The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1880-12-10

INK w. EGBERT SMITH, TERRITORIAL SUPER.
IsTENDENT OF PUBLIC 1NsTKUcTIoN.l


IBY W. EaBERT SMITH, TERRITORIAL SUPER
rsrESDENr OF PUBLIC rNsrEucTIoS.l
In a Ii.
Reference was made last week TO the un-
satisfactory and unjust methods now pre-
vailing In licensing and selecting teachers for
the public schools Of Montana.
II needs no demonstration to convince UNI
prejudiced minds that In order to improve
and elevate the standard of education we
must organize system of examination and
certification of teachers that will present to
them a motive for professional study
and the attainment of higher plane In the
science and art of education. Some Of the
objections to our present system are enumer-
ated In the last School Report for Montana
as follows: 81
II aims only to test the applicants In
formation in the elementary branches to be
taught, and is therefore based on the absurd
theory that anyone with such information Is
teacher.
2 1t makes persons judges of teachers and
arbiters as to their qualifications who are
neither teachers nor scholars, nor competent
experts themselves. -
1t sets up as many standards Of qualif-
cation as there are examiners, each one
making the test as simple or as rigid rs may
suit the convenience or the judgment OF the
County Superintendent. #
1t does not recognize professional emf
nence, and makes no distinction between
those who have had normal training, or long
and successful experience and those who
have not.
The fact that we have an excellent corps
Of teachers in the majority of our schools,
Of whom we are justly proud, does not dis
prove in the least the truth set forth In the
above specific charges. Our best teachers do
not owe their excellence to anything that
pertains to our system of certifcation, nor do
they owe their selection to any wisdom
evolved in the process of their examinations
in Montana. The time has come when we
should, as Mountainous, endeavor to do for all
our teachers what the better wisdom OF other
States has done for so many of them. It is
not very complimentary, but nevertheless
true, to state that our school system has not
the strength nor the consistency that 1t had
eight years ago, when first established. The
practical abolition of the Office Of County
Superintendent In seven counties has SO
weakened the law that unless something Ii
substituted we shall lose the advantages our
school law was intended to promote.
As examiner of teachers and inspector Of
schools the County Superintendent is charg.
ed with duties that are the most important
and vital in our system. These duties must
suffer both neglect and abuse when assigned
to an officer chosen ior other engrossing du.
| ties and paid only for the latter. II will be
found generally that such an officer has nc
heart, no purpose, no fitness, as we'll rs nc
pay for school work. Consequently he
bestows upon 1t as little attention as possible
and that little Is quite shorn Of all valuable
qualities.
After these reflections the question why
the Office of County Superintendent has been
cut Off in seven counties, naturally
arises. As before intimated, there was sub.
stantial reason for 1t to be found In the fact
that there are too few schools in many oi
our counties to justify the independent office
Of School Superintendent. In other words,
counties having less than twenty schools or,
gained within their limits cannot afford
the pay required to sustain an officer whose
work, however important, Is limited In
amount to the number of schools under his
jurisdiction. From such considerations,
doubtless, arose the fatal mistake of attach
ing the Office Of School Superintendent to
that Of the County Treasurer-an act none
the less retrograding In Its tendencies and
fatal In Its ultimate effects because it was
dictated by wholesome spirit of economy.
The solution Of this difficulty Is not quite
easy, nor yet, when viewed in its simplest
elements, does 1t appear very formidable. II
seems reasonable to conclude that If one
county does not afford sufficient wsrk TO JUS
tify the employment of Superintendent,
two or more counties should unite as one
district for this purpose. Under ordinary
circumstances Superintendent can perform
thoroughly all the duties pertaining to his
Office in district containing fifty to seventy
five schools. 1t would require several coun-
ties In this Territory to embrace so many
schools, but considering the number OF
square miles over which fifty schools would
CT end, II would be well, perhaps, to con-
slider this number about the maximum for
one Superintendent. With this idea as q
basis for districting Montana we should need
at present only three or four districts. for the
purposes of supervision. It occurs at once
that the present system of elecsing Superin-
tendents would not apply to such districts
unless they were made TO coincide with the
political districts already instituted. Is 1t
desirable to elect school officers throu Oh
party machinery? This question suggests
another article. 4" ''~ '* s." tt