St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-04
TOP HEAVY.

The renOTt of the state superintendent Vi
public instruction points out the danger OF
making the public school system top heavy.
The disposition has been manifested in
This state. Just as il has been III other
states. of paving too much attention to the
establishment OF high grade schools and too
mich neglect Of the primary schools. The
true Motley for the state to pursue wolld be
to attempt nothing beyond the manten-
apce of common free schools. 1t is duty
society owes 10 itself to place within reach
of its youth tie means for acquiring a good
English education embracing thorough
knowledge of ali the rGdiments. Every
bov and girl should be provided with an
education sufficient for the practical pur-
noses of lie. But beyond this the state is
under 20 Obi gatiO nsto its youth. Inc
state has discharged its du ty in this respect
when il has qualified its youth for the dis
charge of the duties Of good citizenship.
There is not a substantial reason why the
academic and collegiate courses should be
made a part of the public school system,
while Oh the other hand there are good rea-
sons why they should not. The youth
WHO has dciUIItN I'll lIlOlOlSh hlOh4NN5N va
the elementary branches, such as reading,
writing, arithmetic, geography and the
branches ordinarily taught in the common
schools. is well enough equipped to take
rare of himself in the battle of life. He
has been provided with the foundation on
(which to build any sort of education that
he NAV aspire to. If he is ambitious to at
tain a higher education he will find the
means to obtain it. Ii he doesn't aspire to
ianvthing higher he has already been pro-
vided with all the education that is essen
tial to proper discharge of the ordinary
requirements Of successful business life.
What the state should do is to direct its at
tention exclusively to securing thorough
ness in the system of common school edu-
cation. And right here is the danger of
attempting to establish the high graded
schools IN connection with public educa-
tional system, the danger that one will be
built up at the expense of the other.
Wherever the experiment has been made
the same result has invariably followed
the high schools have thrived while the
common schools have been neglected. We
have an illustration of it right here in
Minnesota While the state superintendent
does not complain of the favoritism that
the state has manifested for the higher
grades of schools. nor does he even suggest
that the usual appropriations be withheld,
still the facts and figures contained in his
last report show most cOnclusively that the
common schuols have suffered most serious
harm because of the false policy that the
state has been pursuing. For instance
there were 243, 900 pupils enrolled in the
public schools during the past year. of
which number only ZOO are included in
all the high schools, the normal schools
and the state university. Yet the state eX-
pended S1S7. coo last year for the benefit of
these T.. 900 pupils in the schools above the
common grade, while not dollar was ap-
prOpriated for the benefit of the 240. 600
children in the common schools. The state
made an appropriation of $35, 900 for the
state university, which. with the S44. 900
derived from the general university fund,
made total of SO 600 expended for the
benefit of the 800 students in attendance at
that institution, or per capita of 1895 to
the pupil. while the common schools strug-
gled along with an average per capita of
six or seven dollars. There is an
appearance of tOp-heavineSs about
system of this kind which must Sug-
gest itself to the most superficial OBJ
server. But the most lamentable result
of this top heavy system has been in the
neglect. and the utter failure to provide for
even the semblance of decent instruction,
in the common grade of schools. Supntend-
ent KIEHLE estimates that of the whole
number of teachers only per cent. are first
grade teachers, while 40 per cent. actually
have less than a common school education.
Then again is the evil resulting from the
lack of continuity in service. The reports
of county superintendent show that over
62 per cent. of the teachers do not remain
employed as long as one year in the same
school. This is very ugly showing for the
efficiency and thOrOughness of our public
school system. The state must reverse its
policy if it hopes to make the system of free
education a success. 1t must unload at the
top and begin to build up at the bottom.