Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1910-10-12

forms OF, socialism and anarchlSm let !
us treat all classes alike for these |
and many other reasons | trust the !
ten dollar exemption bill'will receive
your favorable consideration. Both
parties are committed to the same
promises as to the employers liability
bill. l will not detain you by repeat
ing the arguments advanced in behalf
of this measure The public press has
reiterated them time and time again,
and during the last campaign both
parties were obligated to this5measure,
and l earnestly recommend that this
obligation be kept. and that the legis-
lati0n promised be enacted.
| There is another labor question,
| so called, which | trust will receive at
tention by this assembly, viz, a law
providing for some equitable form Of
arbitration in labor difficulties. and
/ my suggestion would be, some enact
ment similar to the Canadian law. |
/ believe that some effective legislation
along this line would inure greatly to
/ the mining and manufacturing indus
! tries of the state, and to the labOrers
as well.
EDUCATION.
There is no subject Of more vital
, Importance to the welfare and better
ment of our state than that of the ed
ucation Of our children. A state is
/ not esteemed most for its wealth nor
/ its rapid increase in population, nor
/ for it's physical attractions or natural
resources, but it is priced and respect
ed above all for the intelligence and
character OF its people. That they
might better promote these and rem
/ der each succeeding generation better
/ equipped for life than its predecessor,
our fathers provided a system of free
public education. For many years ev-
cry legislature has endeavored to do
something to strengthen our education
al system, and it remains for the as
sembly Of 1919 to contribute to the
work and offer to the children OF our
state the best advantages possible
along educational lines.
"The children are the subjects of
our ambition, and the teacher is the
instrument for their betterment. If
the teacher is not fully equipped for
the task, what are the results? Ny
fear is that our system is the weakest
where it ought to be the strongest,
namely, in its teachers in our rural
schools,
vermont employs larger percent
age Of unframed teachers than any
other New England state, the percent
age being about Is per cent. More
than thrae-fourths of our teachers then
! are unframed. In Rhode Island, on
the other hand, less than one third of
:, the teachers are not trained FOR their
{ work.
"Our fathers were proud of the fact
l that as to education Of her children,
e Vermont, of all the states in the
union, was second only to Massachu
sets, but to-day we have fallen to a
discreditably low rank and are on a
level with some of the southern
states.
"These facts do not make pleasant
reading, but they are facts. and we
cannot alter them by closing our eyes.
The time has come when we must look
l out the trouble and begin to remedy
{ it at its source.
Upon one thing, all who have in
vestigated the educational conditions
in Vermont are agreed, viz, if we are
to keep pace with progress Of other
states, and indeed if we are not to &C
. tually retrOgrade, the standard Of our
rural schools must be decidedly raised.
And the standard Of these schools de-
ponds largely on the efficiency of the
teachers in them.
| 1.-THE trouble at present is not in
the character and natural ability Of the
teachers in our country schools but in
their training. Reference has already
= been made to the very large percent
age Of unframed teachers in our
+, schools today. IL this age of special
training for every pursuit, there is
not another walk Of life where such a
: condition would be tolerated, and yet
{ the education of our children lies at
! the foundation of all progress.
S The difficulty with our present sit
{ uati on, which at once presents itself,
: is the lack of training facilities for
those who wish to become teachers.
"Our normal schools. three in num-
ber draw their pupils to large eX-
tent from the communities Immediate
ly around them. and the effect is
shown in the percentage of trained
> teachers in the rural schools in differ
! ent parts of the state.
For example, in Rutland county,
! where one Of the normal schools is
D situated, excluding the city of Rut-
D land, the percentage of trained teach
: ers is four times as great as in Wind
t ham county, which has no normal
school excluding Brattleboro and
Rockingham. A large percentage of
: the pupils in attendance at each of the
1 normal schools is drawn from the
2 town in which they are situated and
2 the towns Immediately around them.
l ct is no more than fair, then, tC
other parts of the state, and it is alb
t soluteIy necessary, if we are to bring
' our schools throughout the state up~tc
0 anything like an even standard, prov
S ision should be made for training
! teachers in each section.
/, Excellent results have been at
y tanned in other states by establishing
Z training courses in connection with
high schools and academies under the
e supervision and direction of the stat;
g department Of public instruction.
n Il therefore recommend that tht
= Legislature appropriate a sufficient
sum to establish training courses in
e the principal high schools and acad
"a emies, where the towns are willing tt
e cooperate by contributing in a proper
N proportion to their maintenance, Civ