By JOHN COX 

 lAA Director of Rural School Relation! 



Dedicated to the improvement of rural edu- 

 cation, this column will include varied items 

 of possible interest to parents and patrons of 

 our rural schools. 



Our leaders: Are thev city or country 

 bred? 



Most rural people and those who were 

 born and reared in rural communities have 

 been inclined to think that more of our na- 

 tional leaders conre from the farms than 

 from urban communities. Dr. Albert Ed- 

 ward Wigjjam in his syndicated feature, 

 "Let's Explore Your Mind" appearing in 

 many papers throughout the country on 

 May 24, 1946, made this statement : 



"Three times as many eminent men of 

 America have been born in cities as have 

 been born in the country. About this pro- 

 portion have been city born throughout the 

 history of the world." Since this statement 

 was in variance with our own opinion, we 

 wrote to one of the newspapers which car- 

 ried that feature and asked them to put us in 

 touch with some information which might 

 substantiate that statement. We received 

 this information from John F. Dille, Presi- 

 dent of the National Newspaper Service : 



"Dr. Wiggam advises that the support for 

 this was first developed by Dr. Frederick 

 Adams Woods in 1906. His method was 

 to record the birth places of the leaders of 

 the country as they appeared in 'Who's Who 

 in America.' 



"Later E. L. Thorndike, Columbia Uni- 

 versity, reached the same result as you may 

 find in a magazine entitled THE SCIEN- 

 TJFIC MONTHLY under the Origins of 

 Great Men.' This article appeared about 

 five years ago and should be available in 

 most public libraries or university libraries. 



"Dr. Ellsworth Huntington, Yale Univer- 

 sity, published an article in the AMERICAN 

 MAGAZINE some time this year reaching 

 the same conclusions. The article was en- 

 titled 'Where Do Great Men Come From.'' 



"These authorities in a general way seem 

 to conclude that about three leaders — in 

 Science, Art, Politics, Philosophy, Business, 

 etc. — are born in cities of 10,000 popula- 

 tion or larger to one born in smaller com- 

 munities." 



This is what they say about the unit 

 distria. 



Illinois has reached a place in school 

 reorganization where it is confronted with 

 the question, "What school organization is 

 the most efficient for this state.'' The fol- 

 lowing statements will indicate the position 

 of most of the leading organizations in 

 regard to the unit district: 



National Education Association — Illinois 

 is one of only three states in the U. S. 

 where the dual system is widely used. 



Illinois Education Association — "Evi- 

 dence points to the superiority of large 12- 

 grade districts over the poorly coordinated 

 dual system of separate elementary and sec- 



ondary school districts." 



Small High School Problems in III., 

 I.E.A., April 1943. 



The Illinois Association of School Boards 

 — They advocate, "the consolidation of 

 community educational programs under one 

 board of education, empowered to establish 

 a single administration of the school system 

 with unified business control, budgetary 

 practice, taxmg authority, and with one set 

 of rules and regulations governing educa- 

 tional practices as they relate to children, 

 parents and taxpayers of the community." 



Part of resolution adopted, I.A.S.B., Oc- 

 tober 23, 1944. 



The State Advisory Commission on School 

 Reorganization — "An administrative unit 

 should comprise one or more attendance 

 areas, (preferably two or more) oflfering 

 educational facilities at least through the 

 twelfth grade. . . . The reorganization of 

 school districts does not always involve the 

 abandonment of the smaller units of school 

 administration. Indeed, the major purpose 

 of such reorganization often is to enlarge 

 the tax area and to eflFect cooperative re- 

 lationships in the business and personal ac- 

 tivities of the district affected." 



Manual for County School Survey Com- 

 mittees. Pages 18, 19. 



The Committee on Services of the Illinois 

 Post War Planning Commission — "One 

 important phase of reorganization is that 

 of realigning dual elementary and secondary 

 districts into unit districts, "rhe best organi- 

 zation educationally and financially is one 

 in which the grades below the twelfth or 

 fourteenth are under a single board of edu- 

 cation. Yet only approximately 100 of 

 these desirable districts remain in the state 

 of Illinois. 



Report of Committee on Services, 111. 

 Post War Planning Commission. 



The Illinois Agricultural Association — 

 "For many purposes districts may be en- 

 larged also by combining elementary and 

 high school districts so that a single board 

 has the administration of all levels of the 

 educational system from grades 1 to 12 in- 

 clusive .... Formerly there were many 

 more 12-grade districts but during recent 

 years an unwise state law has caused many 

 communities to give up this efficient type 

 of organization. " This unwise law has 

 since been amended to place the unit dis- 

 trict on the same footing financially as the 

 dual system districts. Later the Report con- 

 tinues, "Positive steps sheuld be taken to 

 prevent further division of 12-grade dis- 

 tricts and to encourage the organization of 

 new ones. " 



Illinois Agricultural Ass'n School Report, 

 Page 61. 



Other organizations whose policies are not 

 so definitely stated favor the unit district. 

 For further explanation of unit district see 

 Unit District article, "The Record" April 

 1946. Many counties are considering the 

 widespread establishment of unit districts. 



PRAIRIE GRAIN BUYS SITES 



Prairie Grain Company, subsidiary of 

 the Illinois Agricultural Association's 

 Grain Terminals Company, has closed 

 deals for the purchase of elevator sites 

 at Lacon and Hennepin. 



The company, which will market grain 

 cooperatively along the Illinois River val- 

 ley from Morris to Peoria, plans to build 

 as soon as labor and materials make it 

 possible. 



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22 



I. A. A. RECORD 



