The Daily Texarkanian., 1896-12-15
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM FAULTY.


Education by taxation is mighty
good thing, and Arkansas is away
up in G" in this method of giving
our youths the advantages of gain
ing an education. But our public
school system is faulty, and it is to
try to remedy the same, that we
write this article, which is sugges-
ted by a letter written from this
state, in the Home and Farm, sign
ed Sarah Brown" wherein she
shows that our teachers do not
TEACH, but simply hear the pupils
recite their lessons. She tells of
the worry and trouble parents have
in teaching their children their les
sons at night, and the extra strain
upon the children, from night study;
gave apt Illustrations from the
home-life at friends, where she
was visiting. Says: ''They send
home the child to have the over
worked mother help the little stu
dent-the father is generally away
until a late hour to earn money to
pay these teachers" for their "la-
bors." The parents are expected
to really do the teaching. The
ones employed to instruct our chill
dren simply hear recitations. How
l wish l conld change with them.
The lady winds up by saying: "Now
brothers and sisters, is there not
some remedy? Could not something
be done? Don't you think that the
children should do their studying
after a good nights sleep, when
body and brain are fresh and vigor-
Gus? Study with rested eyes in
Gods own light; have those that
are employed to instruct and paid
for it, do the work; helping the
children with their lessons in the
forenoon; their recitations in the
afternoon; leaving the night until
early bedtime to be filled with physi'
cal tasks, play and rest, thereby
imparting greater mental vigor tol
the ensuing morning, relieving also
the overburdened mother?"
Now, the above suggestions are
good, we think. Young children
should not be made to study by
lamp light-the teacher should be
made to TEACH them, by going
over the lessons during the morning
hours, and thus do the WORK Of
TEACHING, now required of the par
ent after night. 1t is not right tC
pay the teacher simply to hear rec
itations, as they are supposed tC
TEACH. Hearing the pupils recite
is an easy matter, bnt to TEAOH
them is harder and requires much
more patience and skill. And tC
think children are punished by teah'
ers for not knowing their lessons
when they render them no help OF
teach them at all-after the par.
ents have not the or tact to teach
therl.
School hours are for too short
of course there would be little time
to TEACH by the present arrange
ment. Say open at 8 a. m. with an
hour at noon, and close at 5 p. m.
in the winter and $50 in the sum-
mer-this would give some time tC
TEACH; difficult portions of lessons
could he explained to pupils. Oh
course there will be some (teachers,
and perhaps parents), who will
complain of the long time the chill,
dren are kept in school, but we
think this far better than keeping
them in at night, to rnin their
young and tender eyes by straining
them by lamp light.
We say let us reform and perfect
our public school SYSTEM let it be
run in the interest of our children
and not to simply give the socalled
teacher a soft, fat job-hearing
recitations six hours day for five
days IN the week. We mean no re-
Election upon the teachers, but SIM
ply want to see our public school
system made better. AS it now is
the children and tax payers have to
suffer because of a very faulty sys-