Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-09-10
NEW
NORMAL SCHOOL
Up-to-Date Plant to Replace That
Located at Randolph
Center.
SCHOOLS FOUND DEFICIENT
Those Mt johnson and CnstIetou Nav
He Continued for tho Pre.cnt--Io-
cations. CourseS and Equipm~uts
Inadequate, However, says
Commission.

The report of the commission 20 ex
anime tho normal schools of the State to
the General Assembly of Vermont, fo
lows:
lnder "A Joint resolution approved by
HIS EXcellency. Gov. Fletcher d. Proc
tor. December a. 1906 your commission
respectfully submits the following report
| ~ relation to the normal schools of the
state OF Vermont.
The duties of the commission are de-
fined In the Joint resolution, which reads
IN part as follows:
Resolved, BY the Senate and House Of
Representatives:
That commission consisting Of 1--WE
members TO be appointed by the Cover
nor 's hereby created ana empowered to
consider the present status and til.
equipment of the normal schools of mo
State to compare the same with the nor
NAL school facilities of other States. and
to report to the General Assembly at the
biennial session IN 1908 their findings and
| recommendations by bill or otherwise
SAID commission is empowered to call for
ana examine persons. books ana papers
IN relation to the normal schools No.
800 of the acts q, 1906
Acting under the authority conferred in
this joint resolution. your commission
desires 10 report that 1t has found the
| present normal schools well conducted
| SO far as conditions permit. The State
| board of normal school commissioners is
to be commanded for the work II has ac.
complished with the Inadequate means nt
| its command
| Your commission is. however. of the
| unanimous opinion that the present nor
nal schools do not adequately meet the
educational needs of the times and are
open to serious criticism as representa-
Tive institutions of the State.
SOME PROMINENT DEFECTS.
1t desires TO call your attention to some
of the more prominent of these defects.
lst. Buildings. buildings are Door
ly adapted to the modern requirements :
of normal school education and do not
meet even the present demands made up
on them The sanitary conditions the
lighting Of rooms. and the general
condition of the plants leave much to be
desired This Is largely due to the fact
the It'll" to any OF the property now oc-
cupied for normal school purposes. has
no satisfactory lease OF the buildings:
pays II" rent and has authority to make
only slight repairs whereas extensive
alterations are necessary to meet tn.
growing demands Of modern education
md Financial support.-The appropria-
tions for the normal schools are in
sufficient. and the lack OF available funds
has led to several unfavoraole results
ta). The equipment OF the buildings In
supplies. apparatus. natural history coll
lections. manual training material, etc,
is Inadequate.
tb). The normal school commits sioners.
forced TO offer meaSer salaries are serl
ous.y embarrassed In securing and re
tanning teachers OF thorough preparation
and rich experience. This results in n
large proportion of instruction that Is
unprUfessional OF eNperimt ntal and vir-
tuaily makes of our normal schools Ia
stititons for the training OF normal IN.
structors who shortly leave for better
paid positions IN other States.
cD. The enrichment OF the course Of
study by the elaboration Of presen, stud
les, by the addition OF new courses. or
by increasing the number OF the faculty,
Is practically impossible.
Mb. The attractions to prospective stu
dents are limited. with tie consequence
that the number and the personnel of the
student body are unsatisfactory. II Il
generally true OF the state that capable
graduates OF high schools or academies
who intend TO teach do not attend the
state normal schools. either contenting
themselves with a high school education
which by Il large number Of school oft-
cials is regarded as fully equal to Yer
mont normal school training or, II
financially able to do so. attending the
normal schools of other States.
3rd. Status Of the normal schools
The normal schools are in no sense the
pedagogical leaders OF the state, an
play little or no part In shaping It's edu-
cationnl policies and standards, They
do not fairly represent the dignity or the
educational ideals OF Vermont, nor can
they, under existing conditions and In
their present locations. ever assume their
r!ghtful place In these particulars.
4th Training school faciities-The op-
portunities for affordns normal school
students practical training In teaching
and school management are lamentably
poor and insufficient. The number of chill
dren In the model OF practice Schools
should be not less than three times as
great AS the enrolment OF normal school
students, and for really satisfactory work
should be even greater. The insufficient
amount and the inferior kind of practice
work now obtained by the normal stu
dents are among the most serious defects
In the prrsRut system.
9TH. Standard OF admission. The stand
ard Of admission. and consequently the
grade of work done by the students. IL
too low. The requirements for entrance
are appreciably lower than those de-
manded by the State for entrance to high
schools under the free tuition law OF
1906. In the opinion of the commission,
however. the standard OF admission can
rot he materially raised so long as the
normal schools renal In their presen.
general condition.
9Th, Possibilities OF Improvement and