The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-12-27
DIR. sHANLEY'S LETTER
Danburian's Reply to MT. Hine Quoted Outside Of
 State
Oanbury NewsJ

The reply made a few days ago ov Rev. Walter J. Shan1ey, LI< D., Of f6fs city, to a statement contained in the annual report of Charles b. Hine, sec- retary of the Connecticut state board of education, has attracted attent5on outside of Connecticut and in reprint ing the letter in sts current fssuey America" a weekly Catho-ic Tev5ew published by Jesuit Fathers ia New York city, says:
 Charles D. Hfne, secretary Of fne board of education of Connecticut fa his report for 1911, under the head oT Present Educational Probleunsy goes out of his way to make certain zrafH7f- ous assertions refecung upon the D~fn- cip1es and educational methods of) 'monks'-his general term to describe Religious teachers in our Catholic schools. Rev. Walter J. Shanley. I1S D., well known in literary and edUea- tional circles in and out Of the state, promptly took him to task for the 9n- usual note in an official document of a state officer. Father SFan1ezss letter to the Danbury News deserves quotz- tion."
 After quoting Father shan1evss 5es- ter the writer in America" says
 Father Shanley's referencs to~ tae mayor of New York is due, We pre- sume to the sharp attack made 5y Mayor Gaynor on the public school system of this city, when, On the afseT- noon of December 6, he sWoFe fn tse eleven new members Of the board 1fI education appointed a few days before. The mayor very bIUnt1y dec sred ne | whole system, as he knew t in E@wl York, to be wrong. Children are over burdened, said he, because those 1n charge of schools and studies af- tempted too much Too many s0o- jects are crowded into the curriculum. Children have more than they can 5o. | We try to teach them too much, sndI result is, continued tf3e mayor, frat they come out with a s8peT6<fsf knowledge about lot Of things--ost with no accurate knowledge soousi anything"
 Continuing, the same writer says of an educational topic Of much tnteTezf
 This unexpected blast from fee city's executive in criticism Of fasf school methods in vogue ia New York aroused vigorous re5ofndeTs from school leaders in the city and thei merry war is still on. 4 very senss5se view of the whole situation is thas 19e forward by the Brooklyn Eagle
 '" Naturally says this journal sdi torially, the Eagle is pleased w5tal Mayor Gaynor's remarks e the Hevf members of the board Of ed1casion about the teachsng in the pu0
 schools. For years, fn season and 69s of season, the Eagle has been saysnS/ those same things, and t welcomes re- inforcement from the city hal
 Neither the Eagle Tor tre naay5rf wants to tear down the public seboo system in this town. We want t1 ge1 better work out Of ft just ss ears@stlJ as sDr. Maxwell does the only 5sTer ence being as to method, The Ea9l4 has said many times that DT. Nax1 wells ideal of opening e the eh5l6rsf of the public schools an o0tlook fat0 the whole range Of know1e1se vas beautiful and noble Ideal, the on
 question being whether it was prsesi cable, considering the Limitation o childish minds, the brief years of ssfsSe study and the conditions under WHfen most of the children work. The 0pdeT taking has had a pretty long and fasr trial. and has shown two widely elT- ferent results. Children who come frors homes fin which they can get Help about their lessons, in which their slee2 and their diet are carefully f01ks1 after, to keep them up in their sehoo work, get superb teaching from os1r public schools. The high standing of the graduates of our high schools wnsn they enter the colleges is proof Of ga fact. The other side Of the matter
 the frequent complaints Of employer that the public school boys and g1rls whom they engage cannot spell zno are not quick or accurate in the e.e mentary arithmetic on which their use fulness depends. Those are the esH- dren who, in Mayor GaynoTs w0F0s
 are showed under by the too strs3.
 ous program of the public scnooiT And those children are more par1e1
 larly the concern Of the board Of sou- cation than the others are, because
 the public schools fail to it them 70
 useful service they have no other rs course. For the children of the wsiI to-do there are private schools fn esssI the public schools fan to do their woTk we'll !"