New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1899-12-02

10 ,i'N Nui'l 'Nt'itlNt 'iiltti VI th'
public school system of each parish
if you will acquaint me with hi'
biography for the past ten years
it would not be a difficult matter
for me to take such data and from i
compile history of your public
schools for the same period.
mention this to illustrate the very
close relationship each superintend
dent bears to the school system
of his section and the certainty
of his leaving upon it the impress
of his own personality. Again,
remove the superintendent from
view, and meet his teachers, OBJ
serve their interest or non-interest
in their work, and you will have a
reliable source from which to write
up their superintendent.
1t follows, then, as logical con
clusion, that the superintendent oc-
cupies the most responsible position
in the school system of his parish,
and upon him devolves the most
momentous duties. He has in his
hands, in measure, the future
destiny of the educational advance
ment of his parish, and the good
or evil that he may do can only be
computed by Him who rules the
universe.
To aid him in the efficient dis
charge of the responsible duties of
supervision, he should first take
into consideration the territory to
be supervised If he does not
possess an intimate knowledge of
the people of his jurisdiction, to-
gether with their needs, tastes and
peculiarities, then he should com
mence at once to acquire these very
essential prerequisites to his sue
cess in the work that he has under
taken, since upon these, and a
thorough familiaritywith the topog-
raphy of his parish, he must plan
his work of supervision. He should
know the location of the school
houses together with the various
streams that may prevent or affect
the children s attendance at school,
so that he can advise or intelligent
ly meet other requirements of the
situation, such as encouraging the
building of bridges and the making
of better roads to the schools.
The superintendent who has his
soul and heart in the work, and
gives his especial attention to its
manifold and complex details, if
not an expert, will, or should very
soon, become one in supervision.
Our state superintendent, no doubt,
has now in mind some of his parish
superintendent who by their expert
knowledge have shown results
educationally in the parishes that
differ from those where there is an
absence of such knowledge, as
varied as the topography and soil
of our grand old commonwealth.
The results of expert supervision
are better teachers, better schools
and schoolhouses, larger revenues,
a more intelligent citizenship and a
greater prosperity and happiness of
the people.
Now, in order that he may be
instrumental in Fastening all these
happy results, it will not be amiss
60 here discuss some of the many
qualifications that he should pos
sess. He should, if possible be
one who has had experience in
schoolwork, and will himself con-
tinue to keep in touch with the best |
thought and practice of his time on
educational matters and progress.
He should combine in his general
makeup all those traits of mind
and heart that go to make the true
man. He should have ample ex-
ecutive ability, not conceited but |
an humble and close observer of all |
conditions that he has to, meet,
possessing tact, SO that he may be |
able to change unfavorable con-
ditions, correct errors in an easy |
and natural way, and accomplish |
his good purposes without the fric-
tion that retards and defeats. In
fine, he should be a judge of human
nature, and thus harness every
force that will assist him to place
his section upon high educational
plane.
Having thus stated some of the
many qualifications superintendent
ought to possess, the question of
their salaries should be mentioned.
The salary should be large enough
to secure the best talent and to
enable him to devote his entire
time to the work. It is, in my
judgement, poor economy to stint
the superintendent in this respect
as there are many ways that live,
wide-awake superintendent, with
means at his command, could i'm
prove the conditions of his schools,
but a lack Of funds prevents him
from utilizing them. 1t should be
liberal enough for him, not only
to live, but to enable him to
have a library suitable for the
Office and to keep his desk cov-
cred with the best educational
literature, for these are as necessary
to him as to the other professions.
In my judgment there is no more
important part of the superintend
ent's supervision than that of the
selection of the teachers. Give the
properly qualified superintendent
latitude in the selection of his
teachers, and his work in supervi-
sion is made easy. By engaging
good teachers and securing their
united cooperation in the work
that he has planned for the year,
he should make q success Of the
years work. Let him at the COM