Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1894-01-04
ABOUT THE SCHOOLS.
*" Again Airs Some En-.
phatiC Views.
A VERY VIGOROUS LETTER.
Points Out What He Thinks are Fla
grant Abuses.

Editor Tribune;
A few weeks ago the writer prepared an
article setting forth certain facts, and
calling attention to certain abuses, In the
conduct and management of our local
school system, which the TRIBUNE placed
before Its readers and the public gene
rally. In olden times, when an archer
shot bolt that "pierced the gold, "he was
occasionally inclined to wing a second
shaft In the hope that he might again
hit the butt In the centre, and so, as the
former article received so much notice
and approval, and so many letters OF COM
mendatioD and encouragement were sent
to the writer, some from taxpayers, many
from fathers and mothers whose little
oues were suffering from the alleged
abuses, and still others from those who,
not having themselves given hostages to
fortune, were evertheless interested In
the proper, wise and economical admins
tration. of pu bile affairs, he 10 moved to
yet another deliverancc, and In what fol-
lows, to place before the public some fur
ther facts and figures bearing upon the
same important subject.
The writer believes, and has always
strenuously advocated, that the manage.
ment Of the schools should be placed In
the hands of men free from political or
partisan bias, and should be removed
as far as possible from any liability or
su bjection to wire pulling or party COM
bination or trades. But he also believes
that, when so placed and 70 freed from all
improper influences, they should be Impair
italy, carefully and economically admin
istered, and that the utmost and best re-
suits for the benefit, progress and mental
growth of the children should be OBJ
tained. Five years ago, July 'S7 to July
49, the total expenditure for schools In
Pawtucket amounted to s70,254.45. The
number of children of sen ool age, as APP
pears from the census taken in January
'SS, was 62S5, The sum asked for the
coming year, as appears from the printed
record of the last or December regular
meeting OF the School Board, is s120, 1892.
The exact number of children of school
age In January '9i Is not known at this
writing, but 1t cannot vary very much
from the number year ago which was
6O17 (See School Report for '93.) That
10 to say: that while the increase Of chill
dren In years has been about fourteen
say sixteen and two'thirds per ct. TO
allow for increaee during '93 as compared
with ,92,) the increase In cost OF teaching
has been about seventy-one and one. half
per ct. 1t may said, and is true, that
certain additional cost has been made
necessary by the free text book law. But
free text books are not accounta bic for an
increase of over 30 per ct. In the running
expenses of the schools In 8 years, or at
least, IL they ars 1t may we'll be asked II
after all they are such great boon to the
laboring class as their advocates have al
Iat fnr mn OF ha bar ad
that the laboring class pay taxes, IL they
don't have to pay ifor school books and
essay paper. Now what has Pawtucket to
show for such an enormous increase in
the cost of her schools? She has a
"Course of Study IN Language and
Science" mbrscing, In the octopus-like
extension OF its far reaching tentacles,
about everything, betwe the rising sun
on the east and the mare clausum of the
Behring Sea seal fisheries I'm the west, be.
tween the snow huts sof the hardy and
picturesque Eskimo on the north and the
stately and sbadowey Halls of the Monte
Eumas on the South,-she has an "Out-
line Course of Study in Drawing" ian
"ideai" course II 10 sometimes called by Its
ADMIRERS that sent out to the Chicago
Exposition no end of pictures Of the Pyr-
amids, Sphinx, and the river Nile, drawn
by poor little martyrs who cannot tell
whether the years that President Harri-
son was In office should be called a "tsrm"
or "reign," whe spell apple with one p
and balance with two l's and u, who,
when asked where the railroad station is,
hesitate between Park Place in Pawtucket
and Park Square In Boston, and who are
not sure whether times makes 81 or 64,-
and she has Is or 20 hen. coops and rabbit
hutches, a varied assortment of clay veg
etables and birds nests and one or two,
possibly more, polygons or polyhedrons
more or less accurately "quadrisected" or
"dsveloped," evolved perhaps, like the
celebrated German camel, out OF some
body's inner cousciousnessl Well, 10 the
game wort h the candle2 People possessed
of old fashioned ideas about these mat
ters, when they find boys and girls from
to 8 wears of age, who have been constant
attendants at school for 2 or 3 years and
are not yet able to read, sometimes ask
questions and want to know why these
things are so. They cannot understand
why Il Is looked upon almost as a criminal,
certainly as very reprehensible, offence
TO teach q child his letters, or why II Is
not at all necessary or desirable for him
to know the alphabet. The answer gen.
orally given Is that the "phonetic'
met hod now in use has superseded all these
antiqusted notions, and that the little
one will come out all right bye ana bye,
and will read and spell almost as by in.
stiDct. Possibly they believe this to be
true, and possibly they are satisfied, but
how Is II that there comes from a neigh.
boring city the report (it may not be true,
but IL Is mighty we'll vouched for,) that,
In spite OF the blessings and benefits of
"phonetic" instruction, IL has been found
necessary to teach the pupils their letters,
because IL has been discovered I'm the
higher grades that the children could not
look up words in the dictionary readily,
for the reason that they did not know the
sequence OF the letters In the alphabet,
and could not be certain whether 8
came after T and NJ preceded ., or the
contrary Can II really be true that the
proof OF schooling, like that of the pro-
verbal pudding. Is in its adaptabiiity or
lack Of t., to the purpose for which II Is
Intended, and that crude education, like
raw cooking, is a mockery aud a snsref
But II is urged that the children are