By the time the
transcontinental railroad had made Utah more accessible to the rest
of the United States in 1869, some semblance of system appeared as the
ward schools evolved into district public schools, although they were
still basically Mormon oriented schools supported by local taxes. Eventually
these schools became the nucleus of the federally mandated publicly
supported territorial district schools which came into existence with
the passage of Utah's first Free Public School Act by the Territorial
Legislature in 1890. There was some initial opposition to these compulsory
secular schools on the part of the Latter-day Saints, but eventually
they came to be accepted as part of Mormon accommodation to mainstream
America.
In addition to
the development of the district schools, between 1867 and 1900 some
one hundred private elementary and secondary schools were established
by Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist mission boards. Their
initial aim was to "Christianize" Utah's Mormon children a well as meet
the needs of the growing number of non-Mormons who were settling in
Utah. Few of them persisted after Utah adopted a free school system;
however, they played a significant role as models for public schools
and for the professionalization of teaching. The Episcopal Church established
the first private denominational school, St. Mark's, in 1867. The Catholic Church also maintained St. Mary's Academy (1875-1926) and St. Mary's
of the Wasatch (1926-1970), Judge Memorial High School (established
in 1921) and St. Joseph's High School in Ogden (established in 1929).
Currently there are several hundred home-schools operated by individual
parents, and a variety of private schools-religious and entrepreneurial-have
been established in the last few years.
Public secondary
education did not exist until the last decade of the nineteenth century
and did not become a viable part of the system until the second decade
of the twentieth century. In 1910, 58 percent of Utah's 16-to 17-year-olds
were enrolled in high school and by 1940 the percentage had risen to
86 percent. In 1991, over 23,715 students graduated from public high
school--representing 90.3 percent of the 12th-grade students.