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

can reach the matter to discover what the
cost of the present system of supervision
is. and to suggest a different system at no
greater costa system that VIII utilize the
services OF the present supervisors. By
method somewhat of the character aug
mented by these comments
1T is'my purpose Immediately to investi-
gate the question of how many children are
out of school. From my knowledge OF
school statistics generally I am inclined to
believe that there are at least four or flve
thousand children of school age, and VINO
should be in school therefore, who are
afioat on the streets. The comment of the
Presidents Commissioner to the effect that
the salaries of the teachers for manual
training and commercial work have now
been advanced to point where the serv-
Ices OF the best available talent can be
utilized is correct. The District Oh Column
ba is still paying less than is market value
of the services of desirable persons.
Number Of officers Inadequate.
1.-The number of attendance officers pro-
vided by the recent legislation. namely. one
for the white schools and one for the col
ored schools, l find to be seriously in
adequate. There seem to be required two
for the coored schools and three for the
white. with one attendance clerk to keep
the records. The salary provided-$5O per
month-proves to be altogether too low to
secure competent men. 1t would appear to
me desirable that of the six persons sug-
woman and one of the colored officers
should be woman, but the rest should be
men.
.'The remark by the commissioners that
the entire benefit derived from the public
schools by four-ffths of the children is
provided by the primary and grammar
grades is specifically true, but carefully
considered it is not really true. The teachers
of these children are furnished them by
virtue of the high school and normal school
courses. Moreover, the general standard OF
the civilization and the culture about them
is produced by this higher work. gram
mar school graduate may know less than a
college graduate. but the presence of the
college graduate in the community is never
theless helpful to him. The commissioner
again refers to the rapid decrease In at
tendance through the successive grades.
This Is true everywhere in the world, In
China as well as in America; in Berlin as
well as in Washington. AS I have above
indicated the remedies required are expen-
sfve and drastic.
Favors More Practical Training.
with the suggestion of the commissioner
that the training of the children in the ele-
mentary schools should be more practical I
heartily agree. I am in favor of manual
training, using the term in Its largest sense,
for the children of professional men as well
as for the children of manual workers, ana
sincerely hope that it will be possible to
attain much more training in the lower
grades of the schools.
1.-THE disintegration of the American
home, due to the stress of poverty and
ignorance in the pressure of American eco
nomic life has, 1t is true, advanced very
far but. with the Presidents commission
er, l am inclined to believe that the poor
feeding of school children is due not so
much to lack of money to buy the ma
teriaIs for food as to lack of knowledge
how to prepare suitable meals from such
material. The final suggestion that 1T Is
cheaper to educate than to punish is based
upon the plainest statistics. At cost OF
$50 per capita 1t would be possible to main
tain in Washington the best public schools
in America I found by investigation in
New Jersey that the average cost OF MAIN
tanning criminal in the pententiary was
sixty times as much Practically perfect
buildings can be built, with ample grounds,
at a cost of 500 per pupil almost anywhere
The allowance Of cost for construction OF
much The real cost of crime, however, Is
far greater because crime is far more ex-
tensive in it's effects than upon the. GRIM |
inal himself
1.-The District of Columbia is fortunate in
that the President of the United States
has taken so much interest in the work or
education here. Personally l desire to ex-
press my own qualification at this interest
and at the careful and candid report which |
has been submitted by Commissioner Key
nolds. The fact that the nation pays one
half the cost of the schools. that this Is
political capital, annually visited by thou |
sands and tens of thousands of Americans
and of foreigners, certainly warrants de-
sire to establish here the model public
schools Of the country.