Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-08-23
EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS.
City School Superintendent Wood Urges
Attention to Lower Grades.

oSAAONiS oAAa OWN SSAtNoNe ~ l
prosper. Take the United States over,
and it will be observed that the state
or city which has poor school accom-
has a high per cent of litter
acy, pauperism and crime.
But that state or city which provides
ample school facilities for all classes, |
whether rich or poor, foreign or native,
has a low per cent Of illiteracy, pauper-
ism and crime, and a high per cent OF
prosperity and happiness.
For a proof of the above statement
the reader is respectfully referred to the
eleventh census Of the United States.
In providing school facilities, two x
tremes must be carefully guarded. First,
it must be so planned and arranged that
the higher grades will not be provided
for to the disadvantage Of the lower
grades. And, second, the lower grades
must not be so provided for as to leave
insufficient provisions for the higher
grades.
AS the fountain can not rise higher
than the source, it is evident that the
lower grades will not attain to a very
high grade if there is nothing higher to
entice and to inspire them to something
better.
On the other hand, 1t is as equally ev-
ident to the careful and observant edu-
Gator that the higher grades and col
leges cannot prosper if the lower grades
are not we'll provided for and trained to
be feeders to the higher grades and col
lege classes.
Let us see if New Mexico has made
either mistake mentioned above.
According to Superintendent Manuel
c. de Baca's last report of the schools
of New Mexico, the average daily at
tendance in the district schools during
the year which his report covered was
IA, 1888 out of a total enumeration of over
As, 900. These We're taught by SAL teach
ers at an average yearly salary Of
s125. 70, or a cost of $6.11 for each pupil
in attendance for his instruction; or a
ethe entire As, 900 who were entitled to
free school privileges attended the aver
age cost per capita would have been
$1.95 apiece.
In the territorial institutions there
was an average daily attendance of 263
students, taught by twenty-six profess
sors, at an average yearly salary of
81, 1866. 20, or a cost of $134.96 for each pu-
pill for his instruction. (Let 1t be noted
that city schools and church schools
are not considered in this comparison,
as they are able to take care Of them
selves.) Thus it Is seer that New Mex
leo is furnishing SOIL for instructing
each pupil in regular attendance in the
lower or common school grades, while
she furnishes $1S4.96 for instructing
each pupil in the preparatory and col
| iege grades. Were there a comparison
made of the cost of buildings, the chasm
would still widen.
According to the catalogs of the terri
torial institutions covering the same pc
| riod, fully ~two-thirds, or more Of the
| students in regular attendance at the
| territorial institutions, are from the
| cities and towns in which these institu-
tions are located, and where, as a rule,
they have good city public and high
schools.
What does the above indicate? 1t
shows very plainly that there would not
be enough pupils in all the territorial
institutions put together to support one
fair college if they did not draw on the
pupils of the city schools where they are
located, and where fair school privileges
are already provided. Indeed, the ques-
ton may be raised that If all the pu-
pills in the territorial institutions who
are really pursuing college studies OF
studies above an ordinary high school
were put into one institution, would
there be enough pupils to keep n FAC
ulty employed? The true answer Is pur-
posely withheld. :,
What Is the result? Every summer
the professors in the territorial institu-
tons canvass every town and city
where they already have fair educa-
tional facilities to secure pupils in order
that their respective institutions may
have a respectable showing. Why dc
they not draw on the $4,000 pupils OF
school age in the district schools fol
students? The answer is obvious
enough, because the territory has moi
provided school facilities to prepare
them to enter the preparatory course
or even the sub-preparatory course
thus defeating the very ends for which
the higher institutions were created.
So while New Mexico has prepared
we'll for her higher institutions, she has
so far, prepared very scantily for hel
district schools. 1t has been said thai
nature abhors a vacuum, but not be-
yond 80 feet. May it not be feared that
the between the district schools
and the territorial schools is more thar
80 feet?
Let the city of Santa Fe prepare am
pie facilities for her common schools II
the way Of neat, tasty, comfortable
school rooms, and good teachers wht
have prepared themselves In training
schools for their work; who understand
child nature and are willing to do all IL
their power for the Advancement ant
the good Of the children under theiI
care, then the attendance in the higl
school, in the academies and in the col
leges Of the city will be doubled an
q%uadrupled in a very few years.
The spirit Of education is wonderful!
catching, and as more go to school
many more desire to go, and when the!
get a little taste Of education under
good teacher, the more anxious the!
become for more education. When on
or two graduate at the top, a dozel
more catch the same spirit.
Should the same facilities be provid
cd all over this territory. instead of tn,