The daily Alaskan., 1907-02-09
SCHOOL BOARD STATES
 CASE
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 of providing high school work but recognized the imprscticability of offer tnv if without an additional teacher as long as every grade Is taught every year The plan adopted provides that those pupils passing from the sixth trade at the end Of last year take the work of the eighth grade this year and combine with th.~ years sixth rrade % take the work Ot the seventh grsde nex, year: the following year they pass on to high school. This dis uauses with the seventh grade this year auG the ejgh, grade next year and make, !, possible 70 offer high Schoo! work without an additional teacher The whole sci ene, called aLternation' dspends upon the fact tha. either the seventh or eighth grade may be taken before ,he' other, a, there IS little difference in the U.tcu,ty ot the work of the two grade, and neither requires the work of the other as pre- requisite That alteration of the seventh and eighth grades is practical is shown by the exertence Of a dozen states 10 the Mississippi val.ey:this Is true especially in Indiana, Illinois, and iowa, where compara.lvely few towns of the size oi SAsgway offer both the Seuenth and eighth grades every year. While not so general iu the Western States, many places of the s.zs of Skagway practise 1t, and almost every town of less than 1000 population makes use of slterns- tiou in some subjects. It is quite true that pupils are frequently kept in' but .bs narcentage ;s as high among those who have already taken the seventh grade as among those who have not.
 3rd. The assertion that penmansnIp has been dropped is absolutely untrue. rp MT. Telford's room the time for both peumanship and drawing was given en- tirely to penmanship for about three months st the beginning of the year because of lack of drawing material This was done with the expectation Of using the peumau-hip period for draw ing for time after the arrival ot the drawing material. Thus the usual amount of time has been devoted to penmanship. Owing tJ lack of drawing material the peumauship work was done during the first three months. It was also believed that this arrangement would be better because the drawing, which is taught during the short days, causes less strain on the eyes. The teaching of penmanshIp in this room will be resumed as soon as the school day is again heightened which will be ip about two or three weeks. h all the other rooms penmanshlp has been taught throughout the year.
 +ch. The action of this or any other board of education ia denying a pupil the privileges of the school because Of his or her inability 10 sing would be Dreposterous if i: had ever been taken. The rule of the board ;s that each pupil shall come to scGoo. provided with proper books and material and, after due notice, any pupil not 50 provided is denied admission until the requirement IS met. This action hrs abundant pre- eedeut: it is the usual practice all over the United States. and, moreover, has been the standing rule of this and former boards iu SkaSway. Further more, we hold such a rule 10 be a0- solutely essential to scnool organiza- Lion, and we believe, when it Is con sidered that the board stands ready to buy necessary books or supplies for any body who is unable to furnish it him self, that the action of any pupil in staying out of school on this account IS voluntary.
 9th. The fifth statement of course challenges the value of music and draw in the public schools. Without at tempting to give arguments 10 justify the teaching of these subjects, IL Is sufficient to say that there is DO city ln the United States pretending to have a good system of schools but requires these subjects, and either manual train ing or domestic science in addition; that public opinion in all progressive communities demands them; and that