A county school system that meets the needs of the people [1926]

A County School System That Meets the Needs of the People
. by
L: M. SHEFFER
Supervisor of AgrIcultural Education State of Georgia
A Reprint from The High School Quarterly
Published by
Georgia State Board for Vocational Education
Athens, Georgia

GEORGIA STATE BOARD FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Members of Board

CHARLE'S M. SNELLING, ChairmlUL

Athens', Ga.

(Chancellor of the University of Georgia)

\V. C. VEREEN, Vice-Chairman

Moultrie, Ga.

HON. F'. E. LAND, Execntive S"cretai'y

Atlanta, Ga.

(Stat!' Snperintelldcllt of Schools)

SAM 'l'A'l'E

'l'ate, Ga.

MAX L. McRAE

.

McRae, Ga.

R. W. TRIMBLE

Trimble, Ga.

ROSS COPELAND

Augusta, Ga.

Staff

PAUL W. CHAPMAN

Athens, Ga.

(Director of Vocational Education)

MISS EPSIE CAMPBELL

Athens, Ga.

(Supervisor of Heme Economics Education)

L. M. SHEFFER

Athens, Ga.

(Supervisor of Agricultural Education)

J. F. CANNON

Atlanta, Ga.

(Supervisor of Trades and Industrial Education)

A COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT MEETS THE NEEDS
OF THE PEOPLE
More than twenty years ago when Dr. J. 8. 8tewart, High School Inspector for the University of Georgia, was inaugurating the present high school system in the State of Georgia he made the following statement:
"We must have in each county a high school with a liiberal course of study; located in or near the county site; supported primarily by the town and county; and with sufficient aid from the state to provide courses in agriculture and domestic science, with free tuition to all of the youth of the county." The wisdom of this' plan is now being recognized generally throughout thc state. There are a number of counties providing a system of education that reaches all of the boys and girls in the county instead of only those few who are fortunate enough to live in the towns and villages where there is sufficient property value to support independent school systems. Among those counties Hart, :B~ranklin, Laurens, and Mitchell 'are outstanding examples. Hart County was a leader in this movement. Six veal'S ago County S~hool Superintendent Morris recognized th; fact that the one-room schools', teaching only the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithnwtic, would never solve the rural problems; that if the people who live in the rural districts 'were to understand their various social, economic and civic problems they would need training in agriculture and home economics; that the rural school mus't provide social activities 'and recreation; and that it should 'be a center of information for over-aged boys who had been forced, through economic or other reasons, to leave school with low educational attainments. He also recognized that a high school system which provides training for college entrance only is inadequate for a rural community. In fact, he recognized that by providing no training for its 'future citizens, who must determine the social, religious, and economic forces of tomorrow, such a high school may impoverish a rural county by forcing' the ambitious boys and girls to leave their communities in order to capitalize their education. He recognized that thc high schools in his county should provide such tra:ining as to give future farmers a vision of the possibilities in their own localities and ena1ble them to develop the resources in their immediate communities. In order to meet these needs Superintendent Morris in cooperation with Professor J. 1. Allman, Superintendent of City Schools in Hartwell, outlined a county system that would meet the needs of the rural boys and girls who 'were to remain in the
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county as well as the needs of those who wished to prepare themselves for college entrance.
It was found that the most effective units for the county school sys'tem were consolidated districts, each district to contain from three to four hundred puplis, and a central unit at Hartwell. With such units, a system for the entire county was worked out based on the 6-3-2 plan. That is, a grammar school of s~x grades and a junior high school of three grades in each consolidated district; the last two grades of high school work to ibe done in the central school which is located in Hartwell. The same subjects are taught in the first two grades of the central high school as are taught in the last two grades of the junior high schools with the exception of agriculture, which is, tl:nght only in the rural consolidated schools.
It is estimated that it will take nine junior consolidated schools to reach all of the boys and girls in Hart County satisfactorily. At present there are seven such schools, each of which is headed by an agriculturally trained man working in the community twelve months in the year.
Part-time courses, designed to increase the civic and vocational intelligence of those pupils who are unable to attend the regular session of school, are given in each rural consolidated school during the dull season for farm work. Evening classes are also provided for adults who are interested in "coming back" to the school for specialized information in agriculture and other subjects.
The first rural consolidated school is now starting in its sixth year. A study of the community in which it is located shows that the average daily attendance has increased from 53 per cent to 90 per cent, an increase daily of 37 per cent. the efficiency of the school, over the former one or two teacher schools in the district, is materially increased. The length of the term has increased from a five or s'even months term in the one and two teacher schools to nine months term in the consolidated school. Before consolidation no college graduates were found in the rural school districts, and normal school graduates sought other positions with better working conditions.
There was no connecting link between the grammar school and the high school. Therefore there was' little incentive for the children to complete the grammar school course. There was no opportunity or encouragement given them to attend high school. As a result college training was considered impossible. After consolidating the schools, a college graduate with agricultural and professional training, working twelve months in the year, was put in charge of the school. Practically all of the teachers in the school are at least normal
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school graduates. A system is provided leading from the' grades through the junior high school to the senior, or central. high school and on to college for those students desiring such a course.
The enrichment of the curriculum by including agriculture in the regular courses, and the part-time courses for overaged boys and evening classes for adults' vitalizes the school work and, therefore, makes for a prosperous and happy rural life for those who expect to live in Hart County.
The greatest difficulty encountered in esta'blishing this system was gaining the consent of the people to invest in education. At a meeting of the board of education six years ago the members thought that they were" giving" all of the money that they could afford to the school. After a lengthy dission it was decided that the best means of developing Hart County was through ,a system of education that would develop the boys and girls, the most valuable resource of au)' community. In this' light the people began to see that the money ,spent was an investment rather than an expenditure. and tha:t such an investment would make handsome returns to the patrons of the schools, which has been proven.
They soon found that by consolidating the small schools, new sources of revenue were opened. Before consolidation the county had three sources of income: (1) the state apportion. ment for children of school age; (2) a county tax of five mills; and (3) a few private subscriptions. These were then the only sources of funds for supporting the school.
After consolidation these funds were still availa,ble and in addition many others from both local and outside sources. Among them were: (1) the Barrett-Rogers fund, from a state appropriation to encourage consolidation; (2) edueational tax designed for the purpose of encouraging agriculture and home economics in rural schools; (3) the Georgia State Board for Vocational Education, Iby which one-half of the salaries of the agricultural teachers are paid; (4) 'a (listrict local tax of five mills for buildings ; (5) it was possible to induce children to pay incidental fees; (6) tuition for higl1 school pupils, and (7) rent from the teacherage helped to offset part of the teachers' salaries.
The striking fact about it all is, that the people are now investing more than twice as much in education as before. but 'iiince they can see that they are getting results, they like it,
The crying educational need of Georgia today is such a sys'tem in all of her counties.
Educational opportunities have been provided for those children living in towns large enough to support independel'lt
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school systems. Excellent courses are offered city children. And even the mill districts are offering splendid opportunities for children who wish to avail themselves of educational ad~ V'antages. But the ehild who is'so unfortunate as to live in a rural eommunity has been passed by in our educational progress.
The one room school is an institution of former davs and can no longer function in the new era of winged A~erica. It is estimated that about three-fourths of the people of Georgia live in the open country. The majority of their ehildren are forced to look to the one-room school as the only source of preparation for life. So long as this condition exists agriculture, the paramount interest of the state, can never devolep beyond a primitive industry.
'What has been accomplished in Hart and other counties can be accomplished in any county in the. state. The responsibility of providing such systems of education must be aecepted by those who are in charge of the schools' whether they want it or not. There is not a county in the state so poor that it cannot afford adequate schools for its boys and girls. The success of such systems depends entirely upon leaders who have not only a vision of the needs of their people but also the courage and patienee to overcome the edueational inertia.