North Carolina Newspapers

j Li'brar v" Cha.pel Hill The news in this publica tion is released for the press on receipt. THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA NEWS LETTER Published weekly by the University of North Carolina for its Bureau of Ejctension. FEBRUARY 6, 1918 CHAPEL HHX, N. C. VOL. IV, NO. 11 Editorial Hoard i E. G. Bran.son, J. G. deli. Hamilton, L, li. Wilson, R. H. Thornton, G. M. McKie. Entered as second-ola.s.s matter Hovember 14, 1914, .it the Postofflce at Chapel Hill, N, C., nnder the act of August 34, 1912. SAVE THE COMMON-SCHOOLS A SERIOUS SITUATION Tlie re-sigmition of teacliers, lioth men and women, is opideinic the whole coun try over. Here ami there the whole corjM resiems, the schools close in the middle of the year, and the children are turned adrift—usually in the country rejrioiis. A third or a half of the corps reaiaiiis and the school limps along on one foot. Stories of thi.s .sort are com mon in North Carolina, and in every other state of tlie (fnion. The eKplanation is simple; the teach ers cannot live on their salaries and tliey dee for tlieir lives into other callings that pay better. It is Hobson's choice. It’s Take it off or knock it off, as the child ren say in mumble-the-peg. The teach ers are taking it off. I'h'ery calling pays better in these days of war demands for workers. And the teacfiers are fleeing because of bread and butter necessity—in this and every otiier state. The situation is serious, and so our -State Department of Public Instruction is co-operating with the various educa tional bodies in a campaign for better salaries and better living conditions for cHir common-school teachers. average. Saving the schools is therefore a matter of local interest and pride, ami of local willingness to bear school tax burdens,—new huniens or heavier bur- den.s for the sake of the children. If Alleghany, the richest county in per capita farm wealth in North Caro- : liua, has poorer schools than Dare, our poorest county in such properties, then : it is because of local unwillingness to bear i tax burdens for school purposes. These I two counties, by way of illustration. The j same thing is, of course, true of other Bad Enough Before The money rewards of teachers in Nortli Carolina when the war began are exiiibited in the following table of average annual salaries constructed from tigwhs given by Dr. Y. I. Masters in his recent hook The Country Church in the South; by M. L. Shipman in the 1915 Report of the State I,abor Commissioner; and by Dr. J. Y. .Joyner in the 191.3-14 Rei»ort of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The -average annual salaries are for whhe preachers in the South outside of cite.having 25,000 inhabitants in 1906; for white common-school teachers in North Carolina, in 1913-14, and for wage eaniera of botli races in the State in 1915, sui)posiag that they were steadily at work throughout the year. P((hlic .school teachers, white, rural $235 Public school teachers, white, city 454 Da.ptiat preachers, white, - - 473 Methodist preachers, white - 681 Pa*sbyterian preachers, white - 858 Auhtmobile mechanics - - 469 W ood-workers - - - - 479 Blacksmiths - - . - 588 Cahmet makers ... - 601 Carpimters ----- 675 I'.dgineers - - - - - 789 Painters 829 Moulders ----- 861 lilectriciaas 939 Machinists ----- 951 Boiler makers - - - - 1074 Stone cutters - - - - io95 - Ptanferers ----- 1293 l’>rfcli masons - - - - 1317 Contractors - - - - 1330 PluintiorH 1408 Worse Now .■y During the first two years of the war, the average annual pay of our white ■teaeherfi in the country was increased less th.an 5 i»er cent, and that of white city teachers le.ss than 3 per cent. These piti- ftu’ increases average $10.35 for tlie yi' tr in the first'instance and $12.70 in •tl:)e flceond. Uii the other hand tlie cost of living 4ia‘t more than doubled,—in many item.s of fond, fuel and clothing, it has more •flcM ti-eWed. Which is to say, the ■teacher's dollar now buys from a third to a, tiaiC as much as it would buy in 1914. ■ft i.i exactiy like cutting down the teach- 'or’o salary a half or two-thirds. Pur- lehaHing power considered, the average salary of our white public school teach- ecs is not $296 a year but $148 or less. '('bey canuot stand it ami keep soul .-ao.d lindy together. Something must lie doaa aud guickiy done or our schools will he dismantled in another six rnsuths. 1 love to teach, said one of them the other day, but I can’t teach vdie.t continually bully-ragged by debts aril bill-collectors. I’ve got to do some thin,;; olfKi iii order to live. And she did. Blic.’s only one of many thousands in thin and every other state. St’s a Local Problem In North Carolina the counties and cotmuunities put down $9 for every $1 that cornea out of the State treasury for corjtni jn-school education; or so on an counties. Our point is, that it is not a problem of state administration but of local tax levies, or mainly so. Wherefore the wisdom of Superintendent Joyner’s letter to the public about ways and means of meeting this war-time emergency iiij our schools. It’s Go On or Go Under What Lloyd George has just said to England, wg urge upon the school com munities of North Carolina. It’s Go on or go under. Barring certain counties—a score or so, some of them the'richest in tlie state —North Carolina has done well in voting money for school support. Dare in par ticular: every acliool district in Nhat connty now levies [extra taxes for school support. We have done well but we must do better for our children’s sake. We must indeed Go on or go under. How to Do It Dr. J. Y. Joyner our State Superinten dent of Public Instruction tells us how to do it as follows: 1. By voting special coiinty-wide taxes for schools under Cliapter 71 of the Pub lic Laws of 1911 and by voting special township taxes for maintenance of town ship high schools under section 4113 of tlie public school law. 2. By increasing the miniber of spec ial tax school districts and voting therein special taxes for the maintenance of the district schools nnder section 4115 of the public school law, and by increasing the special tax for schools in special tax dis tricts heretefore established under said section, to a maximum of 50c on the $100, and $1.50 on the poll, and by raising the rates in special chartered city and town schools, toa maximum of $1.00 on the $100, as provided by the General Assembly of 1917. 3. By increasing the district funds by private subscription, public entertain ments, providing wood free, etc. 4. By increasing the budget for sal aries of teachers, etc., submitted by the county board of education for necessary expenses for a four months school for the year 1918, under Chapter 33 of the Pub lic Laws of 1913, as subsequently amend ed by the General Assembly, and by in creasing the sjiecial county levy by the county commissioners required thereun der for the necessary expenses of the four months term. 5. By the adoption at the November election of 1918 of the constitutional amendment making it mandatory' upon the county commissioners to levy a special tax to supplement the regular connty and state tax for schools suflicient to provide a minimum school term of six months instead of four months, in each county. Whatever happens, whatever it may cost in money and sacrifice, says he, our schools must be maintained at full effi ciency for the preparation of the present generation to fill the gaps made by the red hand of war in the ranks of our young men, for service at tlie front if the war continues, and for efficient ser vice at home in civic and industrial life when such service will be needed worse than ever before. A TEST OF STATESMAN. SHIP Edward K. Graham Doubling School Support Kducatioually the decade that fol lows war will be. 1 l-ielieve. the rich est and most fruitful in the Nation’s history. Here in the South, and in North Carolina especially, we need to keep heroically foremost in our public policy the determination not to slack en, but rather to quicken our eiiuca- tional activities during the war. Eng land and France under war burdens imcomparably greater than ours have doubled their educational budgets. It is clearly the inevitable policy of wis dom. Our handling of our educational af fairs in the next few years will furnish once more a test of our statesmanship and give once more a clear revelation of what relative place we give educa tion in the things worth while in com monwealth building. The necessity of war economies will show what we value in terms of what we nourish and of what we sacrifice. If schools are the first public-service institutions closed for lack of fuel; if their terms are shortened as first steps in economy; if we cease bui'ding them and yet build other things; if they cannot compete with business for the ser vices of the few giod men and women they need—we shall know in concrete term.s that in time of storm we feel that they are still the first to he cast overboard, and not, as we have claimed to believe, the basis of the de mocracy for whicii we are figliting. No Sacrifice Too Great No sacrifice is too great to make for the schools, and no patriotism is more genuinely productive than the pa triotism who.se faith in tlie schools is so deeply rooted that no public dis traction or disaster is permitted to blight them as the Sv.»iirce of all of our reconstructive power. My great confidence in the future of the University is based on the ex traordinary need for its present and future service, and on the spirit of in telligent sympathy and cooperation that have been shown by the people in the State at large and by the fac ulty, alumni, and students. The days ahead of us grow out of the days that are gone; but in every phase of hu man activity that a University touch es they are new days with a new and broader horizon. They will test the cajiacity of the University for leader ship, not only in terms of energy', ef ficiency, learning, and scholarship, but in terms of reneweii vision, sym pathy, and high devotion. Out of this new opportunity to serve in a great and difficult way, and aid ed, as it wonderfully has been, by the understanding of the State, whose highest aspiration it seeks to express, I believe that this institution will come into a new and especial greatness.— Report to the Trustees, Jan. 22, 1918. The first thing and biggest thing we are going to say in lliLs issue of The Progres sive Farmer is this—that our folks in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia ought absolutely to double their school taxes during the coming year. It may be jiopuiar to say tliis, or it may be unpopular. All we know is that it is the truth, and that the man who doesn’t agree with tliis statement will agree with it before, a dozen years pass. It is no use to ,say we can’t afl'ord it. With cotton around 30 cents a pound and tobacco and peanuts selling at corres ponding figures, it is folly to say that we can’t do more for our schools than we did when cotton was 6 to 10 cents a pound and other crop-prices in keeping with these. And we ought to be ashamed of ourselves if we don’t do more. The time has come when any man ought to be ashamed when he leaves home if he can’t say he lives in a local tax school district —and one in w'hich the tax is adequate. Too many districts are levying tliree mills when they ought to levy nine. It’s Dollars for Life To pay a school tax is to swap dollars for life, and God shrivels the soul and blights the future of any community where the people think more of saving a little money than they do of providing life and life more abundantly for the men and women of tomorrow. AVe of the South have always accused our Northern friends of loving money, but we have got to face the fact that when it comes to ■ choosing between saving money and buy- : ing knowledge for his children the I Yankee everlastingly puts us to shame. LooK at the Facts I I.ook at the facts. The North Atlantic I States si)end $50.55 per year on schools j per child; the South Atlantic States j $18.91—not 40 per cent as much. The ' North Central states spend $44.15 per child; the South Central States $19.01— not half as much. North Dakota, a rural State, is spending $64 a year per child; wild Idaho $55, and even Mormon Utah $52, while Virginia spends $19, North Carolina only $12, South Carolina only $11, and Georgia $13. Nor can we say we are doing as well in proportion to wealth, for while North Dakota spends on schools 44 cents a year for each $100 of her wealth, Idaho 49, and Utah 51, Virginia and North Carolina spend only 28 cents a year per $100 of wealth, South Carolina 27 cents, and Georgia 29. The Carolinas, Virginia and dJeorgia therefore might double the amount they are spending for schools and even then not spend as much as some other States are spending. Let us now highly resolve that we will sanctify the greater prosperity God has given us by giving twice as much from it for unfolding the powers of the children He has given us and for furthering the eternal purpose of Him who said: “I am come that ye might have life and life more abundantly.”—Clarence Foe. was made on the recommendation of the faculty, endorsed by the'president. The minimum salary is $3,500 a year. Dr. F. P. Venable, Kenan Professor of Chemistry, is widely known throughout the country as an investigator, author and teacher. He has been President of the American Chemical Society and is now a member of the board of six chem ists cliosen by Secretary Lane to investi gate chemical problems connected with the war. He is the author of numerous books, was for fourteen years president of the University, and has been for over twenty years a successful lecturer and teacher. OUR KENAN PROFESSORS The first important step in the use of the recent beiiuest by M rs. Robert W. Bingham (Mary Lily Kenan) to the Uni versity of North Carolina, was taken at the annual mid-winter meeting of the Board of Trustees yesterday by the ap pointment to Kenan Professorships of five members of the present faculty. j The men so honored are Dr. F. P. | Venable, Dr. II. \'. Wilson, Maj. Wil-1 liam Cain, Dr. Edwin Greenlaw, and Dr. Will. deB. MacNider. The choice Dr. H. V. Wilson (Zoology) has been for many years an acknowledged leader in the University faculty, a stimulating teacher, devoted to scientific scholarship ill all its relatjons, an untiring and pro ductive investigator, highly honored by his fellow scholars in the nation. Maj. William Cain (Mathematics) for twenty-eight years Professor of Mathe matics and head of the department, dur ing which time he has, as a teacher, in vestigator, and author won wide recog nition in the general field of mathemat- ics, and in his special field where his work is uniquely authoritative. Dr. Edwin Greenlaw (English Litera ture.) Dr. Greenlaw has been a member of tlie faculty for only four years, but du ring this comparatively brief time he has made notable contributions to the devel opment of the University through a vig orous, scholarly and continuing interest in every side of its life: as administrative head of the English department, as edi tor of vtudies in Philology, and an in terested and an inspiring teacher, as a sympathetic interpreter of the Univer.sity spirit in contemporary affairs. Dr. AVm. deB. AlacNider (Pharmacol ogy ) is a representative of the younger faculty group recognized by his colleagues for his completely devoted and inspiring service to his profession. As an original and unremitting investigator he has achieved distinguished recognition in the country at large as one of the most pro ductive men in his field. SCHOOL SUPERVISION PAYS Mr. L. C. Brogden, State Supervisor of Elementary Schools, spoke to the North Carolina Club last night on County School Supervisors. Mr. Brogden thor oughly convinced the Club that the fun damental need of common-school educa- cation in North Carolina is more inten sive supervision by competent supervi sors, especially in the country districts. At present a county school superinten dent in this state has the task of super vising, on an average, 120 teachers in 78 schools widely scattered over 487 square miles, and only 117 days in which to make his round of visits. He visits each school once a year on an average, and the length of his visit averages two hours 1 All of whicli means that country school supervision is clearly inadequate. And because this is so tlie country child gets a minimum advantage out of even the small amount of money that is now being ex pended for his education. The rural school population is four-fifths of our to tal school population which makes ade quate school supervision a state-wide and not a local concern merely. City and Country A survey of 7 typical counties in 1916 showed that the city schools in those counties were far more adequately super vised than the rural schools. The seven county superintendents had on the aver age 15 times as many schools and twice as many teachers scattered over an area 80 times as large as the city superinten dents in those counties. The cities em ployed 19 supervisors while the counties had none, and the country teachers, not being so well trained, needed supervision far more than the city teachers. The cities were spending for supervision 14 cents out of each dollar of school fund while the counties were spending only 2 1-2 cents for the same purpose. Mani festly the country teacher and the coun try child are neglected. The rural teacher who teaches seven grades needs the aid of a supervisor far more than the city teacher with one grade. Rural supervision in North Carolina was begun in 1911 and today 13 counties employ supervisors. These supervisors are devoting their entire time to increas ing the efficiency of the teachers; making rural sciiools minister more directly to the every-day needs of country children; making the schools meet more adequate ly the cultural and recreational needs and interests of the children; and making country schools effective community cen ters. Where We Stand Forty states of the Union employ assist ant county superintendents, the number varying from one in one or more states to 500 district supervisors in Ohio. In these 40 states, 18 out of each 100 counties have assistant superintendents or supervisors, while North Carolina has only 13—or 5 fewer per 100 counties. There is an imperative need for at least one rural supervisor in each county and most counties could well afford several, i Wake has two. The property we possess j is sufficiently adequate to raise the fund.s ' necessary to employ them. The benefits ; are sure, for the worth of supervisors has ; been proved wherever they have been employed. WILSON DOES IT “Coon’s way” is one of the popular characterizations of that picturesque in surgent, Professor Charles L. Coon, who presides over the whole AVilson county and city schools and runs them in Coon’s Way. ! The votary of the Wilson school cham pion will say “it’s Coon’s way” when ; Professor Coon doesn’t please her and , Coon’s way will be pleaded in bar of I anger when the Wilson man says things : that others dare not say. Coon’s way has i become a proverb and Wilson has been segregated into a district which is now knqwu as Coondom. It isn’t half a bad place in which to live. AVithin a few days Coon’s way[has become a winning way. January 18 tlie county voted a local tax of thirty cents, making all of the 48 school districts local tax instead of 18. This will give AVilson a uniform term of seven months and to those who teach the schools fairly good salaries. That is county AVilson. Town Wilson seeing old rus distend herself voted $150,- 000 in bonds for schools. This is the latest from Coondom. It is Coon’s way with substance. The story is passed along and presented in lieu of weekly comment on the school teacher pauper. If every county in North Carolina will do something like it, the burden of writing into fundamental law’ the six months’ school will be lessened and North Carolina individual will be one month ahead of North Carolina cori>o- rate. Of all Coon’s ways, this is preemi nently the most winning, and that’s not discounting any of the many.—State Journal. in 1