The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-06-15
COMMUNICATIONS.
OUR COMMON SCHOOLS.
THE SECOND THING.

II the state had abundance Of money ii ought
90 Uc properly used. Much money Is injudi-
.CIausty sIuuu-gred even at the present time
.lhe school report OF 1871 shows tuat out OF the
NtUlr appropriation OF S5JJ,OOO made for that
& \ ear rnr sum OF S2I5,0UO was spent before it
lri.Il' ue common SCHOOLS leaving only
S-o9ttJ 10 be distributed among the districts,
4 walsh really need the money. Then the ex-
II ECiaIs OF the SChOOl department amounted TO
slruJJ more. Then for Incidental expenses So
80 more. Then Tor printing the school Re
lo'lsr Nulch expense Is Included in the State
printing and Is not precisely known, but which
cannot Oe less than SO0UUJ-nIaking au aggre-
gate OF $25OUOJ, or One-haIf OF the State aDpro-
pTldtlOu, tnHU never reaches the couR tac "a
schools at all.
Inc printing OF County Superintcndents' Re
ports was EeEer contemplated by the trainers
ot the law ot lo54- They were to make a report
10 the state Superintendent, and he was 10
make "A condensed statement 10 the Legislature
ui the state. Nobody ever dreamed that the
nonsense written by these County Superintend-
culs was TO be multiplied 10y an Official kaleido-
scope T the expense OF tie state. People have
other chances 10 become nauseuted without in
curing so heaNy an eN pcnSc. The entire State
N.FHrJ, inAI ought not to make more than 10
pages Is swollen TO near 400 while the number
oI BOOKS Is increased IN nearly an equal ratio.
a. o. tLldsdhu pdmphleIs would be suhcIent Tor
. ~. Leslsiatnre bur noT lot less than one hun
'Ir4 tiOuSs nd OF these large books are printed,
u'-Ha and forwarded To Inherent parts of the
state AT the pubic expense, while teachers are
SLusEhhg 10 make a living at less than half
Inrn The total amount of money paid ont for
'''t support OF Normal Schools since the adOp-
,i'N OBJ ne Act ls sl54,OJU. This was perfectly
useless expenditure OF money, for these schools
or corporations were aDuudautly capable OF
supporting themselves, and those who did re-
''i'e dn education in them do not reach com
men scdOOls- some OF them may teach schools
iu cities and boruughs where living salaries
are paid. But good salaries always dId secure
Euuu teachers, even before there ever was a
OrnaI School. Teachers w boprudtInte i'm Nor
MAJ >Chools do not seek employ in the
iulal Hlstricts ut S31 per month. And yet it is
ti Nr$I ,,1$ I'S Sf IfeeIea The original purpose of
lac experiment was total failure that cost the
state near s=OO,OOO- Now COuntysSuperint tend
elllS are Struggling SuDDly fle want by teach
ing persons IN small county Normal Schools
Aud even this, so far, has proved n total failure
Tor last year the general complaint OF the Co
NupcrintendentS was that incompetent tea hers
had hnaiiy 10 be employed 10 get all the schools
open during the winter session. This expert
mcut then constitutes another leak OF near
E-IuOG0- while the schools are not in the least
benefited.
There are other leaks that need not be men
toned here, such as furnishing an innumerable
quantity OF blank forms TO the districts, many
are never used. All these little leaks take just
-o much from the salary of the teachers, and
gust so long As their salaries are below the wa
EyS Of "a IubOTcr just so long will the schools be
Iiled with careless and Incompetent teachers.
Wy wonder Is that teachers can be procured at
all y day hburcr can generally get work all
lne year round at about Sl.30 per diem. But,
dollar per DAY, the laborer can make $50 TO 1900
4 lhe rural districts after Tarigcti,o citiss. and
towns, are not more than S2UJ per year for males
aug silS Tor females. Mechanics get from 800
D-LuD per year. Only few days ago the car
t.l',ls IN New ork city struck for four dol
az per uaN- 10 may be argued that teachers
-.' iaIgeF wages than | have stated In some
l'.,S tHe! appear 10 get more, but my state
.-.lt y cor rect only an average of six months
I lNG car Is taught Directors claim the right
~ order vacations just when they please, and
tl'heFs can seldom obtain employment ut
g".r vocation during the summer months, es-
I.gldlly ia the country. SO that virtually they
.-s nptaln' yearly, the amount / have stated.
are these leaks aud expenditures justifiable,
@Huuhiing TO near Si5O,OO0 annually, when the
fN1TTIGs OF teachers are so low? | certainly
'"'HA not. ROB Roy.