Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-05-22
SCHOOL oBJEcTIvEs
(By Chas. G. Maphis, University of
Virginial


or surpassed in so short period of
e time by a commonwealth, and one
2 which will constitute brilliant page
in the history of education in Amer
: lea. Education outstripped in pro-
! gress almost every other state enter
prise except perhaps that OF public
health which had its beginning in
that period. This remarkable pro-
f., gress has been mainly in the public
elementary and secondary schools,
though the institutions OF higher
; learning have also made much ad-
yancement.
1t was my good fortune to enter
the field of school administration in
1906 and participate in the cele-
brated May campaign OF that year.
Since then l have observed with adj
miration and pride of achievement
the realization of the hopes, the
dreams and prayers of the leaders
of that movement-Virginia Edu-
cational Renaissance. I wish I could
put the two pictures and
\ graphically before our people.
1t should be a source of great salts
faction to all who have in any way
contributed to the change.
s2.5O0,OOO spent on the public
schools in 1906; s24,520,S70 in
1925; the tax rate for schools in
creased about 400 per cent, value OF
school property increased from about
SIS, 100000 to S44,600,00o, school at
tendance almost doubled. average
salary of teachers nearly quadrupled,
number of high schools increased
from IA to 400, high school pupils
from 1906 to 52,S92. high school
teachers from 146 to asp, trained
teachers from a few hundred to
many thousands, three new teachers
training schools established, the Col
lege of William and Mary revived
and enlarged and a Department of /
Education established at the Uni
versity.
These statistics do not tell the
whole story. They form the outline
only. The coloring and beauty are
impaired by the spirit of the people
which has made them possible-their
increasing belief in the value of ed
ucation and their willingness to pay
the price to secure it, not alone for
the benefit of their own children but
for its value to the state and society
for the common good.
The slogan of the May campaign
of 1906 was Equality of opportuni-
" for the Virginia child" This was
to be obtained through the following
detectives:
ID A nine months school for every
child.
CD A high school within reasonable
distance of every child
go Well-trained teachers for all
public schools.
(4) Efficient supervision of schools. I
t5) The introduction of agricultural
and industrial training into the
schools.
CD Schools for the defective and
dependent classes.
(S) The organization Of a Citizens
Education Association in every
county and city
These detectives have been large I
Iy but only partially realized They
can be fulfilled only when we have
an ideal system. We still lack much
and it is the purpose as conceive it
of the May campaign of 1925, while
giving full recognition to the SPLEEN
did progress which has been made,
to set forth the present needs clear
ly, frankly and fully and to urge our
people to increased endeavor to OBJ
tain Equality of Educational Oppor-
tunity" for the Virginia child, and
to make a Greater Virginia Through
Education" Let us see how far we
have met some of the principal OBJ
jectives of 1905.
/. A nine months school (1SOi
days. for every child The average
term in days in 1924 was 15S days.
In many rural schools the term is
much shorter The average child of
rural Virginia has about half a
chance compared with the city child
@ A high school within reasonable
distance of every child There are
many children who still lack this OPP
portunity. The child through con-
solidation must be brought to the
high school and not the high school
to the child. We already have done
TOO much in this direction.
g. Well-trained teachers for all
public schools There has been
gratifying Improvement in this re-
spect, but a large proportion of our
teachers have little or no profession
/ al training and possess inadequate
I academic preparation. This is the
most important of all the detectives
and cannot be attained unless the
salary schedule is materially raised.
While present salaries seem and are
a good deal higher than those of 10
4 years ago, we must keep in mind
the fact that the purchasing power
of a dollar is only about SIS per cent
of that in 1915.
! A. Efficient supervision of schools.