The weekly soliphone. (Paragould, Greene County, Ark.) 1907-1918, 1915-06-04
HIGH SCHOOL AID
HIT BY DECISION
Chancellor Martineau Holds Specific
Appropriation Should Have Been
Made by Solons.

i
Rock yesterday by Chancellor Mar
tineau stands there will be no state
aid to high schools in Arkansas dur
ing the next two years, unless some
way is found through a proclama-
ton of the governor to legalizing
the issuance of warrants upon the
fund.
The decision of the chancellor
was rendered in an injunction pro
ceeding instituted by Senator w. o
Edmondson of Stone county, who
championed a bill in the recent
state senate to repeal the law APP
propriating $4,000 annually to
high schools that met certain re-
quirements in maintaining nor
NAL course for the free instruction
of rural students who desired to
equip themselves for teaching. Sen
ator Edmondson and others who OPP
posed this appropriation contended
it was unconstitutional and made a
strong fight in the senate to pass
the repeal bill that had already
been passed by the house. How
ever, majority of the senator's did
not take this view of the matter and
refused to repeal the act making
the appropriation.
Recently Senator Edmondson fill
ed injunction proceedings in chan
Gerry court in Little Rock to prevent
the state board from drawing war
rants on the fund. In passing up
on the case Chancellor Martineau
said there was no doubt in his
mind about the constitutionality of
the appropriation, that the high
schools were a part of the common
school system of the state and that
the legislature had a right to make
the appropriation, but he held that
it required specific act upon the
part of the general assembly to
make the fund available, and mas
much as no such act was passed by
the recent general assembly, the
state board could not legally draw
upon the fund. He therefore grant
ed the injunction asked, and by
agreement of the attorneys the in
junction was made permanent so the
case could go Immediately to the
supreme court. If the chancellor
is sustained by that tribunal the
result will be that boys and girls
from the country districts will no
longer be given free tuition in the
high schools.
The high school aid issue has
been fought out in the legislature
several times as well as upon the
political stumps. Where the people
are not properly advised it has been
an easy matter for office seekers to
make it appear the state is taking
funds from the common school dis
tricts and using the money to build
up the schools in the cities. This is
half a truth that perhaps has more
weight than a whole untruth.
There is an idle surplus of more
than a million dollars in the COM
mon school fund in the state treas
ury, and from this immense sur
plus the legislature has for four
years appropriated $4,000 annual
ly to establish teachers training
courses in high schools where GER
tain rigid requirements laid down
by the state board were complied
with. One of the conditions is that
any boy or girl from the rural dis
tricts be given free tuition in all
the high school grades.
The Paragould high school sew
eral years ago began complying with
the conditions imposed and has
been receiving approximately $500
a year in the form of state aid.
With this money an additional
teacher has been employed, new
equipment added, and instruction
furnish in all the high school grades
to every boy and girl from the
common or rural specialN districts
who came to the school.
During the past four years the
Paragould high school has turned
out fifty-nine graduates. OF this
number twenty-five have been
bright boys and girls from the
country. Nearly every one of those
from the country who have been
graduated from the local high
school returned to the country dis
tricts and taught school. 1t is con-
servatively estimated that each
graduate comes in touch with at
least forty pupils and that on ac-
count of his superior training he
is able TO give better instruction to
the pupils in the rural schools.
Thus the Investment the state has
made in each teacher who takes the