The schools in Caldwell county are doing as well as can be expected under existing circumstances, but they are not yet what we would like to see them. We have built three new houses during the past year and furnished and repaired several others. There are not more than a half-dozen district libraries in the county, but we are going to make a special effort to create an interest in this direction. In District. No. 54, there is a nice library of 100 volumes of good literature. This is the best in the county outside Princeton and Fredonia. Of the 67 white and colored schools there are 11 first-class, 17 second and 39 third-class schools. In these second and third-class districts, with the exception of very few instances, not one cent is raised toward supplementing the salary and extending the school term, consequently these schools are taught by young, inexperienced boys and girls. These teachers are doing their best, and are anxious to become better qualified and often speak of wanting to attend school if the salary were sufficient to do so.
A number of teachers attended the Western State Normal last spring. We believe that half of the teaching force in Caldwell County will enter school at the close of the term. In a few years Normal trained teachers will be in demand, and all who wish to remain in the profession are waking up to a realization of the fact that they much be better qualified in order that they may be able to hold good paying positions. We need more pay and greater requirements. Better salaries mean better qualifications and better teachers. The minimum price should be $40 per month and the educational standard raised in proportion to the increase in salary.
We are sorry to state there is not a graded school in the county. We trust that the next Legislature will bring about some important changes in the school system. It is almost impossible to get trustees to serve. Most of the "Boards" are appointed as the elected trustees rarely ever qualify.
Nannie R. Catlett, Co. Supt.
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