The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-01-15
THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT.
Upon His Efficiency and Zeal Largely
Depends the Progress of Public
Schools.

| TO the Editor In this day of bust
| ness activity, there is found the neces-
! slty OF intelligent supervision OF the
various industrial plants. In every cot
| ton mlli or mandatory OF any kind,
there is employed a man as suDerin
! ten0ent who knows the whole business
! better than any of the operatives, who
| is well able to apply Il quick remedy
whenever anything goes wrong, ana
who constantly pushes the work lie
holds ms position by his thorough
! knowledge of the work to be done,
| and his ability TO make the work nay.
| On large farms, the DroprietorS often
employ men on good salaries to super
intend the farm Work. such men are
employed because of their known abil-
Iity to manage the farm in an intelll.
gent economical way and make the
business of the farm pay good re-
turn for the money invested.
| 1t has been well said that "Educa-
ton is States chief industry" Ana
it is very gratifying to learn from Su-
! perintendent Joyner's report TO the
| Governor that the people are learning
! the value of intelligent. energetic SUI
pervision Of their public schools. Many
counties have decided that the whole
! time of Il superintendent is necessary
! for the best interests of their schools.
/ This is q ha"uy omen. For II farming.
: manufacturing. mining. raiiroadlng,
etc, depend for their success upon
their proper supervision. nothing ca.
be trUer than that education, the
states chief industry. must. for its
success be supervised by men OF
thought OF push and with broad
! knowledge of the work TO be done.
| When the County superintendent
! correctly exercises his duty, there IS
not a buster man in the country. Iet.
occasionally, it is asked what the
County superintendent can have TO DO
to take his whole time. Some people
think that the Superintendents duty
is chiefly in his office. examining teach
ers and the like. On the other hand,
the fact is that the Superintendent
greatest work is outside of the office.
The capable superintendent will So
| syStemiZe his office work that 1t can
| be done for a great part of the year in
one day each week and for the most
part Of the year in two days eacn
week. The rest of the time he should
| spend out among the schools and in
| contact with the people. In this way,
! he will gain a knowledge of the con-
ditions existing in the different com
| munities which will enable his
County Board to act intellgently ON
| those matters which come up for their
| decision.
The County superintendent must
not wait for the people of community
/ to come and make known their needs
=
them. Whenever he finds conditions
needing remedying. his duty is not to
| wait for the people TO come and ask
relief. but to set TO work to bring
about relief at once. In factsome COM
munities will never ask for better con-
| ditions. Sometimes it has occurred
| that communities would ask for better
conditions without getting them, when
| the request could easily have been
granted. This ought not to happen.
| but the superintendent familiarity
| with the conditions ought to be such
| that he will not have to be beSought to
| do his duty.
! Every superintendent must have an
ideal for his schools toward which to
work. A ~reat deal of slack supervis
ion has been due to the absence OF
either ideal or a plan for attaining 1t.
The lack Of an ideal has often been
due to the fact that the Superntend-
ent had to think about something else
and do something else for a living.
Happily this condition is no longer
present in many counties. And in SUCH
counties, the superintendent has
golden opportunity to improve the
condition of his schools. He must
work TO bring about the fact of having
all the children in school regularly.
and strive. in his county to close uU
the present gap between the public
school and the college so that every
entire preparation for college free of
tuition charges and without the neces-
sity of attending a boarding school |
This condition exists all over some |
States. 1t exists in the cities and larger |
towns of this State. The Superinten-
dent must labor to bring it about in
the rural districts.
This cannot be done merely by Off |
cial DEGREES. The Superintendent must |
go out among the people and create a |
sentiment for ii, a sentiment that will |
back ii up by works. Public sentiment |
is always a factor to be reckoned with. /
and no permanent improvement can |
be made without the support of it.
One Of the duties of Superinten-
dents according to the law, is to visit
schools. These visits afford Il most ex-
cellent opportunity for creating sem
timent for better educational condi-
tons. These visits should not be uneX-
pected, but should be known before
hand and the committeeman and pa
irons invited to meet the Superinten- I
dent at the school-house. This is one
way of awakening an educational in
terest It should not be to carry out the
letter of the law that these visits be
made, but to help both teacher and
school. The superintendent is sup
posed to know more about conduct
ing recitatons. about arranging q daily
record, and about good discipline than
the average teacher. Many teachers,
especially the young and ineXperien~
ced. are yearning for some wholesome
advice and suggestions. Here the Su-
rintsndent has an opportunity TO
render q service that will secure both
better work by the teacher and the
active cooperation of that teacher in
the work of the superintendent. The {
teacher must be left feeling that he or !
she has been helped by the visit of the {
ar1-iTat TOM lon
Joyner says in a note on the School
Law: IF there be a county Superin
tendent whose visits to his schools,
his people, nc surer evidence of his IN |
is needed
In many districts the school house is
imprinted, not we'll furnished or with {
out window blinds, and the grounds I
not cared for. Tie wide awake Sup y
erintendent Will and without the use
of public money. have the SchOol-houSe
painted. the furnishings improved, the (
walls hung with pictures. the grounds {
prepared and SoWn in grass or other 6