Maine: Thomas Jefferson

"A system of general instruction, which shall reach every description of our citizens from the richest to the poorest, as it was the earliest, so will it be the latest of all the public concerns in which I shall permit myself to take an interest." -- Thomas Jefferson to Joseph C. Cabell, 1818.

The role played by government in the education of its citizens is one of the hallmarks of the United States. An ignorant populace cannot govern itself, and the Founding Fathers understood this, and so made public education of utmost importance.

For over 230 years, it has been the duty of all Americans to pay for this educational system, typically done through property taxes.