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Show mm APPEALS FOB EDUC ATlOniAL J ma Urging a survey of the educational situation in each district, the state department of education during the coming two years will endeavor to determine the truth of school conditions condi-tions throughout Utah. This is the statement made last night by Dr. E. G Gowans, state superintendent of public instruction.' Calling attention to the fact that re-i re-i medial legislation sought was not forthcoming at the session of the leg- islature just closed, that 2500 chil- dren of Miliard county were turned out of school March 1; that conditions in Box Elder. Cache, Davis and other' j counties are matters of concern to tne school officials, that fi00 to 600 teach-; era are having their already too short ' terms of work curtailed, and speaking for the 3500 teachers in the state , whose life work is bound up in the - success of the state school system, Dr. Gowana says. At this time, with a widespread reaction re-action against expenditures for pub-j pub-j lie education, duo, not to careful investigation, in-vestigation, but to agitation, it Is i highly desirable that the people of I Utah undertake to make a searching inquiry into the significance of public j education for present day and future ! us fulness, and into its costs methods I and results. situation Is Serious. "If that inquiry shall show that we are not spending too much money for common schools, we shall have great t difficulty in justifying the conditions that exist in our state this ear. "The schools of Millard county closed lat Friday. There w.-re turned out on the .streets the first of March 1 2500 children. What will happen in 1 Box Elder, Davis and a number of other districts no one can now tell. But it looks serious. "It v 111 hardly be less than a disgrace dis-grace to Utah if we are compelled to announce soon that 20,000 or 30.000 of our children are released from school at this time of year, and 500 to 600 teachers are to have six weeks j to two months cut from an already 1 short working year. For myself. I cannot believe that our people want this sort of thing. ill. .ii-ii'iuiG ui'jijk iu luc ijeupie, who have the right to make of them what they will, and I have an abiding faith in their Judgment when they know the facts. But the people as a whole, as well as individuals, make mistakes when they do not know the facts. "Effort has been made to give the people accurate information on the cokIb of public education, but such ef fort has been largely fruitless. What we need and need badly is a desire on the part of the pcopie themselves to know the truth, and to be willing to make some effort t6 find it. Citizens Interested. "It should be possible to find in every school district in the state a group of patriotic and interested citizens citi-zens who will be willing to make a careful inquiry into the merits of the case and let their findings be known to the people, and if, in the light of the truth as to the significance, the costs, the methods and the results of our public school wcrk it is decidi d to cut the school year to six months, well and good, but let us first know the facts. "It is my conviction, and I believe I can speak for the 3500 men and women in the elementary and high schools of our state and a better group of the same or larger size cannot can-not be found in all the word that the people of Utah believe in the benefits of universal education, that the democratic ideal of fullest self-realization self-realization of the individual and the greatest social good can be attained in no other way; that satisfactory re suits can be achieved only when the public is willing lo make adequate financial provisions for support, and that while some readjustments must be made in order to fit the schools lo the industrial conditions of today, public education is and will continue to be the bulwark of our civilization. People May Rescue. "The present is but a temporary em barrassment We had hoped for some remedial legislation that would have aided us in the solution of the problem prob-lem as it affects us for this year "We are optimistic concerning the next blennium because if it should ! transpire that the new legislation on j taxation for any reason fails, the j people in their several districts v ill rally to the support of their boards or , education and provide in some adequate ade-quate way for the running of our i elementary schools and full regular j school year of nine months. "In the meantime let us survey our selves. The state department of education edu-cation will undertake to formulate a tenative plan of survey that can be used in any district, through which it will be possible to find out the truth "When we the people know our decisions de-cisions are right "It is only when the truth is kept from us that we make serious mistakes." |