, 1907-01-25
TALK
ON SCHOOLS
DR.. QUAlNTANCE OF UNIVERSITY
DISCUSSES SOME OF THE
NEEDS OF EDUCATION.
Needed, Including Attention of Pa
Children, Excellent Grade of Teach
ers and Longer Terms in Country.

ers and Longer Terms in Country,
At the meeting last night of the
Laramie Literary club, at the Carnegie
library, DR.. Quaintance of the uniyer
sity discussed the question of Needed
Educational Legislation" the subject
that adjournment was not taken until
1920 o'clock.
The address of n. E. Corthell upon
Needed Taxation Legislation" was
postponed, at his request, until an
other meeting, as he had not under
stood that he was on the program.
DR.. Quaintance said that there are
three improvements needed along edu-
cational lines in Wyoming, better
teachers, a better method of bringing
the ~studentto the schools that they may
receive the advantages offered and a
better method of gathering school sta
tistics. AS regards the last difficulty,
DR.. Quaintance said that a movement
is on foot to make the school year end
June 8, and make it compulsory upon
all superintendent and school boards
to send all statistics in to the state
superintendent before the end of July.
Interest of Parents Needed.
AS regards the second difficulty, that
of getting the children to the schools,
the most necessary thing is to obtain
the interest of the parents, and that,
said DR.. Quaintance, will be greatly
facilitated if the teachers are known
to be competent. The legislature is in
position to help the work by the crea-
ton of the position of truant officer.
The law at present is to the effect that
each child of school age must receive
at least three months schooling each
year, but there is no penalty attached
and no way to enforce the law. The
sheriff or some other public officer
should be furnished with a list of
school children and with a list of all
the children in the county, it being
made his duty to notify the parents
in case of children remaining away
from school and, if necessary, to bring
them before the proper authorities.
DR.. Quaintance spoke of the difficult
ties encountered in some of the ex-
tensive school districts of this state,
where three months school is held in
two or three widely separated corners
of the district, and each child only
receives three months schooling, but
nine months school is returned for the
district.
Good Teachers a Requisite.
The first difficulty, in the opinion of
DR.. Quaintance, and the most import
ant one, is the obtaining of a better
grade of teachers. In this respect it
is proposed to make it obligatory after
a period of one or two years that ev-
cry person who wishes to obtain a
certificate to teach must be d graduate
of some accredited normal school or
college, or else have had some years
successful experience as a teacher.
The present system, in which in some
instances an inferior teacher is grant
ed a certificate to teach in small
schools should be done away with, and
the granting of certificates left in the
hands of the state board.
Discussion Follows.
The address of DR.. Quaintance
brought up an extended discussion, in
which the capabilities of normal
schools to produce good pupils, the re
sponsibility of school districts in the
matter of children who do not attend
school, the duties of a truant officer,
the effect of the rolling mills in this
city, the necessity of county and state
superintendent being holders of first
class certificates themselves and the
salaries of teachers, were all brought
up and discussed.
The text meeting of the club is to
be an open one. The question of the
taking down of fences in Wyoming by
the government is to be discussed,
with DR.. Whitehouse taking the side
of the government and D. N. Stickney
the side of the stOckmen