Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-04-24
CORRESPONDENCE
Pedagogue Comes Back.--Wants
a School Commissioner Elect
ed Who Can Work Long
Division.

more than ivan Star" to sit il
Judgment upon me. God sits il
Judgment against the wicked anc
the devil against the good. If any
good argument has been brough
against me 1 have not yet beel
able to see it. The assumption tina
I am opposed to a school system
is unjust. 1 only attacked fault J
systems aud gave my reason, logl
cal, I think, against the presen
one, or against its workings. II
vour readers will have the pa
tience I will give my ideal of {
school system, or at least what i
should be, to suit our condition.
First, | would have our districts
run in proper shape, say three
miles square making nine square
miles. Brother Crouch will helE
me have a good house in the cen
tire, and 1 will kelp him put q Ii
brarv in it. Then I would have
three competent men selected az
trustees. I would provide that 6
school commissioner should be
elected who could work long dlvl,
sion at least, Sc that every district
would get it's pror-ata share OF the
funds. I would have the money
pro-rated according 10 the enrol
ment of children of the school age
and not as now, according to the
average attendance. Some teach
ers have a greater average thar
the enrolment. but [ think il
would be just to do this, as il
would enable the most needy Sec
tions to have much longer terms
than under the present method
and besides, it would prevent the
above mentioned fraud. Of course
teachers ought to be honest, and
for that matter, everybody else
should be so.
Now as to the employment Of
teachers. I would have an exam
lining board composed of three o1
the most competent teachers II
the county. 1 would be sure tha
these three men did not want al
office, and besides they should no
care anything about public opin'
ion. This would give US a compe
tent class of first grade teachers
and they alone should be employ
ed as principals in our distrlc
schools. Those who obtained sec
ond and third grade certificates
could be employed as assistants
All of our district schools neec
two and three teachers where now
they have none.
Our funds are too small TO rur
the schools as long as they shou!o
be, and how to supply that'desid'
eratum is a difficult question. This
consideration forces us to alta X
wan Stars" higher education
The first duty Il state owes its cit
liens is a common school educa,
ton, and while we do not oppose
the states assistance to a higher
education, if she is not able tc
supply both, then the common
schools should come first. We
have five or six higher institutions
of learning using about as much
money for about two thousand
children as for about five hundred
thousand of the most needy. The
poor children of the state gets
about two dollars per capita and
the "dudes" of the citadel get
about three hundred dollars per
capita. This is all wrong. We
favor the states literally sup
porting Clemson and Rock Hill
because we understand that the
course is to be chronological. In
this age of utilitarianism we have
very little use for Latin and Greek,
or military training. Let those
who want a classical or military
education pay for it out of their
own pockets. We had our militia
ry schools before the war;; and
when wa began the greatest war
that ever shook the earth, we did
not have any body in the state that
knew how to make gun-powder.
Referring again to our system |
would suggest that we adopt a
provision of the Texas school sys-
tenn, that prohibits the reading OF
the Bible in their public schools,
also forbids the saying of prayers
This is done to keep sectarianism
out of the schools. Angels weep
and the devil laughs when that
spirit enters them. The writer
has a toch of Methodism, and be-
lieves in the right kind of religion
but a bigoted sectarian spirit is
the devils work. In my next l
will tell who ought to 60 to the
Constitutional Convention, and
then to the legislature in order to
perfect our common school sys-
tenn. wish evan Star" would
indicate in what respect we have
been wiped" up. Here is an op-
portunity for him to try his hand,
1 have been wiped" up about the
way they have been wiping up
Ben Tillman for the last four
years.
PEDAGoGUE.
TND,o Damon Cation