The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1924-09-26

up the whole subject of the place of
parochial schools in a democracy, let
us say here that Nevada ought to be
proud of the fact that her children
are to so large an extent getting their
education under public auspices and
under public control Our public
schools teach democracy, the right of
every man whose training and infor-
nation entities him to an opinion, to
express his opinion. Those interests
that are afraid of democracy in our
public schools, and of the cultivation
of fearless inquiry after truth, are
comparatively scarce in Nevada. Hence
we have a larger proportion of our
children in our public schools than in
any other state in the Union, and nat
urally our expense is greater. 1t is
to be pointed to with pride.
One is surprised to read in the ar
ticle under review the time-worn sug-
gestion that the schools of genera
ton ago be used as models for our
present-day institutions. "There was
something solid and substantial and
sincere in the old common schools
with their simple courses Of study.
The schoolrooms may have been over
crowded, and the teacher over-work-
ed; but the teachers taught funda-
mentals, and the pupils learned; and
neither wasted precious time on bas-
ketball and other foolishness." Think
ing people are not mislead by such
suggestions. They smack of ancestor
worship. They find glories in the past
that were not there, But even if one
were to grant, for the sake of argu-
ment, that the simple courses of study,
and the less complex methods of twen-
ty-five years ago were suited to the
needs and conditions of that time, it is
pertinent to ask if growing children
of today are not facing different So
cial and economic situation. The past
twenty-five years have seen the de-
velopment of host of changes in all
our lives. Our population has flocked
to the cities, thus altering some of
our social problems, while creating
others more severe. Even conditions
in the small town and the rural neigh
borhood are not to be compared with
what they were quarter of GEN.
tury ago. The automobile, wireless
telegraphy, radio, and many other
features of everyday experience with
us, were not dreamed of twenty-five
years ago. Conditions of employment
are different. From having to edu-
cate only one sex for the ballot we are
now happy to have to educate both.
Formerly if a young man intended to
practice law he joined himself to some
established practitioner and "read
law" in his office Nowadays no
state permits such slipshod prepara-
tion. This is but one of countless IL
lustrations. Our schools Of today are
failing in their plain duty if they do
not send out graduates who know
something about electricity, domestic
science, social problems, economic
problems, and a diversity of other
subjects. We have long passed the
day when the little red school house
with its conscientious but poorly
trained teacher can meet our needs or
train the citizen of tomorrow. From
a period of dirt roads, buggies, slow
trains, and kerosene lamps, we have
come to live with, and to need, paved
highways, automobiles, hydro-electric
power, and the air mail. Who will
train our children to use, and to i'm
prove these things, if not our public
schools? And can the schools do their
work without trained teachers and
the necessary equipment?
In considering the increasing cost
of our public schools it is we'll to re-
call that they cost but little more now
than formerly in proportion to the ris-
ing cost of the other things we buy.
School boards have to buy building
sites and buildings today at prices
that would have been considered an
outrage twenty years ago. The same
statement applies to equipment, and
to other overhead expense. Teachers
and school executives are paid more
now than formerly, but we believe
that no thoughtful person wants to go
back to the salary schedule of even
ten years ago. To do so would mean
to drive out of work many of the WELL
ROYAL. NEICHRORS