Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-07
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE WORK
Some Defects in American Education
Call for Remedies.
IOWA COLLEGE LOSES TEACHERS
Better Compensation Tempts Them 60
other NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Uni-
versities and Open Air Schools
Educational Notes.

President Stanley Hail Of Clark uni
versity, Worcester, Mass, delivered an adj
dress on Defects OF American Education"
before the Century club in Chicago, last
Thursday. The chief defects pointed out
were:
There are not enough school days in the
year.
high class and are suffering from dry
rot.
The control of American schools by APP
pointive boards means school management
by many Incompetence.
The e is too much legislation concerning
education; II 1t were all enforced 1t would
The schools are suffering from fcmi-
n~ization, with the result that the boys are
becoming 'sissif.ed."
Tuere Is too much DECENTRALIZATION in the
general management of schools.
There Is too much retardation, In that
too many children are behind grade.
Textbooks are poor and are getting
worse constantly.
Children are not taught enough good,
pure English; they are constantly tend
.ng to use Of 'slanguage" father thea
language.
something of the kind is urgently needed.
The American public school child has
not the physical stamina OF former times.
Despite his criticisms, reports the Record
Herald. President Hall was explicit in de-
claring his belief that the weak points
- ~ ~ SSNEhAi q A1 stNe NAi
will be remedied in time. He cDa. acterized
himself as an optimist concerning the
school system of the United States.
In part President Hall spoke as follows:
Our American schools keep only 191 days
out OF the year. This is all too little. So
much leisure time is unfortunate in its Ell.
tect on the child, and there Is not very
much difference between the long vacation,
and truancy on the boy or girl. Out of the
zS,Oo0,WO children between the ages of 9
nnd n ~ hi nunN 81 AAIr IL EuN ~ -
enrolled in the schools. OF those enrolled
the average attendance at school by each
child Is but 100 Gays yearly. Thus on any
given day more tnan half Of our school
population of school age is not in school.
The teaching force is so poorly paid in
America that we cannot expect to get a
very high class of men and women, taking
them as a whole
The average pay is S55 monthly for men
and $42 monthly for women. The average
length of service is less than four years.
Many of the teachers are not properly
trained and a very large proportion OF them
never go through their normal school. The
consequence Of the existing condition is
that We have a poorly trained, poorly paid,
short-serviced corps of teachers, on whom
we rely to relieve the country of ignorance.
1t has been well said that the teachers
are suffering from dry rot, inasmuch, as
they leave their souls behind when they
enter the classrooms.
The control of many American school
systems is vested In appointive boards.
Under this system the schools and teachers
Often come under the rule or inCOmpetentS.
The feminization of the schools is a
matter for contemplation. Seventy-six per
cent of the teachers in the United States
are. women. Many boys go through school
without ever coming into contact with a
male teacher. My own son, now in Har-
ward, never had a male teacher until he
went to college.
There Is a saccharine benignity as a re-
suit OF the Termination which is not desir.
able for boys. Boys should not become toe
domesticated and sissified. There is some.
thing wrong with a boy of IA of whom II
can truthfully be said that he is a perfect
gentleman. Boys need a little roughness
Children in these days are petted too much
some connection bstween the softness with
which boys are treated at school and the
outbreaks of hoodlutnism which are so fire.
quent.
Then there is the matter OF textbooks
Textbooks are not as good now as they
were ten years ago. A prominent pub
Usher tod me last summer that ii Is impos
sible to publish a firSt-class textbook to-
day. The demand is for textbooks which
are padded, which have much explanation
which are not too difficult. The moderT
two ounces of soapNnto two hogsneads o.
lather, which was the test once required
from would-be BARRIERS.
AS for E"nglish-children are learning
how to evade IL. They are allowed to fal
into what has been called s~language.
There Is no moral education In thu
schools. Surely this is a matter for though
when Juvenile crime is increasing, wher
there Is no end of murder and vice ant
graft. There will probably be a revolution
on this point of moral education.