<P> The relief programs did offer indirect help . The CWA and FERA focused on hiring unemployed people on relief, and putting them to work on public buildings, including public schools . It built or upgraded 40,000 schools, plus thousands of playgrounds and athletic fields . It gave jobs to 50,000 teachers to keep rural schools open and to teach adult education classes in the cities . It gave a temporary jobs to unemployed teachers in cities like Boston . Although the New Deal refused to give money to impoverished school districts, it did give money to impoverished high school and college students . The CWA used "work study" programs to fund students, both male and female . </P> <P> The National Youth Administration (NYA), a semi-autonomous branch of the WPA under Aubrey Williams developed apprenticeship programs and residential camps specializing in teaching vocational skills . It was one of the first agencies to set up a "Division of Negro Affairs" and make an explicit effort to enroll black students . Williams believed that the traditional high school curricula had failed to meet the needs of the poorest youth . In opposition, the well - established National Education Association (NEA) saw NYA as a dangerous challenge to local control of education NYA expanded Work - study money to reach up to 500,000 students per month in high schools, colleges, and graduate schools . The average pay was $15 a month . However, in line with the anti-elitist policy, the NYA set up its own high schools, entirely separate from the public school system or academic schools of education . Despite appeals from Ickes and Eleanor Roosevelt, Howard University--the federally operated school for blacks--saw its budget cut below Hoover administration levels . </P> <P> In 1880, American high schools were primarily considered to be preparatory academies for students who were going to attend college . But by 1910 they had been transformed into core elements of the common school system and had broader goals of preparing many students for work after high school . The explosive growth brought the number of students from 200,000 in 1890 to 1,000,000 in 1910, to almost 2,000,000 by 1920; 7% of youths aged 14 to 17 were enrolled in 1890, rising to 32% in 1920 . The graduates found jobs especially in the rapidly growing white - collar sector . Cities large and small across the country raced to build new high schools . Few were built in rural areas, so ambitious parents moved close to town to enable their teenagers to attend high school . After 1910, vocational education was added, as a mechanism to train the technicians and skilled workers needed by the booming industrial sector . </P> <P> In the 1880s the high schools started developing as community centers . They added sports and by the 1920s were building gymnasiums that attracted large local crowds to basketball and other games, especially in small town schools that served nearby rural areas . </P>

Where did the american education system come from