The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-27
WHAT THE RURAL
 sr SCHOOLS ARE DOING

There are signs that the rural schools are at last coming into their own Long the neglected factor in American education, they are now in progress of a regeneration that is as rhorough-going it is necessary
 It is not merely that educators have turned their attention to the problem; sr is not merely that much is cur rentIy written on the subject Gone fourth of the bulletins published in 1s12 by the United States Bureau Of Education deal directly with rural ed- ucafion); it is rather that theory has given place to practice; that the work of rural education is actually under way.
 Teachers of experience armed with the essential facts of rural life, ac- quafuted with the needs of the com- muuities they serve, sincere in their faith in the country as the place to live in and build up citizenship. are doing for the rural districts what the pioneer teachers of former generations did for the city and the town.
 These rural teachers are actually accomplishing the work that has so long been merely talked about. Old one-room ram-shack1e schoo1houses are torn down to make way for at tractive little buildings, not necessar- fly larger than the old, but built on sound principles of beauty and util- 1trs or frequently, the place of the discarded building has been taken by the more imposing structure of the consolidated school, symbol of educa- fional efficiency.
 Even the literature on rural educa- tion shows the effects of the practical application of what were formerly on- lg theories. Current bulletins of the Bureau of Education describes the trzznfng of rural school teachers, not 5. r, as something that has been done and is done every day. It Is no longer the problem of knowing what ought to be done. but of doing 1.-the problem of disseminating the knowledge that ts already available.
 The realization of the significance of rural education marks turning point in American history. For the better part of a century American ed ucztion developed one-Side edly-as a city and town matter. To live in the country was to be isolated from the better things of civilization-includ- ing education That the population of the United States was and is pre- dominantly rural did not seem to enL ter the question. There was a feeling that the country could take care of itself: that the little red school house. could accomplish everything with nothing; that there was an in [A1@@ASl1O1S supply OI country SCHOOL teachers willing to handle an assort- ment of youngsters of varying ages and abilities, do janitor chores and perform the numerous other duties of the o1d-time schoolmaster, all for a few dollars per week, with utter dis regard of the incre ased cost of living
 The awakening from this state of bIissfu1 indifference toward country life and country education did not come until the drift from country 70 city had become one of the startling phenomena of the age. Then econo- mists exhorted boys to ''stay on the farm; but the exhortation came too late What boy was going to stay on the farm when opportunity seemed to be everywhere else? There were no adequate educational facilities for him in the country nothing to guide him in his.desire to get along in the world so he went to join the city throng and help diminish the producing power of the fundamental class in society," the agriculturists.
 Rural education can not inanediate- ly and entirely reverse this process but it is the first essential step. Bet ter rural schools will not only tend to equalize the advantages of city and country in educational opportunity; they will meet the greatest economic need of our time by increasing the efficiency of the coming generation as producers on the land.