Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-12-22

It has voted four thousand dollars an
ru.iIv FOR farmers Institutes, five thou
sand dollars for a sumner school LOT
uvhite teachers, and has appropriated
seventv-aye thousand dollars for IN aSr1-
cultural building at the university.
Alabama spent 1861 .66l Tor scnool Pu !.
noses last year, and the constitution was
amended SO that by three-ffths vo.e
every county can levy tax or one mn
on the dollar for school purposes. foIts
two OF the sixty-seven copnues are nov
leyying this tax. Unfortunately. mos, vi
the Improvement has been done TOT "Ai'e
children. hoo,
The average length Of the public scnooi
term. for white children has been IN
creased to 123 days. and that lot coaoIou
children to nfnety-five days. The ono al
valuation Of the public .schooincuS oos 200 S
while the ohicial valuation for the scn0o O
houses for colored children Is only SoOS'
90 showing that where the most instruc-
ton Is needed the least is given.
Condition in Other States.
Arkansas is looking up also. A consti-
tutional amendment has been adopted
largely through the influence OF the
school Improvement associations. which
increases the state levy for school pur-
noses from two to three mills on the dol
lar and permits a local tax OF seven mills.
A bill for compulsory attendance mas
been passed. upon the demand OF .ne
Farmers Union and other organizations.
Another law has been passed permit ing
any county, upon a popular vote. to have
a SUPERINTENDENT OF schools. and the ie3ls-
lature is now considering an Amendment
to make this mandatory. bill il pending
for state board OF educatloh' ana III
uniform text books.
The first state normal school IN Afkan-
sas opened its doors September IL n.e'
and is doing cook work. The resent ies,s
lature has appropriated sl9U aor nj.
tural schools. and has pr0v.ded Tor asri-
cultural instruction In the primary
schools. ,os,-
established school OF agricu..uiS az az
trict an industrial and normal schcol Ior
tho southern part of the state and maue
an appropriation Of SlO0.nO Tor m1iht tit Y,
inr state college Of a,ricu!tu {. Oe =.
spent 1871: 419 for scnso y, p ahnut s7oo'-
0,I over the previous year ara nien-~AI ;a
,,,arI Tor state aid to the common schooas
Dur,ne the year 1903 there were ZSl
new schoolhouses built IN Georgia az "a, 3
cost of 1914 aoS when . n,r;re the
fail of 1908 eleven agricultural COLLEGES
one In each congressional district. opened
their doors. with an aggregate OF '1u
students in attendance. and three new
normal schools began work
Mississippi Wakes Up.
The legislature Of Mississippi. which
has been one Of the most backward IN
educational matters Of all the, states. ap-
propriated 81 2lc.O00 last year direct from
the treasury and authorized the revenue
from the poll tax to be devoted as usual
10 the support OF the schools 1t also
passed an act apnropriating one thou
sand dollars to each county to aid In es-
tablishing agricultural high schools. pro-
vIded the county authorities would pro-
vide at least twenty acres of land and
erect a school building and a dormitorJ
to accommodate at least forty boarders.
Fifteen counties have accepted these
conditions. and in twelve OF them. the land
has been donated and brick structures
months. 1t - believed that the next leg
islature will provide for a normal school,
as there IL no institution in Mississippi
for training teachers
North Carolina IL one Of the most pro-
eresstve Of all the states in the south.
although few years ago II was one OF
the most backward in matters Of educa-
schoolhouses were built at cost OF
500. 706. and the state spent &3..B4. 231 for
education.
There are now $50 rural high school.
with an average attendance Of 28tS pu-
pills; there are 2,22S rural libraries. AN
increase OF 43S during the last year:
there are four normal schools for training
white teachers and three for training col
ored teachers. But there comes the same
difficulty again, for $143, OQO Was given to