Glacier County chief., 1939-02-24

districts in this county are enjoy
ing good schools and good school
management. This is not due, how
ever, to the excellency of the school
laws and their enforcement, but to
the excellency of the people serving
those schools. People of their type
need no laws to hold them in line;
the laws are made to check the
kind of people who get out of line.
We who live in a community in
which the schools are running
smoothly and efficiently are liable
to accept the idea that all schools
are running smoothly and efficient
ly. We view the best schools as
the average, and show no concern
about the questions which educa-
tional leaders are forced to face I'M
til the engine fails to CO.
If we are to educate our children
to live in a democracy, we should
apply democratic principles to our
system of education. We must do
away with methods responsible for
educational inequalities, due to the
lack of adequate financial support
We know that to demand the best
quality of school service we must
be able to pay for it. All districts
should be able to furnish the best
elementary educational opportuni-
ties for children; for it is in the
elementary school that we get a
chance to reach all children. Every
intelligent citizen of the United
States realizes the necessity of this
and is willing to see that such op-
portunities are provided, but why
should the burden fall harder on
some of our taxpayers than on 9TH
ers when the results are no better?
The present system in Montana
throws too much of the burden for
grade school education on the dis
tricts. Those people living in dis
tricts pay high taxable valuations,
pay low tax levy, while those peo-
pie in the poor districts pay a high
tax levy. Should the people living
in the poor, sparsely settled areas
be penalized, by paying more for
their willingness to provide all
children with a grade school edu-
cation? These people aren't forced |
to pay more for their willingness
to provide county, state, national |
roads and governments. We all pay
equally for the support of our state
institutions and care of our poor
Why should education be the ex-
ception?
People who do not come in con-
tact with the administrative end of
our present grade school system are
not aware of the weaknesses that
exist in it. They depend upon the
school people to keep them inform
ed of the school problems. How
ever. when real effort is made by
the school people to legislate against
the glaring inadequacies of our
present system, few individuals
who view the merits of the bill only
on the basis of what it will do for
them or their small community
problems remain unsolved. Such
people are unable to consider, or
selfishly refuse to consider. a bill
for the general good it will do. They
rush to Helena, or shower our legis-
lators with letters or kilograms |
asking them to kill meritorious bills |
When legislation is undertaken to /
correct difficulties caused by I'M
equal distribution of taxes and poor !
school administration. let's quit try
ing TO defeat it by misleading and |
inSubstantial statements. Let's quit !,
hampering honest, sound, educa-
tional legislation for personal. poll
teal. social and economic gains.
ROSE MCCLURE,
County Supt. of Schools,
Cut Bank. Mont |