With which of these statements would Horace Mann MOST LIKELY agree?
A) Education is a privilege that only some Americans deserve.
B) Children from poor families should not be expected to attend school.
C) American children should be educated primarily through private funding.
D) Teachers in rural areas should be just as educated as teachers in urban areas.

Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 - August 2, 1859) was a writer, politician, philosopher, educator, reformer, and promoter of American art. Featured Whig, was dedicated to the promotion of rapid modernization, and served in the Massachusetts State Legislature (1827-37). In 1848, after serving as secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education since its inception, he was elected to the House of Representatives of the United States.

Arguing that universal public education was the best way to turn the rebellious childhood of the nation into disciplined, judicious Republican citizens, Mann won wide approval from the modernizers, especially in his Whig Party, for the construction of public schools. Most states adopted one or another version of the system was established in Massachusetts, especially the "normal school" program to train teaching professionals. Mann has been accredited by educational historians as the "Parent of the Common Schools Movement".