Background Virginia Constitutional Convention Before the Civil War, Virginia had no statewide system of free public schools. In the 1780s and 1810s the former governor Thomas Jefferson recommended creating a statewide school system, and the governors and made similar recommendations in the 1830s and 1840s. But the refused even to debate a proposal that the state take responsibility to educate its children. Read more about: The Establishment of the Public School System in Virginia
