The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-03-22
THE DISTRICT SYSTEM.

portion 10 MS property the farmer bears
the burden of taxation equally with the
richest man in town; and surely, in all
justice and reason, his child is entitled
to as much schooling, school house as
comfortable and as well equipped as the
village school. Since living in the coun-
try is no crime, the father should see to
1t that the greatest of all gifts, a good
education, is not denied his child there.
for. Yet it is this very farmer who will,
by voting for the district system, delib
erately deprive his child of just rights.
1t is wicked. unjust and inequitable. So
long as 1t continues small districts must
be content to bear double burdens with
half benefits.
To show how utterly iniqutous the
whole system is, will take for example
one town in Waldo county, Freedom, by
no means an extreme case, but one illus
trating the systems general workings.
In the entire town there is but one
house that boasts of paint. and that the
one in the village. Not house was To-
Gated originally with the slightest
thought for beauty of location; and not
one has quarter acre in its yard very
few having more than happened to be
between the house and the road, No at
tempt has been made to beautify the
surroundings since the architect got to-
gether four square walls under one roof
and so discharged his contract. Indeed
the wood is frequently stored in the en-
try, and the out houses, SO necessary to
decency, are either gone or in worse
condition. There seemed to be no
thought at the beginning except to con-
struct as cheapIy as possible room that
could hold the scholars. How could it
be otherwise, when few farmers IN
small district must bear the entire bur
den that properly should fall on the
ampler shoulders of the town?
Nor are the conditions inside better
than those outside. In the entire town
there is not an improved desk. The man
who built the house sawed them out of
boards, and those same desks are there
to this day, hacked and hewn, Scared
and embellished by all the artists who
have attended school since first the
house was built. Once a year senti.
ment for change in this particular is
rife in the town, 1t is when the voters,
the fathers, are compelled to sit in them
long enough. to choose an agent.
The floor, originally of rough boards
has grown no smoother with time and
the walls no winter. Here and there
large patches of the plastering are gone,
and the ceiling is striped with long
marks in chalk and coal put there by
the boy who could jump the highest.
Nor would lie need to jump very high,
for the ceiling in most of them can be
reached with the hand from the top of
the desk. Despite the low ceiling, there
is not the least thought of ventilation,
not even window that can be lowered
at the top, There is no lack of fresh air,
however, for at the sides of the windows
and through the cracks IN the floor the
cold and bitter blasts of winter sweep,
freezing the feet of the scholar, while
his head roasts at the one red hot stove
that stands in one corner, This is not a
commented, for it has cost more than
one scholar his life. Lung diseases, SO
alarmingly prevalent, may be too fire.
quently traced TO these squalid huts,
dignitied with the name of schoolhouses,
While the farmer carefully banks his
house to save his potatoes, ne never
once thinks of the schoolhouse where
his children will be SIX hours per day
through the Indictment weather; and
the result is those on the back seat
freeze, those on the front seat roast, the
rugged tough it through, the sickly die,
and the district system continues,
In the whole town there is not a
chart, a globe or dictionary; not a
text book of any kind belonging to the
town or district not a single article of
school furniture, saving in few in
stances a corn broom, or in rare cases a
water pail and dipper without a han.
die. The eTasers are generally donations
from some charitable neighbours rag
bag, or piece of buffalo robe nailed on
board. | do not know that the town
furnishes an eraser, The pointer is do.
, mated by the boy handiest with lack
knife, or is brought by the teacher.
There is not bell in town belonging 10
the school house and it would be a mir.
acle it there were; for most of the
houses are to be entered at ease by any
person so disposed, and some are never
locked. This is hardly a necessary pre-
caution either, for no reasonable being,
not even tramp would spend night
in one of them when there was a nice
cheerful barn TO sleep in, To be sure
the sheep might stray in and get frozen.
but the sheep as rule know where
comfortable quarters are to be found.
One teacher affirms that on extra cold
dayS he took his school up into the orch
ard to escape the wind and cold, Not a
window has curtain TO keep out the
blazing sun of summer; and the few
shutters that were once there have been
mostly torn off by the wind or used for
klndling wood. The black board, the
most necessary article in any school
house, is generally a single board about
5X3 l-2, in one end of the house. Most
schools average about two square feet
for a scholar, and the scholars average
ten to a school. There are nine houses
in town. estimated in the school reports
to be worth $1,000. This is a liberal es
innate, unless their value is reckoned as
the IrIshman reckoned that of his horse
saying: Every horse is worth two dol
lars; his hide is worth one dollar, and il
is worth another dollar to skin him.
There are not ten sheep pens in town
that can be bought for much less mon
ey. Think of a school house and all it's
out buildings and appurtenances for
500! No less sum than $500 should be
thought of. But there is one argument
here in favor of the district system.
Some four years ago no house in town
WAS reported in good condition ;and yet,
though no repairs have been put on
since then, five are now reported in good
condition. This is result that could
never have been accomplished under the
town system,
Teachers IN the summer are paid an
average of 81 6S per week, and their
board averages 81 A. The number Of
teachers is nearly equal to the number
of terms. In this way the experience q
teacher gains in one term is lost, as he
does not teach second; and by an un-
wise adjustment as 10 the time of be-
ginning the terms, the work of one
term proves of small value in the next.
There is no plan, no system, no head, mo