Commentary by Jamie Robert Vollmer

America’s public schools can be traced back to the year 1640. The Massachusetts Puritans established schools to:

1. Teach basic reading, some writing and arithmetic skills, and
2. Cultivate values that serve a democratic society (some history and civics implied).

The founders of these schools assumed that families and churches bore the major responsibility for raising a child. Gradually, science and geography were added, but the curriculum was limited and remained focused for 260 years.

At the beginning of the 20th century, society began to assign additional responsibilities to the schools. Politicians and business leaders saw the schools as a logical site for both the assimilation of immigrants and the social engineering of citizens of the “Industrial Age”. The trend of increasing the responsibilities of the public schools has accelerated ever since.

From 1900 to 1910, we added

• nutrition
• immunization, and
• health to the list of school responsibilities.

From 1910 to 1930, we added

• Phys. Ed., including organized athletics,
• the practical arts,
• vocational education, including home economics and agricultural education, and
• school transportation began to be mandated

In the 1940s, we added

• business education
• art and music
• speech and drama
• half day kindergarten, and
• school lunch programs appeared (We take this for granted today. It was, however, a significant step to shift to the schools the job of feeding America’s children 1/3 of their daily meals.)

In the 1950s, we added

• expanded science and math education
• safety education
• driver’s education
• expanded music and art education
• foreign language requirements were strengthened, and
• sex education was introduced (topics continue to escalate)

In the 1960s, we added

• Advanced Placement programs
• Head Start
• Title I
• adult education
• consumer education
• career education
• peace, leisure, and recreation education

In the 1970s, the breakup of the American family accelerated, and we added

• special education (mandated by federal government)
• Title IX programs (greatly expanded athletic programs for girls)
• drug and alcohol abuse education
• parent education
• behavior adjustment classes
• character education
• environmental education
• women’s studies
• African-American heritage education, and
• school breakfast programs appeared (Now, some schools feed America’s children 2/3 of their daily meals. Sadly, these are the only decent meals some children receive.)

In the 1980s, the flood gates opened, and we added

• keyboarding and computer education
• global education
• ethnic education
• multicultural/non-sexist education
• English-as-a-second-language, and bilingual education
• teen pregnancy awareness
• Hispanic heritage education
• early childhood education
• Jump Start, Early Start, Even Start, and Prime Start
• full day kindergarten
• pre-school programs for children at-risk
• after school programs for children of working parents
• alternative education in all its forms
• stranger/danger education
• anti-smoking education
• sexual abuse prevention education
• health and psychological services were expanded, and
• child abuse monitoring became a legal requirement for all teachers

In the 1990s, we added

• Conflict resolution and peer mediation
• HIV/AIDS education
• CPR training
• death education
• expanded computer and Internet education
• inclusion
• Tech Prep and School to work programs
• gang education (in urban centers)
• bus safety, bicycle safety, gun safety, and water safety education

In the first years of the 21st Century, we have superimposed upon everything else a layer of high-stakes, politically charged, standardized tests.

And in most states we have not added a single minute to the school calendar in five decades! All of these added items have merit, and all have their ardent supporters, but they all cannot be assigned to the schools. No generation of teachers in the history of the world has been asked to meet this goal.

Americans in every community must come together to answer two essential questions: What do they want their children to know and be able to do when they graduate, and how can schools and the entire community be organized to ensure that all children reach the stated goals. THE BOTTOM LINE: SCHOOLS CANNOT DO IT ALONE. SCHOOLS CANNOT RAISE AMERICA'S CHILDREN.

Jamie Robert Vollmer, a former business executive and attorney, now works as a motivational speaker and consultant to increase community support for public schools. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it