Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1909-02-10
County School Supervisior HIe'
cussed by DIR. Benny

DR.. Bruce T.. Payne If the Uni
vsrslty of Virginia, chairman OF
the Press Committee of the Wiz
ginia Cooperative Education AS
ISOLATION, has furnished the press
of the State with copies of the nd
dress on "County School Superb
sion" delivered by DR.. George ID.
Denny at the recent Educational
Conference held at Newport News.
DR.. PAYNE Gays: "To my mind II
il one of the most valuable and
important educational rtte'ances
delivered to the citizens OF VIZ
ginia in the recent educational re-
vival.'
Following are some paragraphs
from DR.. Denny's address:
During our celebrated "May
Campaign" one of TIE epigrams In
vogue was this: can army OF
stage led by lion will accomp
ish more than an army OF hone
led by stag" That is doubtless
true; but 1t 10 also true that no
army of sane lions will consent 20
the indefinite leadership OF stag
When we seek to prosecute an
important suit at law, or to dag
nose and correct some serious dis
ease of the body, our first step ls
to employ an expert lawyer or an
expert physician. 1t never occurs
to us to employ mere tyro whose
chief qualification is that he de-
sires to ecrn a fee. We are quick
to recognize the vital necessity
and the ultimate economy o. pro-
ceeding here also upon a scientific
business basis. Then let US answer
candididly this question Can we at
ford to put "a smaller value upon ex'
pert supervisory service in our
biggest work, thsn OF fashioning
human character and human des-
tiny. than we are willing to put
upon the supervision Of our build
inps and our railroads, OF our
farms and our factories, OF oui
legal litigation and our medical
.probleme2 II it lie wise and econ
oulcal to provide expert supervl
sion in constructing d bridge or
roadway to be troddsn by the feet
of men, why is it not also wise sno
economical to provide expert gu
pervision in constructing the in
telIectual and moral fabric OF oul
future citizenship and civilization
II what has now been said IN
this general way is correct, certain
, definite conclusions logically fol-
} low:
~ 1t follows that the appoint
ment of echool superintendent
should hencefortb be limited t
persons having positive and de
fined qualifications.
~ This proposition, negative
1 " stated, involves the policy o.
= refusing to appoint any person tt
this office who does not posses
/ these positive and defined qualifi
> cations.
(a) First, l submit that Their
should be a definite educationa
= and professional requirement
Without this there can be no ex
pert supervision. l submit that
iust az we are accustomed to limi
our choice, in selecting a judge, t
}, men bers of the bar, 30 we mus
!. also agree to limit our CHOICE, Ii
o selecting a school superintendent
to members of the teaching pro
I fession. School supervision, if
II is to mean anything at all, mus
e mean that we shall bring tn
knowledge, the experience and th
spirit of q irst-class teacher I
the daily life of the school. 1t
e not the work of a layman any NOR
g than is the making OF brief to b
: submitted to an appellate court.
A lawyer.superintendent O
! schools is about as likely to b
e effective IN that position IS
}. school teacher without legal train
e ing would be in defending at tn
|. bar of justice the interests OF
II client whose cause is intricate an
n complicated. Only the man VII
has himself besn a teacher 10 ads
e quately qualified to do the wor
" involved is supervising the schools
y (b) Again. / submit, az an
e other fundamental requirement
that the school superintendent
10 should devote his entire time an
energy to the upbuilding OF tn
al schools. submit that this grsa
office is not, ana ought not to
u considered, a "side show" pei
r Torrance. Paul was a philosopht
3, when he said. "This one thing
r do" The great enterprises of tn
world not only require specialize
D. ton concerning which ] Rave bee
b speaking. They also require col
centration, concerning which
Y now desire to speak. If you fo'
It get everything else that l am Try
't ing to say, beg that you Will
least remem Der that my main col
tention is that expert supervisic
requires specialization on the OF
,e hand, and concentration on IL
y other. Here il the foundatlo
- ~ hlllln t1tnl