The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-11-04
THE PUBLIC sCHOOLs-sHALL WE
HAVE THE TOWN SYsTEMf

HAVE THE TOWN SfsTEMf
The State has within its borders
eighty-three thousand young persons of
school age. Nearly three-quarters of a
million dollars (s74S,543) was spent on
the common schools last year. Can
there be a more important subject be-
fore our legislators than the training of
these eighty thousands young mindsP
From the purely material and economi-
cal point of view, can there be more
important question than how this large
amount of money can be best spent,
to accomplish the most for the public
welfaree ~
The school district system has had a
strong hold on the taxpayers. 1t was
not the original system. The first con-
stitution of Vermont provided that the
school teachers should be paid by the
towns, and for thirty years, from 1897 to
1927, town system was in force, under
which a board of trustees with the select
men, appointed and removed the
teachers, controlled the schools, and &C
counted to the town. For few years
between 1880 and 1916 the districts were
practically supreme; but the bad conse-
quences of such unlimited control soon
became apparent; and since the latter
date the changes have for the most part
been in the direction of town superin-
tendence and control. The school dis
tricts now handle and control more than
half of the school money; but beyond
this, as Superintendent Palmer shows in
his late report, they have been deprived
of most of their powers. Under the ex-
listing laws the districts are not allowed
to decide as to text books, or as to the
qualifications of teachers, or whether
teacher ought to be dismissed, OF how
school should be graded or regulated, or
what sort of a school house is suitable"
or whether they shall maintain, any
school at all.
We believe that the time has fully
come when the State should take
one step farther, which many States
have taken and which is needed to bring
our common schools up to the average
level of the public schools of the North
ern States-the step of giving the town,
which is the unit under our system, the
full control of the schools, as it controls
the roads and care of the poor, and pub
lie buildings, and other public business of
the community.
There has been some improvement in
the schools during the first two years.
The average school term has been little
longer, and there have been over 5000
more scholars in the schools which have
Iept for 20 or rs weeks. But the morti-
fying facts are not to be disguised that
our State is behind most of the States in
the matter of its public schools; that
there is melancholy amount OF illiteracy
among our population; and that one
powerful reason why Vermonters emil
crate from Vermont is that they can find
in other States better school advantages
for their children.
What is the matter with our public
schoolsp If it were possible to put the
answer to this question into one word it
would be inequality-inequality in the
sizes of the districts; inequality in taxa
ton for school purposes; inequality in
the distribution of the public money,
inequality in the qualifications of teachers
an inequality in which poor teachers
far outnumber the good. There are
school districts with only single
scholar in them, each of which draws $36
from the State treasury-and makes
money out of its less than an apology for
a school. There are over 500 district
6chools-averaging over two to town
of less than twelve pupils each. These
6OONa
teachers and the poor teacher makes a
poor school.
AS to our school tax law, Superinten-
dent Palmer doubts whether there can
be found in the civilized world another
tax law so unjust in its operation" The
inequalities with which his tables bristle
cannot be reproduced here, but the rate
per cent. of district taxes ranges from
nothing up to $50 per cent. In many
towns the tax rate in the districts which
pay most in ten times as great as in
those that pay least. We commend the
statistics on this subject in Mr.. Palmer
report to the careful attention OF our
legislators.
It is, of course, impossible to secure
absolute equality in human affairs, but
such tremendous and outrageous in
euualities can be and should be avoided.
the simplest remedy for them is the
Town system This is no experiment
Its value has been amply demonstrated
in Massachusetts and New Hampshire,
and in towns in this State. No town IN
which it has had full and fair trial has
gone back to the old system. No State
that has adopted it has regretted the
change. Past experience has shown that
no halfway measure will answer the
purpose, The town system should be
adopted by the State. We are glad to
learn the House Committee on education
will report bill for that purpose. More
than one hundred thousand dollars is
vested yearly in Vermont in sustaining
separate schools in little districts, which
ought to be virtually consolidated, under
the authority of town school board,
which, having full responsibility, will
deal fairly by both the thickly and the
thinly settled localities. Under this
system we shall have better teachers,
better schools and more equal taxation,
and we shall get more for the amount of
school money raised and expended. En-
lightened public spirit and the truest and
liz L..