The Delta independent., 1916-02-18

Kansas; s12 more than in Iowa; 50
more than in Ohio. Our authority
for this statement is the United States
Commissioner of Education.
The committee deplores the fact
that reports are in circulation reflect
ing upon the management of our pub
lie schools, for rumor is persistent in
saying that the expenses of one of the
directors has been paid out of the pub
lie funds to attend teachers conven
tions in Denver and other parts of
the state. If the public funds are be-
ing expended in this way, then they
are not being properly expended, for
the law does not contemplate that
school funds shall be used for this
purpose; the law may be wrong, but
if it is, the improper expenditure of
the funds is not the remedy; the COM
mittee is of the opinion, that it is not
a wise, but very dangerous law that
permits a school director to be the
paid secretary of the boad of directors
for no public servant, no officer of the
own salary, no difference how small
the compensation is, for it is these
little things that creep into our way
Of doing things that finally form hab.
its and fix customs that are impossible
to remedy when the burden is greater
than we can bear. but it is the law,
and the member of the board who is
secretary, has right to draw salary
for his services until the law is re-
pealed.
The committee is of the opinion that
the position of truant officer should
be abolished. People are beginning
to find that there is a better way of
governing children than by indicating
to them that they are criminals, by
putting a sleuth on their trail, dog
ging their footsteps; even penal in
stitutions put hardened criminals on
the honor list, and the evidence of of.
ficers OF those institutions is that the
plan is a success. There are some
abuses OF the privileges given of
course but the plan as a whole is a
success. Why not try it with the
children and abolish that relic of bar
barism, the truant officer
Another little habit that is creep
ing into our schools that will at least
lead to neglect of duty, is the fact that
the manual training teacher besides
drawing his salary of s10O per month
| 10 oil ,y,e 81
from both the high and district
schools varying in amounts from s175
to $40. Secretary Monnell says these
warrants are for doing plumbing work
and that he will do it more cheaply
than the regular plumbers. OF course
this is alright. and it is nice to give
a man an opportunity to earn a little
money on the side, but how long will
il be before he will be neglecting the
work for which he is drawing s100 per
month to earn these little warrants.
The reason the committee feels that
it is necessary to mention these things
is because there seems to be ten
dency growing up in our schools to
all the money they can get, rather
than earn all the money they get.
Whether or not the deduction made
by your committee are the result of
true or false reasoning, the figures
given you have been taken from the
records without being changed by the
dotting of an 'i' or the crossing of
- and those figures show the cost of
educating child in the district school
is twice now what it was in former
mined is, is it worth it?
The article in the Montrose Press
last Monday evening giving the re-
suit of spelling contestIi in the high
school might assist you in answering
that question. Have we any assuran-
ces that the pupils are any better
grounded in arithmetic, than in spell
ling. can they read, write and speak
the English language better than they
can spell it? Does not this circum-
stance strengthen the Judgment of the
lay members of society, in their op-
inion that we are drifting away from
the fundamental principles of an edn
cation that assists in doing business of
life, and have we not been drifting
that way for many years? No less an
authority than Herbert Spencer said
in his essays on Education, in 1899,
THAT which our school courses leave