The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
oun PUnnro SCHOOLS.
what IL Required by the PupiIs ana the Dolls
ana Monkeys Required BY the Rcrormcra-

what IL Required by the PupiIs ana the Dolls
ana Monkeys Required by the Rcrormcrs-
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: On tho 2lst
Of the present month the Board of Education
| will, under tho law. take hold OF the machinery
| devised By tho charter for the control OF the pub
| lie school system in tho 1--WE borouEhs consti-
tuting the city OF New York. Tho new board
will consist Of nineteen members, eleven from
Manhattan and the Bronx, six from Brooklyn,
and ono each from Richmond and Queens. A
majority OF tho board will be composed of meme
bers who are at present and have for some ting
boon responsible for the workings of the school
system In old New York. Col. Strong's res
formers will not only continue to exercise tho
official functions appertaining to their original
posts as School Commissioner for Manhattan
and tho Bronx; their powers will extend TO tho
recently annexed boroughs, and 1t is only rcaA
sonablo to believe that the wonderful oducn+
tional advantages now enjoyed by the boys and
girls OF the old city will at an carly date be par,
| ticipatod in by the benighted youth Of New
Dorp, Linolcumville, Dutch Kills, Middle Wis
lage. and Canarsie. Now. lot mo describe No
briefly as possible what the aforesaid eaucas
tional advantages amount to. The information
will doubtless be welcome to the good citizens
OF Brooklyn. Station Island, and Queens.
In the public schools Of Manhattan md tho
| Bronx the actual work OF instruction cnn under
NO ClTCuu1StNhUCo V " iphRul lEll lllNH
twonty.one hours weekly. In the five school
| days Of each week twenty.four hours at the ut-
| most arc available for school business. and
three hours OF this time are usually deducted
for opening exercises. physical exercises iI
| classrooms, and semi-daily dismissals. OF the
twcnty-one hours spent in actual teaching, two
thirds Of the entire time Is devoted. under tho
rules. to the following SUBJECTS: Manual trains
ing, 4 hours; arithmetic, 3 hours; writing.
Il n ha,~, Lrn,.I - - nar,nan 1nn hpnra. ,,n,,-
| raphy, 1 hour; physiology and hygiene, l hour,
| and history and drawing, q hour-each. Foo
instruction in reading, spelling. compositions
| English grammar, bookkeeping. general hist
| tory. physics, and singing only seven hours per
week remain, under the rigidly enforced rules
Of the board. Reference, it may be stated, ID
made here to the upper grammar grades. which,
to save space, must be taken as representative
of all the rest.
Even an unprofessional eye can easily divide
the subjects mentioned above into two classes,
the essential and the non-esscntial. More than
onc-half Of the pupils time each week is do.
voted. under an overpralscd public school sys-
tenn, to studies of but secondary Importance AZ
a preparation for tho battle of life. while sub
jects q knowledge Of which is absolutely nec2S+
sary to worldly success are placed In the backA
| ground. Over 90 per cent. of our school children
are Obliged, through the poverty Of their p-
I oHJb W ~ W "oIh AZ vi Nv NV hBo"l lks
1t is very important for those children. in Y lew
CT the life struggle ahead OF every one OF them,
that they be endowed with as many educational
advantages. OF a useful and practical nature, as
the State can bestow upon them in a necessarily
limited period. They should at least be made
OF first Importance when school becomes u nerd
memory and when the, stern facts OF, daily.
A young New Yorker starting in life should
certainly be r,a aRie to read VII Write, and
s be oony "ssaes With the fs'Aes Simple s operat
know the IMPORTANT Eects reistiine to AmoricnS2
geography ssOsr ! phSyv and an I h htsIToir S,o 4 AS sG a.s}Is system woPIa m SaGa
s sn oda q sfEi Ss { s s%auip rnaS tnf ie ss'! than ~0 this ~i DE-.
serves severe censuEe. and, in fact, is not ems
1 psIisa to 70 t SsiFsSs' aos sas Exists g 'Y rs I'd N I em S SST,
sitoGetRer With the reform School Board.
schools to-day. I shall make 4 few emphatic re:
Schools in the vain endeayor 70 teach unwIIlins
the money employed In the undertaking. is sim;
ply. thrown away. The hobby called manual
money. Is squaiiy-useiess in its results, In both
cases the taxpayers suffer unnecessarily. butths
f%s erels of arr AT. in a t pSsl '9Rs w Tqoi shh {. f infIsisa sa on
boys, and girls who must begin to earn their liv4
eomp 1e leddf to spend a t ene.f meRt 81 thc Tn School 5oY Go "Fs
at clay modelling, paper cutting. and dolls
dressmHkinR, while, at the same time. they arc
sion. in arithmetic. and in other important elc.
mentary branches Of knowledge. IT is all very
well for pupils to be able 10 make n pretty
doll or darn a stocking. to cut f%nntas.icp paper
patterns. or carve from wood n lot of worthless
toys. TO mould with facile fingers a relief man
of Africa, or illustrate the discoveries Of, Co.
lumbus by the .copious use OF clay. These
for exhibition purposes. 1t is nice md desirable
from the official point Of view to show visitors
from nfnr how clever our school children IRE IN
| modelling and cutting and patching 1hN krlt-
ting, but 1t would be much better il the Young
people wore taught to do. proficiently, those
things which. In order 10 be successful. they
serious business Of life in Office, workshop, face
tory, or store. When. by much effort md A''Cr.
long and anxious waiting. a boy secures q snail
place In a counting room. the really Important
matter Cor him is to know how 20 rCpv It letter
or make out n bill. not 10 mould u plaster cal OF
carve q wooden monkey,
tinguished for its faculty OF taking TIE wrong
and unpopular view of almost every Important
public matter EXPRESSES its delight ut III" fact
system. and its neglect of the really essential
branches OF instruction. is to continue In over.
In that journals, opinion. tho pco1lc Of NcW
York ought to be deeply grateful that. even il
the other great d epartmcnts OF the !oCul Cove
eminent have fallen into the hands Of the cn'
envy; tho school depart ment is still bc'on i,ho
shall soon have a new city. Snperiptcndcno
OF. Schools, irremovable for six years. il SAYS
triumphantly. We shall. indeed. and il is 20 hn
sincerely hoped that the new ofllcia! will not bs
n Mugwump. n representative of the Better E,c-
ment, or n manual training crank. with dolls,
baby carriages, clay mules, and wooden r!tnAI-
Of Juvenile effort in the public schools.
NEW YORK., Feb. 10. A VETERAN TEACHER
Varying Testimony or Rycwiincssrs.