New-York tribune., 1895-02-10
SCHOOL BILL CRITICISED.
st-ppRIsING COMMENTS on THE WORK
OF MAYOR sCHIEREN's ADVISORY
COMMITTEE.


r-,,r .rIrc.TIoN THAT THE PROPOSED SYSTEM
WILL INTRODUCE POLITICS INTO THE
RRooKLYN SCHOOLS CoNsIDEREp-oIhhh
FEATURES OF THE BILL
The onnositon 10 the Educational bill prepared ny
the Advisory Committee appointed se'ei'' ''o"'''
ago by Mayor Scheren to suggest changes anu I'M
movements in the public school system OF BROOKLYN
is nnanlfestIng Itself in variety OF way i"a' 'o
bill would be opposed was something tame" io'
granted by all Of those concerheu III '9 P'p
t,on They looked for and invited criticis'' Al 'ne
same time some OF the things "hic" "a'e 'e' 9a''
on the subject are calculated to AWAKEN surprise
0' rs, ,ha, the critics have lost their
Id When one Of them says that III the meas
rre had come from Imperial Russia where there
s an autocratic Government. ana the 'p'', vi
democracy exists by suferance onE' Sn'"'' "o
have been surprised. but must confess 10 'e cat
os dsanno,ntment that such a plan should ma root
in an American city the sober-mindeu reaoer Is
in doubt whether to give vent 10 MS iee""s' ~
ras,rai,ed laughter or TO pinch himself to see II
he has not been dreaming
For II is q fact known TO every educator anu
every one familiar with educatlonal supJeo'' 'n"'
the basic idea of the system proposed lot "i'oh'S"
has been in use in Cleveland for the ias' '"iee
years and has received the highest appropa''oh OF
those who have studied 1t with care. IL certainty
u,,l he news TO the people OF Cleveland 'hdt 'hes
are in secret league with 'lmperai h"s''" anu
II is safe to assert that there was no'h"s 'o'e e
mote from the minds OF the accomplished "e" WIZ
spent many weeks in studying schooi - stems III
order to devise the best possible for brooklyn
,hor that their pan savored of IAN autocratc "ov-
ernment" and a land where 1.-The spirit OF deHoc-
racv exists by sufferance only 1t ~ impossipie
TO treat such criticism seriously.
TEACHERS AGAINST THE BILL
Most Of the opponents of the proposed measure
have concealed their identity by appearing a"ohS-
mouslv 1t appears that all the teachers oi 'nc Guy
are arrayed against the committees Dill anu t"e,e
is nothing surprising in that AS for the principals
who waited on the Mayor and asked for the priVi-
lere OF suggesting changes in the present SYSTEM
shorld no remembered that the committees report
,tse,f states that every OF them had the priv
iIege OF stating his views on the SUBJECT u e e"
mittee \ letter couched in the broadest terms was
sent to all the principals OF pubhc schoo's III 'he
cItv requesting their advice on the subject OF
on.rcos and improvements They certainly had
chance to be heard; II they did not improve IT, II
was their own fault. This is "A fact when Mayor
schieren might well have brought TO their a'eh'
ton when they visited his Office
The most avowed critic of the Mayors plan is Pro-
fessor Franklin W. Hooper. well known as the
heart and soul OF the Brooklyn institute VINO mas
heon a member OF the Board OF Education Tor TWO
wears or a little more. HIS atttu1c towar' t"e
result of the committees work l. all the more sur
arising hecause at the time OF iis appointment last
August he spoke with enthusiasm OF It's makeup
and said that he was certain that ue hoaIu VI
rducation would cooperate with IL cordi'lIy i"eh'
TOO his first impression OF the report ana nl' J.
L,ou,n IN have been favorable: the only point from
which he dissentei was that the committee had not
,ot, s,,acon, emphasis on the question of manual
training In the schools For some reason ne a'ter-
ward changed his mind and wrote a letter 10 Mayor
schieron denouncing the report. and a long news
manor letter ending with the reference TO Imperial
Russia" which has already been quoted.
SURPRISES FOR THE COMMITTEE
This Russian reference Is far and away the most
intense thing drawn out by the report OF the com
mittee but a close second Is to be found IN 'he re-
mark of one OF the anonymous critics OF the bill
that the scheme Of the committee has been ensi-
neered in the interest OF Horace r.. Dresser. who Is
slated for the Commssionership surely II II only
from the newspaper press that the committee VIII
learn that they the tools OF Horace H. D'es-
ser on the one hand and the minions OF imperial
Russia the other
The main contention Of the only open ana aVo"sd
critic OF the committee is that the PROPOSED system
would nut the schools into politics, II not into re-
ligion" and that under the present system lh'
schools OF Brooklyn have been doing very Well het
nothing s better known than that when MI boncK
was the president OF the Board OF Education that
body was little less than political machine ana
even after Mayor schierer had appointed hfteen
nev members OF the Board IT was an open question
for some time whether the political Influence wonh
be overhrown and the school adminl,trat'oh % .isr!
In the Board-and Professor Hooper hnseli "onlh
not have hesitatei TO designate thssm"is As ocsr c,
OF Superintendent OF Public Instruction t"ho un"t-
ingly lent himself to me purpose oi tms na rV b
present system II is Impossible Tor Mayor III ms
two years term to PACK me hoafn VIII oc men mnS
on an alarming scale IL is true tnit unier me
existing system pohtics mas hau a great ue"' W uo
with the schools.
THE MAYOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BOARD.
Professor Hooper e right Of course in saying that
"the character OF our Department OF Education de-
pends upon the appointing power. namely inc
Mayor" and OF course It's character VIII depend
upon the same II the proposed system Is accepted
The tendency OF government in brooklyn ~ toward
the Capitalization OF authority Under the present
charter the Mayor has almost autocratic powers.
and by common consent this Is n vast Improvement
upon the old system. when each Of the city commits
sons had three heads and every appointment by the
Mayor had to be confirmed by the Board 3i AIder ,
men. The reduction in the membership OF the ifoard
OF Education Is not only IN dccOrdahcc WIN tnc
essential genius OF Brooklyn government. but In
harmony with the tendency noted In other cities
The retention Of "A large Board OF Education
mittees FOR several schools which In the opinion OF
many Of those who have Kept A close watch on inc
evils It is idle to talk about the plan removing
the personnel of the Board OF Education further
ro emers rng % al apponed by the Mayor Would be as
close to the will OF the people as forty-hvc members
appointed by the same authority Nor Is there force
in the argument that II would he easier 10 make
a combination for evil among eight members than
among twenty-three. a.
There may be two sides to the question as TO the
advlsability Of having n Commission OF Education
apart from the Board Of Education proper II ls
possible that the same result might be accomplished
by having the president elected by the Board
salaried official and a member Of the Mayors cabi-
net But II Is not until year and half after the
are in the Board. and hence during that time
president elected by the board appointed by his pred
his official circle This too Is an argument against
having Commissioner appointed for term OF i've
years as was first proposed by the committee.
THE SUPERINTENDENTS POWER.
Ii Is conended further that the committees plan
puts too much power In the hands of the superin
tendent But here. again. Capitalization OF author