The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-10-16


"Merest bagatelle hardly worth
mentioning" That is a matter OF
taste
The private schools where par
ents pay--not the public schools
are now preparing our boys and girls
for college," In 1911 the public
high school graduated $4,000 who
were prepared for college, and the
private schools 5000 Really there
seem to be a few parents who are
not supporting private schools in the
preparation of children for college.
So long as the public schools provide
free for six times as many as go to
private schools for college prepara-
tion, there is no cause for alarm.
There are 1873 private high
schools in the United States, and 1O,-
PA public high schools. Quite
gap to close up.
1t is interesting to know that in
the last three years there have been
more public high schools established
than there are private high schools
all put together.
In the public hngh schools ninety
six per cent. of the students are TAX
ing high school studies, and in the
private high schools only sixty-isx
schools are not confining themselves
to preparation for college.
Until about thirty years ago there
were several times as many private
high schools fitting for first class
colleges as there were public high
schools. Now there are five times as
many public high schools as private
schools fitting for college. Not a
momentous landslide to private fit
ting schools.
With few unimportant excep-
tions the public high schools never
fitted for frst-class college until
recently. The momentous bugaboo
that the public high schools have
been fitting for college in all the
years is merely the nightmare OF
some deluded souls.
Here is another brilliant dash of
braininess: Only five of every hun
dred pupils in the public schools go
to college," 1t has been said already
that only seven out of every hun
dred pupils in public school ever
reach the high school,; that is to
say-"five out of every seven in the
high school go to college" That is
to say, only seven per cent. ever get
to the high school, and seventy per
cent. of all who ever enter the high
school go to college. How well in
formed the Ladies Home Journal
must be as to the conditions in the
public high school to say that seven
ty per cent. of all its students go to
college!
In another connection it says there
are 100000 in the high schools and
$4,000 in college therefore 100000
must be seventy per cent. of 1,00O,-
600. There must be danger of nerv-
GUS prostration after such a brain
storm as that represents.
We could go on almost indefinite
ly with these exposures, but these
will suffice for the present, and we
will try to explain in detail the ex-
tent of the stupidity.
1t is humiliating that it is neces-
sary to treat persons of mature age
as though they were in the kinder
garten. If intelligent people think
we waste precious time and space on
what is entirely obvious to ordinarily
intelligent persons, we answer that
there seems to be no other way to
enlighten some people.
II boy entered the first grade in
1900 and graduated from the high
school in 1912, what percentage OF
the boy graduated? The Ladies
Home Journal for August would say
that only twelfth of the boy gradu-
ated, because he counts as twelve
boys in twelve years, so only one
twelfth of him is graduated.
Do you say that would be idiotic?
Surely. That's what we say.
But to make the idiocy clearer:
If school system had been started
in 1900 with one hundred pupils,
and if the one hundred remained in
the system and were all promoted
regularly, graduating in 1912, what
percentage would graduate?
One hundred per cent. of course
What would you say if anyone
contended that only eight and one
third per cent. graduated? "All
sorts of a fool!" Surely, and that is
what we are demonstrating.
Does it make any difference to
those one hundred who stay in
school twelve years and graduate
one hundred per cent. of their class
how many other students come and
go IN the other years?
Let us make it simpler still. Let
us assume that twelve enter each
year for twelve years, beginning in
twelve in the class entering in 1900,
and they would graduate in 1912,
but in 1901 there would be twenty
four pupils in school, in 1902 there
would be thirty-six, and so on until
1912, when there would be 144 of
whom the original twelve graduate.
What per cent. graduate? One
hundred per cent. of course. What
have the other 1872 to do with the
per cent. who graduate? Nothing of
course.
Now what would you say of the
momentous intelligence of anyone
who should persist in saying that
only eight and one-third per cent.
graduate because the twelve who
graduate are only eight and one
third per cent. of those who have
entered in the whole twelve years?
What would you think of anyone
who should say that the 144 students
who have had all the way from one