Evening times-Republican., 1903-12-05


of the state normal or any othsr
institution approved g he state edu-
cational board of es 2 .ers, as admin
istering courses of =. iemic and pro-
fessional instructi. lily and fairly
equivalent to tho. q en- in the lnsti-
tutions named. Sh3 rintendent Bar
ret would also abolish examinations
by county superintendents and enlarge
the powers of the present board OF
state examiners, go that they could
conduct all the examinations with uni
formity and fairness. The objection 10
the present system Is that there are 100
many different standards, that too often
the superintendent Is expected TO rec
ognize the close friends and relatives OIL
political supporters In the Issuance OF
certificates to the detriment OF school
interests, and that in many instances
the incompetent have been knowingly
granted certificates upon grades ralse'
by order of the county superintendent.
incompetent teachers will get into the
profession but Professor Barrett de-
clares that to deliberately and know
ingly certificate the incompetent IS
crime against childhood and any
system that makes possible
so great an evil needs re-
vision by the friends of education.
Superintendent Barrett would have
legal deputy authorized for each coun-
ty Superintendent and he should nave
authority to visit schools. The legltl-
mate travelling expenses of county
SUPERINTENDENT should be borne by the
county. The county superintendent or
a county board Of education should be
given the power to condemn school,
houses unfit for school use. There are
a thousand schoolhouses in Iowa that
are poor and unfit dwelling places for
children. The passage OF law making
1t possible to unite school districts Is
urged. The law regarding the adoption
OF books by county boards OF education
shoul. be amended SO that all adoptions
and readoptions should occur on the
same day thruout the state. There Is
some doubt. which should be cleared. as
to whether textbooks may be adopted
without providing for their sale at the
same time. There is need Of amendment
in regard to the extension of city boun-
daries so that residents of farms an
nexed shall have a right to be heard be-
fore being deprived of independent
school life. The school corporations
should be allowed to issue bonds to the
amount of at least 8 per cent OF the
actual value of the property, as 1t has
been found that under the present limi-
tation money can not be raised to BULL
schoolhouses Of suitable size. There
should be suitable penalty provided
for failure to comply with the public
school library law, which has not al
ways been obeyed. He would have the
school corporation failing to comply
with the law be deprived OF its portion
of the school apportionment.
AS further aid to securing good
teachers Superintendent Barrett makes
the recommendation that a sufficient
sum be provided the superintendent
of public instruction to employ COM
petent person whose duty 1t shall be to
assist boards Of directors In securing
suitable teachers and to render aid 20
teachers seeking positions. Many boards
annually apply to the department for
teachers and teachers often inquire for
vacancies. The annual expenditure OF
nearly six million dollars for teachers
salaries alone, together with the fact
that nearly twenty thousand teachers
are required to supply the schools, calls
for far greater aid on the part of the
state to get employer and employe to-
gether without unnecessary expense.
The present appropriation made the
|offlce Of superintendent OF public in
struction is insufficient to enable the
department to employ a competent per-
son to do the work required, and as a
consequence teachers agencies under
koYr o. po. ,y->
on the payment OF certain annual or
biennial fees. AS a general rule teach
ers located by agencies are required to
pay per cent of their annual salary
to the agencies in addition to the en-
rollment fee charges Of $50 or 81. The
amounts received by the teachers agen-
cies are unknown but are reported to be
large in proportion to the services rem
dered. II any agency places one su-
perintendert at $4,000; five at $1,000
and ten at 5000. the total income for OBJ
tanning positions for sixteen persons Is
1857, estimated on the above percent
age To secure positions for three times
the number would give an income
equal to the superintendent of our
best cities Superintendent Barrett says
he has made this recommendation on
behalf of the teachers and not as
against the agencies.
The recommendation made in the last
biennial report that authority be Civ
en- boards to employ teachers for
longer period since the limit as fixed
by a decision of the supreme court Is
now one year, Is renewed. Thirty
seven per cent of the superintenrents
in charge of city school systems In
county seat towns in 1898 have left the
profession; 3s per cent have changed
locations, thus leaving "a per cent pn-
changed in six years. An estimate
made with considerable care shows that
nearly ten thousand changes in schools
are made annually when all schools
are taken into consideration Perma-
nency in school work is essential II the
best results are to be had. Superin-
tendent Barrett says he can think of no
objection that can be urged against
the enactment of a law granting boards
authority to employ superintendents.
principals and teachers for two or four
years. 1t is contemplated that such law
should be permissive, not mandator
FOR ENGRossING CLERK.