The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1947-10-03

to the following facts. eve quote)
his letter of September 18th chiefly
81 happen to know, however, that
the school situation in Oklahoma is
bad, that it will be difficult to find
teachers to fill all the positions that
should be filled after consolidation
of districts, that teachers are going
to several other states where sal
aries are very much higher"
Forced Consolidation Has Closed
Nearly All Small Schools
A clipping from the Daily Okla
homan was enclosed in the Murray
letter. 1t sets forth facts made public
by the state board of education at the
time when, last August, the board
offered it's first official tabulation of
the school districts affected under the
laws program of compulsory CONSOLE
dation. eve qupte:)
'In nine hundred and twelve of
the districts annexed, all pupils had
previously been transferred to other
districts"
1t is to be inferred that districts
thus annexed were able to transfer
their pupils without undue hardship.
They avoided being among those listed
as forced to close, by transferring
their pupils beforehand again we
quote:)
'The state board of education re-
! jected a majority of the appeals of
| school districts to obtain an isola-
ton status which would have ex-
empted them from the reorganiza-
ton law. Five hundred and six
schools actually were closed.
'Of the hundreds of isolation APP
plicatiOns filed, the board isolated
only one hundred and forty-nine ele-
mentary schools and nine high
schools
The reader will observe that the
state board boards drastic policy of
limitation reduces the number per-
mitted to open to an average of less
than two elementary schools per
county. The same provision to for
bid isolated schools to open except
by permission, was included in the
school bill which Montana's legislators
rejected last winter
Health and Home Life of OkIahoma's
Children Is Sacrificed
The irony of calling Oklahoma's
program of compulsory school reor-
ganizatiOn progress" is set forth in
the July 81, 1947 issue of Time, the
news magazine. Under Education it
features the story of the harm done
in one community, waterloo, Okla.),
where a year ago fifteen farm children
were meeting in daylight in a room
that was warm, clean, and cheerful.
With no state aid whatever, the peo-
pie of this community were providing
funds to maintain their school, and
they used the building as their COM
center.
But Oklahoma's legislature enacted
the school reorganization bill, and
when the new law was upheld by the
state supreme court, power to control
It's school or even to have a school
was denied the community. Next,
he state board of education refused
permission for Waterloo's school to
open. These fifteen children must
low stand in cold and darkness on
bleak country roads, and wait for a
ous that will be on the roads two
hours before it reaches the school
consolidation center at Edmond. At
hight, again the long hours on the bus.
he bleak country road in cold and
darkness, with danger added if it is
stormy. Some of these children are
90 young safely to endure such ex-
'osure, yet the local school is closed
because the state board of education
says it must be closed.
Waterloo's taxpayers anticipate that
heir taxes will be doubled. Five DAYS
n the week their children have no
home life worthy of the name. AT
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