The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 15, 1917, Page 12

Under Superintendent Macdonald’s new plan of late opening, about 20,000 rural pupils of this age will do useful work on the farms in the fall, and keep up with their classes all winter, the terms running later into summer. school conditions than any other one person in the United States. For over a quarter of a century he has been travelling through the country. study- ing and helping to uplift the schools. Last week he finished a four-weeks’ session in North Dakota at which he attended a unique series of school “rallies,” and at the conclusion of his visit (he had to leave before they were all over) here is what he said: “When Neil C. Macdonald became rural school inspector in 1911, North Dakota’s rural schools were on no map lucationally. Scarcely a graduate of _ny college or normal school was in a 3ne¢-room school, and not a dollar of 3tate aid seeped into the country school. Comparatively few farm boys or girls had ever seen a high school, and politics of the rankest kind often elected school directors to save money by hiring rural school boys and girls to teach other country boys and girls. By sheer. luck I heard Mr. Macdonald’s . first State Association bugle call for state aid and professional leadership for the country boys and girls. All this was a refreshing background for six weeks in thirty-one of the fifty-three counties of the state this autumn. HAS ACHIEVED MUCH IN SPITE OF POLITICS “From a zero appropriation by the state for rural schools, Mac- ~ donald has seen the legislature ap- propriate $225,000 for two years' aid to the rural schools that de- serve it, and has seen 114 poor con- solidated schools grow to 447 high class ones; has seen teacherages spring up wherever there was no appropriate boarding place; has seen 950 farm boys and girls taking a high school course increase to 4421; has seen standardized rural schools organized in every county in the state and increase in number from zero to 600; has seen county nurses appointed under the best school health laws in the state, has seen music and hot lunches thrill and fill the boys and girls from the farm, and trained teachers sup- plant make-shifts in every county of the state. “Mr. Macdonald was nominated in the primaries and elected on a straight out and out rural school betterment platform, and for the first time in any state in the union, the house of representatives was almost solidly pledged to the plat- form on which the governor and the state superintendent were elected; and if it had not been for the “hold overs” in the senate, the rural schools would have had a half million dollars in subsidies for improvements. As it is, no leg- . islature of any state has ever pass- ed as many important bills for rural school betterment as did the legislature of North Dakota in 1917 and the farmer representatives supported them unanimously and enthusiastically. . “North Dakota has the best provi- sions in law for the employment of a county school nurse of any state in the union, and in most of the counties in which I have been in the last four weeks, the directors have signed the petition which requires the county commissioners to make the requisite aprropriation for the employment of a nurse to conserve the health of th country children. : ‘ “Never have I seen as many school di- rectors assembled in any state in eight months I have seen in North Dakota in four weeks and they have all been in- tensely appreciative listeners. Never have I seen teachers’ institutes held down to specific work all on the same line of education as in North Dakota this season; and never have I known the inspirational talks of a governor, a state superintendent, and the . im- ported speakers to confine themselves to the same drive for community achievement, civically, socially, indus- trially and patriotically, as in these four weeks, All in all North Dakota has reached the speed limit education- ally and inspirationally.” Dr. Winship’s summary puts Mac- donald’s story concisely and accurately. It was through his energy and initia- tive that the country boys and girls began to have schooling like that pro- vided for town boys and girls, The appropriation of $225,000 for two years was gained by Mr. Macdonald’s work among legislators last winter, this be- ing raised from $60,000, the most he had been able to get while inspector of rural schools. Dr. Winship refers to the willing generosity of - the farmer legislators to do even more for the schools, and of the way their efforts were blocked by the few politicians re- maining in the senate. LATER OPENING FOR RURAL SCHOOL TERMS Macdonald is now engaged in bring- about a later opening of the fall terms in rural districts. He has noticed that few boys old enough to work on farms ever start school on time in the fall. That is because farmers have to work all members of their families early and late to make a living. The boys stay out a month or six weeks, enter late, have hard sledding in school, and after a few such half terms, quit school alto- gether, Macdonald says, “We’'ll start the fall term later and let these 20,000 school boys earn wages, or save wages, by working on the farms in the fall. Their parents need them, must have them or go broke. Very well, we'll let them stay out in the fall, and go to school longer in the spring.” There isn’t much farm work rush- ing in the early summer and the boys released from school then have com- “North Dakota has reached the speed limit, educationally speaking,” says Dr. Winship, famous . educator, and he gives credit for this to the state superintendent and the legislature elected by the farmers through the Nonpartisan League. Read this article and see how N. C. Maecdonald ~ couples the rural schools up with the welfare of the farms. paratively little to do on the farms, but there is always a shortage of labor in the fall. Those boys who are not needed at home, can have time to earn a month’s wages for some other farm- er driving a tractor, teaming, or doing other necessary work and increase the efficiency of the farms. That is one way in which Macdonald believes in dovetailing the schools with the farms. STANDARDIZATION AND STATE AID PROVIDED . Again it was a bill drafted by Mac- donald last winter and introduced by J. C. Miller, a League legislator, that provided for standardizing the schools as Dr. Winship mentions. Under this law, schools draw state ald funds in proportion to the length of term they maintained for the previous year and the kind of work they do and with this state aid they are able to maintain longer and“longer terms and hire’bet- ter teachers. This bill provides for state graded schools of three classes, for graded consolidated scliools” -and graded one-room schools. biggest single step forward in- educa- tion taken in North Dakota in years, and it was taken because the people of the state put in office a man who had a keen interest in rural schools. The teacherages mentioned by Dr. ‘Winship, were provided for in a bill framed with Mr. Macdonald’s help last winter and passed by the farmer legis- lature. It furnishes a permanent home to be maintained by the district for teachers in localities where families are not situated so they can board teachers near the schools, and it makes the school and the teacher a part of the district life. Consolidated schools have been en- couraged by Mr. Macdonald ever since he first became rural school inspector, It is the’ and under the Miller. bill just referred to, consolidated schools that maintain the standards are given $400 a year for the first class, $350 for the second, and $300-for the third.class. It was largely through Macdonald’s efforts in 1911 that the first medical inspection law was passed, and last winter he. helped the. legislative com- mittees on education frame amend- ments that give the parents the right by petition to compel county commis- sioners as well as school boards to en- gage school nurses and have the pupils inspected. This has helped to discover in many pupils defects not suspected by parents, has caught growing ail- ments at the beginning. and caused them to be treated and cured, and has prevented many rural pupils from fall- ing behind their classes for supposed dullness, when in fact, their only trouble was adenoids, bad tonsils, poor eyes, or some other physical ailment easily curable. 5 One other big thing Macdonald has done, must be understood. He has in=~ stituted the ‘“rallies” just alluded to. These are gatherings of the teachers of each county for a week at a time, to discuss and solve their problems.- Part of the program at all of these ral- lies, many of which are still in prog- ress, is to bring together all the district school boards for one whole day of dis- cussion with the teachers, their coun- ty superintendent, state educators and outside educators ° who have been brought to the state to help in the work. The stimulus given to better schools by this mixing of the farmer school , board members with trained educators. has already become notice- able. It was these gatherings that Dr. Winship referred to as *“a refreshing background for six weeks in 21 coun- ties of the state this autumn.” Health of rural school pupils is conserved by fresh air and exercise, the aparatus here being used having been built by the pupils. What the League Has Done BY EDWARD VERNON In the Grant County (S. D.) Tribune 1 am proud of my old home state— Minnesota; I am proud of my old home county—Kandiyohi; I am proud of my old home city—Willmar; I am proud of my old home paper—the Willmar Tri- bune! My old home paper the Tribune is the largest county weekly on my ex- _change list. It has over 3,000 subscrib- ers; it has eight extra large pages, fine type, solid home print. And—the best of all—it is published in the interest of all the people. It is the only county paper coming to my office that has sensed the welfare of the farmer and town merchant by supporting -the Nonpartisan league. After seeing one town after the other trying to stop the League from hold- ing its meetings it is refreshing to find an exception where even the authori- ties are upholding the cause of the farmer. And it is still more satisfying to know that that exception is one's . own old home town, Read the article taken from last week’s issug .of the Willmar Tribune, which is a report of the Nonpartisan league meeting held in the large opera - house in Willmar Tuesday evening of last week, and which is reproduced be- low, and may it bring home to you, as it has to me, the great truth that in- stead of fostering disloyalty among the farmers, the Nonpartisan league and its president, Mr. Townley, are the big- gest factors in bringing the people of the Northwest into the fullest realiza- tion of their duties to the government. I dare to express the grand convic- tion that Mr. Townley has brought more disgruntled citizens into the ranks of those who are royally sup- porting our administration than any man in the United States today. He is removing obstacles that our big capi- talist papers have thrown across the path to a unanimous co-operation be- tween all liberty-loving peoples for the winning of our war. He has gone about the task in the most through and systematic way. He urged pro-Germans and pro-allies to enter the ranks without discrimination. He has given them common and mu- tual ground upon which to stand in ex- horting them to fight their common enemy—the big trusts. After he had succeeded in neutralizing all contend- ing elements within the organization, he staged the great climax in St. Paul. There were 38 speakers in all, repre- senting all classes. He. strove to join every unit into one harmonious whole. He worked to eject all differences, to heal all wounds, to make evident that the interest of one was the interest of all. And he succeeded. When he felt that the desired result had been ac- complished, he sprung the daring issue that all subscribe to a resolution that the Nonpartisan league and all dele- gates and representatives reafirm their unalterable loyalty and allegiance to the government in the world struggle, The resolution said: We join our allies in this strug- gle, and to the end that justice, .= PAGE TWELVE liberty, equality and democracy, political and industrial, shall be the heritage of all mankind, we pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to our country and our flag in this, OUR WAR. “Inspired by patriotic and loyal devotion to the principles of de- mocracy, true to the ideals of our fathers of upholding and defend- ing_ human rights and human lib= erties; and single in our purpose to make the world safe for democ- racy, political and industrial, we, the members and delegates of farmers’ organizations, represent= ing sixteen states, and the mem- bers and delegates of fourteen labor organizations, representing eleven states do hereby reaffirm our unaltertable loyalty and allegi= ance to our fellow citizens and our government in this world struggle and in their every need.” And then the miracle happened. This great congregation representing all the differing elements in our social fabric, as one man voted to endorse the reso-. lution, 4 Members had come to the meeti 3 with ‘nothing but bitterness in thz souls, but they left with a high resolve to prove to the world, that whatever may have been their convictions be-~ fore, they now saw their duty plainly —they were all anxious NOW! p (Editor’s note: The Leader already has published extracts from the. Will- mar Tribune's account of the patriotic’ League‘ meeting i that city, which Editor Vernon goes on to quote in full)