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1850 Act to Repeal the Free School Law
April 10, 1850, to call for another November referendum, this time proposing the repeal of the Free School Law of 1849. Once again, the final decision would be left to the voters. -
Passage of the 1849 Act
The Free School Law, as it became known, required that common schools be tuition-free and financed through a combination of state funds and local taxes necessary to cover schooling in each district for at least four months out of the year. on November 6, 1849, the citizens of New York State voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Free School Law, -
Decision
On November 5, 1850, New York voters rejected repeal of the Free School Law by a vote of 209,346 to 184,308. However they saw the flaws and proposed 2 different bills to replace the Free School Law.
1. Get taxed right before you vote
2. reinstitute the-bill -
The Constitutional Convention of 1846
In 1846, New York State held its third constitutional
convention. Although the main issues on the agenda were fiscal and judicial reform, some education reformers also saw the convention as an opportunity to bypass the legislature and write a requirement
for fully tax-financed schools (so-called free schools) directly into the state constitution.