The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-09-10
SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION
QUESTION CONSIDERED

door of all there, and take 1t from the
ones that pay the bill. Those few he
speaks OF are paying just as much az
the many. and have just as much
right to have those vans drive to theil
door to get them as anyone has. II
the consolidated schools are estab-
lished, this is a matter that will II
time be forced by justice, and to be
fair no one has any right to discrimi-
nate.
Ls to the drives going on schedule
time, think Mr.. Slettedahl Is little
acquainted with this matter, as condi-
tons vary the tine made on the road
he compares the rural delivery OF
mail to those vans. Fair comparison
should say! To think those heavy
vans can go where light team and
light cutter can! If he thinks the ru-
raj carrier has snap. he had better
over those snowdrifted roads. He
speaks Of mudholes, and why not
snowdrifts, bliz0ards and zero wea-
Their, which we have nearly one hall
of the school year?
have heard consolidation advo-
Gates say the parents Of the school
children could have the roads broken
out from place to place for the van
drivers. Yes, before daylight! Still
they think we haven't time to take
our children to our rural schools!
wish some Of you city jewellers and
boosters Of consolidation would come
out some cold stormy morning and
help US shovel snowdrifts about day
light and before breakfast. I'll say
you will have good appetite when
you get through. Then you can come
back again the next morning, and per-
haps every morning for q month, az
we often have to shovel every day for
a month here.
think the people in the rural dis
trict are just as much interested in
the health and education Of their
children as in any other place. have
failed to see the children going tired
cold an wet" to school. We rural PEG
dren as you city people have, and we
see that they get to school warm and
dry.
Let Us be fair in our criticism. Why
do you picture the consolidated
school at Jesup, a 100000 new struc-
ture, as an illustration of consolida
ton, and in the next issue Tin the
third article Of Mr.. Slettedahls SER
ies) refer to the 'cramped, cold, poor
ly ventilated and poorly lighted ono
room rural school you have pictured,
, and at that time perhaps was consid
cred very fine building, in which
perhaps some of our smallest states
men of today may have got their edu.
cation? Why not take the pictures
OF some of our newly constructed
well lighted, heated, ventilated and
roomy rural school buildings as ar
example? / can send you some pic
lures Of some of them, and they didn''
cost one tenth of 100000 either, and
they are in reach of all in the dis.
trict.
am right In for the education Of
our children, and for their health too:
and II we have such school buildings
as you refer to, whose fault is t.? II
the first place you would say 1t Is the
fault Of the people OF the districts
which perhaps to some extent Is true
But how about our school officials
who have authority over those mat
ters7 Have they ever put up cam
paign to have those buildings made
what they should be? Why not have
one. such as they have had for con-
solidation?
/ say, If those rural school build
ings are not what they should be
they should be made as they should
be, and that right where they are, fol
the good Of the little tots and until
the eight grade is completed. If you
want high school education at home
build high school in each township
When the children are ready for high
school, they are at an age to be able
TO stand those hardships and can take
care of themselves.
The problems Of consolidation can
never be satisfactorily solved without
imposing hardships on about one half
Of the children of the rural districts,
and imposing unbearable burden OF
taxation on the rural districts.-M. H.
K Winneshiek County, Iowa.