THERE is an ever increasing interest 

 among farm people about their rural 

 schools. This fact was unmistakably 

 clear from the record attendance of 300 

 and the live discussion at the schools con- 

 ference held during the lAA 30th an- 

 nual meeting in Chicago. 



One of the highlights of the schools 

 conference was the final report of the 

 lAA schools committee. This committee, 

 made up of 34 Illinois farm men and 

 women have been studying rural school 

 problems for more than a year. Their 

 report embodies significant recommenda- 

 tions for the improvement of the rural 

 elementary and high schools of the state. 



In opening the schools conference. 

 Homer Curtiss, lAA board member and 

 a member of both the lAA schools com- 

 mittee and public relations committee, 

 said "the work of the school committee 

 was directed "toward the development 

 of a program where the-local people can, 

 and will, determine the solution of their 

 local school problems. ' 



Foremost recommendation of the 

 schools committee as contained in their 

 final report is that, "Every effort should 

 be made to equalize educational oppor- 

 tunities available to farm boys and girls. 

 This equalization should be accomplished 

 by raising the standards of the poorer 

 rural schools up to those of the best 

 public schools in the state." To imple- 

 ment this purpose the committee rec- 

 ommends that, "The training of teachers 

 should be more thorough and more spe- 

 cialized Teachers and teaching, 



especially m the elementary schools, 

 should be much more carefully supervised 



Every effort should be made to 



secure and retain the very best of teachers 



for rural schools More modern 



and up-to-date facilities are needed in 



most rural areas More effective 



and more economical teaching units must 

 be est.iblished if the boys and girls of 



rural Illinois are to have equal opportu- 

 nities with other boys and girls." 



Turning to high schools the committee 

 stated that, "High school pupils should 

 have a choice of vocational agriculture 

 and home economics, business training 

 and manual arts or shop work. These 

 subjects should be offered in addition to 

 the usual college preparatory course. High 

 schools should also carry on an active 

 program in music, health and extra curric- 

 ular activities." 



On the important subject of school fi- 

 nance the committee recommended that, 

 "The cost of maintaining the public 

 schools of the state should be more equi- 

 tably distributed." To bring this about 

 the committee urges that, "A larger pro- 

 portion of the funds needed by the 

 schools should be obtained from other 

 than property taxes, and should be col- 

 lected and distributed on a state-wide 



basis The first objective in the 



distribution of state funds should be to 

 provide adequate aid for the children in 

 districts which are financially unable to 



provide good schools As a 



qualification for receiving special (equal- 

 ization) state aid, local districts should 

 be required to make a uniform minimum 

 effort in support of their own schools." 

 As a means of establishing more uniform 

 school tax rates the committee recom- 

 mends the establishing of larger school 

 financial and administrative districts. 



In conclusion the committee states that, 

 "Real improvement of the rural schools 

 is dependent upon the combined efforts 

 of farmers, teachers, school directors, and 

 county superintendents. The farm peo- 

 ple, through their county and state organ- 

 izations, are trying to meet their respon- 

 sibility to the boys and girls of the state. 

 Other groups have pledged and are giv- 

 ing their full cooperation. With all these 

 groups working together the future holds 

 great promise for the boys and girls in 

 rural Illinois." 



Copies of the complete report are avail- 

 able from county rarm bureau offices 

 and from the Illmois Agricultural Associ- 

 ation, 608 South Deart)orn Street, Chi- 

 cago 5, Illinois. 



Some of the main subjects covered by 

 the School Report were discused briefly 

 by members of the lAA staff. The sub- 

 jects discussed were: "What makes a 

 Good Rural School," "Pupil Transporta- 

 tion," "A Plan for a Fair Redistribution 

 of Special State Aids," "The County 

 School Committees and School Surveys," 

 and "The Distinction between the Var- 

 ious Types of Units — Attendance, Fi- 

 nancial and Administrative." 



After these reports, the meeting was 

 thrown open to discussion. In response 

 to a question from the floor as to how 

 the schools in an area could be unified 

 under one head Mr. Bateman of Piatt 

 county gave an illustration of what had 

 been done in his own community. 



Mr. Bateman said that they called a 

 meeting of the directors of all the schools 

 in the township and out of that number 

 about seven schools were interested in 

 reorganization. They then proceeded to 

 circulate a petition and vote by districts, 

 with the understanding that if any of the 

 seven districts voted against the consoli- 

 dation, the election did not bind any of 

 them. All se\ en did vote for the larger 

 district and they proceeded to elect of- 

 ficers and to transport their children. They 

 now have 135 pupils in one school build- 

 ing and have sold their old buildings. 



Said Mr. Bateman, "We hired a trans- 

 portation company in Champaign, and 

 they take care of the transportation. We 

 do not know about the operating expenses 

 as yet because we just started this year, 

 but we think we are going to save quite 

 a little money. We have three buses and 

 each child is picked up at his door." 



The chairman then requested some one 

 to report on a case where a newly or- 

 ganized district was using two or more 



» 



•»> 



scho 



Shur 



count] 



of th 



have! 



woull 



J. 



16 



I. A. A. RECORD 



