Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-11-01
Education In Vermont.
SECRETARY TRENCH'S ADDRESS.
Reported for the Journal.I

Education In Vermont.
SECRETARY TRENCH'S ADDRESS.
Reported for the Journal.
The address of Secretary French, Of the
State Board Of Education, in the Hall Of the
House Of Representatives on Tuesday even
ing, was a carefully prepared review Of the
school situation, with condensed statistical
information and suggestions of further i'm
provements.
The entire school population of the State
was given at s. 200, with 2,6ij organized
school district and departments. The per-
manent investment in school houses was
estimated at 81 ,26j ,3s7, and the total cost
of schools for the school year, including the
expense of books at an average of one dollar
per scholar and six per cent. interest on
the amount invested in school buildings,
was placed at $3.50, zoo.
The number of enrolled members AZ the
| Teachers Institutes showsa small per cent.
Of increase for the past three years previous
To which time no record had been kept
the number in 1872 being | ,262, and the
attendance being 3 per cent. against 6j4
per cent in 1870 The increase in mem
bership and daily attendance, though small.
was regarded a. favorable indication There
were, besides teachers. 81 Town Superinten-
dents present at these Institutes in 1872.
against Al one year ago. Free entertain
ment was provided for those in attendance
by the people Of the localities where the In
stituteS We're held, amounting in the asgre-
gats to 5 1854 days in two years. The indif-
ference of some Town Superintendent~ was
regarded a a prominent obstacle TO greater
usefulness. The law of $50, making
it the duty ct these Superintendent-
to make the local arrangements for
the sessions in their several counties, has
generally been well carried out. which had
materially lightened the lab0rs OF the Secre-
tary. But the small per cent. of attend
ance by SuperintendentS upon the Institutes
only 81 out of 229-did not speak well for
the interest which this class Of officials take
in the schools The largest attendance of
teachers was from towns where Superinten-
dents We're most constant in their attend
ance at the Institute. and several towns,
whose superintendentS were not seen at all
at the Institutes. We're not represented by
single teacher.
Two classes seem To- avoid the lnstitgtc~-
some old teachers. who regard them a very
well for Young and also for inexperienced
tencherS. but Of no value 10 Others and q
class who fear they may be called upon to do
something which they feel conscious
they are not competent 10 do. But
the Secretary believed that on; of the .262
teachers who attended the Institutes the last
year not more than fifty can be found who
failed 20 appreciate the value of these
gatherings He gave ~ an illustration Of
what some wide-awake teachers would do 90
attend the lnstituteS-the case of two Young
ladies in Nindham county who Travelled
sixty miles across the country. by stage and
private conveyance. 90 be present al the se~-
sion AT Wilmington. and they felt well paid
for the effort
Prudential committees are not always
friendly 10 the Institutes. as the law gives
teachers the right to close their schools and
attend the county institute without deduct
ing anything from their time In some in
stances committees have forbidden their
teachers to attend, and. 10 avoid trouble,
these teachers have usually waived their
legal right. Secretary French admitted
that this opposition was growing stronger
| every year, from the fact that the discon-
tinuance of school for five DAYS
was not only a deduction of - much
time out of the school session, bat loss Of
public money. which Is divided in proper
ti5n to the aggregate attendance among
the various schOtl districts The bad effect
OF breaking up a school for "a week-and in
some instances it must occur during the last
half. OF near the close of a term-was a ser
iOus objection. and. from the want of uni
| formity. an injustice to some districts To
| obviats these objections several modifca-
/ tions or alterations of the law were propOs-
| ed reducing the terms of County lnsti-
tutes 10 two days, to be held early in the
| winter. teachers To attend them. if during a
school session, without loss of time, and
authorizing teachers 10 add TO the total at
sN...s l.v-a
tendance as shall equal the daily average
attendance multiplied by the number of
days spent by the teacher in attending the
| Institute this latter provision securing
| districts against loss of public money
| Another provision suggested was, to require
the Secretary to hold three State Institutes
/ annually, of three weeks each, in different
| parts of the State, during the spring and
| fall. when but few schools are in session.
and also to cOnhne the examination of tea
| chers for Institute certificates to these State
| Institutes, and To such only as attend them
| through the entire session. With these
notifications it was thought the Institute
| system would work well and accomplish all
| its friends claimed lort, furnishings larger
number of teachers, better qualified for their
work, than can be secured under existing
/ laws
]
/ lining teachers in this State was next pre-
| Sented, and copious extracts from the laws
and practices of other States. including sey-
eral much younger than Vermont, to show
/ that some Of the requirements complained
of in our laws are hardly up to the standard
| of the States referred to- Ii was shown
that the class of persons not qualified to
| pass these examinations, rs applicants, has
| grown less each year. and that the proper
tion of those passing had increased thirty
eight per cent. in six years It had been
demonstrated, it was claimed, that a higher
standard of qualification of teachers had
been attained that the iloOdwOod of the
teachers calling had been shut out that a
good law for increasing the efficiency Of our
schools can be enforced. and that the State
was heartily in favor of the law. and in sym
pathy with those superintendents who hon
estly and impartially enforced it.
The Normal schools were represented as
presenting an improved condition The
whole number of graduates was given at
1903, l51 of whom taught last year. \ great
need of didactic teachers is felt in these
schools, said the Secretary. The Burling-
ton schools had teachers from all of the
Normal schools. The scholarship i good
but some OF the methods Objectionable
The most important feature of this adj
dress was its advocacy of the - town sys-
TEN, as provided for in the law of 1870
The present law was deemed defective, and
should be amended 50 as TO allow town.
that have adopted the town system. to vote
again, or reverse their decision every five
years if they saw fit to do so. and leaving
towns to determine BY vote at March meet
ings the number of primary schools for the
year ensuing, or for five years. The speaker
was fully convinced of the superiority ol
the town system over the present district
system. 1t would dispense with II ,00C
school officers to begin with The stats
ties presented showed 90 districts without
schools, twenty-six BY vote of the districts
and l07 registers not returned. There had
been 2i6 terms with an average of only fvs
pupils, ,O0i with ten. ,229 with fifteen
I,l92 with twenty. The Secretary wei
argued that while the expense was increased
/ by so many small schools, the ratio Of use
fulness was diminished One instance wa:
given where an entire term was devoted BY
a teacher to one pupil only, a little girl min,
years of age. 1t is the opinion of the Secre
tary, that the reluctance which has beer
manifested in adopting the town system. ha.
arisen from the want ofa thorough knowl-
edge of it. With one or two amendments
it was thought the law would become NOR,
popular. 1t was evident that the present
town supervision is but iinperfectly per
formed, and that the source of statistical
information is to great degree incomplete
and falls far short of a compliance with tn,
law. Town and district clerks. as well a.
superintendents, often neglect their duty
and the result is, that a machine, which i
only valuable when it is run perfe .tly, lose
portion Of its usefulness