Litchfield enquirer., 1860-08-23

"" u"yS osop at tuiS ltdee, WIeF6 ne Wtik find ample provision for his comfort and
 musings .,.-, r,tA. sn
 i For the Itchfeld Enquirer. F MR. EDITOR: From the Report we learn that T there are twenty-three districts in this town. and of course some of them are small and have but few scholars. And yet every district, large or
 small, Is obliged to maintain school ut least six
 months of the year, to enttle it to draw the pub lie money, and the excuse that our school ia small and therefore backward is a very poor one,
 for a six months school ,ceU kept ought to give.
 a child respectable education before he is six teen years of age.
 Our common school system is so simple in it's
 working that 1t reaches every district, and i'm poses upon none of it's officers any duties that every citizen may not easily understand and
 faithfully discharge, and the School Visitors and
 District Committees are without excuse, if they
 do not perform their duties as to meet not only
 the requirements of the law, but to mako the.
 schools efficient for instructing the children.
 It shows how little interest the Dfsh-its Conn | n,1nees take in their respective schools when we
 state that at least seven of them were obliged to,
 obtain the sanction of the Board of Visitors to
 thelr proceedings, in order to enable them to
 carry out their plans for school during last winter. Now see how simple their duty Sometime durlng the month of September the law says
 they shall call a school meeting of the legal yot,
 CTS Of the District, for the purpose of choosing school officers for the ensuing year. These o6i.
 cers are to be chosen by ballot. During tbo
 month of January the Committee should take
 the names of all the children in the District be-
 tween the ages of four and sixteen There aro
 blanks furnished during the winter to be filled e Hei fds TOT tne Mites when they are fo fSa gs .sfwarded s, tS the SeheRI U rs TIftSc TTIistct in regard to the schools certainly are no great tax on any mans time or talents.
 Simple as the duty of District Committees isr there are some men wholly unfit for the otiice- To oarticularize q little-1 ask if the man who makes his wife burn green wood all the year. and then grulnbles because she sometimes falis to get breakfast soon enough to suit his hurry willpot, if a district committee be very likely to think what is good enough for his children as home, good enough for them at school T. Again, will not the man whose work is so behlnd-hano, that his blow freezes up in the turrow lar rom home where he left it one cold Novembsr dnys expecting Q warmer tomorrow, but whose sQ-
 morrow found him digging in the snow Tor tns~ nips that never grew because of the, weeds, be
 very likely, if chosen District Cominittee, to for
 get just when the work ought to be done for which he was appointed, and thus all suiIor throuph his neelect2 Would it not be well Tor | the General Assembly to enact, that every dis
 trict petitioning to have their share Of the pub 1 lie money granted to them, which they failed to
 obtain, through the indifference or neglect of tho 1 Committee, should have power to collect the
 sa,ne amount from the delinquent Committee 1 And as the time for elccting District Com.
 mittecs is near at halid,a 1 would suggest tiias 1 an effort be made in every district to havo
 Committee with the following recommen- itlations: Let him be man that minds me own business, that does his work well and al-
 ways at the ,proper time, afde one whose chii-'
 ,lren are at school when there is one, salwaye
 punctualy and regularly. A man who has no, children. seldom ever makes good Committee Again the Board of Visitors have it in their power to advance the Common Schools of this town very materially. If they are men interess-
 ed in the cause of education, land II they are not, they ought not to be elect Visitors.l they will be willing to pay such attention to the
 schools of this town, as not merely to meet the
 demands of the law, but to subserve the best iil'
 terests of education in the community.
 T The qualifications of teachers applying Tor examination, should be particularly attended 70. lthat so the standard for this town may be eie' ! vated. Adopt system of marking' II yHa , nlease. or some other plan by which all tall
 inc below a certain average shall be dismissed
 and thus better teachers will be Obialned ior boee backward schools of which we have spo-
 ken, and co,ry out tlris plan, and soon not a teacher will he found in any oi our cchools, \ tbot so far as education is c0nccrned, IS not qualified for every ono.
 Aga;n let the Board meet two or three times,
 if necessary, for examining the teachers and let , if he understood that none will be examined ex- !, ccpt before full Board and very soon the Dis' tr,ct Committees would learn that some care , was necessary in employing teachers if they l would not be compelled to disappointment in f their first choice. Another advantage if the Board met at statedly fixed times, the schoois would be more uniform in their times Of open l ing as it would be known that winter school4 could not begin till after the Board had met. , whereas now we are asked to sign certificates for those who have been examined by one of the : Board while majority are entirely ignorant ol : the teachers qualifications. but presume they r are sufficient for that backwoods district. ? Again in visiting the schools if the work was so divided up, that all and not few should snare N the burden and such a system adopted tnat ins - Reports could l,e uniform, in showing not oniv the progress of the pupils in their studies Du, the capabilities of the teacher in governing a"'' in imnarting instruction as well as success in in' lteresfipu the scholars in their books ana ieiu'nf o tbom to love learning for it's own sake we shou'u
 ho oblo in improye our schools ana raise tho st,nJard of scholarship and qualification among e onr ,'t teachers. And then let these Reports be e u%Llshed that the whole town might profit hy 1T them. and thus good teachers would dbtain me'it d ed praise and poor ones due censure-the iorlns' d would be encouraged to continue m the work :. "nd the latter be persuaded to give up work for which they seem poorly fitted. Asitis now whatever Report is made. at the annual town e meeting is heard by but few and fails to be o U any service to the people in general for whom | l. ought to be specially prepared. Much mor' IS might be said on tlis point, but a word to tn
 wise. &c, Yours, &ca A. b'