Compulsory education state law, the first in the nation, signed in Massachusetts
Governor George Sewall Boutwell of Massachusetts signs the first state law in the country mandating compulsory school attendance. Children between the ages of eight and fourteen must attend no less than sixteen weeks of school per year, including at least six weeks of consecutive school days. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Joseph Nathan Kane, ed., Famous First Facts (New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1981), 231.