2. Standardized education systems were liberal ideas adopted at the end of the 19th century
Over its first one hundred years, education in the United States varied based on where a student lived. Each state had its own requirements for curricula, the number of grades to be completed, years of mandatory attendance, and so on. Ten grades of education in Massachusetts and the same number of grades in the Deep South produced students of widely disparate knowledge and abilities. Urban and rural schools within the same state were not of the same quality. Regulations varied by county and town. A growing movement for standardization of primary and secondary education was criticized by conservatives as too liberal and a threat to American liberty.
In 1892 a Committee of Ten was formed by leading educators from American universities, with each of the ten men appointed chairing other committees to address the problems afflicting education in the United States. It was formed by the National Education Association, which at the time was not yet chartered as a union by congress. The Committee of Ten recommended 8 years of primary school and four years of secondary school; it suggested that “every subject which is taught at all in a secondary school should be taught in the same way and to the same extent to every pupil”. It recommended English, history or civics, and mathematics be taught each year of high school.