The Washington herald., 1908-02-01


District Board Limited.
The functions of the board Of education n the
District of Columbia ara ~ limited and ot such
nature thai there is ven little auy. necessity
for i's cEsteucc The financial affairs ~ the
schools the expenditure Of money the purchase of
supplies the erection of blidings and all matters
q fiscal nature. are aI In che hands q the Com
missioners Il tho District. aud sre regulated in
amount frum time % time Or appropriation bills.
and there is really nothing left iar the boarj ~
education 70 do excerpt % art as sort of bar
mouzer or balance wheel upon she superintendent
oi schools IN matters II real educational BaIuiuistra
tiog.
Your committee is thoroughly of the opinion that
under such q condition of affairs the bsst slrs
cannot b. accomplished In the schools and that the
sc10ol system cannot attain the high degree o par
fCCTi0n which the schUoi5 u ttr Capital 81 the
nation should hold We believe that the Washing
TIM schools should BE- a model for Che country. they
cannot he. So long as they are handicapped hT per
soHsl rrcJudicrs and fsctional lraiouses.
Regarding the appointing power and
the elimination of the supervising prin-
cipals the report says, in part
Your committee has considered 60 great extent the
question u who should appoint this director d.
was thnIght that it would De- improper burien
20 mpCse upon the President rf tAC United States
We have also doubted che wisdom. in tha face OF
the Commissioner # the District ~ Columbia fHr
they Would az once have pTecpirarri upon tH5n an
the facfiGnal strife and iucai political uUUlIc-s
that have heretofore been -1 detrimental fa school
interests. Then, 600, a. with ths President tlsg
are not IN that c.0Se tuHch and contact Hltl The
educators of the country o. D. most able 90 choose
wisely.
Power 10 Commissioners.
Your committee has therefore believed that jhc
appointment n this director should ta PLACED IN
the hands of the Commissioner of Education q the
United States. a man entirely ogtsde of and iu
no wise smcn8ble t0 any ot the local conditions 7r
traditions. and a man who must always br yeU
eminent in school work and acquainted with all the
best school men throughout the country. Yogr com
mittee therefore favor placing the appointment IN
bis hands
At the time Of the passage ri The school law. in
1895 there was considerable question 60 the al
visibility of continuing the supervising principals.
of which there are thirteen DE- the District oj Co
umbia.
Wise 10 Abolish Them.
Your committee believes it wise at thiz time %
abolish the Office Of supervising principals. The
result Of this will he 10 do in a further degree
what the original bin attempted TO do-c1upe the
schools up 10 the head Of the system more directly
Al the time of the enactment of that law it was
found that the local teaching force was So far re-
moved from the head of the schools that there was
much lost motion between the management Of the
schools aud the teaching force The law If 1876
eliminated some q these toggle joints 90 speak
The abolisment Of the thirteen supervising prin-
cipals still further tigitens mp the system and
brings the principal Of the grade schools directly
up % the director of education. The original bill
brought the high schools into this relation by put
ting the principal Of such sCh0O, IN entire control
Il his school, both executive and educational, sub
iect ONLY 10 the sgusriufendent Of schools.
One Man Is Better.
Your committee believes that it would be better
to impose the responsibility Of the entire educa-
tional end Of the school work Of the District Of Co
lumbia in a single persona professional educator
and to give him entire authority and hold him en-
tirely responsible.
The bill provides that the directo, Of education
shall be given seven assistant drector two Of whom
shall be col0Ted. Il is believed that with proper
care in the appointment Of these assistants very
effective organization Of the school system can be
affected One perhaps, be appointed because
Of his particular merits as a business organizer
Heretofore there has been much complaint Of lack
in the business end Of the school msaagement This
hill in wise affects the teaching frce. and in no
wise Affects the requirements Of examination for
employment promotion and in 10 wise affects
the salary schedules which have heretofore been
adopted for the teaching force
Would Drop Investigation.
In addition TO the explanation in the re-
port of the failure of the committee TO
conduct the investigation direded by Sen
ator SCOtt's resolution, which the Senate
adopted before the holiday recess, the
committee authorized Senator Carter to
prepare and offer a resolution asking that
the committee be relieved from the drec-
ton imposed upon it in regard TO the in
quiry, setting forth as a reason for this
course the statement that airy reOpening
of the troubles in which the present sys-
tenn has become involved wOsld only per-
petuate the deplorable conditions which
led to the passage of the resolution order
ing the investigation.