The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1905-02-11
Mississippi State News
What the State Is Doing for Education

What tne STATE Is Doing for Education.
Some figures printed in these col
umns last week going to show that
the expenses of the State govern
ment, with the exception of the
charitable institutions, pensions and
schools, are met out Of extraordina-
ry sources of revenue, and that the
amounts paid in by the people in
taxation do not go to pay any Of the
expenses of the State government,
has served to call attention very
sharply to what Mississippi is doing
IN an educational way. 1t does not
by any means follow that Mississip-
pi is throwing away her money.
Tie United States census shows
that the per cent of il~literacy is low
er i'll Mississippi than in any other
Southern State.
Another thing that the people
have no doubt not thought Of in this
connection is that since Mississippi
has been fitting its youth for better
citizenship, the material prosperity
of the State has been greater. Co
incident almost with greater educa-
tional activity has come greater in
dustrial activity. The young men
of the State have been put in posi-
ton where they can intelligently
handle the affairs of Mississippi,
and they are doing this to the en-
tire satisfaction of all concerned.
To those persons who look at it
only from a dime and dollar stand
point, it may appear that Mis5is-
sippi has run mad on the subject of
education, but those who have ana
lyzed it are thoroughly convinced
that Mississippi is getting the full
value Of every dollar spent for edu-
cation, with interest. 1t will be no.
ticed that since the establishment by
the State of the textile school at the
Agricultural and Mechanical Col
lege the cotton mill industry has
been given new life in the State,
and since that time there have been
a number of new mills started.
In some of these mills Mississip-
plans who were students at the tex
tile school hold responsible posi-
lions. The educational campaign
which has gone on in this State for
SO many years is not likely to re-
ceive any setback. In addition to
the large amount of money that
goes out of the State treasury every
year for education, the people Of
the different counties are supple
menting this amount by direct taxa
ton and are running their schools
from SIX to eight months in the year
and giving the children of the rural
districts the benefit of good schools.
All that is necessary has not been
done to bring the rural schools up
to as high a state of efficiency as the
schools in the cities and the towns,
but during the last ten years they
have improved a hundred per cent,
and the improvement is still going
on. Better school buildings are be-
ing erected and better teachers en-
ployed to preside over the schools.
Of course, all this costs a great deal
of money, but the State is in a high
ly prosperous condition and the
people are more able, to pay for bet
ter schools now than they were a
few years ago to pay for poor
schools.
Most all the money that is being
spent on education in Mississippi is
going to the common schools, where
nine-tenths of the boys and girls
get the only education they receive.
The graduate from the graded
schools in this State now has a fair
ly good education and is pretty we'll
equipped to grapple with the prob
fnmS of life