Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1903-06-25
SCHOOL ETHICS.
Prof. Kephart in Beresrord Republic.

| being deSirouS of broadening his field
of labor should think for moment
that the way to get into the broader
| work Is to make an offer to do the
work for nothing. We refer to the
matter of Institutes, work at which
many OF our school men spend their
vacations in order to make both ends
meet. We have done little of that
kind of work in South Dakota and our
advice to any who wish to get started
along that that line line is that when they offer
to do the work for their expenses they
arenot only making sad mistake but
lowering the dignity of the profession.
1t will be much better if you will ask
fifty dollars week and expenses for
your services, 1t is not likely that
county superintendent will rate your
services higher than you do yourself,
Keep up your price.
| 1t is the same class of so-called
! school men who upon the mere SEM
blance of a rumor that vacancy will
occur in such and such town, that
Mr., so and so can not hold his place
any longer or that he is going into
other business will make application
| for the position without even writing
! to the present incumbent and learning
the facts of the case.
| We have listened to long winded
| papers at more than one educational
meeting setting forth rules and prin-
ciples as to how children should be
trained in our public schools and in
their homes in order that they should
grow up to honest upright citizens and
be a credit to the nation; and upon re-
| turning to the hotel find it more like a
political lobby than anything else.
Wire pulling paevailed-this town
must have the association next year.
Mr. Ill. must have the presidency; it
| will help him to hold his present posi-
ton; this man must be elected secre-
tary, he is going to be a candidate ior
county superintendent next fall in
this county; this man ought to be a
member of the reading Circle board :;
| Mrs. S. should have this or that and so
on.
We have always lived in Dakoa; and
have watched educational progress
| with interest ever since we were old
enough to do so; and we will continue
to do so as our motto is South Dakota
first, last and all the time.
| But how can the influence upon the
rising generation be of the best when
any such methods are practlced by
men who above all should not counte-
| nance any such procedure.
What the people want in the schools
of South Dakota are men-not figure
heads whose whole ambition is to
''stand in" with the board of education
They want men who know how to do
something else than merely walk back
and forth from the school building a
few times day and hear recita-
tions."
| Boards of education want men at the
head OF their schools who will run the
schools and not have to bring every
tritling thing before the board to be
settled. 1t has been our experience
that boards Of education are composed
of human beings the same as ourselves
and the way to ''stand in" is to treat
them as your ordinary fellowmen
should be treated. 1t is not necessary
to shake hands with him fifteen or
twenty times day or every time you
meet him on the street. A man at the
head of a school system Will "stand in"
as the saying goes much better if he
will fearlessly support any position
taken by him regardless of opposition
by few individuals who claim to
have some so-called grievances.
We would not however bar anyone
who thinks he has grievance from
bringing it UP and having a hearing.
There are very few difficulties which
come up in school but that may be SET
tied and settled right by going to the
mar at the head of the school and talk
| ing the matter over in common
sense way. No trouble can be settled
by pouring forth some long lament
able tale of woe to a member of the
school board or by trying to prejudice
the minds of school patrons, Such
methods are unfair to say the least.
! Schools must be run according to
someone's idea and those ideas should
be from man who does his own think
ing. We cannot conceive of school
man who could please everyone if he
did anything, if he made his work felt
outside the school yard.
School teachers on the whole are a
good class of individuals. They in
tend to do that which is right as gen
eral thing. We are personally ac-
4 quainted with thirty-five hundred OF
the teachers in South Dakota and that
acquaintance we base our statements
above.
In every community the teacher
-