The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1869-10-21
COMMUNICATION
Parents and the Schools.

! The public schools throughout the county
generally are now opening for the annual
I term. By the first Of November perhaps
| fully nineteen tbs of all our district schools
viii be in operation. In view of this fact,
/ we beg to say few words:
/. Parents should patronize the schools.
/ The object of the common school economy is
! to put the means of instruction in the COM
! mon ard most necessary branches Of learn
I ing within the reach Of all TO this end all
are taxed alike: those who have children to
be educated and those who have none. The
justness of this system is question which
does not at all enter into our subject, though
it cannot be successfully adispu cd. Suffice
it to say that the system has been establish
ed, and for more THAI :he third part Of
century that it has heen in operation. it has
met with the support and sympathy of the
public. Yet many parents do not take adj
vantage of the schools thus provided. In
many cases where parents are sufficiently
! well off in this worlds goods to do SO. their
children sent to private schools of differ
ent kinds. This is all right enough. Pa
rents have. and it is to be hoped they always
will have, the privilege of educating their
offspring where they please but the persons
their children to any school, either public or
private.
We doubt, and we believe that every in
telligent man doubts. the moral right of any
parent to allow his children to grow up with
out some education. We think the duty of
educating his child properly and as far as he
is able TO do so, rests upon every parent 1t
is duty which he owes to himself his child
his country, and his God. While we do not
claim that an intellectual education is alone
sufficient, yet we do claim that there is in it
ga SAVIOR of life.'' We deny that an educa-
tion Of the head alone makes men scoundrels
and sharpers and where the enemies of such
education point to one Eugene Aram or Pro
fessor Webster. we can point to a thousand
uneducated, british ''Bowery Boys" and
= Dead Rabbits"
Perhaps not over three-fourtbs Of the chill
dren of school-a9e of Pennsylvania are en-
rolled upon the books of any institution of
learning, either public or private. And Of
those who are enrolled. at least we can safely
speak of those who are enrolled upon the
books Of our common schools, the atten-
dance of many is merely nominal Lst us
take our own county as an example For
the school year 1867. the per cent. of at
tendance at our public schools was 60; for
1868, it was 68. Here it is true was gain
of per cent. which would be gratifying
indeed were it not coupled with the fact that
there was falling off in the latter year of
338 pupils from the year before. 1t cannot
be that there were fewer children in the
county in 1868 than in 1867 The solution
of the difficulty may be that the 338 non
reporters were Of thOse who the year before
came to school Just often enough to keep
their names upon the monthly reports and
reduce the per cent. of attendance to a little
over one~half Every teacher kLows that
in every district just such pupils are found
and, so far as the interests Of the schools are
concerned, they are better absent than pre-
sent.
3 Parents should pahonize The schools
notc. The term in nearly all our rural
districts is but four months. 1t is impossi-
BILE at present to make the term longer.
Hence, if parents wish to have all the bene-
fits of the schools. they should enter their
children at the beginning of the term. Pu-
pills who do not enter until the schools have
been sometime in operation, rest under
disadvantage throughout the whole term.
The time they have lost they cannot make
up. The lessons which were learned before
they entered. they must either omit. get over
them hurriedly and but partially. or remain
in the background all winter. The term is
too short to lose any part of it. We earn
estly hope that every parent will try to have
his children at school this winter. have :hem
there at the start. and keep them there as
regularly possible.
1t will not cost any more. In fact. it viii!
cost less. We make that appear in this
way: The expense of teaching each scholar
was last year just 81 cents per month. If
instead of 68 per cent. attendance there had
been 100 per cent. the total expense would
have been the same but the cost of each
would have been only about Sc cents per
month. 81 that we see by sending our chill
dren to school promptly and regularly, we
can have them all taught at a much less per
capita rate than if we send only a part of
them. or send them only part Of the time,
while the children themselves will be reap
ing the full benefits Of our common school
system. L. j. q.
Another SurDriSe.