The Penn's Grove record., 1915-12-03
soMMER RAps STATE sYsrkM.
Says No Cooperation Between Local
and State Educational Bodies.

After former Governor Stokes and
DR.. Calvin N. Kendall, the State Com
missioner of Education, had finished
telling the members of the State As
ISOLATION of District Boards of Edlc9
ton of New Jersey about the "eff%
ency" and cooperation" that is ex&
cised between the State Board of Edu
cation and the local boards, at the ban
quet following the annual meeting, for
mer Sheriff Frank Sommer, of Essex
County, counsel of the Board of Pub
lie Utility Commissioners, spoke out
from the shoulder and said that it was
about time that the words efficiency
and cooperation" stopped rolling from
the tongue so easily and all concern
ed "got right down to brass tacks."
The speech by former Sheriff SOM
mer was the sensational climax of a
pleasant luncheon at which the form
er Governor and DR.. Kendall spoke in
the highest terms of the States edu-
cational system. Mr.. Sommer was
not personal in his remarks but he
was direct. He said he had examined
the text books of the schools and the
bulletins issued by the State Board
very carefully and some of them were
good. But" he said, think of it!
Volumes written on how to teach his.
tory when there is not a single adequ-
ate history of New Jersey taught in
the public schools of the State"
His criticism of the State Board was
to the point. He denied, although he
did it as pleasantly as possible that
there was a spirit of cooperation ex-
listing between the local and State
bodies. He told of sitting through the
meeting of the association of district
boards and listening to one man from
East Orange tell how his board had
been investigating the Six and Six
High School plan. Mr.. Sommer said
that scores of other boards through
out the State were doing the same
thing.
"That does not represent efficiency"
he asserted, that represents waste
and duplication. That work initial
ly belongs to the State board. The
local board should get the results
of the State boards judgment on these
things. The eyes of the State board
should be directed to these expert
ments and it should bring the results
to us. That would be the practical
way. The duplication should be avoi-
ded or limited
Mr.. Sommer went On to show that
every local board was doing its W
investigating and that cooperation in
this instance meant service by the
central body to the local boards. The
criticism of Mr.. Sommer's was so un-
expected that the board members
broke into applause when they grasp
ed the spirit in which he was dealing
with his subject.
Mr.. Sommer agreed with Governor
Stokes and DR.. Kendall that the para
mount thing was to raise the standard
of the teaching force. But the next
in Importance, he said, was the things
taught, the courses of study. He Sc
verely arraigned such a course of
study that would allow a child to
take a high school course without
getting any American history and to
be graduated from the normal schools
to teach the children American his
tory when they had not studied it
themselves. He spoke of all the bull
letins and pamphlets on the teaching
of history and asserted that there was
not a single adequate history on New
Jersey in the schools of the State.