, 1891-04-26

THE n MEETING

OF the subject of the annual school meet
ing to be held a week from tomorrow.
THE LEADER maintains that there has
been entirely too little interest shown in
this very important subject. A great deal
Of money is ~suuuslly expended for the
support OF the schools. 1t is voted at an
annual meeting for which there has been
no previous preparation on the part of
the taxpayers. A mass of figures consi
tuting the report Of the receipts aud eK-
penditures is there presented but no one
without previous knowledge could posi- /,
lily digest the information. The taKpay-
ers are then asked to vote large sums Of
money and perhaps thousands of
dollars IN bonds. They must neces-
sarily take this action without any
adequate conception Of the actual need
tor such expenditures. Therefore they
are acting blindly in a matter in which
they are entitled to full information. The
evils which might result from such a sys-
tom are self evident and THE LEADER
called public attention to them in the
hope that such action might be taken as
would bring about a radical change in
this respect. 1t should not be forgotten
that the money to be spent belongs 10 the
taxpayers These people should there
fore have full knowledge OF what is being
done and what is contemplated. They
should be given time to think the matter
over and to determine whether they deem
certain proposed expenditures OF their
money wise aud necessary. Under the
system which has for years prevailed in
Cheyenne this Is a matter Of impossibilIty.
Ii Is therefore high time that such action
is taken as will give the people the inior-
PATIO which they desire and TO which
they are entitled.
There was une statement made by The
LEADER which caused a great deal of
comment. 1t was to the effect that tbs
members Of the school board had fixed
upon the two men whom they desired to
Oil the vacancies which will soon exist in
the board 1t cannot be said that this
method Of doing business met with much
popular favor, although it has been 10
HNhA' n hhlAhtA VI NNalN hAnAs -
smacks entirely too much OF a desire to
perpetuate thcmselvts in Office by arrogat-
ing the privilege Of Designating the
men they want in the board
a duty which should be Inherent
in tho people The board as at
present constituted is composed of men
living within a stone throw of each OF er
in the C niTal portion OF the city They
are all good men tut the board emphatic
ally does not Represent all the elements
Of the taxpayers 1t is charncterized by
eminent rcspectability and Y community
of interests. The south aud west sides
OF the city are not represented and yet
the school rolls show that the increase in
attendance in the latter sections is greater
than IN any other part Of the city. To
our personal knowledge Mt least half a
dozen little children IN the South Side
school we're unable to secure seats in the
school which they attended this session,
and we're therefore forced to SIT on the
floor for want OF better accommodations.
Thi- Is not a very pleasant state OF affairs
in view OF the fact that the school board
expended $1,000 for school PURPOSES
during the year. over So, 900 of which
went into the construction OF a school to
accommodate 100 pupils.
We venture to assert hat such things
would not exist we're the South Side rep
resented in the school board.
The LEADERS position in this matter
is, irst, that all meetings OF the school
board should be held as publicly as H.
meetings of the city council If the
present members of the hoard are too
busy u hold any but catch -as-catch can"
meetings, then let them make way for
people who can and will give the ueces-
sary time to hold formal public meetings.
This would give a pleasing AIR of pub
licity to the proceedings which would be
unsatisfactory to neither the board nor
the taxpayers, Second. that the people
aud not the school board should
have the privilege of desig-
mating who shall sit on the board.
Third, that more varied interests be repre-.
scented on the board. As II now stauds
there is practically but one element repre-
sented, 1t contains no man who lives
west Of Ferguson street or south OF
Seventeenth. Why should not these
sections be represented in the board2
They contain large taxpayers and many
men deeply interested in school matters.
We do not believe that they should be
ElrlfIA gnw 1nrv.r w. ~ ,-..