The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-04-17
BENNINGTON, VT, APRIL II, 1871;
CHANGES OF DOUBTFUL VALUE

CfRNOEo Or DOOO 7 VI NN-O 1
A dispatch has been sent out rela-
tive to the work and plans ofthe new
board of education, which will in the
I near future take over the oversight of
, the educational system of the state.
, The first paragraph OF the dispatch is
, as follows:
According to an announcement
made by H. d. Ryder. secretary of the
new board of education, old style ed
EDUCATIONAL meetings" will be discon-
tinued in Vermont. The board has
voted to approve expenditures for
gatherings of teachers and school of
ficials, but has refused to authorize
general educational. rallies, whose use
fullness has been 6htlived.
In view of the fact that during the
past ten years the state of Vermont
has advanced from well down the line
into the first division of states in edu-
cation progress, The Banner is inclin-
ed to think that the new board of ed
ucation should go slowly in making
any radical changes.
These so-called educational rallies,
which the new board says have out
lived their usefulness, were started
when educational affairs in Vermont
were at their lowest ebb. That they
have been an important factor can
hardly be denied. The results show
it. The Banner was not familiar with
these meetings until within the past
three or four years. but beginning
some ten years ago hundreds of these
rallies have been held chiefly in the
smaller communities of the state.
During the past three years the
writer has attended and participated
in few of these meetings, and
through others. and especially
through representatives at Montpe-
lier during the past three sessions of
the legislature, has heard much of the
work accomplished We are aware
that they have been criticised in
few quarters. but in the opinion of
The Banner, they have been one of
the chief factors in the remarkable
progress that has been made by Yer
mont along educational lines, until
the state now ranks among the first
twelve of the union
In the larger and more progressive
towns, perhaps these rallies are not
needed but we must remember that
Vermont is made up largely of small
and somewhat isolated communities
The citizens of these communities
average just as well as any citizens of
the state, but they are busy with their
own affairs and the hard labor of sup
porting their families. and do not have
state issues and discussion of state
affairs brought home to them unless
by some special means. These edu-
cational rallies have served a great
purpose.
They have had a large share in
changing Vermont from one of the
most conservative to one of the most
progressive states in the union. Yer
mont now takes hold of advanced
ideas with spirit and enthusiasm, and
the information, enthusiasm and op-
timism disseminated at these rallies
has done its full share in this devel-
opment. The one address on What
Constitutes Success" which Hon.
Frank l.. Greene has given at over 100
of these rallies, has been worth to the
state OF Vermont ten times what the
total expenses of all the rallies has
cost
The Banner believes that the board
of education has made a serious mis-
take in cutting out one of the most
valuable instruments in the advance
of Vermont
There is plenty of work for the new
board of education. Some way is
needed to pay our teachers better
wages, especially in the rural schools.
The best of these teachers will not
remain in these schools unless they
are better paid, while the poorer ones
are dear at any price. Our Vermont
teaches should be trained to teach