, 1923-04-18

who would have been rejected a few
years before. This resulted in a SER
ious impairment of our school faculty
and the Fastening of our present day
inefficient system which is already on
the way. Then began a belated rush
to ecu sufficient funds to finance
u increased expenses. 1t soon
became a popular cry. ave must
provide adequate funds for education
The rush became a riot. We have
been increasing school levies, voting
bonds, building school buildings with
out rhyme o. reason, for the past four
years. Each town, each county, vying
with one another to see who could
out-do the other, constantly being
urged by 80 per cent of the teachers
professors and superintendants of the
schools who exerted themselves to
provide new n for expenditure
sprung up to absorb the sudden rush
of funds. Auditoriums to cultivate
theatrical talent, dance halls, gymnas
sums to improve the body, plunge
baths, rest rooms, and all kinds of
equipment for use as a diversion from
the cruel grind of study.
During this orgy of expenditure,
which was made easy by school bonds
being made a tax free investment, the
pay of the teachers was not over
looked. 1t rapidly rose to par with
the other high salaried occupations
and along with this raise to what was
without doubt, a just return for con-
scientious effort. Then occurred the ma
tural result. The new found wealth
required time in which to dispose of
it. The labor of the educator took on
a new dignity, and became more tenn
p~ermental, the number of pupils must
be reduced to 10 and not to exceed 20
more holidays must be taken, and so
it has gone.
"Now it might be well to state that
! am fully aware that the extreme
has not yet penetrated to the smaller
towns, and the rural districts, but l,
wish to go on record here hat it is
surely an extreme as 1 have stated
in the cities of our land and rapidly
on the way to the smaller communi-
ties if not checked.
81 have given the present day con-
ditions considerable thought. l have
six children going to public schools,
only two of which are in high school;
one. with one year to finish and one
with three years to finish, but | have
come to a definate conclusion for my
part, and l do not hesitate to say that
if the matter was put into my hands
to decide, and / decided it from my
W interest in the matter, l should
not hesitate to stop our system of
free school education at the end of
the 9Th grade. Beyond that our pres
ent method is 80 per cent waste of
time for the pupil and consequently
the money expended.
81 have arrived at the conclusion
for the following reasons, in addition
to the results which / have observed,
"Our school graduates have upon
graduation, two courses to pursue
one is to go on and continue their
studies in the university or college.
"The other is to go to work in some
useful occupation.
"The high school graduate may ac-
cept the first course and enter the
university prepared and qualified
with the proper number OF credits.
"As to the second course the grad
uate is not fitted, prepared or quail
fled for any trade, occupation or voc
ton of any kind.
upon graduation, although his
school days are over, he finds him
self fit for nothing, denied even a
thorough schooling in fundamental
branches of education.
at has been estimated that 2 per
ZEN of all high school graduates en-
ter the university and 9S per cent of
them do not.
1.-TWO per cent may have found the
high school course satisfactorily, %
per cent have not. Is it fair to the
90 per cent? How long can we ignore
this state of affairs?
Free school education is a univers
nj means Of preparing the majority
Of our people with the means Of meet
ing the need and problems Of every
day life.
Any business man will tell you that
a high school graduate has absolutely
M qualification that Is of use in bust
ness of any kind, except the qualities
that nature endowed him with. Every
thing that was acquired in the high
school was a total loss and everything
acquired before that almost forgotten
In this rush to prepare for the uni
versity, by acquiring the necessary
high school credits, all of the funda-
mental sbjects are abandoned long
before they are mastered.
ain fact the modern high schools
have ceased TO be schools, rather, they
crowded upon our children to the
exclusion of useful and fundamental