The Neshoba Democrat., 1913-01-16
MISSISSIPPI as IN EDUCATION
STATE SUPERINTENDENT POWERS
TELLS WHY.
People Spend Millions on Good Roads
and Neglect Schools.-Teachers Pay
Averages $210 Per Year.

Jackson.-State Superintendent of Ed
ucation Powers has issued statement
! in regard to educational conditions in
Mississippi, after he read a report OF
the Russell Sage Foundation, of New
York, which put Mississippi in forty
fifth place of the states of the Union
in general educational efficiency.
The superintendent showed that the
number of negro children in school eX-
ceeded the whites by more than 100000
and assigns this as one reason. In his
+ statement he urges the people to take
more interest in matters educational, and
appeals to the press to assist in build
ing up the state educational system.
He urges the need OF better schools and
better school buildings, gives valuable
and interesting figures which he recently
compiled, and says he hopes the people
will take note of the educational stand
ing of the state.
The statement of Superintendent of
Education Powers, in full, is as follows:
Il have seen the full educational re-
port of the Sage Foundation, but have
not found time to verify the figures in
the report. | am, therefore, not sure
that the figures are correct.
This report seems to be based on the
length of the school year and the at
tendance of the children of school age.
On such basis our standard is natural
ly low by comparison. | note that the
three other states given by the report a
lower standard than Mississippi \are
states which have a large negro popu-
lation. 1t must be remembered that in
the states where We have a large negro
population the educational efficiency
based as above is much lower than in
those states where such population is
small. We have done pretty well when
we take into consideration the great bur-
den we are bearing. The negro pays but
little tax and it is no little burden upon
the state to educate him. Why, this
state has today 1871 1856 educable chill
dren and of this number 5,067 are ne
groes. This gives the state 114,57S more
negro children than whites. Forty-one
counties in Mississippi have larger
negro population than white. Is it any
wonder that we have had and are hav-
ing struggle to maintain a high stand
ard on the basis given in this report?
81 note that Mississippi stands forty
eighth in value of school buildings and
property. l believe this is largely true. l
have reports received recently from coun-
ty superintendent in which I find that
the average value of rural school prop.
erty per county is less than $4,000.
The court houses in the various counties
cost more money than all the rural
school property combined In the towns
and cities we issue bonds to build and
equip school houses and buy school prop.
erty. In the rural districts we have
never had such authority until very re.
Gently. While I am firm advocate of
good roads, I would like to call the at
tention of the people of Mississippi to
the fact that while hundreds of thou.
sands of dollars in bonds are being is.
sued in the various counties to build
o''N io"N"1 WV nave HoJ ,FeG ldu
county to take advantage of the recent
law giving authority to issue bonds to
build and equip good rural schools. Is it
not time for progressive leaders like
those promoting good roads to give their
Influence to the issuing of bonds for bet.
ter school buildings in the rural dis
tricts? In most of the rural districts of
the state the little crude, one-story, poor.
ly equipped school houses are a disgrace
to the state, but we certainly cannot ex-
pect the people to build better ones
without bond issues. II the school build
ings in this city We're to burn down to.
night you could not raise S. 900 by sub.
scription to rebuild them, but there
would not be ten votes against bond
issue to rebuild every one on a better
plan than before
The department of education wants
the people to take note of our educa-
tional standard. 1t wants the laitv to
take more interest in the needs of the
rural schools. 1t wants the leaders
throughout the state to awake to a real.
ization of the work, in this regard. tba,
lies before u.s."