Public Schools: PUBLIC SCHOOLS Another First for Massachusetts

Massachusetts likes to remind its sister states that it is first in several educational fields. Last week in the Statehouse atop Beacon Hill, Republican Governor John Volpe boasted about some of those historical attainments: first public school (1635), first U.S. college (1636), first state board of education (1837), first state teacher-training college (1839), first compulsory school attendance law (1852). Then he proudly signed a bill making Massachusetts the first state to ban de facto school segregation.

Build or Bus. The bill survived three months of acrid debate in the legislature, and is certain to create...

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