The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-02-07
STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
PO.ltiOn of the state superlntendent.

Position of the State superintendent.
We copy the following sensible tall
about Normal schools in general, ant
our Normal school in particular, b,
State Superintendent Lennon from hi
recently issued biennial report:
At this place / shall speak of the StatI
Normal school alone, because il is thu
only one of these institutions about Whose
future there is question.
On the night of the Goth of last Octo
Der, the beautiful building in which thi.
school has been conducted for severa
years was destroyed by fire. An account
of the fire and its causes, together with 4
statement of the present needs of the in
stitution, is given in appendix E, as sup
Elemental reports of its officers With
some, the destruction of this building
has raised the question of the best policy
to be pursued by the state in reference Il
the training of its teachers.
There is large class of persons who
claim that the state should make no pro
vision for special professional education
They believe that the training of teach
ers, like the professional instruction OF
candidates for the So-called learned pro.
fessions, should be left to private enter
prise.
Without admitting that the state should
do nothing for the special professional
education of its ministers, lawyers or
doctors, or attempting a long argument
to prove my position, l shall state my
conviction that the adoption of this the
DRY in reference to the training of teach
ers, would lead to the most disastrous re-
suits.
Our state is not engaged in the bust
meas IF nraoahinR NOR the rracfica Of ,,,t
or medicine. 1t assumes little RESPONSE
bility for any or all of these professions.
1t directly employs very few ministers,
attorneys or physicians. With educa-
tional matters il is different. The state
of Kansas Is very extensively engaged in
the business of teaching school. 1t has
undertaken the educational training of
its growing army of boys and girls. To
do this work well, it must have large
corps of thoroughly-qualified teachers.
Every year many of our best teachers
leave the school room to engage in some
other vocation. Others must be secured
to take their places. Our schools must
be supplied with teachers. If we cannot
secure good ones, we are certain to en-
ploy those of lower grade. The mate
rial at hand has always been employed
IN this and other states.
its schools with pOOrly-qualitied teachers.
The interests at stake are too great for
this. Incompetency is more out of place
in the school room than anywere else.
The appointed leaders of our children
should be men and women Of the highest
character. They should thoroughly I'M
derstand. and be, in every respect, we'll
qualified for their work. These teachers
must be secured in one of two ways
They must either be educated at home or
imported from abroad. To secure the
best teachers of other states, we must pay
higher salaries than are received in those
states. This we have done in the past,
and are not likely to do in the future.
An annual salary of $171.93, the average
now paid in this state, is not Il great in
ducement to the best teachers at other
places to come to Kansas. UnquestiOn-
ably, the greater number of our common
school teachers will always be educated
in our own state. Their character and
qualifications will depend in great part
on the provision made for their training.
The experience of other States and coun-
tries should be worth something to us.
Almost without exception, those that
have made the best progress in public
education have done the most for the pro-
fessional training of thsir teachers. In
the most advanced countries of Europe
the normal school is considered as most
essential part of their educational system
Prussia has no less than one hundred
and six teachers seminaries, IN which
are employed about seven hundred in
structors. During 1877, seven thousand
one hundred and ninety-nine students
were enrolled in these schools. Can we
afford to reject the educational agency
fl,N 1,., ID al. x.e
nonymous with progress?
In establishing our system of normal
institutes, we admit that the state should
and must do something for the training
of Its teachers. That much good has
been and will continue to be accomplish
ed in these institutes, l firmly believe;
but that they are sufficient for all the de-
mands of the present, or will prove ade,
quate for all the requirements of the fu-
ture, l cannot admit. To have success
full institutes, we must have well-quali-
fed leaders; and to secure these, we must
make provision for their educational and
professional training. Our school sys-
TEN will never be complete, satisfactory,
perfect, without its normal school.
The friends of normal schools are di-
vided into two classes. First, those who
believe that these institutions should be
confined to elementary work, and that
they should be so distributed throughout
the state as to enable all teachers of COM
mon schools to receive instruction in
them. Secondly, those who believe that
in each state lie central normal school
of high character should be supported,
in which teachers of all grades should be
instructed; and, as rapidly as they can
be established and sustained, training
classes for teachers should be organized
in every county.
The arguments in favor of each ofthese
plans were we'll stated two years ago, by
able articles by Professors Wherrell and
Pomeroy, and distributed throughout
the state-the former favOring the first,
and the latter the second scheme outlin-
ed above. 1t is now evident that the first
plan will not soon be adopt
ed. Whatever may be the arguments in
its favor, the people will not soon incur
the expense of establishing and main
tanning half-doZen normal schools. The
school at Emporia has land endowment
that will soon give it a good support.
Had 1t not been for the loss of its build
ing, it could continue to do good work
without much assistance from the state.
The school is centrally located, and &C
cessible from all parts of the common
wealth. do not know of any good rea-
son for Its removal to any other point.
No more quiet, moral, nor orderly town
than Emporia can be found in Kansas.
In the past, her people have done noble
part by the school. They have made
many sacrifices for its welfare That
they will do more in the future than they
have done in the past, 1 am well satisfied.
Can the legislature, honOrably and safely
for the welfare of the state, do less than
erect on the site of the former building q
structure that shall in every respect equal
the one that was destroyed by fire3 I
think not.
AN.Ak