Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-02-24

/ largest amount vi education for our chill
3rsn out of the morey which is availahl,
for that purpose The difficulty with III,
/ district ystem is that. looking at il as
whole. il tends to produce poor schools.
1 do not mean TO say that all our distric
schools are poor. Of course the difficult,
is in the employment of the proper kind o.
teachers. The teacher makes the school
| Now, it is well known that under the tlistrit,
| ss stem the agent employs the teacher, 5,
that in a town of Is or 20 district
the teachers are employed b,
l5 or 20 different school agents
OF course these school agents are inehnet
to employ teachers in whom they are per
sonally Interested, without much regard IL
| their qualifications for teaching. II is vel
known that our school district meetings ara
conducted very often with view to tho
employment of some special teacher wht
will h. secured by the election of one spec,
ial school agent. These appointments ART
very often made by pure favorinsm, and
the result is that many teachers are ap'
pointed who are entirely unqualified 10,
teaching, and the system results in poor
schools.
The system further results in want o.
economy in the expenditure of the school
fund. 1t is not uncommon to find among
our country districts teachers receiving S5
week for teaching three or four scholars.
If the districts had been combined
the same teacher could teach 80 or 40 for
the same money, and the children would
receive just as much school benefit. ! have
in mind an instance where teacher re-
ceived S. for teaching two twin brothers
one got sick and then there was only one
scholar left. The teacher concluded to
take him home and teach him there, The
matter becomes almost ridiculous.
These are the two principal points az inst
the district system; II produces poor
schools, and does not expend the public
money economically. For the sake of get
ting some figures on the matter looked up
one town | happened TO think of. la this
town before the abolition of the district
system there were 436 scholars. After the
town system had been adopted there were
i2l, the decrease being due to purely nat
ural and ordinary causes, removals, death,
etc. Under the district system the percen-
tage of attendance was SO; under the town
system it was 81. Under the district sys-
TEN the total aggregate length Of school in
weeks was 297; under the town system it
was 353. Under the district system the
wages paid the teachers was S.; 50 per
week; under the town system 81 "a. 1t
seems to me that this example (selected at
random) shows the advantages of the tow n
system. The increase of the aggregate of
weeks of attendance is an increase in edu-
cation to those children; and the quality of
instruction is also improved, as is shown by
the wages paid to teachers. Taking these
two things together it gives an increase of
IS per cent. of education gained under the
town system.
The next point will mention is that of
the inequality of the present law. If there
is one thing which is truly American it is
equality in all things, equality in burdens
and equality in privileges. in taxation and
in benefits which come from the money
raised by taxation. Now. there is in con
nection with the district system the utmost
inequality. In one district of a town there
may be the largest part of the taxable prop
erty of town. AMI but few children; in
another par, there may be bat small part
of the taxable prop rtv. AMI great many
children. Now. see the inequality, The
people in the first district are being taxed for
the education Of those living in the other dis
ter instruction and more of it. Then there
is anotlrr point of inequality. You have
squah.y of taxation under the mill tax; but
the funl raised by the mill tax is not ex-
pend'd as equally as it is raised. The city
of Portland pays in mill tax S37 ,951, and
it receives back from the State for its
school purposes only sl5,9lo, leaving a
balance of So ,03s TO go out
~, A.
pose a tax of S22 ,o3s on the city of Port
land for educational purposes outside of
sail city. 1t is surprising that the tax pay
ers of the city of Portland have not arisen
and demanded that their money so distrioui-
cd among the country towns shonIh b. dis
trihuted equally and that it should be used
in q businesslike AMI economical manner.
1t is due to the cities of our State. which
are required TO pay money to educate our
children in the country districts, that the
money shall be expended economically.
Now, there is u notion which believe to
be srrnneous, that this proposed system is
going to take away from the towns all their
rights in this matter. That is point hirh
IS at first sight plausible; but if YOU win
look into the system and think it over with
out prejudice YOU will find that it takes
nothing away from the towns. The tow rs
can handle the school money as they
desire. This bill only makes it q
town matter instead of a district
matter Is there anything in tha,
that takes away the rights of town: be-
lieve that town patriotism leads to State pa.
triotism and to national patriotism, but dc
not believe in neighborhood patriotism. I,
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