The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-12-05
THE SCHOOL hoard.

a Correspondent Refers rolntndly to Its
Iircord-An .tinspired" Article,
To he Editor ofhe Lt~tligRcer,
siE:-The following editorial from the
Sunday erJof Noycmbcr2ao ,shouldhavo
more consideration than it has received.
1t is m inspiration, n sumner:
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
The present Board Of Education Is admittedly
Tho most intelligent body OF public officials In
This city. and doubtless In the state, Most nj
Them have the highest education tho county
gives, while among them nro found many Of tho
most successful professional md business men
~ tho city. They rrG men OF the s,rlGtcst intcg'
rlty aud conservative In their disposition.
Naturally any position taken by Them Is entitled
TO great weight and their critics should 10 nj
least their equals. II not their supcriOtS. There
arc some critics, of course, who View tho nctiOn
OF the Board adversely TO the High School pro.
iect, and with Il love Of the mysterious, AL air Ot
the supernatural, conceal their identity In pass
lug on this question In public print.
All articles and interviews sustaining
tho action OF tho board up to the above
date were from persons who concealed
their names i'll public print. 1t is n
modest custom OF people to do SO, ex.
cept perhaps editors and doctors.
Tho humblcst citizens presume 10
criticize tho highest Legislative bodies
in tho land Mt pleasure. Our august
Board OF Education has been overlooked
in u measure. No doubt the gentlemen
composing the board ure grcatG and good
men, conservative and successful In
their own business undertakings, yet
they have proven to DO n dismal failure
rs managers OF Il public school system.
School houses have been built and in II
few years after torn down us unsuitable.
More arc to follow. People wonder
why the little frame school house was
built ut tho head OF Fourteenth, why the
Eighth ward nnc was built OH low
ground when there was ample high
ground for tho purpose. Tho board re-
fuses Mt 4 meeting to roiinQuish Il piece
OF ground ut the library on which they
hold Il long lease; at the next meeting
they giveitupw ith"uta nyconsidcration
much to the advantage OF thcowncr. They
change Il school boundary limo in order
to relieve an overcrowdcd school at one
meeting; ut the next restore tho line
and employ additional teachers. They
pull down teachers salaries ut Il meet
ing; ut another put the salaries back
again. They adopt n resolution to con-
solidatc the grammar schools into n
central school mot high school. yet in
their speeches favor a high school,
point with pride to its advantages,
state how admirable it works in other
cities and smalltowns, belittlo our own
schools as being behind the times, etc.
They preach economy and practice cx-
t%ravagancc, expanding 100000 annu-
ally; but enough for the present. The
board must improve tho record in order
to regain the confidence OF tho commu-
nifty.
These finely educated school directors
should adopt the advice OF an illiterate
old man named Davy Crockett. They
should also possess the jewel OF con-
sistency. with malice toward none
and charity for ALL"
FRIEND OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Wheeling, De- /.