New-York tribune., 1914-11-29
Public School Policies, Plans and Accom-
plishments will be set forth here weekly.
Educational Touring and CursOry In
vestigation Responsible for $40
600 Vocational Investment
The Question of Small
Board OF Education.

maintenance of the school plant of
, this city by the aid OF school children,
or. that their efforts. guided by expert
/ enced workmen- teachers, will make
even the faintest imprint upon such
a problem, If discernible at all. Yet
this is one Of the features of the Writ
[ plan.
As if by coincidence, r special COM
mittee. consisting Of DR.. Abraham
/ FleNner. Nicholas j. Barrett and John
. Greene, presented a ivport allegin, the
many disadvantages of Board Of Edu-
cation of the size of the present one,
consisting of forty-siX members, and
suggesting the sdvisability Of its re-
duction 10 seven or nine members. In
advertently or otherwise, President
Churchill presented as reason for
not obtaining the sanction of the forty
six board members for the recent visit
Of the committee of four TO Gary. Ind,
the imprscticability OF so doing. This
afforded a seemingly good reason for
advancing the small board project.
There has lately been some detection
in the ranks Of President Churchil's
so-called Progressive party" Several
members appear TO have lost some of
their enthusiasm, while others have
openly gone over TO the minority. The
exercise Of "one-man power" is gall
ing yoke to place upon the shoulders
of intelligent men and women, not
withStanding the fact that the yoke
may be gilded with the reflected sun
light from the City Hall.
( Leadership is a science from a psy-
Geological standpoint as well as an
art. Interest and enthusiasm can only
be maintained for any length of time
80, h..Hv Id
20 actively participate in the doing OF
things. If all goes TO enhance the
radiance Of the few. interest soon flags
and enthusiasm dies. This is the diff
ference 10 effect produced as a result
of bossiSm and of leadership.
The matter of reduction of the size
of the Board of Education is not new
proposition by any means. II has been
frequently mOOtel. and so far n mas
failed to gain much favor in the ublic
mind Il is understood why DR.. FleXner
should advance the theory. He is con-
nected with the Rockefeller Foundation,
which is controlled by a small board
of -perpetuating directors. e., by
"a Family party or d CLOSE corpora
ton"
Il is not clear why Nicholas J. Bar
rett, whose term OF Office is just eX-
pirng, should advocate so radical q
change Mr. Barrett presided for many
years over the deliberations Of the
committee on supplies. of which com
nlttee he was o useful member lt
seems paradoXical that he is now OF
the opinion that the entire affairs
of the Board Of Education can be ad
ministered by seven or nine members,
when il took seven members, under his
own leadership, TO administer just one
branch of the service. Either his Judg
ment as 20 the fitness of things was
correct when he was chairman Of the
committee on supplies, or else he errs
now. Possibly Mr. Barrett's views are
suffering from that kind of inertia so
prevalent during the latter part OF an
official term
II the truth were known, there would
probably be found some members OF
both the majority and Of the minority
of the Board OF Education VINO would
like 20 see q raid Board of Education.
only they are backward in publicly eN-
pressing their views The creation o.
seven. or nine, Or more well paid Jobs
would be acceptable In a poltca
sense in these hard times. Possibly
there are al present some members OF
the board, as 10 now stands, who could
/ be prevailed upon 20 accept such posi-
tiOns
The history of the Board Ct Educa-
/ tion, since its creation, IN 1872, reveals
/ the fact that there is no difficulty IN
obtaining, free, gratis. for nothing,
/ the services of illustrious citizens
ready and willing to accept the honor,
I the pleasure and the task Of admin
istering the public school system OF
the Citv Of New York. Ii is OF neces-
sary 10 allege ineffciency or to offer
/ a pretext for a paid board in the future
/ by suggesting a small board In the IN
terim II may be true that board
of forty-six members is too large, but
no one has so far advanced any cogent
reason why a reduction in the board
should take place The Goodnow-
Howe report upon this subject is mere
/ ly an expression OF opinion, unsup-
ported by any facts which promise any
better results than are at present OBJ
tanned. If the Board of Education
would confne itself TO legislative mat
ters by leaving the actual doing Of
things 10 the members Of the paid
staff, and by holding them accountable
for their actions, the intermiXing OF
the legislative and executive would
cease and responsibility would become
centred II is due 70 the attempts of
the Board Of Education to perform
executive functions which create awk-
ward situations of delay and OF ire
sponsiblity Draw the line Of de-
marcatioa sharply between the eXecu-
tion of these two functions. and IL
would be immaterial whether the board
B consisted Of forty-siX, or of siXty-siX,
or Of ninety-six members-the more
the better.
The argument advanced by one
member, TO the effect that business
could be better conducted by g few
persons sitting al a "round table is
specious, and unsound. If there is any
public function which should be kept
constantly in the sunlight Of popular
| view IL is that Of education. The star
/ chamber" method does not fit the func-
tion of educational administration. All
parents are more or less personally in
terested in the education of their
children. The average parent is more
interested in the education of his
children than in all other public
functions put together. Why? Be
cause education reaches into the
home; it affects the family; and fam
lies, collectively, constitute the COM
murity. Police, fire, health, street
cleaning, public improvement-impor-
tant though they be TO the community
,ro r,a+4ers eecopdarv in iupOrtancC