El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-07-12
In Our Public Schools Must
Be Carefully Watched
And Controlled
PARENTS OBLIGATIONS
Should Not Be Thrust Entirely
Upon the State For the
Two Provinces Are
Well Defined.

Los ANGELES, Cal, July 12.-More
than 1900 educators from all parts OF
the country crowded Hazard g Pavilion
this morning at the session Of the Ma
tional Educational Association conVen-
tion. The session was commenced
with prayer and song, after which the
convention listened to the reading of
twenty-minute papers on variety OF
educational topics.
The first speaker WAS Mre. Helen L..
Grenfell, state superintendent OF pub
lie instruction of Colorado. Mrs.
Grenfell took as her subject "Quo Va
dimus," and spoke in part as follows:
There Is nothing more helpful to
the child than the realization that,
come what may, there are those at
home who are on his side, who are in
terested in his work, proud OF his sue
cesses and sympathetic in his failures.
The more nearly the school approach
es this relationship the more nearly
will it have removed one Of the great
obstacles to efficiency.
"Our common schools grew out OF
the home and it's necessities in much
the same way as the nation grew out
of the family.-the graded school sys-
tenn from the class, and the class from
the assembling of pupils who had been
Individually taught by tutor in the
home.
"Some parents believed that the
educating OR failing to educate their
children was a matter for their sole
decision, but the conception OF the
state seems to be that the child does
not exist entirely for the parents good,
but for the good of all. Compulsory
education is apparently an infringe
ment of parents rights, although GER
tainly necessity at present.
San advantage of the home over
the school lies in the power of parental
influence, which lays the foundation OF
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., self-control, in
tegrity-training in which should be
carried on both at home and at school.
Too much, however, should not be rele-
gated to the work of the school, since
education is the work OF all the hours
of all the day, and the child's out-of-
school life contains fully as formative
influences as his school life.
"a danger is threatening US ia the
socialistic tendency in the conduct OF
our schools and crowded curriculum.
If we are to proceed from the step of
providing free text books to that of
providing the INDECENT with all neces-
saries, the nation will awake at some
future day to the knowledge that all
responsibility has been gradually re-
moved from parents and every encour-
agement is offered for the continued
of benefciaries of the
government.
s'Neither home nor school is COM
plete organization for the development
of the child. There.is room for both,
and instead of opposing each other,
they should be made to work in har-
mony. Appreciation of each other has
at last begun"
Frank Rigler, superintendent of pub
lie schools, Portland Ore, read paper
On "The average scholarship of the
average pupil.''. v. S. Monroe, of the
State Normal school, Westfield, Mass.
told of the causes and remedies of
fatigue among school children. Ho-
ward J. Rogers, director of education
and social economy, United States |
to the Paris exposition,
closed the general session with high
Iy interesting description of the pro-
posed exhibit of the United States at
Paris.
There were ten department meetings
In various parts of the city this after
noon, at which papers were read by the
members:
National Herbart society-Professor
Frederick j. Turner, University of
Deaf, blind and feeble-minded-Pre |
Ident David Starr Jordan, Leland |
Stanford, Jr., university; Miss Mary |
McCowen, Chicago; ]. w. Jones, Col ]