lot, of education and understanding to 

 improve such situations. 



Some reorganization of school district 

 boundaries is necessary today to enable 

 the school organization, its program and 

 its ser%'ices, to be more nearly adjusted 

 to the needs of modern communities. 

 Situations unforeseen when most of these 

 districts were set up in 1855 have de- 

 veloped, causing great inequality of edu- 

 cational opportunities as well as severe 

 inequalities in the matter of local taxes 

 needed for the support of the many and 

 varied school systems. 



When most of the districts were set 

 up, it was not intended that 234 pupils 

 in Vermilion county would sit lonesomely 

 and without competition or companion- 

 ship in 234 different grades, or 130 in 

 Winnebago county. These situations re- 

 sult in pnany childhood tragedies, such as 

 inability to get along well with other 

 children or with their school work when 



volves mutual consideration of such 

 problems as pupil trans|>ortation, 

 spreading the tax load, providing eco- 

 nomical and efficient administrative, 

 supervisory, and special teaching serv- 

 ices, and Securing courses of study and 

 school services rural communities need. 

 "The county survey affords rural 

 people the best opjX)rtunity to study 

 their own school problems toward mu- 

 tual satisfaction. Each county should 

 elect to inaugurate a county school. sur- 

 vey." 



Paul S. Conklin, President Illinois 



Association of County 



Superintendents 



"About 100 years ago when Illinois 

 was largely populated on farms a 

 school system was set up to serve the 

 people of that day. Times and things 

 have changed tremendously this past 

 century and although many, many im- 

 provements have been made in our 

 schools we are still operating on the 

 system of years ago under which it will 

 never be possible to eliminate many of 

 the difficulties we now have. ^r 



"The revision of our statp^lSchool 

 system is imminent. We must set down 

 the conditions which should exist in 

 our schools and then proceed to estab- 

 lish a reorganization which will expe- 

 dite those advances. 



"The purpose of the County Sur- 

 vey, as I see it, is to do just that. Each 

 county which elects to conduct the 

 survey simply says, "Yes, we will ex- 

 amine the schools situation in our coun- 

 ty, list undesirable and desirable fea- 

 tures, prof>ose improvements, and state 

 what we believe would be an advisable 

 procedure to establish conditions as we 

 want them'." 



subjected to stiff competition in a larger 

 school. Unless they have had reasonably 

 strong competition all along the road, 

 they have soft places in their training and 

 personalities and are not properly con- 

 ditioned for difficulties ahead. 



Also when these districts were set up, 

 it was not intended that railroads or in- 

 dustries would pay 95% of the school 

 taxes collected in one district and nothing 

 to the support of the school in the ad- 

 joining district. Nor was it intended 

 in 1855 that rural schools would have 

 to compete for the services of a 4-year 

 college graduate to teach in their schools 

 and thus bid against city schools with 

 better housing facilities, less work, fewer 

 classes, more pay, and opportunities for 

 professional advancement. Surely the 

 education of our children is important 

 enough that we need a thorough-going 

 review of our school system at least once 

 each century. 



Nor was it intended in 1855 to per- 

 petuate indefinitely schools whose plan- 

 ners were forced to consider mud roads 

 and horse drawn vehicles. 



Rather, it was intended that those 

 schools should serve the purpose for 

 which they were needed. They were ad- 

 justed to a community that had large 

 families of children, very bad roads, slow 

 means of transportation, and where a 

 general education was all that was 

 needed. They got the rest of their edu- 

 cation battling the wilderness. They be- 

 came lawyers by reading law books in the 

 courthouse and getting a license to prac- 

 tice. They became doctors by going with 

 and handing instruments and a wash pan 

 of warm water to the practicing physi- 

 cian. 



They don't make doctors and lawyers 

 that way today. We need not only gen- 

 eral information today but specific in- 

 formation. Occupationally, we are a na- 



tion of specialists with numerous outside 

 interests. 



Thinking people today will have to 

 decide if the school is adjusted to the 

 needs of this modern day. The best in- 

 terests of the children should always be 

 kept uppermost in our considerations. In 

 estimating the school and its program 

 today we might use the following yard- 

 stick: 



1. Does the school provide the time 

 and skilled professional help which will 

 enable the child to master the funda- 

 mentals of reading and mathematics? 

 Many one-room teachers of considerable 

 ability, bewildered by a multiplicity of 

 classes and a shortage of time for each, 

 have expressed thorough dissatisfaction 

 with the job they were able to do in 

 teaching the fundamentals of learning. 

 What about the poor teachers? 



2. Does it enable the child to realize 

 the fullest development of his talents and 

 capacities in music, public speaking, 

 group leadership, sports, hand work, etc. ? 



3. Does it prepare the child through 

 school experiences to live happily and 

 effectively with others? If the school 

 fails there, it has failed in its main dut}-. 



4. Does the school offer an oppor- 

 tunity, particularly if a high school, for 

 the pupil to gain some skills necessary 

 to the earning of a living? 



5. Does the school provide the back- 

 ground that would enable the child to 

 develop a sense of responsibility and se- 

 cure practice in the use and appreciation 

 of democratic methods, so that he will 

 be an efficient, worthwhile citizen ? 



The school program which fills the 

 above mentioned needs can be said prop- 

 erly to serve the community' in which it 

 is located. The support of such a school 

 program is everyone's responsibility, 

 whether he has children in school or 

 not. The better the school, the better 

 the community. 



NOVEMBER, 1945 



