A Frontier Education: The Struggles of Washington's Early Schools

At the meeting of the State Teachers' Association at Spokane Falls last week, Mr. R.B. Bryan, of Olympia, the state superintendent of schools, read an interesting and valuable paper on 'The Conditions and Needs of Our Schools.' He noted that prior to 1872, no record of the educational affairs of the territory existed. Turning to the records of 1872, the number of school districts was 24, only 76 percent of which were supplied with schoolhouses. Only 13 percent of the children between 4 and 21 years of age were enrolled in school. By 1881, there were 430 districts, though other data remains too meager to command attention. By 1890, the enrollment in public schools reached 57,594. Mr. Bryan lamented that in 1890, the average school year was only 97.2 days, far below the national average. He criticized the current system of school land management and text-book adoption, noting that the selection of books is placed in the hands of five men who might decide based on prejudice rather than the best interests of the state. He called for better teacher licensing, more uniform school work, and proper state-supported normal schools to train professionals, moving beyond the current 'dwarf-like jealousy, hypocrisy, and treachery' among educators.