The excerpts listed above all argue that schools need not be run by the government, and several argue that they should not be. Nevertheless, every industrialized nation in the modern world has a system of state-run and state-funded schools. Understanding how these systems came to be, who advocated them and on what grounds, is a good way of putting our public school systems in perspective. The following essays are widely believed to have been among the most influential in promoting government schooling.

Benjamin Rush on Education in a Republic

James G. Carter on the Influence of an Early Education

    It is particularly revealing that both Benjamin Rush and James Carter (see the bios, below) looked on the public school system of ancient Sparta with admiration. From the 6th through the 4th centuries BCE, the Spartans (also known as Lacedaemonians) had what would now be regarded as a totalitarian approach to education. All boys were taken from their families at the age of seven and taught in uniform state-run boarding schools. Parents had no say whatsoever in the education of their sons (as in many ancient civilizations, girls were not formally educated in Sparta). For more details on ancient Spartan schools, and the contrasting approach taken in classical Athens, please see the paper: "Markets Versus Monopolies in Education: The Historical Evidence."

     Benjamin Rush was a noted physician, delegate to the continental congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
     James G. Carter was a Massachusetts state legislator, and the individual most responsible for the creation (in 1837) of the first state-level board of education in the United States--a decisive step on the road to government schooling.