Pocahontas star herald., 1916-01-28
u, CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS.
By ]. r. jewell. Dean School of Edu.

H. CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS.
by j. r. Jewell, Dean School of Edu'
cation University OF Arkansas.
The most pressing educational
problem today is that OF the rural
school. Most OF the teachers are In
experienced, and salaries ere so low
that We can hardly expect better
teachers IN rural schools for some
time to come The average age OF
teachers Is continually lowering. and
more and more our country children
have as teacher some boy or girl
only just recently graduated from
Just such a school as he or she is 10
teach, but who has never seen a bet
ter school than the one Just left
Progress in every phase OF life has
been so rapid, competition is now so
severe and methods OF business have
so changed that a better and broader
education is necessary for our coun.
try children. The proper education OF
the farm boys and girls cannot be neg
lected without finally bringing ruin
upon the farming communities. II
these advantages are not provided
they viii drift into other callings.
When we reflect that Il costs Just
ns much 10 support a small school as
one Of thirty or more pupils. we catch
some idea Of the tremendous per cap
ita cost Of the Arkansas rural school.
II, through consolidation or otherwise.
these rural schools could be brought
20 have an average attendance OF say
thirty-fve pupils, the number OF
teachers required therein would be
One-half the number now employed.
But the financial question, however
important is not the most important
consideration. The fatal weakness in
these schools lies in their size. Il Is
impossible that schools so small as
many Of these are should do the best
work. With bat a handful OF pupils
.cvy. 'elChor can secure the best re-
NJ The pupils themselves miss
= the incentive and inspiration that
comes Of numbers As soon as the
!. boy and girl are free from the oper-
aiiOn Of the compulsory attendance
e law, they too. often leave school be-
cause they lind little to attract.
L Is held by all students OF this
/, problem that the only remedy is the
q consolidating or uniting Of two or
three or more small or weak schools
y into one. Consolidation. in its fullest
a sense, means the disorganization OF
A two, three or more school districts
and uniting them into one large
school district, organizing in it n large
} central school, and, II necessary,
transporting the pupils thereto.
At first thought consolidation
: would seem expensive. Experience,
however, shows that this is not true to
I any considerable degree. BY combin-
ing small schools, fewer teachers are
needed than under the separate sys.
/ TEN, thus saving certain outlay.
While several buildings are now nec
| essarily maintained, under the new
plan but one needs to be provided and
cared for.
Consolidation is by no means a new
movement. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.
| Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Da-
kota, Kansas and Colorado are all
abandoning their weak schools.
North Carolina has only recently con-
soldated twelve hundred districts.
The difficulties in the way OF con-
solidation are bad roads and dislike
to see the school house placed in any
location that is farther from the farm
than the old site. Some Of the more
obvious of the many advantages Of
consolidation follow:
1) Many country school districts
are so small and weak that no school
is conducted; (2) many others consist
Of but three or four pupils, and the
expense for elementary schooling fire.
auently amounts to more than the tu-
| ition for collegiate instruction; (3) at
least one-third of the country schools
are too small to be even fairly sue
cessful; (4) consolidation and trans
portation tend greatly to lessen ex.
pense, so that the same grade of
schools can be had much cheaper, or
a far better grade at the same ex-
pense, as patrons may DESIRE or, II
they please, full equivalent of the
best city schools may be established
and conducted at slightly greater cost
than heretofore, and at a much lower
rate than in the city.
AS things are today, without consol-
idation, country people not only pay
more for elementary instruction alone
than city schools cost, including the
high school course, but, in addition,
farmers pay out vast Gums for tuition
and other expenses OF their older chill
dren attending city schools for what
Is not offered at home.