The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1902-11-21
CENTRAL SCHOOLS.
c. H. Greed, of Plana. Opposes the
Plan

c. II. Greed, of Plana. Opposes the
Plan
EDITOR DEMOCRAT:
Having concluded to accept your
Kind invitation for discussing through
the columns of your pages, the cen
tralization Of schools, l take the lib!
erty Of offering a few thoughts on the
much talked about question: not
thinking for a moment that ] can be
able to offer any new thoughts, pro or
con. nor do l presume to be able tC
squelch those who favor the central.
lied system or, as the more vulgar
would say, knock their arguments
into a cooked hat I shall be just
fair enough on the outset to admit
that there are good arguments in
favor OF the system and we shall be
Just as fair aud sincere in ayerine
that there are better reasons and
more rational arguments against the
system, although not declared from
the housetop nor from the rostroms
of every country school-house and by
the hrainiest (?) persons.
And Mr.. Editor. in approaching
the real question, it is quite necces-
sary for a few words perhaps a triff1e
foreign to the subject, but comes un-
der the SAINT head: viz. a change in
our common schools. l believe we
have had too many changes in our
schools for the good of our schoolsand
the welfare of the pupils, We have
lost sight of the one grand object of
the common schools; viz, a sufficient
training in intellectual thought and
business to send forth our boys and
girls fitted to meet the requirements
of Il business life, and to become good
.i%oiloraole citizens of a great Repub-
!c. Now no M will dispute me
When l say that this was She real. and
'n!Y object of the common schools
nut we lind for the lass fifteen years
hat there has been gradually creep
ing INTO our schools what we call "red
ape" And the first Of these changes
Esl'ti have taken place, was teaching
the pupils to read before they knew a
single letter and then came the dis
caring of the text book from use in
schools; you must teach by ':signs and
,y,niiois" they told us. They then
concluded that it was Of more con-
5 QHrnce how the pupils came to the
recitation class than whether they
had mastered the lesson of the day
and understood the principles therein
hence we lave Incorporated into our
80 amor school curriculum the first
position, second position and third
%n.'ilionH before the pupil is qualified
to .ecite his !, sson. Now it don't re-
luire Il very slrewd person of tile ag.
fnrty-five or fifty to see a vas;
Inference between the schools then
and now. 1t looks to us that u
educators who favor the centralized
realize the fact that our
schools are in a deplorable condition
md. seek to cure the patient by giving
him another disease, acting on the
principle Of the doctor who was callea]
10 see a fever patient. He gave him
some medicine to throw him into fits.
When asked why he did that he re-
piled that he wasn't much on feyers
but he was h. on fits.
believe there should be a change
Il common school system but j,
be the individual school dis
There are two, the most for
;lDle reasons, why we should not have
the centralized system. First, the
almost impossibility of maintaining il
by reason of the inconvenience whicl,
would naturally attend the system in
a district as thinly populated as ours.
e find it to be the case now that in
that the attendance is very
unsteady and light for the reason that
we find it difficult to get the children
to school even at the distance of two,
miles and how much more difficult
would it be when they had togo three
four miles OF V farther in many
cases. For instance, take Bath and
Columbia townships. The school
would be located at those towns which
would be from five to seven miles