Public Schools Expanding
During the 1920s, developements in education had a very powerful impact on the nation. An increase of 3 million students occured, creating higher educational standards for industry jobs. As the number of students increased, the taxes increased as well. The total cost of American education in the mid-1920s amounted to around $2.7 billion a year. Another challenge the public schools faced was teaching the children of new immigrant familes because of the difference in languages. On the bright side, determind teachers met the challenge and created a large pool of literate Americans. Also, high schools began to offer more courses, such as vocational training for those interested in industrial jobs.
Primary Source:
"We brought our lunches in gallon buckets, and played games in the schoolyard during lunch. As a high school student, I worked about 30 hours per week as a janitor while he attended school. I was paid 20 cents per hour, which was pretty good money in them days."
-Alvin Apetz describing the typical school day in the 1920s.
-Alvin Apetz describing the typical school day in the 1920s.