The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1902-01-14
EDUCATION IN
SOUTH CAROLINA.
AN EARNEST Appeal. FOR MATES
SCHOOL TEACHERS.
Ano.her section Of tn" annual F+p"ro OF
The >up rIr. endent "f tducat'on OF
M Ich Interest.
THE State, 1lth

The following section OF the an
nual report of the State superlnten-
dent of education will be of particu-
lar interest to the teachers of the
State and those interested in the ad-
vancement OF the cause of education
in South Carolina:
There is a strong impulse among
the teachers of our State to regard
their work as a profession. They
have responded during the past three
years not only Loyalty but with
marked enthusiasm to the call to
summer school attendance. In some
counties there is hardly a white
teacher who has not attended one OF
the summer school sessions during
this time, and most of them have at:
tended every@ye'r. In Richland
County nearly every white teacher
has attended the State summer
school. This annual gathering of
so large body of the leading teach
ers of the State from country and
town has greatly stimulated profes-
sionsl spirit and enthusiasm. In
many counties Saturday meetings
and systematic study under instruc-
tioE are being carried on through the
session; the. touch cf the leading
spirits in the educational work is
continued uninterrupted. The State
teachers association and county as
sociations earnestly and intelligently
discuss advanced educational reforms,
and speak their convictions in re-
commendations to the public and to
the Legislature. The Southern Edu-
cational association is brought to Co.
lumbis through the support OF our
teachers when appealed to for the
required lumber of members. The
State is astir with the thought of the
teachers for the best education of all
the people.
This strenuous life Of the teacher,
however, takes time and money as
we'll as brains, Who pay the ex-
penses? Who get the benefit?
From the spring closing till the
fall opening many teachers are in
entire uncertainty of employment an
other year. Many change their place
of work every year or two, though
no fault of theirs, but through the
thoqghtlessness of boards of trustees
or defects in our school system.
Many are paid less than SlOO a year.
The average yearly salary paid to
white teachers in the State, including
city as we'll as country, during the
year closing June 3Oth was Sl8S.91.
That means q far smaller annual
compensation to the great majority
of county teachers. How is there to
be profession without stability Of
employment and adequacy OF com
pensation? Town teachers have both,
to degree. Country teachers have
neither, as a rule. Can the legisla-
ture do anything toward changing
this?
Better System-Our laws now pre-
vent good management-as far as
bad laws can prevent it. 1t is only
the graded schools (Which are excep-
tlonal in our system), and the few
country schools voluntarily seeking
to adopt the methods of the graded
schools, that make possible the many
excellent teachers wa now have IN
South Carolina and the high concep-
ton of the profession which is their
inspiration. We should hasten to
make the exception the rule. Let
US incorporate in our general school
law the approved features CT the
best managed schools in the State.
The matters are fully discussed
above in connection with the uncer
tain tenure Of trustees, county boards
and county superintendents or edu-
cation.
Certifcates-One of the defects OF
our present system is,the method OF
certifcating teachers, which fails en-
tirely to distinguish the efficient from
the inefficient, the growing teacher
from the antiqusted drone. Loose re
quirements for certifcation, or re-
quirements loosely enforced, not only
directly iniure the people by deceiv-