St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-04
THEY FELT THEIR OATS
County Superintendent Join
the Association on Their
Own Terms.
a Thinly Yelled Roast ofithe
Merrill System Of |
Contract. |rs5o ,
tGa IS !
Quiet Sessions in Both of The
Other Educational silsa
Bodies. SOC.
: E1 -; i
All Three Elect officers and
the Annual Sessions
End. -.

"Why is it," said a prominent edu7
Gator of the state yesterday, that as
soon as some broken-down political
hack is elected county superintendent,
he at once feels that he is absolute in
his field, and year after year comes to
these conventions ready to ride over
everybody else, and later decides to de-
mand that the legislature give him the
power to dismiss, by means of re-ex-
aminatlons and other devices, any
teacher in his county to whom he takes
dislike. Think of the nerve of one of
the lot, who, when talking of the prop
oSition to unite with the educational as
ISOLATION, remarked that they, the
county superintendent, were leaders
in educational work and ought to be a
little above the common herd"
However, the county superintendent
and the association did unite, the latter
agreeing to the terms of the former,
which were, briefly, that the superin-
tendents be allowed to preserve their
autonomy, and that the annual pro-
gramme be made up by a committee
representing each of the educational
bodies. 10 this there was strong Oppo-
sitlon among certain OF the Superin-
tendentS, but it was finally carried. The
morning session. and, indeed, for that
matter, part of the afternoon session
OF the county superintendent was as
entertaining as circus. the only differ
ence being that it possessed more than
the regulation number of funny men.
The fun commenced with the reading
of papers 10y SGpts. Harring-
ton, OF Mcleod, and Crandall,
of Pipestone, upon Free Text
Books" and the estate Text Book
Law" Both Endorsed the principle of
free text books, Int touched the subject
of the state text book law very gingerly.
Supt. CIlnch.oT AnoRa. felt called upon
to indOrSe tue ~
MERRILL CONTRACT SYSTEM,
as did also Chaplin, of Becker, and
Engstrom, of Goodhue. Supt. Dunnell,
OF steele, came to the front at this
point. and declared that the fifth read
erS supplied were useless, and that more
could be learned by the pupils going
gopher hunting than IN using such
books.
This attack brought d. D. Merrill to
the floor with lengthy explanation of
the legislation on the subject and its
good effects. He closed by declaring
that lie had fulfilled his contract faith
fully. His contract would expire.tin
1888. Supt. Kirk, who represented the
state uperintenndent, was observed
to be growing very FESTIVE at this time,
and tried to have the. unpleasant dis
cnSsiOn choked off. because, as he
termed it, it was a covert attack on the
state superintendent. This statement
seemed TO fan things into a flame. and
motion was passed pOStponing the bal
ance of the programme to allow the dis
cussIon to Q on. The balance of tke
forenoon session was devoted to hear
ing complaints from the fifty or sixty
present.
AN INTERESTING REPORT.
The afternoon session was devoted to
a long discussion over the repore
brought in by the committee on the ex-
animation and certification of teachers.
1t recommended: afs@
First-Uniform examinations throughout
the state. 49,,
Secoud-The questions to be supplied by
the department of education and sent out i'll
sealed envelopes, and not to be opened until
the day of examination.
Third-All examinations to be held on the
same day.
Fourth-A state examining committee, con-
slsting of the state Superintendent as chair
man and two county superintendent elected
by the county superintendentsa at their annual
convention.
Fiflh-All applicants for first grade GER
least three terms of school.
SiXth-The following averages to be re-
quired for the different grades: Third grade,
90 per cent; second grade, 20 per cent, and
70 per cent for third
Sevenfh-An examination papers to be
kept on file for six months and subject 10 the
order OF the State examining committee
Eighth-An first grade papers. all second
grade papers from graduates of normal
schools, advanced course. and all second
grade papers averaging 81 per cent aud a
standing of at least 50 per cent in theory ana
practice of teaching. who have had one
wears successful experience in teaching.
may be sent to the state examining commit
tee. together with their certificate and fee
of 81. and such certificates. when approved
by the committee and Endorsed by the chair
man, shall be good in any county of the
state. as follows: {a) First grade for five
years: (b) second grade for three years.
After an exciting discussion, partici-
pated in by nearly every one. the re-
port was laid on the table till the next
meeting. The election OF officers came
next and resulted as follows: Presi-
dent, G. B. Belden, of Houston; vice
president, II. G. Blake, of RAMSEY:
secretary, W. r. Edwards, of Lyon;
treasurer, J. Q. Macintosh; executive
committee, the president. and Superin-
tendants Ryan, of WabaSha, and Allen,
of Fillmore.