Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-01-14
Moonlight School
now kentucky Mountain Woman
round n Way 10 Drive Illitcracy
From Her state,

Tho Colony OF Massachusetts, thru
Ha great ma general court which cor
responds 10 our legislature, passed the
Act or lb41' which gave TO that
c0lohy free school system that made
education free 10 every child In the
colony In lS4S, or 20l years after
me act Of 16i7, the governor, auditor
ana treasurer OF Kentucky burned the
state bonds that had been issued to
provide free school system IN that
state In the late eighties the free
school term was only three months
IN length and the salaries were en-
ticmcly low, ana when the warrants
We're Issued for them they had to be
discounted at as much as 20 per cent
III some Instances. In the early nine.
ties the term was heightened TO five
months and n provision was made 70
allow 40 pupils 10 every district, that
ls' II the county had four thousand
pupils II drew the state per capita tax
ON four thousand, but il there were
some districts that did not have the
40 pupils, the number had 10 be al
!. lowed. For example, the per capita
>owance from the state in 1896 was
$50, and there were 81 districts In
one county that did not have the full
10 allowed to each one. -Four hun
drcd was the number that had to be
iN'A' w. anu as Il consequences, tHt
four thousand pupils at $2.20 drew
from the state the sum of $500.
This amount was sent to tho county
from the state treasurer, but there
were four thousand real pupils and
four hundred fictitious pupils To
share II, and the result was that each
pupil In the county drew 81. The
teachers In the 81 districts received
pS90 per year for their teaching serv-
NnA Ia 2 L.
they had to pay board out of that,
dress attend the county institute. buy
books, educational journals, and at
tend some sort of ''stuffiHg school
to cram for the next examination.
More prospectus times made II pos
sible to raise the per capita thruout
the state until 1t amounted TO SO or
more in the early years OF the new
century The conditions, however,
were bad enough. There were no
state normal schools and the only way
for teachers to prepare to teach was
to attend a school, taught by some
man or woman at "A schoolhousc,
where number of them paid SO per
month for tuition Twenty to fifty
would attend such a school and TAXI
down the questions which were after
ward looked up. They would buy
Craig's Common School Question
boOkt ne Nolilldl question boohi OF
Lushby's Question Book. The last
mentioned book printed the examina-
ton questions issued by the state
Board OF Examiners for the previous
20-year period and gave the answers
to them.
A constantly growing sentiment was
being awakened thruout the state for
better school conditions Profession
ally trained teachers began to be de-
manded by some daring leaders and
motions were made in institutes in
more than one county asking the leg
islature To provide normal schools.
Oh, what an opposition this aroused!
The writer remembers making such a
motion. lie remembers the speeches
in opposition made 10y those who con-
Quoted the "cramming schools" by
the Old-timc teaShers, and, worst of
all, by those whom better training
would help most. His motion was lost
by n vote of l0l To >, he and his wife
voting in favor. The state school was
opposed, the church schools were
quite bitter against the plan, acade-
mics, training schools. preparatory
schools for universities and others
protested against any such lowering
OF the good old standards.
The writer attended session of the
Kentucky Educational association at
Mammoth Cave, Ky, in 1907 About
twelve hundred teachers We're pres
ont and the state school improvement
league was formed with the avowed
purpose of securing better educational
conditions. beginning with the found
ing and maintenance of one or more
state normal schools. campaign
and a long and most bitter one had
TO be fought before success could be
assured. The teachers present sub