Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-02-06
EducatiOn--PubIic schools.

1eal of attention just now to our pub
tic school system, you will pardon an
''Old Stager," who claims to possess
a few practical ideas about schools,
to have a few words to say in the
premises.
AS a move in the right direction, I
would consider the bill of Senator
Burkholder, introduced in our legis.
laturc on Jan. II, ifhe had not made
too many provisions, which, if the bill
should become a law, would only
serve as so many loopholes, which
would render the law imperative.
The State offers and guarantees, to
each child, between certain ages, a
free education. The least that the
State can In return, expect from
the recipients and beneiciaries Of
this bounty is a hearty and will
ing acceptance of the advantages
thus offered them. The only
exceptions in the executions of
the law, should be i'll health or where
the child visits u private school. All
the other exceptions might be safely
intrusted to the judgment of the
school boards, who certainly should be
supposed to. be human, and not brutes.
Section three and four of said bill
also, meet with my hearty approval.
/ would not give my consent to the
bill of Senator Cotley. This bill
seems to be based upon the assump-
ton that all men are dishonesty dis
posed and convert anything into a
monopoly. Certainly a firm, who
can furnish all the schools in the
State with textbooks, can afford to do
so for less than by furnishing only a
few. The school boards certainly
should be credited with q sufficient
amount of common sence, not to be
taken advantage of by any book con-
Germ. But if any should lack the
requisite quantity of the above NAM
ed commodity, or be corrupt, the en-
actment of said bill would open the
doors to bribery more than the pres
ent arrangement. Besides the seri-
GUS objection of destroying the uni
formity of textbooks, it would work
q great hradship upon a great num-
Der of people of. moderate means.
Take for example, laborers and rail
road men. If their work ceases in
one place, they naturally have tc
seek employment in another locality
and if they should find different text
books used in their new homes, they
would be compelled to supply theii
children with whole sets of those
new textbooks, which in most in
stances, they can lily afford, besides
the other expenses incident to theil
removal. Having now given my
views about the proposed amend
ments to our school law, l will nov
venture to suggest some more reform:
which, ifenacted into laws, and car
ried out, would, in my humble judg
ment, materially add to the efiicienc,
uf 0ur school system~-
: The first of these reforms shout,
be, to let the age of fifteen or six,
teen, at the outside, be the limit o
onr constitutional school age. If, a
Senator Burkholder's bill contem
plates, children are compelled to i'm
prove the opportunities offered then
up to fifteen Or sixteen years of age
they surely should acquire a very
liberal common school education anC
this is all that the State guarantees
and intends to give to the children.
Whoever wants a classical education
Of course, will have to go to q higher
school. After passing that age, chill
dren are generally more difficult to
manage, and often their influence
and example does more harm to the
younger children, to more than coun-
terbalance the benefit they may de-
rive from a longer attendance at
school.
The next reform which L would pro-
pose, is to empower our school boards
that if in their judgment the interests
of the school demand it, they may en-
gage the principal or superintendent
ofour publics chools for a longer peri
cd than one year. We should always
bear in mind that a principal
of public schools cannot and should
not be COMPOUNDED with any other
hired labor, such as farm laborers or
clerks. While the latter have their
work assigned them under constant
supervision, he, the superinten-
dent or principal, has to make
his own plans, lay out his own
work which naturally must ex-
tend ove a period of more than
one year. 1t requires a considerable
of time for a superintendent to
become fully acquainted with the
and capacities of his pu-
pills, ard he can work to vastly bet
ter advantage after being SO fully ac-
4uainted with his pupils.
Lastly, a superintendent must, the
same as anybody else, desire a per-
nanent home, and cosequently must
abhor the idea of being classed with
what is generally known as the ssfoat-
nv non,Jot;op - II;e ~;~l - Il