Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-09-03
THE SUCCESS OF THE SCHOOLS.

Editor Honolulu Star Bulletin
Sir: On the editorial page of the
Star-Bulletin last week appeared a
long statement, from Daily Financial
America, entitled New Works School
Failure. lnasmuch as the present
writer was associated with the New
York school system for several years,
and had kept in touch with recent de-
velopments there, he feels called upon
to challenge the sweeping statements
OF this editorial. Permit him to sub
NIT the following:
l. The old cry Of the critics Whats
the matter with the. schools" has been
worn so absolutely threadbare that it
is no longer a subject for wordy dis
cussion- Like all human institutions.
the schools are subject to defects, and
Vicissitudes.
On the other hand, there is I'm.
doubtedly no institution Of the Amer
lean people that has attained the
same measure OF consistent successes
as have the schools, especially the
public schools. This fact is album.
dainty testified by the great mass of
the people themselves, as school pro-
ducts.
2. The editorial contains the same
old story that has been going the
rounds for years; the stale narrative
Of the astute employer and the school.
boys who could not spell. The i'm.
portant point concerning this story is
note that the schoolboys could not
write legibly nor spell correctly; the
important point is that the United
States, owing to her splendid school
system, has a smaller percentage of
illiteracy than many other nations.
Italy has over 80 per cent illiterates;
Spain, SO per cent; Russia, 81 per
cent; Austria, &c per cent; Canada,
III per cent; Belgium, 18 per cent;
Greece, 81 per cent; United States,
II per, cent. The achievement of
literacy for the great masses, as, one
of the. supreme tests Of democracy,
should not be hidden under a discus
sion OF the defects Of the few.
The employer stated that. Most of
the boys were utterly useless" That
cannot be true, as representing a gen.
eral condition: Most boys become dis
tinctly useful to society, in spite of
their alleged schooling! It should
be remembered that employers have
been, universally and until quite re-
Gently, the greatest expEoiters of child
labor, and preyenters< of real educa-
ton, that the world has ever known.
49, Thu 0n Sc
admit the debt which he owes to the
social agencies, home, school, church
and state-that have chiefly made him
what he is. He, is unwilling to &C
knowledge that most of himself has
been built into him by society. i
The school systems of none of the
states or territories have been fail41
ures. They are In no sense failures
today. They are the magnificent liv-
ing insignia Of a triumphant demo
cracy. They comprise our greatest
hope for the future They are more
successful in this year 1917 than they
have ever been before in the history
OF our country. It Is all right to fondly
reminisce about the "little red school
house" and ''readinI, ritin' and 'rith.
metick," but those are as far back as
the days before the telephone and the
street car and we would not go back to
them if we could. "
The man who shouts about the fail
ure" of the schools, nowadays, simply
informs the world that he doesn't
know what is going on. He has never
been close up to the schools. He does
not know how to intelligently utilize
the school product.
New York's schools have not failed,
though they face larger and more
complex problems than schools have
ever faced before.
Respectfully yours,
@ VAUGHAN MacCAUGHEY,
The College of Hawaii.