Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1845-05-29
~ mi TllESDs OF IxrisyEnEyr N Eprrl
fl0n rnRDrcn0rf ne STATE OF TIRl0NT.

~ futG NOuNknNtSst Nt"eltOlFN
to devise means for improving our H..
,r,ct Schools, various measures were sdep,
I'd for asous,ng and giving . proper d,r-s
lion 10 public s~o,imsot on ihn impou,o,
subject Ameas Others l was rcque,ted to
procure authentic Information rc,pce,In.,
iks School laws Of the frse States, and "a,
peeislly Of New Eng land, and TO publish
such Information - widely ~ pos.bl,
through the newspapers The ob,ee, Of
thi, course vas to show, how fsr Vernon,
which had once aood foremost in regard "a
eoshmoe- school education, had now hl,n
into the rear, and thus TO prove the n,e,,.
sny OF immediate Legislative action. if va
would have esryou,h stand even on an ,osol
tooi,ns with their competitors for ind, Den.
d encs, influence, and usefulness. h,,.
performed the fret par, Of the required du.
IT, have opened a correspondent. with
official characters and o,hen, IN Nam.
New Hampshire, Massse huscu,, Rlod,
Island, Connecticut New York, md Ohm
all Of whom have Kindly and prumny
complied with tho request Of the cony,n
ton, somo by furnishing me with their
sehool.laws in pamphle, form, oihen /,
procuring and forwarding TRANSCRIPT, from
from their Revised Statutes
1t was WINS my intention 10 bare Ibid tho
information before the public IN he uo,d,
of The Siaiaios Of The respective S,a,u-
But, by arranging ii in TIN, form, the length
Of the article wns 80 grca, as 10 lnlcrpo,e A
serious obstacle both to reader, and p,,n.
tcrs. therefore determined merely 10
prescn, tho ,ub,iann Of the Information
through the newspapers, ond to conhne nv.
sef FOR The prescn, to the important point,
OF, /. Examination OF Teac hers Ii Sv.
pern,endenoe and Regulation Of Schools,
II. Uniformity in Books, by Selection
of the Profitable, and an Exc lus,on Of the
Improbable orHuuful. l shall be happy to
afford an opportunity to such gentlemen a,
may desire II, 10 examine moro minuiIy
the statutes which | have collected, IN
tour which shall short take through the
principa towns Of the State.
|. Illumination of TeaehsrI No teach.
er, in any Of the States enumerated, 10 al.
lowed 10 commence public schoo! until be
or she has exhibited satisfactory evidence,
to the proper committee, Of good moral
character, and undergone aric, Gamma.
ton. ns well rs TO ability to leach as to liter.
airy qualifications In some oflhe states. the
act OF commencing TO teach without Ger
lihcnie from the committee is made penal
offence. In several states, the certificate
may n, any ,lme be Withdrawn, should the
school prove Improbable. Every whcro
a preliminary eIaminu,I on is indispensable
excepting IN
VERMONT, Whsyt no Examination Il
teachers phnicrsr IS proridtd for By iar,
and where, with few exceptions, such
thing is never even drcamt o.
H. Visitation, Svpsr,ntrndrnet,andR,g
xia!on Of he Schools. In all tho enumern
ted Sln,es, d more or less s,ric, md frequent
visitation, supc inlendcnce md regulation Of
the schools is required by law. In New
Hampshire alone there IS a seeming excsp-
ton to hi, rule. There any town, assem-
bcd in town meeting may vote 10 dispense
with The services, Of tho experimenting
School committee 80 far Us relates to the
examination and inspection OF schools" Bu1
the value Of such examination has been too
strongly felt throughout, the stale to allow
to such mn exception more thsa nornlna!
importance. Unfortunately, however, tho
cases in which town, azure avaIIei
themselves Of the multiplying chusc, arc pre-
cisely those in which II is HOS, injurious TO
their true interests. For II may generally
be ,akenas a rule, lha, strict supcrlnlen
denee i. valued b~ the community IN d..
rec, ratio TO Tire efficiency OF the schools
But. while all the States around have been
thus careful Of the vital Interests 0! ,het
youth. how !, j, with us2
In VERMONT, the law makes no pro
ri,ion rhanrr for these important poln's
and, with very few exceptions, there IS no
such thing known here as examination or
superin,rndcnce Of schools
Ill. Uniformity Of BoOks-Seltehon o.
he Profitable, EIeIu,!ox Of the Unprom-
able or Hurlful InOaio and New York the
statute make i, the duty of the superln'en'
dents to determine ind rteommtSd tho
school books be 5, adapted for the course OF
studies In Name, New Hampshire, Mas
sschuseu., Rhode Island, and Connecticut
the law tnjoiai the eouminee 10 %rts'
What books shafhbe used
VERMONT here again stands alone
Her law NJ aher DaSd, nor apt.o,,-tI
either A,fei,on or vteOm hon The
consequence is n Babel.ike confusion oi
books; good, bad and Indifferent indl'crlm'
ira,ely mingled in almost every school BID
ding defiance TO ela"i6cs hoa, erder, OF
method. 10 . school visited during Tho
pas, winter, owiag 10 the diversity o'tooA',
rno.+ Of which, though good in 'bemsel'H
wore wholly unsuiied to the capacity Of NE
child, the Isrss,f reading eisss con sisted Q
fws children. And thus The nuas, bo'h o.
insnuoior aHd puals, Was completely frit
tered away Ia such a situation, the bcsl
teacher would be powerless
10 oil the Stairs euunsrs,ed lhr impor.