Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-10-14
The Negro and Public School Educa-
ton i'm the South.

great many questions relative
TO our progress as a race, it is i'm
portant for us 90 consider and TO
Keep clearly before us, one of the
| questions just now of fundamental
| Importance is that OF securing ia
/ cilities for a sound common school
/ education Of the masses of our chill
/ dren, especially in small towns and
Z country districts. The large ma
Jority of our children will never
/ have, perhaps, the opportunity to re
ceive any school education eXcept
what they Get between the ages of
hFe and fourteen years and will nev
er have the opportunity to attend
any other than common public
schools. And yet here in our South
land hardly more than one-ffth OF
thc Negro children five to nine years
of age ana hardly more than one
half from ten 20 fourteen years of
age were reported by the L. s. Cen
sus TO have attended school at an
IN 1900. And of an our children
who did attend school during that
school year, over three-dfths attend
ed less than SIX months. I'm many
cases while the schools are omen.
parents are careless about seeing
that their children attend school
each day. This fault should be rem
cdied. ] use these figures because
J they express c0mpactly.- though. of
course, not eXactly.-a condition OF
utmost gravity And remember
chat such figures give no hint of The
squolor of so many or our schools
and the Incompetence of SO many of
our teachers.
j wish, through this letter. To
urge upon our ministers. teachers
and LEADERS, of whatever character.
Go put forth special and immediate
. ouort co see TO it that the school fa
cilues in each community are inn
proved and brought up 60 hich
standard of efficiency III this is not
done. many thousands of our chill
dreu viii grow mp u Ignorance.
p Whatever the reason may be. the
plain fact lis that in many communl
ties our people are not being provided
with education in the public schools.
have recently heard of several com
munities where only SIS per month
were appropriated from the public
.und Tor the cOlOred school. and this
for only a term of four mouths. We
must face the fact that the public
schools I'm many sections are not be-
/ in% improved, and, I'm some parts of
/ the South, they have gone back
ward. 10 is probable that the chill
/ dron of the race have increased fast
/ er than the facilities for their eluca
/ tion in some places.
At the basis of our educational
opportunities, I say, is the public
school, ind ! think It wise TO make
: that school the center of our inter
ests and activities We should not
fail TO make prominent at all times
and cling 20 the fundamental idea of
/ the American common school-that
all of the property of the State
should educate impartialIy all the
l children of all the people IL is not
merely the man who enters the tax
office who really pays the taxes: the
/ laborer, who pays one mill more To
! the pound for a commodity because
of license tax. really pays the tax.
however indirect the payment BY
close examination. l find that in
many communities the small amount
/ OF money received for the public
schools is in large degree wasted and
/ dissipated by reason of denomiua-
uonal differences and wrangles over
the school. For example 1 know of
one community that has three small
| schools of weak character, when
there should be only one. and that
| one good. The Baptists have a
( school in one part of the town, the
African Methodists a school in anoth
er part. and the Zion Methodists a
school in still another part. Demon
inationalism has no place in public
school education. and our people
/ EhnnlH -.
denominatiOnalism divide and over
come the public school. We should
concentrate our efforts wherever
possible, preferring one good school
to two or three poor ones.
Our leaders should lay special EN-
phasis upon the following points.
1st. See to it that a good and eff
! cient teacher is provided. II any
qualification is lacking. it should
not be moral character. The teach
er may be weak in other matters.
but if he is morally wholesome, he
may greatly help the people.
2nd. A good teacher cannot be
kept in community from year TO
year without a reasonably good sal
airy. A poor salary means a poor
teacher in most cases, one who re
mains only a few months and then
goes to some other community. 1t
is cheaper n the long run 10 pay
a large salary for a good teacher
than 10 pay a small salary for a poor
teacher.
Srd. II the public school authori
ties do not provide a decent and
Portable school house. and every
effort of the people to stimulate them
10 do so has failed, the people in the
community should tax themselves In
order that a good, comfortable
/ school house may be built. Some
tof the school houses in which our