Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-01-27
RURAL SCHOOLS VALUE
IMPORTANT ADDRESS BY PROF.
ACKERMAN, OF MONMOUTH.
Says Present Educational System Is
Not Fair to Country School
Children.

The great Importance of the country
school in relation to the educational
system of the state and country, was
emphasized in an address delivered in
Portland recently, by Professor ]. H.
Ackerman, head of the Monmouth
Normal SCHOOL,.
THE biggest problem from school
point of view is the country school
problem" said he, "and in it is also
the country life problem.
"Oregon is new state, yet in every
county in the fertile Willamette Valley
there are communities that have fewer
people now than they had Is or 20
years ago. This is not because the
farm does not pay, but because life is
not attractive, and because schools re-
pei rather than attract. The city and
town school does attract. The most
remarkable thing in Oregon in the last
10 years has been the growth of high
schools. Ten years ago we had only
five four-year high schools in the state.
Now we have over so, and every town
is vying with every other town in the
building and equipping of a high
school We need schools in the coun-
try that will hold the people. The
country districts need to have lectures.
debates and more general social life.
Rural Schools.
'The school is the best means of
People can't all rally around the
church or lodge, but they can rally
around the school.
1T may surprise you to know that
we spend only about $13 year for the
education of our country child and
over $40 for the city child. Too often
in the country we have an unframed
teacher. In some of the counties
there are so per cent of the rural
teachers who nave had no more. edu-
cation than the eighth grade gives.
'Then these unframed teachers are
counties that vary as to their number
of school districts from 15 to 181. In
each case there is one county super
intendent, who is their sole supervisor.
If we had a county with 500 districts
I suppose that we would depend on the
county superintendent as the sole su-
pervisor. In our towns nd cities we
have a supervisor for every Is or 20
teachers. With good supervisor each
teacher would improve in service and
thus each of the 1000 school districts
would be normal school of expert
ence. There is now a bill before the
to provide supervision for
country schools.
Supervising Districts.
ut is to divide counties of more
than so districts into groups of 40
districts or less, these groups to be
called supervisory districts. The SUI
pervisors are to be appointed by
be appointed by the County Judge. The
supervisors are to receive not less
than $1,000 per year and are to be paid
out of the general fund of the county.
This supervisor could easily take up
problems of social Improvement
"Then, again, the tax unit is not fair
FOR the country child, as there are dis
-ricts having 20 children with less
han $4,000 of assessed property, and
here are other districts with no more
han 20 pupils that have more than
100000 worth of assessed property.
We need a larger taxing unit and more
Country schools have improved
within the last 10 years and there are
'ural communities that are almost
deal. The Pleasant Hill community
n Lane County, the Bell Fountain
in Benton, the Webfoot
in Yamhill, are known far
md wide as communities that have de-
,eloped along educational and social
ines SO that they attract rather than
epel.
The time has come when we must
invest something besides money in
chools We must invest our co-opera-
ion and interest in the work IL we
re going to get the best results"