The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-10-15
THE SCHOOLS OF THE EICoCSTf
An Interesting and Suggestive Report by
School Commissioner Kibler.

haDS IL may De OIL SOlUS lltS4Soe w JO
readers to know something about the
condition of our common schools dur
ing the wear now nearing a close. 1
propose, however, to give only a Drle1
statement as to their condition, and my
idea as to how they may be improved.
During. the past year nlnety-nlnes
schools lave been in operation, all OF
which have been supported either
wholly Or in part by public funos. IN
O Good number eff communities the
nairous have helped considerably by
6rivate subscription to better the cou-
Gition of their schools. The average
public term for the year has been three
and four-ffths months, but the term
in some districts has been much longer
than in others, due mainly to the
small number of schools in the long
term districts. It should be the aim OF
trustees, therefore, to have as few
schools as possible, otherwise the term
will be short.
6l6s pupils have been enrolled during
the wear, an increase over the session
of 1SS9-9O of 763. This increase IS graf
| ifying, but we hope to see 1t larger stlil
| in the coming session.
The average attendance has been
$3.50, or about 81 per cent OF the totai
enrolment. This average Is rather
low and should have been as mucn as
IS per cent. The schools are open our,
ing the winter months, however, ana
the weather is often so bad that 1t IS
impossible for the children to attend
school.
One hundred and nineteen teachers
have been at work, of whom Al were
males and IS females; s. held hrst
Grade certificates, Is second grade, 4
third grade, and 10 were licentlates
It will be seen from this that o9l
schools are fast falling into the hanos
of the women of our country, ana no"
necessary then is it for them to nave
educational advantages equal to those
of men.
During the year more school claim:
have been paid when presented 10 ths
treasurer than in any previous year
Of the twelve districts under the con
troll of the County Board OF EXAMINERS
six are on a cash basis and pay thel
teachers at the end of each month
The remainder pay only part in casn
, The total amount of claims approved
and ordered paid by the school com
, missioner and chairmen of boards
, trustees in the three special district
has been s1l,G90.55. The average pa.
: of male teachers has been $20.62' ina
2 Of females S2l.O6. The small month";,
salaries are due to the number OF loV
grade teachers employed.
rTSt.
ings in the county used for scnooi pul
= poses, and only eleven OF these az
7 owned by school districts. Ihe CONC
. ton of great many of them, l mlgn1
3 safely say one-half, is very poor, utteri
: unfit for school houses. have urge
e trustees in many districts to better tn
: condition of their school houses, an
S in several instances they have done 81
), They have only limited amount
e money at their disposal, however, an
cannot do as much as they would liz
o to. The people who send to the scnoo
S should provide comfortable building
r During the year we have had Ia
i corps Of teachers in the schools, ot
b there IS room for improvement ~ IN
Y "espect, and this improvement IS o.
$ coming manifest more and more ever eve
: year. Our teachers want, ana nave
right to expect, the hearty support
the people for whom they WORK, an
when they get this support, when the
;, find that their efforts are being apr,
L ciated, they will work the more ol!
.e gently TO prepare themselves better II
e the schoolroom. Yes, we want ear
:, est. energetic and progressive teache
:, in our schools, and the way TO 6
T. them is to show them that by dolf
a their duty they will be literally su
d ported. The County Teachers Assoc
alton, which meets monthly, has dol
much to improve our teachers, and u
County Institutes held here have al
is done much good. The teachers a
10 more interested in these meetings ths
% ever before, and this is surely sign
~ progress. The people Of the count
other than teachers, are also becomll
" interested in the association WORK. al
le this is also encouraging. o
IN In September, 1883, the Coun
- Board of Examiners adopted list
text books to be used in the commt
schools. Before that time each schc
a. had a right to use such books as
might think best. The County Boa
could recommend, but this was apo
as far as hey could 60. Since III
s. they ha more authority, and can e
ast force tie | ;e of certain books IN t.
-, schools. No teacher should be allow
, to use books not on the state IL
1e adonted by the State Board of Exal
le iners in 1855. A result of this has be
ut that the schools Of the county, WI
If few exceptions, are using the same anne te H
VI books. The books adopted IN 1888 ca
not be changed before 1883.
B. There are few difficulties WI
Ill | which the school authorities have
contend, and one of the greatest IS tn
we have too many schools IN some p'
tions of the county. The best way
be lessen the plumber is to make the d
ad tricts smaller. Townships are ~
- used as school districts, and the q
VI trictsare entirely too large, wlthlthe
at ception of the four special districts. L
IL County Board of Examiners wor
as probably have redistricted the coun
this year, but they had no tunds
W the purpose. I think that the Leg
at lature should pass an act giving I
all County Board the authority to |
~ funds for the purpose Of dividing t
= whole county, or such parts OF 1t,
they may think best, into smaL
school districts. These districts snou
to be about four miles square, and shou
ID have only two schools each-one
~ white and the other for colored co
oi dren. Smaller districts are deslrat
OF for several reasons: the trustees Wot
n attend to their schools better, t
i school buildings would be more col
- Portable, the poll tax would! be
d. creased, the enrolment Of pupils wou
IT, be greater, and more interest 10 {
ke schools would be felt generally.
re Another serious drawback to popu
-, education in our county, is the SIN
lo amount of money collected for schE sen
srt purposes. During the year 1881
ht there was not as much as s. paid
ar each pupil enrolled in the pup
" schools. This is not enough. ltshol
be at least S per pupil. If this mu
,rero a,,rroOriafpd schools would