The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-02
Remarkable Work Done By County Schools h 5 Years
D. Moore Outlines Remarkable Strides Made for Edu- cation in Jefferson County's Rural Districts and Urges Citizens to Give Personal Interest to
 Continued Extension and Improvement
Rr ]. D. MOORE

By J. D. MOORE
 Member County Board of Education
 Address delivered before Birming-
 ham Rotary club.
 The necessity for the right kind of
 education Is we'll recognized by most of our people. When called upon to vote taxes and give money they re-
 spond hommendably and then feel that their duty has been discharged. We need to learn that our work is not done properly until we have given some personal thought and ser vice. When we endeavor to discharge our duty with money only and fail to give of our thought and personal ser vice. we are not serving the state as we should.
 The legislature of Alabama in the term of 1915 enacted a new school law which Is great improvement on what existed prior to that date The new law gives tine counties of the state the privilege of local taxation for schools. Prior to this date there was only a state tax of three mills, which was distributed generally | throughout the state according 10 census of school population. The re- suit of this law was that only lz counties paid as much money into the fund as they drew out, and S5 or the poorer counties drew out more than they paid into the treasury, result ing in Jefferson county receiving m return only about 50 per cent of the amount it paid into the school fund The result was. this amount of money had to be confined to the paying or
 teachers, whose salaries were then | Of necessity very small, thus driving tho hest teaching talent into other oe- equations.
 Present Laws Provisions The present law provides the de- partment of education with a centrai i head. located in Montgomery which las general supervision of the eouea-
 tional interests of the state Each 1 county has a board of five mempers' whose duty it is to handle all the public school funds and distribute the
 same to each school unit or district, In Jefferson county the county sehooi l hoard distributes the funds to the cities of Birmingham, Bessemer, Fair- field and Brighton. The law requires that this distribution be made in such a way as to give the child in the 1 cities.
 rural districts an equal opportunity for an education with the child Tn the The county board of education elect their own county superintendent who may not be a resident of the county at the time of election. giving them the discretion of selecting the pest man or woman for the work Tn hahu. This superintendent serves at the Will of the hoard and may be changed when found necessary. Each mem Der of the county board is elected by the voters of the county Tor term of six years. The first board under the new law were chosen for two. four and six years in order that in the future there would De two members elected every two years, so that all would not retire at once, and always retaining a majority Of the members who had some experi- ence in the work. At the approach ing election this year two of the old members will retire and their places will be filled either by reelecting them or their successors.
 It is the duty of the superinten- dent of this county school board to nominate each teacher. who must be elected by the county school board. You will readily see that they have very important duty to perform if we are to have tho right kind of | teachers who are to direct the minds and aspirations of the younger gem 1 eration and thus determine the kind of government we are to have in the future. When once these young minds are established in their habits of thinking and their characters are nodded. they will not be changed, The rural districts are the recruit ing grounds from which the cities are to obtain their ruling citizens, who shall lead in churches, business and in government
 Work of Five Years How many of you know what the county school board of Jefferson county has been doing the past five years since they were elected under our new school law? Do you even know who they are? Did you even know how many constituted the county school board? Have you taken
 the time and trouble to see if they have handled your school funds wisely and consclentiously Or have you considered the county school board of little importance and felt that it made but little or no difference7 You are