From Historical Rutland: an illustrated history of Rutland, Vermont, from the granting of the charter in 1761 to 1911 by Rev. F. E. Davison, Rutland, Vt.: P.H. Brehmer, 1911, page 26:
Educational
The first constitution of Vermont contained this section: "A school or schools shall be established in each town by the Legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the masters, paid by each town, making proper use of school lands in such towns, thereby to enable them to instruct youth at low prices. One grammar school in each county, and one university in this state, ought to be established by the General Assembly."
The first general law of Vermont on the subject of primary schools was passed by the Legislature October 22, 1782. This law provided for the division of towns into school districts, and other necessary provisions for the building of school houses and supporting schools. This was the law under which the school system of Vermont started, although it is probable that there were some schools in the State prior to the passage of this law.
The old-time schools have been the object of wit and sarcasm from all sides. It is said that the "buildings were such as the farmer of today would not house his cattle in." "The teacher was not qualified for his work; he was paid seven or eight dollars a month in winter and from fifty cents to a dollar a week in summer and boarded around." "The rod or the ferule was his sceptre, with this he governed his school." "The government was arbitrary, the method of instruction coarse, rude and dictatorial; it was not such as to awaken the minds and hearts of pupils." While it is true that the methods of those early days lacked the improvements of modern times, still it must be said that the educational systems as at first inaugurated produced men and women as patriotic as [27] ever existed and as intelligent as the light of their times permitted.
The average school house in Rutland County was a small building, sixteen by twenty feet, often built of logs. No paint was ever put on these houses, either inside or outside, and they were Hopen to the wind and the weather." The entrance was into a little room five feet square, conntaining the chimney and the girls' wardrobe. This passageway opened into the school room, some fifteen feet square. Writing benches, as they were called, ran around three sides of the room, and in front of them were rough benches of hard wood slabs, with legs as rough as the slabs. On these were seated the larger pupils, all old enough to write, and in the center of the room were lower seats for the smaller students. On one side of the room was a large fireplace constructed of unhewn stone, the fuel being provided by the householders, a quarter or half a cord to a scholar, as the vote of the district might be. The teacher's desk in one corner might have cost fifty cents. On the desk lay a rule which belonged to the teacher, and over the fireplace on two nails driven in about two feet apart and on a level, rested "a twig of the wilderness," which, with the rule, was designed as a terror to evil-doers. In the corner near the desk stood a broom, which was used once a day during the noon recess, by one of the older girls attending the school, each taking her turn in sweeping the room.
With the exception of a few private schools, the district schools constituted the only means of instruction in Rutland until 1852. In that year an academy was openned in a new building on Main Street. That building now constitutes a part of the present high school building. Extensive addditions have been made from time to time since 1879, the last improvement being the construcction of the commodious assembly hall in 1909. This academy ceased to exist as an institution with the spring term of 1855 and was superseded by the Union school. On April 6, 1855, a union district was formed in Rutland, and soon after a high school was established. The graded school district was organnized April 9, 1867.
The population of the city by the census of 1910 was given at 13,546, with a school census of [28] 3,028. The total enrollment and attendance in the public, private and parochial schools is given in the annual report for the year ending December 31 , 1910, as 2,876, divided as follows: enrolled in public schools, 2,191 ; enrolled in parochial schools, 616; enrolled in other private schools, 75. The regularity of attendance exceeds the general avere age of the state and compare favorably with that of the best schools in New England.
The total expenditure for schools in 1910 was $52,068.29, of which amount $41,209.18 was paid for salaries. $5,270.25 for free text books and supplies. No city in the State has made greater improvements in recent years in school plant and equipment than Rutland. The erection of the Dana building materially increased resources and the addition to the High School building, which has now the largest and finest school assembly hall in the State, has made the successful handling of the increased enrollment in that school possible. The present teaching force consists of sixty-four teachers, of whom ten are college-bred, ten are normal-trained. and twenty-two are graduates of academies and high schools. The teaching force is strong and efficient and compares most favorably with that in other cities in New England the size of Rutland. The efficient superintendent is David B. Locke, formerly of Winchendon, Mass., and the successful principal of the high school is Professor Isaac Thomas, who has a deservedly wide reputation throughout New England as an educator of note.