The Saint Paul globe., 1897-04-29
MEMBERS OF THE SCHOvL BOARD
TACKLE THE QUESTION OF
THE FUTURE.
FIRST MEETING LAST NIGHT.
REDUCTIONS IN SALARIES AND,
PERHAPS, TEACHERS BELIEVED
TO BE NECESSARY.
MAYOR DORAN's OPINION OF 1T
He Regards the High Schools a Lux
ury and the Teachers Training
School as Unnecessary.

Inspector McNair, of the school board
as chairman of the committee on
schools, issued a call for a special
meeting which was held last evening.
All the members of the board are MEM
bers Of the committee on schools, but
the meeting last evening was attended
by but five; those present being Presi-
! dent Zimmerman, Vice President Zim-
norman, and Inspectors McNair, Yoerg
and May. Mr.. McNair stated that the
meeting had been called for the pur-
| pose Of discussing the problem Of how
the schools could be run for the year
! commencing Sept. 1, in the most eco
nomical way and at the same time keep
within the amount which would be
! available. AS the salary list Of teachers,
! now in force, took over three fourths
! Of the total amount allowed for the
schools and although the committee
| had done nothing but informally dis
| cuss the question, it was apparent that
| there would have to be a reduction in
! both the number of teachers and also
in salaries in order to keep the schools
now open going during the next year.
/ he IeuuCLlOn III SdIdT16S WOuIQ DIS a
matter Of course, Mr.. McNair said, ap-
| ply to those of the teachers who were
receiving the larger compensation. AS
! to the manner in which the force of
teachers would be reduced the COM
mittee had arrived at no conclusion.
! In fact this was the first meeting of the
! committee and beyond an informal dis
| cussion nothing had been done. The
board was obliged, under the law, to
make up and submit to the council
before June 1, a budget and it was to
prepare for this the members of the
board decided to commence early and
thoroughly discuss affairs.
Frequent meetings, MI McNair said,
would be held between now and June /,
and when the budget was submitted to
the council it would present the best
and most economical plan of conduct
ing the schools which could possibly be
arrived at in the wisdom of the board
inspector Zimmerman was of the
| opinion that there should be sittings
provided for all children who desired
| to attend schools, particularly in the
| lower grades. The idea advanced by
! the inspector from the Second ward
| was that if there was to be any reduc-
| tion made it should be in the higher
! SI6OSS, anu lidI every CHIC QnQer the
| age or fourteen should have a chance
| to attend school, even if more school
| buildings had to be erected He called
! attention to the fact that only about
per cent of the pupils who entered the
public schools reached the high school,
and this to his mind showed that more
| attention should be paid to the accom-
| modation and tuition Of pupils in the
| lower grades, even if the high schools
had to be curtailed.
The members of the board who were
present at the meeting last night all
agreed that the number of graded
schools should and would not be re-
duced. Inspector McNair said he had
not been advised as to what action
| would be taken by the council as to
| the recommendation of the board that
the money appropriated to build new
| school houses in the Second, Tenth and
eleventh wards and for new sites in
the Fifth and Seventh wards be used
Tor SchoOl maintenance. He was GER
tain, however, if the members Of the
council fully understood the situation
! they would agree with the board that
the money would be of much more ben
eht in the general school fund than I'M
erecting new buildings and buying new
| sites.
Mayor Doran, in discussing the uues
t1on Of school finances yesterday. stat
ed that in his opinion it was all rot to
take $4,000 and purchase at this time
sites for new buildings. The money
was needed at the present time to pro-
VIDE accommodations for pupils, and
there was little doubt but that in a
year or so building lots would be as
cheap as they are now He was also
! Of the opinion that some money. he
was not prepared to say how much.
could be saved by doing away with the
teachers training school. To his mind
II pupil who had spent ten or twelve
years in the schools of ST. Paul and
graduated was not fitted to teach,
without an extra years finish in the
training school, then the system was at
| fault and should be changed. There
was, he thought, a deal of sentiment
| displayed about the schools, and while
sentiment was all right in a way it had
now reached a time when it was a
question of money to run the schools
and give the children between the ages
of seven and fourteen chance to OBJ
| tain an education. He, for one, did
not believe in maintaining what might
be called colleges at the public EXPENSE
for that, he said, was what the high
school practically amounted to. Far
better it would be, he thought, to take
| the amount spent in keeping up the
high school and erect additional build
! ings which would accommodate those
! in the lower grades and give each pu-
PA III IhVoC CHdncc TO aJI6nQ
school and go to work for a living. 1t
had reached a stage, the mayor ex-
| planned, when the taxpayers had all
they could do to scrape money enough
to pay their taxes, and it was his opin
ion that their burdens should not be
| increased any more than was abso-
! lutely necessary. He suggested that
under the condition of finances exist
ing at present, that it would not be
very great hardship to reduce the SAL
aries Of a number of teachers in the
| public schools. Business firms were
retrenching in the matter of salaries,
| and, after all, the schools should be
| run the same as other business SO far
as the payment of salaries was con-
cerned. If a business firm found it