42 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



with such matchless opoprtunities for school privileges in the city, with 

 the rural school almost forgotten, the farmers moved from country to city. 



But do not misunderstand me. I am an optimist. This marvelous growth 

 of the city school was inevitable. The people wanted it and it had to come. 

 It was an essential factor in our economic evolution, and I am confident it 

 will ultimately be for the common good of both country and city. For we 

 must ruralize the city and urbanize the country. Neither can get along 

 without the other. We must have both. 



In order for the rural school to be what it should be, it must have more 

 money. To have more money, it must have a larger taxing unit. There 

 are independent rural school districts in the sandhills of Nebraska that 

 vote the limit of taxation — thirty-five mills on each dollar of assessed 

 valuation — which does not produce sufficient funds for three months of 

 school. For such districts the legislature of that state appropriates about 

 $50,000 annually — $100,000 for the biennium — toward giving a minimum 

 of seven months of school for each year. There are several other states 

 that appropriate state aid for their weak rural schools. This is good as far 

 as it goes, but it does not go far enough. There are some rural school dis- 

 tricts in Nebraska which, under the state apportionment of the public 

 school funds, have not voted any local school tax for years, and yet have 

 had nine months of school with a good teacher who received $50.00 or more 

 salary per month. I know that it is impossible — except in theory — to pro- 

 vide equal opportunities for all under equal burdens of taxation; but, there 

 are some inequalities in taxation for rural schools in many states where a 

 more nearly equitable system of taxation is possible. 



The United States Bureau of Education, in a recent official letter, 

 suggests the county as the unit of taxation and administration in school 

 matters, except that independent city districts employing a city superintend- 

 ent would not be included. This plan works well in some of the Southern 

 states, especially in Louisiana, Maryland and Tennessee. New England 

 holds to the town as a unit in these matters; that is, the township, as we 

 understand the term in the west. Indiana is making a success of the town- 

 ship is the unit of taxation and administration for school purposes, while 

 Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska are types of the independent dis- 

 trict system — ultra home rule — absolute democracy in rural education. 



The consolidation of four or five weak rural school districts into one 

 strong centralized school, with the transportation of pupils at public ex- 

 pense, is almost impossible under the independent district system, though 

 Iowa and Minnesota are trying to superinduce consolidation of their weak 

 rural schools by a state subsidy and are making good progress. But, the 

 only states making marked progress in consolidation are those having the 

 county or township unit in taxation and administration, with the single 

 exception of New York States, which has already passed a rural school 

 consolidation law, giving its administrative school officers almost unlimited 

 power. Dr. Finnigan, of the New York State Department of Education, 

 predicts that within five years practically all of the weak rural schools of 

 that state will be consolidated into strong, centralized schools. 



