Palisadian. [volume] (Cliffside Park, N.J.) 1906-current, 1915-01-02
COLLEGE PROFESSOR
ANSWERED.
Walter GOemam Takes Prof. BOas
Severely to Task on High School.


provision of school room. The in
crease in population has always beer
greater than calculations had led u
to expect. The thoughtful citizens il
the borough have recognized the trou
BILE and expense brought about by lacl
of definite school policy; therefore
within the last half year they have
combined in citizens committee ant
have given their support to sec
tional school construction on centra
site. Without question, in this plar
the citizens have the solution of tbs
school problem. 1t calls for the pur'
chase Of plot of ground large enough
for all our future school needs; the
erection thereon of building sc
planned that additional sections car
be erected whenever necessity arises
This would have centralized the school
system, lessened it's cost of maintain
ance, and added to it's efficiency. II
the polls could have been kept open an
hour longer it would have secured the
approval of the people; it was beaten
on a technicality.
Let us see what this plan did: On
the night of the first election, Septem-
Der 23d, APT votes were cast against
the school proposition; on December
10th $50 were opposed to sectional
construction. Here was loss of 1T
votes in two and one-half months.
On the other hand, the votes for the
proposition increased from 70, on
September 23d, to 100, an increase of
1T. The majority fell from 354 to
60. From this Il can be seen that
victory is in sight if the citizens
committee will keep up the work for
the common good.
The plan of sectional construction
was based on economy and efficiency.
How was the Argument met? During
the two months of public discussion
the economy and efficiency of the
plan was not attacked at any point.
Every person acquainted with borough
affairs is aware of The bitterness of
the feeling between the different parts
of the borough This was made the
foundation of all the opposition; the
leaders of which are politicians, Ben
der, Laird, Cadien, Sammis and Zim-
norman. These people keep the sec
tional FEELING. alive and see to it that
onfe section of the borough is always
pitted against the other. Who profits
byi this? It seems to me that we
have reached that point in our devel-
opnhent whfre we can wipe out the
artificial lines of real estate men, for
get Nthe distinction between Grant
woody Cliffside, Edgewater Heights,
and Hudson Heights, and work for the
common good of Cliffside Park. Why
do we devote our best energies to
fighting ONE another? We are all in
terested in, the welfare of the Dor
ough, so why mot cooperate to further
our common Interests? A large part
of the opposition is opposed to the
plan because they want to give ex-
preston to their personal feelings
against men competed with our
school system.
A glance at the above figures will
show that 35 votes taken from the
opposition and cast in favor Of the
plan would have meant victory. The
statement which Prof. BoaS issued on
the day before the election easily had
the effect of turning this many votes,
therefore it, can be held responsible
for the defeat of the plan. This state
ment was brought out so soon before
the election as to make an ans wer
impossible. People seem to think that
there is no use in answering it at this
late date, as the damage has been
done, therefore l take it upon myself
to analyze and weigh this history MAX
ing document.
Prof. Boas' statistics are the best
argument in favor of a definite school
policy. They show an increase of 81
for 1912, So for 1918, 80 for 1914,
while the increase for the three
months since September has been SO.
For the last quarter of a year our
increase has been as great as during
any whole year heretofore. In 1911 we
had 80 resident pupils attending high
school; today we have 60. This con-
clusively proves that the increase in
school population is not only continu-
ing, but becoming more rapid as time
goes on.
The efficiency of our schools has
been called in question. The aim of
all educators is to keep as many chill
dren as possible in school until grad
uation. Prof. Boas' statistics prove
that we are keeping larger per cent.
of our pupils in the higher grades
The percentages have gone up as fol-
lows:
1911, 9th grade, per cent. of total;
1914, 7 per cent.
1911, 18th grade, per cent. Of total;
1914, 6 per cent.
1911, 9th grade, per cent. of total;
1914, 5 per cent.
After showing how our pupils
could not find accommodations else
where, Prof. Boas states: ut would
not be possible to make satisfactory
arrangement with another borough at
the present time, so that we are prac-
tically compelled to proceed with the
high school work." The meaning Of
this is certainly plain, but on the
same page he states, ut would be
best to send the children attending
the Classical Course, perhaps even
those attending the Academic Course,
to another high school," These two
quotations seem to contradict each
other. Where does Prof. Boas stand
on the hiph school question? I be-