Looking at the censuses you find that many people "only" had a 7th grade education. By today's standards that seems like not much, however, a 7th grade education then was not what it is today. A few years ago I read an article (don't remember where) that addressed the subject and included a test that was given back then in the 7th grade. It was incredibly difficult and included many questions that I think many college grads today would be hard-pressed to answer. I think most 7th grade graduates would have been perfectly equipped to teach at the very least the three R's and likely a lot more to boot.
kathy
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