Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Parents Demand Schools!
As the Industrial Revolution progressed, more and more people moved into the city. The demand for services grew. Families needed and demanded services like education for their children.
Some forms of education had been available for years, and working class families had taken advantage of them. But in the mid-1800s, many factory children still received little or no education.
As far back as the 1600s, there had been charity schools and Sunday schools. By the nineteenth century, many factory families were sending their children to Sunday school on the one day that the family had free time from work. Sunday schools taught religious values and maybe a little reading. The teachers were volunteers who usually had no training to be teachers.
By the 1830s, working class parents wanted more. They wanted a decent education for their children. In some cities, parents protested in the streets for better schools. The government of England began to take note and started to become involved in public education. It provided some money, mainly to church organizations, to establish schools.
