The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-09-29
OUR SCHOOLS.
FOO Many Little Half.supporte,l
PAPER NO. 8.
BY PROF. WILLIAM Il. HAND.

Too Many Little Half.SuppOrtetl
Sehools-Sooner or later our people
are going to have more comfortable
and commodious school houses. Be
fore the people put their money into
permanent improvements, would 1t
not be wise to reduce the number OF
schools in q great many places? a
good four-room house costs less than
four one-room houses of equal COM
fogt and convenience. Sixty pupils
in one building can be- better taught
and more easily taught than fifteen
pupils each in four buildings. A
four-teacher school will flourish
where four one-teacher schools would
struggle to keep alive.
In more than half the counties
in the State are to be found dozens
OF schools with 10 to II pupils each.
Not many weeks ago visited a ru-
raj school with an enrolment OF
II pupils; three miles OFF was anoth,
er school with S13 pupils, and IN
another direction was a third school
with IA pupils. The three teachers
were paid S35 each; each school
house was cheap and i'll equipped.
In some districts six miles square
are. to be found as many as three
white schools, each with small
number Of pupils scattered from first
reader to high school grades. A
good many of the incorporated vii
lages have school districts cock
tensive with the incorporate limits.
An accurate school district map OF
the State would look very much like
a crazy quilt.
What is the remedy? Take the
three schools cited above. Build
a comfortable two-room house at a
central point, and give the entire
So pupils to two teachers. Each
pupil would then have his recita-
ton time doubled, for there would
be in the consolidated school no
more grades, or classes, than there
were in the most advance of the
three little schools. l am at once
reminded that some of these children
vonld have too far to walk. Ut Is
marvellous how much trouble faith
er who walked four miles to school,
and brags about, makes over his
child's walking one mile.) l grant
that the constellation puts the
school too far for some to walk.
What then? Take part of the money
to transport these to the school.
Prof. w. K. Tate of the Memminger
Normal school says: 1T is better
and cheaper to transport the distant
children to the good school than to
bring a poor school to the distant
children" Yes; one good school is
immeasurably better than three IN
ferior schools.
The transportation of distant pu-
nils is no new fad. Several years
ago the. Eastover district in Richland
county threw five schools into one.
The district runs four wagonettes,
made for the purpose, to haul the
distant children. Another instance:
Three adjoining districts in Falr-
field county with a combined ca
rollment of 80 pupils, have consoll-
dated their schools at Bethel, have
erected a s2,600 school house, and
are transporting all the children
who live too far to walk. This con-
coiidation gives the school enough
pupils to establish rural hlgA
school, with $500 of State aid.
State Superintendent McMahan
and Martin have zeas,usly advocat-
ad the consolidation Of small schools.
Such policy would encourage the
building of better roads, while the
TRANSPORTATION itself would protect
the children in bad weather. and
would protect the small children
and the girls from insult or V!o-
lence at the hands of tramps or
thugs on the lonely country roads.
Neighborhood Jealousies and QUAR-
,,ets--These twin evils have done
more to prevent and to destroy tne
efficiency of the common scnools
than any other two agencies in the
land. It is difficult enough tc MAN
tain a good school where everybody
works in harmony, and 1t Is wen
nigh impossible where strife ana
division are. To listen to the pet
ty contentious, the sharp blckerlngs,