Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
333 W. 30th St., New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. June 26, 1879. at the Post 
Office at New York, N, Y'., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 23, 1922 
Further Discussion of Rural School Problem 
The Proposed New Law 
Regarding the proposed school law in New York 
State, when is the bill to be presented to the Legisla¬ 
ture? Are the people to vote upon it? If so. how and 
when? If the districts are to remain as at present, and 
the older children from the various districts are to be 
“pooled" and carried to community centers, who is to 
bear the expense of transportation? In the .summary of 
the Committee of Twenty-one there is nothing said 
about the manner of getting these eluldren to community 
centers every morning, which would be a great obstacle 
in many localities if done collectively. Are not the main 
facts iu the new law as suggested by the Committee ef 
Twenty-one practically the same as those contained iu 
the township law. repealed a few years ago? i. 
New York. 
Ills question is one tlnut lias fre¬ 
quently been raised iti meetings iu 
which the report of the Committee 
of Twenty-one has heen tinder dis¬ 
cussion. The limits of a reply such 
as this will not permit of a complete 
statement of differences, but it does give an oppor¬ 
tunity to point out the most important ones. Iu the 
opinion of the writer these differences are: 
SI ATE AID.—1. A fairer basis for the distribu¬ 
tion id' State aid. The township law made provision 
for a larger local unit of administration and taxa¬ 
tion, hut it loft State aid on the same basis as it had 
previously heen. It failed to recognize the fact that 
a farming community lias a- special burdeu placed on 
it in the support of schools, because the conditions 
under (which farming is conducted make it necessary 
for people to spread bver a relatively large territory. 
When pupils are scattered over a considerable area 
it costs more to provide schools than it does when 
there is 'a relatively compact population, as is the 
case in the cities and villages. The committee lidlds 
the view that the farmer should not be subjected to 
an extra burden in providing schools for his children 
as a result of the conditions under which his busi¬ 
ness must be conducted. State aid should be distri¬ 
buted with a recognition of the handicap under 
which rural communities work providing education 
for their children. 
TAX RATES.—The recommendations of the com¬ 
mittee recognize the- fact that there is great varia¬ 
tion iu the wealth of different communities and 
therefore pronounced difference in their ability to 
provide schools. As a result some communities have 
to rax themselves at excessive rates to provide school 
facilities that are no better than-others are able to 
obtain with a relatively small tax. Since schools 
are required of every community at least up to cer¬ 
tain minimum standards the State should place its 
financial assistance on such a basis that all com¬ 
munities will have to bear approximately the same 
tax rate for the same school facilities. The studies 
made by the committee revealed the fact that there 
was a variation among communities of the same 
wealth in the extent to which they wished to tax 
themselves for schools. In providing State aid it 
seems desirable to recognize the variations in local 
interest iu education by granting more assistance to 
those districts that are anxious to go beyond pro¬ 
viding the minimum school facilities for their chil¬ 
dren. 
FAVORING POORER COMMUNITIES.—The re¬ 
port of the Committee of Twenty-one recognizes the 
handicap of the country districts in providing 
schools, their variations in wealth, and the differ¬ 
ence in their desire to provide schools, and recom¬ 
mends that these should be given consideration in 
the distribution of State aid. There was no such 
provision iu the township act. In addition, the 
financial recommendations include suggestions for 
State aid. for major repairs on existing buildings 
and for the creation of new buildings, the proportion 
of the cost to be borne by the State to vary with the 
wealth per teacher in the communities, the poorer 
communities to be given more assistance than the 
wealthier ones. It is also suggested that since the 
position is so difficult that the State make a direct 
grant of $20 per month to a teacher of superior 
training and successful experience who works in the 
one-room school. This grant would be beyond the 
amount paid by the community and would not be a 
charge upon it. 
DIFFERENCES IN ORGANIZATION.—2. There 
are marked differences in the administrative organi¬ 
zation that is suggested by the Committee of Twenty- 
one as compared with the one established under the 
