Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-04-25
S|;HOOLCONS)L|DAD.ON
Commission For Recodification
of Laws Will Investigate
Rural Schools
SOME BIG QUESTIONS BEFORE IT
Problem of Forcing Small Districts to
Consolidate With Others May Be
soIved-some Ridiculous Conditions
in the state-statstcs on Railway
Assessments Being Prepared.
pecial to Times-Republican.


Des Moines, April 25.-When the
commission for the republication Oh
the school laws is assembled one OF
the matters of greatest Importance that
will be laid before it will be the ques-
ton of consolidation of rural schools
and the resulting saving of money ana
expense of management. The commls-
sion will report not only on the recodl-
fication of the present school laws pul
will suggest new laws as well. One OF
the patterns to be considered by the
commission will be the new law that
was enacted by the Indiana legislature
Vast winter and which will have
years trial by the time the Iowa COM
mission meets. This new lndiana. Ia"
provides that every country school with
less than fifteen scholars enrolled may
( be closed by the township trustees. ~
| be closed by the township trustees ana
I thar every rural school with less than
| twelve scholars enrolled must pc
closed by the trustees. IS
| estimated that this will close over
/ 1850 country schools, in Indiana, ana
| thar the pupils from these schools VIII
!! have to be transported to other central
schools. 1t is the theory of the Indiana
legislature that the saving to the tax
payers. will be, considerable.
State Superintendent Riggs recently
! discovered an Iowa school district In
which there are but two pupils resldlng
at this time Both scholars are ffom
1.-The same home, and the director'ts their
father and the teacher their sister. N
an adjoining district there are several
scholars but the directors are unabie 10
| find teacher who will work for the
wages offered. The county superlns
| tendent suggested to the teacllerless
district that they hire the teacher IN
the adjoining district paying her a lit
1 tie higher wages and that it arrange TO
| take the two children from that district
into their school, They consulted the
director who was the father of the two
pupils and father of the teacher and he
would not listen to it and felt ag grieved
lat the idea of closing up the two schol-s
| lar school in his district. In the mean
| time the ten or dozen pupils IN the
| adioiuing district are eacaerle'ss and
without education and the taxpayers
of the two scholar district are main
| tanning d school for the benefit Of the
| children OF one family.
| While it is admitted that the case
| Is rather extreme it is claimed that
there are cases all over Iowa in which
| AT great expense q small school OF a
Flew scholars is Kept going when better
1 instruction at less expense; could De
given by consolidating the districts ana
| having a central school.
Looking toward the accom- plishm ent
| of such an idea, State Superintendent
Riggs recommended in his last report
! that small state nillage levy be
made for the benefit Of the public
schools of the state, to be available
| only for schools which have more than
six pupils enrolled. 1t was believed
that this would work to get con-
| solidation Of schools since a school OF
less than six pupils would be without
| the benefit of the state levy, and 1T would
/ combine with some other district In
order to get the benefit Of the levy It
was claimed furthermore that there
should be a state levy for tile benefit
of the schools, anyway.
There will be numerous big prob
liens of education laid before the COM
mission, and it is expected that there
will be a. very considerable amount of
| discussion along the lines of educa-.
4 tional legislation in the school jour
mails and the teachers Institutes be-
tween now and the converting of the
commission.
4 Secretary Davidson, Of the executive
council, is preparing an elaborate sys-
\ tenn of cards to show the exact valua-
ltion the council put on the various rail-
n roads during the past several years.
AS valued at the last sitting Of the ex-
n ecutive council for assessment pur-
/ poses the roads are made up much
different than years ago. Hence when
comparison Of the assessment of 1906
/ s,x,it y, 1ot Of fyun