The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1920-05-22
STATE AID TO
HIGH SCHOOLS
More Money; Needed to Meet the
Increase of Teachers
Salaries

Columbia, May 17-No better index
TO public school conditions, progress,
and needs can be found than that af-
forded by the status of the High
Schools. For the pupils IN the seven
elementary grades the goal OF youth
ful ambition is admission 10 he
eighth grade. The colleges lind their
recruits among the High School grad-
yates The four years Of secondary
training constitute therefore, Il ply
otal point in the States educational
system. =
In disbursing to the 1872 high school
districts the State appropriation OF
$4,000 the inadequacy Of :;ae APP
preparation was the first problem. 20
demand attention. The deficiency was
the direct result of the more liberal
salaries for teachers and OF the heavy
enrolment of rural pupils.
The salary schedule authorized by
the law has risen from $55 4 month
for the scholastic year 1861: TO $l14
la month for the scholastic year 1"::':'-
'21, clean gain Of 1000. The strong
er high schools in the large cities
and towns are exceeding the State
maximum in the program st:r neSe
year. The increased :Iico:ne IN those
districts is being raised frorl Increases 1
local taxes. An annual salary oii 81 o
for efficient high school teacher real
ily provides only SIS for twelve months.
The increment of $45 Tor 4. seco,id
years and S90for a third years SER
fyice in the same situation is, far below
the corresponding figures for well
supported schools in South Carolina
and in other States. The bulk of the
teaching must be done by these as
sistants;; hence it is imperativerlto in
I sist on personality, scholarship, train
ing, and experience if high school
students aresto be held in the class
rooms
= General accpetance of this minimum
! standard by boards ,of high school
trustees next year will require approx
imatcly $4,000.
Every high school now employing
three or four teachers ought to main
t:sin this corps, The amount allowed
Tor this service during 1919-20 will
PROBABLY increase about 25 per cent
during 1920-21. Such growth will re-
quire about 900.
The tuition paid by the State for
outside enrolment of high school pu-
pits during the scholastic year 1915
20 was scaled 1913 per cent. The to-
tai amount earned was s45.04S. The
exhaustion of the appropriation nee
essitated payment on the basis OF S7.2
per cent In no case was tuition al
lowed for a boy or girl enrolled from
a home district maintaining q recog-
tnized high school
This group Of outside students NUM-
befed 1862, of whom 1851 qualified
for the tuition allowance. The remain
ing 511 serve to make up the average
Of fifteen high school pupils per teach
err. or were ineligible because OF resi-
dence The experience of recent years
indicates rapid and gratifying de-
velopment in this feature of high
school service While the location Of
the majority of these high schools is
in. towns and cities. the growing num-
Der of purely rural high schools is
significant The Rural Graded School
law has brought better organization to
nearly a. thousand districts. Hun
dreds of pupils from ninth and tenth
grades, of rural schools with three,
four ois five teachers will be seeking.
ninth, tenth and eleventh grade in
struction in neighboring high schools
next year If. this group Of pupils
should number 1000 during 192o-21
schools in which they enroll ought
not to be made to suffer because of
this service.
This policy of the State tuition was
inaugurated in 1919. The payment
of tuition for the scholastic year 1878
19 had to be made on the basis OF ~
per cent The high school appropria-
tion for the current year was largely
increased by the Legislature. the seal
ing was again necessary in 1919-20.
If this item next year should call for
100000 the amount would not be eX-
cessive The investment. moreover,
would reach and help one Of the fin
est and most deserving groups Of high
school students.
:. Communities that had to drop their
high school classification because of
influenza and other handicaps will
seek restoration to their former classi-
f!cation. There are. perhaps, dozen
such districts in the State The posi-
bilities of the centralized high school
are interesting several populous see
tons heretofore too much split up
into small districts. A half dozen more
Of these cooperating communities
would oreatly siren ethen the ,.Ilrl