The times., 1898-09-18
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Nearly Fifteen Million Chill
dren at Their Desks.
AN ARMY OF TEACHERS
One-fifth of the Whole Population
of the Country in the Common
SchooFs-We Have More School
Children Than Amy Other Country
I'm the World.

This past week most OF the schools of
the country began the new term. As
the Chicago Times-Herald puts it, nearly
Is. coo American children are unhappy
this week. The public schools are open
ing. The schools here in Chicago are
ready for their pupils today In some
other cities the children began their an
nual educational drill yesterday, and in
others later in the week, but the first
week or two in September witness the
opening Of most Of the schools.
1T is all very well TO say with Bacon
that knowledge is power but to the in
fant mind the author of the book Of Ec-
ciesiasties put it more correctly when he
said: He that increaseth knowledge in
creaseth SORROW However much the
youngster may be fond of learning in
seeming. really he does not enjoy the
school routine. The boy who really likes
to 90 TO school is so scarce that he is
pointed to more in scorn than with pride
by his schoolmates. Think of the barrels
OF tears that are shed by the 15.050 600
school children, the billions of complaints
that are made, the trillions of sighs and
objections, the quadrillions of wishes that
they did not have TO go. Plans are in
terfered with, pleasures anticipated during
vacation must be postponed. The period
Of recreation seems too short. Yet the
modern educators believe the summer va
cation is too long. The child loses his
habits Of study. Vacation is q period of
lawlessnesS. The lake and river are more
terrible than ever to the parent. Closer
watch must be kept on the apple orchards
and the melon patches.
So. though young America may not be
glad TO get back to school, old America is.
That Is, all Of old America except the
teachers. They, poor mortals, rail at fate
Just as bitterly as do their pupils.
There is guesswork, of course when
one gives estimates of tears shed and
wishes expressed. But there is none
about the number of pupils The commits
sioner of education makes careful inquiry
as to their number. The public schools
have an enrolment Of Il, &c. 81. This in
cludes only those of element ntary grades
and second grades-not those of higher
education, even when supported by public
taxation The private schools have an en-
rollment Of 1,53l,S26 making grand total
Of l5,99Il97 students in the common
schools. This vast army is more than
one-ffth Of the total population of the
United States. All of them do not go to
school every day, the average daily at
this latter figure is impressive to the per-
son who has not stopped TO consider. It
means that u per cent of the people of the
United States are at school each day The
average length of the school term in days
is 40 I-2. so The aggregate number of
days of schooling is 1853 So, ,9l4. To teach
these requires the services of 400, ,325 in
structors of whom 130 366 are male and
269 959 are female The women teachers
outnumber the men two TO one. There are
$40 96S schoolhouses, and the value of all
school property is SlS1, 45s, $50 per year, or
s26l per capita of population. For each
pupil 1t costs $1S.62.
Everybody knows, of course, that the
United States has more school children
than any other country in the world. But
II is not so generally known that the
United States, with but one-twentieth of
the population Of the world within her
confines has one-third of the worlds
school children and spends one-half of the
amount spent by the world for education.
Free public schools are almost a dis
tinctively American institution Until
quite recently even in England-until 1870
TO be exact-there was no provision for
the education of the masses. There were