St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-12
COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE jack
SON SCHOOL INVESTIGATED
.e YESTERDAY
BY A SPECIAL COMMITTEE.
CHARGES AGAINST THE TEACH
ERS DISAPPEAR WHEN
e SHIFTED DOWN. "
RATHER WARM SESSION,
Which Terminated Only After
Everybody Was Given Chance
to Express Himself.

To be a member Of the board Of
school inspectors in these days of
Investigations is not regarded alto
gether a snap. The Would-be new in
spector will find that being late to
his dinner, as he will frequently be
in these troublous times, is not cir
cumstance to an encounter such as
Inspector Scholle had yesterday aft
ernoon with an enraged Eighth ward
er, who thinks his child does not re-
ceive sufficient instruction in the
three RS, and is compelled to write
too many stories.
AT the meeting of the committee
appointed at the last meeting of the
board, and held yesterday afternoon
at the Jackson school, the entire
matter was thoroughly aired. The
chairman Of the committee was un-
able to be present, so Inspector
Wilkes presided, and assisting him
in the conduct of the investigation
were Inspectors Scholle and May In
representing the Staid and elderly
faction of the board, and on two oc-
casionS, during the session with the
parents, did he find it necessary to
exercise his benign influence over
more enthusiastic Investigators.
The meeting was held in one of the
larger rooms down stairs, and there
i,,s 10, do INc +1,0
bers of the delegation that waited on
the board at last Wednesdays meet
ing to present the charges, and a
large number of residents of the
ward, a number of principals and
teachers from the various schools in
the city.
Chairman Wilkes, after calling the
meeting to order, invited the parents
to present the alleged charges made
against the school, the course Of
study, the principal, Mrs. Deacon,
and Mrs. Clinch, who seems to be
the chief offender. According to the
men who preferred these charges
Mrs. Clinch is that she has performed
years of faithful service in the st.
Paul city schools, and that on ac-
count of the ever-increasing duties
connected with teaching the highest
class in the building, her health has
become very much impaired. How
ever, the reasons given by the dis
Satisfied for their appearance at the
building yesterday were by no means
confined to Mrs. Clinch. In an in
definite sort of a way several men,
bers Of the delegation found fault
with the morality of the school, but
the stories were all in the air, and
when a member of the investigating
committee tried to pin any one of
the men who made this charge down
to facts it was found that he knew
only from hearsay.
:, George Gerlach led the delegation,
and talked on improving the course
of study, and giving the children
less of the frills of education. Messrs.
Massey, O'Mara, Dickman, McLane,
Allen, Hoofer, Evan Williams, Hen
gerald and Goodwin, all followed in
the wake of Mr.. Gerlach, and dis
cussed the same questions in the
main, each one adding little to the
suggestions to the board on how
to improve on the system of educa-
ton. One had tale Of woe as to
how a child in the sixth grade could
hardly read, and another told of the
very bad reports his boy always
brought home. The majority OF the
men in the delegation admitted that
they had never taken any interest
as to whether the school kept or not,
until this difficulty was stirred up,
and very few of them had ever been
into the building in their lives to
inquire how their children were pro-
crossing, or to make the acquaint-
ance of the women to whom they in
trusted the care of them day after
day.
Inspector Wilkes treated the delega-
ton to a few caustic remarks on the
duties of parents in this respect, and in
the future it may be that there will be
a. greter cooperation between parent
and teacher, which would be, the in
spector pointed out to them, for the
good of the child.
The committee had called in Prof. B.
F. Wright, who was superintendent OF
schools from 1878 to 1885, and who ap-
pointed Mrs. Deacon to the position
which she has held ever since. Prof
Wright stated that he had selected
Mrs. Deacon for the position because
he had considered her peculiarly adapt
ed to handle a growing school in what
was then the suburbs of the city.
Prof Bond, Mrs. Place and Miss
Brooks were called to testify as to how
the classes in the Jackson school stood
generally as compared with the work
that they examine, as supervisors, In
other buildings In each case they re-
ported the work equal in grade and in
some cases a little in advance of that
In some other buildings.
In regard to the work Of Mrs. Clinch'5
grade about which so much has been
said, Miss Phelan, now principal Of the
Maxfield school; Miss Crum backer, of
the Central high school, and Miss
Cramsie all testified that they had, at
different times, substituted in Mrs.
Clinch's room, and that they had not
| only found it up to grade, but that the
| children were advanced in arithmetic
and grammar beyond their class.
| =. A number of pupils who had been
| graduated from the Jackson school
were present, and when called upon
| testified as to how they had progressed
! under Mrs Clinch's instruction, as did
| also the mothers of a few of that lady's
| pupils. Mrs. McCreit, Mrs. Bailey, Mrs.
| Carmichael and Mrs. Lindsey were
among the women who were present to
| testify as to their satisfaction with
| Mrs. Clinoh as a teacher of their chill