The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-06-16

ana SAW W IL lHdl all CAdCl IepOIt Oii
every school was sent in by the Dis
trict Superintendent who, Of course,
see every school many times in the
course Of every year
The report on the condition OF the
patient, Is what | am going to present
to you, the doctors, for nobody else Is
the physician to any public i'll, save
the public itself, and we are, each and
all of us the public.
What was found? What percentage
Of Vermont rural schools do you sup
pose came up to the complete standard
Of efficiency? How many rural
schools in our pleasant home state of
native American stock do you think
were about what rural school
should be? Oh, you know without
my telling you that there weren't any
at all, none that were all that an ordin-
arily good school ought to be. No,
none at ALL
Well, how many were threequarters
OF what a rural school should be?
How many were quarter bad and
I
seventyfive or tfree-fourths Of stand
ard, was set for the "passing-mark"
Any school which had seventy-five pei
cent OF what it ought to have, was to
be considered STANDARD School,
all we could try for, as yet. How
many Of them are there in Vermont
There are about eleven hundred one
room rural schoolhouses in Vermont
Make a guess how many have beer
awarded the Standard" name plate
up to the present time? DO you guess
perhaps thirty-three per cent, or 37(
schools? Wrong? Well, perhaps ter
per cent or 10 schools. No, not SC
many? Well, surely, at least five pei
cent, or So schools? No not five pei
cent.
I'll tell you with no more guessing
Out of eleven hundred rural schoo
houses in Vermont, just six have sc
far brought themselves up to three
fourths standard efficiency.
If this were one Of some other states
inhabitated by volatile, esaily discour
aged people, needing to be coddled anC
led along, II would not do to speak ou
the plain truth like that 1t might BIZ
/ necessary to look wise and Cheerful
and say vaguely, ION yes, the cam
paign for improving rural schools Il
getting On wonderfully, wonderfully
Great progress, all along the line
AS a mater of fact, it is gettinl
along wonderfully, because 1t is
wonderful progress for any brave
clear-sig,lted people to have uncovere,
the truth, to have got down to bed
rock, to know where they stand. Pei
sonally detest feeling that am bein
managed" and smoothed down, tina
pills are being sugar-coated for me
that | am being "tactfully led (as tn
phrase goes) along the right way wit
light, airy talk supposed to DISCUS
the fact,that it is hard way. thinl
detest all such disingenuous under
hand ways because am Vermonte
and ! take for granted that other Ver
monters want. as much as do. to hay
the truth told boldly. honestly, wit
no beating around the bush about Il
either.
Well, the truth which has come on
as a result Of this first careful detail
ed investigation of rural schools /
Vermont, is that they are in bad wa
We might as well swallow that pi
without chewing on it.
Here are some facts, recently mad
available: 800 schools were taken
random, in different parts and coun
les OF the state, typically representa-
tive OF conditions. From the report
of the superintendent, usually abou
> ten per cent more favorable than III
Judgment of the State Supervisor wa
, rants, 1t appears that OF these 300, %
are below rs, or less than three fourth
:, efficient Can you picture that? Su
!. pose you drove 800 miles and passed
: schoolhouse every mile, only 10 wouI
y be even three-fourths Of what the
. ought to be. And, alasl there wou
II be ITO, wretchedly below even ha
any decent country-school should b
= ITO, out. of 300 below fifty per col
4 NAAiNVhNs' anu uli9 HiUtlttU dOO'
y seventy-five per cent efficienc
, Don't you think such facts. only ju
y now ascertained, ought to be reportt
- :. in full to Vermont? do.
:. You can see why there are only s
=, rural schools in Vermont which ha'
:. so far been awarded the name
- STANDARD"
y. The State Department has estimi
- ed that on an average, $4,000 for ca,
10 school would bring every rural scho
=, In Vermont up to good conditi
- of material efficiency. s4600Ol Th
:, is all that stands between our CHI
=, dren and decent school surroundin,
= S45O.OO-about the price of Flo
y. car-just one Ford car. How ma
~ Ford cars are there in every Vermo
:, district? And how many finer, me
y expensive cars do we find parked
~ every ylliags street in Vermont?
~, see fine cars standing around In
,r. town whore there are schools not
Is, for children TO attend-isn't that