The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-10
|GETTING The SCHOOLS OPEN.
DriL or PRELIMINARY WORK
FOR THE TEACHERS.

al rt9urrs Of n BB NeSs'raUt0n NsuAiy
Found TO ne Exaggerated Part TIM
classes In Brooklyn for the Most Part
An Easy Problem I'm Manhattan.
The streets OF New York viii be quieter
,o-day at times than they have been for
,hs last ten weeks, thanks for which are
J,s 10 tho opening Of the public schools.
A Rail playing and other juvenile games will
bs suspended while the youngsters turn
,hsir faces toward the big buildings where
,hsv are TO be drilled in the three Rs and
IN c. NJ. s, or cooking, music and sewing.
The principals Of the various schools
han been preparing for the last week for
M. mornings work, which IL 10 receive
=. nnldren and begin arranging them into
Jasses. Not all Of the children who want
n 40 to school show up on the week OF pre-
Irinary work, and so to-day n for sew
srsl days to come the teaching stan will be
L engaged principally in the work OF regis
\ ration and the formation Of classes.
In a big school where there are several
thousand pupils this sitting out process 10
mite a task, and it usually takes about Q
reek before the children get down to the
routine of study. The teachers have been
.n,oving a vacation as well as the scholars,
and thew come back from Lake George,
Isbury Park and other resorts for school,
ma'ams with a good tan OIL their faces and
A new stock Of patience.
They will have need of much patience
to-day. for multitudes OF interrogation
y noints will invade the schools and want to
know. II the child is under Q years Il
cannot be received, and the mother will
want to know the why and wherefore. II
there is doubt about the six year limit and
a demand is made for the birth certificate
and it is not handy, then there Is trouble
between the mother and the registering
tea cher. The children themselves are
mostly Of an inquiring turn Of mind and
manage to keep the teachers busy in supply
ing information.
Because Of the reports in recent years Of
ov~ercrowding. many children apply for ad-
mission in the week OF registration az moro
than one school, so that they may be sure
Of getting a seat in one. This duplication
would account, to some extent, for the
enormous figures OF the school enrolment
as officially announced each year. When
the official announcement Is made public
interest is 4 directed to the size Of the school
population. The figures Of the enrolment
create amazement, and no wonder. for the
figures are misleading n give an extrava-
CANT idea of the number Of children actually
attending school.
As an illustration, it II a matter OF record
that City superintendent Maxwell reported
that for the school year Of 1904 and 1905
the net enrolment was SIS 500. The public
vas amazed at the number Of children
To be educated, but DR.. Maxwell also saws
that the daily average attendance was only
E7,OO5. What became Of the los, 4es chill
dren reported to be on the books? Perhaps
the error could he found in the system of
department bookkeeping.
Reliable figures Of the number Of pupils
cannot be arrived at under the present
methods before the end Of September.
when the Implications and other errors will
have been eliminated. A remarkable feat
ture in the DEPARTMENTS bookkeeping is
shown in the difference between the aver
age registration and the average attend
ance for l9O4-l9O5; the latter was "a. lOl
less than the former. Does this mean that
more than $4,000 children were truantap
Or is the registration no more accurate
than the enrolment?
A great deal has been said IN recent
A years about the great increase in the num-
Der Of pupils at each annual opening OF the
elementary schools. The increment was
I said TO be steadily rising; the large figures
we're generally accepted without too close
y - ANAAJ AD AAAuaANAu I" KCn=
erously handed out about $50, OO0, 1000 a year
and the public took it for granted that there
was Just cause for pride in the vast number
Of school children and the amount
Of money spent on their education. Two
years ago 1t was given out at the Board Of
Education that the annual increase was
expected TO be about 10000 that year.
How were the expectations realized1
The most authentic figures are those from
the records in the City Superintendent's
once, and here they are: On September 30,
lsH, the increase in registration over the
same day and month Of the previous year
vas Just $3.50. On The same day and month
last year the annual increase was l4,ool.
Tong back to 1908, it is found that the an
nual increase was 1882, something unusual
N school history in this city. The unusual
increase was explained by the new rule
70 admit every child over Q years that
applied.
The main part OF the trouble to-day over
tne lack OF seats will be in Brooklyn.
any little shifting Of the population from
enc part OF the city to another catches the
school authorities un~prepared TO supply
ehool accommodation and Brooklyn has
Deen growing some within the past few
years, The Board of Education never
nuclpates expansion OF the city. In any
. particular direction. II waits until a GER
IAN section has acquired it's population
ana then 1t starts to build schools. As il
akes from two to four years 10 put up a
shool after the subject is first brought
up tnere will be a shortage ofseating capac-
ny IN the borough across the river for
some time to come.
Inc number Of part time classes IL likely
70 oe increased in that borough at the OPEN
mg TINS year. There we're 40, o7l such pupils
mere last May. The part time problem in
manhattan is getting easy, because the
TRImDer Of school children Is decreasing.
Inc falling of was first observed last