New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-04-18
EDUCATION IN SOUTH
Reports of School Superintendent
Shoe Remarkable Progress.

education OF Its cnliCEeH Sdit SN-N-
cred from the paper read here at the tWeIth an
! nuaI Conference for Education in the South py
Jere NJ. Pound. superintendent OF oc4iooe ~
! Georgia 1t summary OF the reports oL sac
/ superintendent of schools from fourteen South-
ern states comprising statistical ana othel uata
concerDing education and educational movements in
J those states.
! That the South is fully alive to Its educational
needs can hardly be questioned seriously now mat
the legislatures of its different states realize thelr
esnonsibrities in this connection clearly than
ever is shown by new legislation passed by thehl,
! increasing appropriations for school purposes 81
every description, dealing with compulsory attend
ence longer school years and many other SUBJECTS
of importance from educational point Oh view
There is also apparent all sides greater inter-
est than has been shown heretofore in edueauohai
work The people of the South have LOT many
years been accustomed to place their main depeno-
ence in private schools. The tendency was rati'er
70 scnfY at the public school Especially was this
true of rival neighborhoods, where father was
rather looked down if he sent his chldren 10
the free school, That this feeling is disappear
ing giving way to the new idea" that the various
states shall build and maintain up-to-date schoos'
with able and efficient teachers TO instruct 'n9
pupils and of sending the children OF 'Ile Gun"
munity to these schools is perhaps the surest guar
antee the South offer Of its increasingly idpN
progress in educational Development
Despite what has been accomplished the PIos-
ress to be made is still vast, and the work or or
ganization and systemizaton alone Whlch ld'S
each state superintendent pl StlloOl' A"l
LITTLE short of being herculean. This Is Work
which IL nroperIv done would be of immense value
and which must be done by the schooi oi
alone In other work such as getting larger sF
preparations from legislatures, raising me s'aHuAl
If teachers compulsory attendance legisiauoh anu
ca forth these men will find behind them an IN
creasingly growing public sentiment Much OF the
credit for the awakening of this pubic sentiment
or It would better to say for acceIeIdtIis no
awakening for the awakening would have come
CO. n Robert
his fellow members on the Board OF Southern Fdu-
cation. and logically, too. must go 70 theln h"'h
Of the credit for the results already attained
Mr. Pound. after dealing with the work dons in
the last year ended thus
The record for the current twelvemonth has
been record Of great achievement one which
ought to make glad the heart Of every man VINO
loves the South. Some time since gentleman OF
great intelligence who had travelled much ana
observed profoundly made the prediction that tnls
section would yet lead in the evolution Of a type
of education to the world-a sounder, saner.
more satisfactory type than that which now is.
There many hints in this record which ! have
Just read that the prophet may not he without
honor. The South is facing the EFst; the dawn
breaking sky is clear. and the sunrise prom
ises 70 he glorious"
There was much in Mr.. Pounds paper, much ~ /
fact. not theory plain deduction which appears
TO warrant The optimistic words which have Just
been quoted Perhaps the striking points
which his brought out beside the TACT O. tne
creation of strong, aggressive public opinion Tor
better schools, better teachers and more - both.
we're the realization Of the necessity for public
high schools throughout the state and of the need .
Of agricultural and normal schools and colleges
The South is still almost entirely an agricultural
country It's manufacturing interests sim in .
their infancy. albeit pretty sturdy infancy ~ Is
The need Of schools and colleges for teaching thu /
science and practice Of agriculture has impressed
Itself upon leading educators in the South and .
tho trte- sra5 IN he South. and thew I'm
have succeeded in arousis state legislatures to an
appreciation Of this fact The need Of training .
schools for teachers and the advantages OF tn@ .
summer schools for them have also been at least.
rartlv recognized and steps have been taken 70 (
remedy the prevailing conditions
The summarized reports O ths state superintrn-
dents OF schools show that in Alabama there are .
six white and three negro normal schools. The .
state has also appropriated $500 annually for the
maintenance Of a summer school for teachers. .
Arkansas has one normal school Florida has .
established summer training schools for teachers
Georgia perhaps leads In this feature OF education
al development. In this state there eleven dis
trct agricultural high schools. two normal schools
and one summer school. Kentucky has normal .
school for whites and another for negroes. Louis'-
ana has one normal school. The state Legislature
Of Mississippi mas passed a law which provides
for enc agricultural high school I'm each county
This law appropriates 81 900 annually for each OF
these schools and requires each county 20 grant
at least twenty acres of land 70 IT. In oklahoma
there training schools Tor teachers IN edch OF
the five state normal schools. There is also state
university and an agricultural and mechanical col
leges No provision been made for the train
ing Of teachers in South Carolina. In Virginia
there are twenty normal departments In as many
selected high schools The Virginia Polytechnic
Institute is also doing good work along these lines
The state superintendent are greatly encouraged
by the establishment by legislative appropriations
and enactrnents of many new high schools-a type
of public school which has hitherto been remarked
ueighbOrhoCds mainly by its I
absence.
Last year Georgia increased materially its num-
Der of state high schools The Kentucky Legis
lature passed a bill providing for the establish
ment of high schools In each of the
counties The Louisiana Legislature its last
session provided for additional high schools and
equipment for the old well the
new ones Reference has already been made 70
the new law In Mississippi which provides for tho
establishment OF agricultural high schools each
county. The high school movement In South Caro- !
lima is reported most encouraging" A number
of high schools have been but that state /
during the last year and a rumher are still under
process of construction. Tennessee Is arranging for
q comprehensive high school system. and the state
It is believed will soon make large appropriations
toward it. Texas increased It's number of high
schools by 80 in the last fiscal year In Virginia
there 325 high schools; two years ago there
were only 81.
Another interesting feature brought out in Mr.
Pounds paper vas the prevailing sentiment In the
South toward compulsory school attendance His
remarks seem to indicate that the time is nearly
ripe for legislation In that direction and this is
the opinion held by many prominent educators
with whom the Tribune correspondent has talked
there is a wide difference of opinion as
to just what form such legislation should take A
glance over the existing laws in some states and
the opinions expressed by various state superintend
ents of schools may prove interesting !
The state superintendent of Schools NJ ArL.reas