St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-12-27


to accomplish it even with the fnan-
clal part properly taken care of. At
the present time the matter of plac-
ing the country schools on good
, basis so far as the teaching of the
necessary elementary subjects are
concerned demands attention, and if
this were done it would pave the
way for further advancement.
Consolidation should prove a rem
edy for existing conditions. Small
weak schools should be closed and
a graded or large district school,
where the former is impracticable,
established, Consolidation is most
needed in towns of small and scat
tered population and small grand
lists, and it is in such towns that
consolidation and transportation are
most strenuously opposed. Oppo
sitlon is largely matter of dollars
and cents. No one can justly blame
the people in poor towns for being
on their guard against having their
taxes increased beyond what they
can afford to pay without positive
hardship. Here is an extract from
/ a Vermont union superintendent
report for 1901: "In the five dis
trict schools in town the average
number of pupils enrolled for the
term recently closed was nine and
the average daily attendance was
eight. The age of the pupils is from
six to sixteen. To meet their needs
about thirty daily recitations are
necessary. The length of the school
day is six hours. Taking out one
hour for recesses, morning exercis-
es, seat work, etc., leaves only about
ten minutes for each recitation
| of ho al ic@ 0f
pupils or less, and consequently
there is no friendly rivalry to stir
ambition, and not enough variation
to awaken interest. The classes are
too small and there are so many of
them that no teacher can do justice
to the children In three schools
the average enrolment was seven
and the average attendance six. It
is plain that good results are we'll
nigh an impossibility under these
conditions. The superintendent rec
ommends that two of these schools
be closed and the pupils transported
to the village school. The benefits
of such an arrangement would be
many. 1t would provide a three
room graded school with three
grades to a room, and it is a fact
that pupils in good graded school
of three or more rooms usually
learn more in two terms than
district school of small class
es. In the matter Of the other schools
the superintendent recommends that
two be closed and the pupils be
carried to the third. Some parents
may object to these changes, but it
is pretty certain that their opposition
will be dispelled by the new interest
and greater progress of the child
rem
Under the present system of state
aid to schools a town receives $64
annually per legal school, and a
legal school is one that has an aver
age attendance of six for the school
year. Thus the state has put a pre-
MUM on small weak schools. Con-
slider the schools just quoted. If
four are closed the town will lose
$256 year. The cost of the schools
would be less in some particulars,
but the loss of 1886 is one of the
hardest arguments to overcome in a
discussion with the taxpayers. Why
not allow the towns to draw the
legal school money according to the
present apportionment even if some
of the schools should be improved by
being consolidated? 1t is poor policy
continues to maintain six schools
five of which are very poor ones,
just so long will the state pay it $64
a year per school, but if the town at
tempts to improve the schools by
consolidation then it must lose $64
for each school closed.
Schools are maintained for the
the good of the whole state. Lack
of education levies penalty on the
state in the maintenance of our pen
al institutions. In many of our
towns the schools are small and in
the hand of poorly prepared and in
efficient teachers. Although the |
terms are short and the teachers
poorly paid the burden of taxation is
almost uncomfortable. 1t is manifest
ly unjust that some towns should |
have to tax themselves three times
as much as some other towns more |
favorab1y situated, in order to do |
their share of the work which right
fully belongs to the state as whole. |
Moreover it is unjust to the child to
make him get along with short |
terms, poor equipment, and poor
teaching. The report of the state
superintendent Of education for 1917
shows that Belvidere expended II I
per cent of it's grand list for current |
school expenses, and had only $1O.-
So per pupil, while Burlington eX-
pended only 43 per cent, but greater
property valuation brought $23.67
per pupil. Morristown expended 60
per cent AMI realized $24.50 per
pupil.
Eden, also in Lamoi1le county, ex-
pended 113 per cent and realized
$22.95 per pupil, an amount con-
less than Burlington realiz-
ed on its 43 per cent or Morristown
on it's so. Other statistics from the
Vermont school report for 1910
show that inequality of taxation for
school support is general throughout
the state.