Foundation

I enjoyed this reading. It gave a historical account of the start of the education system, and shows that the education system is a very important foundation of our American society. The people who started the school system thought educating citizens be the way to preserving the government and nation that was freshly formed. Education has been strongly encouraged to all citizens since the beggining, and I doubt without a strong education system the advancements that we have made to this day would be as bold as they are. The most interesting quote from this reading is from Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in a charter to the University of Virgina that it "will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind." I find this interesting because someone as prominent as Thomas Jefferson has the foresight not to base the education system around religion, but rather a human mind. It holds true to today, but it may be because of him. Civic education was such a genius idea, it could only come from the founding fathers time. I read this article and I am amazed that religious groups let the schools system be free of religion (for the most part *cough*pledge of allegiance*cough*). This article also highlights the importance of our education system, and how much weight a teacher has on their shoulders. It may not be as weighty as it was back in the day (I suppose someone could be socialized by wandering around the internet), but a teacher is the one profession where the primary goal is to prepare other people, just like yourself, for life and all of its uncertainties.