The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-07-13
OF
DISTRICT SCHOOLS
/. o. Anderson Reads Fine Pa
per, on Subject Before
Township Trustees.
HE FAV0RS NEW MOVE
URGES THAT BIG CENTRALLY Lo-
GATED SCHOOLS BE BUILT IN
STEAD OF SMALL SCATTERED
ONES AS AT PRESENT.

If there have been any doubling
Thomases among the township trus-
tees in regard to the advisability of
consolidating the district schools
they were certainly won over yester-
day at the meeting of the trustees ia
County Superintendent Jordan's Of
fee, by a paper which Trustee L. O.
Anderson, of New Garden township
read.
Mr.. Anderson's paper dealt with the
movement for the consolidation of the
district schools and took in a compre-
hensive scope from the pioneer log.
cabin school house to the present
small institution which the rural dis
tricts afford He gave the history
and slow advance Of the country
school, and showed how. at each i'm.
provement, the countryside offered
objection holding that old methods of
education were sufficient He show.
ed how, In spite of this. Improvement
after improvement was made until the
present facilities were reached.
Present Methods Inadequate.
In regard TO the present methods he
said That they were inadequate, that
Shere are too many school houses
scattered around through the country
and that too many teachers are need
ed to principal them, and that owing
to the number of instructors required
and the small amounts of money ex-
pended in this manner, there were
too many teachers who are not compe-
tent to instruct the children. He
held teacher has too many grades
to look after, and do each one justice.
He stated that it is the common opin-
ion that the small school does not
Justify the hiring of good teachers.
He thought the small school to be in
as much need of good instructors as
the large one.
Graded Schools Advantage.
He. pointed out how the graded
schools have the advantage over the
district schools in that each depart.
ment, as English, Mathematics and
the like, has a man at the head of it
who can give his time to the subject
and thereby give the student better
lecture upon it. He also mentioned
building which is to be seen through,
out the rural districts.
Continuing, he said:
The idea of consolidation of rural
or district schools is not q new ore.
Fifty years ago the state educational
department first looked into the mat
ter and have been considering it ever
since. The object of it, is to have
one large and adequately furnished
building centrally located in ths
township for the attendance of every
school child within the township; tC
have man at the head of each de.
partment, to have grades and to fur.
nish better results to the inhabitants
for about the same expenditure as un.
der the present system. In many
counties where they have the consoli,
dation system the children who live
farther away go to and from school by
means of hacks which run twice a
day Consolidation is a local ques-
tion which must be decided by each
and every person and trustee"
Mr.. Anderson's Proposition.
In conclusion Mr.. Anderson said:
"As the old school houses give out and
new ones must be built, would it not
be wise to consider the expense of
many built as to that of one centrally
located and built in the modern fash
ion? Surely this would insure bet
ter buildings, better sanitation, fewer
grades, better teachers, longer terms
and more effective work on the part
of the pupil After all the chief pur-
pose is to better the condition of ed,
ucation and if Capitalization will do
this, and we certainly believe that it
will, then let us put forth every effort
to consolidate our rural schools that
our rural children may have as good
as those of the cities.