The I^ural and Village Schools of Colorado AN EIGHT YEAR SURVEY OF EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT 1906 TO 1913 INCLUSIVE By C. G. SARGENT Specialist in Rural Education COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE FORT COLLINS, COLORADO 1914 SERIESXIV NUMBERS Entered at the Post Office at Fort Collins, Colorado, as Second Class Matter Iflonograp'; THE RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS OF COLORADO An Eight Year Survey of Each School Di^ridt 1906-1913 Inclusive By C. G. SARGENT Specialist in Rural Education COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Fort Collins, Colorado 1914 SERIES XIV NUMBER 5 Eniered at the PoSofEce at Fort Collins, Colorado, as second class matter The Colorado Agricultural College FORT COLLINS, COLORADO THE STATE BOAUD OP AGRICULTUHK. (BOARD OF CONTROL) Term Expires HOX. F. E. BROOKS Colorado Springs, 191f, HON. J. S. CALKINS Westminster, 19ir. HON. J. C. BELL Montrose, 191T HON. WILLIAM HARRISON Ciifton, 1917 HON. CHAS. PEARSON Durango. 191 P HON. R. W. CORWIN Pueblo, 1919 MRS. J. B. BELFORD Denver. 1921 HON. A. A. EDWARDS Fnrt CcUins. 1921 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE A. A. EDWARDS, Cluiirmun J. S. CALKINS E. M. AMMONS OFFICERS. CHAS. A. LORY, M.S., LL.D., D.Sc. . . .President and Act in (i Director of Extension Service S. ARTHUR JOHNSON, M.S Dean of Faculty C. P. GILLETTE, M.S Director Experiment Station L. M. TAYLOR Secretary of the Faculty Department of Rural and Industrial Education C. G. SARGENT Specialist in Rural Education and Rural School Visitor W. E. VAPLON State Leader of Boys' and Girls' Clnh^ Rural Life Betterment Series No. 1 Rural and Village Schools of Colorado An Eight Year Survey of Each Distrid: 1 906 to 1913 Inclusive TABLE OF CONTENTS Page. Foreword 4 Introductory Statement 5 The Survey 6 The School Census S The Enrollment , 13 The Average Daily Attendance i^ii Eighth Grade Graduates 2(; Length of Term 43 Special School Taxes and Revenues 45 Teachers and Salaries 51 Sites and Buildings oS The District System 65 Consolidation of Districts. '. 71 Summary 89 Suggestions for Improvement 92 MAPS ITSED IX BULLETIN. MAP I. — Map of Colorado sliowing the dry land, irrigated, mountainous. and grazing counties 1'. MAP II. — School districts of Cheyenne countv 69 MAP III. — School districts of Weld County 69 FIGUKES USED IN BULLETIN. FIG. I. — Total eighth grade graduates for eight years in each tliird class district in Mesa county 28 FIG. II. — Total eighth grade graduates, and those who did not graduate, all districts, Huerfano county 29 t IG. III. — Yuma county, eighth grade graduates, and those wlio did not graduate, all districts 30 PIG. IV. — Thirty-nine districts in Yuma county that had no graduates in eight years 31 FIG. V. — Enrollment and eighth grade graduates, all districts in Las Ani- mas county 32 FIG. VI. — Forty-one districts in Las Animas county that had no graduates in eight years 33 FIG. VII. — Average enrollment and total eighth grade graduates in the 1725 districts 35 FIG. VIII. — Avera.ge daily attendance and total eighth grade graduates in the 1725 districts 36 FIG. IX. — Special tax resources, and amounts used and unused 50 FIG. X. — Total male and female teachers for 1725 districts, eight years, for sixty counties 58 FIG. XI, — Building re.^ources and the amounts used and unused in tine 1725 districts, eight year average 63 FIG. XII. — Enrollinent and teachers in Appleton school 77 FIG. XIII. — Enrollment and teachers in Cache La Poudre School 84 PICl'URES OF SCHOOI; BUILDINGS, ETC., USED IN BULLETIN. PICTURE I. — Buildings worth less than $500 60 PICTURE II. — Buildings worth between $500 and $1000 62 PICTURE III. — Buildings worth more than $1000 64 PICTURE IV. — Fruit vale School 73 PICTURE V. — Fruitvale High School pupils 74 PICTURE VI. — Fruitvale Transportation Wagon 75 PICTURE VII. — Appleton School, three old buildings 78 PICTTTRE VIII. — Appleton Consolidated School 79 PICTURE IX. — Appleton's last year high school puoils SO PICTTTRE X. — Six abandoned l^uildings in Cache La Poudre district 81 PICTURE XI. — Cache La Poudre Consolidated School 83 PICTURE XII. — Principal's cottage, Caclie La Pourlre School S5 PICTURE XIII. — High School Graduating Cla'^s. Cache La Poudre Sc'^col . . 86 PICTURE XIV. — Foot Ball Team. Cache La Poudre School 86 PICTI'RE XV. — Athletic Field. Cache La Poudre School 87 FOREWORD The third-class school district is the unit of organization that our people have provided for the training of the children of the villages and of the open country of Colorado in the rudiments of reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography and economics, for fitting those wlio have completed the prescribed course of study for entering the high school, and for giving all some understanding of tlie duties, privileges and re- sponsibilities of American citizenship. The importance of the third-class school district, judged from the standpoint of the work it is charged to do, is fundamental and its effi- ciency of vital necessity to our state and national life. The heavy bur- den of responsibility that it carries and tlie great importance of its work, are largely overlooked because we are accustomed to consider ratlier the small individual district with its comparatively few pupils, than the ag- gregate number of districts in the state with the many thousands of pu- pils that these serve. Judgment, too, of how far and how well the dis- trict serves the people, should be based on the work of all the districts rather than that of any individual one, and manifestly, too, knowledge of state conditions in the aggregate must be had by him who can justly criticise our rural and village schools or safely plan for their improve- ment. It was a growing conviction of the imperative need of more knowl- edge of our rural schools from the standpoint of the State as a whole, for guidance in plans for their improvement, that prompted the planning and carrying forward of a survey of all of the third-class districts of the State by our Department of Rural and Industrial Education. The dom- inant idea has been to learn just what kind of service the schools in the third-class districts are giving. Months were necessary for the collection of data and fully as much time for its study and analysis. Much thought was given to the method of properly illustrating various phases of study and earnest effort was made to show the method used clearly and to give the results of the various lines of inquiry thoroughly, accurately and in proper relation so that the people of Colorado might see the work of our rural schools in proper perspective and decide for themselves whether the boys and girls of the county are getting the training that will fit them for twentieth century service. The work of the survey has been a heavy task, requiring a great deal of individual and institutional sacrifice, but it was done gladly and cheerfully and the results are published in the hope that they may be of service to the people of Colorado in their great work of rural school im- provement and aid them in their elTorts to give better educational ad- vantages to the country children. CHAS. A. LORY, President. Introductory Statement No part of onr public school system, laiid perhaps no other field of educa- tiou, is receiving more attention at the present time than are the rural schools. This movement is not confined to any particular part of the country, but it is oeneral. A few states have completed very careful investi- gations, and as a result, have already changed their rural school systems. Otters are uow in the midst of the work, while most all of the remainder of the states are actively planning such campaigns. The more carefully the subject is studied and the more thorough the investigation, the worse con- ditions are found to be, and even those best informed on this subject oau hardly believe that the rural school is the laggard that all these investiga- tions show it to be. The National Government, some of the states, educational associations, business orgianizations, and private individuals are now engaged in the work. Much valuable information on this subject ?s now available, and much good has already been accomplished, all of whi''h seems to point the way to better things for the boys and girls who live in the country. This movement began to assume definite form in several counties in Colorado in 1009. At that time a survey of all the schools of Mesa county was begun, to ascertain as fully and completely as possible the true con- dition of the rural schools of that county. All the schools had been vis- ited and everything that would indicate efficiency or the lack of it was carefully studied, and from all available sources of information some of those in charge of the work were firmly convinced that these schools were not doing for the country children as much as they should and could do. Just from observation it was quite apparent that many of those of school age in each district did not enroll in school at all. Many of those who did enroll were irregular in attendance, while many of those in regular attend- ance did not complete the course offered in tiie schools. The records of these schools were next examined to see what light they might throw on the subject l)y giving the past history of these schools. At first only a few items were studied, and those only for the previous year, but gradually the field of investigation grew and was carried back year after year, until the preceding eight years were covered, and all the items of record were included. When the facts thus obtained were made known, there were many in the county who arose to defend "The system that had produced so many illustrious men and women, and had otherwise seiwed the state and nation for more than a century." V^hen a movement was started to reorganize some of the districts where conditions were most favorable, bitter and determined opposition arose. Few movements within the history 0^ the country have aroused more interest, rr provoked more discussion. A few districts were consolidated. The matter was carried into the courts. 6 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE and the litigation did not cease for two years, or until the cases were decided by the State Supreme Court or the State Board of Education. At this point, the State Agricultural College took up the investigation and eight representative couuties were selected for investigation, and when the evidence was all in it was found that conditions were fully as bad, or even worse, than in Mesa County. Several of those were among the wealthiest and most progressive counties in the State, and even the educators themselves were slow to believe that the schools were so inefficient. When the survey of the eight counties was completed, a well defined niovement for rural school improvement was well under way, under the general direction of the Colorado Teachers' Association. Many of the lead- ing educators of the state, including those connected with the state educa- ticnal institutions, city and county superintendents, teachers, and others w^ere interested in the work. It seemed necessary to have all of the facts bearing upon the subject to most intelligently carry on the work, and the State Agricultural College undertook the stupendous task of completing an eight-year survey for the whole state. There were 62 counties, and more than 1800 school districts covered by the investigation, and it required ?>fiOO typewritten pages to contain the tabulated! data alone. This bulletin gives in a greatly condensed and summarized form the most important facts disclosed by the survey. THE SURVEY A brief description of the public school system of Colorado is necessary for a clear understanding of the survey. The school district is the unit for all school purposes. The district boundaries are arbitrarily made by the people who make the new district, and are arbitrarily changed when the district is divided by a dissatisfied faction tliat wants a "school of its own." There is no uniformity as to size and area f.nd they vary in this respect from one and a quarter sections to thirty townships. They are classified according to law as first, second, and third class dis- tricts, the classification being based wholly upon the school census of each district. Districts that have on their census list 1000 or more children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, are classified as districts of the first class; those with from 350 to 1000 as districts of the second class; while all districts with a school census of less than 350 are classed as third- class districts. According to this classification all districts of the third class may be considered as rural schools, although the schools may be located in small towns and have from one to as many as eight teachers employed in the same building. While the survey is complete for all school districts in the state, yet the facts and figures here given relate only to districts that have a school census of fewer than 350 children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, or third class districts only. There are 1725 different districts covered by this survey. Each of these districts has a school board of three members, elected by the people, for terms of three years, the term of one director expiring COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 7 oach year. This board possesses almost absolute power in the conduct of its school or schools. Or it mi.siht be more correct to say that it possesses all the power and authority conferred by Vdw for that purpose, and no authority outside the district possesses move than advisory power in the management of the schools. One of the many duties imposed upon this l»oard is that of making an Annual Report to the County Superintendent of Schools on or before the first day of August of each year. This report is required under a penalty of $100.00, and its correctness nmst be sworn to when it is filed with the superintendent. The blanks are provided by the State Superintendent and are uniform in all of the districts. The city of Denver uses the same form as the smallest country school. From these reports, the County Superin- tendent makes an Annual Report to the Stace Superintendent. It is well to bear in mind that these reports are made for the entire district as a unit, \vhether it maintains one or many different schools. The facts thus given sliow what the district organization as a unit in our school system has done for the education of its children in any given year. It is from the County Sui>erintendent's report to the State Superintend- ent that this survey was made. This report includes all items of record, such as the personal statistics of the school proper, the kind of Iniilding, its condition, value and equipment, and a complete financial statement. It is a fairly complete quantitative report of the educational activities of the dis- trict, and the completeness and correctness with which these reports have been made, is, with but few exceptions, highly complimentary to the County Superintendents of the state. Forms, such as those found on pages 41, -12, 4.*^,. 44, 4.5. 40 and 47. were used for tabulating the data so that each item could be placed in a column l)y itself and the result compared with like items from other disti'icts in the same county and other counties. Then the average or totals for each district as the case might be. were summarized for the third-class districts of each county, so that all the facts of one county could be compared with those of all other counties in the entire state, and last, the county averages and totals were summarized for the entire stt^te. Every possible means has been employed to make the facts given accu- rately represent the actual condition as found in the different districts and counties of the state, but absolute accuracy is not, and ciannot be claimed for them. The aim throughout has been to show conditions as they are, and not to try to prove some pre-conceived notion in the mind of the one \Aho made the investigation. It has been conducted as much for the pur- pose of finding the strong points of the system as of revealing its weak- nesses, and it is confidently believed that the figures given are reliable for (ho purposes for which they are used. At least it is quite apparent to any one widely acquainted with the schools in this state that if these figures and the conclusions drawn from them are incorrect, it is because they fall short of showing conditions as bad as they really exist, for after all, many of the most vital facts showing efficiency are not. and cannot be made a matter at record. s coLOh'ADo AGRicrr/rruMj collpjoe It will be well to reiieat that this is an iuvestiijatioii uf the school district as a unit in our educational system, and not of the one or more scliools therein maintained. The district is the or.i^anizcd means ru-ovided by law for supplying educational opportunities within ils boundaries of which the school proper is the visible result. The 1725 different school districts are included in this survey, and their totals and averages are all considered togetlier, whether they had but one pupil and a one-teacher school, or ten one-teacher schools ; ^^■hetller tliey are located in a small town and liave one teacher, or eiglit teacliers in the same building, as some of them do. Tlie survey includes all scliool districts in Colorado that have less tlian 350 cliildren between the ages of six and twenty-one years. For convenience it is arranged, as far as possible, in the natural logical order of the items investigated. The wi-iter has examined every item of the 1725 districts, and to further corroborate tlie facts found in the re<-ords. has visited loo of the districts in dilTerent parts of the state. THE SCHOOL CENSUS IN TIIIKD CLASS OISTKICTS The scliool census, as stated in a preceding paragraph, consists of all persons between the ages of six and twenty-one years, who are residents within the district on the tenth day of February of each year. Two counties, Denver and San Juan, have no school districts of tlie tiiird class. The remaining sixty counties all have third class districts, and tliese only are included in this survey. The figures here given are eight-year averages for eacli district, eacli county, or for the entire state, as the case may be. In some cases the dis- tricts were not in existence for the full eight years, since a few of the weakest ones were annulled during this iieriod, and others were organized between 1906 and 1913. Yet the total number of such districts was not large, and the averages are for the full eight years, or such part of it as the district was in existence. While many states report poor I'ural sdiools and give as one of tlie main reasons tlierefor, the small numt)er of children in the districts, and their reports sometimes show several thousand schools with less than twelve pupils, and while some such schools are found in Colorado, yet that condition does not exist to a very great extent in this state. One district was found that had but three children on its census list and these were there for only one year out of the eight ; the other seven years this independent unit in our school system reported no children within the district, still it kept its independent organization, went through the formality of electing a school director eacli year, levied no taxes and spent on money for education. Evidently they were waiting for the stork to come along and help them out of their dilemma. Several others had an average of but one pupil a year for the eight years, but such districts are so few and the number of children affected is so small that they may be considered exceptional eases, for if they were entirely omitted from consideration it would make no appreciable change in the figures of any county. They merely serve to show the extremes to which the district system has been carried. It is not the imrpose of this COLORADO RURAL A\D YlLLAdlJ HCIIOOhS 9 investigation to try to find a few exceptional cases a'ntl dwell at leugtli upon tliem, but rather to tind. if possible, rhe conditions that exist in the districts where 90 per cent of the children live and thus arrive at a more correct eonclusiou of average conditions in the third class districts of the entire state. There were 1725 third class school districts during this period, and of this number only 289 had less than tifteen children of school age. While this was 17 per cent of the districts, yet but 20 is children lived in those dis- tricts. This was only 3 per cent of the average census of all the districts. While there are doubtless more small schools than these figuresi show, as where there are several small one-teacher schools within the same district, yet when these are all accounted for. it is still true that when such schools have all been conduned they constitute but a small part of the school children of the state who live in third class school districts. While, on the other hand, there are 194 districts each of which had an average census each year of the eight of more than l(it> children. These districts had a combined census of ol,2r)4. or almost ?.s per cent of the average census. Table I. shows these two facts for each county in connection with the average census of each. In studying this table, the fad must be kept in mind that there is a great variation between the different parts of Colorado with respect to climate and occupations. There are the thinly settled portions in the (ireat Plains section in tl^e eastern part of the state, the still moi-e sparsely inhabited regions in the high altitudes in the mountains and the densely populated areas where the land is fertile, the water abundant, and climate favorable, where the farm unit is small and agrii ulture has been tarried to a high state of perfection. The average school census, each year of the eight, for the sixty counties was S2.171 children distriltuted throughout the state, as shoAvn in Table I. Each county is responsilde for its share of them, and the state is vitally interested in them all. Most of thcui live under conditions that are favor- able for good and etiicient scliools, and while some of them do live where it is ditiicult to have the best kind of s< hool. still it is the liusiness of the constituted authorities to provide for their education, since failure to do so is a menace to the state. When considered in the aggregate, the amount of money spent each year for the support of the schools in these districts seems enormous, but when considered and weighed in relation to these 82,174 boys and girls, their possibilities and the interests at stake, it 1)ecomes insi'j;niticant. This is a great army of boys and girls, the hope of the state, and approxi- mately one-eighth of them pass out of the reach and intluence of their schools each year and enter the ranks of men and women, prepared or un- prepared, for the truest happiness to themselves and the greatest service to .society and the state. It is often said that the rural school prepares for nothing. We will try to discover in the succeeding pages how well or how poorly the districts, the ( (tunties and the great state of Colorado have prepared for the education of the children as far as I he records of each district i-eveal these facts. 10 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE An Ei TABLE I. rht-Year Average. COUNTY 1 ; 1 Census 1 1 Number of districts with less than 15 cliildren each Number of children affected Number of districts with more than 100 chil- dren Children affected WELD _ . _ 1 T.ri*>2 5 43 21 3,210 LAS ANIMAS . . J 5.S15 1 2 27 24 3,689 HUERFANO ... 1 3,077 9 1,701 LARIMER ... 1 2,886 3 37 5 751 YUMA ... 1 2,836 10 117 2 386 BOULDER 1 ^.aan 14 111 6 952 MESA ... 1 2,532 12 1,708 EL PASO ... 1 2,243 16 148 8 1,162 ADAMS ... 1 2,145 2 19 9 884 CONEJOS . . .. 1 2,119 1 12 7 1,203 KIT CARSON 1 2,088 19 126 4 578 JEFFERSON . . . . 1 1 .952 10 102 5 789 PROWERS 1 1 .9!l« 7 70 3 591 OTERO ... 1 1,906 6 898 PUEBLO ... 1 1,833 12 115 2 418 LA PLATA 1 1,783 1 5 5 848 ROUTT ... 1 1,729 1 7 4 705 ELBERT ... 1 1,704 9 88 4 642 DELTA 1 1,643 5 854 GARFIELD 1 l.filft 2 20 3 457 WASHINGTON 1 1,606 12 124 1 179 FREMONT 1 i.nnn 11 96 4 820 LINCOLN . . . . 1 1,551 5 789 LOGAN . . 1 1 .52R 9 86 COSTILLA 1 1,363 5 40 5 661 MONTROSE i 1,318 1 10 4 556 ARAPAHOE 1 1,306 6 57 2 420 GUNNISON 1 1,085 10 75 2 422 SAGUACHE 1 1,028 9 88 1 129 MONTEZUMA 1 1,009 2 367 PHILLIPS 1 949 9 77 2 284 DOUGLAS ... 1 920 18 167 1 181 CHEYENNE 1 871 ' 3 373 MORGAN 1 843 2 225 GILPIN 1 798 5 49 3 590 RIO GRANDE 1 797 2 20 EAGLE 1 770 7 51 KIOWA 1 727 1 1 132 SEDGWICK 1 711 12 1 106 2 359 BACA 1 676 4 1 34 1 101 RIO BLANCO 1 642 3 1 31 1 346 BENT 1 614 2 12 CLEAR CREEK .... 1 594 1 3 1 26 2 402 CUSTER 1 nns 3 1 35 *MOFFAT 1 54.^ 1 1 1 1 246 ARCHULETA 1 529 1 1 1 9 1 1 110 CHAFFEE 1 501 1 10 1 78 ' PARK .1 490 1 8 1 73 1 SAN MIGUEL 1 474 1 1 112 OURAY 1 a(t«i 2 1 23 1 118 GRAND 1 4«. ] District No 10 1 17 | 16 | 94% 1 I District No. 100 | 43 i 40 ' U3% 3 1 District No. 35 | 45 | 42 | 93% 3 1 District No 38 | 15 | 14 |- 93%, 1 1 District No. 18 1 103 1 96 | 93% 7 1 District No 60 | 74 1 66 | 89% 8 1 District No 8 | 242 | 216 | 89% 26 1 District No. 12 | 28 | 25 | 89% 3 1 District No. 67 | 101 | 89 | S8% 12 1 District No. 98 | 109 | 95 | 87% 14 1 District No 89 | 70 | 61 | 87% 9 1 District No. 46 | 56 | 49 | 87% 7 1 District No 2 | 33 | 29 | '87% 4 1 District No. 7 | 88 | -77 1 87% 11 1 District No 95... 1 61 | 53 | 86% 8 1' District No. 30 •. 1 38 | 33 | 86% 5 !• 8 I . District No. 87 89 | 76 | 85% 13 1 COLOL'MX) RURAL AXD ] I hh.[(l I] ^SCHOOLS 17 TABLE 111. — Continued. Census, Enrollment. Per Cent of Census Enrolled and Loss in Eight Years Througii Failure to Enroll. 1 1 1 Per Cent | Av. Loss |Gain Where DISTRICT 1 Average | Average | of | Through [More Than 1 Census \ Enroll- | Census | Failure | Census 1 1 ment | Enrolled to Enroll | Enrolled District No. 52 | 123 | 105 | S5% | 18 ■ ] District No. 56 | 87 | 74 | 85% | 13 1 District No. (>5. | 182 | 154 | 84% \ 28 ] District No. 92 | 133 | 109 | 83% | 23 1 District No. 84 | 67 | 50 | 83% | 11 1 District No. 59 | 63 | 52 | 82% | 11 1 District No. 97 | 87 | 73 1 82% | 15 1 District No. 80 | 59 | 48 | 81% | 11 | District No. 5 | 153 | 126 | 81% | 27 1 District No. 51 | 58 .| 47 | 81% 1 11 1 District No. 99 | 30 | 24 | 80% | 6 1 District No. 86 i 66 | 53 | 80% | 13 | District No. 27 | 99 | 78 1 79% | 21 | District No 9 | 62 | 49 | 79% | 13 | District No. 28 | 52 | 41 | 79% | 11 | District No. 32 1 63 | 50 | 79% 1 13 | District No. 39 | 64 \ 51 | 79% | 13 | District No. 50 | 102 | 81 | 79% | 21 | District No. 29 | 143 | 112 | 78% | 31 | District No. 62 | 59 | 46 | 78% \ 13 | District No. 76 | 162 | 126 | 78% | 36 | District No. 16 | 219 | 168 | 77% | 51 | District No. 24 | 56 | 43 | 77% | 13 | Distri.t Xo. 33 | 116 | 89 | 77% | 27 | District No. 15 | 246 | 184 | 75% | 62 | District No. 19 | 65 1 49 | 75% | 16 I District No. 71 | -68 | 51 ] 75% | 17 | District No. 90 | 69 1 52 | 75% | 17 | District No. 22 | 57 | 42 | 74% | 15 | District No. 53 | 65 | 48 | 74% | 17 | District No 110 | 89 | 64 | 74% | 25 | District No. 26 | 82 | 60 | 73% | 22 | District No. 49 | 64 | 46 | 72% | 18 I District No. 83... | 65 | .49 | 72% | 16 | District No. 61 | " 42 1 31 | 71% | . 11 | Distriit Xo. 94 | 7 | 5 | ' 71% | 2 | District Xo. 14 | 53 | 37 | 70% | 16 | District No. 20 | 136 | 95 | 70% | 41 | District No. 36 ' | 91 | 64 I 70% | 27 [' District No. 68 | 40 | 28 | 7oJ^o \ 13 | District No. 81 | 34 | 23 | 7&% | 11 1 District No. 69 | 36 | 25 •■ 69% | 11 1, District No. 74 | 52 | 36 1 69% [ 16 | District No. 17 | 79 | 53 | 67% | 36 r District No. 41 | 9 | 6 | 66% | 3 \' District No. 23 | 101 | 64 | 63% | 37 1 District No. 3 1 47 | 3£> | 63% _(_ ^'^ 1 District No. 42 | 5 | 3 | 60% | ^ 3 I District No. 54 i 45 | 37 | 60% | 18 ]' District No. 57 1 33 | 13 | 60% | .10 ( IS COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE TABLE III. — Continued. DISTRICT 1 Average | Average 1 Census | Enroll- 1 1 nnent Per Cent | Av. Loss |Gain Where of 1 Through |More Than Census i Failure | Census Enrolled to Enroll | Enrolled District No. 58 | 93 | 62 62% 1 31 1 District No. 85 | 68 | 41 60% 1 27 i District No. 91 | 71 1 43 60% 1 28 1 District No. 82 | 39 | 22 56% 1 17 1 District No. 43 | 22 | 12 55% 1 10 1 District No. 25 | 43 | 23 53% 1 20 1 District No. 88 | 54 | 27 50% 1 27 1 District No. 63 | 8 | 4 50% 1 4 1 District No. 93 | 114 | 53 46% 1 61 1 District No. 106 | 258 | 115 44% 1 . 143 1 District No. 75 | 45 | 19 42% i 26 1 District No. 105 | 29 | 10 35% 1 19 1 District No. 96 | 29 | 8 27% 1 21 1 Average for each year of| | the eight | 7,522 | 6,039 80% 1 1,540 1 57 NOTE. — All of the figures here used are averages for each district, or for the entire county each of the eight years covered by the survey. Table IV. shows these same facts for Las Animas counf.v. Conditions in these two counties are quite different. Weld is one of the wealthiest and most prosperous agricultural counties in the state, where most all conditions are favoral)le for very efficient rural schools, while Las Animas is one of our wealthiest mining counties, where a large foreign element is present because of the mining industry. Yet on the item of enrollment the extremes are nearly the same in the two counties, while there is only 6 per cent difference in the county averages. Many other examples could be given, for there are sixteen counties with a lower average than Las Animas. But these two counties may be taken as fairly typical of the^rest of the state in respect to their enrollment. TABLE IV. Census and Enrollment Showing Per Cent of Loss in Eight Years. Las Animas County. DISTRICT. 1 Cejisus Enroll- ment Percent of Census Enrolled Av. Loss IGain Where Through |MoreThan Failure to| Census Enroll 1 Enrolled District No. 79 ■ ■ • 1 33 30 136% 1 8 District No. 47 • ■ - 1 38 37 132% 1 9 District No. 32 ...I 141 150 106% 1 9- District No. 21 . . . 1 119 126 105% 1 7 District No. 28 . . . 1 25 26 104% 1 1 ! District No. 13 . . . 1 107 111 103% 1 4 District No. 68 . . . 1 124 125 100% 1 1 District No. 72 . .. 1 13 13 100% 1 District No. 62 . . . 1 22 21 95% 1 1 District No. 50 . . . 1 55 51 92% 4 1 District No. 17 . . 1 112 101 90. . 11 1 District No. 75 .. .| 20 18 90% 2 1 District No. 55 . . 1 1^6 123 90% 13 1 District No. 35. . . . 1 19 17 89% 2 1 1 COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 19 TABLE IV — Continued. Census and Enrollment Showing Pei- Cent of Loss in Eight Years. Las Animas County. 1 1 DISTRICT. 1 Census 1 1 1 1 Av. Loss Enroll- ; Per Cent 1 Through ment jof Census|Failure to 1 Enrolled | Enroll Gain Where More Than Census Enrolled District No. 10 | 61 54 1 88% 1 7 1 District No. 67 1 115 102 1 88% 1 13 1 District No. 43 | 112 99 1 88% 1 13 District No. 30 | 178 155 1 87% i 23 District No. 33 1 44 38 1 86% 1 6 District No. 40 1 115 99 1 86% 1 16 District No. 69 | 81 69 1 85% 1 12 ! District No. 39 | 21 18 1 85% 1 3 1 District No. 26 | 33 28 1 84% 1 5 1 District No. 45 | 59 50 1 84% 1 9 1 District No. 41 | 260 218 1 83% 1 42 District No. 53 | 221 185 1 83% i 36 District No. 56 | 68 56 1 82% 1 12 District No. 63 | 176 143 1 81% 1 33 District No. IS | 219 178 1 81% 1 41 District No. 66 | 46 37 1 80% 1 9 District No. 49 | 34 27 1 79% 1 7 District No. 8 | 44 35 1 79% 1 9 District No. 19 | 29 23 1 79% 1 6 District No. 42 | 294 231 1 78% 1 63 District No. 46 | 39 30 1 79% 1 9 District No. 27 | 39 29 1 74% 1 10 District No. 37 | 33 23 1 69% 1 10 District No. 7 | 168 115 1 68% 1 53 District No. 60 1 47 32 1 67% 1 15 District No. 58 ! 56 37 1 66% 1 19 District No. 65 | 18 12 1 66% 1 6 District No. 59 | 178 116 1 65% 1 62 District No. 3 | 101 66 1 65% 1 35 1 District No. 57 | 44 29 1 65% 1 15 ! District No. 73 | 17 11 1 64% 1 6 District No. 36 | 28 18 1 64% 1 10 District No. 64 | 76 48 1 63% 1 28 District No. 15 | 102 62 1 60% 1 40 District No. 20 | 40 24 1 60% 1 16 District No. 7 6 | 52 31 1 59% 1 21 District No. 78 | 12 7 1 58% 1 5 District No. 29 ! 136 80 1 58% 1 56 District No. 16 | 186 118 1 58% 1 68 District No. 31 | 21 1 12 1 57% 1 9 District No. 34 | 57 32 1 56% 1 25 District No. 12 | 149 83 1 55% 1 66 District No. 25 | 88 1 49 1 55% 1 39 District No. 38 | 36 1 20 1 55% 1 16 District No. 4 | 117 1 64 1 54% 1 53 District No. 5 | 123 1 66 1 53% 1 57 District No. 14 i 26 1 14 1 53% 1 12 District No. 52 | 41 1 22 1 53% 1 19 District No. 70 | 25 1 13 1 52% 1 12 District No. 54 | 57 1 30 1 52% 1 27 District No. 2 | 53 1 28 1 52% 1 25 20 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE TABLE IV.— Continued. Census and Enrollment Showing Per Cent of Loss in Eight Years. Las Animas County. DISTRICT. ! 1 Census Enroll- ment 1 Pe jot 1 E r Cent Census irolled Av Th Fai E . Loss rough ure to nroll IGaiu Where |More Than 1 Census 1 Enrolled District No. 22 ... 1 72 35 48% 37 District No. 23 ... 1 96 47 48% 49 District No. 77 ... 1 32 15 46% 17 District No. 24 . . . ! 41 19 46% 22 District No. 11 ... 1 41 18 44% 23 District No. 74 . . . 1 67 29 43% 38 District No. 48 . .. 1 33 14 43% 19 District No. 44 . . . 1 34 14 41% 20 District No. 9 . . . 1 48 18 37% 30 District No. 71 . . . 1 14 5 35% 9 *District No. 80 . ..| 19 1 Total . . I 5„S15 4.329 |Av 74%. 1.506 39 THE AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE OF THE ENROLLMENT The 17.789 children representius the avera.i^'e imiiiber who each .vear did not enroll in these 1725 districts does not constitute the worst showing made by our rural school system, for the 17,789 contains all of the eighth grade graduates, the "finished" products of the system, those who have completed the course offered by the schools in their districts. The average daily attendance of those who did enroll and thus came under the intluence of the schools makes a far worse showing. Table V. shows the enrollment, the average daily attendance, the per cent of the enrollment in average daily attendance, and the loss occasioned by irregular attendance in the different counties covered by this investigation. The counties are arranged in the order of the highest per cent of attendance of the enrollment. The county at the bottom of the list had an average daily attendance of but 51 per cent of the enrollment for the eight-year period, while the one at the top of the table had an average of 77 per cent. The difference be- tween the extremes is 26 per cent. Or, to express it in a different way, the county at the top of the list had an average dail.v attendance of the enroll- ment of twenty-six more children out of each 100 enrolled than did the one having the lowest attendance. This is a very material difference. It means that throughout the eight years the attendance was one-third higher in the former than in the latter. This is sufficient to make a great difference in the efficiency of the schools of the two counties. The eight-year average for the sixty counties and 1725 third class dis- tricts was but 61 per cent of the enrollment. This means that on the aver- age 39 children out of each 100 enrolled were out of school each day. While the average enrollment was 64,.'i85, the daily attendance was only 39,219. The difference is 2.5,171, which represents the number who were out of school all the time on account of irregular attendance. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE i-;CllOOLH 21 Twenty-five IhoiisaiKl one hundred seventy-one is here marked "EXHIBIT P." and represents the second great loss recorded against the rural school system of Colorado. This is a more serious and more unnecessary loss than the 17,789 who did not enroll. In most cases, irregular attendance represents dead loss to the taxpayers, and untold injury to lioth the pupils and the schools. In the case of most of the children who enroll, their education is pro^•ided for and as much expense is incurred as if they were present each day. I^>uildings and equipment are jirovided, books are purchased, teacliers are employed for all of the children who enroll, and the cost of the schools is in no way lessened, even if -10 per cent of the children enrolled are absent from school each day, as was the < asc in one county during the whole eight- year period. Besides, it is impossible to estimate the injury done to the rest of the pupils ])y being held back and retarded in their progress on account of this irregular attendance. Aside from actual cases of sickness, there are but few valid excuses for absence from school, at least until the children have finished the elementary course, which four-fifths of the enrollment failed to do during these eight years. TABLE V. The Enrollment. Average Daily Attendance, the Per Cent ot the Enroll- ment in Averag-e Daily Attendance, and the Average Number Ab.sent each day. The counties are arranged according to the highest per cent of average daily attendance. COUNTY. i Enrollment! [Per cent of |Number who Average |enrDllment|were absent Daily |in average] on an av'ge attendance! daily 1 of each day lattendance! of school CLEAR CREEK 1 422 t 323 1 77% 99 MESA 1 2,182 1 1,635 1 75% 547 DOLORES 1 127 1 94 ! 74% 33 GILPIN 1 570 1 418 1 73% 152 BACA [ 39S 1 286 1 72% 112 MINERAL 1 288 1 190 1 70% 98 MOFFAT 1 334 1 237 1 70% 97 RIO BLANCO 1 475 I 330 ! 70% 1 145 SUMMIT 1 363 1 251 1 70% 1 112 TELLER CUSTER 1 267 1 1 427 1 185 1 289 ! 70% 1 68% 1 82 138 GARFIELD 1 1 ,309 1 884 1 462 1 67% 1 425 DOUGLAS : 1 690 1 67% ! 228 CHEYENNE 1 745 1 493 ! 66% ! 252 HINSDALE 1 138 1 92 ! 66% 1 66% 1 46 258 378 PHILLIPS 1 758 1 500 1 ARAPAHOE 1 1,083 1 705 1 65% 1 EAGLE 1 639 1 418 1 65% ! 221 FREMONT 1 1,295 1 841 1 65%. 1 454 GRAND 1 325 1 212 1 806 1 65% 1 65% I 113 439 LINCOLN 1 1,245 1 BOULDER .. 1 2 163 1 1,389 1 64% ! 774 GUNNISON 1 876 1 557 1 64% 1 319 .JEFFERSON 1 1 .474 i 950 1 672 1 64% 1 64% 1 524 524 MONTROSE 1 1,037 1 OURAY 1 382 1 246 1 64% 1 136 PARK 1 378 1 242 1 64% 1 136 ADAMS I 1 ,525 1 t>50 1 63% 1 566 22 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE TABLE V. — Continued. The Enrollment, Average Daily Attendance, the Per Cent of the Enroll- ment in Average Daily Attendance, and the Average Number Absent each day. The counties are arranged according to the liighest per cent of average daily attendance. COUNTY. 1 Enrollment 1 Average Daily iattendance Per cent of enrollment in average 1 daily Iattendance Number who were absent on an av'ge of each day of school JACKSON 1 190 1 120 I 63% 70 PITKIN 1 311 1 197 1 63% 114 WASHINGTON 1 1,281 1 803 1 63% 478 COSTILLA 1 987 1 614 1 62% 373 ELBERT 1 1,249 1 780 1 62% 469 KIOWA i 610 1 377 1 62% 233 LA PLATA i 1,349 1 835 1 62% 514 YUMA t 2,184 i 1,368 1 62% 816 EL PASO 1,760 1 1,081 1 61% 679 LAKE 233 1 136 1 61% 87 PcOUTT 1,307 1 799 1 61% 508 SAN MIGUEL i 372 1 299 1 61% 143 DELTA [ 1,399 1 843 1 60% 556 KIT CARSON 1 1,652 1 959 1 60% 693 MONTEZUMA 1 807 1 487 1 60% 320 PROWERS 1 1,640 i 972 1 59% 668 PUEBLO 1 1,381 1 799 1 58% 582 RIO GRANDE 1 604 1 357 1 58% 247 SAGUACHE 1 818 1 474 1 58% 344 SEDGWICK 1 665 1 384 1 58% 281 BENT 1 541 ! 310 1 57% 231 CONEJOS 1 1,429 1 822 1 57% 601 HUERFANO 1 2,127 1,205 1 57% 922 OTERO 1 1,679 1 989 1 57% 690 CROWLEY 1 326 1 179 1 55% 147 LOGAN 1 1,254 1 691 1 55% 563 MORGAN 1 734 I 403 1 55% 331 LARIMER 1 2,393 1,284 1 54% 1,109 WELD 6,039 3,291 1 54% 2,748 ARCHULETA 1 373 198 ! 53% 175 LAS ANIMAS 1 4,329 2,299 I 53% 2,030 CHAFFEE i 457 268 I 51% 189 Total 1 64,385 39,219 1 24,836 Average . .1 1 61% Table VI. shows tlie enrollment, the average daily attendance, and the per cent of the enrollment in average daily attendance, in the seventy-five third class districts in T^as Animas county for eight years. From this it will be seen that twenty-flve districts had an average daily attendance of more than thirty pupils throiighout the eight-year period. The average daily attendance in these was 1567, or 68 per cent of the attendance in the seventy-five districts. There were twelve districts in which the average daily attendance was between twenty and thirty piipils. These districts had an aggregate average daily attendance of 286 or 12 per cent of the attendance of the third class districts. Twenty-five other districts had an average daily attendance of between ten and twenty children and these account for 11 COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SVHOOLt< 23 per c-eut uiore of the average daily attendance, while the remaining thirteen districts had less than ten in average daily attendance, or only 4 per cent of the average daily attendance of the seventy-five districts. So we might say that only 4 per cent of the children in these seventy-five districts live in districts where the schools might be poor because of the very small number of children in the districts, while SO per cent of the average daily attendance was found in thirty-seven districts, each of which had more than twenty i)upils in average daily attendance throughout the eight years. The per cent of attendance of each of these four groups is nearly the same, being 53 per cent, 51 per cent, 56 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively. The number of pupils in the district does not seem to materially affect the average daily attendance in this county. TABLE VI. The Eni'ollment. Average Daily Attendance, and the Per Cent of the Enroll- ment in Average Daily Attendance. An Eight-Year Average. LAS ANIMAS COUNTY. Di pupi stric Is in stric ts tl avc r i t 1 1 1 lat had thirty 'rage daily at or more tendance. Di En- roll- ment |Av. daily [attend- 1 ance Per cent of euroll- mentin av. daily attend'ce Dist. No. 30| 155 1 114 74% Dist. No. 101 54 1 35 65% Dist. No. 421 231 1 145 63% Dist No. 631 143 1 84 60% Dist. No. 53| 1S5 1 110 58% Dist. No. 551 66 1 38 58% Dist. No. 151 62 1 36 58% 56% Dist. No. 3| 66 1 37 Dist. No. 7| 115 1 63 55% Dist. No. 40| 99 1 55 1 55% Dist. No. 59| 116 1 61 1 53% Dist. No. 431 99 ! 52 1 53% Dist. No. 181 178 1 93 1 52% Dist. No. 4| 64 1 33 1 51% Dist. No. 41| 218 1 108 1 50% Dist. No. 68| 125 1 63 1 50% 50% Dist. No. 131 111 1 56 1 Dist. No. 291 80 1 40 1 50% Dist. No. 161 lis 1 57 1 48% Dist. No. 671 102 1 48 1 47% Dist. No. 691 69 I 31 1 45% Dist. No. 211 126 1 55 I 44% Dist. No. 17| 101 1 43 1 43% Dist. No. 32| 150 1 62 1 41% Dist. No. 55| 123 1 48 1 39% 25 Distric ts . 1 2,956 1 1,567 i 53% Di daily twen stricts attends ty pupil strict that mce of s. had an between average ten and Di 1 En- roll- ment 1 jAv.daily [attend- ance Per cent of enroll- ment in av. daily attend'ce Dist. No. 9 18 1 17 94% Dist. No. 52 <>«> 1 17 77% Dist. No. 35 17 1 12 71% Dist. No. 14 14 1 10 71% Dist. No. 49 27 1 17 63% Dist. No. 57 29 1 18 62% Dist. No. 11 IS 1 11 61% Dist. No. 34 32 1 19 60% Dist. No. 38 20 1 12 60% Dist. No. 2 28 1 16 57% Dist. No. 54 30 1 17 57% Dist. No. 19 23 1 13 57% Dist. No. 60 32 1 18 56% Dist. No. 76 31 I 17 55% Dist. No. 28 26 1 14 54% Dist. No. 79 30 1 16 53% 53% Dist. No. 24 19 1 10 Dist. No. 37 23 1 12 1 52% Dist. No. 62 21 1 11 52% Dist. No. 26 28 I 14 i 50% Dist. No. 47 37 1 17 1 46% Dist. No. 27 29 I 13 1 45% Dist. No. 74 29 1 13 1 41% Dist. No. 20 24 1 10 ( 41% Dist. No. 22 35 1 14 1 40% 25 D stric ts. 632 1 357 1 56% id VOLOh'ADO AORICiLTURAL COLLEGE TABLE VI.— Continued. The Enrollment, Average Daily Attendance, and the Per Cent of the Enroll- ment in Averag-e Daily Attendance. An Eight-Year Average. LAS ANIMAS COUNTY. Districts tliat Iiad between twenty and tliirty pupils. An average daily attendance of less than ten pupils. Distric t 1 1 1 En- roll- ment |Av. daily lattend- 1 ance |Per cent |of enroll- [ mentin |av. daily lattend'ce 1 "73%""" Dist. No. 461 30 1 22 Dlst. No. 8| 35 1 23 1 66% Dist. No. 331 38 1 24 1 66% Dist. No. 581 37 1 21 1 57 7o Dist. No. 66| 37 1 21 1 57% Dist. No. 25| 49 1 26 1 53% Dist. No. 50| 51 1 26 1 51% 1 51% Dist. No. 231 47 1 24 Dist. No. 641 48 1 24 1 50% 1 48% Dist. No. 56| 56 1 -27 Dist. No. 45| 50 1 22 1 44% 1 1 1 1 i 1 12 Distric ts.| 561 1 286 51% Distric 1 1 t 1 1 En- roll- ment 1 Av.dailj attend- ance |Per cent jof euroll- 1 mentin |av. daily [attend'ce Dist. No. 78| 7 1 5 1 71% Dist. No. 31| 12 1 s 1 66% Dist. No. 70| 13 1 8 i 61% Dist. No. 71| 5 1 3 1 60% Dist. No. 481 14 1 8 1 57%, Dist. No. 731 11 1 6 1 55% Dist. No. 77| 15 1 8 i 53% Dist. No. 36| 18 1 9 1 50% Dist. No. 65| 12 1 6 1 50% I 46% 1 44% Dist. Dist. No. No. 72| 39| 13 1S~~ 1 6 1 8 jjist. No. 751 18 1 8 1 44% Dist. No. 44| 14 1 6 1 43 7o 13 Distric ts.| 170 1 89 r~52%^ Table YII. shows the same facts for the 1U7 districts iu Weld comity, aud from this it may be seen that 70 i)er cent of the average daily attend- ance was found iu forty-seven of the districts, each of which had an at- tendance of more than thirty i)Ui)ils. Twenty-seven other districts account for 19 per cent more of the attendance, leaving only 11 per cent of the aver- age daily attendance in districts having an attendance of less than twenty pui)ils during this period. While it is frankly admitted that, some of these districts have several different one-teacher schools scattered over a hirge district, yet the figures from these two counties, and all the others as well, prove conclusively that the great majority of school children in Colorado's rural schools live iu districts and attend schools where there is a sutticient number of children to make very efficient schools. So, if the schools in these districts are poor, it is for other reascnis than scarcity of pupils. In a few cases, the average daily attendance iu the district for a year was reported as less than one pupil. One teacher reported an average daily attendance of eight-tenths, while another, probably more advanced in arithmetic, reported an average daily attendance of sixty-seven eightieths of one pupil. Mathe- matical accuracy is revolting in a case like this, but it is somewhat consoling to state that only thirteen parts of this child were unaccounted for thr(nigh irregular attendance. Other similar cases could be cited, but twenty-five children are not affected by all such cases. They are mentioned only to call attention to the utter absurdity of such districtsi being independent units in a school system of a great state in the twentieth century. Since -the census, enrollment, and average daily attendance wiir receive further consideration in succeeding topics, let us now pass to the sul).iect of wghth grade graduates. COLORADO in'h'M. I \ /> V I LLMl I] KC IIOOLS 25 TABLE VII. Districts ai-rang-ed aceordins' to largest number in Average Daily Attendance. An Kight-Year Average. Over 30. Between 20 andSO. Between 10 and 20. Less than 10. Dis- trict Av.daily (Attend- ance |.\v. daily Dis- lAttend- trict 1 ance [Av.daily Dis- lAttend- trict 1 ance [Av.daily Dis- [Attend- trict I ance 34 162 19 1 29 21 1 19 10 [ 9 S 146 26 1 29 107 [ 19 75 1 9 15 lis 62 1 29 30 t IS 38 1 8 16 118 39 I 28 3 1 17 43 1 8 65 95 78 I 28 31 [ 17 109 1 S 5 91 90 1 28 79 17 57 [ 6 76 82 91 [ 28 88 1 17 96 [ 6 106 SI 101 [ 28 2 j 16 105 [ 5 4S 72 22 j 27 69 16 41 1 4 52 65 51 1 27 77 16 94 1 4 92 65 55 1 27 81 1 16 63 1 3 OS 61 S3 i 27 25 j 15 42 1 2 29 60 17 26 44 1 15 12 1 72 40 56 47 1 2<; 68 1 15 1 —2-% 20 55 85 1 26 99 1 15 ' 33 54 61 1 25 12 1 14 67 52 13 1 24 45 j 14 58 49 14 1 24 54 1 14 87 49 24 1 23 72 1 14 64 48 1 1 22 102 1 14 18 46 35 1 22 82 1 11 27 46 103 i 22 21 i 329 50 46 9 1 21 I =9',r 97 44 74 1 21 56 43 100 1 21 7 41 104 1 21 60 41 66 1 20 11 40 27 1 679 1 =199'f^ 89 40 93 38 110 38 108 37 36 36 59 1 35 23 34 47 of the districts each had more than .30 pupils. This was 70 per cent of the daily attencance. 70 34 84 34 53 33 2i districts each had between 20 and 30 pupils. 46 73" 32 32 These account for 19 per cent more of the attend- ance. SO 32 '11 districts each had between 10 and 20 pupils. These account for 9 per cent of the attendance. 86 1 31 95 1 31 12 districts each had less than 10 pupils. 28 1 30 These account for but 2 per cent of the attendance. 32 1 30 49 1 30 71 1 30 47 I 2>.63~ =70'rc. 26 COLORADO AUR.IVU LT U RAL COLLEGE EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATES All Colorado rural schools are coudutted on what is called, aud supposed to be, a graded system. That is, the course is divided iuto grades of which the elementary course consists ot eight. Jiiach represents the amount of work mat each child should complete iu a school year, but in actual practice no allowance is made anywhere in the system for districts having terms of different lengths. Young and inexperienced teachers, with a six months' term and without any supervision are expected to advance all pui>ils a grade each year, just the same as city schools with well-trained and experienced teachers, under expert supervision and with nine or nine and one-half months of school. They not only attempt to do it, but they actually do it, at least as far as passing them to the next higher grade is concerned. It may be taken for granted that such a course would be designed for the average child, so that the great majority of school children could pass from grade to gi'ade each year, and entering school at tne age of six, as most of them do, they would pass through the eight grades in eight years and graduate from the elementary course at the age of fourteen. Now, since the school course is arranged on the eight-year eight-grade basis, one of the best tests of the efficiency of the system is the regularity and uniformity with which the pupils pass from grade to grade, and the thoroughness with which the work is done. It may be unscientific, but in actual practiec we measure education by grades, the standards for which are almost wholly determined by the teacher, or teachers in each district. It cannot well be otherwise, for there is practically no supervision of the rural schools of Colorado. Passing from the first seven grades is not a matter of official record in this state, at least it is not usually recorded beyond the teacher's record, and but occasionally there, but graduation from the eighth grade is a matter of official record, and the record on this item has been well kept throughout the counties of the state. P^ighth grade graduation signities the completion of the elementary course, and this diploma admits the bearer to any high school in the county, without examination. AVhile it is freely admitted that the requirements for graduation differ quite widely between the different districts within the same county, still it is true that one of the very best tests we have of the efficiency of these schools is the number of children who graduate from the eighth grade. It does fairly represent the best that the system has been able to do for the children during their first eight years in school. Because of the fact that no record is kept of those passing the first seven grades, it is impossible to determine what per cent of the enrollment is enrolled in the eighth grade at any time, but this is not altogether necessary for the present purpose, for we have a right to assume that approximately one-eighth of the enrollment should be in the eighth grade each year, and if they are not, it is perfectly proper to inquire why they are not there. It seems best in considering this topic to first show conditions in some of the counties, and place the table giving the eighth-grade graduates for all the counties last. There seems to be no better way of treating this subject than by giving a number of graphs, or charts, which show the per cent of COLORADO RURAL A^'D VILLAGE SCIWOL^S 27 graduates from each district or each, county iu the eight years. It is uufor- tuuate that lack of space prevents giving a complete record of these 1725 school districts, but since this cannot be done, it becomes necessary to select certain districts and counties from which average conditions throughout the state may be illustrated. Since this survey was begun in Mesa county, some three or four years ago, that county will be considered first, not because its schools show a higher degree of efficiency than the others, as evidenced by the per cent of the enrollment that completed the eighth grade, for they do not, but because it may be taken as fairly representative of a dozen or more counties that are supposed to have the liest rural schools in the state. The survey in tliis county extends from 1905 to 1912, inclusive, instead of 190G-1913, as is the case with the others. Fig. 1 shows the total eighth grade graduates in each district in Mesa county. The first number at the end of each district bar represents the total number of graduates, while the second number shows that part of the annual average enrollment that did not graduate; the two combined equal the average enrollment for each district. There are few, if any, counties in Colorado where all conditions are more favorable for the most efficient rural schools than they are iu this county, for 75 per cent of the children live in districts that maintain schools with two or more teachers, and there are eight four-year high schools well scattered over the county. This puts a high school reasonably close to a large part of the school children of the county, and would have a certain effect in encouraging eighth grade grad- uation. But notwithstanding this fact and all the other favorable conditions found in the county, less than one pupil out of three of the average enroll- ment graduated from the eighth grade in eight consecutive years. Only 31 per cent of the average enrollment completed the course, and while 687 graduated. 1495. o'- 69 per cent of those eligible to do so, did not. 2S COLOUADO .\(ll{l(n'r/rVR.\L COIjLEGE FIG. I. T«tal Riulilli (iriMie dlriuluateK t«r E:iKlit ^ t'jii-s in Kueli Tliird Class Sclutol nistrift. :»!eya County. 1 !)0."»- I'.M -. Ini'liisi\ «'. FMst. Xo. f!5. <»l(t(IOO(HHMt(l(HM»OOI» 10. «[(r(MHH»OOIME(MIOO(IOO(KMMM!«M)00<>ll(t)S(t(IO<>00(t0000000 .'iS — 7<9 (!, 000(>00(M«H!0)MMMt 15. («l()(K)0(l0 4\ — (is 9. (to(((»(tiMMMi(5(m(uiooooono(U((>ooooooo ai — 7i 13. (((«((MM«l(»00«0001t« :E(I — (!<'> 3 9. (IOOO00(MMM»((00<«M)(> :S(t — r (!:$ 5. <)0(>()(HIO(KI)IOOI!4t(MM)000(Mllt(MIO V« — «S 3 G. (MKMMXKtOOItOOCtKKMlOO (KMHKKMt -Hi .':{ 7. OOOdOIKMMKKKHMMMIOOOOOOUO 24 4:{ 3. (MMMKXKDKMXKXMKIOOnOOOO 2U .'0 11. 0(M)(l(l(! 18 — 51 27. (KKMMHMKMMMMMMHIOOO IS — CO 29. 0(l<)0000 23. OIMMKKUKIOIUMKIO 14 — 125 24. Of(0(((10 33. ((000000000 10 — 44 12. 0000(M!000 ft — S2 21. (EOOOOOOOO !( — 1!» 25. 00000000 S— 47 16. 0000(M)(t 7 — -J(i 2 2. 000000 (• — 25 17. 0(KtOO ' — :!0 14. 0000 4—24 2 6. 0000 J — i:i 37. 000 :? — 1(t 15. z— 22 Scale: as repre.sents no graduates. represents one graduate. The first number at end of each line represents total Sth grade graduates. The second numher those tliat did not graduate. The two combined make up the average enrollment of each district. 2.532. Average school census of the districts given above. 21,82. Average enrollment. 1035. Average daily attendance. (587. Total eiglith grade gradiiates. 31 per cent of the enrollment. 1S45. Represents the number that did not graduate who should have been eligible to do so. Fig. II. exhil)its the i-ame facts for Huerfano eoiint.v. ;Mesa is a very pi'ogressive agricultural county, a noted fruit section where the farm unit is small, and densely populated in many localities, while Huerfano is known for the wealth and productiveness of its coal mines and of certain minerals. From Fig. II. it appears that there are forty third class districts, twenty-two of these had no graduates in eight years, nltliough they had an average enrolhnent of lOSS each year of the eight. This was one-third of the enroll- v()ij)ir[h(t /:URAJj a\d ] illage ^schools 21) meat of the forty districts. Twenty-two of the districts liad 110 iiraduates. and seven more had but one in ei'^ht years. These acconul for approximately three-fourtlis of tlie forty districts, and the twenty-nine make a miserable showing on tliis item. The lirst four districts in the (hart with but 37 per cent of the enroll- ment still had TO per cent of the irradnates of the forty districts. FIG. II. Total Ki^lifh <;ri«io (;railu!i1e!s. Kt^lit ^ oars, l!»(m-lJH:i. Hijcrl'aiio C'lfuutj. Dist. No. !). 000000000000000000000000000(»»OOOOOOOOOflOO«000000000(tOOO«00000 :i — -.i: 20. 0<» 2 — 4y 21. 00 2—13 11. 1 —45 1 2. 1 — r». •I. — 2 2 4. ■/, — 13 2."). ■/. — .2S 29. V, —42 31. V. — 3(5 34. ■/. — 32 3fi. ■I. — 31 3 7. ■f. :{7 3il. ■t. :;:» 4it. ■f. — 4,S 41. K —40 Scale: , z repre.sents no graduates. represents one graduate. The first number at the end ol' eadi f 180 1912 142 1 89 1 47 2 1 180 1913 157 1 91 1 65 2 1 180 Total 1,190 1 661 1 290 13 1 1,480 Average .... 149 1 83 1 26 ** 1 185 56 per cent of the census enrolled. 31 per cent of the enrollment were in average daily attendance. Not one of tlio^'e eiu-olled sradnated from the eislith grade. An average of sixt.v-six children of school age did not enroll each of the eight years. This was enough to require the services of two teachers. INIore than two-thirds of those who did enroll were out of school on an average all of the time. Of the twenty-six who were in average daily attendance, not one linishtd the eighth grade. Year Salaries Assessed Valuation District Special! No. of Tax 1 Build- Mills 1 ings 1 1 Value 1 Sites and 1 IBuildings ( Total Cost of School Male 1 1 Fe- male 1906 $ 60 $ 163,997 1 1 1 1 $ 1,540 1 $ 707 1907 60 163,997 1 5 1 1 1,550 1 1,990 1908 55 1 196,435 1 1 1 1,855 1 1,449 1909 62 191,436 1 ** 1 2 2,375 1 1,341 1910 70 1.57,664 ! 2 1 2 2,375 ! 1,193 1911 62 203,715 I 2 5 1 2 2,375 1 1,263 1912 63 1 217,009 1 2 5 1 2 5,1 20 1 1,248 1913 67 214,397 ! 4 1 2 1,070 I 1,292 Total .... 499 *] ,508,6.50 ! 19 i 13 $18,260 1 $10,483 Av eragre . . 62 188,581 1 2 38 1 2 2.283 ! 1,310 $15 represents the investment in sites and buildings per census pupil. $23,440 Amount that could liave l)een raised by special tax. $ 3,583 Amount that was raised by special tax. $19,857 Unused resources for maintenance. 40 COLORADO AauICULTURAL COLLEGE $ 6,600 Amount that could have been raised for sites and biiildings. $ 1,070 Present value of sites and buildings. $ 5,530 Unused resources for building. This district speut $10,483 and no pupil finished the eighth grade. The people in this district did not use one-eighth of the funds that they might have raised for running their school. EDUCATIONAL, SURVEY OF THE SCHOOLS OF LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, COLORADO. SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 23. YEAR Census Enroll- ment [Av.daily 1 Attend- 1 ance 8th Grade Grad'tes Teachers Term Days Male Female 1906 61 43 1 23 1 100 1907 58 48 1 18 1 140 1908 102 50 1 23 1 114 1909 117 43 1 18 1 90 1910 120 51 1 31 1 120 1911 185 43 1 23 1 160 1912 65 48 1 30 1 160 1913 61 49 1 23 1 160 Total 769 375 ! 189 3 5 1,044 Average 96 47 1 24 131 49% of the census enrolled. 50% of the enrollment were in average daily attendance. Not one of those enrolled graduated from the eighth grade. There were enough children in this district each of the eight years to Justify the employment of three teachers, yet only one was employed. Year Sala Male ries Fe- male Assessed Valuation District Special Tax Mills No. of Build- ings 1 Value 1 1 Sites and | iBuildings | Total Cost of School 1906 $ 50 $ 20,02O 3 1 $ 418 1 $ 369 1907 $ 50 20,020 4 i 417 1 440 1908 50 26,280 4 1 1,034 ] 376 1909 45 26,010 4 1 1»037 1 301 1910 65 29,189 5 1 350 ! 505 1911 65 31,792 4 1 325 i 689 1912 65 45,765 2 1 575 . ! 603 1913 65 36,696 7 1 325 ! 610 Total $165 $290 $ 235,772 33 8 1 $4,481 : $3,893 Average 55 58 29,471 4.12 1 1 560 1 487 $6 represents the investment in sites and buildings per census pupil. $3,819 Amount that could have been raised by special tax. $ 972 Amount that was raised by special tax. $2,847 Unused resources for maintenance. $1,032 Amount that could have been raised for sites and buildings. $ 325 Present value of sites and buildings. $ 707 Unused resources for building. This district used but one-fourth of its available resources for main- tenance, and the investment in sites and buildings was but .$6 per census pupil. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 41 EUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE SCHOOLS OF HUERFANO COUNTY, COLORADO. SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 8. YEAR. i Census Enroll- ment Av.dallv Attend- ance 8th Grade Grad'tes Teac hers Term Days Male Female 1906 ... 1 165 46 23 140 1J)07 ... 1 162 47 25 140 1!>08 1 166 51 34 120 1909 ... 1 173 55 25 140 1910 184 63 40 140 1911 ... 1 184 60 24 130 1912 . . 1 1 81 67 32 J— 140 1913 ... 1 182 67 30 116 Total ...| 1,397 456 233 8 1,066 ... 1 174 57 29 1 133 33% of the census enrolled. 51% of the enrollment were in average daily attendance. Not one of those enrolled graduated from the eighth grade. 1-3 of those of school age enrolled. % of enrolfment were present each day. 1 out of 6 of those of school age were in school each day. One hundred seventeen children of school age did not enroll at all each of the eight years. Salaries As Va D sessed nation istrict Special Tax Mills No. of Build- ings Value 1 Sites and | Buildings | I Total Cost of School Year 1 Pe- Male 1 male 1 1906 1 $ 65 .$ 17.365 1 1 $ 1,530 1 $ 572 1907 1 65 17,204 2 1 1,530 j 509 1908 ] 60 12,698 o 1 1,530 I 403 1909 1 70 13.936 2 1,530 [ 507 1910 1 70 1 2 1 1,530 1 548 1911 1 65 22,702 2 1,525 i 400 1912 1 75 21,636 2 1 1,525 1 626 1913 1 75 .'57,134 1 1,230 1 528 Total 1 *470 it; 162,675 13 8 $ 11,930 ! $ 4,093 Average 1 67 20,3.34 2 1 1,491 1 512 $8 represents the investment in sites and buildings per census pupil. $2,635 Amount that could have been raised by special tax. $ 264 Amount that was raised by special tax. $2,371 Unused resources for maintenance. $ 711 Amount that could have been raised for sites and buildings. $1,230 Present value of sites and buildings. $ 519 Excess of present value over bonding ability during tliese eiglit years. This district had hut $N invested in sites and buildings per census pupil, and might have raised eight times as much money as they did for tlie main- tenance of their school. 42 VOLOli. 1 />(> . I GRI CULTURAL COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OP THE SCHOOLS OF HUERFANO COUNTY, COLO. SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 33. YEAR. Census Enroll- ment Av.dailv Attend- ance 8th Grade Grad'tes Teac Male hers Female Term Days 190« 160 99 46 1 180 1S>07 200 96 62 2 180 1908 148 90 60 2 180 1909 213 148 64 2 180 1910 200 124 40 1 •> 180 1911 160 147 96 2 140 1912 152 124 80 1 180 1913 141 126 65 1 1 172 Total 1,374 954 513 1 3 11 1,392 171 119 64 174 70% of the census enrolled. 54% of the enrollment were in average daily attendance. 1 graduated out of an average enrollment of 119. Year Salaries Assessed Valuation District Special Tax Mills No. of Build- ings Value 1 Sites and | Buildings Total Cost of School Male Fe- male 1906 $ 70 $ $ 121,699 7 $ 975 1 $ 1,136 1907 60 122,022 5 915 1 1,597 1908 60 105,884 8 905 1 1,135 1909 60 99,039 12 1,075 1 1,159 1910 62 15 1,020 1 1,591 1911 62 72,173 15 1,550 1 1,621 1912 85 70,793 14 920 1 2 622 1913 85 60 160.134 1,275 1 1,405 Total 240 364 751.744 76 8 8.635 1 12,266 Av erage 80 60 107.392 11 1 1,079 1 1,533 ^2,266 Average cost to graduate a pupil from the eighth grade. f6 represents the investment in sites and buildings per census pu fl3,918 Amount that could have been raised by special tax. i 7,947 Amount that was raised by special tax. pil. $ 5,971 Unused resources for maintenance. $ 3,758 Amount that could have been raised for sites and buildings. $ 1,275 Present value of sites and buildings. $ 2,483 Unused resources for building. EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE SCHOOLS OF YUMA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 2. COLORADO. YEAR. Census Enroll- ment Av.dailyl Attend- 8th Grade ance Grad'tes Teachers Term Days Male Female 1906 240 235 57 11 1 6 180 1907 244 204 188 25 1 6 180 1908 271 120 22 5 180 1909 299 234 200 23 5 180 1910 162 264 192 5 100 1911 255 256 19 7 180 1912 283 273 168 26 7 180 1913 358 290 240 11 10 166 Total 2,112 1,756 1.358 137 2 51 1,346 Average 264 1 250 169 6 168 COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 95% of the census enrolled. 68% of the enrollment were in average daily attendance. 55% of the enrollment graduated from the eighth grade. This district is in one of tlie counties that made a very poor showing on most all items, yet it is one of the most eHicient third class districts in all respects that can be found in the state — as shown by the records. I Salaries | | | . | | I 1 Assessed |Speeial|No. of | Value | Total I I Fe- I Vahiation | Tax | Build- | Sites and | Cost of Year | Male | m ;ili' l>isti-ir t | Mills | ing-s [Buildings | School 1906 1 $ 85 I $ .%(> .n :;o!»..i WELD 0.7 PROM^ERS 9.05 TELLER 9.5 ^^ASHINGTON 9.4S CTTSTER 9.21 MORGAN 9.19 CONE.IOS 9.19 OTLPIN 9.1 KIOWA 9.1 LOGAN 8.75 KIT CARSON S.7 County. Mills. Between 8 and 10 Mill.«. — Continued. OURAY 8.6 LA PLATA 8.5 OTERO 8.13 Between 5 and 8 Mills. CHAFFEE 7.94 EAGLE 7.94 PHILLIPS 7.8(5 ELBERT 7.81 BOULDER 7.73 HUERFANO 7.fi5 EL PASO 7.65 MOFFAT 7.6 BENT 7.6 MINERAL 7..5S ARAPAHOE 7..51 GUNNISON 7.4 RIO GRANDE 7.4 PUEBLO 7.44 COSTILLA 7.43 LARIMER 7.1 .lEFFERSON « S ROUTT (;.35 LAS ANIMAS «;.14 ADAMS «.0(i ARCHULETA 5.85 COLORADO RURAL AAW VILLAGE SCHOOLS 47 TABLE X. — Continued. County. Mills. County. Mills. Between 5 and 8 Mills (continued). Less than 5 Mills. — Continued. SAN MIGUEL 5.57 JACKSON 4.4 RIO BLANCO r>.r,r, grand -i 7 SAGUACHE 5.45 LAKE . . . .'.■.'.'.'.■.■.■. '.'.'.'.['.'.'.."." 3.56 BACA 5.2 *CHEYENNE PARK 5. *PITKIN Less Than .'> Mil AVERAGE S.08 SUMMIT 4.'Mi *This item was not secured DOUGLAS 4.44 these counties. The third class districts in no county in Colorado dtiring these ei^ht years made use of more than no per cent of their resources allowed by the special district tax, taking all these districts in each county as a whole, while only tive of the sixty counties levied 1 per cent or more, and this amount was assessed on a one-third valuation and would amount to only about three or four mills on tlie dollar of a full valuation. It is dithcult to figure how such a tax could be oppressive on the average taxpayer, es- peccially if this tax were uniform throughout an entire county, which it is not. But taldng these five counties where the average was the Ligliest, it amounts to less than five mills on a fair valuation. This is ONE-HALF OF ONE PER CENT raised within the district for the education of the children, and in most cases it provides the text-boolvs free to the children. The average for the sixty counties and 1725 districts was only 8.08 mills, which means tliat the rural and village schools of Coloradoi used but 50 per cent of their available resources during these eight years. Of course, many of the most etlicient schools levied near the legal limit for tlie whole period and some would have willingly levied more, if they could have done so, but the great majority of the districts did not do it. The county having the highest average levied a special tax of 13.21 mills, while the one having the lowest was ,3.56, which means that one county paid 300 per cent more than the other, and presumably for the same thing. While there i.s such a wide variation between the counties, still the difference between the different districts within the same county is often much greater. Sometimes the farmers in one locality will pay tive times as high a rate of school tax as a neighboring connnunitj- under almost exactly the same conditions, often due to the mere accidents of fortune over which the people themselves had no control, as in the case of a large railroad mileage in one district, and none, or little, in the other, and many times the low school taxes are not due to as just causes as the cases above cited. It is often due to the active opposition of certain taxpayers who either do not appreciate the A'alue of education, or for various other reasons, do not want to pay a school tax. It will rerofessional training, are immature and lacking both in teaching and life experience, all of which most of them will get in due time, but they get these things by experimenting on country children, and as these records show, a very large per cent of the patients do not survive the shock of the operation. This is something that is not tolerated under any circumstances in graded schools, but is practiced with impunity in the country. It is not sufficient to say that most of the teachers in the country schools have a fair education, and that under the circumstances they do fairly well. They should be equally as well trained for their work and the standards for country teachers should be just as high as is required of other teachers doing the same grade of work. There are just/ as good arguments for a single standard for teachers as for morals, and the country teacher should be just as well prepared for work in the rural schools as city teachers are for city schools. Probably the weakest point in the district system is the manner of selecting teachers, for since the teacher is the most important factor in the school, a mistake in selecting a teacher is fatal to the school, and means not only a poor year's work, but often the loss of a year for all, or most all of the pujiils. This is usually loss that cannot be repaired, for there is no disappointment so discouraging and disheartening for school children as repeated failure to pass their grade. This one thing probably accounts for more children quitting school than any other, and it is most often caused by poorly trained, inexperienced, and unsuccessful teachers. Let it be said in passing that COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 53 many school boards in these districts seem to be satisfied and content to employ teachers for the schools which their children attend, who (ould secure positions in no other schools. In computing the total number of teachers, the total number who were employed at one time during the year, and not the number of different teachers employed, was taken. For example, if a one-teacher school em- ployed three different teachers during the school year, liut one teacher was counted, the object being to determine the number of teachers necessary to opei'ate the schools. The total number of teachers employed in all these districts was 19,563, of whom 3,208, or sixteen per cent were men and 16,355, or eighty-four per cent, were women. Lake county employed ninety-eight teachers in the rural schools in the eight years, all of whom were women, and no child in these schools came under the influence of a man teacher during this time, while in Das Animas county almost 35 per cent of the teachers were men, which was the largest per cent for the larger counties. Jefferson county employed 509 teachers, only 6 per cent of whom were men, while Adams county em- ployed 438, only 5 per cent of whom were men. Table XI. shows the num- ber of men teachers, their distriltution over the eight years and throughout the thirty-five districts in Adams county, while Table XII. shows the same for the women teachers. Some of these districts employed from twentyfive to forty-six teachers in the time covered by the survey, and not a man was employed. Twenty-seven of the thirty-five districts employed no men teachers in the whole eight years. This was true of the majority of the 1,725 dis- tricts, and in most of the counties the per cent was very low. Where men teachers were employed, it was usually as principals in the small towns and the larger country schools, and it is quite evident from the figures given, that education has nearly ceased to be a man's job, at least in the country schools. This is said as a statement of fact, and not as a criticism upon women teach- ers. ]\Iany things combine to make this so. Among these may be mentioned low salary, employment for only a part of the year, the fact that teaching a country school usually leads nowhere for a man, while it is a stepping- stone to a graded school for women, and a chief reason is that the district system makes no provision for a resident teacher. So most all conditions combine to favor the employment of women, instead of men teachers. This i.s a picture of ji iiio«lel of the first school hoiLso ever built iu Colorado. It ^vas Imilt ill Boulder ooiiiity in tSOO. 54 COLORADO, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE TABLE XI. ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO. 1 1906 1 1907 1 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | Total Dist. No. 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 Dist. No. 2... 1 1 j ' ' - 1 ^ Dist. No. 6 . . 1 1 1 - ' 1 1 1 1 Dist. No. 9 1 1 ^1 1 1 1 1 Dist. No. 10 1 1 1 1 1 ' ' Dist. No. 29 1 1 -j 1 '^ 1 ^ JJISC. i\0. 3U 1 1 1 1 '' 1 1 — i 1 1 Dist. No. 31 1 1 -j 1 j [ — = j J ^ j ^ Dist. No. 32 1 1 "1 j r, \ '- ' Dist. No. 33 1 1 1 j -. 1 ■ 1 2 Dist. No. 34 1 1 -| j ! ' 1 Dist. No. 37 1 1 1 j ! ' 1 Dist. No. 38 1 1 1 i ' 1 Dist. No. 52 1 1 1 1 : j ' 1 Dist. No. 53 1 1 — j 1 ' ' 1 Dist. No. 61.. 1 1 1 1 1 L ' 1 Dist. No. 62. ... 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! ' Dist. No. 71 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 ! Dist. No. 95 1 1 1 1 1 1 j \ 1 Total 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 Q — 1 7. \ 5 ii Out of these thirty-flve districts, only eig-ht emDloved men teachers at any employed one-half the me COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 55 TABLE XII. ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO. Women Teachers, Their Number and Distribution Over the Eight Years and Throughout the Different Third Class School Districts. 1 1906 1 1907 1 190S | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 1 Total Dist. No. 1 1 *3 1 4 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 | 5 | 5 | 37 Dist. No. 2 1 1 1| 11 11 11 1| 11 11 ^ Dist. No. 3 1 11 11 11 11 1 1 *1 1 *1 1 11 8 Distr^^o:"4 1- — 1 1 11 1 1 *i 1 *i 1 *i 1 11 «._ Dist. No. 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 ^ 1 '■^ 1 S Dist. No. 6 1 1 — 1 1— 1 1 11 * 1 ^1 "* Dist. No. 8 1 11 1 1 11 11 11 11 11 11 ^ r..- Kn 9 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 18 _ Dist. No. 10 1 1 1 11 11 11 11 11 1,1. ^ ' * Dist. No. 11.......I 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 * Di^T-TSTrT-R \ 2 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 ^a DlitTNo. 16....T7:r"4 1 5 1 5 1 6 1 6 1 6 1 6 1 8 1 46 Dist. No. 20 1 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 ^1 * ni«t Nn. 2.S 1 11 11 1. 1 1 1 *1 1 11 11 i 1 » ni«t. No. 24 1 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 ** Dist. No.- 26 1 11 11 11 11 11 2 1 2 1 2 11 rM^trN^r28:n:T7T"*2 1*21*21*21*^1 31 3 _*2 is Di^trNor29:TT^_^^^__j_i_^_i_j^^_jLJ ?J ?U ^ 2 15 Diir^^^r3^^ZninZOZ^LZinz^2_Lj:2j_*2^^ Dist. No. 33 1 1— 1 1 1 \ n -— dFTTnTT-Iu— T-..I 11 11 11 11 11 1^ 11 ^ ^ Dist. No. 37 1 1 1 11 11 1 1 1 ' 1 Di«t. No. 38 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 | Z \ ^ \ - 1 xo T^^;r^7r"52:T.....I 11 11 11 11 11 11 1.1 ^' "" Pist M. Ra i 11 11 1 1 1-1 1 1 11 '- \ 1 „ T^^^^^f^Kn;^7r. . . . .\ 21 ii 11 11 11 -^i y \ ii » f^T^r^TwnTTTr:..! 11 11 11 11 11 11 1 1 — ^^^ ^ T^T^t-N7ni27nT7:i 11 11 11 lU in 11 — in — ^_i — ^ T^^^t-Nrr^TTT7:T:7r 11 11 11 11 11 ii ^ ^ — ^n — ^ DTSTN^nrnr;..! 1 ii__i__i_nn_nj_J lj -^ .-^n — ^ ■nist. No. 95 1 1| 11 1| 1' ' = — 1 T' — ^ifti. J , 2 2 216 ruc-t N" 97 al J| ■i \ -1 -1 ■"! ^ T.i«t No. 98 1 2 1 2 1 2 i 2 1 2 1 Z | ^ | ^ | lO ^^^^^-Ap^.tij r42 1 44 1 46 1 51 1 49 1 56 1 63^_66 | 438 No school. There is sreat variation in the salaries i.aid in the different districts and the different connties. The lowest salary tonnd in any one-teacher school for a single year was $20 per nu.nth, while the highest in the same kind of school was $133 per month. Archnleta county paid women teachers a hi-her average salary than men teachers. Adams county paid hoth the same" while all others paid a higher average salary for men than women teachers The difference in salary can probably all be accounted for be- cause manv of the men teachers were principals of schools having two or more teachers, and larger salaries are usually paid for such positions The highest average salary for any county was $sl per month, while the 56 COLORADO AORLri'LTlRAL COLLEGE lowest was Jf;;J9 per month. The number of men and women teachers in each county, and the average salary for each, and tV-r both, are given in Table XIII. The counties are divided into eight groups, according to the average salary of each. One cminty paid an average of .$N1 per month; sLx paid between $70 and .$80; twenty paid between .$60 and .$70; twenty-three paid between $50 and $60; nine paid between $40 and $50, while one paid less than $40 per month for the eight years. Our present minimum term and salary law requires not less than 120 days of school, at a salarv of not less than $50 per month in each district. This law was not in force during these eight years. In ten counties the eight-year county average was less than now required by law. Of course, there were districts in other counties that fell below one or the other of these limits in the eight years, but not many below both the 120 days of school and $50 per month. Only one^seventh of the children of the state lived in counties where the eight-year average salary was less than $50 per month while if the average were taken for the year 1913 only, instead of for eight years, the number of children and districts affected would be much less. It is perfectly clear from the records that while a large number of teachers received low salaries, and that a large number of children lived in such districts, still it is equally clear that the great majority of the children lived in those districts where both the length of term and salary were com- paratively good. This was true to such a great extent that one is led to wonder why better results were not secured for the time and money spent. The best answer seems to be that the system does not give results in pro- portion to the time and money spent. Most states would think most of these salaries enormously high in comparison with their salaries in such schools, and it must be admitted that very many country schools pay as high salaries as city schools for the same grade of work, and yet the results are not satisfactory in these schools: while for the sixty counties, but 22 per cent conqileted the coui-se in eight years. COUNTY GILPIN HINSDALE LAKE *CROWLEY MINERAL SUMMIT .. GUNNISON TABLE XIIL TEACHERS AND SALARIES An Eight-Year Average. TEACHERS Male I Female I Total 32 170 I 202 SALARIES Male 1 Female | Average *107 j $55 \ $ 81.00 55 64 $101 98 98 «44 I $ 78.00 6 19 13 47 19 66 $90 $83 _$78_ $eF 26 109 $J78.00 $ 75750" $ 75.50 135 26 $90 I $60 286 312 $ 75.00 $58 $71.50 COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 57 TABLK XIII. — Continued. COUNTY TEACHERS Male 1 Female | Total l' S Male ALARIE Female S Average CLEAR CREEK . . . .[ 14 1 149 163 II $80 $59 1 $ 69.50 OURAY ..I 21 1 107 128 II $76 $62 1 $ 69.00 EAGLE .| 28 1 231 1 259 II $75 $61 1 $ 68.00 *JACKSON ..1 9 1 43 52 II $75 $56 $ 65.50 SAN MIGUEL . .1 11 1 125 136 II $66 $65 $ 65.50 $ 65.00 LA PLATA ..[ 84 1 303 387 II $68 $62 PITKIN .1 IS 1 143 161 II $69 $61 $ 65.00 $ 64.50 OTERO ..1 75 1 298 373 II $72 $57 DOLORES GARFIELD . .1 10 .| 66 1 25 1 363 ~ ] 35 429 'if $74 $70 $54 $57 $ 64.00 g $ 63.50 t $ 63.50 § $ 63.50 * MONTEZUMA ..| 56 1 151 207 $68 $59 PUEBLO . .| 58 1 441 499 II $72 $55 WELD . . 1 246 1 1>214 1,460 II $68 $57 $ 62.50 FREMONT . .1 51 1 279 330 II $68 $74 $ 61.00 ADAMS . .1 21 1 417 438 II $60 $60 $ 60.00 CHAFFEE .1 19 1 209 228 II $63 $57 $ 60.00 DELTA •1 72 1 277 349 II $62 $58 $ 60.00 MESA .. 1 160 i 506 666 II $63 $57 $ (iO.OO RIO BLANCO . . 1 23 1 145 168 11 $66 $54 $ 60 OO 1 JEFFERSON . 1 30 1 479 509 II $70 $48 $ 59.50 BENT . .| 20 1 168 188 II $66 $52 $ 59.00 ARAPAHOE ..| 22 1 292 314 II $65 $52 $ 58.00 BOULDER . .| 62 1 541 603 II $63 $53 $ 58.00 LAS ANIMAS ..| 269 1 506 775 II $60 $56 $ 58.00 PARK .1 31 1 168 199 II $64 $52 $ 58.00 ARCHULETA ..| 12 i 92 104 II $56 $59 $ 57.50 HUERFANO . .| 98 1 354 452 II $62 $53 $ 57.50 TELLER ..1 26 1 121 147 II $59 $56 $ 57.50 SAGUACHE . .| 57 1 217 274 n $61 $53 $57.00 MONTROSE . .| 49 1 252 301 11 $60 $54 $ 57.00 « DOUGLAS ..| 34 1 289 323 11 $63 $49 $ 56.00 ^ ♦MOFFAT ..] 21 1 41 62 II $58 $54 $ 56.00 '^ PROWEPvS ..1 75 1 377 452 II $75 $51 $ 56.00 EL PASO . .| 88 1 616 704 II $57 $53 $ 55.00 MORGAN . .1 30 1 165 195 II $57 $53 $ 55.00 RIO GRANDE ..| 27 1 168 195 II $60 $50 $ 55.00 ROUTT ..| 65 1 344 409 II $59 $51 $ 55.00 KIOWA . .1 48 1 183 231 II $57 $50 $53.50 COSTILLA . . 1 101 1 176 277 11 $55 $51 $ 53.00 CONEJOS ..[ 81 1 208 289 11 $54 $51 $ 52.50 LARIMER .1 121 1 579 700 li $55 $47 $ 51.00 GRAND .1 13 1 115 128 II $57 $44 $ 50.50 ELBERT . .| 59 1 517 1 576 ij $56 $44 $50.00 CUSTER ..1 28 1 158 186 II $54 $45 $ 49.50 CHEYENNE . .1 49 1 228 277 II $50 $47 $ 48.50 LINCOLN ..| 69 1 376 445 II $51 1 $45 $ 48.00 g PHILLIPS ..[ 18 1 260 278 II $52 $44 $ 48.00 ^ LOGAN ..| 54 1 388 442 II $48 $45 $ 46.50 9 BACA . . 1 51 1 93 144 II $47 $40 $ 43.50 YUMA . . 1 109 1 597 706 II $45 $41 $43.00 KIT CARSON . . 1 139 1 493 632 II $43 $41 $ 42.00 SEDGWICK ..| 25 1 230 1 255 il $45 1 $39 $42.00 tWASHINGTON . . . . .| 65 1 357 1 422 II $40 1 $38 1 $ 39.00 TOTAL . J 3.208 1 16,355 19,563 l| $3,795 $3,220 $7,017.00 AVERAGE 1 1 1 Jl $64 $53 $ 58.00 ♦Crowley foi- three year.s. reported for tUnder $40. two years, Jackson for four years and Moffat 58 COLORADO AGRICJJLTVRAL COLLEGE Fig. X. Total Male and Female Teachers in 1725 Third Class Districts for Eight Years 1906-1913 Inclusive. Total No. of Teachers 19,563 SITES AND BUILDINGS The subject of sites and buildiugs is a very important one. It shows what preparation has been made for the education of country children and this permanent investment in the school-plant most always measures the interest of any community in the education of its children. For in the last analysis, sites and buildings do fairly represent the condition of public sen- timent m any district, and are the concrete expression of the ideals of the lieople with regai-d to education. COLOh'ADO RURAL AND VILLAOE SCHOOLS 59 Of cuiirse, the people now living in a given eoniiminity may not lie the same ones who actually planned and erected the school house now in use, for in many cases this was done hy the pioneers who first settled the country. Still, the fact that those now living in such districts permit such buildings to he used, as are found in many places in this state, makes them more guilty in this respect than the pioneers who built to meet entirely different conditions. So connnunities and the people who live in them are judged not only by what they do, but also by what they fail to do, or refrain from doing. It is within the power of any district at any time to improve its school house and grounds, if it so desires, if these are not up to the standard that they shcmld be. The fact that a school house built twenty-five years ago is still in use, unchanged and unimproved, is strong evidence that the people are satisfied with things as they are, and that public sentiment for better things has not been strong enough to bring about improvements. It may be that some people in the district may not be satisfied, but the majority seem to be. and majority rules in schools as in other things. The utter inadequacy of the school plant, as found in most of the school districts here considered, is sufficient to account for much of the failure of these schools. This is very clear to anyone who will visit a large number of these districts in different pai'ts of the state, and it is still more con- vincing to the one who will investigate the records of all these districts on this item. The school houses and grounds not only show the need of the expenditure of more money, but the dilapidated and unkept condition of many of them clearly shows the lack of intelligent care. Color-ado probably has as good school houses as many other states, even better than some, and while there are many school houses that are built of good materials in a substantial manner, and cost considerable money, still when due allowance has been made for all of these, there are few items, on which our schools make a poorer showing than they do on sites and build- ings. Most of the buildings are of the traditional type that has been in use for so many years; and it does not matter what the exterior appearance of the Imildings may be — the inside of all is very much the same. If it is a one-teacher school, it has but one room in which all pupils, of all ages and in all grades must study and recite. Not one of them in a hundred has even a small room for recitation, or a place where some of the classes could either study or recite, and be free from the noise and confusion in the room where all the school work is now done. There is no provision made for a place to do some manual training, sewing, cooking, seed testing, milk test- ing, and other similar lines of work which should be done in all rural schools, and which add so much to their efficiency. If there happens to be two or three rooms in the same building, each room or division of the school is almost as separate and independent of the others as if located on different sites, and without further description, it can be truthfully siaid that most of the school houses in these districts are wholly inadequate to meet the needs and to do the work that should be done in them. As cheaply Iniilt and as poorly arranged as most of the buildings are, as poorly seated, heated, ven- tilated, lighted, and furnished, the school grounds are still less oared for. But little, if any, attention is paid to play or recreation, and not one district in fifty makes any provision for it. 60 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGIA COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE] SCHOOLS 61 A number of districts did uot invest a dollar in sites and buildings during the whole eight years, but were apparently content to rent a room in a private house, or to use one donated for that purpose. All third class districts have been divided into three classes, according to the amount of money each invested in sites and buildings. The first di- vision includes all districts in which the value of sites and buildings was less than $500 on an eight year average. The second division includes all districts in each of which the school property was valued at between $500 and $1,000, while the third includes all districts in which the permanent in- vestment was more than $1,000. There were 4S4 districts in the first group, in each of which the school house and grounds were valued at less than $500, and 10,000 school children lived in these districts. This was 27 per cent of the total number of dis- tricts, laud 12.5 per cent, or one-eighth of the school census of all the dis- tricts. While not one of these districts had buildings and grounds valued at as much as $.500, the average for the entire group was out $284, or not enough to build a good shed. This i-epresents an investment of $14 per census pupil in sites and buildings for these 10,600 country children. There were 501 districts, each of which had between $500 and $1,000 invested in school property, and 16,829 school children lived in these districts. This was 29 per cent of the total number of districts, and 20 per cent of the school census. The average value of sites and buildings in this group was but $693 each, or less than enough to build a good barn. It represents an investment of but $20 per census pupil. By combining these two groups, we have 985 districts, or 56 per cent of the total number in which we find 27,429 children, or 33 1-3 per cent] of the total census. The investment in sites and buildings in these two group.^ was $18 per census pupil. Here we have more than half of the total number of districts, and one-third of the school children living in them, and it can be asserted tMt not one of the districts has made adequate provision for the education of its children. When we remember that most school houses serve three or four generations of school children with but little additional cost for the building, the cheapness of rural education is clearly shown in these districts. There were 740 districts in the group that had an investment of more than $1,000 each. This was 44 per cent of the districts, and 54,745 children lived in these districts. The average investment per census pupil in this group was $38 each, while the average per district was $2,8.52. By carrying the comparison one step farther, we find that for the entire 1,725 third-class districts the investment in sites and buildings was $32 per census pupil. The building resources for all of these districts, as provided by law is shown in Figure XI. which also shows what part of the maximum was used, and the part that was not used. From this, we see that these dis- tricts used but approximately half of their funds which might have been made available for use in building and improving their schools. It was also shown when considering the Special Tax, that they had used but half of the legal limits for maintaining their schools. So, if these schools were in- efficient, it was not because more money could not have been raised both for building and maintenance, had the people wanted to do so, and had they 62 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE COIJth'Mxt h'l ir\L A\n VILLAGE ^VIlOOLti 63 Fig. XI. Assessed Valua.tion of All 3rd Class School Dists. An 8 Year Av. CI906-I9I3) S 149,995,006. Bondino' Ability of these Districts 3.5 '^'^ Total Amount That Mig^ht Have Been Raised S5,24-9, 8 25. Used. Not Used. all voted the limit of three aiifl one-half per cent allowed by law for build- ings, and 16.2 mills for running expenses, the average taxpayer would not have been impoverished because of the school-taxes. No good reason has yet been advanced why country pet>ple should not pay as much for the educa- tion of their children as people who live in cities, but the average for all the first- and second-class districts clearly shows that they pay from two to four times as high a rate of school tax as do third-class districts. This is for the current expenses of their schools, while for sites and buildings for each dollar paid by all the third-class districts, the first- and second-class COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLH 05 districts paid tliree. The value of all school property in the J, 725 third- class districts for the eight-year period was $2,643,905, while the city of Denver alone valued its school property at -$4,704,555, or nearly twice as much, which makes an investment of $90 per census pupil, as compared to $32 in all third-class districts. The city of Greeley alone valued its school property much in excess of the value of the 484 country districts in the tirst group given above, and still these districts had five times as many child- ren as Greeley. The cities of Colorado Springs and Pueblo each valued its school plant at more than twice the amount given for the 501 districts in the second class. The cities of Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley, Boulder, Grand Junction, and Trinidad, had a combined school census of 82,313, as compared to 82,174 in all the third-class districts — lalmost exactly the same number of children, and yet these city school systems valued their school property at $7,000,823, while all the third-class districts combined only amounted to $2,643,905. All this would seem to indicate that our country children are not getting a square deal. While the city children enjoy the best that the ablest talent can pro- vide, and the best that money can buy, our country children must be con- tent with the ragged edges of our public school system, and yet the producing value of the farms and lands within these country districts is many times as great as that of all the towns in the entire state. These 1,725 country districts ARB COLORADO, Avhile all of our cities, with all their population and all their wealth, make but a dot on the map of the state. Of course, if city schools are efficient, it is because their system is efficient. It is because education is in the hands of trained teachers, principals and superintendents, and all these, and other things, are made possible because the city people are taxed to pay for them ; and if these country schools are poor, and the majority of our country children are not even getting an elementary educa- tion, it is because the rural district system does not give good results, and for the further reason that the country people have, not been willing to tax themselves sufficiently high to raise money enough to make the present system as efficient as it might be made with better buildings, better equii> ment, ample grounds for play, and a small school farm in each district, with better trained teachers, better paid superintendents and adequate super- vision — in most of which they are sadlyi lacking now. THE DISTRICT SYSTEM. It has been clearly shown that the people did not invest but half their legal resources for buildings and grounds, land it is reasonable to presume that better buildings, with better equipment and more ample playgrounds oipiipiied with apparatus, with a small school farm, at least in the stronger districts, would have liad a tendency to make school life more interesting and attractive for these boys land girls, with the result that more of them would have continued in school until they finished the course. It has also been made^ equally clear that on the average, these districts raised but half the money that the law allowed them to raise for current expenses, and there is no doubt but if some of the unused resources for maintenance biad been used to lengthen the term, to employ better trained and more expe- rienced teachers, special ttjachers, supervisors, and pay larger salaries to 66 COLOR MU) AC, ni CULTURAL COLLEGE county superintendents, this would liave added much to the etiiciency of the schools, so that for tlie eight-year period, more than twenty-two out of each one hundred enrolled would have graduated from the eighth grade, even under the present system. But after all, it is a question whether more money, either for sites and buildings, or for maintenance, is the thing that is most needed in these schools. It would seem from the facts given that there is something fun- damentally wrong with the district system, and that a complete reorgani- zation is more necessary than the expenditure of more money, uuich as that is needed- As was said in a preceding paragraph, each district is a unit, separate and independent of all others, even in the same county, and there are as many systems in a county as there are different districts- Each may, and actually does, perform all the functions of education in the conduct of its schools without reference to what any other district in the same county may do, and so long as the school board does not violate a few restrictions placed upon it by law, there is no authority outside the boundaries of the district that can dictate how the schools should be conducted. Each dis- trict has its own board of three members, none of whom claim to be educators, yet they are charged with practically all of the important duties in the management of their schools. The trouble is not so much with the school directors, as it is with the system that makes it necessary for them to try to perform duties for which they have had no opportunity to prepare them- selves. The administration and supervision of city schools is lodged in the hands of people who have had special training and years of experience to fit them for tlieir work, while every teacher in the system must have a thor- ougli education with Normal training and successful experience. Yet the system now- in use in the rural schools of this and many other states is arranged on the theory that three persons in each district can, and will, take enough of their own time from their own work to see that their schools are efficient. No matter how ideal this arrangement may lie as a theory, it never has given satisfactory results in practice, and there is no reason to expect it to do so, for if the boards of the average third-class districts should actually perform all the duties required of them to make their schools efficient, they would do it at an expense of time and effort and loss of money to themselves that the rest of their conununity has no right to require of them. The unit is too small, and does not have within its boundaries the things necessary to make a good school, while co-operation betw^een inde- dependent disti*icts, where each is a system by itself, has never yet been a success in this state. Five districts could employ a music teacher, a drawing teacher, one to teach agriculture, manual training, domestic science, or other subjects, and this person could spend a full day or two half-days in each school each week, and add greatly to their efficiency, but this is not done, because co-operation of the kind that is necessary to make good schools is almost an impossibility between independent districts, and what each dis- trict cannot, or does not, provide for itself it goes without. The district system was organized and built up on the theory of giving each community a school of its own, and separateness audi independence are its distinguishing chiaracteristics. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCJIOOL.S 67 One of the greatest co-operative enterprises of moderu times is public education, and its greatest success depejids upon tlie co-operation of every citizen in comparatively large units, a condition wliicli the small districts do not meet. Each stands or falls alone, since most of them do not possess the things necessary to make a good school, and since co-operation between them is practioally impossible. There is every degree of variation between these 1,725 districts. They vary in area from a little more than one section of land to many townships ; in assessable property on which taxes maj' be levied to build and support schools, from $250 to more than $1,000,000. They vary in number of children from an average of one in a district to 340 ; in number of teachers, from one to IS ; in the value of buildings, from nothing to $25,000, while there is but little uniformity in length of term, taxes, or results. Other things being equal, the smaller the number of dis- tricts in a county, the greater is the efficiency of the system, and the greater the uniformity throughout the county in all things that make for better schools. To illustrate this point, two counties may be compared — they are Cheyenne and Weld counties. Cheyenne county is situated on the east central border of the state in, the semi-iarid, or "dry -farming" section of tlie great plains. It has an area of 1,500 square miles, which indicates that it is a comparatively large county. It all lies in the great plains, and its surface is uniformly level. It has its population scattered all over its sur- face, and its school-houses are eiiually well distributed. In most respects, it is like a number of dther counties in the same part of the state, but is unlike those that surround it, as well as most of the others of the state, in that it has but nine districts, while some of its near neighbors under exactly similar conditions, have as many as eighty-seven different districts in the same county. The nine districts with their nine school boards, manage the educational affairs of the entire county. There are sixty-five school buildings in the county, and all except three or four are one-teacher schools. One district has thirteen one-teacher schools, all under the direction of three directors, and when these schools are compared with those in adjoining counties where each one-room school is an independent district with three directors, they do not suffer by comparison, because of the lack of school directors. The schools of Cheyenne county show a higher degree of efficiency in eighth grade graduates than certain good farming counties that have fifty districts, 150 school directors, and ten times as much wealth as this dry-land county. It is not impossible to get the nine boards and twenty- seven directors to agree upon county uniformity in certain things, and the county superintendent has done this, to the great improvement of the schools. There is entire uniformity between the different schools within the same district, and in certain respects between the diff'ei'ent districts. It was surprising, when visiting schools in this county, to find that the I)eople who patronize the different schools in the same district seemed entirely satisfied with the present arrangement, and no complaint was heard that one school got a better teacher, a better school-house, better books, or more attention from the members of the school board than others in the same district. The county superintendent stated that there was no demand in the different parts of the county for the formation of new districts by the further division of the nine which now include all the territory of the 68 COLORADO AORIVLLTIRIL COLLEGE county. With their districts in this couditiou, where each has from four to tliirteeu schools, each district cau, aud is warranted in, employing a supervising principal to visit and supervise all of the schools in the district. This is now being considered in some of the districts, aud should the time come when all nine employ such a person, the county superintendent will then have a corps of assistants that will make rural school supervision a reality in one Colorado county, as it has already come to be in the counties of a few other states. Let us now contrast Weld county with Cheyenne. Weld is the wealthiest and one of the most prosperous and well developed agricultural counties in Colorado. In area it is larger than the state of Rhode Island, and has 107 independent third-class school districts — more than any other county in the state. Most of the children in Weld county live under conditions that are very favorable for the higliest type of rural schools, and their present schools compare favorably with the best in the state, but we are comparing the school systems of the two counties. There are 107 districts and as many systems in Weld county, for there is practically no co-operation be- tween the different districts. There are 107 different school boards consist- ing of 321 directors, and a majority of each board is necessary for any kind of county uniformity. In practice this is obviously impossible, both because of the number of independent units concerned, the number of persons in- volved, and the utter improbability of the county superintendent ever being able, or having the time, to see or communicate witli the different boards and members in a way that will get unity of action and results. These districts have more than 150 school-houses, employ 260 teachers, and had an average school census of 7,522 children, whose only supervision is the annual visit of the county superintendent. There is little hope, with the large number of districts involved that this prosperous county can ever adequately improve its rural schools by co-operation between these 107 districts. The tendency is not in that direction. During all of these eight years these districts might, and could have, co-operated to employ a suffi- cient number of supervisors to properly supervise and harmonize the work of these schools in this large county, but they did not do it. One of the things they most need is supervision, aud if economy had been necessary, each district could have shortened its term two weeks, and the money thus saved could have been u.sed to employ four supervisors for all of the schools, and with this supervision and a two weeks shorter term, the schools could have been made better than they were. It is not at all uncommon for a teacher to finish the term without a member of tlie school board or a patron visiting the school, and where such visitation is common, both by school boards and patrons, it amounts to but little more than a conunendable manifestation of interest in education, and the schools need something more than mere visitation. They need an or- ganization that will permit intelligent administration by a comparatively small board acting for the third-class districts in each county. Such a board could and would employ expert and experienced superintendents, skilled supervisors for all the schools, special teachers for special subjects, and principals and teachers with the highest qualifications obtainable. This would put the conduct of rural schools into the hands of people who are COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE 8CH00L.S 69 MAP OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS CHEIYEINNE COUNTY COLORADO riii.s is II fairly uo ll'oi I166 53^ -J. 178 ' ^ J ^ l^J T7~ri"" r II sr:^i4i .so i ■ i i iinc, i 1 1 n 1 li Ji r — ^ 1 1 n a " 1 J 1 H -1 r L ^ 1 1 J 1 «M 4- rTS— T"^^-/'' H3 '* "^i J ' J n r7(' ic p Ki ^ 60J *--T— -^ cH 7 L '54 1 11 35 'SI I'^l 1 [1/168 86 1 ^ 1 :22L_7ai 1 851 er-wT-yr rv^ 3io i i i i 1 -"h ^ '1 "°--^. ■ 1^ 1 I A \" d^ AeC . 9a_LS — I da r\.m_ 1 7 I I 2:4, n.iia^Lii i_i r7 3i K 1 .1 , i 1__ fi4 fl>*-r T. 1 . v, 1 ^Wse rs^f^v^ =H. ^_, lel 50J /-/se ^,9 , ,. 81. 72 1 — OS 1 ' S ".S7 1 1 ' ! h 1 ■T-^i . .-^ r ■^■^^ . . H ' 1 i ' 1 i 1 1 . j.,HiqU-Ij414^^. II U 3:./itf-^-^' ^^ :tt|#- 4m W =========- — II. 1 J " 1 :i ; ::::: SCHOOL DISTRICTS ■ 4 ' . r , r -. 1 . 1 ■ -I . U-J : "HZi-" , 104 1 . . i- M 1 1 1 ^f ^4 , , J .,iJO ,.i(^i.£__| -1. ,96. 1 8|2;_ !.:.. 1 ^ WELD COUNTY ij 'i 1 ■i:6 4.^ |ior|i9',.23 1 ■ : ■ i^fib !'"" - M 1 COLORADO " : M ! ./«/■ M 1 1 . II 1 r M ! M 1 M 1 M 1 1 M 11 M 1 I A bsitl ease of "Dislrietitis." There are 107 indepenilent tlistriets in tliis eoiinty. 70 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE most coiiipeteut aud be.st preiiared to do ediu-ational work, which is the secret of the success of city schools. It may be argued that it is impossible to get better trained teachers than are now employed, since we now use all available teachers. No large additional supply could be obtained at once, but with better paid superintendents, assisted by experienced supervisors and a few special teachers, the efficiency of the teachers we now have wt)uld be greatly increased, and under the direction of trained supervisors and the guidance of professional educiators, these same teachers would have a chance to succeed, which they do not have now, and in addition to this, they wouldS improve in service. The tenure of position would increase, and with this security in their position, most of these teachers would take summer courses in the different educational institutions of the state, and make special preparation for work in rural schools. Country teachers are not "tramp" teachers by choice, but of necessity, and if given a chance to get professional training, most of them, would take it, a thing which many of them do at the present time. In most districts at the present time the teacher is the system, and a change of teachers means a change of system, for there is but little of the good work done by one teacher that can survive the summer vacation and be helpful the following year to her successor. None of these country schools have more than nine months of school, and at. the end of this term the system dies in each school, for there is nothing to keep it alive, except in a few of the larger schools, where several teachers are employed. In city schools the superintendent and principal keep the system in continuous existence, while this organization does not exist in country districts. It has been the aim throughout this bulletin to consider this whole sub- ject in a strictly impersonal manner, and to point out the weak points in the system, rather than call attention to the faults or failures of county superintendents, teachers, school boards, or the patrons of these schools- This course has been followed because of a deep conviction that the fault is not with the people themselves, but with the system which they are expected to operate, and they are to blame only because they are a part of the system. The inherent difficulties in the district system are so great that they make its successful operation an impossibility in the average county in Colorado, and when we add to these inherent difficulties of the system itself, the frailties of humanity in its operation, it is not surprising that it has not been more successful in these sixty counties. Little hias been said about some county superintendents who may not be prepared for their work, either educationally or professionally, or a few^ who may be in office more because of their abilities as politicians than as educators. No glaring pictures have been painted of country teachers who have utterly failed, and will continue to fail, and of others who are wholly unprepared to teach. No attempt has been made to describe school houses and grounds, with outbuildings, many of them, covered with filth and obscenity. Nothing has been said about neighborhood quarrels between factions and families that are often carried into the schools. No account has been given of the lack of education and breadth of vision of some school directors, some of whom received their only schooling in these same schools w'hose destinies they now help to direct. Nothing has been said about the man who neither COLORADO RURAL AXD VILLAUE ^VHOOLU 71 loves his ueighbor as himself, uor has any regard for the ediioatiou of his neighbor's children, and who, either because he has no children of his own, or is a non-resident, does not want to pay taxes to educate other people's children. These and other difficulties exist in Colorado, but it is safe to assert that these things are not found in Colorado to any greater extent than they are in other states. There is no reason to make harsh statements about the people who live in the districts here described, and accuse them of neglect in the care and education of their children, when we stop to think and recall the fact that no state in the T'nion has, or has ever had, an efficient system of rural schools with the small, weak district as tlie unit of its system. Nor is there any reason to expect the average county in Colo- rado to ever have a thoroughly efficient system of rural schools with the district unit. The unit of organization is too small to even permit of intelligent admin- istration, while it is almost wholly lacking in supervision. Without a good organization, business administration and professional supervision there is no reason to expect efficiency in these schools. It is precisely in these three respects, and in addition to this, in its teaching force, that these 1,725 dis- tricts are most lacking. RURAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT BY CONSOLIDATION OF DISTRICTS. It was not the intention to convey the impression in the preceding pages that nothing is being done to improve the rural schools of Colorado. There are some rural schools that are doing most excellent work, but they are few in number when compared with the great numlier that are doing an inferior grade of work. Since the small, weak districts do not possess the things necessary to make a good school, the iiroblem is to so reorganize them, or combine enough of them into one new district, so that many of the things lacking in the smaller unit may be supplied. This can be best done under existing condi- tions by the consolidation of two or more ad.ioining districts, thus including a larger area, more taxable property, more people and more children, making it possible to erect better buildings, employ more and stronger teachers, and have better schools. Many of the present districts are so small that often four to six may be included within a radius of four miles from a common central point- There is one locality in Larimer county where a circle drawn with a four-mile radius will include all of the habitable parts of seven separate independent school districts, 500 children of school asre, twelve teachers and property with an assessal)le value in excess of .$1,000,000. In one locality in ^lesa county a three and one-half mile radius will include three three-teacher schools, ?A0 children, and .f;! .000.000 of assessable property, while in another a circle of the same radius will include three two-teacher schools and 250 children. In Delta county, a three- and a two- teacher school are .iust one mile apart on a level road, and the only im- passable barrier between them is an imaginary line forming the district boundaries. While visiting these schools last year, it was discovered that teachers in each district lived beyond the school house of the other, and 72 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE passed each other twice a day in going to and from their schools. Con- solidation was suggested here, both to secure a better school and also as a convenience for the teachers. So it is in many of the counties, and con- trary to the general belief, there are few states where a larger per cent of the country children live under conditions more favorable ft)r consolidation than in Colorado. There are many, many localities, and in many counties, where conditions are all just as favorable for consolidation as they are in any other state, and it can be safely said that consolidation will put more country children in good country schools, each with a high school, than will any other form of rural school improvement. It has been said in pre- ceding pages that the great majority of the country children in this state live under conditions that are favorable for good schools, and if all these would consolidate where consolidation is easily possible and feasible, these localities would make more progress in school improvement in a single year than they have from the time the districts were established, up to the present time. Consolidation is not new, and it is not our purpose to discuss its merits here, but rather to show what has been done in this state by a method of rural school improvement that has proven universally successful in more than thirty-five other states. Our law permitting the consolidation of districts was i)assed in 1000. It is a good law. It is working well wherever districts have united under it, and the only difficulty in the way of its extension to hundreds of districts is the traditional conservatism of country people, and the fact that it is necessary to deal with independent units in bringing about a consolidation. Still, there are several splendid consolidated schools in this state, and be- cause of the great success of these schools, many other localities are con- sidering the subject. Colorado is proud, and has reason to be proud, of the consolidated rural schools here described : THE LOMA SCHOOL. This was probably the first of this type of schools in Colorado, and unlike any of the others, there was not an opposing vote on the (luestion of consolidation. Three dilapidated old buildings were abandoned without the shedding of either blood or teai's, and a magnificent new l)rick and stone building, costing .$14,000. quickly took their place. The three old ones were not worth $1,400. The new school has been a marked success from the beginning, and there is no basis for comparison between the poor and inefficient schools in the old buildings and the excellent one ever since conducted in the new. In the old schools, the enrollment was low, the attendance poor, tardy marks were legion, while an eighth grade graduate was almo»st, if not entirely, unknown in all of them- This school is located five miles west of Fruita in Mesa county. The new school opened in the fall of 1910. with three strong teachers. The following year a fourth was added, while at the present time, five capable teachers are employed, 145 children are enrolled, and two years of high school work are given. The per cent of the census that enrolls, and the per cent of the enrollment in average daily attendance, the passing of all the children through their grades, and the number of pupils who graduate COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE .SCHOOLS 73 from the eighth grade, prove conclusively that the children appreciate a good school, and will attend one and do good work if given the opportunity. THE FRUITVALE SCHOOL. This school is also located in Mesa county, just two miles east of Grand Junction. It does not have one large building as most such schools have, but instead, it has three smaller ones, all located on the same grounds. It now has eight well trained, experienced and successful teachers, whose qualifications are equal to those doing the same grade of work in town schools. A full four-years high school is maintained. Last year TOO pupils were enrolled, which was practically all the children in the district who 74 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE were eligible. It would be hard to find a more efficient school, or one doing a higher grade of work. The regular subjects are taught fully as well as the same branches are in city schools, while the science work is given a country application. The text-books are of the very latest and best, the etiuipment is good, each building has a musical instrument, and all other things necessary for a good school. A milk tester is used in the laboratory which has added much interest to the school work, and has been of service to the patrons of the school, who frequently have their milk tested by their own children. They have done some work in elementary agriculture, and a stronger course is being offered this year. Manual training has also been added to the course. COLORADO RURAL AND VTLLAGE SCHOOLS 75 76 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE The school board has for several years past used excellent judgment in the selection of teachers, in providing them with everything necessary for the proper conduct of the school, and in supporting them in every way that would make and keep the school at the nuixinumi of efficiency. The school board and teachers are supported by a coninmnity of 150 families, all of whom take great pride in their school, and show their interest both by giving the school tlieir moral support, and by taxing themselves to the limit allowed by law to make it as good as it is possible to make it- There is system, order, and a purpose in every part of the school work. This school has one of the best eipiipped playgrounds found in any rural district in the state. This was provided l»y an active and progressive "Mothers' Club," which takes a very intelligent interest in educational affairs in the district, both at home and in the school, acting upon the theory that the training of children is one of the chief duties of motherhood. Here, as in any good school, almost every child makes a grade each year and comes back the following year to enter the next higher grade. The number of eighth grade graduates increases each year, and as fast as they complete the elementary course they almost all enroll in their own high school where they receive excellent instruction, and from which they can easily return to the protection of the parental home each night. One transportation wagon has been used for five years. This has been fully as satisfactory as the other parts of the school work. The same man has furnished the team and driven the wagon since it was first started. He receives .$50 per month for his team and his own services, and has fully one-half of his time for his own work on school days. He is a man of the highest character. He signs a contract that specifies 'his duties, and then gives a $500 cash bond for the faithful performance of his duty. In five years this wagon has never missed a trip, has never required four horses, has never been tardy, and has proven entirely satisfactory to those who patronize it. Because of its success, a second wagon has been started this year. As has already been said, the teachers are the best that can be secured. All the teachers receive as good salaries in this country school as they would receive for the same kind of work in town schools. The principal is a university trained man, owns his own farm close to the school house, and is a permanent resident in the district. He is not employed for just nine months and then compelled to look elsewhere for a position for the following year, but he holds a three-year contract with his school board, and instead of drawing a salary for nine months and then being compelled to find other employment, he draws a salary of $90 every calendar month in the year. This arrangement works just like it might be expected to work. He has already spent two terms in the Summer School of the State Univer- sity, and ranks as one of the leading educators in the state in his line of work. He keeps the school system alive twelve months in the year, and is always on the ground to look after the interests of the school- Although this district is comparatively small, still it has enough children and enough taxable property within its boundaries to employ eight strong teachers, maintain twelve grades, and it does a high grade of work. Nor is it entirely lacking in supervision, for the principal spends a part of his time in supervising the work of the other teachers. A picture of one COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 77 of the buildings, last year's high school pupils, and the wagon that has been used for five years, are shown on another page. THE APPLETON SCHOOL. The Appletou Consolidated School was formed by uniting three districts after a two year's campaign and legal battle which did not end until decided by the State Supreme Court. The new school is located seven miles northwest of Grand Junction. Three buildings were abandoned, one with one room, one with two, and one with three. The building is constructed of stucco, has ten rooms, two large halls, a principal's office, and a nice Fig. XII. APPLETON CONSOLIDATED RURAL SCHOOL. Mesa CoontLj. Enrollment and Teachers. Grades 5th 7th 35 PUP 20 "-^ }One Teacher. 20 12 }One Teacher. 16 17 } One Teacher. 18 10 148 ] One Teacher. A- Teachers {9lt-I2 PUPILS) I2L1 -_3_ } 3 Teachers. I TeachenManua/ Train i no*. "3" Teac hers. 63 Pupils Take Manual Training-. !lnterurban-4l-5cts each per day Wa^on - 21 Sets The People from this District do not Need to Send Their Children avuau from Home toq.Toii/n School to Educate Them. The Country is the Place to Educate Chddren. 78 VOLOUADO AG in CULTURAL COLIjEOE assembly room seated with ol2 c-liairs. It is lighted with electricity and owns its own stereopticon. It cost $14,000 and has a three-acre site for which $1,000 was paid. Eight teachers were connected with the school last year — six on full time, and two on part time. A four-year high school course is maintained, and agriculture and manual training are included in the course of study. All boys above the fourth yrade took manual training -A JU Jl 'M Appletoii .School — The thrt-e nhaiifloiied hiiih1iuj;'s. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS Aitpleton Cousolidated School one-half day each week hist year. The shop is eiiuipped with fourteen, double benclies of the latest model. The school has an orchestra, and can furnish music for its own entertainments. One hundred and seventy-tive pupils enrolled last year, a part of whom were transported on an interurban at tive cents each for the lound trip. About twenty-live others were carried to school in a wagon at a cost of seven cents each per day. Under the old system, but a small part of the few who finished the eighth grade continued their studies in Grand Junc- tion's excellent high school, or any other, for such a course meant breaking up the home, either for the children, the parents, or both, but today most all the pupils enroll in their own high school as soon as they complete the elementary course, again proving- that country children will take a high school education and do good work, if given the chance. A recent visit to this school showed a high grade of work being done. The principal is a university trained man, with years of successful experience. He, too, lives on his own I'anch near the school he serves. He holds a three-year contract with his board, and receives a salary of .$1,200 for nine mouths' work. He holds the highest grade certificate granted by the state, while the qualifications of his teachers are of the best, and the school is many times superior to the old ones it replaced. The fine assembly room, brightly lighted, and comfortably seated, is frequently used by all the patrons who gather here for school entertainments, musicales, lectures, etc., and in this way the new school becomes a social, as well as an educational, center for the community. These people have not only provided for their children's education, but for their own and their children's entertainment, thus sup- so COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE plying, partly at least, one of the great deficiencies in country life. Pic- tures of the three abandoned buildings, the new one, and last year's high school are sho\Yn on anotlier page. THE AVONDALE SCHOOL. This school is located a few miles from the city of Pueblo, and was formed by consolidating three one-room schools. It has three buildings on the same grounds, built on the cottage plan, instead of having one large COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE HCHOOLti ,81 82 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLIjEGE one. The school ceusus is two hundred and twenty. The enrolhnent the last year one hundred sixty-four, four teachers were employed and two years of high school work are given. The enrollment in the new school is thirty- eight per cent better than it was in the old ones it replaced. The average daily attendance in the three old ones was sixty-two per cent of the enrollment, while last year it was ninety-two per cent. The number of eighth grade graduates has increased fifty per cent. Three transportation wagons are used at an average cost of !f47 each per month. Here, as in the other schools de- scribed, system, order and good results have rewarded these people in their efforts to improve their schools. This school, like the others, has already made a record for efficiency and service, of which the School board and patrons are justly proud. Here, also, the board has been successful in the selection of a princiiial, and the other teachers with correspondingly good results. THE CACHE LA POI'DRE SCHOOL. This splendid school is located in Larimer county six miles west of Fort Collins, and exhibits the most remarkable transformation yet wit- nessed in rural school improvement in Colorado. A little more than one year ago, the people in this conununity were holding school in the six old buildings shown in the cut — buildings very similar to 2,000 others in this state, but today they are in a class by themselves, for they now have the largest, the strongest, and best equipped rural school in Colorado. Four districts consolidated, thus uniting five one-teacher schools and one with three-teachers. Parts of two adjoining districts were annexed by petition, making the e(iuivalent of five districts in the consolidation. The site of the new building consists of four and one-half acres of good farming land with water right. It has a small orchard of six-year-old apple trees. It has ground that will be used for gardens. It has large baseball and football grounds, playgrounds for the small children, and room for tennis courts. The school board, with commendable wisdom and foresight, remodeled the best one of the abandoned buildings and made of it a comfortable six-room house in which the principal now lives with his family. Its interior ar- rangement is modern and convenient, and it is supplied with pure mountain water. This provision of a teacherage makes it possible for the principal to be on the school grounds all of the time. The school building is constructed of red sandstone and pressed brick. It is three stories high, the first floor being eight inches above the level of the gronnd. The first floor contains the steam heating plant, coal-bins, five rooms in which the janitor and his family live, the toilet rooms, a laboratory, and two large rooms now used for play-rooms for the small children in stormy weather, and lunch rooms for those who ride to school. The second floor has a large hallway and four large class-rooms, while on the third floor are three more class-rooms, a rest-room for the women teachers, a principal's office, and a large assembly room which will accom- modate from 350 to 400 people. The school is supplied with mountain water, COLORADO liVUAL .i.Y/J VILLAGE SCHOOLS S3 84 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE and has sanitary drinking fountains on each floor. It is wired for elec- tricity, but at present is lighted with gas. The complete plant cost $25,000. A four-year high school is maintained, in which agriculture and farm life subjects have an important pliace. The enrollment for the school year 1913-1914 was 277. These pupils were distributed through- out the grades and apportioned among the teachers, as shown in Figure XIII., which was correct to January, 1914. Fig. XIII. PRESENT ENROLLMENT IN THE CACHE LA POUDRE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL /sT- ' 29 PUPILS 2>*o 28 •' 3'>o 36 GRADES 5 21 29 " 6 19 7 23 8 34 > J TEACHERS TOTAL 219 HIGH SCHOOL 9^^^17 10 8 11 9 12' 13 > 3 TOTAL ^7 8 GRAND TOTAL-SGB PUPILS- 8TEACHERS COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE HVHOOLS 85 Eight capable teachers were employed, and most excellent work was done in all departments. High school work had been done in one of the old districts, which furnished students with which to start the new high school. Although the new school has now been in existence but one year, still in this short time it has broken two state records for rural schools. On the eleventh of June last, twenty-four country boys and girls graduated from the eighth grade in this school. This was the largest eighth grade class that ever graduated from a country school in this state. At the same time, twelve young men and women graduated from a four-year high school course, and this is the largest number which has so far graduated from a country high school. One young man was twenty-four years of age, and it is very improbable that he, or others like him, would go to any city high school. Seven regular transportation vans are used to convey 166 children to and from school each day. Bach driver signs a contract in which the duties that he is required to perform are explicitly defined, and in addition to this, each gives a $500 bond for the careful and faithful performance of his duty. The average cost per team and driver was $4 5 per month. The average cost per pupil was nine cents a day. There were no tardy marks made by any of the pupils who rode in the wagons, and no trouble of any kind was encountered in the transporta- tion. This was true, notwithstanding the fact that last winter wit- nessed the worst snowstorm seen since the settlement of this county. All railroads were blockaded for several days, the street cars in Fort Collins did not run for weeks after the storm, country roads were blocked, and most farmers had to drive their stock to the haystacks Principal's Cottage, Cache La Poudre School, 86 COLORADO Adh'iri LTUHAL COLLEGE I Higii School (iraduating Class, Cache La Poudre School. Football Team, Cache La Poudre School. COLORADO RURAL AXD VILLAGE SCHOOLS 87 Athletic Field, Cache La Poiulre School. for feed. The people in the Cache La Poudre School district took their teams and broke their roads. The drivers of the school vans took the wheels off their wagons and attached sled runners in their places, and everybody went to school in this progressive district. Only four days of school were lost in this school, while some city schools were closed for eight days, and many country schools for two weeks. The enrollment and average daily attendance were near the maxi- mum at all times during the year, which is excellent evidence of an efficient school. The large assembly room laffords a comfortable and convenient place for lectures, school entertainments, musicales, and other programs that help to make this school not only an educational center, but also a social center for all the people of this prosperous com- munity which has 207 families living within the borders of the school district. It is an inspiration for anyone to visit this country school and see the splendid opportunities these children have, to enjoy and profit by twelve years of schooling within easy daily reach of their homes. The enrollment, attendance, and results of the first year's work prove that they appreciate this and are taking advantage of their opportunities. The people in all these consolidated schools have made provision for the education of their children, and by so doing have made sure that they will have a good school within reach, and at the same time they have added four more years of home life for their children, for if they go away to a town school, they go away from home, and few of them ever come back to the old home to stay. These four years of high school at the old home and on the old farm ought to be worth 88 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE more to every father and mother than the comparatively small sum of money it costs. These are the years when habits are being fixed and character is crystalizing, and when the guiding hands of father and mother and home influences are most needed by the boys and girls be- fore they launch out for themselves on the voyage of life. Pictures of the six old buildings, the new one, the principal's cot- tage, the high school graduating class, the football team, and the athletic field are shown on other pages. OTHER CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS. There are a few other consolidated schools in Colorado, but space will permit but brief mention of them. A town district and a smaller country district consolidated at Fort Lupton in Weld county, thus mak- ing a strong district of the second class. A fine new building has been completed and an excellent school is being maintained. Two country districts consolidated in Montrose county in January of this year, and a new building will be in use this year. Another is reported in La Plata county where several schools were combined into a much better and stronger organization. The last one to date is at Parker, in Douglas county, where three districts united and a new building is being erected. Nothing has been said about the cost of operation of these con- solidated schools, except for the transportation. It will be noticed that these schools have not been in operation but a short time, and the records of the first one established can only be secured for three years back, since the report for 1913-1914 cannot yet be obtained. The aggregate cost so far has been a little more than the old schools, but the first cost would always be more in a change like this, still the per capita cost will be but little, if any, greater. The new schools are worth three times as much as the old ones, for they educate all of the children, and offer a high school training for every child in the district, which none of the othei's did. The cost is not out of proportion to the service they render, and is such that any country community can easily meet it without excessive school taxes. None of these cost more for the twelve grades of work provided than the nearby town schools giving the same kind of work. They are within easy daily reach of all the children of all the people, and have already proved conclusively that it costs less to build good schools in the country for the education of country children than it does to send them to city schools for their high school education. Besides, it makes it unnecessary to break up the home, which most country people must do who send their children to town schools. This is a poor arrange- ment from any standpoint. Those who want their children to have an education badly enough to send them alone to live in town, or enough to break up the farm home to be with them, find when the high school course is finished that their children have been educated away from the farm, while the still larger number of parents who cannot meet the ex- COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 89 penses, must see their children grow up to manliood and womanhood, many of them with less education than their parents who came to Colo- rado from good educational centers in other states. While all of these consolidated schools, except the one at Fort Lupton now have less than 3 50 school children, and are still districts of the third class, yet the consolidation supplied them with a sufficient number of children, and placed within their reach sufficient funds with which to build, equip, and maintain a good school. Besides, the school system in these districts does not come to a full and complete stop at the end of each nine months of school, as it does in most third class districts, to be commenced anew the following year, but several of the teachers are retained each year, and the system is much more con- tinuous than in the smaller schools. In this respect they resemble city schools. In every particular they give much better results for the money expended than do the ordinary small districts. Consolidation, where this is feasible and possible, is the best method of rural school improvement yet tried in Colorado. SUMMARY. This survey was in progress during the greater part of the past two years, but is now complete for each school district in the entire state. That part of it which relates to the third class districts has been de- scribed in the preceding pages. The tables, charts, maps, and statistics used were made up from an eight-year survey of the official records of each district, and the statements made have been based upon these facts. For the purpose of bringing these facts closer together, they are briefly summarized. It cost $13,019,95 9 to operate the schools in these districts. That amount was paid out during the eight years for buildings and mainten- ance. This seems like an enormous sum, and yet it would build and equip only one first-class battleship. It represents an annual expense of only $20 for each of the 82,174 children. When viewed in this light it becomes insignificant, especially when we remember that it covered prac- tically all the expense of public education in these districts. An average of 17,789 children lived in these districts each year of the eight who did not enroll in these schools at all. These were all of school age, and without sufficient education to prepare them for the active duties of life and for intelligent citizenship. This number was out of school all of the time. They did not enroll. This was largely because the school system in these 1,725 districts made no provision for their education after they had completed the eighth grade. This might not have been possible in many districts, but it is certain that it was both possible and feasible to establish country high schools for a large per cent of these children. The average enrollment was 64,385 and of this number 25,166 were absent on an average all of the time because of irregular attendance. 90 COLORADO AGRWULrURAL COLLEGE There are few valid excuses for absence from school aside from sickness, either of the children or their parents. Colorado is known the world over for its bright, sunny days, pure air, and healthful climate. It was not caused by poverty, either on the part of the parents, or lack of funds by the districts, which raised but half of the funds allowed by law for ■building and maintenance. These eight years were years of plenty for the farmers and stockmen of Colorado, and witnessed the greatest agri- cultural development of any like period in recent times. One of the most common causes of absence from school is failure 'of the parents to appreciate the value of education enough to keep their children in school regularly. Had it not been for this large per cent of irregular attendance, many more would have completed the course. Still, it is difficult to tell whether the schools were inefficient because of poor attendance, or whether the attendance was irregular because the schools were poor. There is some connection between poor buildings, unattractive grounds, untrained and inexperienced teachers, lack of in- terest in the districts, and poor attendance on the part of the pupils. Until the system can be made to give better results than it did during these eight years, it is quite likely that some parents will be inclined to question whether or not it pays to keep their children in school regu- Tarly. Some justification for this view is found in the fact that 24,660 of those who were in regular attendance did not complete the course in the eight years, during which time the great majority should have done so. Fourteen thousand, five hundred and fifty-nine, or twenty-two per cent of the enrollment, did graduate, and thus complete the course of- fered, and for this good work the schools should be given full credit, still it is well to point out the fact that most of these districts made no fur- ther provision for the education of these children after they had com- pleted the elementary course, when it was possible and feasible for many of them to have done so by the consolidation of a number of adjoining districts. In this way, country high schools could have been build up within easy daily reach of a large part of the school census. The average school year should have been longer, and the average salary for teachers should have been much higher in many districts and counties, but it has been shown that a majority of the children were found in those districts and counties in whicli the term of school was reasonably long and salaries comparatively high, and yet in spite of this fact most of these districts fell far below the standard of efficiency that should have been required of them. While the patrons could, and should, have been more liberal in pro- viding funds for buildings and for maintenance, still it can be said that the small district system is wasteful, and that it is difficult to spend money to the best advantage when building and employing on a small scale. The teaching body will first have to convince the farmer that in- creased efficiency will follow the expenditure of more money, before he will materially increase his taxes. This has not yet been done, and the fault is not all on the side of the taxpayer. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE 8CH00L8 93 The small district system is much better than none, yet it is also true that it is the least efficient now in general use. Some people still advocate this system, because they say it is democratic, that it keeps the power near the people, that local control, and a local board of three members tend to fix local responsibility, and develop and keep alive local interest in each district. To what extent this has been true in Colorado can be clearly seen from the records of the districts. Most of these counties had between twenty-five and one hundred districts, and three times as many directors as they had districts, yet in studying these countied there seems to be no increase in efficiency with the increase in the num- ber of districts, and the accompanying increase in school directors. There is good evidence that the reverse is true. The district system is a relic of pioneer days, and within recent years, at least, the governing motive in the formation of new districts is not the desire for more efficient schools, but the desire for independent control on the part of those who want to form a new district. Yuma county had eighty-seven districts and 261 school directors who employed but ninety teachers each year. This was one director for each eight children enrolled, and yet, in spite of the large number of districts, and the interest that is supposed to come from a large number of school officials, there were thirty-nine dis- tricts in this one county not one of which had an eighth grade graduate in eight years. The average number of graduates for all the districts of this county for the eight year period was but fifteen per cent of the en- rollment. In the same part of the state, under similar conditions of al- titude, climate, rainfall and occupation was another county in which twenty-five per cent of the enrollment graduated, and there were not one-ninth as many districts or directors as in Yuma county. This is not because of any difference in the directors of the two counties, but is due to the opportunities they had for making their schools efficient. Weld county had 107 districts and 321 directors, and yet less than one-third of the average enrollment completed the course in eight years. Las Animas county had seventy-six districts with 228 directors, with most of the children grouped in large numbers, and in districts with high valuations, and still but six per cent of the enrollment completed the course offered in the rural and village schools, and forty districts did not graduate a pupil. These sixty counties had 1,725 districts, with 5,175 directors, and still the schools were not efficient. The poor showing made by all these districts is largely due to the poor organization of the district system, the utter impossibility of getting a business administration, and the al- most total lack of any kind of supervision in any of these schools. There is a county superintendent in each county, but each must enter politics to gain the office, must play the game to retain it, with the result that often the more efficient the superintendent, the sooner and surer is re-election made impossible. They are poorer paid than is any other county official. The county clerk, assessor, treasurer, sheriff, and even the county coroners are not only paid higher salaries, but are supplied with deputies, clerks, stenographers, offices and equipment 92 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE commensurate with the work they are expected to do, while most of the county superintendents of this state are required to do all of their own office work, without even a stenographer, are required to look after the educational interests of hundreds, and often of thousands of school chil- dren, attending schools scattered over counties, some of which are as large as some eastern states; they must visit these schools and actually do give them all the supervision they get; they are supposed to stand at the head of the school system of their respective counties, a position for the preparation of which they have spent years in school, getting their education and professional training, other years in getting experi- ence, and then not only receive a lower salary than other county officials, but in many cases less per month than some teachers in their rural schools whose certificates they do issue, and whose qualifications they must approve. This is why $13,019,959 were spent in all these districts in these eight years, not one dollar of which was spent for teaching in a school that was adequately supervised. These are some of the reasons why 49,82 6 school children failed to pass through the eight grades in the time allotted for that purpose, and by so doing receive the training required for an elementary education in the rural and village schools of Colorado. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. As far as time and opportunity would permit, all available informa- tion about each of these 1,725 third-class districts has been collected, tabulated and weighed in an effort to ascertain conditions and determine the efficiency of each individual unit, each county and the state as a whole. These facts have been given in the tables, charts, maps, pictures, and statistics used in this bulletin. They prove conclusively the ineffi- ciency of the district system. Some of the reasons, which in our opinion, help to account for the failure of the district to give better service have already been given, and in this, the concluding chapter, some suggestions will be offered by means of which many educators in this state believe that our rural schools could be made much more efficient than they have been, or now are. We have been temporizing, amending, and trying to improve the present system for years, and yet but little real improvement has been made in the system itself. This method of improvement does not offer much encouragement, and a complete reorganization of the entire system seems to be the best way to accomplisli the desired results. It is our deep conviction that a thorough reorganization of our rural and village school system is the most important educational problem in this state, and that this great work should receive first consideration at the hands of our state officials, the General Assembly, and those engaged in edu- cational work, at the hands of the people who live in cities as well as those who live in the country, and that the cam])aign should be continued until Colorado has an efficient and up-to-date system for these schools that is in keeping with the progress the state has made in most every- thing else. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SCHOOLS 93 Leading educators all over the country agree that the best system now in use for schools, such as are maintained in our third class dis- tricts, is what is known as the "County Unit." A few states have had this system in use for many years and nine have it at the present time. It is found for the most part in the Southern States, where its great su- periority over the small district system has been so clearly demonstrated that several Northern states are now working for its adoption. Bills em- bodying the main features of this system have already been drawn, and will be introduced in the legislatures of these states the coming winter. Probably the best plan that has ever been worked out for a well- articulated system of public schools was drawn up by committees com- posed of some of the most prominent leaders in the field of rural educa- tion and adopted by the Southern Education Association and The Con- ference for Education in the South, at a joint meeting of the two organ- izations held in Louisville, Kentucky, in April, 1914. Thirty-five states were represented at this meeting by delegates, all of whom were inter- ested in rural education and all phases of rural life. This report, as far as it applies to elementary and secondary education, is here given just as it was drawn by the committees, and unanimously adopted by the two organizations named above. The proposed plan contains one thing which is applicable only to the Southern States — provision for a supervisor for Negro schools. This has been placed in parenthesis, and with this eliminated, the system fits the needs of all other parts of the country equally as well as it does the South. STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. General Principles. First: The administration of the state school system should be rep- resentative and democratic — responsive to the deliberately expressed will of the people. Second: The administrative boards should possess stability sufficient to enable them to determine definite educational policies and authority enough to provide for the execution of these policies. Changes in the per- sonnel of the educational boards should be gradual, never revolutionary. The executive officer of a board should derive his authority from the board itself, not from any other source. Third: The state and county boards should be empowered to select experts as state and county school officials without limitation as to resi- dence; they should be in the position to assure them a reasonable per- manence in the tenure of position and adequate compensation for their services; they should have authority, through their executive officers, to organize effectively the public school system of the state. Fourth: The state as a whole should guarantee an educational op- portunity to all her children, regardless of the wealth or poverty of the particular county or district in which they live. Adntinistralioii. First: THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. The administration of the state common-school system should be vested in a non-partisan state board of education, to be composed of not more than nine members, a majority of whom shall be educators, to be 94 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE selected for terms of six years, these terms to be so arranged that not more than two expire in any one year. Second: THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION. The state superintendent of education should be" elected by the state board of education, who shall serve as its executive officer, for a term of four years, and his salary should be fixed by the board. In addition to an adequate office force, the state superintendent should have as many assistants as may be necessary for the effective ad- ministration and supervision of the schools. These assistants should be nominated by the state superintendent and confirmed by the state board. In the Southern States the corps should perhaps include: (a) A State Inspector of High Schools. (b) A State Supervisor of Elementary Schools. [(c) A State Supervisor of Negro Schools.] (d) A State Director of Elementary Agricultural Education. (e) A State Director of Homemaking Activities for Girls. (f) A State Board of Examiners for Teachers. Third: THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION. The administration of the county school system should be vested in a county board of education, consisting of not less than three nor more than nine members, elected by the people for terms of six years, these terms to be so arranged that not more than two expire in any one year. Fourth: THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION. The county superintendent of education should be elected by the county board and should serve as its executive officer for a term of four years. His salary should be fixed by this board. The county superintendent should have a corps of assistants commen- surate with the sciiool population of his county. These assistants should be nominated by the superintendent and confirmed by the county board. In the typical county the corps should include: (a) A county supervisory teacher for the elementary schools. [(b) A county supervisor of Negro schools.] (c) A county director of elementary agricultural education. (d) A county director of girls' home arts. Fifth: THE DISTRICT TRUSTEES. Each school district should have one to three trustees, appointed by the county board of education, to have charge of the school property and to serve in an advisory capacity to the county superintendent and the county board of education. Sixth: THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. The school district should be, in some instances, a municipality, which may or may not be independent of the county school authorities. Seventh: RURAL SCHOOLS. The rural schools should deserve especial emphasis. The state and county educational authorities should put forth special effort to make them efficient. The following standards are suggested: (a) Each rural school should own at least ten acres of land. (b) The school house should be put to the maximum use as a center of the community's life. (c) The school should own an adequate home for its principal. (d) The principal should be trained in agriculture. (e) Each school should have at least one teacher who has had a practical training in domestic science and household economics. COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE ySVHOOLS 95 Financial Report. First- The state, the county and the school district should each sup- ply a proper quota of the funds for the maintenance of the schools. The state tax should be levied by the legislature, the county tax by the county board of education, and the district tax by a vote of its people. It may be readily seen from the outline given above, that only the broad general provisions for the organization, administration, supervision and support of a carefully balanced system are given. It was under- stood and agreed when this report was adopted that each state should work out the details and adapt the system to best meet its own condi- tions and needs. This report was considered by the Educational Coun- cil of the Colorado Teachers' Association, at a special meeting called for that purpose on :\Iay 16th last. It was the sense of that body that this report embodies within its provisions the most mature thought and the practical experience of many leading educators in this field of education, and that it expresses the soundest principles and the greatest wisdom of any system yet proposed for the organization, administration and supervision of rural schools. Extended comment upon the provisions of the report are impossible for lack of space, besides they are unnecessary at this time. This scheme provides for all of the things found lacking in our present system. It recommends that ten acres of land be a part of the possessions of each school, to give room for all forms of play and serve as school farm. It recommends a comfortable home for the teacher on the school premises and as a part of the school plant, thus providing for permanent residence for the teacher within the district, at least dur- ing the school year, and encouraging longer tenure of position. It sug- gests a modern school building, since this would be necessary for school entertainments, lecture-courses and other social center work in which the entire community should take part. It recommends that agriculture and household arts be given a prominent part in the course of study, and that teachers be secured who have had training in these lines of work. It provides for a scheme of organization in which each school, no matter where it is located, will be a part of a strong and well articulated county system, all under the management of one board elected by the people themselves. This county system in turn is a part of a state system under the management of a State Board of Education and under the guidance and direction of a state superintendent and a corps of supervisors adequate to organize and superintend the work throughout the state. The county board of education would, and should have the powers and perform the duties that are now possessed and performed by school boards in our districts of the first class, which is one of the best school organizations in use in any state. This county board would employ the county superintendent for four years, thus taking this important office out of politics and providing a salary commensurate with train- ing and experience required and the work to be done, and making it possible to get and to keep the best available persons for this position. 96 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE The proposed system provides for a corps of county supervisors to adequately supervise all the schools in the county, so that the best methods can be introduced, the work organized, systematized, and each teacher could teach under expert supervision and guidance, which has long been done in all of our best city schools, but which has always been lacking in these country schools. The system could be so ad- justed that taxes would be uniform throughout the entire county organ- ization up to the point of maintaining a uniform minimum standard for all rural and village schools, and if any community wished to have a better school than this minimum standard, it could be permitted to tax itself in addition to the county tax for that purpose. The idea being to require a reasonably high standard for all schools, and still not pre- vent any community from making their school as much better than this as they might desire. Of course, it is understood that districts of the first class, and probably those of the second, would not be required to become a part of this county system, but could be given the opportunity to do so if they wished. These are some of the things which seem most necessary to make our schools efficient, and while the system here offered could not all be put into operation in Colorado without a constitutional amendment, still most of it could be adopted by legislative action. The manner of electing the state and county superintendents would require a constitu- tional amendment, but this would not need to delay the adoption of all the rest of the system after it had been adapted to meet our needs and conditions. We are still operating our rural schools under the same system that was adopted when Colorado was a territory. When our territorial gov- ernment was organized this system was adopted from the laws of an adjoining state, which in turn had borrowed it from one still farther east. Thus we could trace it back from state to state, to Massachusetts where it had its beginning more than one hundred years ago. This primitive organization, which was made to meet pioneer conditions, still persist amidst all our Twentieth Century advancement and i)rogress with less change than any other of our American institutions. The rural school is sadly lacking in building, grounds, and equip- ment. Its organization is weak and ineffective. Its administration is unbusinesslike and wasteful of money, time, effort and the opportunities of children. It is wholly lacking in effective supervision. The separate unit of organization tends to prevent helpful co-operation which Is the key to the solution of many rural problems, and while many noble men and women have begun their education in the rural schools, overcome its difficulties and some of them have later risen to the highest positions of honor and service, yet for each of those who have attained success, there were scores of others equally able and deserving, who might have added as much to the state and nation had our rural schools done for them what they might and should have done. The thought of nearly .50,000 children failing to pass the eighth grades in the eight years set aside for that purpose, and of being compelled to enter the state of COLORADO RURAL AND VILLAGE SC II OOLK 97 manhood and womanhood, without even an elementary education, is appalling. Education is not a local matter, but is of the most vital concern to both the state and the nation. Education tends to guarantee the sov- ereignty of the state, while ignorance is the greatest enemy of any people. If this view is correct, then the education of one child is as much the duty of the state as the education of another, and neither dis- trict boundaries nor county lines should be permitted to limit and re- strict the opportunities of children for the freest and fullest develop- ment for which they have capacity. "That there should one man die ignorant who had capacity for knowledge, this I call tragedy," are the words of Carlyle, and the truth of the statement has not been dimmed by the lapse of years. Some people may hastily conclude from the figures given and the statements made, that the farmer and all others who live in these dis- tricts are wholly to blame for the conditions described, but this is not our belief. In some respects these people are to be blamed but -little more for the backward condition of their schools, tha,n are city people to be praised for the efficiency of theirs. The city dweller doop not make his school good, but as far as this is done, it is done by .skilled and experienced superintendents and trained teachers, and the greatest contribution of the city patron to this end lies in his willingaess to pay the bills and in permitting those who have made education their busi- ness to do the work. It is not hard to get people to support their schools when they are reasonably sure that the money will be well spent and the results will be satisfactory. The farmer did ,not make his school system, and he is unable of his own accord to reorganize it. If the farmer succeeds in his farm operations, in providing a home and in raising his family, he is doing all that should be expected of him, and all that is expected of people in other lines of work. He is not an educator and does not claim to be. His work takes all of his time and all of his energy, and anyway it is not in his line of work, nor is it his duty either to make or re-organize school systems. It is the business of those who are engaged in educational work and of those who profess to be educators. So, it is our belief that the present inefficiency of these schools is not so much the fault of the farmer as it is of those whom he pays for this work and to whom he has entrusted the education of his children. The farmers of Colorado will cast their votes for a re- organization of their schools and will tax themselves higher for their support, when the teachers of Colorado, the county and city superin- tendents, all those connected with the state institutions of higher learn- ing, and all those engaged in educational work shall have given these farmers reasonable assurance that it will be to their advantage and that of their children to do so. They are not likely to do it on a large scale until this has been done. If education is not a local matter, if happiness and success in life depend upon the possession of knowledge, and of wisdom which is the result of training and experience; and if the success of a free govern- ment depends upon the intelligence of its citizens, there is no one who 98 COLORADO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE has had a better chance to know and understand this than those who make a business of education. They have viewed both the past and the present from the mountain-tops of opportunity. They are in possession of that knowledge, skill and power which are the priceless boon of education. It is their business to make or re-make school systems. If the educators of Colorado, who are in possession of the blessings that education is supposed to give and who know aad understand the blighting curse of ignorance, are not moved to action by the fact that more than three-fourths of the children who are entrusted to their care for education, do not get an elementary education in the time which they themselves have allowed for that purpose, and according to stand- ards which they themselves have fixed, the blame for this does not all rest with the farmer. If conditions in these schools are half as bad as the figures seem to show they are, and if all those engaged In edu- cational work, from the country teacher to the professors in our col- leges and university are not willing to organize a,nd co-operate in a supreme effort to devise a better and more efficient system than we now hnve, and then go before the people in all these districts in an honest effort to tell them the facts about their schools and show them a way by which they can be greatly improved; if they do not do this, they are recreant to their trust and are lacking in the true missionary spirit; they are missing the grandest opportunity yet placed before them to extend a helping hand to their fellow ma,n and lead in the movement for better education for the country children, and thereby render the highest service to the community, the state, and the nation. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. Who Is Coiiceined in tlie Kuial School Problem? Life depends upon what man gets out of the earth. A nation is happy and prosperous in proportions as it applies intel- ligence^ industry and wisdom in the extraction and use of the earth's resources. Schools exist to increase intelligence, to stimulate industry, and to apply wisdom. The basis of our national life is agriculture. The Rural School is nearest agriculture. Through it intelligence concerning agriculture is to be increased, industry in agriculture stimulated, and wisdom in rural living applied. How about the Rural School? It is poorly housed; it is meanly equipped; it is weakly taught; it is miserly supported. COLORADO RIRAL AM) VlLljAdK SCHOOJ.S 99 It has the shortest term; it has the most irregular attendance; the school life of its pupils ends earliest. If, then, our national prosperity depends upon agriculture; if the product of agriculture depends upon the intelligence, industry and wisdom of the tillers of the soil; if that intelligence, industry and wis- dom depend largely upon the Rural School, AND IF the Rural School is weak and inert; WHOM DOES IT CONCERN? D. R. HATCH, Editor Colorado School Journal. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 731 584