Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1908-10-15

anu VIC sCuOOl ulStTlcC. ~ All
educational system is great bust
ness. :" In every organized business
there must be machinery; that ma
chinery must be repaired, adjusted,
and articulated; and some competent
responsible person must supervise
that machinery. A successful SUPER
visor must be capable man, an ex-
perenced man, and a courageous
man. He must be reasonably we'll
paid, definitely responsible to some
body, and reasonably secure in his
position as long as he is efficient.
What OF the supervision of our edu-
cational system7 What do we cx-
pect, and what have .? a right 10
expect
What does the fundamental law of
the State require in the office of the
State Superintendent 2 Does it re-
qmre that he shall be an educated
man, or man of experience in school
af1alrs, or man who knows anything
OF teaching and of teachers, or a man
himself qualified to teach7 He is ex-
pected to direct the educational pol
ley of State, and to maintain a sys-
tenn of school for over three hundred
thousand children. What salary is
offered to a man big enough to fill
this position3 Nineteen hundred dol
lars year. How does this rank with
the salary offered man big enough
to run one cotton mill? How does
he get the position. and on what does
the security of it depend2 What is
lkely TO be his reward for any dis
play of courage in his office7 Every
second year he is compelled TO neglect
the duties of his office for at least
two months and TO spend at least
four hundred dollars TO get the op-
portunity to speak ten minutes i'm
each county telling the dear (indif-
ferenD people that he should be re-
elected. Under our present system
of electing the State Superintendent.
and with the two-ycar tenure of office
the entire educational policy of the
State may be reversed inside one
year. In a recent editorial The News
and Courier pertinently says, "In
late years the people have shown n
growing Improvement in their esti-
mate of the place of superintendent
of education, choosing as a rule, train
ed teachers for it, but
there is no assurance so long as the
office is filled by popular vate that
incapable men will not be elected 70
1T solely because Of their ingratiat-
ing manner, or as reward for poll
tlcal service. The
superintendent of education should
be appointed by the governor or bv
commission, after thorough investi-
CATION and the salary should be suffi.
cient TO command the services of ex-
perts, and at the same time remove
them from temptation"
A succession OF able State super
intendents could not build and main
tain system of high-class schools,
unless the county supervision be good
The wisest policies Of State super
intendent would avail but little un-
less the county superintendent were
able. willing and courageous enough
to carry these policies to success. In
the matter Of administration the
county superintendency is the key to
the situation. What do we require
Of the county superintendent, what
do we expect, what do we get, and
what do we give7 Do we require that
the county superintendent shall b.
On expert or experienced educator 2
Is he required to have any knowledge
of schools or. of teaching7 Is there
anything to prohibit an illiterate from
holding that office7 He is not re.
nuirad N ha oornotoot - +oool II
though by law he is required to give
his teachers instruction i'll the art
and methods cf teaching. Does thu
county demand that its superinten-
dent be at least the equal of the super
intendent in court house town. To be
perfectly plain and honest, have we
not had men elected and reelected
to the Office Of county superintendent
to supervise the whole county, who
could not have been elected to any DO
sition in the best schools of their
counties7 Many of them would not
essay TO teach in the best schools of
their counties. They understand full
we'll that the public does not expect
such fitness Of them. That is our
fault, not theirs. The public mind
does not think of a county superin-
tendent as a man of education, ex-
perienee, tact, and leadership in
school matters 1t thinks of him as
man who listens to neighborhood
quarrels about district lines, and
about the appointment and removal of
trustees, and who sits in his office
one day in the week to sign teachers
pay warrants.
In. speaking thus of incompetent
county superintendent, ] have no in
tention whatever of being personal.
| am happy to count among my best
friends in the State many of the
county superintendent Many of
them are competent and efficient men,
sacrificing themselves on the altar of
an unappreciative public, for their
reward is contemplate. We ask for
ty-two qualified men to direct over
$500 teachers, to act as guardians for
BIZ, 900 children, and to keep and to
disburse nearly million and a half
dollars; we offer them an average of
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