The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-07-21
Condition of Rural
School
Trustee Takes Issue With Re-
port of Grand Jury Commit
tee

One Of the easiest things in the
world to do is to find fault with
other people, and the rural schools
committee of the Grand Jury, of
which Mr.. Irving Ryttenberg is
chairman, seems to find peculiar
pleasure in doing up the schools of
the county. According to their report
Sumter county. outside of the city.
which is rich and prosperous, has no
school advantages and convenences
worth mentioning and if their idea is
to paint so black picture as to drive
people away from the farms, they
would likely succeed. The teachers
though, should thank their stars that
the committee did not see fit to make
any report about them, or they too,
might be painted in as dark colors as
their schools have been. The commit
tee makes one fling at them, however,
OF which 1T ought to feel very much
ashamed They say: ",rhe pay is very
poor and no doubt the service rem
dered Is In proportion to the pay"
can not speak for the trustees OF
other districts but so far as school
district NO. l Is concerned, we have as
good teachers as can be found any
where, teachers who love their pro-
fession and who give good efficient,
conscientious service regardless Of the
amount Of salarv received and who
would scorn the low ideal set up by the
committee. They are poorly paid but
they are honest ard do good work, re-
gardless of what the committee may
think about it. And right here, l
would say that Messrs. Willie Shaw
and j. Il. Burkett, my fellow trus-
tees, are men who feel as much inter-
est in the schools as the rural COM
mittee of the grand jury and they are
expending the limited amount of mon
ey at their disposal i'm the manner
which seems best to them and when
there Is not enough, of course, some
details have'to be neglected. We have
always furnished watef at the schools
and there is abundant water at the
Singleton school. notwithstanding the
report says there is none.
The teacher of the Jordan school
tells me that the grounds were cleaned
up regularly during the school term
but since the school closed the grounds
are not so well kept she supposes.
No committee visited that school dur
ing the past term.
School trustees receive no pay at all
and busy men find it very hard to
keep in touch with all the little de-
tails around the school grounds, not
even having the opportunity to visit
the schools at the expense of the coun-
W, as the committee may have done.
The Winn school building is not a.
shack. but "a neat school house, that
Is fit for even the children of the ru-
raj school committee to attend, though
1t may seem very "mean" to men who
live In fine houses with plenty of
money to keep them up.
Our desk supply is reasonably suf-
ficient and no children sit on the floor
as reported. II does not seem to have
occurred to the committee that the
country population in some sections
Is constantly shifting and school may
start off with more than enough desks
only to find itself short of them before
close of the term. We have not enough
money to provide for those sort Of
contingencies, but hope to levy an ex-
ira amount this summer for such pur-
poses and for increasing salaries. In
the meantime, the committee can do
no good by captious, wholesale criti.
cisnl, and may do great harm. Gentle.
men II you can't help us, don't hinder
us.
~ Respectfully,
f "a Ay E. F. Miller,
.N3S Trustee District No. ].