COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE LAWS NEEDED

The far-seeing country dweller will be glad to join in a movement in behalf of compulsory attendance at the public schools. Already a number of states have enacted fairly good laws on this subject, but some of them allow "loopholes" providing for the too easy avoidance of their requirements. Perhaps the best and most effective type of law of this cla.s.s is that which requires the child under fourteen years of age to attend the entire term of the public schools, allowing for his absence only in case of sickness or in cases where it is shown upon investigation and beyond question that he is the main support and breadwinner of a family.

In connection with the legal requirements for compulsory attendance, there must, of course, be provision for the truant. Truant officers, who may be required to serve only part time and who may receive pay for actual services, are set over specified districts and required to bring in all truant school children. Although this compulsory attendance law has been in force only a few years, reports show an almost unanimous belief in its effectiveness. The reader will understand the justification of such a law to be this; namely, the inherent right of the child to be educated whether he may appreciate such right or advantage or not, and the implied right of the community to have his best service as a well-educated member of society. The effects upon crime and criminality of the neglect of the education of the young have been so thoroughly discussed of late as to require no restatement here.

BETTER SCHOOLHOUSES AND EQUIPMENT

A survey of the entire country from one side to another reveals a deplorable state of affairs in respect to the conditions of the typical rural schoolhouse. In thousands of cases, there is nothing more than a dingy, little, old one-room building, scarcely suitable as a place wherein to shelter chickens or pigs, and with nothing in the surroundings to suggest or even hint at a place where young minds are taught how to aim at the high things of life. Now, these crude structures were once a necessity. In pioneer days the little, old box schoolhouse, or even the sod structure, served a mighty purpose in the transformation of the plains and the wilderness. But times are now radically changed. The wealth of the country is abundant. Improvements of nearly every other sort have gone on as the times advanced. But too often the little, old cheap schoolhouse on the bleak country slope became a fixed habit. In setting forth plans for a newer and better country school building, the author cannot improve upon those prepared by E. T. Fairchild, State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Kansas, and published in his Seventeenth Biennial Report. We therefore quote as follows:--

1. _Location._--"In selecting a site for a school building, the questions of drainage, convenience, beauty of surroundings, and accessibility should have prime consideration. Select, if possible, some plat of ground slightly elevated, and of which the surface may be properly drained and kept free from mud. It should be especially seen to that water may not stand under the building. If the elevation is not sufficient, this trouble should be overcome by proper filling in beneath the building. The location should be as nearly as possible central with reference to the pupils of the district. But other things should also be considered. It is better that some pupils should be put to a slight disadvantage than that attractiveness of surroundings, remoteness from environment likely to interfere with the work of the school, or other essentials, should be sacrificed."

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XI.

FIG. 12.--A cozy little country schoolhouse in the tall, picturesque woods of California.

FIG 13.--This model country school building, planned by State Superintendent E. T. Fairchild, of Kansas, is being copied in many places.]

2. _The water supply._--The purity of the water supply for the school is no less important from the standpoint of health than that of the air supply. The greatest danger lies in the use of water taken from wells that are used only a portion of the year. Such water is certain to become stagnant. In the autumn before the term commences special care should be taken to pump all water out of the well and to clean the same if necessary; thereby much sickness may be avoided. The well, of course, should be so located as to avoid any contamination owing to vaults or drains.

3. _Size and adaptation of grounds._--The school grounds should contain at least three acres, and five acres would not be too much. While the cities are cramped for playgrounds and purchase them only at a high cost, the latter can be secured in the country in sufficient size and at a relatively small expense. Let it be kept constantly in mind that the school grounds should be adapted for play, that they should afford a protection from winds, and that they should also be attractive. They should likewise be adapted for school gardening and experiments in agriculture. For the purpose of play, the breadth should exceed the depth where there are separate grounds for boys and girls. Where the playground is large, the building should be centrally located with relation to the size of the grounds and should be situated well toward the front. This will provide two fair-sized and well-proportioned playgrounds. Where the grounds are small and contain but one acre, symmetry must yield to utility and the building should be located well to the front and to one side, so as to leave one well-arranged playground.

4. _Improvement of school grounds._--In writing of the value of well-arranged school grounds, Professor Albert d.i.c.kens of the Kansas State Agricultural College says:--

"This sermon on school ground improvement is one that I have tried to preach for some time. In my judgment, it is the most important and the most difficult of any of the problems in civic improvement. The average country cemetery is sorrowfully neglected, as a rule, but its treatment is careful and generous compared with the school grounds of the average country district. Some day we shall realize that all these factors of environment are formative influences, and shall not wonder that the character formed in surroundings devoid of beauty has hard, coa.r.s.e, and cruel lines in its make-up.

"It is an easy matter to picture an ideal country school--its clean-swept walk to the road, its ample playground, its windbreak of evergreens, its groups of hard- and soft-wood species, borders of shrubs and beds of bulbs for early spring and perennials for summer and fall.

But to get it--to find some way to overcome the serious obstacles--is worthy the attention of statesmen and club women.

"Nearly every district has made an attempt. That is one of the hard things to forget--one of the reasons so many districts fear to try again. They had a spasm of civic righteousness--an Arbor Day revival--and every patron dug a hole in the hard, dry ground; every child brought a tree, some of which were carried for miles with the roots exposed to sun and wind--and then they were planted and, in some cases, watered for the summer; and the days grew warm and the weeds grew high; and by the next fall the two or three trees yet alive were not noticed when the director went over with his mower the Friday before school opened; and so ended that attempt at a schoolyard beautiful.

"It ought to be possible to convince the patrons of every district that a single acre of land is not sufficient ground upon which to grow big, bright, broad-minded boys and girls; that two, or three, or four acres of land, well planned as to baseball diamond, basketball court and a good free run for dare-base and pull-away--that such would give the state and the world better results than if the land were devoted to corn and alfalfa. This, I believe, is the first problem of great magnitude--to get the ground--and it must be considered. Children must play. The noon hour, when they eat for five minutes and play fifty-five minutes, is all-important in a child's life."

In order to carry out the suggestions given by Professor d.i.c.kens, why not organize a general rally, perhaps on the occasion of Arbor Day, and all hands join in preparing and planting the school grounds to suitable shade trees, shrubs, and the like? The playgrounds could also be laid out and equipped on this occasion. Then, after this excellent start has been made, have the school board appoint some reliable man as caretaker of the grounds with payment of reasonable wages for what he does. Thus the good beginning will not be lost.

A MODEL RURAL SCHOOL

The State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri, has built and equipped a model rural school for use in practical demonstration work. President John R. Kirk gives a detailed description of this building in _Successful Farming_ (April, 1911) as follows:--

"This schoolhouse has three princ.i.p.al floors. The bas.e.m.e.nt and main floor are the same size, 28 x 36 feet, outside measurement. The bas.e.m.e.nt measures 8 feet from floor to ceiling. Its floor is of concrete, underlaid with porous tile and cinders. The bas.e.m.e.nt walls are of rock and concrete, protected by drain tile on outside. The bas.e.m.e.nt has eight compartments.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XII.

FIG. 14.--The model rural school building, as constructed for practice and demonstration work at the Kirkville (Missouri) Normal School.]

"1. Furnace room, containing furnace inclosed by galvanized iron, also double cold air duct with electric fan, also gas water heater.

"2. Coal bin, 6 x 8 feet.

"3. Bulb or plant room, 3 x 8 feet, for fall, winter, and spring storage.

"4. Darkroom, 4 x 8 feet, for children's experiments in photography.

"5. Laundry room, 5 x 21 feet, with tubs, drain, and drying apparatus.

"6. Gymnasium or play room, 13 x 23 feet.

"7. Tank room containing a 400-gallon pneumatic pressure tank, storage battery for electricity, hand pump for emergencies, water gauge, sewer pipes, floor drain, etc.

"8. Engine room, containing gasoline engine, water pump, electrical generator, switchboard, water tank for cooling gasoline engine, weight for gas pressure, gas mixer, batteries, pipes, wires, etc.

"The pumps lift water from a well into pressure tank through pipes below the frost line. Gasoline is admitted through pipes below the frost line from two 50-gallon tanks underground, 30 feet from building. All rooms are wired for electricity and plumbed for gas. The bas.e.m.e.nt is thoroughly ventilated.

"The main floor contains a school room 22 x 27 feet in the clear, lighted wholly from the north side. A ground gla.s.s in the rear admits sunlight for sanitation. Schoolroom has adjustable seats and desks, telephone, and teachers' desk. Stereopticon is hung in wall at rear.

Alcove or closet on east side for books, teachers' wraps, etc.

Schoolroom has a small organ, ample book cases, shelves, and apparatus.

Pure air enters from above children's heads and pa.s.ses out at floor into ventilating stack through fireplace.

"Main floor has two toilet rooms, each of these having lavatories, wash bowl with hot and cold water, pressure tank for hot water and for heat, shower bath with hot and cold water, ventilating apparatus, looking gla.s.s, towel rack, soap box, etc. Each toilet room is reached by a circuitous pa.s.sageway furnishing room for children's wraps, overshoes, etc. The scheme secures absolute privacy in toilet rooms. All toilet room walls contain air chambers to deaden sound. The toilet rooms are clean, decent, and beautiful. They are never disfigured with vile language or other defacement.

"All rural schoolhouses with the comb of the roof running one way have attics, but the attic of this rural school is the first one and the only one that has been well utilized. This attic is 15 x 35 feet, inside measurement, all in one room; distance from floor to ceiling 7 feet in the middle part. It is abundantly lighted through gable lights and roof lights. It contains modern manual-training benches for use of eight or ten children at one time, a gas range and other apparatus for experimental cooking. It is furnished with both gas and electric light.

It has a wash bowl with hot and cold water, looking gla.s.s, towels, etc.

It has a large typical kitchen sink and a drinking fountain, but no drinking cup, either common or uncommon. It has cupboards, boxes, and receptacles for various experiments in home economics. It has a disinfecting apparatus, a portable agricultural-chemistry laboratory and numerous other equipments.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE XIII.

FIG. 15.--A rear view of the model rural school building at the Kirkville Normal.]

"A rural school can be built here from beginning to completion with all the above-mentioned equipments of every kind, including furniture, for $2250. The heating and ventilating apparatus, the pressure tanks, gasoline engine, water pumps, dynamo, furnace, etc., can all be easily adapted to a two-room model, a three-room school, or a six-room school by having each fixture slightly larger.

"This model therefore solves the schoolbuilding question for villages, towns, and consolidated rural schools."

THE CORNELL SCHOOLHOUSE

An attractive rural schoolhouse was erected some years ago at the New York State College of Agriculture, to serve as a suggestion architecturally and otherwise to rural districts. It is a one-teacher building, and yet allows for the introduction of the new methods of teaching. It is a wooden building, with cement stucco interior, heated with hot-air furnace, and with two water toilets attached. The total cost was about $2000. The College writes as follows of the house:--

"The prevailing rural schoolhouse is a building in which pupils sit to study books. It ought to be a room in which pupils do personal work with both hands and mind. The essential feature of this new schoolhouse, therefore, is a workroom. This room occupies one-third of the floor s.p.a.ce. Perhaps it would be better if it occupied two-thirds of the floor s.p.a.ce. If the building is large enough, however, the two kinds of work could change places in this schoolhouse.

"The building is designed for twenty-five pupils in the main room. The folding doors and windows in the part.i.tion enable one teacher to manage both rooms.

"It has been the purpose to make the main part of the building about the size of the average rural schoolhouse, and then to add the workroom as a wing or projection. Such a room could be added to existing school buildings; or, in districts in which the building is now too large, one part of the room could be part.i.tioned off as a workroom.

"It is the purpose, also, to make this building artistic, attractive, and homelike to children, sanitary, comfortable, and durable. The cement-plaster exterior is handsomer and warmer than wood, and on expanded metal lath it is durable. The interior of this building is very attractive. Nearly any rural schoolhouse can secure a water-supply and instal toilets as part of the school building.

"The openings between schoolroom and workroom are fitted with glazed swing sash and folding doors, so that the rooms may be used either singly or together, as desired.