Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-01-19
SUPT. STOCkWELL
TALKS Of Meeting
SAYS EDUCATORS REALIZE IN
PoRTANcE OF RURAL SCHOOL
IN STATE.
Large Appropriation for the State
Institutions Rural Schools the
Most Important.

Editor Tribune: The most impOr-
tant result of the recent State Edu-
cational association at Minot was the
centering of the attention of all ed
ucators upon the Importance of the
rural school in the educational eco
nomy of this state. The county sup
erintendents at their conference last
August said eve believe that the
most important single educational
interest in North Dakota is the rural
school," The State Educational as
sociation at Minot said, eve recog'
nize the rural school as the most i'm
portant factor in the education of
the state" That being accepted, it
would appear that the rural school
deserves larger consideration at the
hands of those who determine the
educational destinies of this state,
who mould the educational thought
and train the educational leaders of
this state. There is an insistent
demand for our institutions of high
err education to grapple with the pro-
blem of the rural school and solve
it. We do not mean to say that
these institutions are not doing
much to help in this great work.
Our normal schools are providing
special courses for rural school
teachers. Our agricultural college
is pushing the teaching of elemen-
tary agriculture in the rural school.
The university men are giving much
time and thought to the considera-
ton of this problem. The commit
tee of seven is made up of men TAX
en- largely from those who teach in
the higher institutions. These
things are good, but they do not
reach the seat of the difficulty. The
rural school needs many specific
things, We shall not recount them
here, but most of all it needs slim
ulation. This stimulation can come
only, in our judgment, through state
aid. State aid for the rural school
means, first, Standardization, Sec
ond, closer supervision, third, stim-
ulation of interest in the rural
school, and as result of these three
things will come all the other i'm"
provements which are so essentially
and vitality necessary.
Ten years ago our high school
system was SCdfCely WOTtuy Lue
name, today as a result Of the slim
illus of state aid our high schools
rank among the very best in the
northwest. We have earnestly Pc
titioned for a little aid for rural
schools at the last three sessions of
the legislature. We have met with
bitter opposition, always in the up
per house. The committee on ap-
preparations in the senate is COM
posed with few exceptions of men
who live in our towns and cities and
who represent then our special in
terest which is usually some state
institution. We readily recognize
that the demands for these institu-
tions during the past few years have
been heavy but withal these de-
mands have generally been just. We
have been proud of our growth as
a state. We have been gratifed
with the wonderful development of
our state educational institutions,
yet we firmly belive that the most
pressing demands, at least for heavy
appropriations for permanent i'm
provements, have been met for the
present, that there is not now any
valid reason why the state educa-
tional institutions should absorb all
the funds available for appropria-