New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1900-09-08
EDUCATIONAL.

The Salary and The spirited contest
Qualifications for place on some of
Of the Parish the parish sch 0
Superintendent. boards would lea a d
some to believe that the country is
filled with willing patriots in the
cause of education. We fear, how
ever, that back of the school board
was choice for superintendent and
back of that was a salary of fair
proportions payable to said choice
without due regard to his special
fitness for the responsible position
to be filled.
The political demagoguc knows a
good thing when it is brought with
in his reach, and the salary attached
to the Office of parish superintend-
ent is most tempting to his kind.
He possesses all the necessary legal
qualifications (ability to manage
the public school interests of his
parish, has moral character and
be qualified elector) and usually
is schemer enough to get at least a
majority of his board to agree to
pay him a salary about the limit
$1,000 per year. He violates no law
Of his country, and is influenced
by no other moral considerations.
He knows nothing about the pro-
fessional side of school supervision,
and as often cares as little. He
can write warrants, keep minutes Of
meetings, serve on the committee
of teachers, hold examinations when
the questions and answers are fur
nished by the state superintendent,
and perform the few other per-
functory duties required of him by
law. He meets the legal require
ments, uses his political pull, gets
the job, draws as large salary as he
can work the board to give, and the
schools are supervised in name only.
"Ability to manage the school in
terests" means an "easy snap' to
the unprofessional superintendent
largely the salary and the infiu-
ence attached to the position.
The salary allowed under the law
is not too large, as is claimed by
some. The maximum is too small
for the work to be done in many
parishes. The objection to the law
is that no specific professional quail
fcation is required as prerequisite
for eligibility to the Office. The law
would be changed if the people
could but realize that they are pay
ing very high for nominal instead
of genuine school supervision. Re-
alizing this they would demand a
change in the law; and, legislators
generally do what their constituents
demand, when the demand is made
through proper political channels.
But we can not afford to wait for
the people to gain an appreciation
of these conditions. The teachers
Of the schools have a work to do in
shaping sentiment of the people
along these lines. These people
must be reached through the teach
ers' efforts in the schoolrooms, and
the legislatures through the people.
Hence the important part to be
played by the teachers. AS put by
one of our exchanges: "The peo-
pie are looking less and less to the
politicians and more and more to
the teachers of the land for the
solution of the problems pressing
them so sorely upon every side.
They realize that the questions of
destiny are being worked out in
the .schoolhouses of our country and
not in the halls of our legislatures.
To the teachers have they directed
the inquiries as to how their rural
schools may be improved, and the
question before us now is, what can
we do with it,"
School supervision in our state
will be little more than nominal
Except in a very few parishes)
until the law makes definite profes-
sional training and fitness (born of
experience in school work) on the
part Of the parish superintendent,
of more Importance than it does
under present statutes.-La. School Rerien.