The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-10-26

of the larger school districts in the
state, only little more than 1000
are levying q. ten mill special tax. In
a good;d1any Instances they are levy.
ing only four#six or eight mills, and
only in some spots is the sfinancial
condition serious. s@
The Inference seemed to be that il
is all right for people to pay a ten
mill special tax for school purposes
habitally. That is not serious
matter; it becomes serious only
when district becomes bankrupt
or is threatened with bankruptcy
He did not put it in those words
but that seemed to be what he mean,
to convey.
We think we can anticipate what
DR.. Bryan would say if he were re-
plying On this matter. We think he
would say and he probably will say
to the legislative committee, that the
school delivers service to every
home. in the land and it has such a
big job 1t must necessarily have
much money to do it. He
will say that; lit is unwise fol
state to retrench in its
school matters just because of q
temporary shortage of money. He
will say that when we pass a bonded
Indebtedness on to the rising gem
Grafton to pay. we should equip them
with the best education possible SO
they may meet the demands OF the
times with suitable preparation. In
other words let the heads of educa-
tiona1 work be undisturbed by any
local or temporary troubles so they
may keep the anchorage Of educa-
tional work secure. 4
:. DR.. Byran as commissioner, and
the state superintendent of educa-
ton must both be kept on the job,
and they must needs travel back and
forth across the state and across the
continent in pullman cars to repre-
sent Idaho in the councils of higher
education. When times are hard is
no time to drop out Of such work
and when times are good it does not
seem SO imperative to curb expenses.
We would like to take DR.. Bryan
out among the farmers and stock
men for a month, going from farm
to farm, seeing the men and women
and the boys and girls at their
work; going into their homes and
noting their condition-se seeing the
old clothes and old shoes they wear
from necessity because they cannot
buy something more suitable, seeing
the lack Of furniture and carpets
and other materials needed for ma
terial comfort, and see the tax bills
that arrive in each home and then
go out and consider where the
money is coming from to meet these
bills, and especially the amounts set
opposite the words special school
tax We would like to have DR..
Bryan take some of the youngsters
up on his Knees and look them over
and consider whether it would not
be sound reasoning to transfer some
Of the special school tax money to
the shoe and stocking fund and to
the new underclothes purse.
This writer has seen enough Of
conditions on the farm to be con-
WINGED that statistics do not have a
column for barefoot kids in autumn,
but the bare feet are there just the
same. 1t is not serious to have a
school district hard-run for money
until it is bankrupt, and it is not
serious for Riddles to be barefooted
IN August and September, but it is
serious in October and November.
and all his finespun conclusions
drawn from the printed page do not
and should not settle the question of
tax levies.
When tax levies become so heavy
that they take as much away from
children as they bring to it, that is
the time ito pause and make a new
adjustment When tax levies be-
come SO heavy that they begin the
confiscation of property and destroy
individual effort, it has reached the
limit. When an educational system
becomes top-heavy from either of
these causes or from having too
many plans, too many planners or
Too many heads, it is time to take
from the top and add to the base.
Idaho is suffering from all those
things now, and recent legislature
hat started to remove one of the
swo heads from our educational |
system and then paused till the OPP
pGrtunity had passed, paused once
when 1t should have used the knife.