Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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THE FIGHT FOR FREE EDUCATION IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA The first half century of our National history the population was largely rural, railways were just beginning, canals were scarce, and roads were few and poor. About 1820, old occupa- tions increased their demands, and new ones were constantly aris- ing. There was a natural concentration of wealth and population in the cities and towns that were advantageously situated. Before 1830, there was an inrush of laborers of all kinds. Unskilled la- borers often worked for $ .50 to $ .75 a day. City life produced changes. Many boys and girls worked in factories when they should have been in school. In 1829, organizations of working men in Philadelphia asked each candidate for a formal statement as to his attitude toward “an equal and general system of education.’’ The Leaders in these movements saw that free public education was the greatest blessing that could be given the poorer classes and that it offered practically the only means of advancement for those without wealth. The Pennsylvania Society was organized in 1827 for the pro- motion of Public Schools. A report from the society three years later stated that not one pupil in three, of school age, was getting any education at all. This society kept up vigorous activity for free schools for several years. In the Legislative Session of 1830-1831, Governor Wolf strong- ly advocated some provision for free public schools. Bills provid- ing for a system of public education were introduced in both houses in 1831, but they failed to pass in either. A bill did pass, how- ever, providing a Common School Fund. In 1834, this bill was stated as follows: 1. Section One provided that each County of the Common- wealth should form a school division, and that every ward, town- ship and borough, should form a school district. 2. The Second and Third Section fixed the number of school directors and the manner of their election.