and was this supposed to be a good thing?

In early American public schools, there was no separation between church and state

From the Wall Street Journal

In early American public schools, there was no separation between church and state. Tenets of Christianity were embedded in almost every lesson and book, including spelling, reading, history, grammar, arithmetic and science.

Yeah, and we had slaves. And women couldn't vote. And no one would hire the Irish. And children made great factory labor.Oh yeah, we also burned witches.

Your point would be?

(Americablog)
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I read the article and I'm not sure what the WSJ writer was trying to say, other than stating that we didn't have the separation of church and state back then.
It certainly doesn't sound like this was a good thing in any way. The article makes it sound like children were poorly educated because of this.
Very odd....