Why Public Schools? Whose Public Schools?: What Early Communities Have To Tell Us

Criticism of public education, debate over vouchers, increases in home-schooling, proliferation of private and church-affiliated schools -- all are indicators of contemporary dissatisfaction with public schools. Education historian David Mathews set out to understand why, and he began with the question of who or what is the 'public'? Whose schools are the public schools, and who is ultimately responsible for them? And how did we come to have public schools to begin with? These are serious national questions, but in this thoughtful and provocative study, Mathews examines them from a distinctly local perspective: the history of public schools in six southwest Alabama counties from the late 1700s to the mid 1800s. This history, he finds, puts today's educational issues in a context that provides an expanded perspective on our potential as citizens.