The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1914-09-03
THE SCHOOL PROBLEM.

N the whole country there is in
IE progress, in varying degrees,
the preparations for the COM
ing school term. To the very
large majority, the interest
centers only on the public school OPP
portunity, and never has there been
a greater need for the women of the
country to rouse themselves to in
terest in this question, than now.
Locally, we still have the shame
Of almost prohibitive prices on the
books which are necessary. In some
communities there have been men
at the head of the school system who
have endeavored to soften this meas
ure and lessen the charge, by put
ting in practice a sort of lease sys-
tenn by which child may rent the
books for a term or a session, on pay
ment of a very mode crate fee; all
communities, however are not sup
piled with principals or superintend-
ants of this calibre.
In many other States, while the
first cost of the books is not such a
tremendous item as to cause worry
to the parents Of limited means,
there is still the same old worry of
the child's future, after the public
school has been passed, and the cur
riculum Of the average school seems
to be advancing along the lines of the
collegiate, without specializing suffi-
GENTLY to make a finished product of
the graduate.
The victory of those who fought
for the return of ''The Old Blue
Back Speller," in Georgia, was a good
one, and one which was welcomed by
all who had the welfare of the school
children at heart, but it might have
been followed along other lines by
those who had glanced at the appalI-
ing array of books which the school
children are loaded with, and which
is the main reason why there is such
a dearth of school children in the
public schools, and so great a howl
at ''the child laborers of Georgia.
Those who are doing the bowling, do
little else, and when the opportunity
was given them to make a radical
change, which would have deprived
some grafters Of graft, and some
mills of laborers, there was nothing
noticeable along the line of activity
in the ranks of the howlers.
The question of child labor is not
confined to any one State; neither
is that of turning our half-baked
'grad yates" who, having spent at
least half their life in the school
room, have to go to specialists to
learn how to make a living The
question are correlated, and never
was it given the women of the whole
country better opportunity to do
what they may now do, to alter con-
ditions for the children of the cOun-
try.
1t has been so clearly demon
strated that what the country needs
is a citizenry with the capacity to
think for itself, to care for itself and
to work intelligently along some one
line, the question of education re-
solves itself nearly into knowing
how to read, write, spell and un-
derstand simpler mathematics.
If we could give the children the
advantages of this course, and pat
tern the country schools along the
lines of those kept in big cities for
the instruction of the ignorant for
eigner who comes to this country
without the ability to do anything
but reckon on the purchasing power
of dollar, would we have to keep
up quite SO many charitable bureaus
as is now found necessary?
And isn't it queer how much
easier it is to get people interested
in anything that savors of mission