Book Description

Excerpt from The Consolidation of Country Schools, and the Transporting of the Scholars by Use of Vans The following Bulletin upon "The Consolidation of Country Schools and the Transportation of the Scholars by Use of Vans," was prepared by H. H. Longsdorf, M. D., of Dickinson, Cumberland county, Pa. The investigation was undertaken at the instance of this Department for the purpose of securing accurate data showing the methods and expense involved in the centralization of our public schools to a centrally located graded school, including the practicability of taking the scholars to and from the central school in comfortable conveyances. If the country schools cannot be thus centralized, then there is no possibility for their ever attaining the rank now enjoyed by town and city schools, and country people have no hope of ever being able to give their children the advantages in education to which they are entitled, unless they remove them from the country and send them into the towns. If, on the other hand, centralization is feasible, then a new era is begun in country life, and the question of the proper education of country children is completely solved. The inadequate character of the present system and the impossibility of its meeting the needs of country people, was discussed by me in a paper read before the State Teachers' Association, at its meeting in Williamsport last July, which shows the situation and expresses my views so exactly that I take the liberty of quoting from the paper in this preface. In that paper I state: "That if the country school is to fulfill its mission to its community as the hand-maid of agriculture, it must be different from the town school. It must be a school adapted to the needs of the community in which it is. It must he an adaption of education to need. The farmers needs are varied, most important and urgent. To meet them he must have the advantage of the best school; and the best school for him is the one that teaches him the things that he needs to know. "What does he need to know? What are the farmer's educational needs? As a man and a citizens his needs are precisely the same as those of other men and other citizens - fully as great; no less. He must be taught the things that other men and other citizens find it necessary to know - to read, to write, to compute. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.