Charges Against Rural Education Stand as Challenge to Communities The point that Dr. Benjamin Fine makes in his New York Times survey of rural education in America is that our rural schools provide an inferior education for nearly three and one-half million children. A severe and serious indictment, ice said here last neck; and its implications could he profoundly pro-foundly tragic, both in terms of in- dividuals and of the welfare of our 1 A PMm FEATURE communities and the entire nation. According to Dr. Fine's report, the rural teacher is underpaid and often is compelled to accept living liv-ing conditions ivhich are something some-thing less than ideal. Thus, it is difficult for county superintendents superintend-ents and hoards of education to staff their school faculties. "Tie rate of turnover is much heavier in rural than in urban schools," the survey states. "Generally, the rural teacher is a woman with about two years of college education, who will stay in teaching three to five years . . . Often rural teachers teach-ers have no tenure they are employed from year to year, and can be dismissed any time the local school board desires." de-sires." Pulling no punches in its reporting of the conditions, the Times survey claims that the rural schools are a haven for the poorly prepared teacher who holds an emergency license or certificate. More than 60 per cent of the 80,000 emergency teaching licenses have been granted to rural teachers. IS early 12 million children out of an approximate 26 million enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in the United States are attending rural schools. Community by community, small town by small town, farm by farm that is the massive total to ivhich the rural schools which ice tend to take so much for granted add up to. Another serious complication of the problem is that neither the attending children nor the finances are evenly or proportionately distributed among the states. While about 40 per cent of the five billion dollars spent annually on public schools in the nation goes to rural schools, there seetns to he a wide disparity in the amounts of money expended in the various rural areas. The survey found generally gen-erally that states with the largest number of children of school age Jiad the smallest amount of school funds for each child. Yet, at the same time, these states are making the greatest effort to provide support, when that effort is measured meas-ured by the percentage of income spent for education by the people of the state. The bitter findings of the Times survey ought to be accepted ac-cepted by us now as a generalized directional signal, pointing point-ing out an area of our social existence that needs investigation investi-gation and constructive action. A generalization such as this survey always manages to paint a more bleak and discouraging picture than the genuine, genu-ine, "lived-with" facts may justify. Nevertheless, the survey's sur-vey's conclusions and opinions represent a challenge to all small, rural communities to see to their schools. If they are really this bad, it is time for the community to act. But does the home toivn have the wealth, facilities, and ability to do what might be needed, even buttressed by such support as the state may provide? This is the point at which the advocates ad-vocates of federal aid to education enter the argument. They p oint to the teacher-shortage, teacher-shortage, the outmoded facilities, the inadequate finances which are said to prevail in rural schools. They cite the large number of illiterates il-literates turned up by the selective service boards during the war. pgZ Iiightly or wrongly, these circum- ' . ,n J stances are quoted as reasons why the federal government should come to the aid of education in the U.S. Dr. Fine himself adds his support for such aid: "TJie adoption of federal financing for many rural communities that are too poor to provide necessary funds without government govern-ment help is one of the first steps in improving the nation's rural school program." But this is a decision that America's small communities and rural people will make for tJiemsehes.