Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-02-19
AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW WITH ST.
PRRINTBNDBNT MORGAN.
The Stats Needs County High SchOOls-Pows Of
The Small Local COllsgs-Dsiscts ID Tho
Certificate System The School
Book QUESTION.
speeIsl Telegram o lhe RegIster.

main in an unfinished state, but from tn
mass Of materials at hand an immens
amount Of valuable matter could b.
CLEANED.
According 10 the table,, which | hav
lust made out" said NJ. Morgan, 9TH
school euumeration for 1888 was 256. 800
for 1859 it was 25s, 934 Our figures OF
enrolment cannot be called highly salts
factory. They seem to show decrease 70
the pact yer fIGm the preceding one. II
1888 the total enrolment in all the pub
lie sohCols of the State Was 1S9 PSI Ii
1889 the total enrolment was 167. 52S
There ia no apparent csuie for this de
crease. School facilities have not beeI
limitsd. Tire only reasonable explanation
must be based on local conditions, concern
iug which am not sufficiently informed
At present 10 speak. The total cost OF on
public schools in 1883 WAS 81 240,649 81
and in 1889 81 313, FOL 03 For the ssm'
years. the number Of schools weie 4, 56I
and 5. 655, and The number OF tescheri
. obs aud 5 38l respectively. Ia 1888
1923 699 80 was paid to teachers, ate
S4l6. $50 80 expended for building anc
repairing school housse. ln 1sSS
teachers salaries aggregated 1857 O67O4
and the building fund $457 633 SO Tnts:
figures show that there has been a decided
increase in school resources, and constant
Improvement in educational advantages
all over the State"
"In what fields have Improvements beer
most marked ?"
THE cities and towns are rapidly wild
eaing the gap between them and the coun'
try districts, as far as school facilisie5 are
concerned. High schools have been es'ab-
lished 10 most of the important towns.
buildings have bseu erected
for them, libraries furnished IN many
casss, AID the best public school instIuc-
ton obtained. Under these conditions
the high schools have become
a great power. They are
slowly but surely bringing tue public
schools closer TO the Normals and the Uni
and in a few years will probably
prove a perfect connecting link between
them. Sparsely settled country districts
cannot support institutions OF this charac
ter, ard their school children are alta de-
cid d dealvsntsge.
"a remedy has suggested itself to my
mind, and consider 1t entirely Just and
1t ia the establishment OF
county high schools. We have now Law
allowing any number Of school districts to
combine to support high school, but 10
twenty Years it mas not once been take9
advantage of. Toe reason is apparent
IL is rare that districts can be induced
to unite harmoniOusly, and 10 ie"
counties can any two or three coz
tipuous districts be found that can
support high school in addition to thelI
other public charges. 10 my Judgment,
the proper thing 70 do is to establish such
schools at county expense, locate them
and make them free to all
persons of school age in the county.
EgeIy one of them would develop into o
small local college, and the good In
auence that would 90 out from toem
could scarcely be overestimatsd. From
such a school at Oberlin, Ohio, James A
Garfield came. James Brice, the Engllsh
writer on Education, declares his belief
that Virginia's system Of small colleges
was the foundation of her great irfaenes
in the early history Of the American
people.
NOV, there is another strong argument
FIR the county High School. West Virgins
hes no satisfactory way of supplying CON-
petent teachers to ungraded primary
schools. The Normal Schools have done q
great work in this direction, bat they can
not supply the demand. The State must
see to il that the supply Of good teachers
il kept up. With most young men and
~cmsn teaching in the primary schools Is
only q temporary employment In lew
wears at most they 90 out Of the Work sno
new teachers must fill their places. The
Normal Schools csa no longer do this en-
tire work for the State, and l think the
time has come when the county Higo
Schools should come to their aid"
care there any other changes IN cur
school system which J on would suggeslF
The Safe should take some po'itlve
steps t. rtq nire superior QUALIFICATIONS ioi
teachers. In the first place, | think the
whole system of granting teacher ceEtih'
cafes should be charged. 1t is not uni
form. At present, No. l certificate IN
one county may mean nothing better than
a Ma. ain another. Instead of appointing
q board for each county, there should be a
board for the whole state; and when II mas
granted certificate, 1t should De COCO ioi
longer than enc year. With the certificate
should be prescribed a graded course Of
reading. especially designed for the sid
mi instruction of teachers. At present
over s.. 600 is expended yearly in the ex
animation Of teachers for certificates. Inc
state Board could do this work much
cheaper aud better"
as the four year certificate plan sue
cess9"
ut has been working moderately well,
but | do not think il is founded on tne
the right principle. The four year eernh'
cate ought TO indicate a great deal Wider
scholarship than it does. Instead OF r.
ouiripg the applicant to make a certain
mark on a limited number OF branches
the examiners should require pre- hcieney
in a great number of branches, and oroso
general information. Our institute syetem
il also defective in some PARTICULARS
though il has resulted in a goo1 deal o.
good. Tue five day term is entirely TOT
short. 1t ia impossible to do anything
like systematic work in it. A longer tern
should be provided if possible, and teach
ers should be required to pay small lei
for attendance. The work Of the institute
should be announced in advance, sno
teachers thus be given an opportunity ''
read and prepare themselves for It,"
what position do you hold on tat
school book question: ,.u
~ think that the school book bill, IN
troduced in the House, contained two o
the worst features of the Indiana Law
maximum price at which it was douolu
il sood books could be secured, and tn'
Indiana plan of distribution through dis
trict secretaries. This plan is not ne"
Il had q fair trial 10 Minnesota, and wa
condemned "a entirely Impractical. l be
lieve that school books can be distribu'eo
more economi cally through the nstura
channels Of trade than any other way.
endorse State adoption, but l think th
bars should be let down and open comp
tition for furnishing our school books b
allowed"
REDWOOD NEWs.