The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-13
North Corolina's Marke d
Educational Progress.
Continued from Page one.)
BY j. Y. JOYNER

The schools belong to the people,
and they will be no better than the
people desire and demand. The prog
ress in public education must, there
fore, depend largely upon public senti-
ment and public demand.
The best evidence of the marked
growth in public sentiment and inter
est for education is to be found in the
greatly increased enrolment and daily
attendance in the public and private
schools and in the Overlooking attend
ance at the colleges and the Univer-
sity in the building and improvement
of public school houses; in the large
number of applications for loans for
this purpose; in the thousands of dol
lars raised by private subscription for
building and improving houses and
for frightening the school term; in the
rapid growth of local taxation and
consolidation; in the utilization of all
the available appropriation for rural
Libraries; in the large number of ed
vocational gatherings, the large attend
ance at these meetings and the great
demand for public addresses on edu
cation.
This growth in public sentiment and
interest has been greatly fostered and
stimulated by the campaign for edu-
cation, carried on in all sections of the
State by public speakers, among whom
were teachers, editors, lawyers
preachers, business men, public Off
Gals and others. This campaign has
been carried on under the direction of
The Campaign Committee for the pro-
motion of education in North Caro-
lima, consisting of the State Superin-
tendent of Public Instruction, as chair
man; DR.. Charles d. McIver, chair
man of the Campaign Committee of
the Southern Educational Board;
Governor r. b. Glenn, and ex-Gover-
nor Charles B. Aycock, with Mr.. r. D.
W. Common as secretary. The funds
for the payment of the expenses of the
speakers engaging in the campaign
have been supplied by the Southern
Education Board and this has been
the extent of the connection of that
board with it. In addition to this
special campaign, the State Superin-
tendent has been engaged in the cam
pa1gn the whole year, using all the
time that he could spare from his
work in the office for field work. The
campaign has been supplemented also
by numerous brief bulletins on various
phases of educational work and prog
ress. issued from the office of the State
superintendent and distributed
throughout the State. The State
press has almost without exception,
aided in every possible way in carry
ing on this campaign for the cultiva-
ton of public sentiment, and it has
been one of the most potent factors
of the educational progress of the
State. In addition to this public cam
paign, a campaign has been quietly
carried on in many counties and com
munities by the County Superintendent
as he moved among the people in the
performance of his duties aided by
teachers, by school officers by in1uen-
tial, earnest, patriotic, private citi-
ZenS.
1t is my deliberate conviction that
the great masses of the people in
North Carolina are interested as never
before in the education of their chill
dren, that they are talking about it
among themselves more than ever be-
fore, and that they are more deter
mined than ever before that their
children shall be educated and shall
have an equal chance in life with the
children of other States and other
lands. They usually do what they are
determined to do.