Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-02-15
8cotoro enquirer.
iEDFORD, Pa FRIDAY, FEB. Is, 1851.
DIRECTORS THE
BANE OF THE SCHOOLS.
A Remedy.

el the Free School System since Its intro
duction into this State, without that success
which the most sanguine friends of educa
ton, have been led to anticipate, The com
mon schools have been in existence upwards
Of thirty years, but so crude was the
system, so little progress had been made in
universal education, that from the day Of
then introduction to the present, they have
been but little more than an experiment.
Every step which has been taken to reform
them has been taken after years of careful
experience and thorough trial 1t was only
by this means that the ineficiencies and
wants Of the system could be discovered
e; a~certained
ln the last twelve years the schools have
advanced, through the reforms adopted in
lSs4, much more rapidly than they did an
terror 10 that pvriud. Twelve yeas7 havo
elapsed since any radical changes have been
engrafted into the system Many defects
and inequalities have been discovered in the
mean time. which the Legislature is now
asked to remedy. We learn that bill has
been drafted, and Is now in the hands Of the
educationists Of the State for their careful
examination. With this fact in view, we
vould call the attention Of those who have
This matter in charge. to the adoption Of
some other method Of selecting School Di
rcctors. If any one abstacle above another
has retarded and clogged the rapid progress
Of the schools, it is the present mode Of
supplying Directors for their supervision,
1t Is just as essential to have capable and
accomplished men to administer the School
laws and to supcrintend the schools, as it
necessary to have accomplished teachers to
teach Them The law should prohibit any
Individual from exercising the functions Of
School Director, who is incapable of com
ing up to a certain standard of qualifca-
tions, as readily as it ould prohibit an un-
qualified teacher from exercising the duties
Of teacher, under the present law. With
bad unqualified Directors no schools will
improve, it would be a miracle if they did
Whole counties are kept twenty years in
the back ground through this terrible evil
Men are selected to fill this important posi-
ton, without any reference to their person
al qualifications, sentiments, or standing.
The best schools viii reeede more in one
year, with bad board Of Directors, than
can be regained in five years By a good
board. Under the control Of an unquali-
fed board, schools viii languish, teachers
become Indifferent, and ruin and decay be-
come visible on every hand, Indifferent
citizens become opponents of the system,
and their children become the victims of
misplaced authority.
The reader viii ask how Is this to be REM
edied ? Itcan only be rcmedied by adopting
some plan similar to the one authorizing the
examination of teachers No man, as we
said before, should be permitted to exercise
the duties and responsibilities of School Di-
rector by the law, unless he possesses certain
standard qualifications The County Super
mtendent of Common Schools should be
authorized by law to examine all Directors,
and to give them a certificate according to
standard Of qualifications adopted by the
State Superintendent or a convention Of
County Superintendeuts, which examination
and certificate should be returned to the
School Department, and if satisfactory the
Director should be properly commissioned
by the Department for a period of three
years. IF the qualifications should not be
satisfactory to the Department, then the De-
partment to appoint on the recommendation
and certificate Of the County Superintend-
ant and the majority Of the existing board,
or Of the reliable school men Of the District.
The number should be cut down from six to
three, and, instead Of being called School
Directors, they should be called School Com
missioners, and they should be properly
recompensed for their services. By the
adoption of this plan the schools would be
properly superiutended, and an interest
aroused far greater than that aroused by the
adoption of the County Superintendency,
which has worked admirably and only wants
intelligent and accomplished Commissioners
to make it a success beyond all controversy.
There Is no reason why School Directors
should not possess qualifications as well as
County Superintendents and teachers If
a County Superintendent is disqualified he
Is examined by the State Superintendent
and dismissed-the same course is pursued
with an unqualified teacher, and why should
the officer who exercises more authority than
either Of those he selected withnut ragard
to qualifications As the law now stands
many Directors are selected that never have
received the advantages of Common or other
Schools, who do not appreciate either, and
who are utterly Indifferent to the cause OF
education selected because they are heavy
taxpayers or favorites in the community in
which they reside We have frequently
known men to be elected to this responsible
position who could not write their own name
or read it after it was written. This plan
may be objected to on the ground that GER
tain Districts may not be able to furnish men
with the requisite qualifications. The same
objection was urged against the examination
Of teachers, but this will be as readily over
come, in a short time, as that objection was,
and result in as much or more good. Let
the Legislature adopt this plan, or similar
one, and we are confident that the Schools
viii advance more in the next ten years than
they have under the County Superintendent
cy in the same length of tiroe