The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-17
The PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
THE PAY OF TEACHERs--THE AVERAGE
ATTENDANCE OF sCHoLARs-THE
SCHOOL AGE.
The School Commissioner of Abbe.
Vile County Makes Many SuS&es.
tions of Vital Importance to the
People.

| OFFICE OF SCHOOL COMMISSIONER
ABBEEILI.E COUNTY,
ABBEv1LLE, :. G., Jan. 1t, 1856.
| The County Board Of Examiners have agreed
| that the monthly " pay Of teachers shall oe &C.
cordng to grade Of certificate, or grade of
| school, as follows:
First Grade, Twenty-Five Dollars.
Seccnd Grade, Eighteen Dollars.
Third Grade, Ten Dollars.
That the minimum average number OF pu-
| pills per month that shall entitlc Il teacher TO
! full pay in country schools shall Dc 10; IN IN
cOrpOrated villages and towns ~. In cases
where the average number between the ages
! of & and Ii falls below the minimum the trus-
tees shall pay per capita shareof the month
ly pay.
ance to trustees and teachers have been re.
Gently made in the School Law:
|. Certificates granted by County Boards are
valid for years, and are renew able Win or
without examination, at the discretion or the
said Boards.
,. 1t shall not he lawful for any person who
is less than SIX or more than eighteen years OF
age, to attend any of the free public schools.
The la " requires the trustees to meet as ear
ly as practicable in the year, in order to locate
the schools and elect Teachers. This ought to
be done before the lst of February OF each
year, so that by that time all the schools OF
the district shall have been established ana
all the teachers employed. No school ought
TO be opened after the first week in February
unless under peculiar circumstances. The ap-
portionment of the school fund to the several
school districts is made Oh the lSt OF February.
or as soon thereafter as practicable. Uniess
the trustees fix some limit to the time during
which they will contract with teachers OF puo-
lie schools, they cannot know the number OF
teachers nor their grade in time to asceria ain,
with the accuracy that the subject demands
the length of the school term for their district.
The trustees, therefore, are urged to ascertain
as soon as the app OrtiOnnent is made the
length of the school term for their district and
report the same to all the teachers and to the
School Comm issoner. The school term Of each
school OF the same district, for the time IL is
operated Us a public free school, should be the
same.
There has been glear defect in the admin
stration of the school law in respect to the To-
cation Of schools. In some places the schools
are located too near each other. This distribu-
ton of the forces and efforts Of a community,
rs well as the distribution Of the public fund
has had the effect Of shortening the school
tcrm and deprivinS such unfortunate com
munties of the influence ana advantages OF
one good, we'll paid, well-equipped and well
sustained school I recommend to the trus
tees the sentiment OF a distinguished com
mander, who, when asked the secret of his
success, promptly replied, II concentrate my
fOrccS."
In some places, on the other hand, the
schools are too far apart. The effect has been,
probably, more disastrous than In cases where
the schools are too near each other. 1T has
leSScned, alarmingly, the attendance in the
county schools, and, doubtless, smothered the
spark OF genius in many worthy youth
This part OF tie school law is as difficult of ad-
minislration as it is important While the
law requires the trustees to pay due regard to
any school house already built, or sites pro
cured, it also requires them TO have regard to
"Other circumstances proper to be considered
so as best to promote the educational interest
of the district" am disposed to believe that
there are schools in the county that ought to
be removed from their present location, and
established in places accessible to larger
number of children who are not now Within
81 distance
public free schools for the same race ought to
be within less than five miles of each other.
Two and a half miles is not too great al dis;
be required to go even this distance, and they
can, surely, well afford to do SO, if, by having
fewer schools, we increase the length OF the term
and The efficiency of those that ,Ue haze.
1t is q lamcntable fact, known even to the |
casual observer, that in some sections Of the
county there is an increasing disposition, on
the part of parents, to SHIFT the responsibility
of their children's education from themselves, |
where it properly belongs, to the public, where |
it belongs only in cases of extreme poverty |
and misfortune, or wilful neglect. They de.
mand that the public, which cXacts from them |
a few dimes orSchool tax, shall in return edu-
cate their children. build and repair their
school houses, and even pay the Incidental eN-
penscs OF the school. This disposition ought
to be checked at every point. and especially in |
the matter of building and repairing school
houses. 1t is q manifest injustice to the teach |
ers to take any part OF their already too small
salary and appropriate II to building ana re- |
pairing school houses. The school house Is
local matter, and the community, ought to
build it at their own expense. The circun-
stances ought to he very exceptional indeed,
which would induce the trustees to appropri-
ate any part of the public fund to building
and repairing school houses. l feel sure that |
my views on this subjest will not be we'll re-
ceived, but ] believe them to be right, and
that is q sufficient reason for me to recon-
mend them TO the earnest consideration Of the
trustees.
The trustees will please see to it that the
teachers monthly reports are properly filled
out, as the School Commissioners annual re-
port is based upon these monthly reports.
ANY letter conveying suggestions and rec
concentrations to trustees is essentially defec-
tive, that does not ask their hearty support in
the proper administration of the school law,
in raising the standard Of teachers ccrtif-
Gates, in increasing the efficiency of the
schools, in ar"uslny an interest in the all-im-
pOrtant subject OF properly rearing and edu-
eating our children, and in making during the
short period of our office, unmiStakable ad-
vances all along our own lines in the grand
march of education.
Respectfully,
School Commissioner y. C..