Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-04-09
County superintendent to Dis
cuss Important Questions
Next Week
WOULD ELIMINATE DISTRICTS
Many Favor the County as Unit Of
Control = Free High School Educa
ton for Rural Pupils - Change in
Institutes Suggested = Des Moines'
Trouble With Commission Plan.

optGldI 10 IlIneS-ReDuDlcdn. n.
Des Moines, April 9--Radical de-
partures in the school law will be dis
cussed at the meeting of the count.
| superintendents of Iowa when they
meet in Des Moines next Tuesday and
Wednesday. Changing from the dis
trict to the county system of school
organization; free high school educa- :
ton for the rural pupils; abolishng
the normal institute and establishing
in its place a short institute during
the school year with compulsory at
tendance by teachers with full pay:
the term of the county superintendent
begin and end with the school year.
+, These are only some of the subjects
that will be taken up.
The meeting Of the county supern-
| tendents of the state is called by
State Superintendent John F. Riggs
/ under the provisions of section 1922
I of the code. Heretofore it has been
| the custom to call such gatherings in
different parts of the state, calling
! three or four such meetings. To vary
the matter in the hope that still great
er good would be accomplished. it was
| decided this year to bring all the SUI
perintendents together in one meeting
at the state house in the house cham
| ber
| The sessions will begin Tuesday
morning at 10 O'Clock. and the after
noon session will be held at 2. There
will be dinner at $50 that night at
the Slavery. Sessions Wednesday will
be held at $3.50 a. m and 80 p M.
! Tuesday discussions will be largely on
the institute and how to make it more
useful, the rules governing examina
tions. school officers reports, and
methods of arousing public sentiment
on the matter of making the school
houses and yards more attractive and
more sanitary.
Wednesdays sessions will be devot
ed entirely to discussion of proposed
changes in the school laws. 1t is to be
an open and free discussion, getting at
the root of the matter in relation to
the school laws of the state The or
ganization of the county superintend-
ents is without authority, and the
meetings. are held solely for the pur-
pose of bringing the superintendents
together to compare notes and profit
by the discussion. 1t is quite possible,
however. that the meeting may adopt
resolutions favoring certain changes.
Inasmuch as the school revision COM
mission is now engaged in it's work of
Snhnn1 Ia Tho
tions of the county superintendent
may have weight in that direction.
Some of the radical topics that will
be discussed are: Give county super
intendents power and authority to
condemn unfit school buildings: make
the appointment of truant officers
compulsory in all school corpora
tions: discontinuing the issuance of
low grade certificates; denying dis
trict the right to maintain school
with less than ten pupils, and requir-
ing transportation when necessary;
give every child the advantage of at
tendance on the nearest school of the
grade to which he belongs, free and
without controversy.
Citizens of Des Moines are watching
each step OF the new commissioners
under the new form Of municipal gov
ernment. They are comparing what
has happened since the commissioners
went in with what they thought would
happen before they voted for the
adoption of the plan. 1t is of course
too early to form a conclusion as to
the comparison of the advantages and
of the two systems of
government. but the commission has
already gone far enough to make some
things plain.
One of these is that the new COM
missioners are men Of no higher stand
ing mentally and educationally than
the old city councils of aldermen. 1t
was variously argued during the cam
paign for the plan that by paying the
commissioners $4,000 a year when an
alderman gets $3.50 and because too of
the more business-like methods of the |
instead of a city council
men of higher standing in business
ability would be attracted. The new
commission is elected and no one can
see the difference. John MacVicar is !
recognized as an able man but he |
was mayor two or three times under |
the old plan.
Another thing which persuaded many |
people to vote for the plan was the |
hope that the results would be to get |
the control of the city government |
away from the public service corpora
tions ef the city. In this they We're |
There is no doubt but a
majority of the commission believes
in controlling the corporations and all |
Of the commission are above being
bribed.
1t was hoped and anticipated by some
that the new commission would put
things on as high plane as the state
board of control in the matter of
selecting employees and would select
purely on merit and disregard all poll
tics. In this the people have been