Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1910-01-20
FEW COMPLETE COURSE OF STUDY
TContinued from page !

j per cent less than the second year, and
! the fourth year about 20 per cent less
than the third year Out of every FIVE
pupils that entered the freshman class,
two enrolled in the fourth year class,
and about one out of every three of the
original number got diploma, and one
out of every three of these graduates
! was boy The total number of girls
exceeded the total number of boys by
one hundred. What had become of the
hundred boys to correspond with the
enrolment of girls? What was it they
preferred to the high school and why?
One is reminded of George Eliot's Rev
erend Amos Barton, of weom she said,
His plans, like his sermons, were adj
mirably well conceived, had the state
of the case been otherwise. =
What is the trouble? The first and
main difficulty is that the schools have
their attention and efforts focused on
college entrance requirements instead
of education. This is often not SO
much their fault as their misfortune.
1t is dangerous for any man to move
off in an independent way. Real free
dom is the first consideration. The
state university seems to realize that
the present situation cannot endure
much longer and is now proposing a
sort of compromise in the form of
board to be made up of men who will
represent the warning interests. Z
The university is to be represented by
the president of that institution, the
normal school interests by normal
president, the high schools by high
school principal or superintendent, the
state department by the state superin-
tendent, and possibly fifth to repre-
sent some other interest.
Think of It'll Wouldn't this be
splendid way to get real freedom in the
high schools! When the people of
city want a change in the course of
study they can send delegation up to
Madison to appear before this board, if
it happens to be in session, and argue
their case The representatives of the
various interests" would then debate
the question among themselves and
finally, if consistent with the various
interests and they could agree, permits
sion to change would be granted. But
if the board could not agree, things
would remain as they were. In a near
by state such board was called into
existence, and the last / heard was
that the members were in row with
the state officers about their large ex
pense accounts, and that they have got
the state legislature to write their
course of study into the laws of the
state. Rest assured it fits the univer-
sity. This illustrates the tendency of
a board: namely, to ''settle" things
and then chock the wheels so the wag
on cannot run over the horses.
There is need of freedom which will
allow reasonable degree of fluidity so
that courses of study may flow into the
mould of the environment. On the
other hand, the state at large is deeply
concerned as to the nature and efficien-
cy of the education offered to children
in every nook and corner of the state.
Such concern is necessary for the gen
eral elfare of the people. The state
at large profits by the good health,
strength, integrity, intelligence and
good will of it's citizens. It is the be-
lief of the state superintendent that the
general interests have suffered in the
past by too exclusive bias on the part
Of high schools in the direction of fitting
for the university, and this is the rea-
son why the superintendent has in the
past few years, with increasing strenu
osity, insisted that the grip of the uni
versity shall be broken. 1t is not for
the good of the university itself that
the present order of things should con-
tinue. We have, it is true, by contin
ual vigilance and efforts secured more
liberty here than exists in many other
states, but we are still cramped and
will always be SO long as schools must
apply TO the univertity for permission
to take advantage of the higher educa-
ton so freely offered to those who have
fitted themselves to profit by it. The
state university can safely take any
student who has spent his time profit
ably for four years in a high school,
and it should do it and that, too, with
out making wry faces. There are be-
ginning courses in almost every mag
Unable subject so that the fitting-in pro-
cess is simplicity in itself. The only
real concern is the students maturity
of mind, his moral character and hab-
its of study If students prove incom-
petent. as many always have and al
ways will, the university knows how to
deal with them. C. P. CARY,
State Superintendent.