The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1908-10-19
STATE SUPERINTENDENT
WRITES OF AMENDMENT
Fayors Adoption Of Law Requiring
County Superintendent to Have
~ Fitness for Office.

State of Minnesota-Department Of
Public Instruction Saint Paul.
r. October E, 1908.
To the Voters of Minnesota: 's.r..5
Under the constitution of Mime.
sofa, any legal voter is eligible for
any office that is elective by the peo-
pie of his county or district. This
includes the county superintendency.
In response to a growing senti-
ment in favor Of professional,
scholarly, expert supervision, the
Legislature submitted what is known
as Amendment No. 4 to the voters
of the state for their action at the
election of November, 1908. This
amendment, if carried, will authorize
the Legislature to prescribe reason
able qualifications for county super
intendents.
The county superintendents them
selves, at their midyear convention,
held on June 9, 1908, unanimously
adopted and amplifed resolution of
their special committee composed of
County Supe1intendents S. w. Gil
pin, ]. B. Arp and H. J. Bebemeyer,
which, slightly abridged, reads as
follows:
THAT we, the county superintend-
ents of Minnesota, in convention
assembled, do hereby heartily
approve of providing educational
qualifications for all candidates for
said office of county superintendent
of schools, and that we use every
fair and honorable means to secure
the adoption of said amendment;
and further, that we ask the state
department of public instruction and
Ethe newspapers of Minnesota to aid
us in getting information relative
thereto before the voters of Mime
sofa.
In all the city and graded schools
local superintendent and principals
are employed to properly plan and
supervise all their educational work,
but in rural schools the teachers are
largely law unto themselves as to
what shall be taught, and in what
manner.
At the present time no standard
of education is fixed by law for a
rural school supervisor, while that of
the city superintendency is the
highest grade of certificate granted
by the state, and for graded school
principalship, professional normal
school, is required. Think this over.
The law of Minnesota requires a
principal of a graded school-the
supervisor of at least three teachers
to have high educational qualifca-
tions before he can accept the
position, but the same laws make no
mention of any qualifications for a
person who may be elected to super
wise one hundred schools, and some
times more.
Will any intelligent citizen. think
for one minute that more education
and training is required to supervise
three teachers in one building, and
one hundred and fifty pupils, than is
required to supervise two hundred
and three thousand pupils scattered
over an entire county? Does it not
seem ridiculous to expect teachers to
pass examinations before being per-
mitted to teach, while the supervisor
of these same teachers is allowed to
assume his duties without even
mentioning qualifications?
Cannot the people of the state
get better supervision and better
training for their children by pro-
viding educational qualifications for
their supervising officers?
we ask every citizen to give this
subject fair consideration and his
aid in securing the adoption of the
proposed amendment"
Manifestly the county superintend-
ents are right and patriotic in thus
urging that the amendment be
carried; and manifestly the legisla-
ture acted wisely in giving the
people of the state the. opportunity
of thus providing way to improve
the supervision of their schools.
Let every citizen interested in the
education of childhood for the best
and most efficient manhood and
womanhood appoint himself a com
mite bent on securing full vote for
/ AMENDMENT No. 4.