The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-06
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Salt Lake City has a magnificent
school system. one the equal of any
city in the Union with few excep-
tons. and throughout the west, par
ticulArly the intermountain region, it
/ Is making the city famous as an
educational centre This school system
must rot be impaired or the present
high standard of the school lowered.
There IS some little danger that an
attempt will be made to impair the
/ efficiency of the schools One can oc-
casionally hear people say that there
is too elaborate course of study; that
many things are taught which have no
direct bearing on a pupils fitness for
the battle of life. which fitness with
( many of them means nothing more
than the capacity to earn money; and
to clinch it all there. is used that old
and as those who use it think. I'M
ansWerable argument. L never studied
these things when 1 went to school
and have done pretty wei, too. 3"
Those who are talking in this way think
that the public schools should go no
]
Rs. The three RS are not enough IN
these days, and it is no argument to
say that they were good enough for our
grandfathers. Il our grandfathers
were living today they wouldn't be
good enough any more than their old
carts and wagons would be good
enough Cor them to cross the country
in.
The schools of Salt Lake City are
good, but whatever changes are made
in them should be to make them bet
ter. And it is impossible to have a
good school system without some ex-
pense to the community. but it is an
expense that gives returns tenfold.
And who are the chief benefciaries of
our schools? The children of the labor
ing classes; it is they who benefit most
by them, and if the efficiency and pres
ent high standard Of the schools are
impaired. it is these children who VIII
suffer most. Their parents cannot af-
ford to send them away to school as
can parents who are more fortunate in
worldly goods; the rich can choose, the
poor must take what they can get.
There IS another matter in this con-
nectiOn TO which it is well to draw at
tention. and that is the high school.
There are rumors floating around that
an attack viii be made on the high
school, that an effort viii be made to
abolish it and let its work be done by
the preparatory department of the
university That would be to most
seriously impair the public school sys-
TEN. As we have said before, the high
school is the crown and glory of our
public schools: and it must remain so.
Those WHO talk about the preparatory
department of the university taking the
place Of the high school can hardly
realize what they are saying That de-
partment is already full and the teach
ers in it have all they can 90 now. In
the high school there are about five
hundred pupils and they. couldn't posi-
bly, be accommodated at the university.
If they were TO go there additional room
and additional teachers would be re-
CURED, so where would the saving be?
Then it should be remembered that the
preparatory department of the uni
versity is maintained for the benefit of
pupils everywhere throughout the
state that they may be prepared for
entrance to the university and because
here are no high schools outside Of
Salt Lake City and ogden.
An attack upon our school system
would be an attack upon the intelli
gence ard progressiveness of the COM
munity, and anyone who would make
it would be- in a sense, a public enemy.