The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1873-03-20
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of Cammoa Schools to report sunHailt lo
ta March meeting. fbo following Is re-
sneegialy submitted
The remark rs beard ou all hsnds, that
the teachers age nat as well qualified al
lAe present time as formerly 49,, lQ. "a,
or efen o. years ago, not as efficient
a.lbial aud thorough. aud as q eQuse-
qacnte. discipline Is relaxed, pupils are
backward, and the common schools have
aeiefioatcd in spite of ihe laws ior their
Improvement, enacted from une 90 time
by the Legislature Of tbc State. How
this may be 10 the state at large, am
8ot informed. bu lhe same complaint is
beard ~at lca,l 10 adjoining towns and
n,c interaute 8. fair, that the same Is true
iu ths rural district. ihroughouttbe State.
NOW something 8. the matter. It might
bo wcll 20 point ont some Of the causes,
which iu the opinion of yonr Superinien-
dent hiss produced This result One cause
is the diminished number of pupils. For
ty wears ago. the number 10 town attend
jng The school, was probably lour times
as many "a. 81 present. Something less
tlau 40 years ago, Dis. No, on the ;, +,
. corner numbered upward Of 80 pupils;
. Dis, No. 9, i5, Dis, No. :. Ia West Sand
gate as many, and large proportion Of
these scholars were Young men aud wo-
men Your Superintendent knows
whereof he aflirns, having taught iu the
/ districts at that time Now Oh the 5. l..
corner there are, perhaps. half "a dozen,
/ ia Dis. No. 2, a dozen, aud ia West Sand
| gate q dozen aud half Thus Won see
/ how few there are IN comparison al pre-
sent. The schools are small aud the
classes corrcspondingly so, and this Of it.
self would operate uutavorably. In a
/ large class there Is emulation, rivalry and
ambition. likewise stimulus TO the
( teacher which IS wanting where the class
I is small The remedy Tor this in the opiu-
/ ion ,f your superintendent j., IN the alb
olishing of the district, aud adopting
what i called the Town system" and
you are recommended 10 familiarize
yourselves with the provisions Of this
/ law, and be prepared to vote intelIigenuy
upon the question at our next annual
meeting,
( Another cause for deterioration is the
autagonism existing in almost every
school district. There are two class Of
people, property-holders aud non-proper-
/ ty-holders, the former have the property,
the latter the children; the one class do
not care for good schools, they cost too
much, and if the other does il IL easy to
see which is likely to win IN a contest
/ The majority are supposed to rule in our
/ form Of government, but the reverse is
often true. II is a fact, that in very many
cases individuals (somotimes boys) are
/ elected to the office Of school committee
of the voters. The thing is arranged be-
fOrchaud. a political ring formed on a
small scale by few, a nomination for
committee is suddenly sprung upon the
school meeting, a hesitation is felt to vote
/ against a neighbor and the consequence
/ is Mr. A. or b. or Jim or Joe, is elected
to the office, who has not a chick or child
/ in the world, and is not at all interested
! only to have a cheap school. The voters
OF the several districts would 90 well to
look to this matter, organize beforehand,
/ be on the ground in season, and if man
/ is nominated for committee whom YOU
do not want, have no eompunctions, no
/ hesitation, vote him down and elect the
/ right man IN the right place.
But say YOU, the Superintendent is to
blame after all for poor schools, he grants
/ licenses to incompetent teachers aud that
makes al the trouble. Let rs talk liule
about that matter, il may be partially
/ true, If so and II be is more 10 blame
I than yoa, he will own up and make ac-
/ acknowledgements. The Superintendent
/ Is Just about what YOU make him--a re-
suit, an expression OF your principles and
elected To carry them ont, aud would be
recreaut to his trust did he fail to do 50.
circumstance" it Is said make the
man" they certainly have a great inGn-
cnce in making the Superintendent.
I A. basis or guide, the law requires
/ the teachers to be qualified 10 teach Ger.
/ tain branches, but how far? A great
deal II necessarily lcll to the judgement
/ of the Superintendent, aud be may dis
charge bis duty faithfully and still fail TO
give satisfaction But duty Is nice
+ point To decide upon sometimes Sup
pose the following which Is a case Of
T frequent occurrauce: The committee aud
principal men Of back district perhaps,
hold au interview with the Superiutcn-
dent, and set forth that their district is
poor, that il contains bat very few cbil-
drcn, aud those small and backward, uo
grammar 10 be studied but little arith.
metic, aud that the easiest Eiud that The
teaching will consist for the most part of
reading and spelling aud geography and
the first radlmouis OF arithmetic, Now
wc are NOT able to paw first class teach
or. bat must havc d school aud have
hired Mis-. 4 90 H. who will do well
enough provided -ie can get q certificate,
Do easy. do not be too strict The cam
didate !. examined. found quite deficient
in some branches, does uof comr up 70
the standard required by Aw strictly in
t,ygrefea. vhat Is the' superinteudeuts
luty. u license T. refused smother
candidate comes uo better qualified than