PROBLEMS OF RURAL SCHOOLS 487 



or other means that have been found most effective in promoting con- 

 solidation, came the reply that a larger administrative unit is desirable ; 

 and the majority favor the county unit with one board of education in 

 charge of all the schools of the county. Under such a system local dis- 

 trict feeling is abolished. The county is districted according to topog- 

 raphy, roads and population. In Maryland the county is made the tax 

 unit for the collection and distribution of school money. This system 

 is found in the south and is gaining adherents in the west. Oregon has 

 lately made provision for the establishment of a county educational board 

 in counties having sixty or more districts, and for a supervisor for every 

 fifty districts in such a county. In Utah several districts may place 

 themselves under the management of one board of education for the 

 purpose of securing better administration and supervision. Last year 

 ISTew York put a law in operation which combines towns into larger 

 administrative districts and which ought to make supervision of country 

 schools more efficient. The township plan prevails throughout Few 

 England and the Middle West, but a number of superintendents in these 

 states express themselves as believing that the county unit would bring 

 even better results. 



Legislation designed to promote the efficiency of schools rather than 

 consolidation sometimes forces the latter. Probably the greatest in- 

 centive for consolidation in Indiana is the stringent law abolishing all 

 schools where the attendance has been twelve pupils or fewer for the 

 period of a year. Legislation fixing the minimum length of the school 

 year is aiding consolidation in Massachusetts and in other states, as 

 small schools can not afford to keep open for so long a period. 



The earliest and most wide-spread encouragement given to consolida- 

 tion through legislation was that by which transportation of pupils was 

 paid for out of the tax fund. In Chippewa County, Wisconsin, it is 

 estimated that transportation is 50 per cent cheaper than the cost of 

 maintaining two separate schools. Where public conveyance is pro- 

 vided, the increase in enrollment and average attendance is very marked. 



One of the latest forms of legislation for encouraging consolidation 

 and improving the work of the schools is that of providing grants of 

 money to be given to schools attaining certain standards of efficiency. 

 Minnesota offers $1,500 yearly to rural schools of four departments 

 maintaining teachers of certain qualifications, a library, and agricul- 

 tural and industrial work. Smaller sums are given to schools of three 

 and two departments. Aid for building is also granted to the amount of 

 25 per cent of the cost, provided that no building shall receive more 

 than $1,500. In Washington a bonus of $150 is received by each con- 

 solidated school composed of two district schools. A special grant is 

 made of $300 per year by Wisconsin to graded schools of three depart- 

 ments and of $200 to those of two. To schools providing for instruc- 



