History of Public Schools Today, free public schools are present in countries throughout the world. Many people assume these facilities have always existed and fail to recognize the years of trial, conflict, and debate that occurred in order to establish this system of education presently utilized by thousands of individuals. The idea for free public education originated thousands of years ago in the United States when colonial leaders realized the importance of educated citizens in the new nation. In order to make the education for all possible, leaders need to find some source of financing. They decided that since educat