The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-09-10
MIR. GLENN,s REPORT.

There are number of things in the
annual report to the Legislature of
State Shoot Commissioner Glenn that
are entitled to very careful consfdera
ton by the people of the state, but
there are two to which we desire to
call special attention at this time. One
is the failure to pay the teachers in
the rural districts promptly, and the
other is the Importance of local taxa
ton for school purposes.
One of the things which 1t is difr-
cult to understand is the apparent in
difference of the Legislature to the
hardships imposed on the teachers in
country districts by the failure to paw
them their salaries when due. We
mention the country teachers, because
those in the cities get their money
promptly. The salaries of the country
teachers are very smaIl-scarcely large
enough to afford them more than the
bare necessaries of life-and yet, many
of the teachers are forced by pressing
obligations to sell their school war
rants at a heavy discount.
Is 1t not in the power of the Legis-
lature to remedy this outrageous con-
dition of affairs? 1t certainly is,
or the State School Commissioner
would not be continually urging
that body to do something for
the relief of the teachers. 1t
is worthy of notice that the Legisla-
ture is careful to provide the means
for paying its own members promptly,
and, also, for paying the salaries of
the State House officers. If money can
be obtained for paying these officials
it certainly can be found for paying
the school teachers. If any of those
who are dependent upon the state for
their incomes have to wait for their
money 1t should be those who get
large salaries. 1t certainly should not
be those who get, on an average, only
$3.50 year.
We shall never have good schools all
over the state until the amount of the
school fund received by each county
is supplemented by a local tax fund
for school purposes. 1t is not to be ex-
pected that the state will provide the
means for a term of nine months each
year in each county. The most it can
do is to provide for a term of three
months. In this county. and quite a
school year consists of nine months,
but each of these counties provides for
six months Of the time by local taxa
ton. And it is a fact that these very
counties contribute a great deal more
to the state school fund than they get
from it. Indeed, they practically pay
the cost of the schools in a great
many of the counties. This is a bur
den they ought not to be required to
bear.
Those counties which do not pay into
the state school fund as much as they
too poor to tax themselves locally for
school purposes, but unless they do
something towards providing better
schools they will never be any better
off. People will not seek homes in
counties in which there are not good
the fact that only those counties are
showing progress and Improvement
which have provided themselves with
good schools. In those counties the adj
vance in the value of lands has been
remarkable.
Those counties which refuse to make
an effort for better schools are stand
ing in their own light. They will stay
poor, and their children will remain
without the advantages of education
as long as they neglect to provide bet
ter schools. 1t would be far better for
them from every point Of view to prac-
tice the greatest economy for a num-
her of years, and tax themselves for
schools. BY pursuing that course
they would find themselves able very
soon to maintain schools of which they
would be proud. and that, too, without
imposing a burden upon themselves
that would be harder to bear than
the burden they are now bearing. They
would have TO pay larger school tax
of course, but they would be far bet
ter able to pay it.