Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1922-03-08
slR. oooK 81, .PgUaLIo sO.lo COL q
syste,n Not Opposed to Education.
Something Wrong with systen.a q
Rditor Keowes Courier:

Il ~ .F i. /.
We have read the article OF A. #.
Tannery in your recent issue. He
seems to want to leave the impress
sion on the minds Of the people that
+ am against public schools and the.
education of the children. But hessis
very much mistaken. am most
heartily lin favor Of education, but I
am against extravaganza In any way
2or form. If man has money of his
own to squander that5is no concern
t.of mine, but II he happens to be-
state or county official and squanders
the taxpayers money, then that ets
a matter Of concern to all the tax
payers. What said about the SAL
aries of the teachers being too high
was not saying anything against edu-
/, cation or the schools, but against the
extravagant methods Of the school
system. Fifty or sixty years ago the
best teachers could be had at $25
F; per month. The children learned
more then in one year than they now
learn in five. After they have gone
to school for five years now to the
S100-a-month teachers a majority
Of the pupils cannot spell. When we
see teacher sitting in school
room four or five hours per- day at
: 500 per month and the father of
the children she is teaching working
! in sight Of the school house ten hours
per day, at hard physical labor, for
one dollar per day, we cannot see
| the justice Of 1t, nor do we think
that it is at all fair. On one occa-
sion we heard of teacher who was
getting 800 per month for her work
when ono Of the children vent to the
teacher and asked for instructions
about It's lessons, and the answer the
child got was about as follows: go
to your mother and get her to learn
you your lessons. I am not here to
learn you your lessons, am here to
hear you recite your lessons and see
II you have them correct" Wonder
what Mr.. Tannery thinks Of this kind
Of bigotry and ignorance. We think
If the mother docs the. teaching she
ought to have the pay.
About nineteen years ago We had
a teacher at our place. He was a
Walhalla man, and was among the
beat teachers we ever had, and one
Of the best preachers we ever had at
this place. He received only $50 per
month for his teaching. The cost Of
| living was just az high then as It fs
now,I think.
!. Our friend Tannery speaks Of the
teacher having to spend years Of
his or her life in preparing to be q
teacher, and that he or she must
pass very rigid examinations to get
a certificate to teach in the public
schools, and he also speaks Of letting
>the world slip back into ignorance
and slavery. Now we can very easily
remember some 65 years ago when
there was no such thing as free
school. 1t cost man a thousand
dollars or more to educate and pre-
pare his boy to teach school, and
when he was prepared to teach he
charged only $25 per month for his
work. But in this day and time their
their education does not cost them
anything. The taxpayers pay the
whole account. The teacher wants
800 per month for his work, and
the taxpayers have to pay that after
they have educated him free Of any
charge whatever.
About the biggest thing that I
can see that our boasted free school
system has done seems to be that
they have turned out generation Of
ingrates. But those cheap schools
Of which we have spoken were way
back in the days of ignorance and
slavery, Of which Mr.. Tannery' has
spoken. Yes, in the days Of John G..
Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln, Aiexan-
der Stephens, Robert Toombs, JOS
eph Brown. Henry Clay and all the
rest Of the ignorant people.
Every once in awhile meet up
with boy who has been educated in
the public schools, dressed in what
they call the latest style, strutting
around like turkey gobbler, a big
bundle Of agricultural' literature un-
der his arm. The first thing he will
begin to tell me is how to farm and