The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-01-02

/ thus selected could undertake an In
! telIigent and far-reaching educational
| policy, and carry It out, unhampere6
/ by petty political considerations.
'If the selection were made the
| duty of the state board, with that duty
! should 60 the same freedom, that the
state board of control enjoys in the
selection of the president of the state
university-the freedom to procure the
best man obtainable, wherever he may
be found.
| County Supervision.
| "a third reform which must be
wrought, if We are to, be considered
amongst the educationadly progressive
states. is in the county supervision oil
schools. It is important to have a
properly constituted state board Of ed
ucatfon, and it is important to have
the Office of state superintendent freed
from political pressure, but it is more
important still to demand that the SUI
pervision OF schools within the county
shall be made more efficient.
The present fneffieiency, take 1t.
needs no demonstration. 1t is due to
three main causes: first, the superin-
| tendents in ten or twelve of the more
pcpulous counties of the state are ex-
pected to accomplish more than they
can well do; second, in many of the
counties the superintendent are paid
ridiculOusly low salaries; and third.
the office is often filled by men who
have no professional qualifications
whatever for the position.
Let US look at these causes some
what In detail.
Where the Fault Lies.
"AlachUQ, the first In an alphabetical
list of the counties, and representative
Of the ten or twelve more populous
counties, had, in round numbers, ac-
cording to the state census of 1905, a
population of 81, 600. The county own
ed, in the year 1905-0e, school prop
erty to the value of nearly sos, 900.
expended more than 100000 on its
public schools, and employed a total
OF 1875 teachers In its 10S schools
scattered over an area of some 1900
square miles. The duties of the super
intendent In Alachua county. as in all
of the counties of the state, as defined
by law, are to make a timely inspec-
ton Of the county 30 ascertain the 10
cation In which schools should be es-
tablished, the number Of youth who
would attend each, and the amount of
aid the citizens Of the peighborhood
would contribute to encourage the es-
Enlistment Of a school: to visit each
school at least once during the school
term, and to make a thorough exami-
nation of the conditions as respect the
progress of the pupils In learning, the
keeping of the school records. the
character and condition OF the school
buildings, furniture, etc.; to do all in
his power to arouse educational inter
ests among the citizens of the county.
and to serve as secretary and agent
OF the county board.
TN short, the superintendent IS ex-
pected to serve cs the chief admins
trative school officer OF the county,
and as professional supervisor at the
same time. The result is that the ad-
ministrative duties, being necessary
to the very existence of the schools.
are attended to. and the professional
duties are consequently neglected. The
superintendent of Alachua county. for
instance, reported for the year 1905-o6
a total Of 81 visits to the schools of
the county. Twenty-one visits to 1881
schoolsi
There were nineteen other coun-
ties in the state In which the num-
Der OF visits by the superintendent
did not equal the number OF schools.
These counties had 1.11S schools. and
reported S68 visits, leaving 800
schools in the state not visited by
superintsndents in the year 19O5-'O6. |
1t is not improbable that some of
these schools have not been visited |
in years by any school officer.
I'm not more than six or seven of /
these counties, however, could it be /
fairly maintained that the lack of /
supervision was In any way con- /
\ CO
tive work, for in some of them the
number OF schools did not exceed /
twenty-five We must therefore look |
for some other explanation. and this /
brings us to the second cause of in /
efficiency of school supervision in this
state, namely, the poor salaries paid +
superintendents in some OF the
counties.
Poor Salaries.
THE superintendent of Calhoun.
visiting % out OF the 50 schools of /
that county In the year 1905-'06, re-
ceived for his years service the mu-
niflcent sum OF 1920. The superin-
tendent of Lafayette county, visiting
40 out of the 43 schools in the coun- I
ty, received S525. The superintend-
snts OF Hamilton, Holmes. Osceola, ST.
Lucie and Washington, receiving only
5000 year, found 1t impossible to
visit all the schools. An act passed
oy the legislature in 1907 regulating
he salaries of superintendent az
lords some relief, but the pay Is still
too low IN the less populous coun-
les.
an majority of these counties. not
/ cent was allowed for the travelling
expenses Of the superintendent. and
ret in all of them it is necessary for
him to travel by private Conveyance
rom school to school. not infrsquent-
y days journey between schools.
L do not wish TO give the impress
hon that poor pay is the only factor
into the inadequate super
Tisfon in some OF the counties, but I
10 wish TO emphasize the fact that 1t
S a factor, in some counties, and
hat so long as it is, we cannot ex-
'ect any great improvement in those
The Chief Cause.