San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1889-06-06
The pnhlIc SCHOOL system.
Austin statesInan.


We have no sympathy with those
persons who decry tho present pub
lie school system Of Texas as fail-
uro. The opinion OF the most com
petent experts, such 10 DIR, A. ID
Mayo, who has traversed the entire
south, and has recently visited many
cities and towns in the state, is that
the graded schools OF our cities and
towns are superior TO those OF any
other southern state. Our country
school system in Texas has never been
better, or even so good, as it is at the
present, nor is it surpassed in ELL
cheney by TINT of any Other southern
state. Although the state pro rata
during the current year has been
somewhat less than in some past
yers, the difference has been more
than made up by the increase in local
taxation. Never has better work
been done in this state, as rule,
than in tho country schools for this
current year, while cur city public
schools have never been better than
at present
But the public school system OF
Texas is far from being as effective
as it should be and rs it may easily
be made. The first requisite for ac-
complishing this end is a larger
amount of school money. This can
only he secured at present by an in
crease in the number of taxing dis
tricts of the counties There ia no
locality in the state which may not
vote upon itself now school tax
to supplement the state fund, and 1t
is by this means, more than any
other, that the increase in school
funds should be made The neces-
sity of this increase becomes obvious
when We compare the average ex-
penditure in the state per capita with
that OF the whole country, and espe-
cially that of the northwestern states,
which are rivals of this state for the
most desirable class of emigrants, i.
O., those who have some means and
who have sufficient character to be
unwilling to 60 into any country which
does not allow adequate and certain
means for giving common school ed
ucation to the children. The aver
age per capita expended in Texas is
hetween five and six dollars. The
average in the United States for the
same scholastic agais between eleven
and twelve dollars, while in some OF
the states of the northwest, as in
Colorado, the expenditure per capita
is about twenty-slx dollars.
The teachers of Texas have made a
noble and gallant fight for the i'm
provement of it's public school sys,
TEN, but they have little political in
huence, and little substantial prog
ress can be secured in our school
work if we are to depend on the
teachers alone, This is matter
which must be taken in hand by the
substantial business interests of this
state, by the men who have a stake
in the welfare of the state, and by
the men who have children who must
be educated in the public schools Oh
not educated at all.
No single factor in producing val,
ues is greater than good pubic
school system; and no movement can
DO made in this state which will en-
nance the value OF land and all other
material interests of the state so
much as the development of public
school system worthy of the state
If it be snid that Texas cannot enter
into competition with the northwest
ern states in this matter, on account
of the large non taxpaying popula'
ton, the answer can readily be made
that mono of these states have such
advantages in the way of a landed
endowment of the public school sys
tenn as Texas, and that this disad
vantage of a large non-taxpayine
population is more than counterbal
anced by the two dollars per capita
which the school fund derives from
this source. Let the business men
the press and oil other progressive
agencies in this state turn their at
tention to this country school prob
lem, for in it, more than any other
is involved not only the intellectual
status of the state, but its rnateria
prosperity.