Durango semi-weekly herald., 1903-05-14
TOWN AND
RURAL
SCHOOLS
How Shall Each Meet the
Wants and Comply with
Demands Of the Othere
Address Delivered by Miss Edith 3. NJ.
Young at the Meeting Of the County
Superintendents of Schools at Pueb-
10, Now in Session

II was Roman orator famous for
his piety and common sense. who
said: Always take the short cut;
that is the rational one: therefore say
and do every ything according to the
soundest reason"-a remark which
the author seems to have let fall with
no more effort than as If he were say
ing Good morning." to an acQuaint-
ance in the Via Maximus or the Apan
Way,
Though simple in manner. the mat.
ter of the sentence is by no means
easy to dispose of. How is one to
know which is the soundest reason
torsooth? Consequently. how can he
be sure he has chosen the short cut?
Unless he has tried them ALL and life
is too short to be spent in needless
experimenting.
Doubtless Marcus Aurelius knew
that the genuine seeker after truth
Will not lack for sign posts along the
way. They will not always be easy to
find perhaps, but undoubtedly they
Will be there,
In the discussion of our subject, the
short cut seems TO lead straight to one
thought around which centers the 9th
er. The prominent idea is the need of
unity. To render any school system
effective IT must be considered as q
whole, The custom at present Is not
70 consider the schools of each county
in their entiretly, but rather as an ag-
gregation. You are all familiar with
the conditions in the various counties
in this state, Leaving out the city
schools, and considering those of the
towns that properly come under the
head of first class districts, 1t is an
acknowledged fact that these have no
apparent relation to the rural schools.
More than that, each rural district is
a law unto itself and to all practical
purposes, Independent of any other,
A similar condition prevails In our
county schools to that existing ip the
colonies under the Articles OF Confed-
GRAFTON. The lack OF unity prevailing
among the different states was disas.
trous to progress, With the coming
Of the Constitution, the nation was
born. Following out the analogy, the
school systems in many of our coun.
ties from the lack OF unity are not in
healthy conditions. However. a
wrong once recognized Is partly right.
ed, and when all county superintend-
ents realize that the end toward which
they need to work is unifcation the
first steps in the path OF progress
have been taken.
To secure this united effort there
must be cooperation between all the
parts OF the whole. that is the county
superintendent must labor In unison
with ta) city superintendent, (b) di-
rectors. (c) teachers, and last but not
least. the public.
One thing in school work must be
avoided as the plague. Except in an
extreme case there must never be
open rupture between the city
and county superintendent. In case
u friction, unless there is some deep
principle involved it is wiser to yield
the point rather than to have the
schools involved in dissension and
strife. The reason for such differ
ences Is not hard to find. 1t is sell
dom that the views of a city and coun-
ty superintendent will coincide, while
there may be perfect harmony in re-
gard to matters OF some moment.
there is often tendency to dispute
over little things. Other elements
may also tend to prevent gmoothness
such an. for Instance. personal jeal-
pusy on the part of one official or the
other, This must be wisely met aud
overcome,
The necessity OF cooperation be.
tween these two school officials will
naturally require frequent intercourse.
While both are doubtless very busy
people, such conference is well worth
while. If nothing more is accomplish.
ed, such meetings will bring gut thu
rssemblapce between tawn and rural
schools. The general impression
seems to be that the two systems are
totally different. Az In many other
cases, this Is mistaken notion. All
schools, rural. town and city are
alike in fundamental principles. They
differ, however. iu the application Of
,hese. Since the application is more
apparent than the underlying princi-
ple, the differences existing Dstweep
the schools are more often recognized
by the surface observer than their
similarity. That such likeness exists
between town and rural schools ia
an important reason for their cooper.
alton,
II naturally follows that city and
county superintendents should each
be familiar with the work Of the 9TH
er. Since many pupils will come from