American Agriculturist, October 13,1923 
A Square Deal For Country People 
Rural School Bill Means Better Schools For the Same Money—A Radio Talk 
I SPEAK for nearly four hundred thou¬ 
sand boys and girls who live on the hills 
and in the valleys—on the farms and in 
the hamlets of rural New York—the 
great hinterland of the Metropolis. In 
another generation those for whom I speak 
will be scattered throughout the cities, vil¬ 
lages and rural sections of the Empire State. 
They will be the citizens upop whom will 
rest in a large part the responsibility for 
settling many of the difficult problems of our 
increasingly complex civilization. It not only 
is their birthright to have as good an op¬ 
portunity as anyone for an education, but 
the State’s interest requires tha^ they have 
that opportunity. While it is true that both 
city and country present perplexing and diffi¬ 
cult questions, without doubt the most out¬ 
standing problem in education that confronts 
the people of New York State is the one of 
the rural school. 
The Situation Today 
When our State system of schools was es¬ 
tablished, the educational facilities provided 
in city and country did not differ greatly. 
People thought of the schools in terms of the 
three R’s and those were the subjects taught. 
If the teachers were poorly trained in the 
country so were they in the city. Then pop¬ 
ulation and wealth were quite evenly dis¬ 
tributed and consequently the cost of schools 
was much the same everywhere. 
But what is the situation in 1923? Facts 
that cannot be. controverted show that in all 
essential particulars the boys and girls who 
attend school in the country districts are not 
provided with as good educational facilities 
as are those who attend school elsewhere. 
For example, as a whole the poorest school 
buildings in the State are the 8,600 one-room 
buildings. Most of them are over fifty years 
old. Less than fifteen per cent of them are 
properly lighted, heated and ventilated. The 
general condition of the larger buildings in 
the State’s school system is much better. 
Trained teachers no less than trained phy¬ 
sicians or lawyers or stenographers are de¬ 
sirable. Both city and rural children should 
be taught by such teachers. It is generally 
claimed that at least two years of preliminary 
training are necessary to prepare one for 
the profession of teaching. There are many 
good teachers in the country, but less than 
five per cent of the teachers in the one-room 
schools of New York State have had two 
years of training. In the cities, more than 
eighty per cent have had such training. 
Nearly sixty per cent of the teachers in the 
one-room schools change positions and more 
than half of the trustees are new each year. 
The Comparative Progress of Pupils 
Those of us who live in the country like 
to think that the rural school is an efficient 
institution because many of the successful 
professional and business men and women of 
the cities came from the country. The Al¬ 
mighty did a lot for the rural boy when he 
placed him in the country. It is the place 
where qualities that make for success are de¬ 
veloped. He just naturally gets an educa¬ 
tion there. He sometimes gets it in spite of 
the disadvantage of inadequate school facili¬ 
ties. The real test, however, is to apply the 
educational yard stick and measure the prog¬ 
ress that boys and girls are making in the 
rural schools as compared with the progress 
made by city boys and girls. This has been 
done and it is known positively that boys and 
girls in rural schools are not as far advanced 
for their age in any subject as are those 
who attend school in the cities and larger 
villages. In most subjects they are at least 
one full year behind their city or village 
cousins. We are speaking now of the aver- 
By R. P. SNYDER 
age boy aijd girl and not of the exception 
that we often meet. 
There are hundreds of boys and girls in 
the rural communities who do not go to high 
school because their parents are financially 
unable to pay for their transportation as is 
required under the present system. A study 
made by the Military Training Commission 
a few years ago showed that employed farm 
boys had left school having completed fewer 
grades than any other class of employed boys 
in the State. 
Cost of Rural Education High 
In spite of the meager facilities provided, 
the cost of education in most rural districts 
is very high. What would the city dweller 
think for instance of paying for school pur¬ 
poses alone a tax rate of three, four or five 
per cent. In many rural districts this is not 
uncommon. In a recent study, one district 
was found that had a school tax rate of nearly 
twelve per cent. And this high cost is in 
districts where an elementary school only is 
supported. 
If, as stated, there was at first equality of 
opportunity and a fair distribution of the 
cost of maintenance what causes the present 
inequalities? If we consider the history of 
our school development, the answer is clear. 
Our present State system of schools may be 
traced back to 1812. In that year in re¬ 
sponse to the demand of leaders of public 
opinion, the Legislature enacted a law laying 
its foundation. It was nearly forty years 
later that the people of the State declared by 
popular vote in favor of the establishment of 
tax supported free public schools. When it 
had been decided to establish public schools, 
it was necessary that there be machinery for 
their administration. It was natural that 
small neighborhoods within which the social 
and economic activities of the people of that 
day were carried on should become the units 
of taxation and administration for the sup¬ 
port of schools. Thus originated our district 
school system. It was the natural and proper 
unit of administration for primitive times. 
Advances in Social and Economic Life 
The railroads, the automobile, improved 
highways, the telephone, the telegraph, the 
concentration of wealth and of population in 
a few large centers have brought about great 
changes in social and economic life since 
1812. People no longer live in the small 
school district. Yet they retain it as the 
unit of administration for schools. In the 
beginning it was established as such because 
it was the unit of local activity in all things. 
Our present difficulty is due to the fact 
that New York State is attempting a 1923 
undertaking with an 1812 piece of machin¬ 
ery. It cannot be done. It is the fault of 
no one in particular that the present situa¬ 
tion exists. It is the fault of. all of up both 
urban and rural if we do not correct it. 
The Rural Education Bill introduced at 
the last session of the Legislature was in¬ 
tended to lay the foundation for remedying 
the present inequalities. It was based on a 
most careful study of rural school conditions 
conducted over a period of three years by 
some of the best authorities in the field of 
education. The bill is not radical in its pro¬ 
visions. It does not provide for any new 
officials to administer the work of the schools. 
It does not extend centralized control of the 
schools, but places a large measure of re¬ 
sponsibility in their control on the localities 
where the schools are maintained, excepting 
only such State control as has always been 
recognized as necessary to insure that proper 
standards will be maintained. 
It is recognized that under our form of 
government we can make progress only by 
consent of and with the help of a majority 
of the people. In schools as in other things, 
this must be done by building on the institu¬ 
tions of the past and not by tearing them up 
and putting new ones in their place. 
What Is the Community District? 
The principal features of the bill are: first, 
a larger local unit of taxation and adminis¬ 
tration constructed according to the social 
and economic activities of the people of 1923 
instead of 1812. This local unit would be 
known as the community district. It would 
be established by grouping the present school 
districts embraced in the territory of the 
natural community district. It would be es¬ 
tablished without regard to town or county 
lines because people disregard those lines in 
this hill and valley State in conducting their 
social and business affairs. With the help 
of the State, people of the community dis¬ 
trict would be required to provide for the 
elementary and high-school education of all 
the children of the district. ' Each present 
district would be a part of the larger com¬ 
munity district for taxation and administra¬ 
tion purposes, but would have at least one 
representative on the community board of 
education. 
Consolidation Only by Local Vote 
The community board of education would 
have charge of all the schools in the com¬ 
munity district. The consolidation of schools 
within the community district could be 
brought about only by majority vote of the 
electors in the districts affected. Those who 
know the difficulties of transportation es¬ 
pecially in winter in certain sections of our 
State will understand the wisdom of this pro¬ 
vision. Besides, the one-room school is not 
a failure as a school for the lower grades 
if the physical surroundings are satisfactory 
and the teacher is well-trained. It is wffien 
the one-room school tries by itself alone to 
do the whole job that it falls down. 
Fathers and mothers know that when their 
boys and girls reach the adolescent age which 
comes at about the end of the sixth grade, 
they need to be associated with other boys 
of a corresponding age and taught by teach¬ 
ers who have been trained to know and deal 
with their developing bodies and their ex¬ 
panding intellects. This is what is done in 
the cities under the junior high-school organ¬ 
ization. Rural boys and girls are entitled to 
the same privileges under a State system of 
schools. Therefore, if the bill becomes law 
it will be possible to have the well-equipped 
and well-taught one-room school for small 
children where the people of a school district 
want it, and at the same time to provide 
proper facilities for the older boys and girls. 
Experience shows that many of the older 
pupils will leave school if new interests are 
not provided to hold them. The bill takes 
care of fundamentals like taxation and 
leaves details to be worked out by the 
people. It is the American way of settling 
the question. 
More Financial Help From State 
Second, larger State aid would be provided 
for rural schools. Nearly ninety per cent of 
the State’s wealth is located in a few large 
centers of population. Obviously if good 
schools are to be provided for all children as 
the State’s interest demands, there must be 
liberal aid from the State as a whole to sup¬ 
port the rural schools. Therefore, taxation 
would be equalized, first, by the larger com¬ 
munity unit described heretofore, and second, 
by State aid apportioned in accordance with 
{Continued on page 249) 
