Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-15


that there is rapid decrease in attend
ance throughout the successive grades of
the primary and grammar schools.
Seventh. the training of the children in
the primary and grammar grades should be
more practical. Instruction in reading
writing and arithmetic is Of permanent
value. but 1t must not be forgotten that
four-fifths and possibly nine-tenths of the
children who discontinue their education at
the end of the primary grammar grades
will. if boys earn their livelihood with their
hands, and If girls. be their own housekeep-
eTs, seamstresses and cooks. Girls should be
taught plain sewing and plain cooking, and
boyS some of the simple forms of manual
labor. Ten years of experience III New
York city, where | was in constant touch
with the problems of poverty, anG part OF
the time, a school official, convinced me
that those children who pursue exclusively
the literary and semi-literary courses, are
little inclined to manual labor and are not
equipped for it. If forced by circumstances
to such labor as they usually are, they I'M
dertake it unwillingly. without pride In
their work and without skill. A majority
of the cases of extreme poverty, due to the
inability of the wage-earner to obtain EN-,
plOyment arise from his lack OF technlcal
training. 1t seems to me. sound pubic
economy for the school to give Its boy eie-
mentary industrial as we'll as elementary
commercial training.
Matter Of Food.
''It has been sometimes urged that free
soup and free lunches should be provided
by the school because of the half-starVeo
condition of many of the school chliureh'
My examination of the subject leads me 10
believe that there is far more starvatioh
due to badly selected and badly prepared
!ood than to actual lack of food. In other
words the ignorance of the mothers resaro.
ing cooking and the nutritive value of
foods is more frequently the cause or pyhsi-
cal weakness than actual hunger.
THE need of industrial training is en-
phasized by an examination of the report
OF the metropolitan police department for
the year 1895. 1t states that 1I62 chlldren
under sixteen years of age were arrested
in the preceding year, of which NUMBER
1,42I were penalized or restrained. Nearl!
all the offenses were those likely to spring
from ideness rather than from criminal
disposition. My examination of the tene-
ment and dwelling houses OF the poor IN
the District showed me that large numbers
of boys and girls are out of school ana out
of work Conversations held with some OF
them showed that they had had no training
for any special occupation. L suDmlt ina.
it would be less expensive Tor the Districl
to train these children than to maintain
houses of detention to punish them for mis-
conduct during idleness, of which they are
the victims quite as often as the cause.
Respectfully submitted
JAMES BRONSON REYNOLDS.
DR.. Chancellor's Comment.
The full text of DR.. Chancelior's reply
which has been sent to the President, Is as
follows:
The communication of the president of
the board of education has been referred
to me and carefully considered nile
have not the advantage of personal knoWl-
edge of the details of school work In the
District of Columbia l have made sufficient
inquiries to know the natural policy and
conditions Considered, as whole, Mr..
Reynolds statement is fair and his recon-
mendations are excellent. The sociological
point of view adopted by Mr.. Reynolds is
the right one. Even the tional expert
would make most of his recommendations
from the same point of view. He may,
however extend his criticisms beyond civic
needs to the methods of instruction and
of discipline, to building construction and
to general school administration. 1t Is easy
to see from the statistics on file In TINS
office that the school ations are
inadequate. The true remedy,
believe. is to build number Of large build
ings with ample grounds about them ana
in some Instances to abandon small old
buildings without such grounds.
I'm the matter of high school attendance.
contrary to the opinion Of the Presidents
the District of Columbia is
fortunate, both in respect to
It's white high schools and in regard to It's
colored. | know of no city IN America with
high a percentage of high school pupils
as has the city of Washington.
Critics of American Education.
"Settlemen tworkers and other critics Of
American public education have been max
ing a great deal, recently. of the fact that
Of five children entering the school at six
years of age, but one will go to the high
school at fifteen. But so far from critics.
ing Washington for the actual condition,
the city should be congratulated that rela-
lively it is so good.
''If, as l believe. and have frequently
said in public addresses and In printed mat
ter, all boys and girls should so - school
from fifteen to eighteen years of age, quite
as much from six to nine years of age
which seems to be the opinion also OF the
Presidents commissioner then we shall
have to apply remedies far more extensive
than those suggested in his communication.
These remedies include the expenditure OF
much more money in education. the radical
of grammar school work, the
period of compulsory education advanced
from the limit of fourteen years TO the limit
Of nineteen years. the establishment OF
special high schools of very different
character from those now maintained, and
probably the assistance of parents in sup
porting their children at school, In the
later years. at least, of their attendance.
American public opinion is not yet ready
for these extensive and drastic measures.
The Presidents commissioner suggests that
every school should have play room.
gymnasium and shower BATH most
heartily agree. But Such expensive Items
cannot well be provided in a district that
maintains the policy of building many small
school buildings. l understand that most
of the schools of this city contain but eight
class rooms few have twelve, very few
have more. Let the District adopt in Its
city sections the standard of twenty
four or thirty rooms, then it would be much
less expensive to secure Fairgrounds.
gymna SUM and shower baths for each
From the professional point of
view it would seem that an assembly room
Is quite as important as Fairgrounds. The
collection of the entire school for morning
exercises produces an esprit de corps in the
school, of Unreasonable value 10 every
pupil, and therefore to the principal and
teachers engaged in the work of education
there. 1t should be understood that my ad-
vocacy of baths for each school building Is
based on the assumption that there will be
gymnastic work.
Requisite to Beneficial Results.
Suck exercise, unless followed by a show
er bath. Is usually not beneficial to the
physical system. 1t may be that there
should be baths in certain schools in this
district, irrespective of the maintenance
OF gymnasium work. but the home condi-
lions. I am glad to say. in most sections