COMMON SCHOOL MOVEMENT

Liberty Common is named for the Common-School Movement, the origins of the universal public education Americans experience today. Horace Mann, often called the Father of American Education, believed a well-educated and informed public created meaningful citizenship and a flourishing society. He said, “A republican form of government, without intelligence in the people, must be, on a vast scale, what a mad-house, without superintendent or keepers, would be on a small one.”

Mann’s vision of a common school was a school accessible by all, regardless of family background, funded by the local community to develop strong minds and democratic values, and staffed by professional, well-trained teachers. Mann’s public schools would be judged successful not by bureaucrats from a far-away capitol, but rather by those who contributed to the school from the local community.

Liberty Common embraces Mann’s concept of a common school, rather than the overgrown, failed model of modern public-educational. Today, local schools are negligibly accountable to the public, funds provided by generous taxpayers are misspent on anti-intellectual programs, and time and again, school leaders exude a palpable animosity toward the American Founding.

Financed by taxpayers and community donations, Liberty Common operates under a parent-run board of directors, elected by parents and teachers. Liberty Common is open to all students, and is accountable to the community it serves (in addition to exceeding state standards and other legal accountability measures).

Liberty Common is precisely the public school envisioned by Horace Mann.

Horace Mann. Southworth and Hawes ca. 1850