The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1903-06-05
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER


One of our kind friends and a
good looking teacher herself
presents us with an extract, en-
bracing few very pertinent remln-
aers for school directors and
superintendents to revolver IN their
eraniums few times:
She must know more, do more, be
more, and suffer more than any other
breadwinuer. She must know every
thing in heaven above, the earth be-
meath, and the water under the earth.
She receives no special credit for know
ing them, but woe be to her If she
knows them not.
She must teach the three RS as in
the olden times, but mark the addi-
lions. -,
She must teach physiology with all
the skill of physician, but without his
opportunity for hiding mistakes.
She must teach civics with all the
learning of a lawyer, but without his
library.
She must teach yirture and goodness
with all the zeal of the minister, but
without his Bible or his sectarian
bias.
Under the title Of mature lessons
she must teach the elements OF all
science known to man, but unlike her
sister in the high school, she must do
without a text book.
She must teach music, drawing,
penmanship and physical culture with
the ability of specialist, but must
give the supervisor all the credit for
success attained.
She must teach the effects of alcohol
and narcotics or the women Of the w.
G. T. u. will have conniption fits.
She must spend from eight to ten
hours day in the unwholesome atmos
phere of poorly ventilated school
room. and one or two hours more in
selecting material and copying it on
the board, to be again copied by chill
dren, thus exhausting vitality and
running the eyesight and penmanship
of her pupils to please the fool fancy
of some superintendent who thinks he
is carrying out an original scheme.
She must carry cut silly experiments
of young and callow principals who are
learning the business empirically, and
with whom she dare not differ.
She must govern wild and wicked
children even when parents fail. She
must be as wise as Solomon, patient a.
Job, strong and enduring as Caesar ant
tender as Maecenas. She must be I
model of propriety in all things, for ar
not the eyes of the whole communit,
upon her? She must know the usag
of the world and society, but mus
stand alOof from bOth,s She must hay
humility, confidence infinite tao
perfect health, common sense in abun
dance, a modicum of wit, a world 0
wisdom and a little wickednesS. Sh
must endure the foul air, the nerve
racking confusion and the thOuSan
annoyances of the school room. Sh
must submit to the thOuehtless crit
cism of the ignorant, the unjust abus
of disappointed parents, the blandish
ments of those who would help thei
children by patronizing attentions t
the teacher, and the domineerin
dictation of self-seeking politicians.
She must spend hours upon hour
making reports, compiling statistics
striking balances and averages, an
tabulating foolish answers to sill
questions with the machine-like e,
nertness of trained accountant
make more formidable and less read
ole the superintendent report, an
IMPRESS confding and gullable pu
lie with the complicated machinel
necessary to system of public school
And for all this she receives a salal
which enables her TO live in poyer1
or on the charity of her friends if 81
falls i'll, offends the powers that be
loses her pull.
/ knock on the pupil who ammo,