Evening journal., 1916-06-20
CHAMBER or COMMERCE. AID THE BOARD OF
EDUCATION.

WJlEWED hy the broad there is little that is new in
the report of the special committee appointed by
the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce to examine the
acoounts and records OF the Board of Education and
to assist in roconeiline That body and City Council
All the things treated Of in The four recommenda-
tions made have been discussed time and again since
M BayardCooner clique obtained control OF The De-
narimeni Of Educatlon and assumed such defiant at
tude toward the tapaying public and City Coun-
ell
The report rs valuable. however in that gives de-
tails not heretofore published and emphasizes the
cessty for reforms that were suggested many months
before the Chamber Of Commerce appointed its spe-
cial committee and that committee retained it's
actuarial expert
The first recommendation made by the special com
mittoe IS follows
The Board OF Education should open a SGT Of books
and should Immediately install complete system Of
bookkeeping AS we have lust pointed out the book
keeping system is decidedly incomplete and 1t would
takr daFs Of auditors time To compile several
heufe1 which would be apparent at under a com
pleic modern system Of bookkeeping
That the system OF bookkeeping of the board Is poor
has been. for several years a notorious fact Com
plant relative 10 IL has been heard in many quar-
ters, including city Council Instead Of curing the
defects. the Baynard Cooper clique to glory I'm
and uphold tho weakness Of s system Of accounting e.
Tho second recommendation also has a good and a
familiar sound. u is:
The Board of Education should make up a budget and
live within H. We laborcd with the board long and
sirenuously. ondeaYoring to persuade them to put
themselves on record as agreeing 70 make budget
for the coming year, but without success Your com
mtice does not understand why the board should OBJ
jcct strongly to making up budget regardless of
how much money CITY Council appropriates 10 hom.
Your committee proposes 10 see that they make
up budget required by law and are prepared 10
invoke court action if the Board of Education refuses
The public, too, has been ata loss TO understand why
the Baynard-Coopor CLIQUE objects 10 binding budget
Our City Counclmen also have been both puzzled and
ncensed by their antagonstic attitude toward what
plain business-like proposition Seemingly it wishes
70 be eft free TO sandbag city Council into granting
A its demands for money and then TO spend il as Il
peases. free from an restraint It is encouraging to
so'e that the Chamber of Commerce committee feels
Na u can -orce tho clique TO make up and agree to
nFe within educational budget
refreshing to find that the third recommenda.
w ue1"s ~,h school repairs. also is in line with
ptN"hms public thought. The committee savs
the Board of Education should condn., 80. .,
WIN as hu'h care and good Judgment aq M, ,,i5
sneN oNh business. nc board speaks about schoos
BENG IN need of repairs and have asled e,i,' nv
for an appropriation for this purpose W. Souucil %
attention TO the fact that within the last two voa I
have spent for repairs S21,40iO6 II apnoars ~, 30 ,l
If this S214Ol06 had been expended indic,1s 1s 'ua'
properly much of the repairing which tbey nnu n.
claim is necessary, could have been taken c.ro NV ~
out OF this amount OF money. and furthermore /
would that this reasoning could no car.i -.
back through number OF years. SO that the smai
repairs necessary each year could have been mad,
and the schools would, therefore have been in m
condition they are today
That recommendation goes far toward strengthenin
the public suspicion that there has been waste
public funds the Department of Education and th
the time has come when there must be a change Il
the public benefit
The fourth recommendation is that the Board
Education shall consult City Council if occasion ars
for expendng extra money and get the promise Of
before they go ahead and contract the bills. That
a common-sense suggestion. Unfortunately it is a
dressed TO clique that seems to place small val'
upon common sense and that believes IN contracting
bin first, leaving the matter OF getting the money
hQudate il for subsequent consideration.
Ahe criticism Of the iantbr service in the school