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Schools are of course critical to the future of young people. After the Civil War and Emancipation education
became widely available to blacks in large numbers for the first time. Blacks had attended schools in the Free
States, but only a small percentage of black Americans lived in the northern Free States in the 19th century. The Southern dates established public school systems, but the resources were disproportionately allocated to black students. This of course affected academic achievement, but it is difficult to assess just how much of the performance gap is due to the poorly financed black schools. We suspect that an even more significant factor is the support the children received at home. As a former teacher, I know that the single most important factor in determining how well a child did at school was the home he or she came from. Committed, educated parents generally made sure that their children took education seriously. Here of course, black children were at a serious disadvantage. It is difficult to assess just how seriously the former slaves took education. There may be academic studies on this. We do know, however, that very few of the former slaves could read. This meant that most did not have the academic skills to be of much assistance to their children with their school work. And modern parents as well as children know how important this can be, especially in the early primary years. Economics was surely another factor. Parents who are hard pressed to make a living are in a less favorable position to assist their children than a more affluent family.
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