Fifty-third Report of the Public Schools for the School Year Ending June 30, 1902
Jefferson City, MO
Tribune Printing Company, State Printers and Binders
1902

There had been a gradual improvement in school work for the past ten years. The schools of today are so far ahead of the schools of ten years ago that a comparison is almost impossible. Although this county compares favorably with the surrounding counties, yet there are some defects that need to be remedied. A closer  co-operation of teachers, parents, and children is desirable. The schools should be more uniformly graded. There are several things that can only be corrected through county supervision. Carelessness upon the part of parents is the ptincipal cause of nonattendance of pupils. The teach may sometimes be responsible for irregular attendance. Our county is sparsely populated and many of the children have long distance to go to school; this prevents attendance of many small pupils. In township meetings, such as county supervision provides for, patrons would learn the true purposes of the country school. Very few of our teachers have had college training. About 25 per cent have had some high school or academic training. About 35 per cent have had training outside of institute and reading circle work. Camden county had more teachers in the summer schools this year than ever before. The reading circle work had enlisted but few teachers as yet. We have the active interest of about 40 per cent of them. Yet, I think we have done very well, as last year was the first time this was ever tried in the county. At least 75 per cent of our teachers are using quarterly examination questions, as prepared by the State Superintendent, with very satisfactory results. As the teachers come to know more about grading of pupils, the questions will be a greater help. The outlook is encouraging. I estimate that the patrons of the public schools have spent about $5,000 in the past five years for text books in the county. I favor “county supervision” in the most practicable form. With supervision in each county and a wide awake, intelligent corps of teachers, the work could be more systematically planned and the schools more uniformly graded. Supervision is not a panacea for all the defects in our school system, buy it will be the most important factor in elevating the public school. – Geo. W. Osborn, Com.

Transcribed by: Carrie Tuck {cvt1977@yahoo.com}