Will Block Path of Book Agents in the Rural Schools
Article taken from The Portsmouth Times, September 3, 1929
E. O. McCowen, superintendent of the Scioto county schools issued the following statement Tuesday.
To the Patrons of the Scioto County School District.
Greetings: You are doubtless aware of the fact that in many of our schools every year book agents bother to teachers, other agents come into the school disturbing it by getting the children to sell magazine subscriptions for something or other and thus the community is "worked over" apparently for the school but it really being done through an agent's desire for personal profit. I believe that you will agree with me that it is annoying to the welfare of the community for this to be done. As County Superintendent. I have heard of some of this from time to time after it had been done.
In order to put a stop to propaganda or the work of agents in the school and thus to try to protect the welfare of the school for you I have sent the letter below to each teacher in the county as a definite instruction.
Parents are cordially invited to go to the school to visit at any time or to confer with the teacher about the welfare of your boys and girls, or, of course, to confer with your children on any personal matter when necessary. But propaganists and ager and speech makers for a selfish purpose are hereby invited to stay away from the schools. In city school systems persons are not permitted, as a rule, to do these things. an they should not be permitted in the village and rural schools. No person will have any difficulty in getting permission from the County superintendent or local boards of education to appear in the schools for any legitimate purpose consistent with law and the public welfare.
May we again urge parents to visit the schools when convenient and to cooperate strongly with the teachers, board of education and superintendents to the end that the school year now beginning may be a very good year?
To carry out the above purpose and for no other purpose to following letter should have reached all teachers of the county school district before the opening of school today.
The letters follows: to the Teachers of the Scot County School District.
Greetings: In as much as you are likely to be bothered by meddlesome persons who may want to talk to the school children during school hours on some subject or other that they may consider most important but which is very likely to be quite frivolous. I hereby urge that you permit no person who cannot show his proper legal authority to do so, the right to talk to your children during school hours. Your salary is paid to teach the children and the time belongs to them and intruders have no right to infringe upon the time of the children.
I likewise urge that you do not under any circumstances call the children together before school, during intermission, or hold them after school for the selfish benefit of any person who may want to talk to them.
Briefly stated, I mean that we do not want any person to be permitted to talk to the children who has no authority to do so. The only persons that you should give the right to talk are the clerks of boards of education or school board members, who are the legal officers governing the schools. But understand that it is very seldom indeed that one of them wants to talk to the school.
Keep this letter in your register and show it to any person for your authority.