Oregon Compulsory Education Act
Encyclopedia
The Compulsory Education Act or Oregon School Law was a 1922 law in the U.S. state of Oregon
that required school age children to attend only public schools. The United States Supreme Court later struck down the law as unconstitutional.
Grand Lodge of Oregon sponsored a bill to require all school-age children to attend public schools. With support also of the state Ku Klux Klan
and 1922 Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Walter M. Pierce
, the Compulsory Education Law was passed by a vote of 115,506 to 103,685. Its primary purpose was to shut down Catholic schools in Oregon, but it also affected other private and military schools. It was challenged in court and struck down by the United States Supreme Court Pierce v. Society of Sisters
(1925) before it went into effect.
The law, which was officially called the Compulsory Education Act and unofficially became known as the Oregon School Law, did not just require that children between the ages of eight and sixteen had to attend school; it required that they attend only public schools. By prohibiting children from attending private or parochial schools, the state thus forced such schools to close.
Outraged Catholics organized locally and nationally for the right to send their children to Catholic schools. In a 1925 decision, the United States Supreme Court declared the Oregon School Law unconstitutional in a ruling that that has been called "the Magna Carta of the parochial school system." In the ruling, the Court asserted that "the child is not the mere creature of the state" and settled once and for all the question of whether or not private schools had a right to exist in America.
Pope Pius XI
, in 1929, explicitly referenced this Supreme Court case in his encyclical
Divini illius magistri on Catholic education
. He quoted this part of the case, which says:
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
that required school age children to attend only public schools. The United States Supreme Court later struck down the law as unconstitutional.
Background
In 1922, the MasonicAnticlericalism and Freemasonry
The question of whether Freemasonry is Anticlerical is the subject of debate. The Catholic Church has long been an outspoken critic of Freemasonry, and Catholic scholars have often accused the fraternity of anticlericalism. The Catholic Church forbids its members to join any masonic society under...
Grand Lodge of Oregon sponsored a bill to require all school-age children to attend public schools. With support also of the state Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
and 1922 Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Oregon gubernatorial election, 1922
The 1922 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1922 to elect the governor of the U.S. state of Oregon. The election matched incumbent Republican Ben W. Olcott against Democrat Walter M. Pierce...
Walter M. Pierce
Walter M. Pierce
Walter Marcus Pierce was an American politician, a Democrat, who served as the 17th Governor of Oregon and a member of the United States House of Representatives from . A native of Illinois, he served in the Oregon State Senate before the governorship, and again after leaving the U.S. House...
, the Compulsory Education Law was passed by a vote of 115,506 to 103,685. Its primary purpose was to shut down Catholic schools in Oregon, but it also affected other private and military schools. It was challenged in court and struck down by the United States Supreme Court Pierce v. Society of Sisters
Pierce v. Society of Sisters
Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, , was an early 20th century United States Supreme Court decision that significantly expanded coverage of the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The case has been cited as a precedent in...
(1925) before it went into effect.
The law, which was officially called the Compulsory Education Act and unofficially became known as the Oregon School Law, did not just require that children between the ages of eight and sixteen had to attend school; it required that they attend only public schools. By prohibiting children from attending private or parochial schools, the state thus forced such schools to close.
Outraged Catholics organized locally and nationally for the right to send their children to Catholic schools. In a 1925 decision, the United States Supreme Court declared the Oregon School Law unconstitutional in a ruling that that has been called "the Magna Carta of the parochial school system." In the ruling, the Court asserted that "the child is not the mere creature of the state" and settled once and for all the question of whether or not private schools had a right to exist in America.
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
, in 1929, explicitly referenced this Supreme Court case in his encyclical
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...
Divini illius magistri on Catholic education
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
. He quoted this part of the case, which says:
The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty, to recognize, and prepare him for additional duties.
Further reading
- Lloyd P. Jorgenson. "The Oregon School Law of 1922: Passage and Sequel," The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 54, No. 3 (Oct., 1968), pp. 455–466 in JSTOR
- David B. Tyack. "The Perils of Pluralism: The Background of the Pierce Case,"American Historical Review, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Oct., 1968), pp. 74–98 in JSTOR