moore] THE CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS 319 



the rural schools in his county are to be preferred to many which 

 exist around much more costly city schools. 



If the rural school is isolated, and transportation to a union- 

 graded school should prove too expensive, then the improvement 

 of the rural school as it is, is the problem for solution, but wherever 

 two or more one or two-room schools may be closed and a new 

 consolidated school built with convenient reach of both districts, 

 then public sentiment should be at once directed along that line. 



Objections will arise, of course, but they can be overcome 

 through the exercise of wisdom, diplomacy and good judgment. 

 You must as a superintendent or board member advocating such a 

 change, know the facts in favor of consolidation, the benefits 

 to be obtained and something of actual saving financially if such 

 can be brought about. You must also use diplomacy in your 

 method of attacking different persons and principles, and when 

 you have won any point, judgment must be used in its execution. 



It is a fact that the little rural schools must have each then- 

 own equipment, their own buildings, heating plants, etc. The 

 cost of supplying all of these separately and in groups is much 

 greater than the combined cost would be if applied to one building. 

 Again these schools generally, are intended to provide the first 

 eight grades of elementary instruction. In the one-room the 

 eight grades are being taught by one teacher — there is an average 

 from one to four or five pupils in each grade — each grade must 

 have its supply of text-books, pencils, supplies, etc. There is 

 eight times the demand made on the teacher's time in the one-room 

 school, that there is in the consolidated graded school providing 

 a grade to each teacher — and consequently each pupil in the 

 rural school received one-eighth of the time that could be given 

 him by the teacher in the consolidated school. All of the above 

 are prominent points in favor of consolidation. 



No doubt you have all read what Assistant Secretary of Agri- 

 culture W. M. Hays has to say about the rural school in one of 

 his bulletins, but I am going to present just a portion of it as 

 follows : 



"While in the city the improvements have been in the direction of 

 fine, highly equipped buildings, libraries, and apparatus for 

 instruction in science and in some cases in the mechanic arts and 

 home economics, the efforts of the rural districts have been 

 directed toward increasing the number of school houses at the 



