The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-06-29
WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
BY Miss Farris Davis.

No institution of modern times is
! being more widely discussed than the
| public school. Education as a factor
| for the public good has been recognized
! since the dawn of history Egyptian
| parents, five thousand years before the
| Christian era employed tutors in their
homes. The Greeks, when they had
| conquered a nation and reduced its in
habitants to the position of slaves,
| chose the wisest and most highly edu-
Gated of these and placed them in their
own homes that the Greek youths
might learn all there was to know OF
science and religion, art and literature.
The Romans honored their kings and
emperors, their consuls and dictatOrs
no more than they did their teachers
and men of letters. And so on down
through the pages of history, We find
that the nations that have been the
greatest, that have done the most for
the cause of humanity have been those
who encouraged the education of the
masses, that have placed learning on
the pedestal 1t deserves.
What is the Aim.
But the question naturally arises
What, then, is education and what its
end and AIM" From its derivation
we find that the word means leading
out. Some have entirely the wrong
idea. According to them the mind is
Simply a tabula rasa upon which each
successive experience leaves its I'M
print, there is no knowledge without
experience, and education is simply
subjecting this tabula rasa to as many
experiences as possible. Aristotle was
the founder of this doctrine which ne
expressed thus In intellecta nihil est,
quod non prius fuerit in senem." the
more modern view is that the intellect,
the power to know, is innate and that
it grows in strength and powers or
II t- cd
cation is merely the training, exercls-
ing and developing the mind to its
greatest capacity What then, is the
end of education? The answer: TO
train the individual to live completely
In other words, education is preparing
him to get the most out of the present
life, to keep in view the future, to do
his duty to his God, his home and his
country.
Are the Children Learning.
Are the children Of today being ed
ucated? If not, why not? Many or
the fathers and mothers of the present
day are themselves not educated in the
highest sense of the word. Parenthood
has been thrust upon them or they have
assumed it without any sense Of the
sacred responsibility such condition
implies Each parent is directly re-
sponsible to God, to humanity and to
the child himself, for the training he
gives this child, and yet most parents
are so busy providing handsome
clothes in which the child shall out
shine his neighbor, in amassing a for
tune for the child to wrangle over after
the fond parents have gone to their re-
ward, they are too busy with these
trihes to fulfill their greatest mission.
They have brought into existence, at
their volition, immortal beings and 1t
is their glorious privilege to teach
these beings to live, and yet tbs most
off, jS Of tn a
Often times this teacher is one whom
the parents do not know and some
times-I say 1t with shame-one VINO
is wholly unfit for the sacred RESPONSE
bility. No business man is content TO
leave his business entirely in the
hands of another man. He may en-
ploy a man in whom he has implicit
confidence, and yet he personally over
sees that business. He often employs
a book-keeper who has been highly
recommended but this does not keep
him from occasionally looking over his
books, and demanding the why and the
wherefore of the operations therein re-
corded. These same people who are so
particular about their business shift
their responsibility in the greatest
business in the world, the business of
character building, upon the shoulders
of teachers of whom they know
nothing It is true that they may pay
as much as seven mills on the dollar
that these teachers may be paid. 1t is
also true that they may go to the polls
and vote for three or four men who
are to choose the instructors for the
children 1t must be stated here that
these men are often chosen, not be-
cause the fathers know that they are
fitted for the responsibility, not be-
cause their wisdom, learning, or love
of public veal, but alas, because at
some time they may have befrfended
or favored the voter or may promise
support as he too, wishes to become a
servant 60 Of the public.
Many times men and women elect
teachers not because they feel that
they are qualified for it, but because
this is the line of least resistance. Do
not misunderstood mel do not mean
to imply that teaching is easy work
far be it from me to insinuate such a
thing-but I do say that it is easier to
enter the teaching profession than it is
to enter any other. Take the medical
profession for example. If a boy de-
cides to become a physician he must
first complete two years In college, ne
must attend a medical college for -FOUR
or five years and then with diploma
in hand he must present himself before
an examining board of experienced
physicians, and allow them to be sat
isfied in regard to his qualifications be-
fore he is acknowledged as a phySl-
clan.
A Great Difference.
How different it is with school
teachers. No matter how young or fg
norant a person may be, If he succeed
in passing an examination and this re-
quires very little scholarship, provided
he has had two or three months In
which to cram and the grading com
mittee know no more about the sub
ject than he-this is too often the case
and the superintendent encourages
leniency as he too frequently does. He
has little trouble in securing a posi-
ton, for having little to impart, ne
readily agrees to impart 1t at a cor
low figure. It very often
does not matter with the trustees
whether the applicant have good
record as student whether he be one
in whose image they wish the young
of the community nodded or not The
IL L.