Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-11-28
WALHALLA, SOUTH CAROLINA,

board OF examiners, or from the
State board of examiners, or of tho
city board of commissioners OF
Charleston, and. to discharge tho
same when good and sufficient rea-
sons for so doing present themselves
"3d. 10 suspend or dismiss pupils
when the prosperity AMI efficiency OF
the schools make it necessary.
"4th. TO call meetings of the peo-
pie of the district for consultation in
regard to the school interests thereof
at which meetings the chairman or
some other member Of the board
shall preside if present.
"5th. TO take care of, manage and
control the school property of the
district.
"Gth. TO visit the free public
schools within their district from
time to time, and to take care that
they are conducted according to law
and with the utmost efficiency"
Then what is the remedy? Why,
it almost answers itself. Suppose
the county is divided into school dis
tricts of a size convenient for but
one school in a district. Then
"schooI" and edistrict" would be
Identical. Don't you see that the
school commissioners apportionmcnt
to "diStrictS" would be apportion-
mcnt also to schools; and then would
not every single school in the whole
county get its exact part of the pub
lie money, no more and no less ?
This was evidently the purpose of
the law and SO intended from the
first. The law provides that each
county board Of examiners shall lay
of their county into suitable school
districts, DC. Our county board, to
save trouble, it is supposed, adopted
the townships as school districts, and
from this Incidence has sprung the
whole trouble. Shall we continue in
this way simply because it is the old
rut? Have we not enough young
men sufficiently intelligent, strong
and vigorous to pull out of the old
rut and take a new way, if il is a
better? There are several things for
the better which we think Il division
Of the county into small districts
will accomplish. We do not propose
it as Il panacea for all the ills of the
system, but think it will bring inn
provcmcntS greater in number and
more far reaching in results than
those have any conception of who
have never given the Subjcc, thought.
1t will in the first place secure to
every public school in the county it's
exact proportion of the public school
fund. Second, it will secure to each
school Il set Of three trustees who
live in the immediate vicini.y Of the
school, and who, Knowing the wants
of the ncighbors and having a per-
Sonal interest in providing for them,
will exert themselves to provide good
teachers, comfortable houses and i'm
many other ways contribute to the
success Of the school. Who can say
so much for the present trustees who
arc scattered here and there over the
township, or what set Of them would
claim so much for themselves? When
the teacher hunts them up to sign a
pay certificate, they do and ask no
questions. Occasionally they bcstir
themselves 4 little, but when they do,
it is only for the purpose, if the cur
rent complaints are to be believed, of
discriminating in favor of some town
against the country, and arc ;hcy to
be ccnsurcd for this apathy? Not at
all. 1t rests in the very nature of
the case. The trustees get no pay
for their trouble, they, usually, have
no personal interest in it, and hence
there is nothing to prompt them to
act. \ trustee lives, say ut High
Falls. lie never was at "I.ittlc
Rivcr' school and knows but few
people there. Do you expect nim
for nothing in the way Of personal
interest, honoror pay from the public,
to go away up there just to see what
kind of teacher they need or whc-
thrr the school building needs repair
ing? II you do, you will be mistaken.
Such pure, unalloycd patriotism does
not grow in this year Of our Lord
one thouS; nd eight hundred and
cightyninc. In the third place, re-
districting will, in part at least, over
come the most serious objection of
all to our public school system, and
that is inSutlicicncy OF the funds
raised with which to run the schools.
This idea will be developed in a fu-
tnrc article. In the meantime criti-
cism OF what is here said is invited.
We think the suggestion good, and
mean, so tar as we are able, to carry
it into effect, unless convinced that
we arc wrong. We have purpoScly
rciralncd from reply to any personal
reflection, public or private, upon the
conduct Of amy OF the school officers,
because we think that Il discussion Of
personal differences has no place in a
fair invest cation Of this NATTER
CnrNTy BOARD or ExAMINEEs.
| STATE or ONO, trrN OF TolEno,
IrtA~ COUNTY, :. :.
Frank j. Cheney makes oath that he is