The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-06-20
THE POLITICIAN AND THE PUB.
Lie SCHOOL.

Mr.. L. H. Jones, Superintendent of
Schools in Cleveland, Ohio, contributes
forceful article to the Atlantic for
June upon the influence of politics in
our school system:
Members of school boards are usually
chosen on account of other reasons than
their professional knowledge of school
work. They are manifestly not the COM
petent professional authority here advo-
Gated. The creation of the office of su
perintendent is a recognition of the need
of an executive officer who is an expert
in this very work which the mem bers of
the board are unfit, through lack of
training, to perform. Having. then,
provided an expert executive officer, it
is absurd not to allow him to use his ex-
pert knowledge in the highest interest
of the schools; and yet l venture the
assertion that in very large proportion
of counties. towns, and cities the super
intendent is superintendent only in
name. In my own judgment. the proper
method is to give to the superintendent
(either by statute, or by the common
consent OF the school board as the legal
authority and the community as the
interested party, preferably the former)
full power to appoint, promote. and dis
charge teachers, and to hold him strictly
to account for but one thing good
Ia 60
perintendent, give him adequate power.
and require results. The possession of
power will make him conservative; and
the concentration of power in his hands
will make it easy to hold him account
able for results. Appoint the superin-
tendent for an indefinite period, but be
sure to reserve means of getting rid Of
him for incompetence or malfeasance in
Office. or course it is plain that since the
superintendent is the highest expert in
the system, he must be Immediately re-
sponsible to non professional body. the
school board or the school committee.
This must be frankly admitted as de.
feet. But it may as we'll be admitted
further that. with our present democratic
tendencies. there must somewhere be &C.
countabilitY to the people; and the work
of superintendent is of kind that can
be better explained and better N 4de to
appeal to the non professional mind than
the work of the teacher. II is clear to
my mind that by this means the effect of
non professional judgment is reduced to
it's minimum; and while the system will
for awhile doubtless result in frequent
dismissals of superintendent. it will
not in all these cases result in the dis
organization of the corps Of teachers
certainly not if the same power be i'm
mediately conferred upon the new head
officer. Indeed, il the superintendent
had the power herein advocated, he
could soon develop system of schools
which should go far toward preventing
his discharge for any except the gravest
reasons. In any event, it seems neces-
sary to require the superintendent to be
the instrument in securing for teachers
reasonable tenure of office, even though
he be occasionally offered up on the altar
as vicarious sufferer for the more for
tunate members of the force. The con-
ditions here explained are in practical
operation in many places, notably in the
two cities of Indianapolis and Cleveland,
in one OF which the superintendent, by
sufferance of the school board and by
the glad consent of the people. exercises
every function here described, while in
the other such power is conferred upon
him by statute.