The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1900-01-12
PUBLIC SCHOOL REVENUE.
An Interesting Paper on An I'm
portant Subject by Prof.
J. L. Holloway.
URsEs GENERAL REVISION OF SCHOOL LAWS
"a Tax Paid for tho support of schools
the Best Life Insurance . Patriotic
Citizen Can Secure for His Estate"
Ignorance the Poorest Legacy . Man
Can Leave His Children.


At the recent meeting of the
Western Arkansas Teachers Asso-
citation, neld at Little Rock. the fol-
lowing interesting paper on school
Revenue" by Prof. j. L. Holloway,
of Fort ~mith. was read:
"In discussing school revenues.it
Is necessary to know
81. 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-
ton on a wider field and a higher
plane than those hitherto occupied.
1T 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
is to be healed of ignorance and its
train of consequent maladies. We
must face about and view the situa-
ton today. rather than glorify the
deeds of yesterday. One great weak
ness of men and states is their prone
hess to measure themselves by stand
ards gauged by their own endeavors.
For Arkansas the educational stand
ards must be higher than any hither-
to attained or we shall be uncon-
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 if what is said is unpalata-
BILE to our pride, we shall have no
charge it to unwelcome truth. rather
than an effort to make a case.
Our population is approximately
1,375,0o0, being twenty-six to every
square mile of area. Our school pop
ulation is fraction over 470 900, 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 20 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 20 per cent,
Kansas enrolling So 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 as some of our
neighbors, the lamentable fact still
stares us in the face that at least 150,-
600 children of school age in this
good state of ours never crossed the
threshold of school room in the
year of our Lord 1898; an army ros-
ter in number and greater in prom
ise of good, il trained, than that
which we are now employing to
shoot civilization and Christianity
INTO the FilipInos.
I'm the matter of attendance, the
records show that less than GA per
n in, dot ilv
attendance, being less by per cent
IMAM for the country at large. In
ueed, In the Iast ten years there has
peen a reduction of more than 3 per
cent in this item, in spite of the
great increase In population, and the
reasonable supposition that school
attendance ought to be less burden
some
II ii We're our proud distinction to
stand first in the Union in the per-
eehtage of our enumeration, enroll
ed' and first In percentage of those
enrolled who are in daily attendance.
the TACT that the average length of
our school term has decreased from
seventy six and one-half days in 1891
20 slXty-eight and four-fifths in 1898
loelng now next to the lowest in the
united States), is enough to shock
our enthusiasm over the great things
we have imagined ourselves doing.
: ne average length of term for the
Mhole country is 140 days-more
.hah double our own; while the
north Atlantic division gives an aver
"ge OF nlnety-two days. Think of
euucating a boy by having him in
sneooi one-M4.h of year, or giving
i ilin one year in every five! But this
lsh All. We are actually offering
senooi instruction only twenty-eigslt
""!s annually to each child of school