The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-05-08
NEW IDEAS IN SCHOOL BOARDS.

NEW IDEAS IN SCHOOL BOARDS.
Mr.. John Schuyler Crosby. of New
York city. is a public school commits
siOner. Having been placed in this
office, the original and remarkable idea
presented itself to Mr.. Crosby's mind
that it was his official duty to have an
actual and personal acquaintance with
the workings of the schools. If he had
consulted the precedents and traditions
OF his Office, he would have found that
such q thing was unhcard of. He would
have discovered that public school
trustees in New York and elsewhere,
from time out of mind, have confined
their attention to other matters, and
possess as little personal information
concerning the character of the instruc-
ton in the schools. whose guardians
they nominally are, as if those places of
learning were situated in Kamschatka.
He would have found that what those
trustees did do was to look after the
building of expensive school-houses,
and, when economy was necessary, to
cut down the salaries of the teachers.
Incidentally they took time to C
good appointments for friends and rela-
tives as teachers in the schools, to cut
off the heads of any teachers or hbrari-
ans who had CHANGED to incur their dis
pleasure by blocking their sly schemes.
and to attend to any other little jobs of
this and other sorts that came in their
way. AS for informing themselves
about what was being done in the schools,
Mr.. Crosby would have found that other
commissioners would regard such
an undertaking as preposterous and
unheard of. But this cnterprising
and independent gentleman neither
consulted precedents nor his associ-
ates. He first surprised and dis
mayed the board by demanding
q committee of investigation, whose
duty it should be to see if the present
system Of education really educated.
He then proceeded to inquire into things
On his own account. He visited all the
grammar schools of tho city, and in each
of them he asked five boys in the first
grade to write him a business letter.
These letters, which he laid before the
Board of Education. he declared would
be a disgrace to a crossroads school in
Arkansas. He then interviewed several
large commercial houses and learned
that in the written applications for sit
uations the worst letters came from boys
educated in the New York public
schools, while the most grammatical
were from boys educated in Scotland.
1t is not probable that Mr.. Crosby's
Investigations will stop here. Having
ascertained that the results of the ac-
cepted mode of instruction are defective
at one point, he is likely to 60 on prob
ing for the other weak spots. 1t may
be hoped that he will not find that in
other respects, as we'll as in penman-
ship and composition. pupils of the New
to the children who have begun their
education in other lands. Such a dis
covery would be o sad commentary on
the merits of our bOasted school system.
1t is possible that the New York
schools are less thorough and not SO
well equipped for practical service as
public schools elsewhere, but who
knows? The public is accustomed to
hearing endless praises Of the school
system, and, in the face of these lauda-
tons, to suggest possible faults is to
drop ont of line. Besides. the public
leaves the control and regulation of
such matters to its school boards, and
if improvements are possible it expects
those bodies to make them. 1t forgets
that the members of such boards should
have peculiar fitness for their positions
if progress is to be made. They must
not be fossils nor men of narrow preju-
dices, or of limited information. They
must be broad minded, able to look at
the subject from above q personal stand
point. with enough interest in the
schools to test for themselves the char
acter of the work being done, and with
enough intelligence to understand its
value or its defects. The school sys-
TEN is elaborate and costly. 1t may be
as near perfection as its admirers de-
clare, but a system" of any sort is apt
to become clogged and to work nnsatis-
factorily. An infusion of new blood is
a useful thing many times, and the
presence of a Crosby in any school
board would undoubtedly work great