Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-02-02
ADvERTIsEmEEr MENTION.
arsiraaa Adrar.izementr
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.
a LIVELY DEBATE.

Hlgnb thele was q lively DEBATE OF WHICH
the following j. synopsis The question
was the proposed publication of the Superin
tendents annual report. Director Mesieb
said, with expression of nothing but kindly
feeling to lbe Superintendent, that he had
read the report, and vas forced to say that,
az the report now Is, it ought not to be sent
out as the report Of the head Of Sacramento
School Department. Il IS not Clearly, and
bears evidence Of haste and want Of rehec.
ton. The-s we're grammatical errors in it.
and things IL It rejecting on the treatment OF
pupils in Sacrameuto's schools which he
would not consent to have published until the
facts are established on regular specification.
For instance. be could not conceive of pupil:
being tortured It's not respectful to the
Board to send ia an annual report interlined
and with Ay-l5af or paster interjections He
objected b. The reflection made by the expires.
sion that some Of the teachers are predisposed
to be harsh and hasty and unnecessarily
severe in the treatment Of mischieyous
pupils, while others govern by uniformly
moral differences. The former are hastv,
passionate II rsproof, sarcastic and contempt.
uous IN language, and sometimes inhct pro-
longed torture. He could not consent to that
Until the parties are pointed specifically, and
tA-G ttA-i45as A. SAtiA u Ouc JueEG Is, DH QlS'
missed, and then even the report should not
be made pubic. The Superintendent said
he had named the teachers referred to. to
the old BoaE5, TO whom the report was made.
MIR. MeslcS said he wanted such report to
this Board and he'd move to dismiss the
offenders. He understood the Superintend.
ent to consent 70 taking out all reference to
the quarres in the old Board. The report
In that respect shows feeling and an attempt
to censure old Board members. The Super
intendent replied, saying that the report was
clean when 1t left his hands, perfectly So.
As to interiineations, etc, the rules gave him
brief time 30 prepare the report, and the sta
tistics came so late they could be put in
correctly as to some items only few mo-
ments beforC the report was presented. As
to the grammar Of the report, he objected to
being criticised by one who makes so many
errors himself in speaking. As to the
" torture" clause, it also referred to the vio-
lation Of certain hygenic laws It reads, he
said, that some Of the teachers who do not
employ kindly means, by their methods in
hict upon pupils prolonged torture, or the
violation CT hygenic laws. he reported such
teachers, and was humiliated for doing so,
and the evil was not corrected. The clause
in dispute read While some of the teach
ers are predisposed to be hasty, harsh and
unnecessarily severe in their treatment OF
careless ana mischievous pupils, others seem
to govern well by the habitual employment of
moral ihiiU sn05s. The former are sometimes
given to the use Of sarcastic and contemptuous
language, hasty and passionate reproof, the
infection Of immoderate corporal punish
meuts, OF the imposition of cruel penalties,
which are sometimes attended with prolonged
torture, or the violation of hygenic laws. "
As to the " feeling, in reference to the Nc
- IL - Z. L. l. 7. E-TA
had been done taaJ man, that the facts de-
veloped subsequent TO his removal established
that he should not have been branded with
lncompetency. That man brought the schools
up to high standard, and for ten years sue
ceeded III the department, and was TudelY set
aside Tor failure of a class, for which he was
not TO blame Reports by Eastern Superin-
tendents boldly handle such subjects. and
oriticise severely. Referring again to tor =
ture, he said I1whides had been used in the
schools, and they are inhuman instruments
of punishment Mr. Mesick said he was
with the Superintendent ON that proposition
The superintendent said in his effort to dis
ciplue teachers the Board had not supported
him, and his attempt to correct errors had
been thwarssi. He was Superintendent or
not. It was his duty to superintend or not.
The Board should not force him to charge and
trial and contests in trisl, and to call up chill
dreu aud teachers as witnesses. as they so
frequently tend to stand by each other. If
he reported 60 the Board that he believed a
teacher not qualified, or wrong in her me-
thads, he thought the Board ought to receive
it in the line Of effort to advance the interests
of the schools The new Board did not
know what ns lad to undergo in the old
Board.
Mr.. Mesiak-When I say there are gram
NAUTICAL errors in your report, what reply to
1t IS 1t to say oU are another p
The Sup5riut endent replied that the ques-
ton had force. but he was defending himself
and objected 81 the competency of the critic
without Intentional disrespsct to the Di-
rector.
MIR Me.iaI asked the Superintendent if he
did rot know that gentlemen, when address
ing ordinarily, business Boards as this, fire.
Quently use language not strictly grammati-
cal, although they may be good grammarians
and write VITA exactness.
The Superintendent replied that he was
not sure that LIE knew it.
Mr.. Mesick retorted that then be knew
notaing Of what IS patent truth.
Mr.. Tracy said the report spoke of MIR.
Mcdonald being tried and dismissed. He
referred 20 he resolution as to Mr. Melon
aid introduced by himself in reply, to show
the incorrectness aud uusouudness of that
statement. The report conveys the idea that
mental arithmetic is not properly taught in
some ef the schools, which is, according to
his inquiries and observations, an error; and
so TO as TO the reference TO spelling. As to
the reference 90 torture, he would not give
official sanction TO such p statement.
The Superintendent replied, that if the
Directors would 90 TO the schools they would
find his statements in the report true. There
are some tea hers who adopt the best meth
DDS and are Il the highest excellence some
who do not teach well, and had better be out
Of The department \ middle class are fairly
average. He reasserted that the method as
to spslling IS largely faulty, and he could
show it. Ia one report he saw teacher had
marked an exercise 100 that contained three
errors. As TO mental arithmetic, one teacher.
an old one, had told him that she instructed
her pupils to study the book from There to
there" aud that in open violation Of the regu-
lati =. One book he secured had the examplse
worked OUT On the margin of the pages.
There are more such books. That is the way
mental arithmetic is taught to some extent
MIR. Traoy-But does your report say Is to
some extent!
The Superintendent continued, asking why
Colburn's Mental Arithmetic is given the
children at all, If not to study? He had OBJ
iected always 20 giving them to pupils, but
the Board permits them to have them, and
refuses TO strike out the book. The author of
the book declares the pupils should not have
it. The teacher. he says, should not allow
the pupils to study the lesson at all, for then
its mental character ceases. As to spelling,
time is lost in teaching meaningless words,
and the report says so, but it was not neces-
sary to say that some of the teachers teach
by the most approved methods. As to the
error in statistics, that was only clerical.
Technically. the reference to Mr.. Mcdonald
being removed By the Board was not correct,
and he would consent TO strike that out.
The Board refused to print the report by a
vote OF 6 to ,.
NoTAREs PuBLIc-The following Notaries
Pubic have been appointed by the Governor
G. II. Taylor. for Mono county, to reside at
Mil Creek; E. L. Watkins, for Los Angeles
county, TO reside az San Gabriel; ID. Lipman,
for San Luis Obispo county, to reside at San
Simeon.
BROKEN ARM.-A. Grondoni, while at work
upon the lsvee near Sutterville, on Monday
night, slipped and fell over pile of sacks
filed with sand. and one of which fell upon
one of his arms and broke it between the ell
bow and wrist.
Police ARREsTs.-T The following arrests
were made yesterday: All Book, for selling
opium without license, by special officer
Burns; bod AIcCintock, grand larceny, by
officer Carroll.
TAKEN To FoLsoM.-Ah King, sentenced
to Folsom prison for term of six months
80, lt,,-r,Ior.- v,-as 4aL-ao thars Yesterday hv