The Washington times., 1914-03-11
District School System Is
Top-Heavy, Says Mrs. Dane
|sserts Method Which Forces
Them to Teach Besides Ad-
ministrate Is Obsolete.

HuI OVGfOTSUHt<uttOH - the
a7c of Washington schools and
lo' the system of supervising prin-
pals of pdrious divisions should
abandoned, is the opinion of
frS. G. Grospeno! DAVE.
iIrs. Dawe has made a thorough
tudy of the grade schools of
Washington and compares them
yitt the system in Yonkers, a
ppicdl, progressive city of New
ork State. Her acquaintance NTH
be schools there extended over a
eriod of twenty years.
New phases of the non-tedching
|rMcipdl question are presented
y Mrs. DAVE. Her piews make
|ne of the most interesting drti-
Yes yet presented by The Times in
IS series on the District schools.
rhe Times believes a better gen.
val knowledge of conditions here
pW be gained from presentation
II the pieWs of the parious STU
(eHtS of school conditions.
By ]. R. HILDEBRAND.
Not only the eighth grade pupils
fer from the system by which
p lncipals are also teachers, but the
pills in all the lower grades lose
Taavil.y by this antiquated system in
= que here"
This assertion. and the statement
At Congress could find suggestions
for improving Washington schools
lv studying the systems in many
mailer cities. were made today by
N-s. C. Grosvenor Dave, who has
made a close personal study OF the
hools here. and in several cities OF
New York state.
Mrs. Dave is a member of the Dis
t-ict Congress of Mothers. She gave
her hearty Endorsement to the plea
OF Mrs. p. r. Dubois. of the execu-
tive board of that body, for light
enIng of the work of eighth grade
teachers. But she presents the pu-
pils' side Of the case, declaring thsy
sIffer no less than the teachers
4 Nder the present arrangement
No teaching principal can pos
sibly give to each class room and
teacher the individual attention
necessary to make her school all
h1at IL ought to be-" said Mrs. Dave
INSTEAD of being an Institution in
| which the principal is able to stlm-
| ulate the teachers and students In
.Tder TO obtain the best possible re-
Eults, my observation has led me TO
he conviction that each school room,
nder the present system, is a little
e.ganization of its own.
Classrooms Crowded.
In the crowded state of our class
.noms IL is impossible for one mind
ID one heart to obtain tne best re-
dts But with a principal free
ON teaching. not only can she be
ooked TO as the responsible head
Of her schools. but the grade teacher
T. as ip her an adviser and co-opera-
Irr. Such an adviser not only would
ssen the teachers burden but
A ould aid materially In each child's
U.oRress."
Mrs. Dave has taken into con-
Iteration the expense of such
oiect. But she believes such eX-
anSe could be made up by pruning
the officials made neceSsary now
what she calls the ''oVer-organ-
alton Of the school system, and by
grouping of some of the adjacent
hools under = single mon-teaching
~incipal
There is too much supervision
. Sh up in the system, and not
'lough attention paid TO the first
and contact Of teacher with pu-
- she said. Under a system of
'."n-teaching principals the large
alaries paid to the nine white su-
pervizing principals could be saved.
II so happens that a number of
hools in the city are so close to-
r"ther that they lend themselves
adily 10 grouping under one nom
aching principal. The Walfach and
! Inc Towers are side by side. Then
ih"re are the Powell and the John
n. the Buchanan and Bryan. and
re Hubbard and the Ross only a
."w blocks apart.
Principal For Each School
At the start these buildings could
ne given to one non-teaching prin-
pal. But in the long run | am fully
unvinced that every building of
light rooms. or larger, demands Il
single principal, who shall not teach.
70 that principal should be given the
arc of the building, OF supplies.
and the other duties now shouldered
UpOr the busy eighth grade teacher.
But in addition to that she should
ne in close touch with the work of
all the teachers under her. be ready
with assistance for them when
DCeded, see that the teaching stand
ard OF each Of her eight or twelve
teachers is at the top notch. and be
,eady 10 advise them about indi-
.IGual cases Of backward pupils
Mrs. Dave cited the case of Yon-
kcrs. y. Y. a city where the popu-
lation in 1913 was about 5000.
That city she said. has a non
teaching principal for each school at
salary Of not less than 81 900 Il
year. In the larger cities II has
cen found advisable TO give such
principal a secretary as well.