The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-03-08
COMPULSORY EDUCATION.


A bill is now before the Ohio Legisla,
ture, providing for compulsory educa-
ton Before taking steps in this direc'
ton it might be well for our Legislators
to examine into the results of such
measure in other States. The following
extract from the annual report of Henry
Kidder, Superintendent of Public In
struction in New York City, shows that
law has not Deen a success:
ut cannot be said that the Board Of
Education has been in the least derelict
in the discharge of the duties imposed
upon it by the act to secure to children
the benefits of an elementary education
Indeed, in no part of the State have any
practical steps been taken to enforce its
provisions. The amendment to the law
enacted May 20, 1876, which strength
ened considerably the powers of the
Board to enforce these provisions, has to
a slight extent only as yet been made
available, and doubtless there are thou.
sands of children employed in factories,
stores, workshops and street occupations,
who, although between the ages of eight
and fourteen years, receive no school in
struction. Through the efforts of the
agents of truancy many truant children
have been restored to the schools from
which they have absented themselves,
and some new pupils have been brought
into the schools. | cannot find, howev-
er, from the reports Of the, principals,
that the number of the latter is consider.
able. The returns, indeed. show that
the whole number in all classes of schools
is only 743. In the male grammar
schools 40; in the female grammar
schools 1; in the primary departments
and schools 1888; in the colored schools
a; and in the corporate schools 563.-
The fact is there are at present insupera-
bic obstacles to the full enforcement OF
this law. (I) The impossibility of as
certaining with any degree of accuracy
what children liable to its provisions are
engaged in various occupations, without
a much larger number of agents than
probably could be employed; H. the
difficulty of retaining the wayward, un.
ruly and truant children in school after
they have been placed there; and (3,)
the want of special provision for vic
ious and depraved children who cannot
be admitted into the public schools be-
cause their influence upon the other chill
dren would work immeasurably more
harm to the community than the evil
which this law is designed to cure, At
present Notwithstanding the faithful and
laborious exertions Of the officers in
charge of the truancy department, do
not think the results are at all commen-
surate with the expenses incurred. Ger.
tainly when so many children are refus-
ed admission to the schools for the want
of sui table accommodation as has been
reported, it would seem to be better pol
icy to appropriate the money thus ex-
pended to the building of additional
school houses, now so much needed in
the upper wards of the city. am by no
means insensible to the need of suitable
provision for the arrest of vagrants and
truants, but have been at loss to per-
ceive that the results of the operation OF
the new law have been any more salts
factory than were those accomplished by
the truant officers formerly detailed by
the police department.; and the arrest of
street vagrants seems more appropn-
ately to belong to that department than
to the Department of Public Education"