Some good men, and even of respectable information, consider the learned sciences as useless acquirements; some think that they do not better the condition of men; and others that education like private & individual concerns, should be left to private & individual effort; not reflecting that an establishment, embracing all the sciences which may be useful & even necessary in the various vocations of life,
I feel like the debate of whether or not education should be private and individual is not something we look upon highly nowadays. Now, if you are unable to get an education you are looked down upon, I feel like homeschoolers even get a bad rap. It is interesting that back when this document was written you were considered of high class the more private your life was.
The debate of whether or not to include the sciences in curriculum seems to be an ongoing debate throughout this document. I think nowadays the sciences are considered more essential than the humanities but back then the more "practical" subjects were of value.