[geeks] geeks Digest, Vol 86, Issue 11

[Mike Meredith]

On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:26:41 -0500, Patrick Giagnocavo wrote:
> Dr. Robert Pasken 300a wrote:
> > And then we would end up with the majority of the population unable
> > to read or write. The libertarian/free-market philosophy has been
> > shown over and over and over again to be a total disaster
> 
> Can I just ask, how did Tom Paine's book become such a bestseller
> (Harry Potter sized bestseller when adjusted per-capita) in the late
> 1700s in an America that did not have taxpayer-funded education?

Didn't it ? A quick skim of the wikipedia article on the history of
education in the US shows that the first school mentioned ("Boston
Latin") was a public school, although "not free, and instead were
supported by tuition or "rate bills."[0]". The US also had the "Land
Ordinance of 1785" granting land for the establishment of schools -
which sounds pretty much like government support to me.

And just what Thomas Paine book are we talking about anyway ? The most
popular one I can think of ("The Rights Of Man") was a run-away success
in _England_ as it was published in _England_, where those who read it
were taught under the _English_ education system.

English education at the time would have been principally supported by
the Church through a compulsory (and in some ways unavoidable) tithe
system[1]. Whilst this is not "tax" in the modern sense, I think we can
say this is very much closer to the modern tax-supported education
system than private education.

However such church schools typically provided only basic education -
enough to read Thomas Paine, but perhaps not understand it. Sometime in
the 16thC, Edward VI _reorganised_ and established new grammar schools
which in theory provided free education to those who could not pay -
private schools ? Perhaps, but given the times, such schools would have
likely been given some form of income from tithes with fees making up
the difference.

Whether or not a completely private education system would provide for
everyone _now_ (which I personally strongly doubt), historically there
has been enough government involvement to say that we don't have a
historical basis for the adequate provision of education by the private
sector. 

0: Hmm ... "rate bills". A phrase still sometimes used in the UK to
   mean a form of local taxation based on property value. No idea if
   this applies to the early US or not, but it sounds likely doesn't it?

1: A quick skim of Wikipedia gives the wrong impression of church
   schools being established sometime after 1800. There's a number of
   indications that some form of basic education was very frequently
   provided by the church within the parish, although it would have
   been within the church itself and not in dedicated schools.



-- 
Mike Meredith (http://zonky.org/)
  No security outfit ever went broke relying on the stupidity of users.