The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-04-15

his annual report of the condition of
the schools of this county, to the State
Superintendent, says:
OAKLAND, MD, Feb. 8, 1897
In response to your letter of inquiry
dated January Goth, | herewith sub
nit the following facts relative to the
educational status of Garrett county
There are no high schools in the
county. Outside of Oakland (the pub
lie schools of which at present have
an enrolment of over 300) there is no
school employing more than one
assistant.
We have three district libraries, all
of which were started last year, one
at Oakland, one at Hutton and one
at the Fairsweep school in Election
district No. 7.
Our school system is in its infancy.
There is doubtless no other county in
Maryland in which the public schools
are maintained at such sacrifice on
the part of the patrons, and with the
condition of which our law makers
are so little acquainted. Our county
is new and undevelOped. Its valleys
are separated from each other by
| numerous and high mountains. In
area, it is the largest in the State. 1t
is thinly settled and we are poor.
| Many schools are necessary and often
| they are small, making the cost per
| pupil per month higher than the aV-
| erage of the State There is CON
slant pressure for more schools, too,
| because there are boys and girls with
| in our bounds, growing to manhood
and wOmanhOOd, who are entirely out
of reach of a school.
! Our county levy for school purposes
is the highest rate in the State, and
we receive under the present distri-
button of the State school fund, the
| least per pupil of any county-a con
| ditiOn which results in from four to
| five months of school per year.
This year the County Commission
ers have appropriated s., 200 extra,
which will enable us to keep our
schools open full five months. We
! feel this is imposing too great bur
| den on our taxpayers. When any
| county pays the highest rate in the
! State, and then does not have the
| funds necessary to keep the schools
open seven and One-half months, State
aid ought to be available to make up
the deficiency; for it is certainly the
paramount duty of the State to edu-
! cate its children, to make out of them
good scholars and good citizens.
Our people are enterprlslng and
interested i'll our schools, but there is
a limit to our ability to do. We feel
| that any relief we get must come from
the State, and we only ask that we be
treated with fairness. To illustrates:
This year, of the amount distributed
for the purchase of free books, we
received less than fOrty-tive cents per
pupil, while several counties received
more than three times that amount,
and in many instances the cOlOred
children received twice that amount.
Is there any reason why it should cost
less than fOrty-tiVe cents to buy the
books for a white child in Garrett and
more than $3.50 in other counties? Or
should the colored children of some
counties receive from the State more
than twice as much as the white
children of Garrett, for the purchase
of books? And the same pertinent
questions apply to the distribution of
the State school taX-QueStiOnS that
must be solved before Garrett can
take her place beside the other coun-
ties of the State in educational attain
ments.
Many of our school houses are en-
tirely unfit for use-in fact we have
twenty to twenty-five that are utterly
worthless - and young ladies have
often lost their health by teaching in
them, facts known to the school au-
thOrities, to say nothing of the health
of the pupils, of which we have means
OF learning very little.
Yet in spite of these disadvantages,
we feel that we are living in an age of
progress, and the trend of our schools
is upward. While the school year is
short and the salaries low, still we
have many excellent teachers, who
continue in the profession in the
county, year after year, hoping for
better things. What inducement is
there for a person to train himself
professionally for teacher when the
reward is five months or less of service
per year at $25 or $50 per month?
In conclusion | would say that the
cry of Garrett is for more money, and
when we have three full terms per
year, all the secondary questions per
tanning thereto will work out their
own solutions.
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