Taxes and Education.

Although popular interest in education was widespread during the 1920s, troubling questions about its funding constantly arose. Before the institution of the federal income tax, which came with the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in February 1913, most schools were entirely dependent upon appeals to citizens for permission to tax and thereby fund their pedagogical or building programs. The federal income tax promised to provide a more reliable and equitable source of support for education throughout the nation. But, in fact, federal funding was not substantial and therefore did not have much of an impact until after the 1920s; instead, public education remained largely dependent on state and local taxes for its financial support. In 1924, for example, school systems in the United States received approximately $4 million from the federal government, $262 million from the individual states, and $11/3...