Newark post., 1915-08-25
EDUCATION IN
CECIL COUNTY
By o. r. Washburn

ual. The taint of economic wrong
is one that spreads through the !
whole fabric Of society. Shiftless-
ness in public school system is
more than a mere waste of money; |
it is a waste of effort, destruc-
ton of ambition and fatal to etti-
cheney in the mental realm. Cecil
county is shiftless as to education.
For this the only excuse is lgnor-
ance of actual conditions and the
complacency of those people who,
not using their thinking powers
as to the matter, congratulate
themselves upon the public schools
as they exist. AS to Cecil county
the latest official statistics | have
at hand are from the report OF the
Department of Education of Mary
land for the year ending July 31st
last year. For that period there
were, for the fall term, of white
pupils, 3467 enrolled. The aver
age attendance of these was 1888.
For the winter term 3423 were en-
rolled and an average OF Easy at
tended. During the spring term
there were 3342 enrolled and 2456
attended. During the summer term
there were 3009 enrolled and 2452
in attendance. The total enroll
ment for the school year was 3,549
the average attendance was 2,2IO.
Speaking roughly out of an en-
rollment of each fourteen pupils
five stayed away and nine came,
each day. The number OF chill
dren who ought to have been IN
school but were not enrolled at all
is not known to me; there is
considerable number of such chill
dren but | will ignore this phase
of the matter for the moment.
Considering the matter of money
waste let us look at the cost of
this method, to the tax payer,
above what the same schooling
could be obtained for if the pupils
were there each day during the
days they do attend, instead of
coming occasionally, or without
unity in being absent. The cost OF
the school year was, exclusive of
interest on money invested in
buildings and equipment, S55,OSO.
Exactly the same amount of in
struction could have been given,
and given with better effect, TAX
ing the average as the standard,
if the pupils had been compelled
to attend every school day for
nine-fourteenths of the time school
was taught. A few pupils who at
tended the full year would have
lost days of instruction under
such change but others would
have gained as many days instruc-
ton as they lost. Nine-four-
teenths of the money would have
enlightened as much as the
whole sum, had there been COM
pulsory school attendance; the
saving would have been tive-four-
teenths of S55,080 or something
over nineteen thousand seven
hundred dollars. Yet it is the be-
lief of the average citizen of Cecil
county that our schools are we'll
managed. Throwing away as far
as effective use of cash is concern
ed, third of the school money,
they congratulate themselves upon
the success of the system.
But the system by which pupils
stay away from school as they or
their parents please probably re-
duces the amount of money effect
lively used to less than one half
the total expenditures. For if
pupils attend day or two and
then are absent day or two, or in
any way break the continuity of
instruction, any teacher knows
that effective class instruction is
quite impossible. Each pupil must
be in a class with either two or
three others, or in a class where
he is going ahead with today's les
son without knowing fully the
work that has been passed while
he was absent. Schools thus
handicapped can not be effective
they can only be places of hap
hazard instruction. No teacher
can do effective work under such
conditions and no teacher will long
attempt to do so. The better train
ed teachers must, by necessity,
give up the attempt, train as best
they can the small number who do
come regularly and make the best
of the chaos that they cannot re-
duce to order and progress. 1t is
true that schools could not be run
nine-fourteenths of the present
school year for nine-fourteenths
of the money, but considering the
handicap upon teaching, under the
nracant syStpm of laXnesS in at