Public Education in the United States by Ellwood P. Cubberley (1919):

[page 17] ...[T]he famous Massachusetts Law of 1642, which directed the officials of each town to ascertain, from time to time, if parents and masters were attending to their educational duties; if all children were being trained "in learning and labor and other employments profitable to the Commonwealth"; and if the children were being taught "to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of the country." The officers were empowered to impose fines on those who failed to give proper instruction, or to report to the officer when required. This Law of 1642 is remarkable in that, for the first time in the English-speaking world, a legislative body representing the State ordered that all children should be taught to read. This was a distinctively Calvinistic contribution to our new-world life and a contribution to our new-world life, and a contribution of large further importance.

...The Law, however, did not establish schools, nor did it direct the employment of schoolmasters. After true English fashion, the provision of education was still left with the homes.

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