Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-12-31
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
pR. nrusEE's ,srrLLtosNr ',hws,
No rIscs tot Industrial rrsining-i""
charge Ihat Iney are uOdless-lntsrrs'-
iug and sIpnIHCaut tlEurcs

No Place 10, Industrial Trsining-Tnc
charge That Incy ars uodlesS-lntsrr''-
ing aud sIaniHosut tlEurcs.
The report of State Superintendent "i
Schools Ilgbee, just mndo public, SAYS
that IN Pennsylvania there are =.
school districts l0ji9 schools 'N''
graded schools 1874 school directors
lO6 supcrintcndents : 600 mllN teachers
aud Is. lli female teachers. lac average
salary OF male teachers per month"; 80 wv,
female teachers, $50 %. Tho average ~
tendance of pupils duuug tho year was
0ji ESQ cost Of tuition, sb,ly5.n3l -
| cost OF buildings, tuition, fuel and con
tiugeucios, 80, POO. 1886 81 estimated value
OF school property, 3io, 1872 b51 ; school,
tax levied for all purposes, SJ,hib.bi' D
estimated value OF state and incrrpnrated
educational institutions, S>,SlE1N9 40
The increase since last year Is aS follows
In schools, $50 , male teachers, i1i
female teachers, G3i lAy "t female
teachers, $l76 per mouth number "i
pupils, l2,33j cost ut tuition, s5sV,
913 50 value of school proNrty :l,SpS,
O76
Superintendent HisJce takes deoldcd
issue with the criticism tha. the training
In the schools is not such - to Keep III
view the various trades aud that wlie
range uf intellectual pursuits which char
actcrize our modern civilization, aud that
the schools are intellectual droncS.
lie says: There may be need ut pol
yteChnic schools throughout the land and
the time may be at haud when the state
| should take measures to maintain them To
secure a ready supply of skilled laborors.
This We are not disposed to question, aud
no doubt such schools, wherever organized,
will be filled fIom the ranks Ct our
common schools. But our common
school themselves, hIci with the
young children OF CUR commonwealth,
cannot be turned into such Industrial
schools without a revolution, which would
| destroy in turn the whole meaning Of c.c
| mentary training and defeat the very cud
desired to De reached.
"Iu this connection, however, Il ts no
more than Just TO say that our teachers
should % earnest in qujCkcuing the intel
| leCtull visions of their children, Another
| form of moro serious criticisms meets us
| IN the charge that oar common schools are
| a failure. because crime Is on the increase.
| The training given in them Is said 70 be SO
| destitute of moral force and tircctuoss, so
| purely mental, aud so needless OF the
| ethical side Of our human nature rs TO
| dCmOraliZe our social life, and increase
| luSlCAu bl htCtCtSlu- tlN NAth VI AA"Ah'
| wiCkedness.
"It might as well be sai that general
family life, and the legal means adopted
to rcyrcss crime, aud the various religious
methods, are failure As 10 charge the
| common schools with responsibility for
| the increase III wickednesS. The common
| schools must take their due share Of th'
| burdeu, but not all OF lt. They have NJ
| right to be, nor are they, poised against
| the religious sentiment OF the citizenship
| Of the state. They ought not 20 6e, nor
are they, irreycrert toward the worship
| paid to God in the thousand temples that
| adOrn our land.
| while specific confession of faith can.
| not be bought. yet that morality which
rests upon a Divine revolution that dis
| cpline Of the soul which comes from
| Gods Word, aud from prayer and praise,
| ought not to be, nor - IL excluded from
our schools. Neither iudde!ity, nor bias
phemy, nor drunkenness, nor lust, are re-
| garded as proper qualifications for our
| teachers Indeed, II our uperintendeutS
were SO far to forget or violate the law as
| TO give certificates to candidates possess
| ing such qualifications Of character our
| directors wovld at once refuse To keep
| hem at work ia the school rooms -
Superintendent Hgbee admits that
better ethical results should be reached
than are found at present. THIS delin
queuCy no lscribes TO the constant chang
ing Of teachers. Year by year they
come and go, and gain only transient
| acquaintance as they hurry by. They are
too much like hirellngs by the year. .......
| They vanish from view SO quickly as t.
leave no clustering "reminiscences for ma
| turing childhood to gather and profit by
the delight thereof Their life aud
thought aud high purpose have had uc
| time TO enter into the vision of the child
soul, and ill il with high hopes aud aspir.
atoms. They seem almost as pcdagogiC giC
tramps, not teachers.
Every effort should therefore, be made
| TO give a longer and more continuous ten
nre of office 70 tho teachers Of our common
schools, aud 10 secure, for this end, teach
ers whose inward culture Of character /,
such as to give TO their presence and per.
sOnal Influence power moro far reaching
| than all mere attainmentS can ever be
| Perhaps were the salaries Of our teachers
sufficiently increased aud larger tenure
| Of professional services guaranteed, WI
might secure permanent teachers for ouI
common schools, as our high schools auC
colleges do, and thus accomplish, in thC
way of moral culture, 1t least tenfOld NOR,
! tn an al present.