Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 10.djvu/406

 39 2 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

dency toward the consolidation of three or four small districts into one large district. In North Carolina there was a decrease in the number of districts of 557 in the years 1902-3. The super- intendent of public instruction of that state, Mr. J. Y. Joyne, has had prepared by able architects plans with specifications for one- to eight-room buildings, in accord with the best modern views on sanitation, light, and ventilation; and wherever the old building is unsatisfactory an effort is made to erect a better house in a larger district. The old demand for "a schoolhouse in front of every man's door" has changed to "a good school nine months in the year within possible reach of every child."

So far we have spoken only of elementary rural schools. While the cities have good high schools, there are no public secondary schools in the country districts of the South, except one at Jefferson, Miss. The question of rural high schools is receiv- ing careful study. It may be well to remember that the unit of education in the South, like the political unit, is the county. 18 In Tennessee the county court of any county may establish a public high school, and may levy a tax of not over 15 cents on each $100 of taxable property for its support. No such schools have yet been founded, however. There is, at the same time, throughout the South almost no expert supervision in the country districts. The county superintendent is also the victim of a small salary and a short term of office.

Various methods of enlarging the funds for the support of rural schools have been proposed. Federal aid has been urged. It is to be noted that the majority of the southern states still expend a very small sum out of each $100 of taxable property for school purposes. The demand has been urged for an increased local taxation to supplement the state and county tax. The principle of local taxation prevails in the cities and towns where well-equipped schools are found, and also in those states having an adequate school system. In many states throughout the coun- try over 75 per cent, of the school funds are raised in this manner. It would appear that the solution of the financial difficulty of the southern rural schools is to be found in this direction.

n Educational Conditions in Tennessee, p. 7.