The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-04

Perhaps more serious thing lies in this, that the vast majority of high school students will never see any col lese at all. They will leave their high school to enter life and should be pre- pared by these schools for the struggle or life, but they are trained with one single thought-the mastery of college entry requirements. I may say in pass ing, that this is the great danger in all our high school work, regardless of the unit system The demand has been im- posed upon them, no doubt, by the great CT schools above, but I know of noth- ing demanding more earnest attention from our high school teachers than this very thing. Why hold in mind that which will be attained by a small fraction rather than that which must be the fate of the vast majority? By all means the high school student should be urged to so to college. but the very fact that most of them must enter life at once ought to cause our educators to think most seriously of what will best fit them for the great university of experience. But to this danger to add the lure of the unit system and to give student this or that. for the mere purpose of get ting sufficient number of points to en- ter college Is little short of educational sin
 Another pitiful feature of it all is that some schools adopting the unit system calmly announce themselves as A grade institutions and look with patronizins eyes upon those that hold to the ability system, advertising themselves schools of the highest order and incidentally ad- vertising the others as no colleges at all. thus forcing them to adopt a sys- tenn and compelling teachers to submit to 1t who in their hearts know and feel that the whole thing is unwise.
 As l have already indicated, the almost universal adoption of this system is com polling good high schools often to em- ploy inferior teachers and so distinctly lower the grade of their work. It is driv- ing gifted teachers out of the teaching business Individual men who can give a splendid fitness for college and yet who are unable for financial and other reasons, to meet the artificial require ments of the unit system, are forced to give up their glorious task. num- Der of young men recently went to a teacher who has been called by one of Americas greatest educators "an endow- ment for any institution,' His record is that of 20 per cent of young boys pre- pared by him enter college and graduate. He actually had to send these students away. He was unable to employ two more good teachers, and was too con-
 
 ones.
 Small communities that cannot support regulation high schools( and few really can do it) must send their children away frcm home before they are at an age approved by wisdom, and before par ents are usually willing to be parted from them. The man that is financially unable. or, for many good reasons. is unwilling to send his child away, is find ing serious trouble of this sort right now. This is no imaginary situation. The name of this community is legion. The consolidation of schools, that com mon sense hobby of our good friend, Professor Hobdy, affords no relief, for the three teachers must all do high school work, else they can grant no credits. The perplexity of the parent is deepened by another rule, made of course with good intent. but with disastrous ef- feet. A community by great sacrifice may have secured high school which can enter a child in college but 1t is not out of the woods by a long way yet.