Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-14
ckristown Head Answered
v Secretary Dick and
DIR. George Wheeler
|MAzED BY HIS FIGURES
Discuss Relative Budgets for the
City's Elementary and
High Schools

<f &yMi page OF wednesday ENhNiN'
The grounds. the major premise. on
watch Mr.. Martin bases his whole argu-
Z ment are wrong" said George Wheeler, as
oociate superintendent of schools, In his
once In the Keystone Building, Nineteenth
street above Chestnut. "All OF the charges
Y made or insinuated against the Phadcl-
n phia school system in this article rest on
The statement that 1T is safe to assume that
H ~ worth of instruction Is worth twice as
# much as 81 WORTH"
III this principle were to be carried n,o
(, 4overyday life, in fairness to the childre
4 would be necessary to spend the same
amount Of money on clothes. food. etc, for
~ = boy of six as for one OF sixteen. Every
4 one will appreciate the absurdity OF such
~ condition. The utility of a pair Of shoes
costing $3.50 for the boy of six is not twice
that of the shoes costing IS for the boy
y of sixteen so.
CALLS CONTENTION ABSURD
Such a contention when applied to edu-
oation Is equally absurd. 1t must OF ne
n eessity cost more to educate the high school
boy Of sixteen than 1t does the first grade
pupil of six. The instruction Of each Is
equally important. 1t Is not fair to COM
\ pare the two and assume that 50 worth Of
n nigh school instruction is worth twice as
much as VI worth of elementary school in
\ otruction:" '.: ~ .Jt"
Nothing can be proved by comparative
e ngufes, as between one city and another.
At the present time there is no standard
0y which fair comparisons can be made.
Varying methods Of charging different items
'f 70 dinerent accounts exist In every city.
~ For example, suppose that we V lsh to
hAetermne the cost of physical direction at
s the high schools. II would first be neces-
& sary to know how the item was charged
Il might be that the instruction was all
oone by the Department of Physical Edu-
"A cation. under William Stecher. In this case
the amount could be readily ascertained
~ Ifomstnat department. on the other hand,
eciAlstnstructors might be attached to the
%2;echool staff. This would then be included
Y under the amount covering teachers sal.
aries
ITO further complicate matters it might
n easily happen that it done one way at
one school and the other way at another
ochool The charge would then appear
" partly under Mr.. Stecher's department and
\ would also be included in part in teach
Y ers salaries. In the first Instance Il would
f appear ridlcuously low when compared to
the same figures In the latter case which
< would be unreasonably high In comparison.
X EsYet this same condition is true Of every
item connected with education. 1t enters
into the situation to upset any statements
based on comparative figures. Before we
can know the value OF such comparisons
Ne must be familiar with all local customs
sfsand conditions. This fact is well recog-
"A missed by all educators.
9"1ir Martins statement that none of the
New York elementary school children arc
3 on half time Is most amazing ! have been
.f 10 New York within the last six months
and know that this is not the case In June
f 1915. there were 1872 elementary pupils
Y on part time, from total of 66SO72 This
\ IS more than 20 per cent. / do not believe
q they have worked miracles there this fall
B II the figures were available I think it
would be found that a large percentage of
New York elementary school children are
on part time now
ANSWERS QUERY
'The author of the article asks why
v should the quality of instruction at the
3 aGe Of six or seven be inferior to that at
the age OF fourteen or sixteen or eighteen
y He assumes that 1t is treated as being in.
ferior because as much money is not spent
! on 1t. ! ask, what use has a child Of six
or seven for an encyclopaedia. for costly
E. apparatus for experiments in physics and
chemistry, and for teachers versed in trigo-
81 nometry. calculus and equally abstruse
oubects? The equipment both mental and
physical. required properly to instruct the
y child of six or seven is not nearly SO COM
plex. expensive and so highly developed
y and specialized as that required by the
high school student of fifteen. sixteen or
AZ neventeen
1.-THE vast difference in cost between the
& two grades of education is due. not to a
o1ighting of the elementary pupils but to
$500 difference in the requirements of the
4 HIGH SCHOOLS HERE BEST IN L. S.
s ssPhiladelpha high schools are the best
4 IN the country, Many cities graduate their
fS high school pupils with seventy-two units
Home require only sixty. In this city. with
& 1ha exception of a few special courses eighty
Z units are required. This adds to tire cost
440f Instruction. No high school hoy Is
s4uipped mentally like the Philadelphia
ssThough / am not familiar with the
Y 6alaries paid New York teachers, this is
the largest item in the cost of education.
's ~ New York the men and women teach
y erS receive the same salaries. In Phiia-
delphia the men are more highly paid
k Also there none but male instructors
IN Employed in our boys high schools. I do
3 not think this is the case in New York. 1t
y would account for part of the higher com
..1 oarative cost Of the higher education here
5<< ~ Mr., Martins figures are correct In this
4 respect.
1--WE are still striving toward the ideal
LAG the present time there Is no standard
i4N " which we can judge figures in educa-
s tfonal matters. New York may be slight
n 1rg her high school pupils and not spend
X (n4 the most ideal proportion of available
q Gcho0l funds on elementary school work
'%f On the other hand. we may be wrong In
r amending much as We do our high
q &trchocl system. do not think so how
3 s-Jrhe task or an educator is to work out
q = - ideal. proportions. Each city must work
Il out for itself. To condemn Philadephia
<he face Of figures that are not accu
that cannot be fairly compared anG
cover far different conditions is al
bsst q mistaken effort Even though
~ York does spend an amount on each
1ontary pupil and an amount each
school student that more closely ap
th one another. is this any reason t.
n1ne that II II the ideal proportion? Il
k1na 10 me that Mr.. Martin is the one pos
1nG partial vision not Philadelphia. al
spending some time reading tn,
A. - - 49, - l-.I