The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-12-25

boards do exist they ought to exist
the United Statesmen to go elsewhere
who do not know our school board,
and still conduct their schools in an eX-
! Cellent fashion. / need not remark that
dualism is foreign to them. The city of
| St. Paul, Mimi, is a specimen. The
| public schools of ST. Paul are under the
| supervision Of a board of school in
spectors. The members of this board
seven in number-are appointed by
the mayor for a term of three years.
| They have full power to appoint the
| staff of teachers, janitors and engi-
| neers. They also appoint a superinten-
| dent of public schools who conducts
| the necessary examinations, etc. All
| school buildings, their repairs and the
| building of new houses, is in their
| province. The board reports to the
mayor and common council on the first
| day of June of each year as to the at
| tendance, the scale of salaries paid,
| etc, and the Common Council each
| year fixes the appropriation for the
schools, and eXerts a certain control
| ling power.
| The school system of Jersey City is
an example of what an enlightened
school board in control of instruction
and school property, can do. The re-
gime of that school board was not
| crippled by custom and caste the de-
sire to create real substantial and
healthful conditions was not checked
| by petty jealousy, by old fashioned
conservative instinct, by contracted
minds. They did justice to -N
| and built for the future. j Il
with 100000 inhabitants, halJ Gny 81
schoOl-houses where Worcester count
ed last year p Cor 81 without suburban
schoolsO appropriated 1886, 721 to our
$530,000, employs only SIS teachers for
its 94,SS3 pupils at a salary Of 1856, O0O
where our city requires 625 teachers,
with a payroll Of $377,0OO, to give
tutorage to 22,522 school children. Wor-
cester needs $4,000 to pay school jani-
tors, Jersey City $27,6O0, although the
average pay of a janitor in Worcester
is $500 per annum; 5000 in Jersey City.
| The coal bill for our school buildings
runs up to $4,000; Jersey City writes a
check for $11,434, and this settles the
coal bill. We spend $4,000 for text
books, the Jersey City school board
| $1,000. They do not mind to pay $2515
| for the insurance of their school prop
erty. The difference between our sys-
TEN and theirs will be clear to us, when
we reckon and find, that the school ap-
preparation of Jersey City, after our
plans, would be not $466, 721, but 1926, 254
l254.
Our school superintendent is often
forced to hang his harp upon the lamp
post, near his office, and set up lament
alton about imperfection in school
houses. The school superintendent of
Jersey City Mr.. Snyder, writes:
THE city schools are numerous, COM
Imodious, well planned and architect
urally beautiful. The city has made
heroic efforts to furnish every child
with the best possible accommodation
and facilities. 1t is not an exaggera-
ton to say, that it has succeeded. In
these buildings the city may fearlessly
challenge comparison!'
Jersey City builded for the future;
the fruits of it's fOrthought are pleas
ing to behold. The average school
house in Worcester is built for nine
teachers, in Jersey City for 10 teachers
They built (and rebuilded) in Worces-
ter during the last q years 70 school
houses. q only in Jersey City. Worces-
ter built a school on Millbury Street in
| 1888, another in 1886, added the third in
1898 and the fourth in 1899 There are
| three schools in Quinsigamond, two on
Woodland Street, two on Providence
Street, two on Grafton Street two on
Cambridge Street two on Lamartine
Street, two on Canterbury Street-all
the sister-schOols erected in different
years. The Eric Street School in Jer-
! sey City covers a lot 100x100, it is val
ued at $40, 000 80 teachers instruct about
1000 pupils; one janitor watches over
the house Our Grafton Street School
consists of two separate buildings, built
| in 1879 and 1898, the property, 93x64
and SKIP, is valued at $73, 900; there are
| IS rooms, II teachers, 600 children, two
| janitOrs. Our Providence Street School
| is also made up by two separate houses,
| built in different years, with two iani-
tors IA teachers and about 500 children
and a value of So $50. In Jersey City
| 500 pupils would be under eight teach
ers, in a building, which would cost
! S22012, and one janitor would be hired
for that school,
| Our division in school control is the
cause, that the city loses each year on
! taxes about $4,000 Gin comparison with
Jersey City, for Jersey Cfty's school
! property is valued at 81, SOS, 300 and
! Worcester's at $2,122,145.
The citizen Of the future, who has
grasped fully the true purpose of pub
lie schools win be puzzled to his sorrow
| by numerous characteristics of our
present school. But this can be said:
when modern school education will
have advanced nearer the truth and in
| trOduced one session for all primary
| classes, given to physical culture the
| proper station, and enabled the teach
er force to ignore numbers of pupils
! by rational class method, then it will
be clear to every one that large school
houses represent a heap of human wis
dom. PAUL NANCE.