John Swett (1830–1913) - American Education

American educator and “father” of public school education in California. Born and educated in New Hampshire, he graduated from a normal school and taught in district schools from 1847 to 1851, when he joined the California Gold Rush, sailing around Cape Horn. A year later, however, he returned to teaching, becoming a school principal in San Francisco, where he served for nine years before becoming California state superintendent of public instruction in 1862. In that capacity and until 1867, he not only coaxed the legislature into establishing a tax base for supporting public schools but also wrote the state’s first workable school law, established a teachercertification system with statewide examinations, and provided for uniform textbooks for all state schools. He also established the state teachers’ association, and in 1863 helped found the California Teacher, the first professional journal for educators in the West. After ending his work at the state level, Swett served variously as a San Francisco school principal, deputy superintendent of San Francisco public schools, principal of the state teachers’ college and San Francisco superintendent of public schools. He collaborated in writing several language-arts and geography textbooks and was author of a number of important books, including History of the Public School System of California (1876), Methods of Teaching (1880), American Public Schools: History and Pedagogics (1990) and Public Education in California (1911). An innovative teacher, Swett changed California schooling from “keeping school” to “teaching school.”