Evening star., 1900-04-24
SCHOOL STATISTICS.
infOrm a tion IN to the Relative Use OF
Powell and Franklin Readers.

IO"ell ana rankin Readers.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
On the I'd of March the District Commits
sioners were directed to report to the
United States Senate the following:
The whole number Of pupils enrolled and
the average daily attendance of pupils in
the public schools of the District of Co
lumbia, and the total expenditures on ac-
count Of the same for each of the fiscal
years from the year ending June 80, 1850
to the year ending June 80. 1899, inclusive
and the percentage of increase or decrease
in each of the items for each year of the
period named.
of each grade in the PoWells normal series
and also in the Franklin series and the
cost of each, and the total amount eX-
pended for Powelrs normal readers and the
total amount expended for Franklin read
ers since the introduction of free text books
into the public schools of the District of
Columbia
On the 23d of the same month the Com
missioners in response transmitted to the
Senate a statement made by Superintend-
ent Powell, skillfully arranged as not
to give the total amount expended for the
Powell readers and the total amount for
the Franklin readers during the last eight
years. Had he made the statement in the
form called for it would have been seen at
a glance that s23,17l.23 had been paid for
the Powell readers, or $36o4 81 more than
had been paid for the Franklin readers
Nevertheless in the printed report Senate
document No. 80. Fffty-sixth Congress.
first session. the above facts can be read
lily ascertained
The Franklin readers are a well known
standard series made up on the long and
generally approved literary base and widely
used throughout the country.
The Powell readers are made up on So
called scientific base to teach botany, en-
tonlology, zoology. biology, geology. ply
sio1ogy, ethnology, physioGraphy and ply
Gil md ha, 1ipnite nf ti,a
District of Columbia.
When the United States commissioner of
education made a report on the schools of
the District in 1892 he made the following
comments on the Powell system of teach
ing reading, and he gave still more EN-.
phasis to this view in his recent testimony
before the Senate committee investigating
the schools:
"In reading it is possible to say that In
some schools there is a neglect Of literary
pieces for pieces Of a scientific character
A book on hygiene comes in for a reading
book and is useful in its way, but does not
answer at all as a substitute for the great
prose and poetic selections from standard
authors. One is reminded of Goethe's de-
scription of such scraps of scientific infor-
nation: They are like baked bread, good
and sufficient fori'the day, but seed corn
must not be grounSi in the mill Literature
contains the keya thai unlock the aspira-
quickening power.i "A, Book like Rousseau's
Contract Social could make French
revolution. HomeT'S ,'Iliad' could make
Alexander the Great sabvert the old despo-
tsms of Asia and establish in their places
Greek art and science and free individual
ity; a speech of Daniel Webster a poem of
LongfeIlow or Tennysen may prove the i'm
pulse to a great career.
There is a very Interesting episode in this
connection. Befo4e the Senate passed the
resolution calling for this Information a
supervising principal making request for
some Franklin readers was informed that
there were none on hand and that no more
would be purchased.
Since the recent expose that one Of the
series of readers {the F,rankln), adopted
by the board of trustees. was gradually be-
ing spirited out and1superseded by the
has ordered the purchase of more than
$3.50 Franklin readers Queries, II the
Franklin readers were obsolete before the
Senate resolution was passed, how have
they become SO important now? What can
be the necessity for the purchase of more
than 6000 readers just at the close of the
school year? Are they like Kerl's gram
mars, to ornament the shelves r.
And. by the way, why has the order gone
out to spell. spell. SPELL spell early and
spell late, in all grades of the schools? !?
Even in the High Schools, in which for
merly there was no requirement or neces-
sity for formal drill IN spelling, they are
now drilling daily by that horrible antedi-
luvian system of lists Of words in no con-
text, as the Powellites designated it to the
Senate committee. What becomes of their
pedagogical theory that spelling comes by
observation?
From the same report we learn that from