Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1881-02-05
CHANGE IN THE SCHOOL LAW De:
.r MANDED.

EDITOR INTELL1G public school
law OF Missouri. when viewed as q whole, COM
mends itself to every thoughtful lover of aniver.
sal education. Yet 1t is of recent Introduction,
and one the greater part of which was framed
by q single legislature, composed for the mos;
part Of men uDacquainted with the practical
workings Of q public school. When they COM
pleted it they did not claim for it pc ERECTION
they were willing that it should be tested by
experience. and knew that its practical appiica-'
ton was likely to indicate; the necessity of u
change in some Of Its provisions. .
That vt least one salutary change can be
made, l believe, no candid and thoughtful edu-
Gator will deny. 1t is this: That the school
year be made to commence about the first of
July instead of the first OF April, This change
10 necessitated by the fact that a majority of the
districts are now running eight months schools
during the year, and under the existing Iau-
they are compelled to divide it into two terms,
which every. enc knows has q disastrous. effect
upon the school,. The annual meeting cor venes
on the first Tuesday of April; they decide to run
an eight months school during the year; the
board of directors consult as to the best time to
have the school commence; they fnd that if it
begins Immediately after the annual meetin.
and runs. for eight consecutive months it must
be conducted through the hot and unhealthy
months Of July and August, but if they csm-
mencs it the first of September they Will not
have sufficient time to have taught an eight
months' school before the close of the school
year, In this dilemma they are forced to run
three months in the spring and five in the fall
and winter. In all probability the falfschool Is
taught by another than the one who taught the
spring school, arising from the fact that salts
factory arrangements cannot be made with the
former teacher. whereas, if the eight months
had been taught consecutively his services could
have been secured for the entire. time, and at a
salary less than the average salary paid for the
two terms. Another disadvantage is that the
second teacher is a stranger to the dispositions
of has pupils. and unacqualnted with their
various advancements,. and hence in classifying
them, however learned and experienced he
may be. he 10 sure to commit errors. which
nothing but protracted observation will enable
him to c~orrect; but if both terms were taught by
but one teacher these pernicious drawbacks,
instead of occurring twice, will present them
selves but once. II this. change was made and
the two terms combined in one the progress OF
tho pupils would be far more satisfactory. which
of itself ls enough to demand an immediate
change. a '.ht. I'D 49," fr
Another motive, less significant, yet of CON
siderable Importance is, that it would lessen
the financial burdens OF the tax payers because,
AS already stated. teachers could be sccurei ut
a less salary. Suppose that In this why u dis
trict could get u teacher at only one dollar less
per month. in the eight months term there
would be a saying Of eight dollars. to the dis
trict. and as there are about one hundred dis
trlcts in the county the county would thus save
eight hundred dollars per annum; and as this
county contains about One-hundredth mart of the