Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1914-10-01
Conditions in Our Rural Schools.

Conditions in Our Rural Schools.
Editor Fort Mill Times:
The country has and always
will he the basis of national pros
perity and the source of national
power. If the city with it's
wealth, its culture and its COM
plex social institutions is the
flower Of civilization, the country
must always be the sturdy plant
which bears it. The fundamen-
tai wants of man are supplied by
the country and anything which
touches and influences, either
favorably or unfavorably, the de-
velopment Of the farm affects
fundamentally the whole social
and economic structure.
In discussing a subject such as
we are attempting to do, more
or less sentiment is injected in
order to secure a verdict. But
we shall endeavor not to allow
sentiment to usurp the place of
facts. We shall endeavor to con-
fine ourselves to plain truths,
Just as we know exist, and will
not make an appeal to the pas
sions and prejudices of our read
ers in an endeavor to secure
verdict.
1t has always been source of
much thought to us why the
State gives such a small amount
of support to the rural schools.
1t does not require any effort to
recall that most of our appro-
priated school money goes to the
colleges, high schools and city
or town schools, always keeping
the country schools at the bottom.
How is it possible for us to Sc
cure a high grade school teacher,
or a college graduate. to instruct
our children when we can only
offer them $50 or $50 per month?
A first grade teacher can not
afford to accept such an offer
when there are better positions
awaiting him. Consequently,
we are seldom able to secure a
college graduate as instructor.
Then too, our teachers are con-
fronted with an even greater
task than the high school
teacher. Enter the school room
ut any time and you will more
than likely find the teacher try
ing to pound geography into a
pupil Without either globe or
map. trying to teach physics
without having necessary meas
uring utensils. or endeavoring to
demonstrate mathematics on
rough piece of board, which
serves as blackboard. You
will find him hmrying along
with forty or fifty pupils, rang
ing anywhere from the first
grade to the tenth, many of
whom are only there every other
week, making it impossible for
him to give himself justice, his
pupils justice, or his patrons
justice. If You will think the
matter over thoroughly. you will
then see why we have to send
our children from the rural
school to our neighboring high
school in order to prepare them
for college. Everyone will agree
with us that this should not be
the case. We should be given
enough money to enable us to
secure high grade instructors.
and thus bring our schools up to
the standard of the city schools.
How many of our citizens re-
ceive their education from the
colleges? Weigh the question
carefully and you will find that
fOur-fifths of the voting citizens
of South Carolina have never
seen inside of college. Study
the biography of our great men
and you will see. that three
fourths of them come from the
farm. Nov. if these two ad-
mitted facts are so-no one will
hardly dispute them is it not of
great Importance that we should
invest more money in our rural
schools?
Our State colleges are not get
ting too much money if you look
at 1t from one point of view,
but when it comes to making
the rural schools suffer for their
sake, there is something funda-
mentally wrong. Robbing Peter
IN now pnt,l nc, NOT - -~~Ol