"I am personally well satisfied that no greater service can be rendered the cause of education in Wisconsin at the present time than the establishment by law of the county board system of school administration. This is the key to the whole problemthe point at which all effective reform must begin. There is nothing new or revolutionary about this idea whatever. It is simply the adaptation to the country districts of methods of organization and management that have obtained almost universally in the cities of Wisconsin from the beginning."

The County Board of Education Law Passed. The County Board of Education bill was again introduced in the legislature in 1913. The general provisions of the bill were recommended by the Special Legislative Committee appointed by the legislature of 1909, the Committee of Fifteen appointed by State Superintendent C. P. Cary, the State Board of Public Affairs in its Report on Rural Schcols made in 1912, the presidents of the normal schools and the State Board of Normal School Regents, the State Teachers' Association, and the Legislative Committee of the County Training School Principals' Association. Unfortunately the state superintendent of public instruction failed to put himself squarely behind the measure.

In spite of the almost unanimity of support of the educational forces of the state, the bill was fought over for nearly four months and passed by the assembly only after certain amendments were made upon motion of the speaker, Mr. Hull. It was messaged to the senate and considered in committee of the whole for a half day with the writer as chairman of the legislative committee of the state teachers' association and the present state superintendent acting as advisers to the members, and finally passed by the senate and signed by the governor.

Activities of the Boards of Education. County Boards of Education were elected under this law in the spring election of 1914, the members taking office July 1, 1914. During the first six months that the law was in operation the county boards of education accomplished the following:

1. They provided clerks for county superintendents in 23 or more counties.

2. They appointed assistant superintendents of schools in 8 counties.

3. They appointed boards of examiners for country school diplomas in 14 counties.

4. They settled over 350 district boundary questions, including questions of consolidation of districts in over 50 counties.

5. They fixed the salaries of 26 superintendents.

6. They visited country schools in many instances, thus acquainting themselves with rural school conditions.

Governor Philipp's Message. Like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky came the governor's message on Thursday, January 14, 1915, which, among other things, declared:

"The last legislature passed an act creating county school boards. These boards are practically without duties, and there is general complaint that because they are without functions it is an unnecessary expenditure of money. I recommend that the law creating them be repealed.

The governor, it seems, was influenced in his recommendation to repeal the county board of education law by the fact that a number of county boards of supervisors had passed resolutions asking for its repeal. The governor evidently did not know that county boards of supervisors had been active before in urging the repeal of good, constructive school legislation. Several times county boards of supervisors had petitioned the legislature, the last time being in 1869, to repeal the county superintendency law and re-enact the town superintendency law, but no legislature nor governor ever gave heed to the request.

County Board Law Repealed. On January 26, 1915, Governor Philipp in a communication addressed to the president of the board of regents of normal schools, suggested that they release C. E. Patzer to confer with members of the legislature in regard to rural school legislation. Leave was granted Mr. Patzer and for several months he, together with county superintendents, city superintendents, county training school principals and presidents of normal schools sought to retain the county board law on the statute books. But the efforts of the school men were unavailing, and the most hopeful district school reorganization law passed since 1849, the result of twenty-five years of intelligent and impartial study of rural school conditions, was repealed. And to cap the climax the legislature which at the request of the governor repealed the county board of education law, at the urgent request of the same governor passed a state board of education law. Consistency, thou art indeed a jewel.

Committee on Common Schools. The legislature of 1915, however, enacted a law which created a Committee on Common Schools for each county of the state consisting of three members to be appointed by the county boards of supervisors. This committee was given the power to appoint, upon nomination of the county superintendent, one or more assistants to the county superintendent to be known as supervising teachers. It was made the duty of these supervising teachers to supervise and assist, under the direction of the county superintendent, the teachers employed in the schools of the superintendent's district. The salaries of the supervising teachers were to be paid by the state out of the income of the school fund. All powers exercised by the county board of education in regard to the organization and consolidation of districts were again vested in the town boards of supervisors, thus again going back to the law of 1849. However, it may be said that the supervisory teachers appointed under the law have given excellent service in the supervision of district and other schools, though the salary attached to these positions is altogether too low and should be materially increased.

CONSOLIDATION AS REMOTE AS EVER

The Law of 1917.

An amendment to the law of 1913 was passed by the legislature of 1917 to the effect that where two or more districts are consolidated the school board is compelled to furnish, under certain restrictions, transportation to children between the ages of six and sixteen living more than two miles from school.

The Act of 1923. A law was passed in 1923 which specified how school districts were to be created and how changes were to be made in district boundaries. The act also declared that if subsequent to January 1, 1921, any changes were made in regard to district boundaries in any district without a vote of the electors the district was restored to its former boundaries. This act also repealed the law which created the committee on common schools, the power of appointing supervisory teachers being given to the county superintendents.

Little Consolidation in Seventy Years. Wisconsin, it appears, has shared the experience of other states having no mandatory laws in regard to consolidation, in that very little consolidation

has taken place during the last seventy years. There are at the present time some 6,474 districts in the state having one-room schools in which children from the first to the eighth grade are taught by one teacher.

In order that two, three, four or more districts may be consolidated, each district must vote separately on the question, and unless there is a majority of votes for the proposition in every district there can be no consolidation, even though the total vote shows an overwhelming majority for consolidation. In other words, the vote of any one district, however small it may be, can block the consolidation of the other districts. This plan of consolidation is known as voluntary consolidation. Occasionally after years of agitation a consolidated district is formed in this way, but such district, as a rule, is too small, or, what is worse, really constitutes what might be called a "gerrymandered" district which renders impossible the proper consolidation of surrounding districts.

According to Cubberly, "Voluntary consolidation is not only inadequate and too slow, but the new rural educational demands require not only more rapid, but also more extensive, reorganization than voluntary effort can secure. Only by the use of a unit as large as the county can the right kind of consolidation and the right type of school be provided, and this must be superimposed on the districts by general state law."

XVII

THE PRESENT RURAL SCHOOL SITUATION IN WISCONSIN

THE DISTRICT SYSTEM GOOD FOR PIONEER DAYS

Valuable Schools in Self-Government. During pioneer days the district system was probably the best organization for common schools. It was a simple organization and very elastic. The annual district meetings were valuable schools in self-government and patriotism, though the meetings were often characterized by fierce rivalries and animosities over relatively unimportant matters.

The people needed most of all physical strength and endurance in their struggle to conquer the wilderness. It was a fight for existence. In those early days, once the clearings were made, it did not take much scientific knowledge to cultivate the soil. The soil was rich, and all that was needed was to "tickle it with a stick" and abundant crops would spring forth.

Invaluable Home Training. The school taught the three R's -reading, writing, and arithmetic, and that sufficed, for every boy and girl, besides getting the meager school education, received an invaluable home education in handwork and the practical affairs of life. The boy did the chores and helped take care of the stock; he helped in shearing the sheep; he was active during "pig sticking time," and learned to make sausage and cure meats; he helped his father fell trees, split rails, and repair the simple machinery; he helped on the farm and thus learned practical agriculture. His sister helped in the domestic work; she looked after the poultry; she helped her mother spin and weave cloth; she learned how to make butter and cheese; she helped in the garden, and often did field work during the busy season.

There was considerable social activity and the school was usually the center of it. Besides house and barn raising and