The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-06
THE RURAE SCHOOLS REpopr


we nave received the pamphlet con-
tanning the report of the committee Of
the National Educational association
TO which we recently alluded. and have
eNeh II mat close reading that the
magnitude and Importance of it's sub-
Ject demands, and which it Should re-
celVe not only from newspaners hu+
from those to whom, as school of1icars
ana legislators, is intrusted the GUS
tody Of our rural schools. One thing
that Will impress any reader is the ali.
sence of the pedagogic spirit that
usually assumes dogmatic tone. 1t is
document that reads as if statesmen.
trained publicists of judicial temper,-
ment, had written it, 1t is calm rea-
sonable and broad. 1t takes into Wow
uhe heterogeneous conditions of Cur
school systems and their varied rela-
lions to the states and their minor di-
visions, recognizing that these are fac
tors i'll the problem that must be taken
into account in any scheme for nrac-
1T opens with a consideration of ac-
tual conditions of the school systems
IN the various states and their rela-
lions to the minor divisions Of the
state, and this feature alone is valnah1o
to the student of our institutions and
or our efforts at government. We
lind that in sections, as in New Eng
land, the town is the unit while in
most of the Southern states the TOWN
IS non-eXistent, and the county is the
unit In the former the school district
is coterminous with the town, the coun
ty existing mainly for judicial pur-
poses. In the middle states the county
is more, and the town less than in New
England; in the former the county ex-
ercises some jurisdiction over the
schools; in the latter none except in
Vermont, where a county examiner Of
teachers displaces the town school of
ficers Of the other states In the South.
where the county is the unit, it exer-
ciSes all powers over schools Again
the word town varies in signification
meaning in New England what in the
West is signified by the word town.
ship, while our town" may be a viii
lage or a city. The term "district"
varies also in it's Specification with To-
calities. In New Enf1land it is the
whole town, and in the West it is that
part Of the township set apart for the
jurisdiction of one of the several
schools in the township These differ
ences, these variations, must be taken
into account in any consideration Of
our country schools from a standpoint
that embraces the entire nation in its
view
The pamphlet includes the reports of
the several subcommittee into which
the original committee was divided.
and to each of which was assigned
the investigation of particular
branch of the subject. One subcom-
mittee received the subject Of school
maintenance, divided into matters re-
lating to revenue, expenditures, orga-
nization and administration of school
machinery. To another was assigned the
topic of supervision, including the vari-
GUS matters of official supervision,
qualification of officers, their relations
to the larger civil divisions, to the pub
lie and to buildings, the archi-
lecture of the latter, their SAM
tation and hygienic conditions. An
other took the question of supply of
teachers, embracing all the various
means of preparing them for their
work. such as normals and training
schools, institutes and the minor eff
forts shown in teachers meetings. IL
braries and associations; the manner
of their selection and their. cor1pensa-
ton. Another division took instruc-
ton and discipline, embracing methods
of teaching, courses of study, grada-
ton and classification, and the school