Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-11-17
SUBURBAN SCHOOLS
Board of Education Takes AclIou
 10 Improve Them.

AS the Democrat stated yesterday the board of education last evening did take the initial step toward em- bracing the suburban school dis tricts in its Jurisdiction by voting to amend the city charter, to bring about further consolidation. At the meeting of the board held two weeks ago 1t was voted to have superin- tendant of Schools Tinker make a report on the condition of the SUI burban school and the changes that have taken place in the corps of teachers during the past few years Following is MT Tinker's report:
 To the Board of Education:
 Gentlemen-In accordance with the vote of your board, that the SUI perintendent make report showing the conditions that effect the teach ing in the district schools, would submit the following:
 At the outset 1t should be stated that during the past five or six years the districts have expended over $125,000 in building new school houses and in remoleding some of the better buildings, so that at the present time I doubt if there are any district school buildings in the state that are in any better condi- tion than those of Waterbury. Also that these schools have been as full ly supplied as the city schools with textbooks, school appliances and SUD- plies. That in addition as far as possible the work in drawing, music and cooking has been extended to these schools. All of which is ad- mirable and effective as far as it goes, but of far greater importance than we'll built and well equipped schoolhouse, and of modern text books and supplies, Is the trained teacher. In this report as requested by your vote I shall confine myself to the presentation of the conditions which surround the teachers in the districts at the present time.
 (D Qualifications - Under the rules of the board no teachers can be appointed in the city schools ex- cept those who are high school grad uates and have spent two years in special training for the work of teacher; in the districts no such rule holds good, the minimum re- quirement being that of the state law-the statutary certificate, which may be obtained by passing an ex- animation given by the state board of education. In taking this exam ination it is not necessary, and many are not, to be graduated from a high school. In 1902, 29 per cent of the district teachers were Normal graduates, in 1908 the per cent had risen to A per cent, showing a gain of 15 per cent; in the city during the same period, the per cent of Normal graduates had risen from lO per cent in 1902 to 54 per cent in 1908, showing gain of A per cent During this time in the districts more than half or 56 per cent of the teachers appointed, since 1901 and engaged at present have not been normal graduates, while in the city all of the teachers appointed dur ing the same period have been Nor nal graduates. If the same regula- tion in force in the city had been in effect in the districts during the past eight years and the vacancies as they occurred had been filled with specially trained teachers, the num- Der. of Normal graduates in the dis tricts to-day would be 90 per cent ol the present teaching force, instead of A per cent. The table given be. low. shows that as far as the secur. ing qualified teachers is concerned the city schools are steadily drawing away from the district schools. Nc sensible reason can be given for hay ing a lower standard for teachers ir the suburban schools.
 Districts
 Grade Normal Per