Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-06-28
NO SCHOOL IN STATE
With All MALE FORCE
In Which Girls and Boys
Are Taught Together.
Prof. Otis Ashmore,
Supt. of Savannah
Public Schools and
President of Georgia
School Teachers AS
cociation. Tells Why
Women Should Teach
Girls in High Schools.

women OnOulQ 4 cdCn
Girls in High Schools,
q do not know of a single higl
school in Georgia, in fact anywhere
where boys and girls are educated to
gether where the teaching force i.
made up entirely of men.
This was the statement of supt
Otis Ashmore, of the Savannah public
schools.
Mr.. Ashmore is president of tht
Georgia State Teachers Association
and man of high prominence in tn,
Southern educational world
"T,nre are several reasons wAy
should not deem it a wise policy t.
seek to establish an entire male facuI-
ty in high school where boys aaJ
girls are educated together, 'contin-
ued Mr.. Ashmore.
The first reason is a financial one
Willie men, as I know, make our bas
teachers when they are high gragq
men, it is true that When salaries arg
small it is generally the case tha
more competent women teachers car
be secured tran men, An experienced
high grade woman teacher, for in
tance, may be secured for SIS
month where a male teacher of similag
experience and ability could not bs
secured for that compensation.
Where only what may be termed
small salaries are available it is mucr
more difficult to keep competent men
than t is to keep competent women
in Tie service Of the school. There
are greater opportunities open for the
men outside the school service, and
the opportunities for better engage
ments in an educational way are more
numerous for them than for women.
For this reason it is frequently bet
ter to secure competent women and
permanently attach them to the school
system
But beyond these economic reasons
there is the greater and grayer reason
the sent ment that generally prevails
that in a school where the larger num-
Der of pupils are girls just verging ou
to womanhood that there Should De
some-any many insist a majority
of women as teachers. Personally, if I
were charged with the duty of secur-
ing faculty for a high school Of
gir,s and boys, I believe I should sees
to make at least Laif of it cultured
women of fine moral character and
of known exper ence as educators.
While it is not we'll to accenmatc
sexual differences too greatly in
school matters, at the same time the.
cannot be ignored or entirely thrust
aside The radical physical and tenn
peramental differences between girls
and boys of the ages that make up
the high school classes, seem to JUS
fy the public impression that it is
better not to have an all-male facul-
ty In the larger cities of the land the
boys and girls are frequently educat-
ed together in the lower grades and
educated separately in the higher
grades. All Of the large cities prob
ably have boys high schools sepa.
rate and distinct from girls h Ct
schools. In the boys high schools WI
find all men teaching In the girls
high schools generally both men anr
women teach, with the women predom
| iGating.
The pecul ar physical necessities o
girls, the public sentiment that un
doubtedly believes that at this partic
ular period of life they should b.
more or less subject to feminine su
lpervision and instruction in scho3i
and the economic condit ons that sur
round the engagement of public schoo
teachers all unite in as one might al
most say an irresistible and irrefuta
ble argument in favor of tbe employ
ment Of women teachers in a nike