The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-01-09

eM0 &f0tuitu0usly until the public provision
hall Be expended It is estimated that gratu-
tous instruction will be impaired for one quar-.
er 81 the year. If this is what is meant by de
laring' schools common, then we have done so
md this is what the law required of us to perform
The second charge is, ssthat an enumeration
# the pupils attending these Common Schools
vas made by the Directors as the basis Of APP
portionment to pay the teachers" The Direc-
ors Of this District have done no such thing
there was no Necessity for such enumeration and
Your informant has probably
COMPOUNDED two matters, entirely distinct. The
School Law makes it part of the duty of the
Secretary to take Census of all persons in the
District between the ages Of 5 and 81 years, as
also the average attendance of all the pupils on
our schools From this census the County Fund
Commissioner gets the basis for his apportion-
ment. This Board has nothing to do with the
superintendent. Our treasurer receives the por-
ton allotted to and we pay it out for tuition.
3rd charge.-'It is alleged that the Teachers
of these schools are under no control of the
Board of Directors"
It is difficult to maintain ones gravity in con-
sidering charge Of this kind. A Common
School owes its existence to the Law, it is placed
and by no possibility can it pass from their con-
troll; that control is inalienable; assertion like
this is a contradiction in the very terms of it.
The Directors may refuse or neglect to exert
this control, and if your informant had made
this as a charge, it would have relieved him of
the absurdity; but then it would be false which
is worse .....
18th charge These schools are not "Common,
or Free, as they should be, but private and ex-
elusive"
Ianswer, our schools are open to all that choose
to send, and are free to the amount of the appro-
priation. This jingling together of the words
sscommon or free" is apt to mislead your readers.
One would infer from the tenor of your subse-
quent remarks, that common schools must me-
cessarily be free schools, and when they cease
to be free they are no longer common schools.
The Law designates them Common Schools
they are nowhere in the statute called Free
Schools; the terms Free schools and Common
schools are essentially distinct. No writer can,
with propriety, use these as interchangeable
terms. Amy benevolent individual may estab-
lsh free school, but it requires the Legislative
authority to establish Common School in the
State. We earnestly desire and implicitly be-
lieve that our schools will in few years more
be entirely free; but it is of the chief excel
lenccs of our present system that all the public
schools in the State are now brought under the
control and supervision of the Superintendent,
and all the advantages and improvements result
ing from system of general instruction are be-
ing enjoyed, even now, when the public fund is
inadequate to provide gratuitous instruction.
9Th. Have the Directors complied with the
law by examining the Teachers before licensing
them?
The object of this examination is to ascertain
whether the teacher is legally qualified. Now
are fully satisfied on this point, the design of the
law is fulfilled. A majority of the Board, from
previous acquaintance with the teachers; from
frequent personal intercourse; from having EN-
ployed them to teach their own children; from
visiting their schools and examining their class
es, were satisfied of their capability. But apar
from these considerations the Board felt it du
ty incumbent on them to license these teachers
because they were specially instructed to EN-
ploy them in preference to all others. 1t was
understood and fully expressed at the District
Meeting that these teachers having meritcd and
JxLo &c bo;r
be appointed
The will of the people when fairly expressed
in their primary meetings has always in ou1
country been thought entitled to profound re
spect, and the duty of obeying that will is among
our stereotyped political axoms.
The 9th and last thing referred to in your ed
itorial, relates to the payment of teachers. Thi
is already sufficiently answered under the Is
charge. confess do not know what you ar
aiming at in this last inquiry. If the teacher
are paid and the public fund nures to the bene
fit of the District the object of the law is fulfilled
The law requires that the teachers be paid b,
draft on the treasurer; now it cannot be tina
You are referring to the mere formality, and ar
making it subject of serious inquiry whethe
the money is paid into the hand of the teache
or into the hand of any other person for his use
If SO have only to say that this depends on flu
ture contingencies; and it is at best trivial an
unimportant matter.
In conclusion permit ME to remark that in tn
incipient stage Of our organization Schoc
District, the Board at every step of their pre-
gress has been guided by the statute if the la
is sidark and mysterious" as you term it, W
claim the more lenity and indulgence. All tn;
is necessary to make our Common Schools
blessing to our city is the hearty cooperate
and cordial support of all our fellow-citizens.-
The press can do much to promote, but niue
more to mar, the good work; it is easy to avail
en- suspicion, to infuse distrust and to SOW tn
seeds of dissention in the public mind.
You, as an Editor, have no special mission G
the subject of public schools, and when in col
nection with other things you say you shave
duty to perform and will not turn to the right