The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-07-12

| to the committees plan. Bright, am
bilious pupils might take them all, and
average pupils might, as now, confine
themselves to about fifteen exercises a
week, in which case a single programme
OF the committee would furnish ma
terial enough for at least two fifteen
exercise courses.
| 1t is gratifying to note that one hum
dred and forty-six of the two hundred
and forty-seven high schools offer pre-
paratory, courses. In this statement
| nave called only those courses prepara-
tory that contain Greek, but printed
preparatory courses without Greek are
rare. Through most of these schools
Greek run as II slender rill, the great
| high school stream having no Greek
whatever in it 3. Its costly rill in
many ways. 1t would be a distinct re-
lief to most of these schools if there
were no Greek in them at all if Greek,
like Hebrew of the ancient languages or
Spanish of the modern, were relegated to
the colleges. Harvard, Tufts and Will
hams already admit without Greek, and
the colleges generally should do the
same. They will do the same if they
heen the report of the committee.
Of the two hundred and forty-seven
schools, one hundred and ninety-eight
offer courses for four years, and some of
them parallel courses for three or five
years Twenty-Five offer courses for
three years only; the remaining schools
for two years or less. Thus it appears
that the majority of Massachusetts
high schools aim to do prolonged and
serious work, to respect the various
wants of their respective localities, and
to connect somehow with tie various
institutions above them.
The Latin-Scientifc course of the COM
mittee is the one that comes the nearest
to the best patronized courses of our
I2h r tnnn oda rnfQ IN atn
the deplorable gap between them and
the colleges. In this advocacy of nom
Greek preparatory course, whose verte-
bral column shall be the existing gen.
eral course in the great majority OF our
high schools, course framed for the
multitude without thought of the
college, and now proposed to be strength
ened for the multitude who will never
go to college, there is no controversy
whatever with the great strongly en-
trenched time-honored classical schools.
They are doing admirable service, and
will continue to thrive, for Greece is
mighty yet, and worthily so. simply
claim that in the able report Of the com
mlttee / see brighF CLEANS of hope for
that great part of our high school sys-
tenn whose distinctively modern spirit
has thus far estranged it from the COL
leges above, to it's detrminent and theirs
as we'll. Let us make the new route
equal in efficiency NO the venerable
Hellenic way as we'll for those that do
not go higher as for those that do.
Up to the present time the normal
schools of Massachusetts, have been left
out of discussion of the relations that
should exist between the high school
and institutions above them. They can
be left out no longer. 1t is well known
that Massachusetts has decided to add
four new Normal chools to the six al
ready in existence 1t is not SO we'll
known that in 1895 these schools will
require candidates for admission to be
high school graduates or have an equal
education, and to pass examinations in
high school subjects
Then for the first time will these. nor
NAL schools take their true place side by
side with the colleges as power to in
fuence the schools below. This power
should be exerted to tone up not simply
candidates for admission, but the high
schools as well. The high schools of
Massachusetts prize the tonic influence
of the colleges; they will welcome kim
dred Influences from the normal schools
Fitting pupils for the normal school
should be as serious a matter as fitting
them for college. Nay, when we CON
slider the high service Tor which these
pupils are wanted Normal preparation
should be the better of the two.
Now the Latin-Scientiic course of the
committee of ten is just the course that
normal school candidates need if the
colleges and the normal schools will
unite with that great public whose child
rem have neither pedagogic nor college.
aims to strengthen this course at every
point, the movement will be full of
promise for our educational future.