The "School Wars" of the 1840's lead to local governments to stop the little funding they gave to religious schools. Now the people and protesters had the state governments attention. Many were calling for free, and open viewed, "real" schools for the public, rather than closed off, pricey lessons from the churches or private, at-home teachers. Several groups made up the supporters for this new idea; the trade unions, who wanted members to take the places of working children while they went to school, the Middle Class, whose kids would receive a free education. With all the benefits and supporters, the state governments would create a centralized schooling system. With this switch many people were leaving protestant and catholic schools for a public secularized education. This lead them to create private schools to try and preserve the presence of God in the children's education. This is the clear divide of public and private American schools.
The new American Education system began to grow and develop into the 1870's. Though it wasn't yet completely centralized until the peak of the Industrial Revolution, it still brought many common people to their doors. As America did enter the Industrial Age, the financially powerful saw an opportunity to increase their wealth by turning this new system into a bureaucracy. The growth of the Education system mirrored the growth of industrial cities and were now called "Common Schools". Attendance laws were popping up, making attendance of children ages 7-16 mandatory. New agendas formed to help mold these new minds into obedient workers, of the state and industry. Soon many were convinced that a strong centralized, federal level, education system was the best way to go about for our nation.
Around the early 1910's-1920's education was now becoming a federal government funding issue, with the actual managing of education left up to the states, along with laws, and curriculum. The new goal was to take in children from their "incompetent" parents and educating them to prevent the future of the the country from falling into the hands of reckless, uneducated citizens. Most of the schools had become tolerant of other religions, or secularized completely. The U.S. government had monopolized education and made it into an industry itself. In 1927, the Supreme court finally ruled for private institutions for schooling, making the divide between the common funded schools and private schooling. Fast forward to modern day, the US Education system has branched out, with many states increasing their power and hold on education and curriculum. Now having equal opportunity for all students and families.