The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-09-24
ouR:coMMoN SCHOOLS.

llWe fully intended to publish the fol-
lowing editorial of the Newberry Nesos
and Herald on State and County Nor.
mails last week, but, by some oversight,
neglected to hand it to the printer. Read
it carefully. 1t is written by a gentle
man of ability:
We are glad to see two County School
Commissioners giving to the public their
ideas about certain questions affecting
the efficiency of our public school system.
These officers should make the system a
special study, and should be better pre-
pared than any one else to point out the
defects and suggest improvements.
Commissioners Clinkscales, of Ander.
son. and Mellichamp, of Orangeburg,
have both recently spoken in regard to
matters connected with the common
schools.
We would like to touch upon the sub.
iect of each communication, but this
week we will only have space to notice
Commissioner Clinkscales' utterances.
The great question with the school
authorities at present is, how to get better
teachers in the present state of the school
fund? The communications above spo.
ken of are attempts to answer this ques..
ton. OF course, if We had plenty Of
money, and could give good wages all
the year round, the difficulties would all
disappear. Commissioner Clinkscales
takes up the subject of State and County
Normal Institutes as affecting the eff.
cheney of our teachers, and thinks there
is no longer a necessity for the State
Normal, but that "the County Normal
unquestionably comes nearer accomplish.
ing the purpose intended by such schools"
In our opinion, what We need is both q
State and County Normal. Both have
AN important work to do, but both need
to be organized upon q different basis.
We agree with Commissioner Clinkscales
that the State Normal Institute should
be located at Columbia. We think that
no measure would do more to furnish
competent teachers, and improve the
common schools of the State than to
establish at Columbia Normal Institute,
thoroughly provided with 9 competent
corps of instructors, which Institute
should be open for FIVE or six months OF
the year.
Such an institution might be estab.
lished with the fund that is now appro.
priated to the peripatetic State Normal,
and the amount which each county is
now authorized by law to appropriate for
a County Normal.
Then in each county le. Teachers
Associations be formed holding meet.
ing every month for the purposes of
mutual improvement, and session OF q
week in summer for Normal instruction.
These Normal sessions need cost no
money for with a frst.class Normal
school ia Columbia, we would soon have
in every county a number of teachers
thoroughly competent to give instruction
in the art of teaching, and whose services,
asmembers of these teachers associations,
could be procured without cost.
Three or four weeks of Normal in-
struction, during the year will produce
) no thoroughly trained teachers, particu.
larly when one-fourth of this time is
spent In useless ceremony, speech
making and compliments as is now the
case with our State Normal.
- What We need is permanent Normal
sch6of-mhere q certain per cent. OF our.
teachers csn be thoroughly trained tor
their work every year. These trained
workers will araise the standard and
improve the mass of the teachers IN
every county.