Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-16

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Carolina University, is publishing a
series of articles on "Our Common
Schools" and the reader of these ar
ticles is likely to be impressed with
the fact that they reflect the expert
ence of a lifetime of practical work
in the field of which they are a re-
view. Every school, Of course, has its
troubles, and Prof. Hand is trying to
discuss all of these troubles as far
as practicable. The sixth article, on
the subject of Changing Teachers"
is reproduced in another column and
every reader of the article who is at
all familiar with the matter Is bound
to admit that Mr.. Hand knows what
he Is talking about. AS we catch the
drift of the various articles we have
read, we gather that reduced down to
the last analysis Of the problem, Prof.
Hand is inclined to place the respon-
sibility for inefficient and unsatisfac-
tory schools on the communities In
which they are located, and in this he
is undoubtedly correct. 1t is pretty
sound aphorism that no community Is
likely to have a better school than 1t
deserves, and the community that
fails to show a lively interest In its
school cannot reasonably expect to
have a good one. All that Prof Hand
says about changing superintendent
and teachers is true; but the respon-
sibility of the community begins with
the selection of trustees, especially
where trustees are elective. A COM
munity that will not give attention to
the duty of making fit selections as
trustees is not deserving of a good
school and will not get it. A good
school means first-able, earnest,
competent teachers, selected solely
with a view of doing the work to be
properly required Of them. The work
that Is to be properly required OF
them Is the careful, correct and eX-
act moral and intellectual training OF
the pupils under their charge. This
work can only be done by thoroughly
efficient teachers under Thoroughly
efficient superintendent. Without a
thoroughly efficient perintendent,
the efficiency of the teachers Is at
discount, and without thoroughly ef-
ficient teachers the services Of a thor
oughly reliable superintendent are
without value. For lack Of efficiency
on the part Of either superintendent
or teachers, the children pay the pen
atty in misshapen and misguided fu-
ture lives. Of course Prof. Hand
would not prohibit the changing OF
superintendents or teachers. He
makes it clear that there are innu-
merable superintendent and teachers
who ought not to be selected in the
first place, and who ought to be
changed as soon as their characters
tics and lack of qualifications are
made obvious. But all these things
carry the matter back to the trustees
and from the trustees back to the
source of their commissions. Unfit
teachers, however, are no more COM
mon than unfit trustees by whom they
are chosen, and no community mas a
right to complain Of unfit trustees
because for an unfit trustee-certain-
ly after the expiration Of term-the
community itself is responsible. Mr..
Hand mentions one town, for instance,
that has changed superintendent six
times in eight years. 1t is hardly rea-
sonable to suppose that this town has
been unable to find one thoroughly
efficient and high-toned superintend-
ent out of six, and there must have
been some other reason for all of
these quick changes than the fault of
the superintendents We would be
very much interested if this able and
observant writer could give us COM
plete history of each, for if he could,
we have an idea that it would dis
close the "nigger in the woodpile" so
clearly that the community referred
to would be worked up to a full sense
of it's duty and responsibility, es-
pecially in the selection of trustees.