The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-04-13
SHALL OTTAWA HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL ?

the town OF Ottawa are aSkcu 10 'otc uo-uay ~
the Court House The town includes both
Ottawa and South Ottawa-the whole six
. miles square of the congressional township.
At present the townships divided, we believe,
into nine or ten school districts, each having
its separate primary schools, and in connection
with them Dist, No. /, which embraces the
city OF Ottawa, is maintaining the old Ottawa
High School, though in a somewhat crippled
and embarrassed condition The question is
whether this crippled sort Of Il high school
shall be continued, as the directors under the
law are fully empowered to do, or whether
there shall be high school for the whole
township under the control of the trustees, rs
contemplated in the general school law.
Such a high school, we are advised, will
not necessarily involve any additional expense
above the present system, or if any additional
expenditure is proposed it is always subject to
n vote Of the people. For the present the
principal effect OF Il vote in favor Of high
school would be to change the management
from the directors to the township trustees
and give more freedom in the arrangement Of
the classes, studies, &c, than is now enjoyed
The same building and the same teachers un-
der the old system would answer for the new.
| 1t is as well to understand, however, from
the start, that the township high school com
templatcd by the general school law would in
volvc the ultimate erection, or renting of a
separate building, so as to free il from all con.
ncction or ENHANCEMENT with the district
schools. No step, however, can be taken to
erect such building without previously sub
hitting the necessary appropriation to a vote
OF the tax payers.
The FREE TRADER, as must have been gath
favor Of this township high school. 1t holds
that 1t would be disgraccful to a town of twelve
or fourteen thousand people not to have
such high school With three or four com
would accommodate two or three hundred pu-
pills, the tuition outsiders would be willing to
pay for the privileges OF such school would
alone bear all the additional expense over our
present system it would involve Even our
present crippled Ottawa High School, able to
accommodate but sixty pupils, is annually
thronged with applications for the admission
paid pupils from the outside enough to show
that if there was ROOM nearly enough could be
earned IN that way now to pay the teachers.
"If applications for tuition are 50 throng
ing" perhaps we shall be asked, "why not let
some one establish u private academy" IfI
the whole high school business is abandoned
doubtless we shall IN time have such an acadc-
my; but it takes time, money, enterprise and
skill to build one up, and dozen may be at |
tempted before one succeeds At the same
time to attend such school will involve Seri. |
Gus expense for tuition, &c The Ottawa High
School costs but $40 year per scholar; no
private academy would think of charging less
than $50 or $50. Poor people cannot afford
to send their children to such a school. The
result will be, if we dispense with our high |
school, none but the children of the compare
lively wealthy in Ottawa can get an education
above the three RS" Readin" Ritn' and
ithmctiC"-whcrcas under well regulated
High School thepoor and rich would fare alike,
the children Of the poorer classes being able to
graduate from the high school at ID or l6 years
of age and then learn trades or engage in other
while the children of the wealth. |
err would be ready to enter college. The hcavi.
cr part OF the taxation to support the system, it
is true, would tall on The wealthy, but even to |
them the expense would in few cases be greater
than under the private academy system, while
of home pride and patriotism
ought to inspire them with willingness even
to make some sacrifices to surround themselves |
with refined and intelligent community rath-
cr than one plodding IN comparative ignorance.
We could make long speech on this sub.
icc,, but word to the wise ought TO be suili-
cicnt. We hope ut least the subject will re
ccvc the attention its importance deserves and
that we shall have full vote on the question.