Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1903-04-22
CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS
The Imaginary Advantages VS.. Disadvan.
tageS and Loss.

Ed. Public Opinion:
As much has been written and pub
lished daily to show the benefits that
would be derived from the consolida-
tion of rural school districts it would
seem to US that some of the disadvan-
tages should be taken into account.
1st. A large central school house
would have to be built at great cost
to the township, and our district
school houses, many of which are fine
structures, would be almost total
loss and the change would cause an
uproar throughout the state that would
not be settled in five years to come
End The expense of conveying
scholars to and from the central school
would be great many districts would
require three teams to convey them
and then some of them would have to
leave their homes at seven O'Clock in
the morning and ride till a few
minutes before nine and arrive home
at half past five or six.
Sd. The rural school system would
deprive some of the pupils who live
the farthest from the central school
house of attending school, for some
of those pupils have chores to do night
and morning, and if they were attend
ing rural school they would be Obliged
to start so early in the morning, and
return so late at night that they could
do no work morning or night as if
they were going to the common dis
trict school, and their parents would
nine chances out of ten keep them at
home.
When rural schools become fashion
able the farmer will be somewhat
like the Chicago business men, he
won't have his children around him
long enough to get acquainted with
them.
4th. 1t is claimed by good instruc-
tors that scholars that have been ed
ucated in rural schools are farther ad-
vanced and have broader and more
comprehensive views of things in
general, at the same age, than those
educated in the graded schools of viii
lagos.
9th. In case of contagious diseases
breaking out in central school all
would be exposed and should school
be closed. it would effect the whole
township. where if it were rural
school but one district would suffer.
One of the things claimed to be of
longer time for class periods, which
is true, but right here let US consider;
in the rural districts the smaller ones
can listen to the older and further adj
vanced ones recite, and obtain great
deal of knowledge by so doing while
if they were in a consolidated school
they would be deprived of that way
of seeking knowledge.
And another of tire advantages
claimed to be is that the rural schools
if consolidated would have better
grade of teachers.
Well, we can have better grade of
teachers in the rural schools if we
raise the wages for the rural teacher
so they would earn enough money to
pay them for preparing for the rural
school work which would not amount
to half the cost it would to con-
solidate the districts.
Teaching should be profession and
not stepping stone to something else
as il is now and will be till better
wages are paid. A teacher cannot
afford to work all his or her lifetime
for $25 or $50 a month, when farm
hand or common laborer gets $50 or
$40, and he had to invest nothing to
learn his profession, while it costs
the rural school teacher great deal
to become master of his profession.
l therefore stand for the highest
training and urge the school aut hori-
ties OF every state to encourage those
who wish to make the educating OF
| the children profession, and obtain
at least couple of weeks out of the
year for the training of teachers, free
Of cost to them.