The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-04-09
EDUCATIONAL BUREAU
Under Direction of KATE MARKHAM POWER.

ouSSiFe the STONlH n lie OF pIdnI
and animals. Here they breathe pur,
air, become familiar with the beauties
and wonders of the natural world. Her,
they make character. To have added
TO all these opportunities the advan
tages Of a good school education, with
out any of the disadvantages thai
attend the spending of evenings, with
out chores or home duties. in the town
is an educational condition that is al
most ideal"
With fewer schools as a result Of
consolidation the possibility for better
supervision is greatly increased. Close
supervision is a necessity in an eff
cient system of education, and with the
schools located as they are now it is a
matter of im~possibility. How can
superintendent in the period of the
brief school term visit with any sori
of satisfaction to himself or good tc
the system the numbers Of schools
under his supervision?
Summarizing the benefits to be de
rived from consolidation we find some
Of them are:
l. ithCl LtaIlhtlG III ltHAlA tA, Hb
better teachers may be secured and
better salaries paid.
2. Children are in better school
houses where there are better heat
ing, lighting, ventilation and more ap,
planes of all KINDS.
3. Pupils work in graded schools and
both teachers and pupils are under
systematic supervision.
A. Better opportunity is afforded for
special work, such as music, drawing
and manual training.
5. Cost per pupil is reduced and eff.
cheney of instruction is increased. This
includes cost and maintenance of build
ings, apparatus, furniture and tuition.
6. Pupils are benefited by a widened
circle of acquaintance and culture.
Z. The school becomes the chief cen
ter of concern in the district, and,
thereby, the whole population is drawn
together by a community of interest.
s. Free distribution of mail is being
extended by the national government
in the rural districts of Mississippi.
If the pupils should be transported at
public expense it will make possible a
daily distribution of mail throughout
the district.
8. Finally, with splendid schools the
farm becomes the ideal place for the
bringing up of children, enabling them
to ecu the advantages of a good
school and social life and to spend
their evenings and holidays in the
country in contact with nature and in
work. instead of idly loafing about
town.
Eighteen States have adopted the
principle of consolidation with most
satisfactory results. and we might close
this report in no better way than to
tell just how this idea was first ap-
piled and in what way it has developed
into such extended use in so many
States. But the space allotted to this
report precludes that, and we shall
conclude what We have to say by quot
ing from an article by William b. Shaw
in a recent number of the Review OF
Reviews to show what Is being done
after this n to improve the
schools of our W section: Some of
the most interesting experiments in
school consolidation and improve
ment have been in progress for sew
eral years past in the part of the oun
try that has heretofore been regarded
as the least progressive in educational
matters. In the States of North Caro-
lima and Georgia the conditions are
quite different in every way from those
prevailing in New England and the
Middle West. where the school consOli,
dation movement has attained its
greatest impetus. Yet it has been
fully demonstrated in each of these
States that it is cheaper and better
to transport a dozen children four or
five miles to a central school than to
employ a teacher and provide a school
house for these children near their
own homes. The State school COM
missioner of Georgia has asked the
legislature to confer upon the county
boards of education the authority to
consolidate the weak and inefficient
of a number of ~sparsely-set-
lied communities into one strong cen
rial school whenever, in their judg-
ment, such consolidation is deemed
wise and proper. In North Carolina
The number of school districts was
reduced last year more than a thou
sand; the patrons Of the schools in
that State continue to ask for con
solidation and Capitalization. Farther
south, in Florida, one county-Duval-
has concentrated schools over an area
If about one hundred square miles.
Here, as in other Southern States,
where the transportation system has
been introduced, the wagons are
owned by the counties. Drivers and
.eams are hired by contract let to the
owest bidder.
A conference Of the county school
commissioners Of Georgia, held at
Athens in September last, devoted
much attention to the subject of school
consolidation and transportation of pu.
ills. In the course of this discussion
Superintendent Smith, of Greene coun-
y, stated that, in his county, three
ichools had been consolidated WIN
great success. Wagon frames and
were purchased by the county,
Ind a contract was made for the trans
,ortation of children to school at five
per head per day. Previous to
Consolidation the cost of maintaining
he schools was II IL cents per pupil
Yer day; the cost now, including that
# carrying the children, is IL IL cents
'er day. This testimony vas followed
y a statement of Superintendent
of Washington county, giving
he history of a school which four
ago had twenty pupils and paid
he teacher a salary of $50 a month,
nd today has one hundred pupils,
With one teacher at 800 a month. and
second at $40, and a third at $50, the
chool being carefully graded. Twenty.
tx of these pupils are transported at
cost to the county of SIS per term for
ach pupil. All this was brought about
y ab%olishing two little schools and
r%ansDOrting the pupiIS who could not