Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-13
Selection Of Stuart's Success
sor to Cause Deep Study.
INTEREST is WIDESPREAD
superintendent May Get Another
Post in System.
TO SETTLE QUESTION SOON.
School Directors Will Face Vexa-
tious Problems of Administra-
ton and Finance.

Who shall be superintendent of schools
Is still q question with the board Of
education. and one which will not be
settled without deep study and some dis
cussion. 1t Is settled, almost beyond
recall. thata Supt. A. T. Stuart will be
retained as an official in the school
system. That is the one thing that the
members of the board are agreed upon.
Whether or not there will be a change
in the Office Of superintendent is the ques-
ton that is to be settled. and that will
be discussed Informally, by a portion of
the board at least, within q few days.
Now that w. v. Cox, president of the
board, has returned from business trip
to New York, the matter will be taken
up very soon.
Mr.. Stuart is SO popular with a ma
jority of the teachers that his cordial
relations with them amount to one of his
biggest assets and one Of the strongest
features Of his administration. Especially
is this true in the graded schools and
in the normal schools. Talks with several
teachers who have been active and
prominent in school work for years past
indicate that should the matter be left
to the rank and file Of graded school
teachers there would be no change.
Long Service In Schools.
One reason for this is that Mr.. Stuart s
longest service was directly in connec-
ton with the graded schools. AS a SUI
pervisor of a division and as superin-
tendent Of intermediate instruction he
came in almost daily contact with all the
grades. With the high school teachers
there Is not SO strong feeling. as many
Of these instructors are not SO purely
Washingtonian as are the graded school
The end Of Mt. Stuarts present term
will come at q time when several I'M
portant educational questions are to be
placed before the board. Exactly what
sort of trouble the reduced estimates for
the schools will make for the superin-
tendent is merely a conjecture. However,
1t was stated yesterday by one OF She
members Of the board that the Commas
sioners had pared the estimates to great
extent. 1t Is safe to say that Il the num-
Der of new teachers has been cut down
in the same way that these appointments
were cut for the present year any SUI
perintendent, old or new, will have some
thing Of a problem to work out in that
matter alone.
startling example of what the small
number of appointments has resulted in
is shown by the fact that teacher In
one of the latest schools to be opened
IldS H1Iy-OuS pupiSs 0UOut l"Chly -Oho
more than the average Her pupils con-
stitute the four sections of first q ade
and a second grade. No one in the
schools has been able to solve the ques-
ton of how to keep pace with the normal
or 8 per cent increase In pupils each
year with only per cent increase in
teachers.
May Cause Division.
Another matter which is destined to
cause discussion. at least, is the growing
sentiment on the part Of some Of the
board members that new blood might
be diffused into the school system with
benefit. One of the principles on which
part Of the board works is that the
graduates of the high and normal schools
ought to be given preference in the ap-
pointments to teachers places. Opposing
this is the idea that the best person
to be found anywhere in the United
States ought to be given preference. Just
what q new superintendent would think
Of this is of course only guess.
1t is claimed by the upholders of the
first proposition that Washington school
salaries are not SUFFICIENT to tempt the
stars Of other cities and that throwing
the gates open and inviting and favoring
outsiders would result in getting inferior
talent rather than superior.