Norwich bulletin., 1915-08-10
PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUCH BETTER
'ecretaryf fine Thinks Especially Well of Country SCHOOL,
Improvement Has Followed Issuance of Report Of 20
Years Ago-Work Of Supervisors Has Proved Stimulus
to Country Schools.

In response to. an inquiry as to
what, tf any. Improvement was ap-
parent in the public school system Of
the state since he issued an annual
report 40 years ago that disclosed the
general shortcomings, Charles ID. Hine,
secretary Of the state board of educa-
ton emphatically answered that the
Improvement had been very marked.
Els the work of the public school
teachers Of to-day better than that
OF their predecessors OF the time
when you called attention to the in
efficiency Of some Of themT'
Much better" was his cheering
n passing It might be wen to say
that when Secretary Hines report
sensation. It revealed to the
people of the state the deplorable
condition of the public school sys-
tenn. 1t contained facsimile extracts
from the reports Of teachers to show
how deficient they were In the
handwriting was poor, the spelling
was wretchediy bad and the compo-
sition did violence to every known
rule of Lindley Murray.
New London County the Worst,
The worst instances of pedagogi-
cal ignorance came from New Lon
don county. Mr.. Hine took no pleas
ure in exposing the conditions which
existed in many of the district schools
Of the state and his only purpose was
to open the eyes Of the people by
statement Of facts. He realized, and
so did others. that the instruction in
many of the schools Of the state had
become joke and that the only way
to improve it was to tell the truth.
It was evident to Mr.. Hine that
the state was living in a FOOLS para
dfSn ri fhn SvGfAr0 which
passed, in some towns. for education.
1t may be said that the printing of
the report had the desired effect. The
sentiment in favor Of correcting the
evils Of the school system grew until
it could be no longer ignored.
Nearly 5000 Teachers.
There are 1854 women and 333 men
employed as teachers in the public
schools of the state today. They are
schools; indeed. the four normal
schools do not graduate enough teach
ers to supply the demand of the
towns. But the authorities find no
difficulty in securing the services of
high school graduates and of those
titions of learning. Secretary Hine
says the teacher of today is at least
educated in the branches which he or
she is required to teach, and that is
more than could be said Of the
teacher of a quarter Of a century ago.
Country Schools Better.
Secretary Hine did not hesitate to
assert that the country schools of
today were better than the city
schools. In the former the pupils
were taught what was necessary but
without the frills. Mr.. Hine said
the children did not spend much
time in nature studies. If they spent
any at all. The children were all
the time in close touch with nature
in their daily lives, by living in the
country, and it was, therefore. not
necessary for them to give a part of
their school hours to the study OF ma
ture. In the opinion Of Secretary
Hine the country school children had
a great advantage over those who
lived in the cities since they Were
not compelled to spend their time
in the study Of non-essentials or
frills.
In proof Of the present eficiency
of the schools in the country towns
Secretary Hine said in practically all
the high schools OF the state and in
those institutions which do the work
OF high schools for their communi-
ties, the children from the country
schools were admitted without ex-
animation. the certificate OF the prin-
cipal being considered a SUFFICIENT