Norwich bulletin., 1919-06-26
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
If Junior High School, Why Not An Intermediate School, and by and by a Senior High School?

Senior High School?
 Mr Editor: As one interested in ed- ucational matters as well as taxes in Norwich, it struck me that the meeting last evening was a rather poorly att tended affair for matter of such vital importance to the citizens of Norwich. What is the answer?
 Does it mean that they are ready to sit on it and are not interested enough to listen to the story, or are they go- ing to sit idly by and let it be strad- dled on to an already heavily taxed community without word?
 Our school taxes at present run up some eight mills or more. Now you should add to this the amount of mon- ey which is paid annually by the town to the Norwich Free Academy and which has been increased once and with the possibilities of a still further increase, which money would bring our school taxes up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 mills.
 Under the old system of separate school districts and boards, I doubt if there was a single instance where the taxes went above mills; in some there were practically no taxes, in oth CTS it was mills. Four mills was the highest I can recall. Possibly the one district which wanted this combination to get together and share it's burden might have gone above the mills.
 .Has' our school system improved under this new idea? I cannot see where it has; in fact, quite to the con- trary. Under the old system the va rious schools educated and graduated their pupils for the Academy; now some of the schools, for instance the Falls. has to send it's pupils to Broad 1 way before they can graduate. It has been stated that the schools are oyer-crowded. Is this true in any | school in Norwich except the West | Side? The Falls School district has room to spare and give away I under stand, and the same is true in some | other schools, they have plenty Of 1 rom.
 What is to be gained by compli- 1 eating our common school system with 1 these accessories which are of no | greater value than for the purpose of l making a lot of new school positions and cemplicating our system. Of 1 course the more complicated it be- comes, the more money it takes to run | it and the more teachers required. l Does a great array of buildings, half 1 d | prise a school, or doesn't it after all l (to follow the remark of a famous ed l ucator) consist of proper instructor i on a log? But it seems we have de- parted from those ideas, and what we | want now is grandeur and all kinds of 1 complications.
 In the city of Norwich we have a | number of institutions which are l largely supported by moneys receiy- | ed from the citizens or from the state
 These institutions are run by self l perpetuating and self governing
 bodies. They are responsible in no way to the people who contribute te
 and assist in supporting them. Wher
 moneys are given by the citizens oi
 by the state. they should be repre-
 scented on such boards.
 Why don't tine people interest them
 selves in some public spirited citizer and induce him to make donation tc
 the town, such as the recent Slator do,
 nation, and have another board of cor.
 porators elected and incorporated, ant
 then have the institution supported b! ' public moneys by another self consti tuted and life-perpetuating body? If we want a, Junir High School, why
 don't we want an intermediary ant then senior? Have the three old RI
 so materially changed that we hav | got to have all these various depart ments made now to teach them? 7 cannot see how the present day chii, . has anything on the one who gradu , ated 25 or 30 years ago. In those day he had a substantial amount of knowI edge of the things he did undertak
 to learn. Today he has spattering 0
 little of everything. Give us lit
 tie more practical sound education ant less nonsensieal theories. Why burdel the mind of the common school ehil, with something which will be of n ? material value to him and which h | will not carry with him much beyon
 the doors of the school? If you hay s got any side issue to furnish him, bu ] baseball bat for him and let hin g go out and have a good time, am I when he graduates from the commo 7 school let him enter upon the line 0 work in which he is interested if h
 is not interested in higher education , I wonder if somebody has build :. ing site which they want to sell to tn school board, or to the citizens for thi new junior high school! There is gen erally motive in most undertaking l which seem to occur in our city.
 In order to apply to the patriotism
 of the tax payers, this idear is camou s flaged by calling it a memorial to tn soldiers and sailors or whatever yo e desire. We do not know yet wna f they will call it.
 ' thing that the citizens of Norwich ca A do is to revert back to the old distrie school system, where teachers are em