The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1916-01-27
CONDITION CONFRONTS
YOU. PARENTS.


summarized is to the effect that
high school graduates are now be-
ing produced who are h0pelessly
deficient in reading, writing and
arithmetic but who have their
heads erammed full of fads and
faneies, worthless in real life.
The Herald says: If $40, 600
a year spent by the taxpayers of
New York City on education will
not produce boys and girls who
can read, write, spell and figure
correctly, what villa This is the
question which business men, who
absorb the output Of the elemen-
tary schools, are asking. These
private citizens have partially
solved the problem by digging
down in their pockets to produce
the essentials of education in chill
dren they have already placed on
their pay rolls. In other words,
so h0pelessly mediocre has the
quality of elementary school grad
yates become that employers are
bearing the expense of teaching
children the very thing that the
public schools are maintained to |
teach them. And they are paying
them salaries while they are
learning.
The managing director of the
great mercantile firm of b. Alt
man & Co. is thus quoted: Gin
this store in our four classes we
are teaching holders of grammar
school certificates how to charge
for quarter OF a yard of mater
ial when they know the price per
yard, we are teaching them how
to enter d sale ON a slip and add /
up the result of several sales, and ,
we are teaching them how to SPELL
the names OF streets In the city
and the names of towns and villa N
ges contiguous to the city, where h
our goods are sent to customers. .
We are doing it because we have 4
to; because when the children :
come to us they do not know h
these things Many children 4
come into the stores, fail com =
pletely and have to be discharged, n
because our public schools have Il
failed in their duty to them. On HI
the other hand, they do have \
little knowledge Of some things Ia
Most of the boys know something K
about carpentering, clay model Is
iags electricity and machinery. :,
and most of the girls can sew a In,
bit. do simple embroidery work a
and cook. And that, it seems to Of
me, is the whole trouble. There lee
is too much Of the child's energy
on non-essentials
and too little of it concentrated -
on such absolute essentials as =
writing and arithmetic. = y
On the other hand, the presi- -
lent of the New York board Of ~
while deploring the as - =,
aults made on the system by ~
prominent men and by parents, ~
eelares that Every part of the ~
curse of study has been modern -
ed. As fast as money could be -
ad, we have put in equipment by IL
'hich the children have gratified ~,
long suppressed instinct to ~
axe, to create, to build with 49, 49,
leir hands and to know the real
0rld about them. At the same
me the courses Of study in read vot
q, writing and arithmetic have ~.
cen maintained, and our chill tbo
rem have as much opportunity go,
II mastering these essentials as l
icy ever had. The core and CEN
r of our public school teaching A.
seds to be changed. 1t was trans 80,
orted from system which pro- 49,
Dsed to fit children for a life Of
armed discourse, minute scholar H.,
mp and composition with the I'm
IN. But the boys are not deg- ,ha
ned for these things. They are Iass
AIDED straight for the store and ~,
Glory. The constitution Of our Iii
'oklsh, literary courses
study is therefore absurd and -
flair. We must substitute for
IS over-emphasized grammar.
nguage and literature a prepa-
ton for successful mastery Of iiel
e principles of industry and orl
lde.
The argument is interesting and I'll
Ipiui, but inconcluslve. IT is grea
conclusive for the sufficient III
son that there can never be whol
] down any arbitrary or exact III
70 determine just how prac- disin
I or how theoretical education gon
y be. Il win never be possible Th