The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-19
1NvERTINe THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

The spirit of American institutions does not,
ern languages, or other college studies, in the
public schools or at public expense For the
needs of citizenship, or the demands of bust
ness or social life, it is not necessary that the
youth who are to become American citizens
should be instructed in either Latin, Greek,
French, German, italian, Spanish, Welsh, or
Danish; nor do they require full courses in
botany, zoology chemistry, physics, astron-
omy, and geology. President Thompson, of
the Rose Polytechnic, called attention, before
the State Teachers Association, to the plain
facts that so per cent. of public school pupils
are in the three lowest grades; that the aver
age school life is four years, instead of twelve
as all our city systems of schools contemplate;
that only per cent. of pupils reach the high
school, and only one out of hundred Of our
pupils graduate from the high-sehool. He
concludes there is little enough time to teach
the branches all agree must be taught. He
says that not until the 20 per cent. of regis
tered pupils who get as far as the grammar
grades know arithmetic thoroughly, through
percentage and business forms, can write an
Ineligible business letter, read the daily
the geography of the important countries and
the routes of commerce and travel, and can
trace the growth and tell the simple story of
American liberty, can extraneous subjects be
introduced with the approval and acquiescence
of voters President Thompson is man of
sound practical judgment, and his opinion is
all the more worthy of consideration as com
ing from an educator not connected with the
public school system. His views were so
unique and sensible as to commend themselves
cordially to our State teachers who ordered
his address printed in panphletfor and cir
cuiated-Zail unusal expression Of approval.
+ Our public educational system is in danger
Of inversion. The apex would seem to be not
the so per cent Of pupils in the three lowest
grades, but the one out of the hundred en-
AO4ASN 90 WIN tIl1VuSh
twelve years to the high-school graduating
stage. Where are the ninety and nineq What
can be done to keep the great body of pupils
in school until they get the rudiments of an
education in English reading, English spell
ing, English writing, arithmetic, geography
and history Between ID and 10 per cent. of
IL; &c -, 10
schools Of the $4,000 youth between
six and twenty-one in this city, 49, 700
are enrolled in the public schools, with an av-
erage daily attendance of 10,400. Except
Boston and San Francisco, this is the highest
average attendance in the United States in
cities exceeding $4,000 and is after all but 36
per cent. of the school population. Report
of Commissioner of Education of the United
States for 1871 In 1881 there were in our
own schools 1900 youth of twelve years 1,217
of thirteen, LOLA of fourteen, and but 600
over fifteen years Of age. Of those over four
teen years 30 to so per cent fall off within a
year Superintendent Tarbell reports in the
twentieth annual compend that, estimating
school age from six to sixteen, 50 per cent. of
our city youth are in either public or private
schools, and estimating enrolment instead of
attendance, 81 per cent. of the youth from
six to sixteen are not in any school during the
year. On the same basis Cincinnati has %
per cent. of absentees.
1t would seem that only little over half of
the youth in this city of proper school years.
six to sixteen, go to school at all. Of these
less ti2g sslt !6g a2Rgh to learn to read
and write and compute sufficiently well for
the needs of business and citizenship. Of the
$4,000 enrolled in any year. 800 are in the
gh-school, very large per cent as compared
with most Western cities. None of the re-
pupils in each of the twenty four grades
or half years of school, so that the comparison
as to years in school with actual requirements
in the fundamentals of learning can be made.
1t is not likely our per cent. is higher than the
average given by President Thompson, that is,
so per cent. in the three lowest grades That
is to say about so per cent. of our pupils leave
school after, or before, completing Appleton's
third reader, some simple spelling and Ian
guage lessons, number three writing book and
multiplication table through the skies. AS
diversion and polish they have also had sim
pie oral lessons on common objects, drawing
through the first half of book number two,
and music lessons through the first third of
book number two.
The showing on the whole is bad one,
even granting that it is as good or even better