The Bossier banner., 1910-12-29
A.ton,.hedto See schoo, Raid Begin SO Soon.
[st. Francisville True Democrat

State Superintendent T. H. Harris has
issued a circular letter to Parish Superin-
tendents of the State telling them to call at
or failing in that, to see personally each
member of these boards and secure from
each approval of the plan for the boards
to pay the expenses of all the members,
also of the superintendent, to the joint
meeting of Parish Superintendents and the
Louisiana School Board Association, to be
held at Baton Rouge, December 81, %, %.
Unexpected has comeand come quickly.
An enthusiast for education, believing
that no child is too humble or obscure for
the State to fail to provide it with good
education, yet this paper strongly opposed
the recent passage of the Constitutional
Amendment reqniring Police Juries to de-
vote three mills of their annual budget to
public education. And this was because it
was certain that under the present waste
full and extravagant State Administration
of Public Education, which devotes itself
to the multiplication of various supervisors
and other higher sinecural Offices. and to
numberless schemes for strengthening the
schools of the State, teachers and local
boards alike, into part of the powerful
political machine that controls Louisiana,
it was most unwise, even dangerous to give
the schools more money to spend.
The measure, however, was passed, even
West Feliciana giving small majority on
account of having been told that local
needs made it imperative that this amount
of taxation for schools should be allotted.
We pointed out that the right to tax would
remain on the statute books long after the
local necessity had passed away. 1t was
gratifying that only in that part of West
Feliciana where the True Democrats cir
culation was smallest, that the vote was
carried.
However, we expected that the unwis-
dom of the measure would soon be appa-
rent, that plans and schemes would be at
once devised to spend the amounts which
accrue from the higher levy of taxation.
But it is astonishing to see the raid begin
so soon.
The School Boards are severally called
upon to meet the expenses of their mem
bers and Parish Superintendent to this
love- feast at Baton Rouge, which, while it
purports to benefit the schools, and proba
bly, to some extent will do so, tends prim
arily to cement more solidly together the
school men of Louisiana as a component
part of the vast political machine, now
grinding out oppression and misrule. No
man of discernment and candor but sees
and admits this. And the Parish Boards
are asked to meet the expenses of this
meeting, expense increasing in direct ratio
with the distance from the capitol. Even
so near as East or West Feliciana the cost
will be considerable, say ten dollars for
each member for three days. expenses.
West Feliciana, for instance, has eleven
members, and including the superintend-
ent, their expenses will approximate $12O
to be taken from the school funds of the
parish, sacred to the education of the chill
dren of the parish, and which funds, even
augmented by the increased levy in taxa
ton, the Parish Superintendent, with tears
in his eyes " for the children " assured the
voters of the parish, were not sufficient for
the needs of the schools. One hundred
and twenty dollars for junket will pay
two months salary of one teacher. It is
too much.
In the name of the children and the tax
payers we call upon the members of the
School Board, to man, to resist this de-
mand upon the school funds of the parish.
The tax is on, and every School Board
member should now make it his duty to sit
on the lid of the treasury and see that not
one cent of the parish school funds is spent
in future except for the direct benefit of
the school children themselves.
If the Parish Superintendent or any
member of the School Board wishes to at
tend this meeting, from professional pride
and desire of personal instruction, let him
go and pay his own expenses. He will
then feel Independent, free man, and not
a part of the big School Trust that in the
sacred name of the children is drawing
upon the funds which should be spent for
the children alone.
| In future issue we shall pay our re-
spects to the proposed programme of this
meeting, which will treat among other
things of cutting down the sessions of the
| cnu nfryy eohOo1o fo oirhf y,or%ho on1 o<ho,