BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 
 
 1916: No: 67 
 
 DECEMBER 1 
 
 1016 
 
 A Study of Rural Schools In 
 Travis County, Texas 
 
 BY 
 
 E. E. DAVIS 
 
 Department of Extension, Division of School Interests 
 
 Published by the University six times a month and entered as 
 
 second-class matter at the postoffice at 
 
 AUSTIN, TEXAS 
 
 Monograph _^ 
 
Publications of the University of Texas 
 
 Publications Committee: 
 W, J. Battle C. Hartman 
 
 E. C. Babksr J, L, Hendekson 
 
 J. M. Bryant A. C. Judson 
 
 G. C. Butte J. A. Lomax 
 
 R. H. Griffith 
 
 The University publishes bulletins six times a month. These 
 eamprise the official publications of the University, publica- 
 tions on humanistic and scientific subjects, bulletins prepared 
 by the Department of Extension and by the Bureau of Munic- 
 ipal Research, and other bulletins of general educational in- 
 terest. With the exception of special numbers, any bulletin will 
 be sent to a citizen of Texas free on request. All communica- 
 tions about University publications should be addressed to tiie 
 Editor of University Publications, University of Texas, Austin. 
 
 A. C. BALDWIN • 90Nf: AUffriM 
 
B13-1216-3m 
 
 BULLETIN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 
 
 1916: No: 67 
 
 DECEMBER 1 
 
 1916 
 
 A Study of Rural Schools In 
 Travis County, Texas 
 
 BY 
 
 E. E. DAVIS 
 
 Department of Extension, Division of School Interests 
 
 Published by the University six times a montli and entered as 
 
 second-class matter at the postoffice at 
 
 AUSTIN. TEXAS 
 
LH3'^ 
 
 The benefits of education and of 
 useful knowledge, generally diffused 
 through a community, are essential 
 to the preservation of a free govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Sam Houston. 
 
 Cultivated mind is the guardian 
 genius of democracy. . . . It is 
 the only dictator that freemen ac- 
 knowledge and the only security that 
 freemen desire. 
 
 President Mirabeau B. Lamar. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The purpose of this investigation is to make an accurate and 
 scientific estimate of the status of public education in about two 
 hundred square miles of the southeastern part of Travis County. 
 By making a close survey of this area and reporting it to the 
 public in the following pages, it is hoped that other communities 
 similarly situated will be assisted in finding where they stand 
 educationally. This report is intended to serve as a simple, 
 direct sort of guide whereby a rural community may conduct a 
 self-examination into its school affairs, determining its points of 
 greatest strength and revealing its sources of greatest weakness. 
 It is a method of attack by examination and diagnosis before the 
 issuance of a prescription or other remedial measure. 
 
 This study has been presented as one chapter of a thesis offered 
 in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master 
 of Arts in the University of Texas, and its publication in this 
 form ahead of the completion of the thesis has been allowed. 
 
 I wish to acknowledge my gratitude to Dean W. S. Sutton 
 and Dr. A. Caswell Ellis for their counsel and many valuable 
 suggestions to me in the course of this survey. I am also indebt- 
 ed to Dr. J. C. Bell, Dr. L. W. Sackett, and Dr. T. A. Kelley 
 for their co-operation and assistance in connection with the 
 standard educational tests used in this piece of work. The as- 
 sistance of Miss L. R. Rogers, graduate student in education, in 
 tabulating the results of some of the educational tests given to 
 the pupils is most highly appreciated. I also wish to express 
 my appreciation to County Superintendent Miss Maud Doug- 
 las, and the teachers in the schools that were examined, for their 
 
 verv helpful co-operation. 
 
 E. E. Davis. 
 
.CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Economic and Social Conditions 7 
 
 General Description 7 
 
 Farm Tenancy 7 
 
 Social Classes ^ 
 
 The Mexicans 10 
 
 The NeoToes 12 
 
 The Whites 12 
 
 Churches 12 
 
 How some Laymen Stated the Problem IB 
 
 II. Finances 16 
 
 Sources of School Revenues 16 
 
 Comparison with the School INIaintenance Tax at 
 
 Austin, 16 
 
 Comparison with all the Rural Schools of Travis 
 
 County ^7 
 
 School Property ^ 8 
 
 Total Expenditure for Education 18 
 
 Discussion 21 
 
 III. Grounds, Buildings and Equipment 23 
 
 Yards and Grounds 2.S 
 
 Shade Trees and Play Apparatus 23 
 
 Outbuildings 23 
 
 Water Supply 23 
 
 Buildincys 23 
 
 Heating 23 
 
 Lightino^ 23 
 
 Cleanliness and General Order 2.^1 
 
 Interior Decorations -^ 
 
 Desks, Chairs, and Blackboards 2G 
 
 Libraries 2B 
 
 Conclusion 26 
 
 IV. Course of Study 2S 
 
 The Cast of Teaching each Subject. . 28 
 
 Drawing and Writing 2<^ 
 
 Spelling 29 
 
 Reading B1 
 
 Physiologj^ B2 
 
 Language and Grammar 3"^ 
 
 Arithmetic B3 
 
 . Geography 36 
 
Bulletin of the University of Tex<as 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Civics 36 
 
 Agriculture 36 
 
 Composition 37 
 
 History 37 
 
 High School Studies 37 
 
 Y. Teachers 39 
 
 Experience and Tenure of Office 39 
 
 Living Conditions 39 
 
 Certificates and Salaries 40 
 
 Attitude of Teachers 41 
 
 Instruction 41 
 
 Discus,sion 42 
 
 VI. Pupils 44 
 
 White Pupils 44 
 
 Mexican Pupils 44 
 
 Negro Pupils 46 
 
 Causes of Irregular Attendance 46 
 
 Distribution of Pupils in the Grades 46 
 
 VII. Conclusions and Recommendations 50 
 
 State Aid 50 
 
 School Equipment 50 
 
 The Securing of Teachers 51 
 
 A Graduated Land Tax 52 
 
 A County School Tax 53 
 
I. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 
 
 General Description: The area included in this survey con- 
 sists of that portion of Travis County south of the Colorado 
 River and east of the International and Great Northern Rail- 
 road, extending to the Hays and Caldwell County lines. It em- 
 braces approximately 200 square miles of territory, with a pop- 
 ulation of 13,360, or 66 persons to the square mile. It is strict- 
 ly a rural area, and outside of three small villages of less than 
 200 each, the people are engaged almost entirely in agriculture. 
 Most of the soil is black clay loam, quite fertile, and devoted, 
 very largerly, to the production of cotton. Fully ninety per 
 cent of all the land is in cultivation. But little land is on the 
 marke^. The average price of the few exchanges reported for 
 the tw^o years preceding this survey was $90.25 per acre. 
 
 Farm Tenancy: The high price of laud makes home-owning 
 almost prohibitive for many poor people ; 63.1 per cent of all 
 the families are tenants; and in some communities the rate of 
 farm tenancy to total population exceeds 80 per cent. In the 
 area included in this survey 35.2 per cent of the 511 white fam- 
 ilies do not own their homes, 78.4 per cent of the 398 negro fami- 
 lies are farm tenants, and less than 2 per cent of approximately 
 230 Mexican families were reported as owning their homes free 
 of debt. 
 
 Many of the whites and negroes classed as home-owners have 
 merely bargained for high-priced land which they will never 
 possess free of mortgage. In fact hard as the way of the renter 
 is, the lot in life for many of those who know nothing but the 
 one-crop system, would be easier if they w^ere renting. The in- 
 terest, the taxes, and the upkeep on the land they desire to 
 possess are costing them more per acre per year than the rent on 
 the same land would be. 
 
 A high percentage of farm tenants is not conducive to good 
 schools. It is not natural to expect the average farm tenant to 
 have the community interests that he would if he were perman- 
 ently located on land of his own. But a no less serious menace to 
 the prosperity of the public schools in. some of the tenant dis- 
 
Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 tricts in sight of the dome of the Capitol at Austin, is the ab- 
 sentee landlord who is opposed to local school taxes. Diligent 
 
 TENANCY IN THE AREA 
 SURVEYED 
 
 1130 families- all races 
 
 511 IDlute families 398 Jle^ro families 230 JRe.xican families 
 
 inquiry was made, and in this area of 200 square miles and more 
 than 13,000 population, only one absentee landlord was reported 
 as actively encouraging his tenants to vote for a school tax. 
 
Bural Schools in Travis County 9 
 
 After spending a day in one of these tenant communities, ex- 
 amining the pupils at an old school house equipped with furni- 
 ture thirty years out of date, the writer called on one of the 
 trustees for an interview. This trustee, who was a representa- 
 tive man of more than average intelligence, said: "Well, I 
 guess I know what you want. You want to know what makes 
 our school one of the sorriest in Travis County. I can teU you 
 that in about fifteen words. This community is owned and con- 
 trolled by about three men who do not live here. They keep 
 their tenants in fear of them. Two yeara ago when we were cir- 
 culating a petition for a tax election Mr. A. came out and said 
 to his tenants, 'You vote a tax on me and I will see that you pay 
 it I will raise the rent on the last one of you.' Mr. B. came 
 out and said to his tenants, 'Gentlemen, you may vote a tax on 
 me if vou chose, but you can prepare to move next year if you 
 do.' Their bluffs carried. That was "the last of the proposed 
 school tax. You have found our school in a deplorable condi- 
 tion and I see no hope for any improvement." 
 
 Forty-two per cent of the school districts in this area have 
 no local school tax. The average rate for all the districts is less 
 than 13 cents. Compare this with Runnels County, where 6^- 
 per cent of all the districts in the county have voted the maxi- 
 mum school tax of 50 cents each. Much of the poor financial 
 showing for that portion of the Travis County rural schools in- 
 cluded in this study is attributable to wealthy property holders 
 both resident and non-resident, who object to paying school 
 
 Thief among the resident landlords opposed to paying school 
 taxes are those who operate their farms with negro and Mexi- 
 can tenants. Not all of these persons protest against a local 
 school tax, but most of them do. They dislike the idea of pay- 
 ing out money for educating negro and Mexican children. ^ 
 
 Social Classes: This economic discord is further augmented 
 by sharplv drawn lines of social and racial demarcation. The 
 human element is out of harmony with itself. A population 
 consisting of approximately 5280 whites, 3320 Mexicans, and 
 4760 negroes, is not productive of first class community spirit. 
 In a number of communities where the whites once predommat- 
 
10 
 
 Bulletin-of the University of Texas 
 
 ed, cliurches are now depleted of their forces, schools are badly 
 run down, and all races are destitute of any well-organized 
 forms of social recreation. 
 
 Where the Mexicans Live 
 
 TJie Mexicans: During recent years there has been a very 
 marked increase in the number of Mexican farm tenants in some 
 of the white communities. The advent of the Mexican tenant 
 seems to be attributable in the main to two causes: (1) the in- 
 flux of refugees from Mexico due to the revolutions in that 
 
Rural ISchools in Travis County H 
 
 country during the past five years; (2) tlie lower standards of 
 living on the part of the Mexicans, which makes tlie Mexican 
 tenant move profitable to the landlord than the white tenant. 
 
 This wave of peon and middle-class Mexican refugees has 
 very perceptibly extended itself along the International and 
 Great Northern, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroads 
 as far north as Bexar, Hays, Cald\yell, and Travis Counties. The 
 1910 census showed the greatest density of Mexican population 
 in Texas to be in Bexar and Caldwell Counties. Those Mexi- 
 cans have since served as a nucleus to which their refugee 
 friends have gravitated and spread out to neighboring coun- 
 ties. "Nor have the American farmers been slow to take advan- 
 tage of the Mexican's economic dependence and low standards 
 of living to exploit his muscle for all it is worth. In this way 
 the general standards and desirability of many communities as 
 places for white people to live have been very materially re- 
 duced." 
 
 The displacement of white tenants by Mexican tenants is so 
 diluting the white population that its effects are very telling in 
 the schools. The case reported at the Pleasant Hill School ex- 
 emplifies this statement. Four years ago there were eighty-five 
 white pupils and three teachers. Now there are only fifty-six 
 white pupils and two teachers, with thirty-nine Mexican child- 
 ren of school age running at large over the community and not 
 one of them reported as having attended school a single daj,^ the 
 past school year. 
 
 In those districts where the Mexicans and the white children 
 attend school together, there are such differences of race, lan- 
 guage, and character, that there is a serious lack of congeni- 
 ality among the pupils. For this reason separate schools for the 
 Mexican children are preferred at times by the Mexicans as well 
 as the whites. While this may not be true in portions of 
 Southwest Texas, where the Mexicans have been established for 
 so many years, it is decidedly true in Travis County. 
 
12 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 TJie Negroes: While the negro's standard of living is equal- 
 ly as low as that of the Mexican, the negro is not such a serious 
 social problem. This is due to two facts: (1) The negroes 
 speak the English language while the Mexicans do not; (2) the 
 negroes have a separate school system while the Mexicans are 
 legally classed as white, and are entitled to school privileges 
 along with the white children. 
 
 TJie Whites: Conditions are still further aggravated by the 
 fact that the whites themselves are not homogeneous. They 
 consist mainly of Americans, Germans, and Swedes, separated 
 from each other by the barriers of language, custom, and re- 
 ligious creeds that prevent the highest type of community co- 
 operation. Furthermore, during recent years, many of the well- 
 to-do white families have moved to the city, and at present 127, 
 or 25 per cent, of the 511 white families remaining in the coun- 
 try have automobiles that take m-any of them to the city for 
 their church and social life. 
 
 Most of the whites live as individuals and not as very loyal 
 members of a community or of any organization. Of all the 
 whites, the Germans are about the only ones that have any defi- 
 nite social organizations other than a few secret lodges. There 
 are three German halls — Stolle Hall, Onion Creek Hall, and Elm 
 Grove Hall. These are German social centers. There they hold 
 their dances and other social events. Most of the social centers 
 reported were nothing more than mere congregating places for 
 men and boys of all races and nationalities at country stores, 
 gins, and barber-shops. 
 
 Churches : The churches in this area are as dead as the gen- 
 eral dissipation of community interests can well make them. 
 Some buildings are already abandoned and others nearing aban- 
 donment. Congregations once strong in numbers and spiritu- 
 ally prosperous are now weak and dying victims of the social 
 and economic disorder brought about during the past decade 
 by the townward drift of many prominent families, the corre- 
 
Rural Schools i7i Travis County 15?" . 
 
 pondhig ingress of foreigners, and the rapid increase in the 
 number of negro and Mexican tenants. The Baptist and the 
 Methodist churches at Cloud are sad examples of this sort. 
 
 The Swedish Lutheran church at Elroy is the only church 
 in the entire area that maintains a resident pastor for full time, 
 and is also the only one that seems to be prospering in a sub- 
 stantial way. Most of the other churches are served by absen- 
 tee pastors with one to three or four services per month, while 
 two of the thirteen white churches were entirely without pas- 
 tors. 
 
 In a white population of more than five thousand only seven 
 organized Sunday schools were reported and most of them were 
 very weak and poorly attended. On asking the teachers, "How 
 is Sunday usually spent by the majority of the white people ini 
 this communitv?" the following answers were received: "Rnn- 
 ning over the' country"; "visiting and loafing"; "wandering: 
 aimlessly about"; "sleeping and resting"; "dancing at the 
 German hall"; "at church and Sunday school." At only four 
 of the fourteen school districts investigated, did the principal 
 of the school mention church and Sunday school as the chief 
 Sunday attraction of the people in the community. 
 
 How Some Laymen Stated the rroUem: That the high price 
 of land, the absentee landlord, the farm tenant, the Mexican, 
 the negro, and the automobile have brought about almost insur- 
 mountable social and economic complications in this area, the 
 following statements from local teachers, trustees, and church 
 officials will amply attest : 
 
 "Our church was organized in 1885. I am a charter mem- 
 • ber. I was superintendent of the Sunday school for ten years. 
 I got discouraged and resigned two years ago. Our church is the 
 deadest it has ever been in all its existence. Lack of pastoral 
 leadership, indiff'erence among laymen, automobiles for the well- 
 to-do, the loss of some of our best families, and the rapid in- 
 crease of Mexican and negro tenants have done it."— A deacon. 
 "We can get into our car and go to town just about as quicldy 
 as we can go to our own church out here; then we hear a sermon 
 —a real sermon. We used to have big crowds at our church, but 
 now there are only a few faces at each service."— A steward. 
 
J. 4 
 
 Bulletm of the University of Texas 
 
 '"I recently moved my church membership to Austin — eight 
 Tmiles. I did not want to do it, but had to in self-defense. We 
 ican not have anything worth while out here any longer. The 
 preachers we get are so weak they are not interesting. I prefer 
 
 Abandoned Church at Carl at Top; Baptist Chl-rch at 
 Cloud in Middle; Methodist Church at Cloud at Bottom 
 
 to go to town where I can receive some instruction from a ser- 
 .jnon that is really worth while." — A deacon. 
 
 •^'The great trouble with our community is we have too few 
 ■wTiite families. Mr. A's farm of 570 acres has but one white 
 family on it; Mr. B's farm of 900 acres has not a single white 
 
Rural Scliools in Travis County la 
 
 family; and Mr. C's farm of 400 acres is run entirely by ne- 
 groes and Mexicans."— A scbool trustee. 
 
 "Our schoolhouse is one of the poorest white schoolhouses in 
 the county, I have been informed. Our teacher is but little, if 
 any, above' the average for the country. But the schoolhouse 
 and the classroom are not all that is wrong. There is some- 
 thing further back. The roving tenant farmers, a few hostile 
 landlords, and the difference of race among the people in this 
 community, I regard as the principal hindering causes."— A 
 school trustee. 
 
 "It is hard to keep your school organized and orderly when 
 new pupils keep dropping in from other schools as the tenants 
 change. Some new ones persist in talking out loud and moving 
 about in the room because they were allowed to do so before 
 cominsr here." — A teacher. 
 
 "I sometimes think it would be better not to start school until 
 after Christmas, as most of the time prior to Christmas is spent 
 in picking cotton and moving."— A teacher in a tenant com- 
 munity. 
 
 Final Suggestion: While the economic and social condirons 
 described in this chapter are by no means representative of the 
 entire State, similar conditions may be found elsewhere in the 
 State. In fact, there are very few counties, if any, so fortunate 
 a.s to have entirely escaped all the evils mentioned— the selfish 
 landlord, the restless tennant, the movement from country to 
 town, the negro and the I\Iexican, and white foreigners of 
 un-American spirit. Many communities in Texas could profit 
 very materially if they would only take inventory and find 
 where they stand religiously, educationally, and industrially. 
 A correct diagnosis is essential to the cure of any evil. 
 
II. FINANCES 
 
 Sources of School Revenue: The schools iucluued in the 
 area of this educational survey depend almost entirely on the 
 State appropriation for their financial support. Of the four- 
 teen school districts, six have no local maintenance tax; four 
 have 10 cents; three have 20 cents; and one has 25 cents. In 
 four districts buildings have been erected and partially equip- 
 ped by issuing bonds. The tax rates supporting the bonds is- 
 sued in these four districts are 8 cents, 10 cents, 14 cents, and 
 25 cents, respectively. 
 
 In 1915, these tax rates produced a total of $4047 for school 
 maintenance, and a total of $2102 for the interest and sinking 
 
 AMOUNT OF LOCAL SCHOOL MAINTENANCE TAX 
 PER CHILD. 1915 
 
 J!ustin 
 
 IB 
 
 ,ilrea Surveyed 
 
 fund on the school bonds that had been issued. The taxable 
 wealth in the fourteen school districts consists mainly of farm 
 lands, and was rendered to the Travis County Tax Assessor in 
 1915 at approximately $5,241,078.00. If all the local school 
 taxes collected in the eight districts voting such taxes had been 
 distributed evenly over the entire wealth of the fourteen dis- 
 tricts, the maintenance rate would have been 7.7 cents and the 
 bond rate 4 cents. 
 
 Comparison With the School Maintenance Taxes of Austin: 
 In 1915, the property of Austin as valued by the City Assessor 
 was $23,236,691.00 and as valued by the County Assessor was 
 $15,578,130.00. The local school maintenance tax of 45 cents 
 was levied against the valuation made by the City Assessor, 
 
Rural ScJwols in Travis County 
 
 17 
 
 producing $104,565.00. If the levy had been against the valua- 
 tion made by the County Assessor, as is n^'acticed in the rural 
 districts, a tax rate of 67.1 cents would have been necessary to 
 produce that amount. 
 
 These rural districts are not financing their schools to the 
 full extent of their ability. They are contributing annually to 
 their local school maintenance fund 7.7 cents from each $100 of 
 wealth, while Austin is contributing 67.1 cents. In other words, 
 according to its financial ability, Austin is doing practically nine 
 
 AMOUNT INVESTED IN SCHOOL PROPERTY 
 PER CHILD 1915 
 
 h66.86 
 
 ?er Ulhite child in Jlustin 
 ?er Jle^'ro child in jlustin 
 
 ferlDhiie child in rural area surveijed 
 
 'PerJie^ro child in Tural area surveyed 
 
 times as much for the education of its children as these country 
 schools are doing. In 1915, the local school maintenance taxes 
 in Austin amounted to $15.38 per child, and in the rural area 
 nnder consideration, $1.62 per child. 
 
 Comparison 'Wii% All the Rural Schools of Travis Co'unty: 
 It is disappointing to note that the entire fifty-nine common 
 school districts in Travis County are giving no better financial 
 support to their schools than the fourteen districts in the south- 
 ern part of the countj^ included in this study. In 1915, the 
 
18 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 entire wealth of Travis County as valued by the county tax as- 
 sessor was $38,072,520.00. Subtract from this the renditions for 
 the towns of Manor, Pflugerville, and Austin, and you have ap- 
 proximately $20,494,390.00, the amount of property rendered 
 for taxation in the fifty-nine rural school districts of Travis 
 County. The entire local school taxes for both maintenance 
 and bond purposes in all the rural school districts of the county 
 in 1915, amounted to $14,992.02, or $2.39 per child. A tax rate 
 of 7.3 cents on all the property of these districts would have 
 produced that amount. 
 
 It will be recalled from paragraph two of this chapter that 
 a uniform maintenance tax rate of 7.7 cents, and a uniform 
 bond tax rate of 4 cents would have produced an amount equiv- 
 alent to the local school taxes for all purposes paid in the rural 
 area where this investigation was conducted. The rural dis- 
 tricts in the area surveyed are slightly above the average for the 
 rural districts of the entire county in the financial support of 
 their schools. They contribute an average of 11.7 cents from 
 each $100 of wealth, while the average for the county is 7.3 
 cents. 
 
 School Property: For the school year 1915-16, the city of 
 Austin had 6799 children, white and colored, enumerated as 
 entitled to free school privileges, and $817,925, or $120.30 per 
 child, invested in school property. For the same year this rural 
 area, had 2489 children, and $31,270, or $12.57 per child, in- 
 vested in school property, ^^^lile, as has been shown, the city 
 of Austin is almost nine times as li])eral as thes?^ rural districts 
 in providing maintenance funds foi' its schools, it is at the same 
 time almost ten times as liberal jn providing houses and other 
 school equipment. 
 
 The value of the school property per white child in the coun- 
 try, excluding Mexicans, is $25.72. The value of school prop- 
 erty per negro child is $9.02. Austin has 2371 negro school 
 children, with $30.04 each invested in school property. Or in 
 other words, Austin has $6.32 more per child invested in school 
 •equipment for its negro children than these rural districts have 
 for their white children. 
 
 Total Expenditure for Education: The total amount raised 
 
FINANCIAL STRENGTH AS INDICATED 
 
 BY PROPERTY RENDITIONS TO 
 THE TRA9IS COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR 1915 
 
 lOealth per capi ta popu lation in Jlustin \Dealth per capita population in area surwjed 
 
 AMOUNT EXPENDED FOR SCHOOL MAIN- 
 TENANCE FOR EACH '100 OF WEALTH 
 
 jlustin 
 
 J\ll rural schools in Travis County 
 
 Jliisttn is contributing more tlian nine times as much from each *tOO of 
 .Ijiealth for Public School JUaintenance as the rural schools of Travis County 
 
Rural Schools in Travis CoiDity 
 
 21 
 
 by local taxation for school maintenance and for providinL? the 
 interest and sinkino- fund on the school bonds in this group of 
 rural districts in 1915 was $6149, or $2.47 per child. Add to 
 this amount the $6 per capita appropriated by the State and you 
 have $8.47 for the total amount expended for the education 
 of each child that year. In 1914, there was expended for the 
 education of each child in Illinois $38.61, and in Utah $38.88. 
 Discussion: These facts and figures may seem startling to 
 some people, but to one familiar with rural school finances m 
 Texas they are no revelation. Nor do they militate against 
 Travis County as compared with some of her neighbors. Some 
 counties immediately adjacent to Travis County, in the very 
 heart of the richest black land that Texas possesses, would m all 
 probability make no better showing. It is doubtful if a single 
 county in the entire Black Land Belt can boast of a record like 
 Eunnels County in "West Texas, where thirty-one out of fifty 
 rural school districts have voted the maximum school tax of 
 50 cents. 
 
 The remedy for the financial depression of these country 
 schools is the'voting of more local taxes. But this remedy, for 
 causes mentioned in chapter I of this bulletin, seems to be well 
 nigh impracticable in some districts. And what makes it more 
 serious still, there are many other persons than those mentioned 
 in chapter I who oppose a school tax. Some of them do it be- 
 cause of an inherent dislike for the tax idea. They feel that 
 taxation is synonymous with oppression. They take fright when 
 a tax of any sort is proposed. 
 
 It is strange to note that men who pay the smallest amount 
 of school taxes are sometimes among those loudest in their pro- 
 testations. And stranger still, they not uncommonly have large 
 families of children of school age who would become the im- 
 mediate beneficiaries of such taxes. 
 
 These people have never stopped and considered long enough 
 and seriouslv enough to fully appreciate the value of an edu- 
 cational investment, or the relative smallness of the amount in- 
 vested even when the maximum school tax of 50 cents on the 
 $100 propertv valuation is paid. A one-cent postage stamp 
 would pay a 50 cent school tax on one dollar for two years, or 
 
22 Bulletin of ihe University of Texas 
 
 a 25 cent school tax on one dollar for four years. After due 
 consideration, there are few people who would object to con- 
 tributing so small a sum as one-half of one cent from the annual 
 earnings of each dollar to so worthy a cause as that of education. 
 
 A local school tax of 50 cents on the $100 property valuation 
 in each district of this wealthy agricultural area, if properly 
 administered, would build and equip new schoolhouses, install 
 adequate libraries, extend the lengths of school terms, and give 
 to these country children most of the educational advantages 
 now accorded to the children of the nearby city of Austin. Such 
 a tax would produce .$10.53 per child, as compared with the 
 present average of .$2.47. This would compare very favorably 
 with the $15.38 local school taxes per child in Austin last year. 
 
 The most sacred heritage of any community is its children. 
 The most sacred investments any community can make are those 
 investments for the protection and education of its youth. 
 
III. GKOUNDS, BUILDINGS, AND EQUIPMENT 
 
 Yards and Grounds: The school yards for the fifteen white 
 schools embraced a total of 21% acres, or slightly less than li/^ 
 acres each. Three of them were enclosed w'ith good fences, and 
 four had no fences at all. I?i ten out of the eleven cases where 
 the yards were fenced, the gates and stiles were in very poor 
 condition. 
 
 Shade Trees and Play Apparatus: Nine of the school yards 
 were well supplied with shade trees and six had none. Nine of 
 the schools were equipped with baslcet ball courts, seven with 
 baseball diamonds, two with seesaws, one with croquet courts, 
 and three had no play apparatus of any sort. 
 
 Oufbuildings: Most of the outbuildings were in very bad 
 condition. At two places there were no toilets for the boys. The 
 only fly-proof toilets were at Maha. At Elroy, where twenty or 
 more of the pupils drove to school, the community had erected 
 a very commodious shed for the vehicl'"s and driving stock. 
 
 Water Supply: — The sources of water supply were as follows: 
 1 spring, 3 underground cisterns with buckets and pulleys, 6 
 overground cisterns, and 5 wells at farm houses and country 
 stores at an average distance of about 300 y cards from the 
 schoolhouse. At one school the water was distributed to the 
 pupils by bubbling foiuitains, at four by hydrants and individual 
 cups, at five by individual cups and common buckets, and at 
 five by common cups and common buckets. 
 
 Buildings: Two of the buildings were constructed of brick: 
 one of stone; and twelve of wood. Four of them were in good 
 condition; two in fair condition; and nine in poor condition. 
 There were twenty-eight classrooms, one hall, thirteen cloak 
 rooms, and no auditoriums. Ten window panes were missing, 
 and at thirteen schools the window panes were not kept clean. 
 
 Heating: There w^ere five jacketed stoves and twenty-three 
 unjaeketed stoves. Thre? of the stoves were neatly polished and 
 twenty-five v/ere unpolished. At most places the heating and 
 ventilating of schoolrooms was very unsatisfactory. 
 
 Lighting: Taken as a whole, the lighting was as unsatis- 
 
Eleven of the "White Schools Included in This Survey 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 
 
 25 
 
 factory as the heating. Only four buildings had the windows 
 grouped so as to prevent cross-lighting, and the seats so arranged 
 that no strong outside light came directly into the pupils' eyes. 
 Eleven schools had adjustable window shades and four had no 
 window shades at all. 
 
 Cleanliness and General Order: Most of the floors vvere well 
 swept, though the physical condition of some of them was such 
 as to make it very difficult to keep them clean and sanitary. At 
 seven of the buildings the floors were old, .rough, splintery, and 
 
 Source of Water Supply at the Cloud School 
 
 filled with numerous cracks that harbored dust and dirt. Four- 
 teen of the buildings w^ere swept daily, and one twice a week. 
 In every case the sweeping was done either by the teachers or 
 the pupils. 
 
 In three instances the interior walls were very dirty and the 
 furniture unclean and badly defaced. In ten schools the chalk 
 rails were in a very foul condition and the erasures were satu- 
 rated with chalk dust. 
 
 Interior Decorations: In the entire twenty-ei' juit schoolrooms, 
 
26 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 only twelve g-ood pictures copied from the world's greatest ar- 
 tists were found. Most of the other pictures consisted of calen- 
 dars and cheap chromos. However, the Avail decorations from 
 drawings of the primary department at Cloud and Elroy were 
 very appropriate and attractive. 
 
 Desks, Chairs, and Blackboards: Thirteen rooms were 
 equipped with a desk and chair each for the teacher, while fif- 
 teen rooms were not. Eight rooms had as much as twenty-five 
 linear feet of good hyloplate blackboard each, while twenty rooms 
 had less amounts of blackboard and quite often what they did 
 have was of a very poor quality. 
 
 There were only three schools — St. Elmo, Carl, and Elm 
 Grove — that were seated throughout with single desks arranged 
 so that all the desks in the same row were of the same size and 
 properly adapted to the comfort of the children occupying them. 
 Seven other schools were partially seated with single desks. In 
 quite a number of rooms the desks were not fastened to the 
 floor and were constantly being moved out of position by the 
 pupils. This caused much disorder and useless noise. In all 
 the schools, by actual count, there were 212 pupils improperly 
 and uncom-fortably .seated. 
 
 Libraries: Twelve schools had cabinets for their libraries, 
 and three had none. All the libraries consisted of a total of 848 
 volumes valued at $312.50. Three of the libraries had no books 
 that could be classed as useless for public school purposes, while 
 in twelve of them, from ten to seventy-five per cent of the books 
 were government reports or other volumes of very little value on 
 the library shelves in a small public school. The total number 
 of books, other than text books, read during the previous year 
 by all pupils above the second grade in these schools was 907, 
 or less than two books each. 
 
 Conclusion: The physical equipment of the fifteen white 
 schools in the area surveyed is in all probability very far below 
 the standards of school equipment set up by any town in Texas 
 containing the same amount of wealth and population. If the 
 amount invested ni school property per child in the white schools 
 of this area (^an be taken as an index of the educational interest 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
Rural Scltools in Tracis Countij 
 
 27 
 
 of the people, it compares with the interest tal<en in the educa- 
 tion of the white children of Austin as 1 to 51/2. 
 
 What makes the situation all the more serious is that these 
 schools are not only far below the average city in the relative 
 amount of school equipment, but much of the equipment they 
 do have is very inferior in kind and quality. In other words, 
 the school property in this rural area is not so well adapted to 
 school needs in the country as the school property of most cities 
 is to school needs in the city. A small laboratory well identified 
 
 Interior View of the ]\Lvha School — a One-room School 
 
 with the problems of farm and the farm home, a library and 
 reading- room, and an auditorium used as a community meeting 
 place, should constitute essential parts of every ideal country 
 school. 
 
IV. COURSE OF STUDY 
 
 It was gratifying to find that twelve of the fifteen principals 
 were supplied with copies of the Course of Study issued by the 
 State Department of Education and had put to good use many 
 of the suggestions from it in framing the programs for their 
 year's worlc. But in most eases the spirit of this course of study 
 was not followed so closely as the letter of it. Some of the 
 teachers adapted their instruction well to the lives and needs 
 of their pupils. Others were formal, confined to the textbooks, 
 and could not relate their instruction to the experiences of their 
 pupils in a profitable way. 
 
 Table Show^ing the Subjects Taught, the Number of Pupils 
 
 IN Each Subject, and the Cost per Pupil per 
 
 Month for Teaching Each Subject* 
 
 Cost per 
 
 Subject Number pupil 
 
 of pupils per month 
 
 Drawing 364 .07 
 
 Writing 616 .11 
 
 Physiology 333 .18 
 
 Plane Geometry 33 .25 
 
 Spelling 569 .29 
 
 Physical Geography . . 85 .30 
 
 Composition 248 .33 
 
 Arithmetic 585 .54 
 
 Geography 272 .55 
 
 History 266 .57 
 
 Physics 14 . .60 
 
 Reading 691 .62 
 
 Latin 24 .63 
 
 Civics 36 .63 
 
 *These estimates are based on the amounts paid the teachers in 
 salaries and the amount of time devoted to each subject as indicated 
 by the daily programs of the teachers. 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 29 
 
 Cost per 
 
 Subject Number pupil 
 
 of pupils per month 
 
 Language 278 .64 
 
 Agriculture 55 .68 
 
 Grammar 112 .79 
 
 Bookkeeping 6 1.39 
 
 Algebra 68 1.56 
 
 Spanish 13 1.69 
 
 Drawing: Drawing was taught to 364 pupils in the primary- 
 grades. Less time was given to drawing than to any other sub- 
 ject in the course of study. From such evidences as the observer 
 could gather there were only three teachers at all qualified to 
 teach this very important subject. At some places it was pass- 
 ing by default. 
 
 Writing: The quality of the penmanship of these schools was 
 measured by the Ayers scale for measuring handwriting.* The 
 accompanying table shows how this handwriting compares with 
 that of pupils of the Iioyal Street School at Dallas as measured 
 by the same scale. It will be noticed that the Dallas pupils in 
 all the grades reported in this table went a few points higher 
 on the scale than did the pupils of this group of rural schools 
 in Travis County. 
 
 Table Cmparing the Handw^riting of the Pupils in the Rural 
 
 Schools Surveyed with that of the Pupils of the 
 
 Royal Street Schooi: at Dallas as IMeas- 
 
 URED BY the AyERS ScALE FOR MeAS- 
 UTflNG HaNDAVRITING 
 
 Grade 3 
 
 Dallas scores 34 
 
 Rural school scores 29.3 
 
 Spelling: Standard tests in spelling taken from the Ayers and 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 36 
 
 46 
 
 49.8 
 
 47.6 
 
 33.5 
 
 43.3 
 
 43.4 
 
 46.4 
 
 *Ayers, Leonard P., A Scale for Measuring the Quality of Hand- 
 writing of School Children, Bulletin No. 113, Russell Sage Founda- 
 tion, New York City. 
 
30 Bidletin of the University of Texas 
 
 the Buckingham Spelling Scales* were given 243 pupils from the 
 third to the tenth grades. The pupils from the second to the sev- 
 enth grades in the Dallas schools were given these tests last year. 
 'A comparative study of the results shows that these rural school 
 pupils were from one to four years behind the Dallas pupils in 
 spelling. The fourth grade was 1.03 years behind the Dallas 
 fourth grade, and the seventh grade was 2.73 years behind the 
 Dallas seventh grade. According to the system of scoring, the 
 tenth grade scored 59.1 as compared with a score of 60.9 for the 
 Dallas sixth grade. Taking Dallas as the standard, the tenth grade 
 pupils in the rural schools were found to be 4.4 years behind 
 their grade in spelling. 
 
 There were at least two causes for the poor spelling : 
 (1) At Elroy, a large three-teacher school, and the best 
 school included in this survey in its internal organization and 
 the character of instruction given, the children are of Swedish 
 and German parentage and speak English only when at school. 
 That the almost exclusive use of the Swedish and German 
 languages at home was to some extent responsible for the very 
 poor grades made in the tests given these children in spelling 
 and English composition, there can be no doubt. The same 
 thing was true of the German community of Elm Grove. (2) 
 Too much of the instruction given in spelling in several of the 
 schools was by the old method of having tlic class stand up in a 
 row next to the wall while the words pronounced by the teacher 
 were spelled orall}^ At some schools practically no other sort of 
 instruction in spelling was given. With more written exercises 
 properly conducted, the spelling in most of these schools could 
 be greatly improved. The oral method has been experimentally 
 proven to be one of the least effective of all the ways of teaching 
 spelling. 
 
 It is costing these fifteen schools $167.45 per moijth, or $1,- 
 136.60 per year to teach spelling. At the same time, if the facts 
 
 *Ayers, Leonard P., A Scale for Measuring Ability in Spelling, 
 Pamphlet E 139, Russell Sage Foundation, New York City; Buck- 
 ingham, R. P.. Columbia Contributions to Education, No. ,59, Tep'-ii- 
 er's College, Columbia University, New York City; Sackett, L. W.^ 
 Measuring a School System by the Buckingham Suelling Scale, 
 School and Society, Vol. II, No. 50, pages 860-864, December 11, 
 1915, and No. 51, pages 894-898, December 18, 1915. 
 
Rural Schools in Travis Connhj 31 
 
 were known, it is quite likely tliat the pnpils have learned much 
 more spelling from their readino- and their written exercises in 
 other studies than the formal oral instruction given them in the 
 spelling classes. That some changes in the methods of instruc- 
 tion in spelling would bring greater returns to these schools for 
 the amount annually expended for teaching that subject, there 
 can be no doubt. Close investigation leads one to believe that, 
 as it now stands, the amount spent each year for teaching spell- 
 ing is well-nigh wasted. 
 
 Heading: Eeading was taught to 691 pupils at a cost of 
 $426.29 per month. Tests in reading taken from Thorndike's_ 
 Reading Scale* were given to these pupils. The grades made 
 in reading were much better than those made in spelling, though 
 all but the tenth grade were below standard. The other grades 
 were all the way from one-quarter year to one whole year be- 
 low the records made on these tests elsewhere. The poorest 
 showing was made by the seventh grade. , It was barely able to 
 pass tlie sixth grade standard tests. The next poorest was the 
 fifth grade. It was one-half year below standard. The tenth 
 grade was the best, and passed the tenth grade tests Avith an 
 average of .OQi^ per cent above the standard for tenth-grade 
 pupils. 
 
 Out of a total enrollment of 84.3 pupils only twelve had sur- 
 vived to the tenth grade. In all probability they were repre- 
 sentative of the brightest and the most courageous pupils that 
 entered these schools. Their superior reading ability is more 
 likely traceable to superior innate ability, than to any superiority 
 of instruction given in the small, overcrowded schools they have 
 attended. 
 
 If the school libraries were well supplied with an abundance 
 of reading material well adapted for use in the grades from the 
 first to the eighth, the reading ability of these pupils would be 
 greatly improved. They read no better than they do, simply 
 because they have never had the opportunity to do more read- 
 ing. Thev have not become interested in reading, because they 
 
 *Tliorndike, E. L., An Improved Scale for Measuring Ability in 
 Reading Teacher's College Record, November, 1915, and January, 
 1916. 
 
32 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 have not had many interesting books to read. Pupils seldom 
 form the reading habit when most of their available reading 
 material is confined to a few textbooks grown old and unattrac- 
 tive from use. 
 
 At the close of each of the reading examinations, a careful 
 count was made by the pupils of all the books, not including 
 textbooks, they had read during the year. Nine hundred and 
 seven books, or less than two books each for the 522 pupils 
 above second grade, were reported. A very large number of 
 these were books purchased by the teachers and lent to the 
 pupils. 
 
 These schools can make no one investment that will be of 
 more value to them than to install libraries supplied with an 
 abundance of good reading material well adapted to the interests 
 and abilities of all the pupils below the eighth grade. 
 
 Physiology : No examinations were given the pupils in phy- 
 siology. The interesting thing is that there were only two sub- 
 jects below high school, drawing and physical geography, that 
 were given less time than physiology. There was $29.86 more 
 per month paid for teaching 112 pupils in English grammar 
 than for teaching 333 pupils in physiology and hygiene. As a 
 fundamental need in life which is the more important, that a 
 child of fourteen have a practical working knowledge of hygiene 
 and sanitation, or that it know how to parse a noun or conjugate 
 a verb? 
 
 Excepting a set of physiology charts at one school, there was 
 no other apparatus for the teaching of this subject. Indications 
 M'ere that most of the instruction was taken from textbooks. In 
 this way the pupils had learned some human anatomy and pos- 
 sibly had gotten an imaginary conception of the forms and func- 
 tions of some of the bones and organs of the body. But as for 
 that great body of information that has to do with food values, 
 properly balanced rations, and the lessons of sanitation for lioth 
 man and beast, they got very little in a concrele way. 
 
 Language and Grammar: More was being paid per pupil per 
 month for instruction in English grammar than for any other 
 subject below high school. There were 112 pupils receiving in- 
 struction in English grammar at a cost of 79- cents each per 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 33 
 
 month, and 278 pupils in the beginners' language courses at a 
 cost of 64 cents each per month. Yet, in the face of the great 
 expenditure of time and money on these subjects, the written 
 English of the pupils in all the grades was very poor. 
 
 To say that there is something wrong with the system of teach- 
 ing English grammar in these schools does not necessarily mili- 
 tate against the teachers, for they teach this subject just about 
 as it is taught elsewhere, and no doubt their pupils made as good 
 showing on the tests given as most pupils similarly environed 
 would have made. But the fact still remains that much of the 
 time spent on technical grammar must be almost or (piite lost 
 
 to the pupil. 
 
 If more attention were given to the practical use of written 
 and spoken English in connection with the other branches, and 
 less time spent in teaching formal grammar, the character of the 
 instruction in English in the elementary grades could be greatly 
 improved Some educators have suggested, and that with very 
 good reasons, that formal grammar should not be taught before 
 second-vear high school. 
 
 There was no Greek grammar worthy of mention when Homer 
 wrote. In the development of any language the very last ]mrt 
 of it to take form is its terminations and its grammar. But in 
 our instruction we often reverse this natural process, by attempt- 
 ting to force an understanding of technical forms before the 
 child even has acquired a working knowledge of a very limited 
 vocabulary. This is like planting seed in soil that is too dry 
 Ind cold for germination. More written lessons on the subjects 
 of o-eooraphv, history, botany, insects, the farm, and other things 
 that the pupils know something about, together with more books 
 full of interest to children in the libraries of our country schools, 
 will produce a much better harvest of English papers on exam- 
 ination day than can be hoped to come from a study of ad- 
 jectives and adverbs. 
 
 Arithmetic: Proficiency in the use of numbers requires three 
 things- (1) speed in the fundamental operations; (2) accuracy 
 in the fundamental operations; (3) correct reasoning. To test 
 these three elements of ability, Courtis' standard researcn te°ts, 
 Series B, for speed and accuracy in arithmetic,* and Starch s 
 reasoning tests. Scale A, in arithmetic** were used. 
 
 The Courtis tests for speed and accuracy in arithmetic have 
 been given to thousands of children in other states and the 
 
3i Bulleti7i of the University of Texas 
 
 results carefully tabulated. These tests were given to the chil- 
 dren in this group of rural schools under the same conditions 
 and in the same way they have been given elsewhere. Each 
 child was given a printed list of the examples in addition, sub- 
 traction, multiplication, and division. Then in the spirit of a 
 contest rather than in the spirit of an examination, the entire 
 group of pupils in each grade worked during the time assigned 
 to each list of examples, each individual endeavoring to solve 
 correctly as many examples as possible. The time given to ad- 
 dition was eight minutes, to subtraction four minutes, and to 
 multiplication six minutes, and to division eight minutes. 
 
 With the exception of two rooms, the pupils worked at these 
 tests with the greatest enthusiasm, quite unconscious of the fact 
 that they were undergoing an examination. In the two rooms in 
 question, before the examiner could get matters under control, 
 the teachers became nervous and admonished their pupils not 
 to get excited, but to keep natural, for thej'' were going to be 
 given an examination. Of course the grades made by these 
 pupils were very poor and not at all representative of their 
 ability. For the sake of scientific accuracy, they were not 
 counted in the final tabulation. 
 
 These examinations were given in February and March, 1916. 
 Most of them were given in March. A study of the accompany- 
 ing table will show how the children of this group of Texas rural 
 schools compare in speed and accuracy in arithmetic with the 
 February examinations of 3618 children taken in a general way 
 from cities in several states in 1914, with the May examinations 
 of 55,271 children in the Boston schools in 1915, with the May 
 examinations of 2850 children in the Detroit schools in 1915, and 
 with the June examinations of 11,800 children in the state of 
 Iowa in 1915. 
 
 In every instance the number of examples attempted, and the 
 number of examples worked correctly, were lower in this group 
 of country schools than for the corresponding grades in Boston, 
 and Detroit, and among the 11,800 pupils tested in Iowa. Some- 
 times this difference was as great as 50 per cent, the average 
 difference being approximately 25.5 per cent. 
 
 Throughout this series of tests for speed and accuracy in 
 
 * Courtis, S. A., Manual of Instruction for Giving and Scoring the 
 three R's, Department of Co-operative Research, Detroit, Mich. 
 
 **Starch, Daniel E., A Scale for Measuring Ability in Arithmetic 
 Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. VII, No. 4, April, 1916. 
 
Rural ScJiOols in Travis Coiuity 
 
 35 
 
 arithmetic the fourth grade pupils came neai'cr measuriug up 
 to the standard than was true of the pupils in any other grade. 
 An examination of the table will show that the fourth grade is 
 the only grade that measures up to the scores made by the 3618 
 children in the general tabulation made up from the several 
 states. As compared with the scores made on these tests by the 
 corresponding grades elsewhere, the fifth, sixth, and seventh 
 grades made the poorest showing of all. The eighth grade scores 
 were slightly better. 
 
 COURTIS STANDARD RESEARCH TESTS FOR SPEED 
 • AND ACCURACY IN ARITTBIETIC— SERIES B. 
 
 SPEED: XUMBER OF EXAMPLES ATTEMPTED 
 
 
 4ddltion 
 
 Subtraction 
 
 Multiplication 
 
 Division 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 « 
 
 <a 
 
 
 
 aj 
 
 aj 
 
 e 
 
 
 
 0) 
 
 4) 
 
 Sj 
 
 
 
 aj 
 
 (U 
 
 
 CS 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 03 
 
 (S 
 
 -s 
 
 ffl 
 
 C3 
 
 C3 
 
 CS 
 
 o 
 
 © 
 
 03 
 
 03 
 
 C3 
 
 o 
 
 s 
 
 03 
 
 03 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 a 
 
 C2 
 
 CD 
 
 O 
 
 C3 
 
 :3 
 
 CS 
 
 n 
 
 C 
 
 s 
 
 83 
 
 o 
 
 C5 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 03 
 
 O 
 
 C-J 
 
 
 s: 
 
 C 
 
 O 
 
 
 r; 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 s: 
 
 5 
 
 o 
 
 
 X3 
 
 s 
 
 O 
 
 a 
 
 
 j: 
 
 
 g 
 
 «-i 
 
 y. 
 
 a 
 > 
 
 % 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 s 
 
 Y. 
 
 a 
 
 CD 
 > 
 
 52 
 be 
 
 c 
 
 ■w 
 
 y. 
 
 s 
 
 be 
 
 3 
 o 
 
 £ 
 
 y. 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 h 
 
 iZ 
 
 m 
 
 ■Ji 
 
 K 
 
 Uh 
 
 iij 
 
 xn 
 
 m 
 
 y 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■^ 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 "^ 
 
 iil 
 
 E 
 
 xn 
 
 XJi 
 
 ^ 
 
 General.* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Feb.. 1014, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3618 children 
 
 4.7 
 
 7.1 
 
 8.0 
 
 8.9 
 
 9.7 
 
 5.7 
 
 6.5 
 
 8.9 
 
 10.2 
 
 11.7 
 
 3.9 
 
 6.0 
 
 7.2 
 
 8.4 
 
 9.9 
 
 3.1 
 
 4.5 
 
 5.8 
 
 7.6 
 
 9.2 
 
 Boston, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mav, 101.5, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 55,S71 chil- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 dren 
 
 8.0 
 
 0.4 
 
 11.0 
 
 12.0 
 
 13.4 
 
 7.6 
 
 9.3 
 
 11.0 
 
 12.0 
 
 13.3 
 
 6.0 
 
 7.5 
 
 9.2 
 
 10.3 
 
 11.4 
 
 4.8 
 
 6.3 
 
 8.7 
 
 10.0 
 
 12.0 
 
 Detroit, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mav, 1015, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2850 children 
 
 6.7 
 
 S.4 
 
 9.6 
 
 10.3 
 
 12.0 
 
 7.3 
 
 9.4 
 
 10.1 
 
 11.2 
 
 13.6 
 
 5.5 
 
 7.4 
 
 8.9 
 
 9.5 
 
 11.5 
 
 4.1 
 
 5.7 
 
 8.5 
 
 9.4 
 
 12.1 
 
 Iowa, .Tune, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1915, 11,800 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 children — 
 
 6.9 
 
 S.2 
 
 8.S 
 
 9.0 
 
 10.4 
 
 7.3 
 
 9.0 
 
 9.9 
 
 11.1 
 
 12.8 
 
 6.3 
 
 7.6 
 
 8.8 
 
 10.4 
 
 11.6 
 
 4.9 
 
 6.3 
 
 7.6 
 
 9.1 
 
 11.9 
 
 Texas Rural 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Survey, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mar., 1916 
 
 5.6 
 
 5.H 
 
 7.2 
 
 6.1 
 
 8.1 
 
 6.4 
 
 6.0 
 
 8.6 
 
 9.3 
 
 10.6 
 
 5.1 
 
 4.4 
 
 6.5 
 
 7.7 
 
 9.3 
 
 2.4 
 
 3.0 
 
 4.2 
 
 6.3 
 
 8.4 
 
 ACCURACY: PERCENTAGE OF EXAMPLES RIGHT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Multinlic 
 
 a- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Addition 
 
 Subtraction 
 
 tion 
 
 Division 
 
 
 2 
 5 
 
 CJ 
 
 T1 
 
 « 
 
 i> 
 
 ■a 
 
 03 
 
 01 
 
 T-, 
 
 <a 
 
 
 Si 
 
 5 
 
 aj 
 
 •a 
 
 03 
 
 aj 
 
 0) 
 
 ■n 
 
 03 
 
 5 
 
 
 01 
 
 
 % 
 
 1 
 
 
 O 
 
 03 
 
 'C- 
 
 cr 
 
 c. 
 
 O 
 
 C8 
 
 g 
 
 
 a 
 
 ci 
 
 03 
 
 03 
 
 C 
 
 (5 
 
 o 
 
 
 ? 
 
 C 
 
 -^ 
 
 
 jr. 
 
 
 c 
 
 — 
 
 
 i:; 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 7" 
 
 - 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 
 n 
 
 x: 
 
 c 
 
 O 
 
 7", 
 
 r- 
 
 
 "t^ 
 
 r- 
 
 ,r; 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 .c 
 
 c 
 
 q 
 
 c 
 
 ■f^ 
 
 j: 
 
 c 
 
 c 
 
 j: 
 
 
 r, 
 
 x: 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 Itl 
 
 y. 
 
 •f 
 
 tl 
 
 O 
 
 !tl 
 
 y. 
 
 
 
 b 
 
 «W 
 
 y. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 tt 
 
 K 
 
 
 .r? 
 
 
 40 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 .53 
 
 ^ 
 
 liH 
 
 1^ 
 
 68 
 
 a. 
 
 72 
 
 33 
 
 43 
 
 62 
 
 6?! 
 
 67 
 
 28 
 
 ,52 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 ~ 
 
 General,* Feb., 1914, .3618 children 
 
 58121 
 
 68 
 
 Boston, May, 1915, 55, 271 children 
 
 66 
 
 71 
 
 /•T 
 
 75 
 
 78 81 
 
 S.S 
 
 87 86 
 
 88 
 
 67 
 
 74 
 
 78 
 
 SO 
 
 SI 
 
 63 
 
 77 
 
 87 
 
 88 
 
 02 
 
 Detroit, May, 1915, 2850 children 
 
 64 
 
 6S 
 
 73 
 
 73 
 
 78 72 
 
 84 
 
 85 88 
 
 92 
 
 67 
 
 79 
 
 81 
 
 82 
 
 85 
 
 .53 
 
 81 
 
 86 
 
 95 
 
 97 
 
 Iowa, June, 1915, 11,800 children 
 
 ,58 
 
 63 
 
 64 
 
 70 
 
 72,73 
 
 7S 
 
 SI ,83 
 
 87 
 
 66 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 70 
 
 82 63 
 
 79 
 
 84 
 
 88 
 
 92 
 
 Texas Rural Survey, March, 1916 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 62 
 
 53 
 
 62 44 
 
 46 
 
 .5173 
 
 68 
 
 36 
 
 42 
 
 53 
 
 55 
 
 .57,37 
 
 42 
 
 57 
 
 !54 
 
 68 
 
 *That is, derived from, the tabulation of results from schools in 
 many different cities and states 
 
36 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 As a test for the reasoning ability of tli&se pupils on arith- 
 metical problems, Starch's Arithmetical Scale A was used. The 
 results from the fourth to the eighth grade were duly tabulated. 
 Each grade scored below the scale standard established for it. 
 The fourth grade was 11 per cent below standard ; the fifth grade 
 19 per cent; the sixth grade 5 per cent; the seventh grade 6 
 per cent; and the eighth grade 8 per cent. 
 
 Descriptive and Physical Geography : There were 272 pupils 
 studying descrijjtive geography, and 85 pupils studying physi- 
 cal geography. No special attention was given to these subjects 
 in this investigation. 
 
 Civics: Civics is taught in the seventh grade. There were 
 36 white pupils doing seventh grade work. There were 90 pupils 
 above seventh grade who presumably had studied civics in the 
 past. There were only 16 negro pupils as high as the seventh 
 grade and no Mexican pupils above fifth grade. This indicates 
 that out of a total scholastic population of 2489 pupils only 142, 
 or 1 in 17, had ever studied civics. Less than 6 per cent of so 
 large a body of pupils having studied this subject does not augur 
 very well for the future of democracy. 
 
 Agriculture: There were two sets of agricultural charts, and 
 two places, Maha and Cloud, were reported as having had school 
 gardens the year before this survey was made. At three places 
 there were veiy good collections of agricultural bulletins from 
 the Agricultural and Mechanical College and the United States 
 Department of Agriculture. Fifty-five pupils were studying 
 Agriculture. 
 
 Close inquiry w^as made as to the methods of teaching agri- 
 culture. "While there was but little concrete material in sight 
 for illustrative and experimental purposes; and most of the in- 
 struction given was taken from the textbook, or other printed 
 matter, it was at the same time encouraging to note that there 
 was a general conviction among the teachers that the instruction 
 in this subject must be made less formal. 
 
 In the school of the future, germination tests of farm and gar- 
 den seed, tests of milk for butter fat, the keeping of feeding and 
 laying records for flocks of hens at home, and a study of the con- 
 struction of model poulti'y houses, hog houses, and dairy barns. 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 37 
 
 -will furnish more interesting topics for class essays, applied arith- 
 metic, and elementary lessons in general science than the tra- 
 ditional textbook of today is doing.. The actual measurement of 
 fields, and computing the capacities of cistenrs, silos, wheat bins, 
 and corn cribs in the community will be much more conducive 
 to interest and a working knowledge of the laws of arithmetic 
 and practical agriculture than the printed problems in the text- 
 books. 
 
 Composition: There were 248 pupils reported in the teach- 
 er's daily programs as studying composition. As indicated by 
 these programs, more than twice as much time per pupil was 
 given to English grammar as to English composition. 
 
 All the children above the third grade were given a test in 
 which they were required to write two or three short, original 
 paragraphs. Each paper was carefully graded on its merits with 
 reference to form, adequacy of treatment, phrasing, coherence, 
 unity, diction, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The sum 
 ■of the points scored on all these rubrics was the grade made by 
 each child. On a 100 point scale the averages made were as fol- 
 lows: fourth grade 20.2; fifth grade 20; sixth grade 26.5; sev- 
 enth grade 27.1 ; eighth grade 31 ; ninth grade 35.3 ; tenth grade 
 40. 
 
 The original purpose of the examinations in English compo- 
 sition was to grade them by the Ballon Scale for Grading Eng- 
 lish Composition* and compare the results with those of the Roy- 
 al Street School of Dallas. However, the compositions available 
 from the Royal Street School being reproduced stories, and the 
 -ones from this test being original productions, made any just 
 comparison impossible, and the idea was abandoned. 
 
 History: There were 266 pupils in the courses that were of- 
 fered in history but no special inquiry was made as to the char- 
 .acter of work done. 
 
 High School Studies: There were 90 pupils above the seventh 
 grade. Sixty-three of these were in the schools at Elroy, Man- 
 chaca, and Creedmoor. The remaining twenty-seven were in 
 six other schools. 
 
 *F. W. Ballou, Scale for Measuring English Compositions, The 
 Harvard Bulletins, No. 11, September, 1914. 
 
38 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 All these pupils were pursuing the course in history and 
 English as outlined in the State Course of Study. Fifty-five 
 were studying agriculture ; forty-one, physical geography ; thirty- 
 three, plane geometry ; sixty-eight, algebra ; twenty-four, Latin :;. 
 fourteen, physics; six, bookkeeping; and thirteen, Spanish. 
 
V. THE TEACHERS. 
 
 There were twenty-nine teachers employed in the fifteen white 
 schools of the fourteen school districts where this investigation 
 was conducted. Three of them are men and twenty-six are 
 women. Their teaching experience varied from five months to 
 twenty-two years, the average being 38.2 months. Four of them 
 were beginners in the profession. 
 
 These teachers were as migratory as most of the rural teachers 
 in Texas. Seventeen were teaching their first year in the posi- 
 tion then occupied; six, their second year; four, their third year; 
 and two, their fourth year. The average time of service in the 
 positions then held by the staff of twenty-nine teachers in this 
 group of schools, was 1.6 years. 
 
 The main causes for the short tenure of office in this area, as 
 well as in the rural schools elsewhere in Texas, may be sum- 
 marized as follows: (1) Many young teachers ambitious to 
 teach in the city, regard the country schools as mere practice 
 schools, where they may get the training in experience necessary 
 to fit themselves for city positions, and, consequently, at first 
 opportunity leave the country and take work in the city. (2) 
 Many teachers who would otherwise remain in the country, find 
 it impossible to do so because of social isolation, undesirable 
 boarding places, small salaries, and poor school equipment. (3) 
 Most persons using teaching as a temporary employment, or 
 stepping stone to something else, are in the country and village 
 schools. These consist, for the most part of young men prepar- 
 ing for law, medicine, and the ministry, and of young women 
 teaching until they marry. 
 
 Living Conditions: Close inquiry was made as to the living 
 conditions of the teachers. Five teachers were living at home, 
 four were doing light housekeeping, and twenty were boarding. 
 The prices for board and room ranged from $12 to $20 per 
 month, the average being $16.21. Most of the teachers lived 
 only a short distance from their schools, though twelve of the 
 women teachers lived at an average distance of one and one- 
 eighth miles from the schools they taught. With only a few ex- 
 
40 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 ceptions, the roads between boarding place and school were very 
 good. Most of the boarding places were reported as good, some 
 as very fair, and a few as unsatisfactory. In four instances, 
 teachers were without stoves or other means of heat in their 
 rooms at their boarding places, and were obliged to share in 
 the family fireside to keep warm. 
 
 In pioneer days the best families in the country competed for 
 the honor of boai'ding the school teacher. Now, boarding the 
 teacher is usually regarded as a matter of self-sacrificing accom- 
 modation. At many places the boarding problem is one of the 
 most serious issues the woman teacher has to face in the country. 
 
 Locating the teacher in the most desirable boarding place 
 available is a duty quite often overlooked by trustees. The 
 teacher's efficiency in the schoolroom depends very largely on 
 the comfort of her boarding place. When the teacher's board- 
 ing place is anything less than the best and the most convenient 
 possible the school is obliged to suffer to that extent. It is to the 
 interest of the entire community that the teacher have a good 
 place to live. 
 
 Certificates and Salaries: Two of the teachers were graduates 
 of the University, of- Texas, eleven had attended the University 
 of Texas one and two years, four were Normal School gradu- 
 ates, one was a graduate of the College of Industrial Arts, four 
 were high school graduates, six had attended normal schools and 
 colleges one and two years, and one had not graduated from 
 high school. Five of these teachers held second-grade certifi- 
 cates; sixteen, first grade certificates; and eight, permanent cer- 
 tificates. 
 
 The salaries varied from the minimum of $50 per month, to 
 the maximum of $100 per month. The teachers holding second- 
 grade certificates received an average salary of $56 per month; 
 those holding first-grade certificates, $67.18 per month; and 
 those holding permanent certificates, $75 per month. 
 
 The salaries paid these teachers were somewhat better than 
 the salaries paid rural teachers many places in the State. The 
 academic strength, and the teaching ability of the staff of teach- 
 ers in this group of schools, are far above the average for the 
 rural teachers of Texas. But so long as salaries for teachers re- 
 
Rural Sdwols in Travis County 41 
 
 main as low as they are throughout the State teaching will never 
 be very attractive to much of the best talent of our present age. 
 Law, medicine, the ministry, and business will continue to claim 
 the majority of our strongest men and women. Where is the 
 successful lawyer or doctor who would have ever consented to 
 the idea of spending three or four years of the best part of his 
 life in preparation for his profession, had it promised no greater 
 financial return than a salary of from $50 to $150 per month for 
 eight or ten months of the year. While the idealist tells us that 
 the work, and not the reward, should be the paramount consid- 
 eration in deciding what one's life work shall be — and that is 
 correct — there can be at the same time but little doubt that bet- 
 ter salaries would attract stronger men and women into the 
 teaching profession. 
 
 Attitude of tlie Teachers: After numerous interviews with 
 patrons, trustees, and teachers, it was decided in the mind of 
 the observer that the attitude of sixteen of these teachers toward 
 the communities where they worked was that of sincere service. 
 With a little more encouragement and support from patrons six 
 of this number would be valuable community leaders. Thirteen 
 were classed as having practically no interest in community af- 
 fairs. Three of this thirteen stated a positive dislike for school 
 teaching. Several of the women teachers were averse to teach- 
 ing in the country, giving such reasons as : " These people have 
 no interest in themselves and how could they expect anyone else 
 to have an interest in them." "It is like prison to spend Sun- 
 day out here." "I go to town every time I can get away from 
 this place." "My boarding place is unpleasant." 
 
 The attitude of the teachers toward their pupils, so far as 
 could be determined, was, with three possible exceptions, that of 
 sympathy and kindness. In these three instances the evidence 
 indicated that the pupils did not co-operate well with the teach- 
 ers, and that nagging and quarreling were the teachers' chief 
 methods of governing them. 
 
 Instniction: No detailed method of grading the efficiency 
 of the teachers was adopted. While most of the schoolrooms 
 were visited while classes were in session, the observer's visits 
 were very short, usually extending over not more than one or 
 
42 Bulletin of the University of Teooas 
 
 two class periods. In eight cases no teaeliing at all was observed, 
 as the full day was taken up in giving the pupils efficiency tests 
 in reading, spelling, writing, composition, and arithmetic. 
 
 In nine of the twenty-one cases observed the questions asked 
 and the illustrations given by the teachers, together with the re- 
 sponses from the pupils, were such as to lead the observer to be- 
 lieve that under normal conditions these teachers were direct, 
 concrete, and inspiring instructors. In the remaining twelve 
 cases there was but little to indicate that the teachers were any- 
 thing more than mere drill-masters, or interpreters of-textbooks. 
 It was gratifying to note that much of the best teaching was done 
 in the primary grades. The primary work at Cloud and Elroy 
 is worthy of special mention. 
 
 Discussion: The time has come when the teacher in the 
 country must be more than a mere academic instructor. The 
 teacher's attitude toward the community must be that of a sym- 
 pathetic social leader, and the instruction in all the grades must 
 be more closely related to the problems of life and industry in the 
 country than the schools have been in the habit of doing in the 
 past. The Babcock milk testor, the work bench, the laboratory, 
 problems in seed selection, livestock feeding, and the like must 
 be given a place along with the library and the textbook. 
 
 It is being discovered by a few wide-awake teachers that one 
 of the best places in the whole public school system is in the 
 better type of agricultural community, provided the teacher is 
 big enough to assume the role of social leader, industrial leader, 
 and school teacher all at the same time. For the man who un- 
 derstands rural people and likes rural industry, the big country 
 school with from four to six teachers has possibilities for de- 
 velopment and financial returns that make it preferable to most 
 of high school principalships in small towns. Examples of this 
 kind may be found at Yancey in Medina County, the Geronimo 
 High School in Guadalupe County, and the Montgomery Con- 
 solidated School in McCulloch County. 
 
 Much has been said about the poor pay for teachers. But con- 
 sidering the character of service rendered, the remarkable thing 
 is that many of them are as well paid as they are. Better salaries 
 and better teachers are mutual complements. Better teachers 
 
Rural Sdiools in Travis County 43 
 
 will attract larger salaries just as readily as larger salaries will 
 attract first class teachers. There are scores of Texas communi- 
 ties that will pay better salaries, improve their school equip- 
 ment, and build teachers' homes, when it is clear to them that the 
 presence and influence of the teacher in the community 's life are 
 worth the price. 
 
 The twentieth century is demanding that the rural teacher be 
 a civic, social, and industrial leader as well as an academic in- 
 structor. For the teacher whose educational ideals are purely 
 academic, the way is hard and constantly growing harder. But 
 for the man or woman whose vision of education is broader than 
 the textbook and the four walls of the schoolroom, and whose 
 interests are actively and intelligently identified with all the 
 legitimate affairs of the community, a brighter day is dawning 
 in the realm of public education in Texas. 
 
VI. THE PUPILS 
 
 The scholastic census taken by local school officials during the- 
 time this survey was being conducted gave 948 v^rhite children, 
 908 Negro children, and 633 Mexican children. The ones at- 
 tending school were distributed among fifteen white schools, 
 fourteen Negro schools, and four Mexican schools, with the ex- 
 ception of twenty-five Mexican children who were attending 
 white schools. 
 
 A Transient Mexican Family 
 
 White Pupils: The white children consisted of 720 Ameri- 
 cans, 127 Germans, 94 Swedes and Norwegians, 6 Italians, 4 Aus- 
 trians, and 2 Danes. Of the 948 whites enumerated, 845 were 
 enrolled in school, attending an average of. 89 days each. For 
 the same year the whites enrolled in the Austin schools attended 
 135 days each. 
 
 Mexican Pupils: Of the 633 Mexidan children enumerated 
 only 219 entered school, averaging 45 days each in attendance. 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 
 
 45 
 
 This left 424 Mexican children of school age to run at large over 
 the country during the months while schools were in session. 
 Many of these children have very shiftless parents who work as 
 day laborers at cutting spinach, picking cotton, chopping wood, 
 and the like, seldom remaining at one place longer than a few 
 months at a time. The most attention ever given by local .school 
 authorities to the transient element of the Mexican children is 
 during the week when the scholastic census is being taken. Then 
 it is that they are diligently sought out by the census enumera- 
 tors, that their annual pro rata from the State may be claimed 
 for maintaining the schools in the district where they may 
 chance to be sojourning. 
 
 
 ENUMERATION AND ENROLLMENT OF PUPILS 
 
 Ulhites 
 
 
 94-6 Cnumaratei ^^^^^H 
 
 
 
 
 
 845 enrolled ■ 
 
 
 
 .mexlcans 
 
 
 
 633 enumerated ^^^^^^^^H 
 
 
 
 Jle^roes 
 
 
 
 908 Cnam^rated 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 917 6nrolle<! 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Negro Pujjils: There were 908 Negro children enumerated 
 and 917 enrolled in school. This increase of enrollment over 
 enuemeration was due to two causes: (1) Some children of 
 tenant families that moved from one district to another while 
 school was in session were enrolled in two schools at different 
 
46 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 times during tbe same year and in this way were counted twice 
 in making up the teacher's annual reports. (2) A considerable 
 number of children not of free school age, were enrolled. 
 
 While the negroes show a greater percentage of enrollment 
 than the whites, the average numbei- of days attended by those 
 enrolled was much less. The Negro pupils enrolled averaged 
 54 days each in attendance, as compared with 89 days for the 
 white pupils enrolled. 
 
 Causes for Irregular Attendance: The cause most commonly 
 assigned by teachers for irregular school attendance was the in- 
 difference of parents. While there were some self-sacrificing 
 parents who sent their children to school with a fair degree of 
 regularity, there were others who made but little effort to do so. 
 In some cases school attendance was left by the parents entirely 
 to the discretion of the child, and in other cases the parents sent 
 their children to school only when they could find nothing in the 
 way of work for them to do at home. In order of their fre- 
 quency as causes given by the teacher for poor school attend- 
 ance, next to the indifference of parents, were bad weather and 
 muddy roads, moving, and cotton picking. 
 
 Distrihution of Pupils in the Grades: The relative efficiency 
 of these schools can be roughly estimated by the manner in 
 which the pupils are distributed through the grades. In Aus- 
 tin 13.7 per cent of the white pupils are in the first grade, while 
 19.5 per cent of the white pupils in this group of rural schools 
 were in the first grade. In other words, 5.8 per cent more of the 
 Austin pupils had passed from the first grade to the grades 
 above than was true in the country schools. At the same time, 
 5.2 per cent of the Austin white pupils graduated from the elev- 
 enth grade, while only 1.4 of the rural white pupils graduated 
 from the tenth grade. 
 
 The comparisons for the colored schools are even more striking 
 than for the white schools. While 26 per cent of the colored 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 47 
 
 pupil's in Austin were in the first grade, 35.2 per cent of the col- 
 ored pupils in the country were in the first grade. In the 
 country no colored pupil was higher than the seventh grade, 
 while in Austin 4.5 per cent of the colored pupils were in the 
 eighth grade, and .7 per cent graduated from the eleventh grade. 
 
 No separate data could be obtained for the Mexicans of the 
 Austin schools, as they were classed as whites and reported to- 
 gether vidth the whites. Of the 219 Mexicans enrolled in the 
 rural schools, 62.5 per cent were in the first grade, 27.8 per cent 
 in the second grade, and none higher than the fifth grade. In 
 fact only 1.4 per cent had reached the fifth grade. 
 
 The foregoing facts are sufficient to warrant a closer study of 
 the rural school business in this part of the State. There are 
 some pupils who never enter school, and of those who do 65.2 
 per cent of the whites, 85.3 per cent of the negroes, and 98.6 per 
 cent of the Mexicans are below the fifth grade. Such ineffici- 
 ency among the rural public schools is casting a shadow of 
 doubt over the future hopes of Texas. They are not productive 
 of the highest ideals of citizenship and the highest types of 
 social and industrial efficiency. 
 
AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS ATTENDED 
 BY EACH PUPIL ENROLLED IN' SCHOOL 
 
 136 pays 
 
 lUhites in Jlustin - 1-800 pupils 
 
 lUhites in rural area supveyed — 8f5 pupils 
 
 Jie^roes in Jlustin — 1852 children 
 
 Jle^vofs in rural area survesed --917 children 
 
 JRexicaos tti area surveged •- 219 children 
 
 AVERAGE LENGTH OF SCHOOL TE:RM 
 
 JlusHn 
 
 136 Days 
 
 J^ural Survey — 15 Ulhite schools 
 I J^ural Survey- 14-Jle^ro schoob 
 
 -%ral Survey —4 JHexican schools 
 
VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 State Aid: There was not a single rural school in Travis 
 County that qualified for State aid from the Million Dollar Eu- 
 ral School Fund last year. In a number of counties much less 
 wealthy than Travis County twenty or more rural districts, by 
 voting a 50 cent school tax and providing their schools with 
 such physical equipment as is otherwise required by law, were 
 permitted to participate in this fund to amounts not exceeding 
 $500 for any one school. 
 
 In that this law aims to help those schools that are trying to 
 help themselves it is fundamentally correct. Too many schools, 
 like thriftless paupers, are relying upon the small annual appro- 
 priations from the State for their financial support. Communi- 
 ty spirit is generated by self-activity on the part of the com- 
 munity. Possibly no other thing could mean so much to many 
 dormant school communities of Travis County just now as to 
 wake up and exercise enough local interest in themselves to in- 
 stall some libraries and modem heating systems in their schools, 
 and otherwise meet the requirements of the law so as to earn a 
 share in the State aid now available for rural schools in Texas, 
 Fifty-nine school boards in Travis County now have an ample 
 opportunity to encourage their respective constituencies to raise 
 their school standards. 
 
 ScJiool Equipment: In the great constructive process of mak- 
 ing a better system of schools for any community adequate phy- 
 sical equipment with proper financial support is the first prac- 
 tical step. The teacher is a fundamental essential, but those 
 schools having the best quarters and the best salaries usually at- 
 tract the best teachers. So long as the amount invested in school 
 property in the white schools of this area remains at $23.72 per 
 child, it will be very difficult for school boards to secure as strong 
 teachers as might be had if the value of the school equipment 
 were three or four times as great. 
 
 Teaching school without adequate libraries, charts, globes, 
 maps, and blackboards is a difficult task. Furthermore, for the 
 best of results in a rural school, there should be a sufficient 
 
Rural Schools in Travis County 51 
 
 amount of apparatus to make possible some simple experiments 
 at milk testing, seed testing, budding, grafting, farm terracing, 
 and the like. Who would not think it very poor business for a 
 farmer to employ a hand and give him no tools, or very poor 
 ones at least, to work with? Yet, that is in principle exactly 
 what many rural schools in this State are doing every year. 
 
 But all the equipment should not be confined to the inside of 
 the house. The school garden, and also the home garden, 
 should constitute one of the essential parts of the rural school 
 laboratory, and the playground with plenty of substantial play 
 apparatus is just as essential to the spirit and morals of the 
 student body. The best school spirit and the best general school 
 work found in the course of this investigation were at Creed- 
 moor, where the playground of four acres was equipped with a 
 baseball diamond, a vaulting pole, basketball courts, race tracks, 
 hurdles, and other play apparatus. For these reasons school 
 boards that will be called upon to secure new building sites 
 within the next few years should exercise due diligence in ob- 
 taining sufficient amounts of desirable land. 
 
 At two of the schools the furniture was very primitive, con- 
 sisting in one instance of old home-made desks, and in the other 
 of badly defaced double desks and slat benches. In some in- 
 stances where new single desks had been purchased, they were 
 not installed so that all the desks in the same row were of the 
 same size. There were 212 pupils who had their feet dangling 
 from the floor or were otherwise uncomfortably seated. If com- 
 fortable and convenient teacher's desks and chairs had been pro- 
 vided for thirteen of the women teachers their strength would 
 have been greatly economized, and the character of the work in 
 some cases very perceptibly improved. 
 
 The Securing of Teachers.- According to past practice three 
 years from now these fifteen schools will have made a complete 
 change of teachers. Some new teachers will have to be employed 
 every year. To meet this exigency trustees will find it easier to 
 secure strong teachers by going into the market and bidding for 
 them than by choosing from those who may chance to apply. Po- 
 sitions are always seeking strong teachers, while the weak and 
 inexperienced ones spend much time seeking positions. 
 
52 Bulletin of the University of Texas 
 
 Most country schools are in want of more practical lessons 
 and simple demonstrations on such topics as agriculture, horti- 
 culture, floriculture, animal husbandry, farm management, and 
 the like, given in connection with the usual public school studies 
 by teachers interested in country life and equipped with an un- 
 derstanding of its needs. But when will the country have a 
 corps of teachers capable of so vitalizing the course of study in 
 this way? Not until public sentiment demands them. The pat- 
 rons, teachers, and trustees of today are responsible for the pub- 
 lic school sentiment of tomorrow. The trustees of each succeed- 
 ing year should persistently contend for teachers of this high 
 standard until they ultimately become available. 
 
 A Graduated Land Tax: Several of the communities iuclud-' 
 ed in this survey are suffering from internal economic disorder. 
 Too few people own the land. All the land in the area surveyed 
 is owned by thirty-seven per cent of the people. A much smaller 
 per cent owns and controls more than half of it. This condition 
 is impoverishing the spirit of many homes, and of most of the 
 churches and schools. Hundreds of communities elsewhere in 
 Texas are suffering from the same ailment. 
 
 It is all but futile to inaugurate any scheme for social or ed- 
 ucational reform and at the same time ignore any one of its fun- 
 damental hindering causes. That the problems of education can 
 ever be successfully solved in a community of high-priced land 
 and farm tenants is very doubtful to anyone thoroughly conver- 
 sant with such conditions. The homeless man is limited in his 
 usefulness as a citizen. He seldom identifies himself with the 
 church, school, and civic interests of the neighborhood as he 
 would if he owned the land he lived on. He may be a good school 
 patron, but the exhilerating stimulus of home ownership would 
 make him a better one. 
 
 A tax on land so distributed as to place the burden of it on the 
 larger estates would tend to make land less desirable as specula- 
 tive property. With such a tax in operation investments would 
 gradually withdraw themselves from land to other fields of spec- 
 ulative and productive adventure. This would cause a corres- 
 ponding reduction in the price of land, and land would become 
 less desirable as property except as a place to live. As a result 
 
Bural ScJiools in Travis Comity 53 
 
 land would be held in smaller tracts and owned by more of the 
 families who live on it. 
 
 A County School Tax: In Travis County a county-wide 
 school tax would do much toward relieving the linancial dis- 
 tress of many school districts now suffering from artificial eco- 
 nomic pressure from without. No other one measure could do 
 more for the immediate solution of the problems of school finance 
 in many tenant communities. A county school tax would cause 
 a more equitable distribution of the costs of education according 
 to one's ability to pay, and an extension of adequate educational 
 privileges to m.any children of poor parents in the country. 
 Until outside assistance is given to many communities in Texas 
 now economically helpless, their schools must continue in a state 
 of most abject squalor. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRES 
 
 019 885 539 fl