The Chronicle-star combined with the Moss Point advertiser., 1946-01-25
BaIey's School Statement

We were disappointed to come upon the
following statement in the Associated Press
report Of Governor Bailey's speech to the
legislature. 4&@8N88W
Governor Bailey declared that be-
cause the State was trying to sustain en-
tirely too many high schools our
ability. as well as that of the community.
to discharge our obligations to the child
rem of the state. is taxed beyond capac-
itY'."
We should like to go behind the phrasing
OF the governors language and ask how on
earth this state can really discharge our
obligations to our children by his proposal
to decrease the number of high schools.
Here we are, the 47th state on the list for
the proportion who can read and write, and
our chief executive announces to the legisla-
.ure, despite a $23, 900 surplus unheard
of in Mississippi annals, that there are too
many high schools. That is precisely what
the passage states, though it goes on to say
that if there were a small number of high
schools, teachers could get more money.
The lack of educational facilities is one of
the gravest handicaps Mississippi faces, and
it has been a milestone around our necks
from frontier days.
This lack has exerted its hindering influ-
ence on every phase of our existence, our
politics, our economy, our morality, our pub
lie health standards. We are not naturally a
poor state in natural resources. Our low stand
arcs of public education have had much to do
with the reason we are 48th in the list of
go ,onpoa Nc e{1oJ ~, ,th;1a enxoa IF o,r
finest resources, like timber, was swept off
the earth, because too many of our people
lacked education to find out what was going
on. On the other hand, although we posses
sed some of the finest oil geology in the
country, we have Jagged a generation be-
hind even our %neighboring southern states
in discovering and developing this resource.
Even our war effort was gravely hamper
Cd by the fact that SO many of our people of
military age were illiterate. We had one of
tie highest voluntary enlistment rates in the
ration. That is something to be proud of. But
We also had one of the highest rejection rates
for illiteracy-and for the social and nutri-
tional diseases which inevitably follow in the
wake of mass ignorance. And hat is some
thing to be ashamed of, and a problem we
must face honestly and work with determin-
alton to solve. And we do not think any
speech by a Mississippi governor which says
we have more high schools than we can af-
~ford-despite the existence of a fantastic
state surplus by our own Standardization
honestly or adequately faces this problem.
We would far rather see a surplus than a
deficit on the state books, naturally, and we
believe a soundly economical administration
should be supported in every sound economy.
But at the same time let no one forget that
the surplus is still our money, which the pub
lie paid for largely by our sales tax payments.
Governor Bailey's administration did not
give us this surplus, nor Governor john
sons before him.
We don't think the present administra-
ton nor the present legislature should 90
about Dragging undulY about the exist
ence of such a surplus not so Iona as
the needs for public health and education
are what they are in our state. 1t is nice