School Survey Act To 

 Undergo Tests Soon 



By JOHN K. COX 



THE school survey act, reported by 

 many informed people to be the 

 most outstanding piece of school 

 legislation out of the 56 school bills 

 passed and signed by the governor 

 during the last legislature session, will 

 undergo 102 tests by Dec. 15 of this 

 year. 



The act provides that on or before 

 Dec. 1, 1945, the county superintendent 

 in each county shall call the school 

 board members of the county together 

 and have the provisions of the school 

 survey act explained, after which an 

 opportunity for discussion will be af- 

 forded. The meeting may be adjourned 

 until later, but they must reach a de- 

 cision on whether a school survey com- 

 mittee shall be established in the County 

 in accordance with the act mentioned, 

 by or before Dec. 15. In most cases the 

 decision will be made the night of the 

 first officially called meeting of all the 

 board members. 



The board members of the county 

 decide whether there will be a survey. 

 Rural people have preponderant repre- 

 sentation in the meeting where board 

 members decide for or against the 

 survey. If the vote is favorable, then 

 rural people will have preponderant 

 representation on the county school 

 committee. 



Any proposals made by the school 

 committee are submitted at public hear- 

 ings in each community affected. Fol- 

 lowing these hearings, the county com- 

 mittee will attempt to take full cog- 

 nizance of local people's wishes and at 

 the same time make proposals that 



would be for the best interests of the 

 various communities during these mod- 

 ern times as well as in the next decades 

 to come. 



When the final plans are submitted 

 to the people for a vote, the people 

 have the last word. If the vote is 

 favorable, in any particular proposed 

 district, then those people have a new 

 school district. If it is unfavorable, 

 the local people have recourse under 

 the regular school law to make changes 

 more suitable to them. 



The school survey act provides local 

 people an opportunity to make needed 

 changes in their school systems on a 

 voluntary basis. 



The main purposes of the act are: 



1. To stimulate thinking on the part 

 of rural people on school improvement. 



2. To take stock of ourselves educa- 

 tionally and make positive, progressive, 

 suggestions as to how our schools can 

 be improved. 



3. To provide state leadership which 

 may be accepted or rejected but which 

 should improve our chances for making 

 wise adjustments in our school plans. 



In one township in northern Illinois 

 a representative number of school pa- 

 trons were asked for an appraisal of 

 their schools, both good and bad. There 

 was a general reaction of indifference 

 or mild acquiescence in the present 

 state of things. 



When asked what was the best thing 

 that could be said about their school, 

 these responses were among the an- 

 swers: (1) Don't know anything 



A good school means a good community. 



against it, (2) Nothing to say, ^3) 

 Good as any country school, and (4) 

 It's easy to reach. 



When asked what was the worst 

 thing that could be said about their 

 school, these responses were included 

 in the answers: (1) children go back- 

 ward, (2) need a new. building, (3) 

 poor teacher, and (4) building is filthy, 

 ventilation is poor, school is not prop-, 

 erly heated. ".- 



Of course, there were a few favorable 

 remarks made about the schools. How- 

 ever, the remarks indicated a depressing 

 situation so far as community life was 

 concerned. It is no wonder that when 

 asked whether they intended to make 

 their homes on the farm, one girl an- 

 swered: "Heck no, not me. Don't see 

 any young folks that do. I like the city 

 better than the country. Better oppor- 

 tunities, better times, better pay, more 

 conveniences." A boy from the same 

 township when asked the same question 

 answered : "No, I don't like the farm. 

 I'd sooner live in town. There's noth- 

 ing here except hard work." " 



A poor school system will allow a 

 community to erode just the same as 

 poorly planned farming will allow ero- 

 sion on hill-side land. The eroded 

 community or the eroded land suffer 

 from a loss of the more productive ele- 

 ments of human nature or soil, the part 

 that can give life to, add color and bear 

 fruit. And both erosions result from 

 lack of far-sighted planning on the part 

 of local people. 



A good school system generally in- 

 dicates a broad-minded, progressive 

 community and vice versa. There are 

 many good country schools and there 

 are many that cannot be as good as they 

 ought to be without some fundamental 

 changes. - ,1' ':;'■•■ 



A good school is one that takes into 

 consideration the needs of the com- 

 munity and tries to meet them. It is 

 that kind of school that elevates com- 

 munity life and reveals the challenge in 

 life on the farm. Many farming com- 

 munities are being drained of their 

 most intelligent, ambitious, and ad- 

 venturous youth today. 



The farm community and the county 

 farm organization greatly need the 

 leadership which the most able farm 

 sons and daughters can give. The best 

 point of approach to improving com- 

 munity life and placing a proper em- 

 phasis on the advantages in living on 

 the farm is the rural school. 



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L A. A. RECORD 



