the modern farm-community graded and high schools. A corner was devoted to strikingly arranged miniatures of two school communities before and after consolidation. In addition to this there was a good display of handwork from the consolidated schools, besides a stereomotograph with alternating sets of "slides" on consolidated schools, activities in these schools, and means of preparing teachers for the schools. Progress in rural school consolidation.-Indiana affords a good example of what progressive legislation can do to promote school reorganization by means of consolidation. Indiana has to-day, next to Louisiana, the largest number of consolidated schools and, on the basis of effectiveness, the largest number of all the States. The first of these laws, passed in 1899, made provision for free transportation of children living 2 or more miles from the nearest school; the second law (1900) required the township trustees to abandon all small schools with less than 12 pupils and pay for their transportation to some other school; the third law (1907) made it mandatory for trustees to provide transportation for pupils attending consolidated elementary schools. The State department of public instruction has compiled the following statistics, which tell in a striking way the growth of school consolidation in Indiana: Number of pupils transported to consolidated schools_ Average cost of transportation per pupil transported__ Number of schools (not consolidated) abandoned this year_ Total number of abandoned school districts in the State at the present time___. Total number of district schools at the present time___ schools_____ Average number of pupils per teacher in all other rural schools- Average tuition cost per pupil in consolidated schools___ UTAH. The Utah booth.-The Utah educational exhibits were organized to emphasize rural and agricultural education, as the State is largely rural. The center of attraction was the unique "Beehive" structure shown above, with its rest room, around which were ranged a variety of exhibits-miniature school plants, collections of school work, a stereomotograph, etc. A large profile map of the State shown at the right of the "Beehive" gave the location of the important higher educational institutions, a statement of the State's natural resources, and other interesting data. In addition to the elementary and secondary school displays in the "Beehive," the University of Utah and the State College of Agriculture had worthy exhibits of their varied activities. The latter emphasized in a graphic manner the work of the college (teaching young people how to live), the activities of the experiment station (investigating the agricultural industries), and the campaign carried on by the extension division (taking education to the people). The following are educational facts gleaned from some of the graphic charts: Utah uses 86 per cent of the State's tax revenue for educational purposes; has a commission to approve plans and specifications for school buildings; has good buildings, good schools, and, best of all, good teachers. Utah is making a determined effort to adapt the work of the public schools to the actual needs of the people. Utah is bringing parents into the school through parent-teacher associations, and in some communities is maintaining night schools. Utah's county unit plan-the equalizer of opportunity. Every revision of the tax laws makes the education of every child more and more the business of the State. County unit organization.-A new county unit law has recently gone into effect in the State which marks a new era in its educational history. The act is often spoken of in Utah as the "State-wide consolidation law," a term somewhat confusing to people who are accustomed to think of consolidation as a process of bringing together school districts in the county into one new county-wide school district, regardless of whether or not the schools within the county are a number of weak schools into one strong centrally located school. In Utah, consolidation refers to the union of all common and high reorganized. The cities of the first and second class and a few large districts organized under a former act are exempt under the new law. The most important provisions of the act of 1915 are: (1) The office of county superintendent and the old school trustees are abolished; (2) a new county board of education, consisting of five members chosen from as many election precincts, supplants all former school officials; (3) members of the new board of education are elected for a term of four years and receive a fair compensation for their work; (4) a professional district superintendent is appointed by the board to have charge of the professional management of the schools; (5) the district board has full control of all the schools FIG. 55.-Model of the Jordan High School in the Utah exhibit. within the district, which includes such important duties as closing unnecessary schools, organizing new elementary and high schools, regulating the teaching practice, the salaries of teachers, etc. The county unit act has given Utah a modern system of school organization. Educational advantages have been equalized. Under the new system the county is the unit of taxation, and all the schools of the county fare alike, whether located in the rich irrigated valleys or up under the dry mountain sides. The old waste through duplication of school effort is minimized and modern supervision is becoming realized. Rural high schools.-Utah is a State of compact communities. The people live largely in the irrigated valleys, in homes clustered about the village churches and schools. The unirrigated sections are largely barren and without organized life. Because of this, small one-teacher schools have never been numerous in the State, and indeed, at the present time there are less than a dozen such schools left. Graded schools of high character are found in all the organized communities. The greatest appeal to outsiders is the State's system of rural high schools. The Utah exhibit contained a miniature of the new Jordan High School, which typifies this group of institutions. The school lies in the Jordan District, one of the two divisions into which Salt Lake County is divided. This organization, it should be understood, came about under an earlier law. The accompanying map makes clear that the Jordan school district embraces a number of villages, each with its own graded elementary school. It may also be seen that the Jordan High School lies in the open country, and the children are conveyed to school from the towns of the community by stage and other means. The main building, which has cost $165,000, lies in a campus of 23 acres, devoted to agriculture and athletics. The main building is 235 feet long and 166 feet wide. It contains 30 large well-lighted rooms, adapted to high-school activities. The auditorium has a seating capacity of 900 people. The building is arranged for social and physical activities of all kinds. A small dairy farm is maintained and there is a comfortable home for the principal at one corner of the campus and a home for the agriculturist at the other. The most interesting thing about this community school is the fact that it receives children from all the surrounding towns. |