a bond issue may be submitted at the same time the vote is taken on centralization. But if centralization be effected by the provisions of 4726-1 the questions of centralization and of a bond issue must be submitted separately and the election on the bond issue must be subsequent to that of centralization.

DECENTRALIZATION.

SECTION 4727.

When the schools of a rural school district have been centralized such centralization shall not be discontinued within three years, and then only by petition and election, as provided in section 4726. If at such.election more votes are cast against centralization than for it, the division into subdistricts as they existed prior to centralization shall thereby be re-established. Nothing in this or the foregoing sections, namely, sections 4726 and 4726-1, shall prevent a county board of education upon the petition of twothirds of the qualified electors of the territory petitioning for a transfer, from transferring territory to or from a centralized school district, the same as to or from a district not centralized.

There is no case on record when the schools were decentralized pursuant to the provisions of the above section.

CONSOLIDATION

SECTION 7730.

The board of education of any rural or village school district may suspend temporarily or permanently any or all schools. in such village or rural district because of disadvantageous location or any other cause. Whenever the average daily attendance of any school in the school district for the preceding year has been below ten the county board of education shall direct the suspension, and thereupon the board of education of the village or rural district shall suspend such school. Whenever any school is suspended the board of education of the district shall provide for the transfer of the pupils residing within the territory of the suspended school to other schools. If the suspended school be in a village school district the board of education of the district may, or if in a rural school district shall provide for the pupils of legal school age who reside in the territory of the suspended school conveyance to a public school within such school district or in an adjoining school district. Notice of such suspension shall be posted in five conspicuous places within such village or rural school district by the board of education within ten days after the resolution providing for such suspension is adopted. Wherever such suspension is had on the direction of the county board of education, then upon the direction of such county board, and in other

cases upon the finding of the board of education ordering such suspension that such school ought to be re-established, such school shall be re-established. If at any time it appears that the average daily attendance of enrolled pupils residing within the territory of the suspended schools as it was prior to such suspension is twelve or more then, upon a petition asking for re-establishment signed by a majority of the voters of the said territory, the board of education shall re-establish such school.

Consolidation of schools is effected by procedure in accordance with the provisions of the above section (7730). The question of centralization is not voted upon but the question of a bond issue is submitted to the people for the purpose of securing funds to purchase a site or erect a school building or both.

THE ONE-TEACHER SCHOOL INADEQUATE.

The one-room school is antiquated and can not meet the demands of modern rural society. The one-room school may be a good one-teacher school, but no one-teacher school can be classified as a good school because of its many limitations. There are too many classes; there is no specialized work; there is insufficient time for the study of pupils that the work may be adapted to individual needs. Taking into consideration their aptitudes, capabilities, interests, and needs, all will not require the same scale, receive the same value, and become possessed with the same ability; but all should have opportunity to develop their capacities in such a way as to fit them to perform their part in society in the most efficient manner possible. In the one-room school the teacher has but little time and opportunity to supervise study that the child may be better able to

express himself thus bringing about a realization of mastery that leads to encouragement and enkindles an aspiration for greater achievement. Proper instruction can not be given in subjects relating directly to the two principal vocations of rural communities, agriculture and home making, and in such cultural subjects as literature, music, and art. It no longer fulfills the needs for a social center. The demand for a high school education can not be met in the one-room system. The better class of teachers seek employment in those systems that provide the facilities necessary to give the child opportunity for proper development and where they can employ means and methods in accordance with modern educational ideals.

When the one-room system was inaugurated it was the best the conditions of the times would permit. Roads were difficult to travel and the population was scattered, making it necessary to have schools located so they would be most accessible to the pupils. But these conditions no longer prevail. Modern means of communication have caused the farmer's independence to disappear and he has been brought in contact with a larger and more complex society with its hundreds of industries and civic duties instead of the simple activities of pioneer life.

Those who are always looking backward and praising the good old days blame school men for the many studies that have been added to the meager curriculum of the pioneer school and deplore the lack of thoroughness in school work, especially in reading, spelling, and figuring. The program of studies has been broadened because of a public demand and because of the real educational value of these new subjects. The child must be given opportunity to discover himself, that his powers and capabilities may be directed along those lines of achievement where he has the best chance for success. Division of labor and specialization place a greater responsibility upon the school which can be met only by an expanded program of studies related to the diversified interests of life; but the teaching force has not increased proportionately in the one-room system and all the work devolves upon a single teacher who is not equal to the task. In the country where the child lives in the midst of God's great outdoors, the most wonderful laboratory to be conceived, the best conditions exist for his complete and wholesome development. Trees, flowers, birds, fresh air and sunshine, are much more conducive to the development of sturdy character than sky scrapers, alleys, and asphalt streets. The country boy and girl have been faced toward the city with its attractions and allurements because the old school of our fathers has failed to reveal to them the possibilities of rural life. Consolidation of schools and transportation of pupils at public expense is the remedy for all this.

4 P. I.

CHART I Showing medians in silent reading for one-room, four-room, and eight-room type of schools for Cuyahoga County. Solid line is established standard.

(Courtesy of County Superintendent A. G. Yawberg.)

It will be noticed from the above chart that in reading the one-room and even the four-room schools with only two grades for a teacher fall far below the standard while the same work in the eight-room school is pretty generally above standard. — (Annual Report, Cuyahoga County.)