The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-07-27
->Ef-bfD-A BETTER SCHOOL
SiSTEM-NO. =.
Il! frof. w. ii. Hand. State In>pcc-
tor of High Schools.

4
IN the past six years our State school
law dealt almost exclusively with ele.
mentary school matters. as if a school
system We're embraced within the
narrow but charmed limits Of the
three :. And but one Act has add
ed TO the range or compass Of the law
the high school Act of 1907. No
state can lay claim to having a sys-
tenn Of education until it embraces
elementary, secondary, and higher
lnsttutlons; and no school law is ade-
quate until it provides for the es-
tapllshment, maintenance, and man
agement OF all three types.
Whenever symmetrical system Of
education SHAH have been wrought
out and given expression in a work
able school law, 1t must come directly
or indirectly from the brains and
hands of educational experts. from
educational statesmen. Those who are
u construct an efficient system of
education ana interpret it in terms IF
q legal code must be familiar with
educational systems in this and 9TH
CT countries must understand the
philosophy and functions of modern
education. and must be able to ad-
Just educational, economic, and social
forces. 1T is no reflection whatever
upon anyone TO say that the creative
part Of this work will never be
Wrought out on the floor of A popu-
lar legislative assembly, any more
IMAM t. say that an efficient system
Of banking will never be wrought out
on the floor of such an assembly. In
such body there are too many crude
and divergent notions ever to be TO-
cused on workable system. without
the brains and hands of the EXPERT.
Almost any KIND of school legislation
proposed in a popular assembly of
lawmakers calls forth all manner Of
lcrude, eccentric, il-dgested, and
whimsical notions and schemes. on
such occasions every conceivable
shade of opinion from extreme radi-
calism to ultra conservatism finds
free expression and stubborn sup
port.
Since the enactment of the pres.
ent school law, under the new consti-
tuition Of 1895, it is doubtful if so
much as one full day. at any one
time has been devoted by both houses
lof the general assembly to any kind
OF Statewide constructive education
lal legislation. Admittedly some ex-
icellent legislation has been eancued.
Among such laws are the school
building law, the school library law
the present imperfect high school
law, the term extension law (known
as the Garris law), and the rural
graded school law (knOwn as the
Nicholson law) These cover most Of
the educational legislation Of the past
Isixteen years. except purely local
measures. During that same period
it is safe to assert that not less than
three solid months time has been
Igiven to wrangling over dispensary
and anti-dispensary legislaton-and
the end is not yet. 1t is confidently
Ibeiieved that the journals of the two
houses during the period already
mentioned would show that as much
time and as much serious consider
lation had been given by the law
makers to dogs and safety matches as
had been seriously given 10 construc-
tive school legislation for the chill
ldren OF the State. OF course the
time devoted to appropriations of
money already provided for by stat
ute does not count as constructive
legislation
For several years past there has
been evidence that the general assem-
bly, itself felt a pressing need of "a
Thorough revision of the school law
of the State. It was equally evident
that its members were not prepared
ITO meet the situation with anything
definite. AS body of men they were
not equal to the demands of the oc-
Icasion. and the only thing they could
do was to make feeble efforts at re-
form through further amendments t.
an already oVerdone piece of patch
work. Some relief was imperative.
Without Il single dissenting vote, a
joint resolution was passed 10y the
two houses. in 1910, creating com
mission To revise and reWrite the
school law. This commission spent
weeks in the actual work of studying