The Monroe journal., 1922-11-14
By l.. K. HUGGINS


Wilson, Nov. 9.-Union county pas
and mas an their sons and daughters,
Charlie, Bill, Kate and Jane. and the
others who are interested in better
school system for the county will
learn with interest of the excellent
work done along this line in Wilson
county by the determined school man
known all over North Carolina as
Chas. l.. Coon, superintendent of the
schools of Wilson county.
For five years Mr.. Coon labored to
put across local tax for the whole
county, instead of a scattered school
here and there. After the gigantic
task was completed and Wilson be-
state to point with pride to her alb
came the first and only county in the
solutely consolidated system some of
the citizens almost wanted to lynch
the man who had the nerve and ener-
gy to put the big thing across. Now
they are talking of erecting a monu-
ment to his memory.
These remarks are Introductory to
the statement that Wilson county,
which still retains Mr.. Coon as its
superintendent of schools, now has
one school--a real school in each
township and in some instances two,
according to economy in conducting
more than one school to the township
as compared with trucking the chill
dren to one central school. Various
high school department are main
tanned, to which the children of each
of the ten townships are accessible.
Under the present system in Will
son county every child enjoys the ad-
vantage of real school with a num-
ber of efficient teachers, and the lit
tie one and two-teacher schools with
seven grades under the sole direction
of one or two incompetent teachers
are no more. 1t took nerve and abili-
ty to withstand the opposition and
criticism of those who were welded
tol the little red school house on al
nose every hill top idea to accomplish
what has been done in Wilson coun-
ty, but Chas. l.. Coon is a man who
stands by his convictions regardless
of the world. the flesh and the devil,
and it takes man of such type to
launch out into unexplorable fields
and do pioneer work that practically
everybody is "agin."
Mr.. Coon explains that the local
tax in certain districts is unsatisfac-
tory for the reason that the more pro-
gressive communities soon line up for
the better schools and leave the 9TH
ers out in the cold. He also takes the
position that the consolidation Of GER
tain districts in county and the es-
tablishment of good graded schools
therein brings about the same result.
His idea of the county unit, where
the entire county votes the special
school tax for the purpose of system
atizing and consolidating all the
schools into one big, efficient system,
is at once apparent to close students
of the public school system as the
only practical and satisfactory solu-
tion to the problem. Especially is this
true when we take into consideration
the fact that the State has decreed
that every child is entitled to ade-
quate educational advantages ana
that the prime purpose of the public
school system is to provide such ad-
NdHtdPeS,
The American people are slow to
accept new ideas along radical lines,
and where the consolidated school
system has never been tried out pa
irons of schools are inclined to be-
lieve it impractical, ard they there
fore fight any effort at such an un-
dertaking. But the system is work
ing beautifully in Wilson county, and
what has been done in this county can
be done in Union and other counties
in North Carolina.
Union county is much more pro-
gressive along educational lines than
many counties in the state. This is
demonstrated by the fact that she
now has high school in every town.
ship in the county with the exception
of one. If these buildings could now
be enlarged and a central graded
school provided for the entire town
ship, except where it is more econom-
ical to maintain two or more Nell
equipped schools, Union would have
the same system that Wilson has es-
tablished under the direction of MIR.