Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1915-01-26

Under the present irresponsible
method Of organizing and manipulate
ing school districts in the country
areas great injustice is done both the
pupils and the nonresident property
owners, says E. D. Cowen, in the
Spokesman Review. The ease with
which districts may be created by a
few non-taxpaying individuals, and
then bonded and assessed for their
own selfish purposes, has imposed
unnecessary burdens on the timber
tract owners Of western Washington
and of railroad rights of way through
out the state. While these impositions
are tolerated because of that affection
for the public school system which
even the managers Of the soulless
corporations are imbued with they are
immoral in character and wasteful of
taxable resources that were better
conserved for other purposes.
In innumerable instances the chill
dren in whose name these meagerly
populated districts are maintained
could receive better educational facil-
tiles at great saving by concentrat.
ing them in school centers and con.
veying them from and to their homes
daily. Some Of the county superin-
tendents are working along this line
under the consolidation provisions Of
the school code. but they are having
q hard time Of 1t making headway. In
government of the school system out
side Of the cities, on the county unit
plan, lies the remedy.
Example Of Waste.
It will be interesting to illustrate
q situation that is common to almost
every county Of the state by citing
a few examples. In 1913 there were
no children in district No. %, Frank
lin county. and its territory was about
to be consolidated with the adjoining
districts. To prevent that action GER
tain residents hired a man to move
into the district with his family, con-
sisting of wife and five or six chill
dren. They thereupon elected them
selves trustees and employed the
mother as teacher and hired the faith
or to haul the children to school and
serve as janitor.
As the result of quarrel between
the father of the school children and
the chairman Of the school board he
was discharged. His wife resigned
and took the children out of the
school. The chairman was then
elected as teacher, with no children
to teach, but opened the schoolhouse
every day and remained there during
school hours and at the end Of the
month drew his warrant and present
ed it for payment. The county treas.
urer refused to pay it. Then the trus-
tees threatened the father of the chill
dren with prosecution for failure to
send his children to school. To cir
cumvent this threat the wife opened
. private school and taught her own
children. At the succeeding election
The father defeated the chairman.
and re-employed his wife, and
The school is now maintained by her.
Whether her warrant can be legally
paid is q question.
Eight Pupils, Two Schools.
In one Benton county district for
the year ended in June, 1914, the av-
erage attendance was eight pupils
For these pupils two schools were
operated. located about three miles
apart. The teachers were paid $s5 q
month. Every convenience that could
be thought Of was supplied. Books
Of all descriptions were purchased for
the library. Among them was
'Trautwine." q technical volume re-
quired for an engineering college. not
q primary school. In this district
there was raised by direct taxation on
the 1913 tax rolls $S993.47, or approx
imately $500 pupil. This does not
include the state and county school
tax. In the energetic overhauling Of
Benton county levies this year. how
ever, the taxes Of this district were
reduced to reasonable bounds.
Conditions In school district No. III,
in the extreme southwest corner Of
Spokane county, are Characteristic Of
many that are founded on rights Of
way property in eastern Washington.
This district ID two years old. con-
tains only four sections Of land and