Rocky Ford enterprise., 1895-05-23
o., common sefoel- and Eeonnmy.

}
Nh EDuo7: Our SCHOOL election be-
+ ing over presume one may take up the
discussion Of the alleged issue OF the late
. election free from the charge OF q person
al interest IN the result / say .'the al
: Legged Issue" for the reasoa .hst very few
: people are wiling 20 believe tha. the real
lssue was not just what it has been IN
previous years, the issue of church inter
ference IN public school affairs. Satur-
alizts tel Us Of bird inhab:ting the Alri-
can deserts which, when pursued, bures
: its head m the sand and then foollshly
|. supposes tha: the whole Of iSs large, avk-
vari body Is hidden from sight.
But let that pass the alleged issue
OF the late election is not less impor-
tans matter than the real one to that
great majority OF our American people
whose children under present economic
conditions must get all the education they
ever have in our common schools. Tie
cry OF economy is always popular one.
So popular Is it that il often goes with
the majority regardless OF what tho bear
InSs OF such economy may be. l have
before me d report by Emerson E. White
LII d., made TO U. 5. Commissioner of
Education Harris, on "Promotions and
Examinations in Graded Schools" which,
though not written for this purpose,
brings out the important point to be con-
sidered by the mass of our American peo-
pie whenever it is proposed by anybody
to impair the efficiency of our common
school system on the score OF economy.
This report SHOWS that despite the large
sums We are spending for education in
this country the children OF the masses
arc getting the benefit Of only mere
pittanco Of it. Nobody who gives any
attention to the social and politico-
economic tendencies OF the times has any
difficulty in discovering that year by
year larger number OF children are tax
en- from the schools to aid the family in
obtaining the means of subsistence and
that in the face of that fact the doubtful
blessing of large families still continues
, to be youchssfed mainly TO the poor.
These two facts are so patent that hardly
anybody will be found to question them.
A third fact woioh is not SO universally
/ understood and appreciated is that almost
. the entire tax fund of the country is paid
by tho laboring Masses There is very
| popular superstition that man must
needs own property in order to be tax
, payer, but the fsllacy is dying out. The
| modest home owners and the homeless
r masses are beginning to see that the
mortgage interest and the renta they pay
always includes the taxes, directly or in
i directly. 1t is slowly dauning upon the
= popular mind that nobody would own any
5 more land than they could proftably use
2 | IL tHcy ttlu NOT expect TO IccCup tDGL-
/ selves for their outlay from the labor Of
other men. 1t is just davning upon the
popular mind that the tax fund is always
/, live current account and that it has to
! be met out Of the returns Of actual, cur
y rent and productive labor. 1t follows
therefore that the great body of poor and
+ comparatively poor people are the people
who are producing the grea. bulk OF the
? tax fund.
!. How, then, are these fa.ing as to edu-
3 cational opportunities? The report be-
: fore me shows this startling fact: That
out OF every 100 of our American children
4 who enter school only of them remain
long enough to complete the high school
course. To be specific-in the city OF
ECleyelaDd recently $3.50 a graduating
e class was found to contain OF pupils.
: When this class entered the primary
grade it numbered $3.50 pupils. The cs
? innate made by DR.. White, based on the
2 returns received from 20 cities is as fol-
lows: OF pupils enrolled in the primary
: grade about 80 per cent reach the second
grade; IS per cent the third; rs per cent
the fourth; 60 per cent the fifth, and so
per cent the si1th grade. Think OF it!
In this land Of boasted popular educa-
!, ton, only half our children who enter
school ever get higher than sixth grade.
, Think Of it, and then say where the
!. greatest emphasis in education ought to
,, be laid; where the best equipment and
the ablest teachers ought to be provided.
LIS it in the preparatory schools, the busi-
, ness colleges and the universities, into
the last of which according to another
report which have before me) less than
one per cent OF our American boys and
girls ever get glimpse? A late discus
sion in Denver newspaper debated the
question whether pupils of the Colorado
, University ought to pay any tuition fee.
, Certainly not, was the conclusion Of one
party to the argument. Some Of tho
greatest universities OF the east had no
tuition fees, and why shouldn't the few
, gilded youth Of Colorado, taught by
. scholarly LII. DIS, enjoy the same priv
ileges that the same class of pupils in the
east enjoy? It is the actually productive
! labor of the mass Of the people which
produces the fund for the establishment
! of both the State University and the un-
, pretentious little district school house.
Into the highor schools go one, two, three,
and by bare possibility four out Of a
hundred Of the children Of tho people.
In the other, ninety six out of every one
} hundred get all tho educational equip
ment they ever have for the battle of life.
And yet there are people who tell us by
their words and their conduct that any
thing in the way OF buildings apparatus,
J and especially teachers will do well
J enough for the common school.
In the name of intelligence and justice
protest There is nothing SO important
on earth today as the efficiency OF the
common schools. There is nothing else
on which tho character of the future man
and woman SO much depends. There is
nothing else for which the great mass OF
the people can expect to get real per-
sonal and tangible return for the enor-
nous share of the tax fund which they |
produce; and the man who proposes to |!
depreciate character Of the common |
school, or to do anything but increase its |
efficiency in every practicable way, is the |
arch enemy OF society.
GEO. FL. TAYLOR.