The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-03-31
CONCERNING FAlS
H. AND THINGS

poses to save money Tor teachers sal
aries and other desirable purposes by
getting rid of the "fads and the school
inspectors
Get rid of "fads;' certainly by all
means. But just what are and what
are not fads? All, there's the rub. If
twenty persons were asked to make
lists of what they regarded as fads in
any one walk of life, say the educa-
tional, It is pretty certain that no two
lists would agree. Principles and po-
licies that appear to some as of the
utmost Importance and value would be
rated by others as fantastic and vision
airy nonsense. So we go.
But when we come down to the mat
ter of school inspectors and their use
fulness we are in the presence of some
thing definite and concrete, something
that can be reasoned about and upon
which those who consider the facts
may hope to arrive az practically una
nimous conclusions.
The proposition advanced by the
Honorable gentleman amounts practi
cally to this: that the hundred and
fifty odd public schools in this Terri
tory, employing nearly five hundred
teachers, need no systematic expert
supervision. 1t would seem as if the
mere statement of the case in this
form ought to carry its own refutation.
In every line of official work, in every
field of human organization and labor,
whether governmental or otherwise,
systematic supervision by duly quail
fed persons is considered essential
There are superintendent and inspec-
tors of banks, of insurance companies,
of railroads and other large interests,
and the necessity for such will be dis
puted by no one. In military affairs
there are inspectors general. Division
and brigade inspectors, and so on. The
auditor of this Territory or his deputy
goes about from one public office to
another, overhauling the accounts OF
the disbursing officers and calling at
tention to anything that may be'out Of
the way. The propriety, not to say
the necessity, of such supervision is
apparent on the face of it, and l think
no sane person of average intelligence
will attempt to deny it, at least as 2
general proposition
But the case is stronger and the
need of supervision greater when con-
siderable numbers of officials or en-
ployees are scattered about in many,
and often isolated places, distant from
each other and from the central au-
thority as well.
Our public schools are case in
point. | believe the school department
best teachers it can get for the salaries
it is able to pay, but the fact remains
that we have a considerable number
of teachers who cannot by any exercise
of charity be classed as experts. espe-
cially in the smaller and more out of
the way schools. In many cases their
training has been scanty, their expert
ence very limited, and their domestic
and social environment by no means
ideal. For the officials of the central
office to look after these teachers and
their work as they ought to be looked
after is physical impossibility; there
has got to be some kind of regular and
not infrequent visitation and supervi-
sion or the quality of the work done
will, in some cases at least, fall off and
the interests of the children, and of
the community as well, suffer accord
ingly.
To the late Alatau T. Atkinson this
community is under great obligations
| am afraid that his services in the
cause of education are not always ap-
preciated as they ought to be, but he
never rendered a more important SER
vice than when he introduced into our
public schools an efficient system of
supervision and inspection. The old
plan Of having one inspector general to
cover the whole country had been out
grown and no longer served its in
tended purpose. Mr.. Atkinson had the
intelligence and the moral courage to
face the situation squarely and solve
the problem. For those who know
nothing of the details of administration
involved it may not be amiss to eX-
plain briefly.
There are three inspectors; one for
Hawaii; one for Maui and Molokai and
one for Oahu aud Kauai. The Inspec-
tors at the present time are all teach
ers of long experience and proved abil-
ity. They go to and fro throughout
their respective districts as the eXigen-
cies Of the service may require, and
make frequent if not daily reports on
carefully prepared blanks. 1t should
be understood that these officials are
more than inspectors; they act as nor