The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-11
A TnP-HEAYY system.

The National Educational Association,
now in session at Charleston. might do the
country a service by considering the ques-
ton whether. for the public good, too
much attention is not given to high schools
| in the public school system. The idea is
finding Judgement in the minds of people in
all parts Of the country that the interests
of children who never get beyond the ele-
mentary schools are being sacrificed 10 ad-
vance those who get the benefits of the
high schools. In a paper read by Prof
schoenrich. of Baltimore. before the Ma
tional German Teachers Association in
Philadelphia last Saturday the following
statement was made:
"A grave danger threatening the public
school systems of our country is the ten
dency of making them top-heavy. only
too frequently the main energy is direct
ed to the development of the high schools:
by their results the school systems of the
different cities are frequently judged. and
consequently the schedule of the lower
schools points up to the high schools and
not out into actual life"
the high school teachers and the best ac-
comodations given to these schools, but the
studies in the elementary schools are Sc
lected with the view of preparing pupils
for the high schools. This does not appear
to be just Not a tenth part of the pupils
in the elementary schools enter the high
school. The United States Commissioner
~ l. r.
some figures as TO the attendance in the
elementary grades and in the high schools
of twenty-four typical American cities
According to these figures there is a steady
falling off in the number of pupils from
the lowest to the highest grade, Leaving
out the Kindergartens. the ninth gram
mar and the normal schools, the first
years attendance in the twenty-four cities
in question. was 211,07O, in the eighth
years work the lumber had fallen to 49,
sl3. The total enrolled in the eight ele-
mentary grades was s74,773. and the num-
Der enrolled in the high schools was only
47.251.
One Of these typical cities was Philadel-
phia, and the Ledger Of that city says
that the number of pupils enrolled there
on Dec. 81. 1ss9 was 145, SSl. OF this num-
Der only 4.S43 were in the high schools. on
that date in Chicago there were in the
elementary schools 1872, 165 and in the high
schools 7S47.
II would be interesting to know what
proportion of the school fund in each of
those cities was spent on the high schools.
1t is safe to say that far more was spent
on them in proportion to the number of
pupils attending them than on the ele-
mentary schools, And what is true of
Chicago and Philadelphia and the other
cities of the tWenty-four mentioned by the
United States Commissioner of Education,
is doubtless true of pretty nearly every
other city in the country. Is it right that
it should be SO? In many cities there are
lacking school Accommodations, but the suf-
ferers are not pupils of the high schools
but of the elementary schools In about
every instance, when there is a shortage
in the school funds, the need of school
room is felt in the lower grades and not
in the high schools. Somehow or other
the high schools are always taken care
of by the school boards and superintend-
ents. This is not as 1t should be. The
public school system was established for
the purpose of giving instruction in the
fundamental branches. not for the pur-
pose of preparing boys and girls for col
lege. The system appears TO have been
twisted from its original purpose. Now
the aim seems TO be to use the elementary
schools to prepare a comparatively few
pupils for the high schools. In other
words, everything is being done for the
high schools. The public school system is
becoming top-heavy.