The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-12
,gether as natural allies in common

together as natural allies in common cause.
 Too Frequently Superficial
 '3 Another criticism of public educa- ton, as applied to the high schools and
 the common schools, is that the work Is too frequently superficial, certainly as old fashioned private schools. It is
 charged that the programme of studies is already overcrowded. and that year by year it Is being heightened at the demand of some educational demagogue who has quit work, let his hair grow long and invented some new educational fad. It Is charged that quantity, and not quail ity, is the goal; that there is too much soapsuds and too little clothes washed that our school men follow every wind of opnion;' that there is too little real discipline and exactitude of thinking too little real culture and training In the august serenity of ideas and ideals. These criticisms, while they have never been in any large degree justified by the facts, have nevertheless served the great pur- pose of putting on their metal the men and the women who are responsible for the sanity and the integrity of the sys- tenn. Few, If any, reasonable men any longer question either the purpose or the capacity of the present day leaders in the educational world to fashion the curri- culum of the public schools along lines that will guarantee the proper exercise of mental gymnastics on the one hand, and the acquisition of useful knowledge adapted to the practical needs of tho in- dividual student on the other hand.
 Neglect of Individual
 A. Another criticism of public educa- ton, as applied to the common schools, and in some degree to the high schools, is that the individual is too fre- auently neglected; that the work | done is oftentimes too mechan- that at times there is an absence of the feeling of direct responsibility of teacher to parent and to pupil such as is sup posed to characterize the work of the pri- vate school There are. of course, two sides to this proposition. There Is un- doubtedly some advantage in a position of independence in dealing with the in- dividual student; but it is an advantage that cannot be pushed too far. It is a dangerous policy to neglect the individual
 and to play to the mass As a matter of fact. the mass is only an aggregate of individuals. The public school supported by taxation should never fail to keep ir touch with the individual unit I know that the private school. drawing its rev
 enue from tuition fees, has the tempta. ton. and frequently is unable to resist the temptation. of yielding overmuch tc the individual, the source of it's revenue
 Just few weeks ago several young men
 who had previously attended a private high school for five or six years. applied for admission to the University of Ala. | bama. They found that they could mus l ter an average of only 10 Carnegie units for the work done in all these years. The, |, k- 1 lower to the higher classes without pass | ing the examinations. There was in that school no automatic rule to eliminate l the triflers. I recall that one of these young men, failing to present the re. | quired units, found to his joy that he hat
 been permitted to remain in the school, ir spite of his delinquencies, until he flat grown old enough to enter college as 6 l special The temptation of the private
 school is to sacrifice the mass to the
 weakness of the individual. or rather tt
 the strength of the bank account of ths l father of the individual A gentleman
 recently told me that his son. young
 man of more than average intelligence had last year devoted an entire session 1 five periods per week. to the study of onl,
 two books of plain geometry The prin cipal of that school certainly had ample plans for that boy. On the other hand the temptation of the public school is
 as already indicated, to sacrifice the indi
 vidual to the mass. The remedy in eithel
 case is the right kind of teacher I was Cardinal Newman who said Have university in shanties. nay in tents: bu have great teachers in it. The sam, thing ought to be true in the case of tn, high school and the common school I'm teacher is the key to the problem O reaching the individual. The schoo
 building and equipment are merely thu
 body The teacher Is the soul. Shal 1 teaching in Alabama be made profession 1 or a makeshift? X life work or mer, stepping stone to something else? ] l fortress for the Attest or an asylum fo
 those who are not equipped for the oti,e
 professions and who shrink from othe
 work? Is 1t true that the great mass O