History of education in New York City

Prior to the American Revolution, Columbia University, then called King’s College, was the only institution of higher education in New York City.

[2] The New York Manumission Society was established in 1785 by antislavery activists, including John Jay and Alexander Hamilton.

Its stated goals were to alleviate the injustices of slavery, protect the rights of Blacks, and provide them with free educational opportunities.

In 1805 the Free School Society, organized by philanthropists, was chartered by the state legislature to teach poor children.

[6] The "Free Academy of the City of New York", the first public high school, was established in 1847 by a wealthy businessman and president of the Board of Education Townsend Harris.

The conservative Whig Party denounced the school, while Tammany Hall and the Democrats endorsed the plan, and voters gave it 85% approval in a referendum.

[16] One prominent leader was Mother Marie Joseph Butler (1860-1940), an Irish-born Catholic sister who dedicated her life to establishing schools and colleges.

Her conviction of the educational value of international experience led her to establish the first study abroad program through Marymount College.

[24] In 1907, William Wirt became superintendent of schools in the newly planned city of Gary, Indiana, which was built by U.S. Steel corporation.

The core of the schools' organization in Gary centered upon the platoon or work-study-play system and Americanizing the 63.4 percent of children with parents who were immigrants.

[25] The theory behind the Gary Plan was to accommodate children's shorter attention spans, and that long hours of quiet in the classroom were not tenable.

"[25] The platoon system gained acceptance in Gary and received national attention during the early decades of the twentieth century.

In 1914, New York City hired Wirt as a part-time consultant to introduce the work-study-play system in the public schools.

[25] In part because of backing from the Rockefeller family, the plan became heavily identified with the interest of big business.

"[27] Mayor John Purroy Mitchel was a reformer who wanted the Gary Plan on city schools.

Mitchel argued the Gary Plan was ideal for the students and the community, and assured business it would lower costs since two platoons a day would use the buildings.

[28] Fierce opposition by the unions and the Jewish community to the Gary Plan was a major factor in defeating Mitchel's bid for reelection in 1917.

Many of the early leaders were pacifists or socialists and so frequently met with clashes against more right-leaning newspapers and organizations of the time, as red-baiting was fairly common.

[29] The UFT was founded in 1960, largely in response to perceived unfairness in the educational system's treatment of teachers.

The schools, experiencing a massive influx of baby boomer students, often were on double or triple sessions.

Despite being college-educated professionals, often holding advanced master's degrees, teachers drew a salary of $66 per week, or in 2005 dollars, the equivalent of $21,000 a year.

The strike largely failed in its main objectives but obtained some concessions, as well as bringing much popular attention to the union.

In 1968, the UFT went on strike and shut down the school system in May and then again from September to November to protest the decentralization plan that was being put in place to give more neighborhoods community control.

The Ocean Hill-Brownsville crisis is often described as a turning point in the history of unionism and of civil rights, as it created a rift between African-Americans and the Jewish communities, two groups that were previously viewed as allied.