Part II. The purpose of the public or common schools was to teach the pupils the skills of reading

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The purpose of the public or " common" schools was to teach the pupils the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. No particular religion was to be taught.

By the mid-19^th century, the desire for free public education was widespread. But the States could not find enough means for its financial support. It was during those years that communities began to support the schools within their boundaries. The States finally required local school districts to tax themselves for that purpose through the " real property" tax. This tax originated as financial support for public schools, and remains today the major financial resource for the public school system in the United States though it can no longer carry the entire burden.

Towards the second part of the 19^th century compulsory attendance laws came into effect, starting with Massachusetts in 1852. Now in most States the minimum age at which a pupil may leave school is sixteen; in five States seventeen; and in four States eighteen.

As has already been mentioned, education remains primarily a function of the States. Each State has a board of education, usually 3 to 9 members, serving mostly without pay. They are either elected by the public or appointed by the Governor. The board has an executive officer, usually called a State school superintendent or commissioner. In some cases he is elected; in others he is appointed by the board.

In theory, responsibility for operating the public education system is local. Schools are under the jurisdiction of local school board, composed of citizens elected by residents of the school district. In fact, however, much local control has been superseded. State laws determine the length of the school year, the way in which teachers will be certified, and many of the courses which must be taught.

Though the Federal Government has no powers at all in the field of education, from time to time Congress passes different Acts which help to " assist in the expansion and improvement of educational programs to meet critical national needs". Such Acts provide money for science, mathematics, and language instruction; for the purchase of laboratory equipment.

I have studied in the 12th grade of an American school after graduating from ours. Now I would like to tell you what things are good in American education. The American system of education differs from ours in its freedom and personal approach. The structure is more open than the post-Soviet one. There are electives - subjects one can choose freely for the semester. They make up only part of the total number; there are required courses also. This gives a student the necessary amount of freedom - to decide for himself the subjects he wants to take; the freedom our students lack so much and need so badly.

The personal approach to each student, to my mind, is another element we need. That is not to say that our teachers and professors do not spend time with students, also not that Americans are more altruistic teachers. Nevertheless, American professors take their job as a teacher more seriously; they are serious, honest teachers, taking their work as a duty. Unfortunately, our teacher usually takes their jobs as a means to subsistence in our tough life. There are " true" teachers left, but... There is this " but"....

American teachers value the student's viewpoint as his/her essential right - " an inalienable right". It is the right to express their thoughts, to fulfill their potential, to feel themselves equal to the teacher - not in age or experience, but in mental capabilities. There is a respect for the personality in their attitude to students. Our teachers value obligation, discipline, " the rule of law", if you like. True, American students are very free in the classroom, even during the class. The professors are open to the student's opinions and students are free to debate, to discuss, to criticize, not the teacher, but his ideas. Our teachers hold back all controversial, opinions, all discussion; there is no such thing as " critical thinking". They think that if a student criticizes -he dislikes his teachers. Our students are to take the teacher's word as " the truth, the only truth".

The kind of activities students do is, also, an interesting point of contrast. In the American system students learn to express their own opinions, to argue the points, to use their imagination and senses. Our system teaches us to learn by heart, to interpret, to explain, to know the dogmas, the rules, somebody else's words and opinions; but not to build up our own. This is unfortunate for us, for I am sure one can learn only when he or she develops his or her own vision of the world, and integrates his or her self into the world's structure with its natural laws. Of course, without knowing pure theory, one cannot know reality. But playing, debating, exchanging opinions, changing roles, etc. as a part of the American teaching process, helps students better understand the laws the world is running by. Our post-Soviet teachers produce an idealistic generation; or rather they did. Nowadays American teaching methods are breaking through this post-Soviet thinking and system of values.

As for " critical thinking", this " do not believe what is written unless it is proven" idea is extremely useful. It makes children think, makes them scrupulous and pragmatic. I myself remember how hard it was to grasp this idea – “do not believe it”; how opposed we all were when the American professor brought it to us. But now every time I read a newspaper and meet a sweeping generalization or mistaken fact taken for the truth, I wonder at how our post-Soviet mentality is still deep within us. Maybe it is fundamental in our education and all Soviet faults will remain forever? Probably since we are so intelligent, we will acquire this new approach from the US. For all new is not necessarily bad. It can be extremely good.

Founded in 1636, Harvard University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States. From its classrooms have emerged six American presidents – from John Adams to john Kennedy – and an impressive group of statesmen, business leaders and literary figures. It campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just across the Charles River from Boston, provides a rich architectural mix that includes the ivy-covered brick of Puritan New England and the concrete and glass of contemporary design.

Today the University includes Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduate colleges, 10 professional schools, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and an extension school. There are some 1, 600 students from every state and 45 foreign countries in it; tuition is about $22, 000 a year (not including room and board), and 70 % of those attending receive financial aid in the form of load or outright grants.

The University’s library system is the largest in the world. It contains more than 10 million volumes subscribes to 100, 000 periodicals. There are three notable art museums which house works from ancient Egyptian to contemporary American. There are also Botanical Museum, 40 acres of fields, an experimental forest located in New England, a center for a study of the Italian Renaissance in Italy, and a centre for Byzantine studies in Washington, D.C.

The most famous American higher educational institutions that were already in operation during the early period came into being through the religious zeal and philanthropy of their founders.

Higher education began in the United States long time ago, when the Puritan leaders of the settlement called the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded in 1636 Harvard College (Massachusetts). Established by John Harvard, English clergyman, this college was to turn into the most famous of the American Universities.

The College of William and Mary (Virginia, 1693) was the second institution of higher education founded in the Colonies. In 1701 Connecticut Puritans established Yale College (Connecticut).

All these Colonial colleges which were gradually turned into Universities with classical education established a balance between the Humanities and Science. Their aim was to train men for service in church and civil state.

By the 1770s several more colleges had been opened: University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania, 1740), Princeton University (New Jersey, 1746), Washington and Lee University (Virginia, 1749), Columbia University (New York, 1754), Brown University (Rhode Island, 1764), Rutgers College (New Jersey, 1766), Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, 1769).

Though the colleges in the first half of the 19^th century were numerous and widely scattered over the settled area, their enrollments were comparatively small. Since 1870s the colleges have developed enormously. Their resources have multiplied, the number of their students has increased by leaps and bounds, the program of studies has broadened and deepened, the standards have been raised, and the efficiency of the instruction has greatly increased. Rigidly prescribed courses of study have given way to elective courses.

In the course of time, when research centers and experiment stations were attached to the Universities, these institutions turned into the strongholds of science and higher education. They developed a unique, typically American structure unlike any other existing University system in the world.