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Show DISCUSS RURAL SCHOOL PROBLEMS Mark Keppel, superintendent of county coun-ty schools, Los Angeles, delivered the principal address at the session of the department of school administration in the bishop' building this morning. J. H. rrancis, superintendent of schools, Los Angeles, president of the department, depart-ment, presided. Mr. Kep pel's subject was "Rural School Organization and Administration. Administra-tion. " He said: "The rural school is not capable of exact definition, conditions vary so greatly that a fixed classification will have too many exceptions. The definition defini-tion of a rural school, as a school which does sot have any school sdvan-tages, sdvan-tages, ia probably as far as one may go in defining such a school. The most serious handicaps of the rural community commu-nity are spar sen ess of population, the excessive distances between homes and the poverty of the population. Self help lies at the foundation of all success Where people are so poor that they can scarcely obtain proper shelter, food and clothing for themselves, they are not in a condition to nSke effective effort for community progress. "Our economic system centers wealth in the cities in geometric ratio. The ideal system would be to put all the schools of one county under one management. man-agement. Such an arrangement would solve many harassing difficulties, but it would run counter to local pride, and would eall for leaders of high administrative ad-ministrative ability. "The objections to this system would probably prove insuperable. Local finds will oppose it everywhere and eaders of affair believe that such an administration would he ineffective because be-cause of the lack of capable admin;stra-tion. admin;stra-tion. We must, therefore, approximate toward the ideal. The first need is such a conviction that education is a state concern rather than a local one. as will provide adequately for the financial needs of the rural schools. ' ' Edward Hyatt, superintendent of public instruction for California, discussed dis-cussed the finances of the rural school. He said that it is highly desirable that the money with which the rural schools are maintained should come from the pockets of the district in which the school is operated, because people appreciate ap-preciate what they pay tor more than thev do that which is given them. Ite said that the financial responsibility responsi-bility of the rural schools should be so divided between local and general authority au-thority as to foster and generate local initiative, responsibility and interest so far as possible without allowing any school to fall below a fixed standard of efficiency. |