The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1902-11-01

'NSllN must wv l'''-IlLtN ~'plltl VI idl'ls
We must consolidate our rural schools.
think no one would charge the schools
of Elkton with lack of thoroughnesS.
With the work divided as it is here where
each teacher is practically Il specialist.
you have the time and the facilities for
doing your work well. No one complains
of Il lack of school advantages here
where the High and Manual Training
School enter into the plan, and yet with
all these facilities, the cost per pupil for
education is less than III your district
schools. What an uplift there would
come to school work in Cecil county if
every child could attend such Il school.
The consolidation of SchoolS-a few cen
trail schools for the county would bring
equal advantages to all pupils who could
begin with the kindergarten and con-
tinur until the High School course is
completed, and the plan of paying for
the transportation of pupils should be no
barrier. There would probably be no
increase in cost in school maintenance
unless YOU were to increase the teachers
salaries and this should be done whether
we have consolidation or not. When this
| comes there will be no charge of lack of
thorOughncSS. and not until then. As
criticisms seem to be the order of the
day. | wish to add mine as Il friend and
well wishes of our school system. | be-
lievc there are defects. and | believe too
we will remedy them. My observation
leads me to say that four-ffthS of the
short comingS of school administration in
Maryland comes from lack of apprc-
citation and cooperation on the part of
= a
school sentiment. ii is not good enough:
our people have convictions on the sub
jrct of public education. but they are not
deep enough and cannot he until we. the
teachers and officials. bring to them II
more intimate acquaintance with school
conditions. to II better understanding of
their relations to school work and to a
higher appreciation of the educational
needs of the child. and this work dcvol-
YES largely on the teacher.
Some of us have watched the gradual
evolution of the teaching process from
the crude mechanical learning Of the
three R'S-that time when the memory
was the only faculty known to the teach
rr-to I'll" present day of teaching when
all the mental processes and all the laws
of mental growth are we'll understood by
our best teachers; time too when the
parents themselves are disposed to com
nit to the forces of public education the
whole child as Il mental. physical, moral
and spiritual organism and expect all
these natures of the child to be educated
and developed. The mental superStruc-
turc you demand to-day is quite unlike
that of thirty years ago. and its archi-
Lac, i,
actcr. If you build wood house or Il
summer kitchen. you take any kind of
h0tCh carpenter to do the work. But
when it comes to the private residence.
your home. with its many compartments
and convrncnceS of modern home:
where beauty and harmony and convcn-
fence must be combined. you select your
most skilled architect and builder, and
| the fact YOU pay double what YOU do the
other fellow does not deprive YOU of his
services. The reasons are plain: you
want architectural skill and You pay for
| it. There is as much difference between
| the mental structure of to-day and times
gone by, rs there is between the modern
| residence and the summer kitchen. This
extra teaching skill YOU are unwilling to
pay for and herein your inconsistency
| YOU want Il master workman for your
house. but II little matter like the cdrlca-
ton of your child you will intruSt to un-
skilled hands because you are too stingv
to pay for training and skill. You are
not paying your teachers aS much to-day
rs you did thirty years ago. The aver
age cost per pupil to-day is about six dol
lars. and this is aS low aS il ever WAS
Il L., 1, al,
school huildingS-thS was your demand.
and yuN got Them. This is right; for No
school system is complete unless its
buildings are attractive and cumfortahlr
and supplied with proper furniture and
school apparatus: yon have Increased the
number of branches taught from three
or four. To perhaps n dozen. and this is
wise if the work is entrusted to Il good
teacher: You have secured all these essen
| tial elements of n good school system
without increasing the per capita cost
| But your school year is too short and
| your teachers miSrrlhly paid. Iou can
imagine my humiliation durin" the last
session of the General ASScmly. when
| the committee on education was making
| comparison of salaries paid to second
grade teachers. and found that Caroline
| county paid her teachers the smallest
amount per term that is paid in the
State. So long as You continue this You
will steadily lose your best teachers and
nothing more disastrous can happen to
your school system.
TIL" weakness of our public school SyS
TEN lies in the SmallnrsS of the appro-
priation. | ask the question in all sin
cerity-"llave we not grown wise enough
| to know that the most cXtravagant APP
preparation is the one insufficient to pro-
vide proper facilities and secure skillful
teaching y And the most economical
| one when proper extension and per-
fecting of the system is guaranteed:
The time has come when we should no
longer witness the humiliating spectacle
of one set of county officials begging
another to make adequate provision for
maintaining its SchoolS-begging men to
perform the most important official duty
they owe the COMMUNICATING for the
| education of your sons and daughters
Shame on officials who must be begged
to perform such Il sacred duty. Public
opinion should assert itself i'll this matter
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