The Brinkley argus., 1916-05-26
PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ARK
 ANSAS
No. 6. The High School Problem.

Extension Service, University of
 Arkansas, and U. s. Depart
 ment of Agriculture.
 Most people, in considering a oues- tion of law or statecraft, will ask l whether this or that action is in har- | mony with the intent of the lawmak- CTS or with certain judicial decisions In considering the American high l school, however, it is not pertinent to ask whether this or that is in harmony with the original purpose of the foun- ders or originators, because the high school must be considered as piece of present-day machinery for the training of men and women for the duties of the present and future. It must, therefore, be measured by oer- tain reasonable laws of efficiency. | The high school may be inefficient because of inferior teachers, insufl- cient equipment, an inadequate and badly planned building, because of bad social conditions of the commu- nity or because of wrong ideas and ideals of those in control as to what the high school should be and what
 1t should do. In a way, the high school should be measured by certain
 rules of factory efficiency. It takes
 in certain raw material and the pub lio or any critic has right to ask how the output compares with the
 original raw material. If 1t takes in
 a hundred f1rst-year students and
 graduates fifteen, the public has
 right to know the reasons for this
 great mortality. If we accept the
 claim of many, that the higs school
 should be the preparatory sehool for
 the university, and only three of the
 fifteen enter the university, the pub
 lie has a right to know why.
 If the high school however, is ac-
 cepted as the peoples college" and
 not as a preparatory school for col ' lege, we have a right to ask in what way 1t has prepared its students for ! the occupations they will follow. Ninety per cent of the girls will be home makers, and few schools in Ar kansas have taught them many les SOllo Ol tiuClCllSy LOA tltto SlCeiI AlIO work. The majority of the boys will ' enter some form of commercial life I with no preparation except the desire to dress well. Too many of the grad
 uates, and far too many of those who dropped out on the way, enter upon
 forms of clerical or office work.
 The high school offers the finest op- portunity in America for the great work of preparedness for the problems
 that must come. So far 1t has sig .nally failed when measured by the ordinary laws of efficiency It has thrown out too much waste. There Is no good excuse for the horrible mor- tality that marks the earlier years of the high school course. Such mortal ,ity proves that the system has been too ruthless and that too little thought was given to the 97 per cent and too much thought to the 3 per cent; too little regard for the eff sciency of the many and too much thought for the glory of the few. It must be admitted that far too many high schools have had little, if any, influence even in building up an effi- cient community citizenship. It be- :hooves thoughtful patrons of our schools and earnest patriotic men and women to give serious consideration | to the problem of making the high ! school an efficient factory.
 No factory can be efficient with in- !. ferior buildings and inferior workmen \ wio are paid low wages. In Arkansas | we cannot have efficient high schools K until each community provides ade- | quate and well arranged buildings and | adequate equipment and we'll paid teachers who have the training and zeal that will enable them to do efi- | cient work for training efficient citi- |t zens. Our communities must come to \ appreciate the fact that the high school should train for efficiency in ' the business of that community.
 The modern high school. to be an ' efficient factory for efficient members \ of a democracy, should be an eXpon' enf of good health, good morals and
 real efficiency in all things. It should 4 SJdQQ TOT lDuuStIldliSLn dlO dSliCuf
 ture and home making. The efficient high school should have more attrac-
 tive power to draw into 1t larger
 proportion of those from the lower
 grades and greater holding power
 for retaining in it's ranks those who
 enter the high school. It should send 4 its students into the industrial or the
 commercial world or into the homes
 of the community as efficient work
 CTS This cannot be possible until
 more money is put into the invest
 ment in the way of buildings equip
 ment and teachers, and real efficiency
 cannot be possible until courses of
 study shall be offered that will pre-
 pare for efficiency in the community
 and the avowed purpose of the high
 school be declared to be to train for
 community efficiency and not merely
 train for college