Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1916-12-01
Facts Concerning
Our Rural Schools.
County Superintendent Zina Fessen-
den Makes Statement Concerning
the Problem Of Education in Rural
Districts.

the Problem Of Education in Rural
Districts.
The article entitled "The Rural
School" signed "A Mother" which
was printed in late issue of the
Plain Dealer was very interesting to
me. I wish that every mother and
father in this county would respond
to the call of this mother and get to-
gether as a club or association to
boost for better rural schools. At the
first meeting of this association it
would be necessary to formulate a
plan for Investigating actual rural
school conditions in the state of To-
wa, and the school laws regulating
the rural schools of Iowa. If this
were done, and done thoroughly, the
tide of resentment that is rolling out
from the lips and hearts of many Of
the school patrons against the teach
ers, school officers, state department
of public instruction, and the legis-
lature, would soon roll back, and in
it's place would come great wave of
enthusiasm and interest that would
create better rural schools in the face
of the failure Of the adverse criticism
that preceded it.
We know that the rural schools of
Iowa are not what they should be, that
on the average, they are not up to the
standard Of the city schools, but
neither are they in any other state.
The Mother" mentioned the superior
advantages to be obtained in the
schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Perhaps there are some advantages
1t was my privilege few years ago
to teach in the state of Minnesota. At
that time knew some rural teachers
and saw some rural school houses
that I really couldn't have told from
Iowa teachers and school houses if
l hadn't known I was in Minnesota
The fact is, there are now in Howard
county several Minnesota teachers
who hold good Minnesota certificates.
Some of them have taught in Mime
sofa and all can teach there if they
wish. We had one teacher this fall
from Wisconsin. Isn't it queer that
these Minnesota and Wisconsin teach
ers are not any better than many of our
teachers who were born and reared
and educated in Howard county, To-
wa?
| A misunderstanding of the meaning
of public schools" has led the writer
of the above mentioned article to mis-
interpret the laws governing the rural
schools. The public schools of a state
or nation are all schools financed and
controlled by the general public
Hence, the rural schools of Howard
county are public schools and come
under Sec. ELISA. of the school law
referred to as proof that the rural
schools were not required to teach
manual training, domestic science and
| agriculture. That section states def.
initely that the vocational subjects
must be taught in the rural schools
in these words, 1.-THE teaching of ele-
mentary agriculture, domestic science
and manual training shall, after the
first day of July, nineteen hundred fif-
teen, be required in the public schools
of the state; and the state superin-
tendent of public instruction shall
prescribe the extent of such instruc-
ton in the public schools" The rea-
son the rural schools of Howard coun-
ty are not equipped to teach these
subjects is because of the failure on
the part of the author of this section
of the law, to put in a clause COM
polling the local boards to furnish the
equipment. Any work that the teach
ers of Howard county are doing in
the vocational subjects is done against
| the greatest obstacles, and I am glad
| and proud to hear that they are
| "clamoring" for material to work
with. l know as we'll as any of the
patrons, that under conditions pre-.
vailing in Howard county at present
it takes a first class teacher to gel
results of value in this work, but the
law providing that it shall be taught
is a good law and we shall comply
with the law to the best of our abili-
ty, for if the pupils in the rural dis
tricts of this state are to "enjoy the
same privileges and rank as high as
the pupils in town schools" they must
have this work. They can never have
the same privileges, if we refuse te
try to comply with the law just be.
cause conditions that can be changed
| ,,nalro II difficult To connnlu with tn