Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-06-05
THE GOVERNOR AND THE SCHOOL REPORT

pTtScHtS 10 the average clllIeH d surprising anu
inexpicable paradox insofar as it relates to
Superintendent of Public Instruction Pope.
If results are the test of merit in administra
ton of school affairs, the governor has found
Popes administration highly meritorious, yet
his conclusions are that the superintendent of
instruction should go.
To quote from the governors report:
Notwithstanding the lack of harmony, there
has been unusual progress in educational mat,
tiers during the three years of the school admin
istration now under investigation 80. 1t il,
true that some of these features of progress have
resulted largely from natural causes or the eff
forts of others, and that as good or better re-
suits might have been accomplished by others.
1t is true also that progress is expected Of EACH
successive administration, however much may
have been accomplished by its predecessors Yet,
after making all due allowances, the fact re
mains that the superintendent and commission
ers in question have done much good work, forI
which they deserve great credit"
Discussing the report of the legislative sub
committee on education-and incidentally criti-
cising the manner in which this committeesi
probe was conducted and its findings generally
the governor says:
off successive superintendent and numefousl
commissioners and supervising principals havel
erred to the extent represented and without up-I
roar from the teachers generally, we may as well
despair of much improvement through anotherl
change in personnel"
The Star Bulletin realizes that it is unfair tol
Judge report merely on one or two paragraphs.
The point we make is that these paragraphs epit-i
omize what to the average citizen appears to bel
the spirit of the entire report, and reading of
the report will, we are confident, justify this
statement
In brief the governor finds marked progress
made in the schools, admirable business admin
istration and generally commendable condi-
ton. Giving due weight to the factional fights
that have at times stirred up the educational
system of Hawaii, the Star Bulletin is unable tOl
find in the governors report reasons sufficient
to call for the retirement of the present superin
tendent.
A close reading of the report, with an eye tol
what Governor Frear may be limiting at, bringsl
the conclusion that he has retired Mr. Pope be-
cause of the lack of harmony between factions
in the department. There will be many opinions
as to whether Mr.. Pope is primarily or greatly
responsible for this fractional feeling Certainly
the governors findings as they appear in cold
print do not rest the blame upon Pope.
AS to the clean sweep the governor has made
in the commissioners, that is a subject upon
which this paper does not like to comment be-
cause of the close relations of one commissioners
with the Star-Bulletin. 1t was apparent that
the factions which have fought in the past might
fight in the future. A clean sweep may end the
fight or it may not. We hope it will.
The governors report does not seem to this
paper to be entirely conclusive or to take the
people of Hawaii entirely into his confidence.
He has manifestly tried to avoid hurting feel
ings and it is question if he has not carried
this delicacy too far The result of his deliber-
ations is to vindicate in language the admins
tration of the department, and in action to carry
out the wishes of those who have been persist
entity, desperately and insidiously undermining
that administration and plotting its downfall.
It's an ugly mess of school politics at best.
The real test of the governors solution is yet to-
come 1t lies in his selection of the new superin-
tendent and the new commissioners If they
shall carry the good work of the present admin
istration onward and avoid meanwhile the pit
of fractional politics, the governors decision now
will be upheld. s
THE PLAYGROUND VS.. The DAkCE.RAlL