The original 1863 West Virginia constitution required the state to provide free public schools for all children. The legislature set up a system with a state superintendent, county superintendents, and local school leaders. By 1870, there were 2,270 schools, most with just one room and one teacher, segregated between races (pictured is a one-room school in Marlinton for Black students). The 1872 constitution kept the rule for free schools, but some counties still resisted because they didn’t like paying higher taxes