The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-17
THE SCHOOL REPORT.

The annual report OF School Superinten-
dent Anderson which has just made lis ap-
pearance is worthy of careful Derusal. It's
statistics may be condensed into a single
sentence. There are in the city 81, IA chill
dren of school age, A., 926 of whom attend
the public schools and are taught by $50
teachers. while S74S attend private or church
schools. leaving $40 children of school age
or over one-seyeuth OF the whOle-WhO at
tend no school.
The defects of the system are traced by
the Superintendent TO the manner in which
the school law has been diverted from its
original purpose, and the department has
dlifted into politics. The design Of the au-
thorS of the law was to place the control OF
tile schools in the hands OF men who were
familiar with education, and who would do
their best for the schools regardless of party.
In practice twelve men who have political
influence get nominations from the party
boss and manage the department without
knowledge of its wants or of the practical
working of the school System. That they
bunder is only what is to be expected.
When a vacancy occurs among the teachers
these twelve men take turns to fill 1t, choos
ing pc sonal friends of their own without
regard TO their fitness to teach. 1t is an I'M
written law that the board shall confirm the
teacher named by the Director whose turn it
is. Thus, instead of getting the best availa-
bic ability for the post the city merely sup
plies berths for the personal friends and pro-
teseS of the Directors. In this way the
board has become political machine and
its members regard a seat in it as stepping
stone to higher municipal Office. The way
for young woman to get post in the
schools is, not to prove her ability and ex-
perlence as a teacher, but to secure the in
iorsement OF Boss Buckley in a letter to the
Director whose turn it is to fill the vacancy.
OF course, a department with this radical
defect ill its constitution fails to fulfill its
object in other respects also. Practically
the Cbairmen of committees of the board
run the machine; the Chairman of the Com
mittee on Classification is in effect the
School Superintendent. He, Of course. is
a politician, with political ambitions 10
serve, and ne does not lose sight of them in
exercising his power Hence, persons are
appointed te cherS who are VIGOROUSLY in
ferior to other applicants who are rejected,
and large SANS are wasted on purchases of
books and other supplies, though there is
general deficiency Of both. Superintendent
Anderson proposes a new school law, under
which the board should consist exclusively
of experienced educators. He evidently
knows little about politics if he thinks that
our present race Of politicians will consent
to let the School Board slip out of their
hands. There is too much money in it.
Superintendent Anderson makes goo d
point when he advises more of the eclectic
in the schools. Under the present system,
all pupils whatever the bent of their minds
OF whatever their purposes in life, have to
study the same branches in the same order.
The consequence is that many pupils spend
time on studies which are distas teful or
useless TO them, and are not allowed to
master studies which they like and in which
their normal tendencies might make them
proficient All higher educators now realize
that studies should be eclectic and chosen
in view of the mental bent of the pupil, and
Of the use to which he proposes to put his
education hereafter. AT Berkeley, as at
Harvard, the list of eclectic studies grows
year by year; there is no reason why it
should not be extended to the common
schools. Every pupil should learn reading
and writing, and the rudiments of arithme-
tic; but these passed, it is instruction Of
energy to make a boy who cannot add 4
column Of figures correctly devote hours to
algebra, or to Slur over history in teaching
pupil who devotes his play-hours to por-
ing over books. The child is father of the
man; the qualities which the latter develops
in mature manhood can be seen roughly
sketched in the schoolboy. 1t is the bust
ness of teachers to find out those idiosyn-
crasies, and so to direct their pupils studies
as to develop them.