Reconstruction Constitution
  
  
    
      
  
  
  
      
  
  
  
    
  
    
        
    
          
              
            
            
            
        October 11, 2018 -
        
  
        After the Civil War, new state constitutions drafted with the help of freedmen required former Confederate states to establish their first public school systems. But 150 years later, education advocates are still fighting to ensure that Southern states live up to their mandate to offer every student a decent education.