CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS

Much has been said and written in regard to what is generally known as the "consolidation of schools." Men and women interested in the cause of popular education have come to feel that the rural schools throughout the country are making little or no progress, and public attention has therefore been turned to consolidation as one of the possible means of improvement.

The Process.—As the name implies, the process is simply the bringing together and the fusing of two or more schools into one. If two or more communities, each having a small school of a few children, conclude that their schools are becoming ineffective and that it would be advantageous to unite, each may sell its own schoolhouse, and a new one may be built large enough for all and more centrally located with regard to the whole territory. They thus "consolidate" the schools of the several districts and establish a single large one. In many portions of the country the rural schools have, from various causes, grown smaller and smaller, until they have ceased to be places of interest, of activity, and of life. Now, a school, if it means anything, means a place where minds are stimulated and awakened as well as where knowledge is communicated. There can be but little stimulation in a school of only a few children. The pupils feel it and so does the teacher. Life, activity, mental aspiration are always found where large numbers of persons congregate. For these reasons the idea of consolidating the small schools into important centers, or units, is forcing itself upon the people of the country. Where the schools are small and the roads are good, everything favors the bringing of the children to a larger and more stimulating social and educational center.

When Not Necessary.—It might happen, as it frequently does, that a school is already sufficiently large, active, and enthusiastic to make it inadvisable to give up its identity and become merged in the larger consolidated school. If there are twenty or thirty children and an efficient teacher we have the essential factors of a good school. Furthermore, it is rather difficult to transport, for several miles, a larger number than this.

The District System.—There are two different kinds of country school organization. In some states, what is known as the district system is the prevailing one. This means that a school district, more or less irregular in shape and containing probably six to ten square miles, is organized into a corporation for school purposes. The schoolhouse is situated somewhere near the center of this district and is usually a small, boxlike affair, often located in a desolate place without trees or other attractive environment. This school may be under the administration of a trustee or of a school board having the management of the school in every respect. This board determines the length of term; it hires and dismisses teachers, procures supplies and performs all the functions authorized by law. It is a case where one school board has the entire management of one small school.

TWO TYPES OF CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS

The Township System.—The other form of organization is what is known as the township system. Here the several schools in one township are all under the administration of one school board. There is not a school board for each schoolhouse, as in the district system, but one school board has charge of all the schools of the township. Under certain conditions it has in its power the locating of schoolhouses within this general district. The board hires the teachers for all the schools within its jurisdiction, and in general manages all the schools in the same manner as the board in the district system manages its one school.

Consolidation Difficult in District System.—The process of consolidation is always difficult where the district system prevails. Both custom and sentiment cause the people to hesitate or refuse to abandon their established form of organization. If a community has been incorporated for any purpose and has done business for some years, it is always difficult to induce the people to make a change. They feel as if they were abdicating government and responsibility. They hesitate to merge themselves in a larger organization, and hence they advance many objections to the consolidation of their schools. All this is but natural. The several communities have been living apart educationally and have been in a measure strangers. They have never had any occasion to meet in conference, to exchange thought, and to do business together; hence they fear and hesitate to take a leap in the dark, as they conceive it, and to embark upon a course which they think they may afterwards regret. Consolidation frequently fails because of false apprehensions due to a lack of social organization.

Easier in Township System.—It is quite otherwise where the township system exists. Here there are no separate corporations or organizations controlling the various schools. The school board administers the affairs of all the schools in the township. Hence there is no sentiment in regard to the separate and distinct individuality of each school and its patronage. There are no sub-districts or distinctly organized communities; a whole township or two townships constitute one large district and the schools are located at the most convenient points to serve the children of the whole township. The people in such districts have been accustomed to act together educationally as well as politically, and to exchange thought on all such situations. Hence consolidation, or the union of the several schools, is a comparatively easy matter.

Consolidation a Special Problem for Each District.—It will, of course, be seen at once that, in a school township where there are several small and somewhat lifeless schools with only a few children in each, it would be desirable for several reasons to bring together all the children into one large and animated center. This process is a specific local problem. Whether or not such consolidation is advisable depends upon many conditions, among which are, (1) the size of the former schools, (2) the unanimity of sentiment in the community, (3) the location of roads and of residences, (4) the distance the pupils are to be transported, and other local and special considerations. The people of each district should get together and discuss these problems from various points of view and decide for themselves whether or not they shall adopt the plan and also the extent to which it shall be carried. Much will depend upon the size of the schools and everything upon the unanimity of sentiment in the community. If there is a large minority against consolidation the wisdom of forcing it by a small majority is to be questioned. It would be better to let the idea "work" a while longer.

Disagreements on Transportation.—The problem of transporting pupils is always a puzzling one. Many details are involved in its solution and it is upon details that communities usually disagree. Most enterprises are wrecked by disagreements over small matters. Even among friends it is the small details in mannerisms or conduct that become with time so irritating that friendship is often strained. Details are usually small, but their obtrusive, perpetual presence is likely to disturb one's nerves. This is true in deliberative bodies of all kinds. Important measures are often delayed or killed because their advocates and opponents cannot "give and take" upon small points. Almost every great measure passing successfully through legislative bodies and, in fact, the settlement of many social problems embody a compromise on details. Many good people forget that, while there should be unanimity in essentials, there should be liberty in non-essentials, and charity in all things. Many people lack the power of perspective in the discussion and solution of problems; for them all facts are of the same magnitude. Large things which they do not wish are minimized and small things are magnified. A copper cent may be held so near the eye that it will obscure the sun. Probably there has been no difficulty greater in the process of consolidation than the problems involved in the details concerning the transportation of pupils.

Each Community Must Decide for Itself.—The particular mode of transportation must be determined by the conditions existing in each community. In some places the consolidated school district provides one or more busses, or, as they are sometimes called, "vans"; and these go to the homes of the children each morning in time to arrive at the schoolhouse before nine o'clock. Of course, in this case the pupils living farthest from the school must rise and be ready earliest; they are on the road for the greatest length of time. But this is one of the minor discomforts which must be borne by those families and their children. All cannot live near the school. Sometimes a different plan of transportation is found to give better satisfaction. The parents may prefer to bring their own children to school or to make definite arrangements with nearby neighbors who bring theirs. There is no one way which is the only way, and, in fact, several methods may be used in the same district.

The Distance to Be Transported.—If pupils must be transported over five or six miles, consolidation becomes a doubtful experiment. Of course, the vehicles used should be comfortable and every care should be taken of the children; but six miles over country roads and in all kinds of weather means, probably, an hour and a quarter on the road both morning and evening. It could, of course, be said in reply that six miles in a comfortable wagon and an hour and a quarter on the road are not nearly so bad as a mile and a quarter on foot at certain seasons of the year.

Responsible Driver.—Another point upon which all parents should insist is that the transportation of their children should be performed by reliable and responsible drivers. This is important and most necessary. Under such conditions there would be no danger of children being drenched with rain in summer and exposed to cold in winter, for the vehicles would be so constructed as to offer protection against both. There would also be no danger of the large boys bullying and browbeating the smaller children on the way, as is often done when they walk to school over long and lonely roads; for all would be under the care of a trustworthy driver until they were landed at the door of the schoolhouse or the home.

Cost of Consolidation.—The cost of consolidation is always an important consideration. Under the district system one district may be wealthy and another poor, the former having scarcely any taxation and the latter a high rate of taxation. It is usual that, in such cases, the districts having a small rate of taxation are unwilling to consolidate with others. This is one of the difficulties. Consolidation will bring about uniformity of taxation in the whole territory affected. This is an advantage in itself. If the old schoolhouses are in good condition there will be somewhat of a loss in selling them and in building a large new central building. This is another situation which always complicates the problem. If the old buildings are worthless and if they must be replaced in any event by new buildings, then the time is opportune for considering consolidation.

Even after the reorganization is effected, and the new central building located, the cost of education, all things considered, is not increased. It is undoubtedly true that a larger amount of money may be needed to maintain the consolidated school than to maintain all the various small schools which have previously existed. But other factors must be taken into account. The total amount of dollars and cents in the one situation as compared with the total amount in the other does not tell the whole story. For it has been found that, everywhere in the country, there is a larger and better attendance of pupils in the consolidated school, that more pupils go to school, that they attend more regularly, and that the school terms are longer. Therefore the proper test of expense is the cost of a day's schooling for each pupil, or the cost "per pupil per day." Measured by this standard education in the consolidated school is no more expensive than in the unconsolidated schools; indeed it is usually less expensive. It is a good thing for society to give a day's education to one child; then education pays as it goes, and the more days' education it can offer, the better.

More Life in the Consolidated School.—No one can deny that in this larger school there can be more life and activity of all kinds, and a much finer school spirit than was possible in the smaller schools. Education means stimulation and where a great many children are brought together and properly organized and graded there is a more stimulating atmosphere and environment.

Some Grading Desirable.—In these consolidated schools a reasonable amount of grading can be secured. It may be true that in some of the large cities an extreme degree of grading defeats education and the true aim of organization, but certainly in consolidated rural schools no such degree of refinement need be reached or feared. Grading can remain here in the golden mean and will be beneficial to pupils and teachers alike. The pupils thus graded will have more time for recitation and instruction, and teachers will have more time to do efficient work. In the one-room rural school one teacher usually has eight grades and often more, and sometimes she is required to conduct thirty or forty different recitations in a day. Under such conditions the lack of time prevents the attainment of good results.

Better Teachers.—It is also true that, where a school is larger and attains to more of a system, better teachers are sought and secured by the authorities. As we have already said, the cities are able to bid higher for the best trained teachers, so the country districts suffer in the economic competition. But the consolidated school being organized, equipped, and graded, and representing, as it does, a large community or district, the tendency will be to secure as good teachers as possible. This is helped along by the comparison and competition of teachers working side by side within the walls of the same building. In such schools, too, there is usually a principal, and he exercises the function of selection and rejection in the choice of teachers. All this conduces to the securing of good teachers in the consolidated center.

Better Buildings and Inspection.—Similar improvements are attained in the building as a whole, in the individual rooms, and in the interior equipment. Such buildings are usually planned by competent architects and are more adequate in all their appointments. All things are subject to inspection, both by the community and the authorities. It is natural that such inspection and criticism will be satisfied only with the best; and so the surroundings of pupils become much more favorable to their mental, moral, and physical well-being than was possible in the isolated one-room school building.

Longer Terms.—The same discussion, agitation, inspection, and supervision will inevitably lead to longer terms of school. Whereas the one-room schools usually average six and a half months of school per year, the consolidated schools average over eight months. This is in itself a most important gain.

Regularity, Punctuality, and Attendance.—The larger spirit and life of the consolidated school induce greater punctuality and regularity of attendance. When pupils are transported to school they are always on time, and when they are members of a class where there is considerable competition they attend school with great regularity. There are many grown-up pupils in the district who would not go to the small schools, but who will go to a larger school where they find their equals; and so the school attendance is greatly increased. We have, then, the advantages of greater punctuality, greater regularity, and more pupils in attendance.

The school spirit is abroad in the consolidated school district; people are thinking and talking school. It becomes the customary and fashionable thing to send children to school.

Better Supervision.—There is also much better supervision in the consolidated school; for, in addition to the supervision given by the county superintendent or his assistants, there is also the supervision of the principal, or head teacher. This is in itself no small factor in the making of a good school. Good supervision always makes strongly for efficiency.

The School as a Social Center.—Other effects than those above mentioned will necessarily follow. The consolidated school can and should become a social center. There should be an assembly room for lectures, debates, literary and musical entertainments, and meetings of all kinds. The lecture hall should be provided with a stage, and good moving-picture exhibitions might be given occasionally. There, also, the citizens may gather to hear public questions discussed. It could thus become a civic and social center as well as an educational center. All problems affecting the welfare of the community might be presented here; the people could assemble to listen to the discussion of political and other social and public questions, which are the subjects of thought and of conversation in the neighborhood. This is real social and educational life.

Better Roads.—Not only does consolidation tend to all the above results but it does many other things incidentally. It leads to the making of better roads; for where a community has to travel frequently it will provide good roads. This is one of the crying needs of the day throughout the country.

Consolidation Coming Everywhere.—Consolidation is now under way in almost every state of the Union and wherever tried it has almost invariably succeeded. In but very few places have rural communities abandoned the educational, social, and civic center, and gone back to their former state of isolation and deadly routine.

The Married Teacher and Permanence.—In order to make the consolidated school a success, the policy will have to be adopted in America of building, at or near the school, a residence for the teacher, and of selecting as teacher a married man, who will make his home there among the people whose children he is to teach. Such a teacher should be a real community leader in every way, and his tenure of service should be permanent. Grave and specific reasons only should effect his removal. With single men and women it is impossible to secure the permanence of tenure that is desirable and necessary to the educational and social welfare of a school and a community. This has been demonstrated over and over again, and foreign countries are far ahead of us in this respect. Such a real leader and teacher will, it is true, command a high salary; but a good home, permanence of position, a small tract of land for garden and field purposes, and the coming policy everywhere of an "insurance and retirement fund" would offer great inducements to strong men to take up their abode and cast their lot in such educational and community centers.