Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1894-01-25

expensive and. to Judge It by It's results,
utterly useless and unproductive "annex"
to our school system. IL must be borne
In mind that the State of Rhode Island
maintains In Providence Normal School,
an excellent one, attendance upon which
may be had without expense, and to the
support Of which Pawtucket contributes
It's share In the payment OF It's State tax,
and yet we have for the last two years
been running In this city a rival to the
state institution, for which We have paid
81 10000 or f1 10000 year In salaries and
(for the last year, q 900 90 as q premium
to 8 young women to induce them 10 re-
ceive a. a gift from the city . thorough
ESQ called) fitting and preparation here
after to earn their own livings as teachers.
The policy of paying person for learning
trade. even IL he learned 1t, might be at
best open to debate, but the Training
School graduates don't learn to teach, At
least so say the authorities, and they
prove their words by not setting them at
WORK. When Miss -, an excellent
woman, a teacher Of experience and one
W hose influence In the school room was
always of the best, uns BILE longer to sub
NIT to the nonsense and foolishness put
into oper ration all around her, and to
which she was required to subject her
self, rendered her resignation and went
to -, the Anal vacancy caused by her
departure was filled by "A training
school gradustef Oh, no, but by Miss
-, invited here from the state Of.
When snot her, Miss -, left Pswtuck-
ct to teach In the nelghboring town OF
-, the nnal vacancy caused by her
going was filled by - training
school graduate, of which there were to
be some brand new ones In about nve
weeks after her departure, all anxious to
60 to work. Oh, no, but by Miss -,
invited here from In the state Of.
When Miss -, sick and exhausted by
overwork, left her school for few weeks
to regain her health, there were indeed
sent TO supply, temporarily at least, the
vacancy three trainers one after
the other, all three OF whom
broke down and failed, and, IS
a last resort, man teacher from the even
ing schools was put in to try his prentics
hand, and he too made failure OF 1t, go
that Miss - was compelled to 60 back
into her school before she was ready, be-
fore her health was fully restored, and she
gets $4,000 q yeari Again, under the
system Of teachers salaries In force, when
Pswtucket young woman, graduate of
the Training School or .otherwIse, does
succeed In getting school she has to begin
work, by reason of her lack of experience,
at % q week, and 1t takes her 8 years to
get up to the limit of f1400, and this too
when her father msy have been 4
taxpayer here all her life. But
when Miss - comes here from -
with considerably less than a years ex-
perience, and absolutely 30 poorly
equipped for duty that, aware herself Of
her own deficiency, she secures further
preparatory instruction after her coming,
she begins work at s14.00. Miss -
coming here from also begins ut
f14.00, and these are not isolated nor the
only instances. Now II these things are
so, and the records and pay-rolls show
that they are, where comes In the great
benefit and advantage Of the Training
SCHOOL, II the graduates can't teach,
what IL the use OF paying them each
FOO 100 year In order to find that outf
The teaching ability employed In the
Training School, at least at present, Is
of the very highest quality, and, II rem
dsred through another channel for which
there 10 ample opportunity, would be to
Pawtucket worth far more than 1t costs.
But the school itself, warped and twisted
from what 1t was originally intended to
be, has become simply means of vast
ing the city's money. 1t is like q huge
balloon; small and unnoticesble at Arst,
1t has been inflated and expanded to an
inorcinate degree, It comes high (in more
senses than one,) and weighs nothing,
and II never arrives at any definite destina-
tion. A balloon lib sometimes helps a
cup. defender to win a race, but a balloon
school is an excrescence on the educa-
tional system of which the only thing
to be said Is that the sooner 1t Is cut of,
the better 1t will be for all parties con-
cerned.
Nor are these the only places where
there are culpable waste and extrava-
gance. Nine hundred dollars 10 paid for
teaching children gynnastics. No one,
least Of all the writer, questions that this
is well taught, and possibly the compen-
sation Is not out Of proportion for the
service rendered. But precisely the same
instruction, except perhaps In 'degree,
based upon and In accordance with the
identical Ling system, was taught and
wen taught by great many Of the regular
teachers, each In her own room, before The
subject was made Speciality, and this
without any extra cost at all to the city.
By the help of two or three weeks stud v
and the purchase of q 50-cent manual so
young women right here at homo mig ht
have become just az well qualified to give
instruction In this branch as IL the pres.
ent teacher, who Is doubtless thoroug hly
well equipped and able to do what IL de-
manded of her. But the two or three
weeks study and the so cent
purchase, once made, would have been
made for good and all, and would not
have needed to be repeated each year,
while at the same time the results would
have been just as good as they are now.
There is a homely but forceful proverb
which was a great fsvorite with Sir
Walter, so great that he repeatedly puts 1t
into the mouths of more than one OF his
lifelike cmbodiments Of sturdy northern
character and pawky Scotch humor. and
which says that we should faye keep our
ain fsh.scraps for our ain sea news"
Where would be the great harm, II these
lucrative positions, thse "plums" and
lie storehouse, OF giving them, OF some Of
the m at any rate, to our own young
women, of whom there are half a dozen
or more today fully and completely
equipped and qualified to discharge all
the duties connected with them to the
perfect satisfaction OF everybody
The latest and the worst piece OF ex-
travagance and waste that has been In.
1ulged In at the expense OF the school
fund Is that unique branch of investiga-