The Orangeburg democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1879-1881, 1879-10-03
Our School System.

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Another reason why ,our system has
grown into disfnvor with our people,
and it is defect which is chargeahl,
mainly upon teachers, is the great
diversity Of school books. Loud and
frequent complaints were made OF
this evil when the State Board of EN-
amiiicrs established Il series of text
hooks to be uscd in the public schools
dor five years. AS soon as our people
understand the new departure they
will take more kindly to the system.
Again, the supervision Of School
Commissioners. school trustees and
parents, is very defective, and by
their neglect to develop the system
iiave learncd to frate about the ineHi-
cheney and inutility Of tho srstem.
Our people do not take enough inter
est in sucn matters. Very few mani
fest any euro or sympathy for the
teacher in his arduous labors. 1t has
leen urged that our system is cut
Ting from the New England plan and
tor that reason is not adapted to the
larticuiar. circumstances Of our pco-
ole. We admit the first but deny the
second clause of the assertion. If
people would take the interest in
school matters that is taken by our
New England friends, if our people
would follow the old Puritans in their
visits to the school to learn the man
:ncr Of teaching, TO see whether the
school master teaches, whether there
is a God or not, whether the Bible is
the word Of God or cunningly de-
,viscd fable; to suggest improve
lnents; to encourage The scholars and
TO cheer the teacher, and to reward
merit with the smiles of appreciation,
.ihcy would discover that they have
wrongly judged the system. Let our
school officers perfect our plan Of op-
,erations then it will he Il "sy STEM in
deed, and will reflect honor upon its
mother. Don't let ns blame the sys-
TEN for what we ourselves are charge
able with.
Another objection to the system is
the manner in which the public fund
has been distributed. Outside of the
enormous amounts annually appro-
priatcd by the Radicals when in pow
or, and which amounts it seems we
arc compelled TO pay again, one OF
tle most serious difficulties in the
way Of fair distribution aud eco
,nomical expenditure of the public
school funds, is the present irequali
.ty Of school districts, and until we
Icarrangc many of the present dis
:trict lines in many localities, we can
no. secure the best results by any
method of dividing the money. In
many OF these townships there arc
seven or eight schools with an aver
age daily attendance of perhaps fif-
,ccn-thcn VIC have some schools
with an average Of fifty or fifty-iivc.
In such eases it is highly cxpcdicnt
to change the lines and then better
results in cNpendins the money would
follow. The money that is scattered
over three or four schools should bc
concentrated on one and make that
one Efficient. More good would re-
suit, larger school would be cstab-
lishcd, more enthusiasm aroused, and
better teachers could be employed,
and everything would be more advan-
tagcous.
We might state some minor defects
in our system, but these can and will
he corrected by time, and as soon as
our people get in harness well. In
the meantime let the friends of cdu-
cation vcntilatc the subject. Venti-