Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-11-02
AN EDUCATIONAL SURVEY.
eof'e Fundamental Problems,

:. oSN iotNTI SURVEY,
 :soh'e Fundamental Problems.
 notwithstanding the commendable 5f1tFlh lii our public schools in the b"sS SIX years recent survey of the ae'i'oiS Ill all states made by the Sage 'p'h""tlou shows that in the basis of 9hcf'tncy the schools of Arkansas lanE forty third. This means that so sae as educational opportunities are Goiceihed there are forty-two better atta19s t Iii which to rear children. This tltotmatlon is humiliating to our state pride, 1t is alarming to those of us WHO nave children to educate. If it is trA3 We should face. the situation sqaofGly, Evasion and explanation G.h! 1']E Tnend it. While we are de. l2s"5 IT apoligizing fifty thousand of a@e ls']lldien are every year passin;; fle.dlrt tie school age without the op- t"ttaiutles offered to children in .sthef ;fatas.
 Ire Rural Schools.-These schools gre Icet 1pen less than six months of ltzzs Sf'tir spne of them for enc month 54's Illey ttre i'll charge of teachers 8aS fre paid less per year than IS 2=ti4a4 O. Insk1lled. laborers, less than eh ...i'tf ol them having had any edu. a54Ata o7> ohd the common school 8' adGiies and no professional train. Ih@ whatever, considerably less than . ,a aalf ol tnc children of school age 5'e [" daily attendance; that is, there 4 9lG lay Taen half the children of our g @ @te aI9 iii school, and less than six .5e'i:.e Der annum per child is expend- ad tct mallttenance. It Is painful to eentfadt these conditions with those ii ajlincls, for instance, in which the a4JpaA 2Npenditure per pupil is twen. l. three dollars, or with Washington il2 wflch it is thirty.two dollars. In aOth Of these states the school term is = ! hgnired and seventy days, prac. }l12llT all of the teachers have had scIAa professional training, and under compulsory attendance laws all chil. aren under sixteen years are in school.
 Special Districts.-In the villages and larger towns conditions are some what better The school term Is longer, teachers are better paid and therefore better trained, and the per. cottage oi daily attendance Is higher. But even here, except in few places, t.le schools are far below the stand. ards in similar places in surrounding states. In many districts the free te,na nf from three to five months has been followed by a private term, and in some cases there has been no free term at all, payment for tuition having been required of all high school pupils and occasionally from all pupils.
 . Teachers.-The chief factor in the efficiency of the schools is the teacher. He must have not only native ability, but training as well.
 School Laws.-The inefficiency oi our schools is not due primarily to lack of funds. The source of the trouble lies ill our antiquated school laws. Under these and the recent de- cision of the Supreme Court in the State Aid case our public school sys tenn is about to break down under the demands made upon it by the condi, tions of modern life. @ |
 Remedies. These unsatisfactory conditions deserve the attention of all thoughtful people. They affect every home and every child in the state, es pecially those in the rural districts We need new system with new SC; of school laws, beginning with the constitution so far as it concerns edu cation. Among the changes needed tc modernize the system are the follow ing:
 1. The passage at the next general election of the constitutional amend ment permitting local districts to vote 9 maximum school tax of twelve mills
 2. A constitutional amendment making the county the principal schoo unit.
 g. A county btard of education with authority to manage the schools of the county.
 .4 4. A county superintendent in eact county appointed by the county board of education. ..
 5. A county high school in eacf county of the state under. the mfnags niient of the county board of education
 ss. The adaptation of the common echool course of study to the needs O the children by the introduction ,o industrial courses g
 F. An awakening to the fact tha half the children of the state are al ways cut of school; eventually the. will all vote.rB. w. lorreyson, Nttl' A