Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1900-02-22
[CoMMUNIcATED.
Our Public School System.

Schools? .@S
We go down the road and pass schoo
building with panel knecked out Of
the front door-beenS so for mouths
We go little further end come to one
with the windows patched with leave.
of old copy books. Let us enter. What
do we behold2 Walls perfectly bare Of
any attempt at decoration. Not sin.
gle .niap-notsa single chart Of any kind
to break, the monotony of the four white
Observation-Disclosures single aid
to tighten the burdens of the over-work-
ed and unde.-paid teacher. Windows
destitute of curtains. A smoky old
stove: with a crack across the bottom
the door of, the hinges and the front
draft broken. A creaky chair with a
rickety9 badk-in which the teacher has
to sit from o A. NJ. tod p. NJ Black
boards with half the original compost.
ton showing through the ebony coat
ing. Seating capacity for only so pei
cent. of the average daily attendance
Not an overdrawn picture by any means
but the actual existing condition of over
90 per cent. of our public schools today
IA iue ILLUSTRATION of public institution
beldagihg to St. Mary's county, State Of
Maryland. Appeals have been made to
the proper authorities for these neces.
sary appliances-globes, maps, charts,
etc-absolute essentials to successful
teaching. In every case the answer has
|. been the sarnc, N6s enough money to
Justify our purchasIagthese articles, and
we don't care TO run ourselves in debt
to get them" We would like to ask
them, do they eyerexpcct to get any
kbetters'I Not under the present exist.
ing pondition Of things at any rate.
! Newsetools aud new additions are con.
stantIy gqingrup year after year, owing
to the, ever increasing eligible school
Attendants New teachers have to be
employed to fill these new openings, and
yet the county and State appropriations
remain very nearly the same The ques.
ton Is, How long is this going 10 lastg''
Every year for tho last Eve or six years
they have been compelled TO close the
schools at the end OF nine months
session, and sometimes sooner-causo--
lack Of funds. Every teacher In the
county Is thrown out Of employment for
three month"; OF the year without any
pay, and the small salary they DO receive
while the schools are open does not jus.
tlfy their making life time proies-
sion Of IT, and yet State Institute Dl-
rectors, County Examiners, and all Pub
lie School Officials, arc continually cry.
lAg, HTeachiug as profession Teach
ing M profession ~ ] would like 10
ask them, DO thcy expec, man TO give
Fnp avery hope ofeYer earning a'home
for, hiuilens IA satfi6td Every ambition
,heIpjghb Save s,llhIh world for tho pal.
Fly $bthl'of from se7d to ssgO ycst
Do I.fFpect'to 'SeaTnrhd the services
F8f Aome SfAhs llesi teacher, in uae State
! 10 Teach Snnner sEolr ctlhallions audfdl
sath . sSklss = Mafiy an excellent teach.
ii .hga, paAsea from our ranks 70 join
those of some oi5erycouniy where ,be
!reihhaera tidAi YEAS greA,ey, OF else haze
sought, some other occupation little
more lucrative. Two " the greatest
drawbacks 10 the progruss Of a school
are, LIST, loIrregular attendance Fad
Fisqdent change Of teachers. The frat
1.-the State can retnedYsby passing a com.
palsofY attendance las, or the patrons
81 The schools themselves can overcome
by compelling their children 10 attend
SCHOOL regularly. Tho second the State
alone can remedy, by increasing Tie
teachers salary sufficient to enable him
to look upon Il as life time profession
Then and not lill then will we have good
schools, good teachers, and, last Of all,
good citizens. Let us take as an illus.
tration one single individual Suppose
he has property assessed at $1,000, aud
four children who attend school usual
~ small number for one family. The
county school tax rate Is .00i on the dol.
lar then his school-tax would be only
80 per annum. $75 a piece for a whole
years schooling. He has free books
along with this. Suppose now we had
no free schools. lie could not employ
goyerness or tutor for less than ki0C
per year. Board, 500 Books. s25
Total, s925. Quite long way from o.
II he wished to send his children OF "a
boarding school the very lowest would
be $3.50 a year each Total, 5000. A
very long way from 81. And yet this
very taxpayer would be one Of the first
TO howl II talk OF raising the tax rate
was instituted. The total assessed prop
erty Of the county is valued at 80, / 81, 200
County tax rate as before stated, .00i on
the 500, giving yield Of 81, 1879 In,
crease the tax rate, 0O1, making it .O02.
the yield would be $6,3l5.52, an increase
of S3,15776. This is not a very large
sum, yet the first year II would supply
each school in the county with good
stove, good chair, globe and several
maps and charts. II alone would be O
blessing to the teacher; and every sue.
ceeding year this fund could be used fol-