Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-10-20
TOWN SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS.


| Some Reasons why 1t should 10 Adopted
| 10 the Ndttor Of the Free Press
. lac opinion has been expressed that the
! Iegisature will enact n law making the
| town systcn compulsory in our State and
has called forth the expression OF much OPP
! position. Before passing a new law, be
ieve il TO he tho duty O! everybody to con
slider the dofects OF the old system aud see
if the proposed system will remedy the diff
hculty, and 50 far rs I am abs | wish TO do
thet in this article.
The objection to tna present. system is,
| that wri'e the laws q 1913 md 80 have
raised the requirements of the teacher,
placed her where she can command higher
wages and longthened tho time n school
| shall Ne N session 10 obtain public money.
! they have not given oil districts resources
with which to meet those demands. / think
q mai ority Of the sch COL districts are able TO
support the improved school, but there is
n very large minority, who with their pres
emit grand list cannot raise sufficient money
and are obliged 10 content Themselves with
an inferior school aud school buildings. IT
an equal school tax is raised throughout the
town ] believe the standard Of the inferior
schools VIII he raised to that Of the best
schools o. the town, without material in
crease of jnxes. Some districts would not
BE benefited but, including all the schools in
our consideration, there caunot fail to be
en- Improvement. This has been denied,
iut no enc bias yet been able to show the
statistics to confirm thor denial. You viii
find many denying that we hive received
any benefit from the law enacted four years
ego, but there is a marked improvement
visible to tho candid observer.
J now wish to consider some of the OBJ
! ia 10
People do not like to give the management
of their school over to the town and en-
ploy sanred officers But experience has
proven that the roads. care of paupers, and
other general interests can DO safely
entrusted TO salariod town officers. Then is
it reason to presume that this. our most
vital interest would be unsafe in their
hands II you employ labor you can Do
ruand higher degree of skill from paid en-
ployee than you can OF the man who serves
you without compensation ;yand ii is a law as
inevitable as the la OF gravitaton that to
successfully meet the competition now exist
ing we must combine. The individual in
stitut.on of 30 yenrs ago must be represent
ed by combination Of institutions today.
A few towns have tried this system and
didnot like 1t. Personal observation has CON
WINGED me that no intelligent and progressive
it. There are towns which have very poor
schools under any system, and when they
had the town system they "kickcd' be
cause this popular expression of sense
less opposition was al they knew how
to do. Again, / would coll your at
tention to thote States Of the Union where
it has become the established syatem. They
have the smallest amount OF Illitsraoy, the
highest standard OF education, and are lead
ers in all intellectual pursuits.
The most serious obstruction TO the sue
cessful working OF the town system is the
ignorant prejudice which lies EN- bedded in
the conservatism Of the human race-that
pre- udce which has met every innovation
or impro known in history. The
only way 10 overcome this prejudice is to
introduce the system and firmly support it
until it wins 10y its own merit. In opposi
tion to these objections we have the new
measure supported by the leading educators
and educational officers of our State The
successful examples of other States, the
| equal and just tsxetion OF our citizens, the
demand for greater resources for the sup
port of schools III many parts Of the State,
the call for the best methods Of education;
md delay in passing this law is retarding
the victory Of progress over prejudice.
W. }. BICELOw.
Burlington, VT, Oct, l., 1892.