, but once two elected officers filed with the clerk their agreement to serve, the district was considered legally organized, a corporate entity able to hire and contract for services and provisions. Thus, other than a few state-imposed requirements, the tradition of local control of public schooling was firmly ensconced.

Yet, the fact that each school house was a district unto itself concerned educational leaders. They deemed it their duty to ensure an equal education for all children. But efforts at state and county control often were eschewed by local townsfolk. This battle between local and central control of schooling is a key dynamic in education history.

Consolidation of schools happened slowly

Starting in 1858, educational leaders repeatedly exhorted the Legislature to adopt the township system to consolidate district schools into a unified town system. The legislation passed 11 years later, but was so loosely written that no district had to comply. Few did.

In 1861, the association promoted a county superintendent system. Professional educators were sent to supervise district schools, inciting battles over teacher licensure and curriculum. However, high turnover and questionable competency of superintendents rendered this a marginal success.

Grading becomes popular

Most significantly, the association promoted “grading,” the reorganization of schools into different grade levels. Based on Prussian schooling and promoted by Horace Mann among others, grading was perceived by many to be a “scientific” way to educate children.

Using a division of labor, grading advanced the use of specialized teachers for each grade level, adopted a hierarchical system of supervision where “principal” teachers functioned as experts, and was believed to be a system which best reflected the natural growth and development of children.

Grading constituted a significant change in public schooling. The logic compelled the consolidation of sparsely populated districts. Only unified districts could provide enough students for upper-level schooling. The first graded schools appeared in cities like Fond du Lac, Madison, and Kenosha by the mid-1860s.

School systems begin to develop

Kenosha, then called Southport, also is noted for establishing Wisconsin’s first free public school in 1845. An educator, Michael Frank, was dubbed the father of Wisconsin public education for his single-handed efforts lobbying the legislature to establish the school, which later evolved into the state’s first school system.

Despite the early onset of grading, it was not until after World War I, when roads and transportation were sufficiently developed, that the practice had transformed the countryside. One-room schools, in which 80% of Wisconsin’s students once were taught, changed into a system of classified, graded schooling, the legacy of which is still with us today.

Posted March 6, 1998