Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-11-18
a NEi,NlOAr SCIIOO;. ri,Ont,EN

sotnc b.rt;,i,,s NE offered there int weel,
Hhich T. w. pew yor 80 tend aicu'
VEi,Noar SCIOO'. rWoHtTM
IN ''Ey %: all New England for better
::ain'IR %. tcac 1ers Is but another way
Of ce'li:c Ter to'ter tralning for the
hoys .'nS gre IN al: Ut ou,. schools. This
Ia particularly trce IL our rural schools.
Cov.u'er. nar.-c9s hA1 emphasized tho
peculiar ne.ds u: 3c;tcr educational: :seiI-
ties So tina children Of the country
ride Thos. whose children are having
rho benefits an5 advantages Of fully
oou,r;'ed sShoo;a In the cities and othss
Ia. ger communities of Vernon. can not
rcN'iZe All 'ht !u'rssSine i;inculsies con-
r:c-f'nv 2e-ent. IN the spnrsely settled
di.>rctc Of ta,, State who are as anxious
10 p,,vd: GOOD education f.. their
cihiArsn AZ arc parents In more favored
torn,n mites.
TIE "ve-axs reader can not appreciate
tnis F"-ront common scrool problem In
us mort ser'ocs phase without studying
situation something like .hc following.
Here is former school district which
once mad a large and excellent school.
The litrle Industries In n nearby village
actually dried up. The timber that form
erly clothed the hills las been cut Of.
Some Of the best farm lands in the
valleys have been consolidated under the
our y in, af fa,,
were formerly fifty or more children in
school there are now about ten.
The parents in this region want their
own school to continue in the old
Gays They can not expect to pay as
much for a teacher for about ten
children as much for fifty children
And yet those ten children are entitled
IN the eyes of the state to just az good
an education as are the school children
of any other community in the State
This means as good a teacher In athe-
MATES as the children have where the
teacher deals In mathematics almost ex-
clusively. 1t means teachers who have
made specialities in other directions.
teacher who combines all these
qualifications would command n much
hiener salary than n ten pupil school
could pay. and would probably seek a
fnore desirable position than this. wholly
Hniside Of the question Of more salary.
fow are these ten children to be given
an education that will make them equal
to the pupils in schools having COM
plete equipment? IF you can answer
that question, including the incidental
question or teacher or teachers, you will
solve the biggest school problem that
is facing the whole State Of Vermont to-
Hay.
Nor does Vermont alone face the sort
OF problem as to rural schools we have
outlined. Gov. Coolidge of Massachusetts,
in MS welcome to the teachers Of New
England assembled in Boston made these
r'2nficant remarks
You meet for the the purpose of pro-
noting the educational welfare Of your
respective communicates most i'm
.
comparisons. presume that IL we had
al assemhlaee of superintandents of
streets, they would say there's no use
To nuild schoolhouse unless you have
a road over which 1t can be reached.
But ] magine that very few roads would
be built II It wasn't for the inspiration
that comes from the schoolhouse Super.
'ntendrnts Of streets and surerin tendents
OF schools are eech entitled to extract
whatever satisfaction they can out OF
tho position that nave stated
''The Stn'e nag un5e~sken 70 provide
pubic education. II ~ task Of :deal.sn.
or courss e'iA In which tho work per-
formed must, as IN all great enterprises,
20 very lnrge exten. merit the com.
pedsattop -hat is received NV thos,, who
psrf'rv' l.. Yet there ought to bs a
6aoo ara abiding appreciation on the
mart o: the pubi,n .ownr1 our teachers
toward our superintendent ind toward
az 's"sa who arm enaasea IN the ins,-ic.
ton CT the young. One OF the ways IN
vh'oh that cannot DOL" he secured but
mo- IN by shown. that appreciation by
mailing ar investment. In It. think we
r~ar thai, There IN" tr~-sure IN. thar.
The AesI1 t., That IN principle TIA,
nav come down to us through the ages
md i.'s true.
II have attempted in thu Iitrlo time
have held public Office ana becn Gov.
:rno- of Massachusetts TO estimate the
public interest in education by getting
the public to make a richer Investment
In It. In the past two years, the average
~ the woman teachers salary has beer
increased nearly ninety-five per cent. sc
that the average is somewhere over 81.
.V Mt the present time, That doesn't
mean that tho work Is all done in Massa
chusetts. II isn't always safe to 20 en-.
tirely on averages. MY own fortune ant
that NJ some Wall street mnenate would
average up pretty WELL but I imagine
that mine needs considerably more at
tcntion than think his might.
There are stlll places In Massachusetts
where the community has not yet beer
lblc to bring its standard up to wha
we would like. That we have attempted
10 rcinoic nv prnyiding fund foI