Page:History of Public School Education in Arizona.djvu/139

Rh sible for his successor to be a member of the administration majority; in another case the salary of the regularly appointed superintendent was cut more than in half by the legislature to force him to resign; while in other cases men were forced out of positions in the normal school simply because they were not members of the right political group, and these are only the worst phases of a struggle which was kept up for more than a decade, which penetrated to the very extermitiesextremities [sic] of the system and affected seriously the work of the period. The greatest harm was done between 1887 and 1899. Before that date this spirit had manifested itself but little; after that time the people came to realize the harm that was coming to themselves from this unhappy mixture of politics and education, and a working basis of forbearance was attained, and the schools entered on a period of more harmonious development.

The close of the century marks also a realization of the necessity for fewer administrative changes, more uniformity in development, and greater continuity of ideals. Since the beginning of this century, and especially since the attainment of statehood, the system has been more and more in the way of realizing this desirable situation. Superintendents have therefore been better able to evolve their plans and carry them into execution, the schools have been less handicapped by failure to follow out plans when once undertaken. Since admission to statehood and the recognition of the school superintendency as an elective office, the conflict between political parties which appeared often in Territorial days has disappeared.

The question of school funds has always been less of a problem in Arizona than in most States. The schools have usually been able to command all the funds needed for their normal development. In the past it has even been found necessary to reduce taxes to prevent an accumulation of more funds than could be used, but other problems, that of distance, for instance, is ever present and will be for very many years to come, for there are still many stretches of wild waste separating one community from another, and many small mining camps and isolated ranches must suffer for the lack of opportunities for education that does not apply to the larger centers. It is the old trouble which has always been a bugbear to scattered communities in thinly settled States. Arizona is liberal in her provisions for the small community, recognizing it if there are as many as eight pupils, but there are still localities with a few pupils only, who do not as yet receive the fostering care of the State.

Since the State has come into the administration of her public-school lands this great estate is being taken over as fast as it can be selected and surveyed. The State is making wise provisions for its sale, fixing minimum prices for the same, and the sales seem to be conducted with a minimum of irregularity. The income from this