History of education in Chicago

When Chicago received its charter in 1837, volunteer examiners were appointed to oversee the schools, but funding remained meager.

Public school classes remained large, often conducted in poorly maintained rooms and with inadequate materials.

In 1835 the state legislature authorized a public school system with taxpayer financing, and the city's 1837 charter strengthened the scaffolding.

To save money the schools began hiring young women who wanted to teach before they married and had to resign.

[4] Francis Wayland Parker (1837–1902), John Dewey (1859–1952), Ella Flagg Young (1845–1918), Jane Addams (1860–1935) and William Wirt (1874–1938) were five of the nation's most influential educational theorists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[6] Parker studied in Germany and became a superintendent in Massachusetts where he developed his Quincy Method, which eliminated harsh discipline and de-emphasized rote memorization, replacing them with elements of progressive education, such as group activities, the teaching of the arts and sciences, and informal methods of instruction.

As principal of the Cook County Normal School in Chicago (1883–99) he experimented with ways to expand and develop his curriculum.

[8] He worked there with Ella Flagg Young and founded the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where his disciples tested his ideas in actual classrooms.

She was the first woman to head a large city school system—it had 290,000 enrolled students and owned property worth $50,000,000.

It set up a two platoon system so that twice as many students could use the same facilities, which were expanded to include shops, labs, auditoriums and playgrounds.

They paid more attention to business oriented progressivism, which emphasized administrative efficiency as measured by low taxes.

As sociologists discovered, "In the struggle between quantitative administrative efficiency and qualitative educational goals...th big guns are all on the side of ...the former.

"[12] On the other hand, in elite private schools with high tuitions, satisfaction of the wealthy parents is decisive, and the intellectuals like Dewey prevailed.

The risk of exposure to Protestant proslytizing was minimal since over a third of the public school teachers were Catholics, along with almost as many principals.

Cardinal George Mundelein (archbishop 1915–1939) centralized control of the parish schools in his own hands.

Simultaneously he gained a voice in city hall, and Catholic William J. Bogan became Superintendent of public schools.