The Van Buren press., 1900-01-13
PUBLIC SCHOOL REVENUE.
An Interesting Paper on An I'm
portant Subject by Prot.
]. L. Holloway.
uRGEseENEAAl REVISION Of SCHOOL LAWS
"a Tsx Paid for the support Of Schools
the Rest Life Insurance = Patriotic
Citizen Can Secure for his Estate"
Ignorance the Poorest Legacy a Man
Can Leave His children.

Al the recent meeting OF the
Western Arkansas Teachers Asso
citation, held at Little Rock, the fol
lowing interesting paper on "School
Revenue" by Prof. J. L. Holloway
Of Fort smith, was read:
"In discussing school revenues,it
Is necessary to know
II. What has been and is being
done.
"What our condition educationally
is as compared with the country at
large, and particularly the southern
states, of which we are component
part.
"The extent of our ability to deal
with the problem of popular educa-
tion on wider field and higher
plane than those hitherto occupied.
ut is very common thing for us
on public occasions, especially when
away from home, to magnify some
what the vastness of our resources,
the salubriousness of our climate,
the enterprises of our people, as dis
played in all the arts of civilization,
particularly in the liberal provision
we make for the maintenance of our
schools. These grandiloquent efforts
may do very well for dress-parade oc-
casions. But to us who know the
truth respecting the inadequacy of
school maintenance, they are but the
soothing opiate OF the politicians
art. The scalpel of truth needs to be
applied vigorously If the body polite
10 TO be healed Of ignorance and it's
train of consequent maladies. We
must face about and view the situa-
tion today, rather than glorify the
deeds Of yesterday. One great weak
ness Of men and states is their prone
ness to measure themselves by stand
ards gauged by their own endeavors.
For Arkansas the educational stand
ards must be higher than any h'ther-
TO attained or we shel, be unee9.
sciously outstripped by Others of no
greater ability in brains or resources.
I'm setting forth our condition,
have in every instance tried TO verify
my statements with accepted statis-
tics, and II what is said is unpalata-
BILE to our pride, we shall have no
charge IL to unwelcome truth, rather
than an effort to make q case.
"0ur population Is approximately
i,375,000, being twenty-six to every
square mile Of area. Our school pop
ulation is a fraction over 470,000, of
which number over 100000, or nearly
65 per cent were enrolled last year.
In this respect we fall below the av-
erage for the country at large, which
is about 70 per cent. This should be
said, however, that the percentage
enrolled surpasses that of every 9TH
er southern state save West Virginia
and Tennessee. On the other hand,
twenty-five states exceed 10 per cent,
Kansas enrolling ss per cent of her
enumeration, though her population
Is less than twenty-three to the
square mile. However much we may
console ourselves that we are not as
bad off In this respect rs some Of our
neighbors, the lamentable fact still
stares us in the face that ut least 150,-
900 children of school age in this
good state Of ours never crossed the
,nreshold of school room in the
year of our Lord 1903; an army ros-
ter in number and greoter in prom
ise OF good, II trained, than that
which we are now employing to
shoot civilization and Christianity
into the Filiplnos.
"1n the matter of attendance, the
records show that less than Ga per
cent Of those enrolled were in daily
attendance, being less by per cent
than for the country at large. In
deed, in the iast ten years there has
been q reduction OF more than 3 per
cent In this itcmy in spite of the
great increase in population, and the
reasonable supposition that school
attendance ought TO be less burden
some.
~ come now to present some fg-
ures which are to me startling, and
which show the absolute inadequacy
or present provisions 20 educate this
great body OF nearly u half million
children for the duties Of citizenship
which 30 many are assuming every
year.
III II were our proud distinction TO
stand first In the Union In the per-
centage Of our enumeration, enroll.
ed, and first in percentage Of those
enrolled who are In daily attendance,
the fact that the average length OF
our school term has decreased from
aeventy-six and one-holf days In 1891
TO sixty-eight and four-Afths in 1895
(being now next to the lowest In the
United States), is enough to shock
our enthusiasm over the great things
We have imagined ourselves doing
The average length Of term for the
whole country Is lao days-more
than double our own; while the
North Atlantic division gives an aver
age OF ninety-two days. Think Of
educating q boy by having him in
shcool one-Al.h Of q year, or giving
him one year In every iivel But this
isn't oil. We are actually offering
school Instruction only twenty-eight
days annually to each child OF school
age In the state. II IL takes the aver
age boy twelve years Of nine months
each to get u good high.school edu-
cation, how long will II take one Of
iered only twenty-eight days year9
something over 100 years, II mis-
take not.
"The average length OF school term
for each child Of school age In the
United States IL slxty.elght days. But
a. -