The Conflict Between Schooling and Spring Labor
City officials warn parents against letting children quit school early for seasonal work, threatening that those who leave will be forced to repeat their grades.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Some pupils of the city schools are beginning to drop out on account of spring work. While some children must help their families, others are quitting simply because they are tired or claim to be, preferring to gather flowers and fish rather than complete their studies. The school district clarified that students who stop attending two or three months before the end of the term will not be permitted to move to the next grade with their peers. Those who leave will be required to take up the work in the grade below in the fall, as they will lack the necessary proficiency for promotion.
“They feel it easier to gather flowers and fish than to attend school and will furnish all kinds of excuses to their parents that they may remain at home.”
This reflects the long-standing tension between the agricultural labor requirements of the Yakima Valley and the mandates of the public education system, an ongoing civic friction point.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.