The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-27

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-!Sir: I have
been an interested reader of the letters on pub.
lie school education. which have been published
in your paper. because, while 1 am but a lay
man in educational matters, l have had an ex-
perience of about six years as a member of tho
School Board in a large Western city. of which
board l was the President for several years. and
have given to the subject considerable time and
thought.
Your correspondent f. Award. speaking of
the teaching of languages, asks. Are thoy de-
sirable or necessarily Are they part {. tho
three Rs r Thus he shows that he believes, as
many others do, that tho public schools are
simply charitable institutions. founded and
maintained for the purpose of teaching tho
children Of poor people the veriest rudiments,
and those only. l differ from those who believe
and argue thus.
1t Is no mere figure of speech to say that tho
safety OF a republic rests on the intelligence of
its citizens. and our public schools were insti-
tuted for the purpose OF giving us an intelligent,
self-helpful. and patriotic population. and any
parent who denies to his children what the
public schools 30 freely offer does not only do
his children aud himself, but the community in
which he lives. and his country, injustice. I al
Jude now TO those who take their children from
school before they reach the higher grades. con.
tent that they have learned those three Rs"
The curriculum of q college contains many
studies that of themselves are of no practical or
direct use, but they all tend to dlscipline the
few Of us could, after being out Of school a few
years. parse a sentence, give the boundaries of a
country, or the length of the various rivers; but
II has helped US TO have been taught those
things and to have been obliged to study them.
am not In sympathy with those who only
want the directly useful taught. That is not ed.
ucation. The apprentice In the workshop is
taught more than to simply run his lathe, for
more than that may be expected of him some
day, and he may want to render more. lie will
only be q perfect mechanic who IL taught all
that bears upon his trade. whether 1t is brought
into active use or not. Pupils should be taught
all they can assimilato without overcrowdins or
injuring them, and the more they are taught and
the more diversified their studies, the brighter
their minds will be. and the more useful will
they become. Nor would / think such an cduca-
tion a failure II not all that has been taught was
In after years remembered. To have had 1t
properly taught them will help them.
There are no brighter. more faithful or eff.
Client men and women in any profession or call
ing than our public school teachers. Thoy are
constant students Of pedagogy, and this Is evil
denced by the advancement that has been made
in the discipline and the management OF schools
during the past twenty years. The curriculum
of our public schools could bo safely left to
them. But the expense1 Save on tho salaries
don't begrudge tho few mills more OF taxation
that 1t may take to pay your teachers decent
salaries 70 teach those studies and branchos
which win enable our grand public schools to
fulfil their great mission. WEsTEKSER,
NEW YORK, Feb. 20.