Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-02-21

y venture the guess that at least Is per-
cent Of Tho boar Is in MIR. Husbands own
county will fail to gel In this estimate IN
time. One reason Is that they will not
. be In position to make the estimate until
! their schools have opened in the fall. l
have never found school boards eXercis.
! ing such lightning speed even when 1t
| comes to reports with all needed data
and blanHs before their eyes. Sometimes
1t Is like pulling II tooth to get the re-
ports a all.
Section II provides that when these re-
ports are In, the county superintendent
shalt forward the order TO the publishers
not later than July LIST. Not much time
to waste. The board will after that
deal with n dozen or more publishing
( houses under contract with the state. |
can hear a FOWL come out OF the desert
| Boards don't want to have dealings with
more than one house. This will mean Il
( tremendous pressure upon the Textbook
commission by the dear people themselves
| to confine their contracts to as few
| houses as possible. and, if possible. to
| oIVS OuS L lilu ~ NV AVA s''N NSN.
| people and the text book commission Is
intended to serve them. Does this mean
| that eventually the state will DE vest
pockcted by one house? The bill, If en-
acted into law, will not bring the haTcion
| days OF reform" which brother Husband
dreams Of. .-
North Dakota has II many-tongued pop
| ulation. each nationality represented in
the state has some traits distinctively its
own and the state as well AS the nation
J gets It's strength and vigor, its mnny-sid-
! cdncss and its character from the absorp-
ton OF the best each nationality can fur
| nish. state uniformity will forestall 10
cal initiative" and VIII build up Il wi
cious lock-stcp system forcing all these
differing people into one mould Or form
thus depriving them of all individual
traits and swallowing them up in a great
maelstrom which is to produce the dis
tinctivcly American. This Is identically
what despotic Russia is doing in Finland
today and we as Americans certainly will
not admit that Russia does the undem-
ocratic and un-American to the core. |
sincerely hope that our legislators will
refuse responsibility for that kind Of re
form.
Our state course of study for the COM.
mon schools must be made to conform to
and articulate with the bookks selected
The work in the school room will become
easy and without results. mechanical and
stereotyped. The incentive to research
will disappear because the course of
study and books fit into each other so as
to give no all for further research. This
is a serious objection.
1t is remarkable that when a school
man differs with persons who DO not hap
pen to be school men, 1t is always thrown
out that he Is ''long on theories and short
on practice" But let me tell you. kind
reader, in ali sincerity that there is no
one more familiar with needs Of the rural
schools in North Dakota thar the cOun-
ty superintendent who has seen several
terms Of service. lie goes among them
and comes in contact with them. He
finds to his sorrow that he has grown long
on experience. or practice. and has run
short OH theories. He is the only person
| who can possibly get a, bird's-eye view
Of the schools as they are. And the same
may be said Of the city superintendent in
regard to the city schools. Yet these
persons who happen to have the intimate
understanding first hand OF what the
schools actually need must be forced by
Law to su. nit to the orders of Il "pUliti-
cal creature, otherwise known as Il state
text book commission. Is it possible that
Ithis Is reform? a recent magazine
Igives 1t as an item that the governor of
Oklahoma has just removed three mem
bCrs Of the state Textbook commission in
that state for permitting political inilu-
ence to determine the textbooks to be
adopted for the state" But III the face
of all this the only claim in favor Of the
system is cheaper books, and that claim
is yet to be proven as witness Kansas
| where I am told that too many of the
books ore changed each FIVE years be-
cause unsatisfactory and the clieapncss
has become burdensomc to the people.
! What the state needs enacted into law Is
Il free Text book system. not d uniform
system. Require that every district fur
nish the books at the expense Of the dis
trict and the whole thing will solve itself
in the rig way. = u
%Ir. ~. -. Very Respectfully.
- tH. =