A Short History of Education

We in the U.S. view education is a “right” because the laws mandating required attendance give parents no optional choice, other than homeschooling. What most people don’t understand is that education is federally funded to develop a workforce that meets the needs of the national economy and businesses’ needs for a skilled workforce. These laws began when manufacturing was located in cities where there was an abundant supply of unskilled workers. Manufacturers employed children for reasons of size (fingers, hands, bodies that could reach into small spaces) and economics (children would be paid less).

Businesses wanted a workforce that could follow directions and do repetitive tasks. Sometimes those tasks developed into skills not associated with machines. An example is that mechanics became experts on machine maintenance and repair. Imagine living in our current world without a mechanic! As machines become more complicated, employers wanted employees who were at least literate to some degree. By requiring children to attend school and learn to read and compute, fewer children were employed. The growing number of adult workers, many of whom were immigrants, took advantage of the situation.

What has pushed the age at which a child can legally drop out of school was the need to stop children from taking jobs potentially for adults who had families to support. The body of laws governing the labor force under age 18 is called the child labor laws. These regulate the number of hours and the times during which adolescents can work during the school day, on weekends and during the summer. They also regulate the type of jobs younger workers can have. An example is someone may work in a fast food restaurant between the hours of 4 pm and 8 or 9 pm and for 8 hours on the weekends, no later than 9 or 10 pm; the same individual cannot drive a vehicle. Insurance regulations usually limit heavy equipment to those over the age of 25. Read the rest of this entry »