blem.=--The possibilities of the organization of
rural life and rural schools have not yet been realized; as a people we
have really played with this problem. It has taken care of itself; it
has been allowed to drift. Rural life at present is a kind of easy
social adjustment on the basis of the minimum of expense and of
exertion toward a solution. We have not realized the value of genuine
social, economic, and educational organization with all the activities
in these lines which the terms imply. We have not grappled with the
problem in an earnest, scientific way; we have never thought out
systematically what is needed, and then decided to employ the necessary
means to bring about the desired end. It may be that the problem will
remain unsolved for generations to come; but if country life and country
schools are to be made as attractive and pleasant as city life and city
schools, the people will have to face the problem without flinching and
use the only means which will bring about the desired result. The
problem could be easily solved if the people realized the true value of
rural life and of _good_ rural schools. Where there is a will there is a
way; but where there is no will there is no possible way. Country life
can be made fully as pleasant as city life, and the rural schools can be
made fully as good as the city schools. Of course some things will be
lacking in the country which are found in the city; but, conversely,
many things and probably better things will be found in the country than
could be found in the city.

CHAPTER III

THE REAL AND THE IDEAL SCHOOL

This chapter will have reference to the one-room rural school as it has
existed in the past and as it still exists in many places; it will also
discuss the rural school as it ought to be. It is assumed that, although
consolidation is spreading rapidly, the one-room rural school as an
institution will continue to exist for an indefinite time. Under
favorable conditions it probably should continue to exist; for, as we
shall see, it has many excellent features which are real advantages.

=The Building.=--The old-fashioned country schoolhouse was in many
respects a pitiable object. The "little red schoolhouse" in story and
song has been the object of much praise. As an ideal creation it may be
deserving of admiration, but this cannot be asserted of it as a reality.
The common type was an ordinary box-shaped building without
architecture, without a