The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1920-12-15
Commissioner Dempsey
Before State Grange
Continued from page one)

school system. This, he said, wa;
the outgrowth of century, the re-
suit OF long study and experiments
1T is sound, suited to Vermont, sat
isfactoly. Is it producing results
Much criticism is aimed at the eX-
iSting system of supervision, and it
IS very easy to point out many man
ifeSt shortcomings. The supe|intend-
ents themselves no doubt admit and
point out more defects than outsiders
would. Some dissatisfaction is due
to the men themselves, some to the
nature and extent of the districts,
some to the limitations of equipment
and support, some to the salaries paid
and some to the system. 1t is highly
probable that the present system with
! its uperintendents, teacher training
class, and state financial aid, prevent
ed the rural schools of Vermont from
going to the rocks during the last
! few years
Il have received the strong impress
sion that Nermonts educational af
fairs have received a tremendous and
healthy impetus during the last five
! years as a direct result of the pres
ent system, and | believe our further
! progress will be most certainly OBJ
! tanned through the development and
the perfection of the present system,
rather than through its abolition. Elk
pcrience and study will reveal some
required notifications, and we should
be ready, even anxious, to make them
Just as soon as the value of such
changes is clearly shown. But if any
subs titution or radical change is con-
templated, it is not wise to be first
assured beyond any reasonable doubt
that The change we propose Is IN
queStionably for the better, and free,
1T least. from other defects as serious
as those we try to avoid,
Commissioner Dempsey gave much
of the time in his carefully prepared
paper to the discussion Of the rural,
which he said was prominently the
greatest problem in the educational
work of the state. He said the dit
ficulties grouped them around four
problems: Sufficient supply of pupils,
location and convenience of access, |
financial support, the securing and (
holding Of capable teachers. In Yer !
mont the decrease in population IN the /
last decade was $3.50 and the shrink I
age in population was largely IN the /
rural communities. The speaker eS-
timatcd that the loss of rural school
pupils was 5000. This loss cannot
BE charged to the cloing of rural
schools. Vermont has suffered with
other states from tie same economic
factors that have depleted our coun-
try districts everywhere, coupled the
smaller average families now beng
reared. This me- cment has been
going on in Vermont since 1920.
1--WE all realize the practical I'M
possibility of checking the present
tendency so long as the social and f.
nancll inducements OF the cities ana
towns are more attractive. The re-
opening of schools without pupils
will not accomplish anything, any
more than the establishment of
store in a lonely country viii draw
profitable trade" /
Commissioner Dempsey advocated
an advertising program of the natur-
al resources and farm life OF YER
mont, the encouragement of filing up
the vacant farms, the freshenlng up
Of old schoolhouses and then getting
the best teachers and making the
schools models in every respect.
The law provides where schools
sholdd be located and the town school
directors locate them. THAT schools
are in many cases long distances from
the homes of children is due to the
way Vermont is created and to the
places men have chosen for Their
homes. The only practical relief Is
either to move into the centers or,
so far as schooling goes, to provide
The commissioner
then took up the question of trans
port2tion. which he said was entirely
4 problem for the town school direct
ors to solve, and stated some OF Its
"The thing to do IS to
furnish transportation wherever 1t Is
evidently and genuinely needed; to
sec to it that proper coATcyanreS
and drivers ere provided, and that
parents and studcnts recognize frank
v the unavoidable hardships Of re-
note residences, and themselves gen
.nrously and willingly bear part OF
their own burden and responsibility |
for educating Their children, rather !
than make unreasonable demands up
IN the town"
Discussing The third problem Of
he rural school Commissioner Demp-
;ey said that often the small school
,allcd for large outlay and the tax
payers were inclined to curtail eX-
pcnscs as often the communities
were not wealthy and the taxpayers
I'D hna,., h11rLnns NANn have often