Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-02-07
TEXTBOOKS AND ORTHOGRAPHY,
An Interesting Discussion Of Some OF
the Grave Questions That Confront
Educators.

lhC lOioWitS NSSPiJ 'lANA SS"'o Nio
cussion of school textbooks and spell
Of the textbook commissioners ap-
pointed by the Wisconsin legislature to
examine into, these vexed questions.
These are subjects which interest every
body in the land. The commissioners
were at work on the report for nearly n
year. The chapter on Estate Uniform
ity" of textbooks is as follows:
STATE UNIFORMITY.
The class system of tuition, rs com
pared with the purely individual, Is so
firmly, established in our school work
that II would be idle to discuss change.
Granted this method, and the question
of facilities and obstacles is Of high inn
portance in the economy Of the six
thousand schools Of Wisconsin.
The abilities Of n teacher, even under
the most favorable conditions, are
severely taxed in the endcavor to con
troll the attention of the different mem
beers of class that each thing done
and every thought expressed shall profit
all. No other feature Of school in
struction fails so seriously in its aim, ~
this effort to economic time and labor
by dealing with score of minds AZ n
unit. Whatever tends needlcssly to
embarass class work, IL wrong whose
removal will prove u blessing,
In all lower grades Of culture, the
gaining of definite knowledge through
stated facts, il greatly impedcd, by inn
perfect conception Of the Significance
Of language. IL is, therefore, very i'm
.Ja,,t,x.n1 ~, ~.
ployed in imparting thought to the
members Of such classes, if they are To
profit each other in united work.
Different texts usually mean q divers
ity in language and confusion Of class
work to the young mind. So FIR, then,
ny textbooks constitute the base Of class
work, the need Of uniformity must be
considered beyond question. Teachers
realize this so keenly that, when ndc-
quatc provision for class uniformity
has not been made, classes are divided
and subdivided, until classes OF one
pupil each are common IN a majority
Of ungraded schools. In graded schools
there is Il practical uniformity Of tex's;
bat, according TO lntost statistics, four
lifths Of the public school pupils 81
bIllp Hhiib' ilG ~ tilB 'hith Nbhtplp-
Sparse population must eyer require
the teacher 10 instruct more classes
than one person can properly manage.
Add to this needless diversity Of texts,
with the frequent lnck Of books, and
the conditions insure work so imperfect
that the term dcgratied, rather than
ungraded, school would not be innppro.
pirate.
The waste in the schools of our state,
through dissipation Of effort and the
luck Of class emulation, is 80 grent that
the profits Of book publishers sink into
comparative insignillcancc, when osti-
mating the loss
These conditions point to but one
conclusion; that uniformity IN texts
should be made obligatory upon school
officers TO secure, both by adoption and
by exclusion Of oil texts that Interfere
with proper classification. In addition
to present requirements, the certificate
of the teacher and clerk that the law
had been observed, might properly be
made condition in the distribution Of
the school fund income.
UNITY OF UNIFORMITY.
The spirit of our government reserves
control of local allnrs and interests to
the smaller units of society, and dele
gates to the larger only those concerns
in which IL diversity Of management
would work mutual harm to tho several
communities. Thus eneh family deter
mines tho nature ot its diet, and the
quality Of its clothing: each district tho
excellence Of its ronds, and the charnC-
terol its school.
Even though, III these particulars,
the mismanngemcnt often extends its
evil influence to many not directly con
corned, still the Judgment Of the states
men ard the prejudice of tho people
have united IN maintaining these mr.
rnngements, with but the minimum
OF direct control by the remotcr gov
ernmcnt
BY establishing minimum of Mt
tainment in the teacher, the state haS
endeayorcd to limit the pcnurious tom
dency Of communities to render the
choO IL carricature. IL hus also en-
dCavorcd Losecuro II reasonable amount
of school session III each year, Ivy m
appeal TO the thrifty sentiment, in with
holding the "publio money" from al
districts that fiil To COMFY with III,
law.
In each Of these requirements there
is u wide range for local choice beyond
the limit fixed by the state and ccm
paratively few ever feel the laws 70 be
restrictions.
In the local management of rura
schools, the evil OF diversity in tcxts
has diminished but little, if any, during
the last half century; but rather, by th,
multiplication Of published series In,
been aggravated. The statutes Of the
state are ignored and individualnecd 81
narrowness has prevailed against III,
wisdom 81 the majority, and 70 the hur
Of all.
In the wide spread conviction thntth,
state must interfere 10 secure the need
cd reform, two schemes are suggested
Both agree in enforcing uniformity, hu
differ rs to the crttnt To which uniform
ity ~ practicable or desirable
The first makes the state unit, ar
leaves nothing to local option; the sec