Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-08-27
New YOrk'S School Failure
From Daily Financial AmericaD

(FrOm Daily Financial AmeriCa(
President Wilcox of the board Of education is
"mOrtified to find how much basis there is for the
common declaration that the 3 Rs are not taught in
the public schools.
He is not half so mortified as is the businessman
who employs boy just graduated from New York
school supposing the yOungster is fit for something
OF 1913 public school graduates who applied for
work 95 were rejected by New York corporation
because they couldn't write legibIy spell accur-
ately. The World says first-year highschool boy,
in a spelling test given by bank wrote: "Releave,
deceive, sve, nfrmation constonation;' and this
BIT of Josh Billings philosophy: Now is prOtish-
time for you to cOnsurve your resOsOus.
New York pays more for the education of its
youth and gets less than any other city earth.
1t pays more, far than all Russia does on its
public school system. 1t yearly appropriation for
education approximates $40000,OOO. There would
be complaint if the result good But it is not.
The teaching methods must be wrong when high
school boy spells so abOminably as the bank test
shows
One employer tells of his experience spread over
period of 10 years In that time he engaged many
ofc boys some direct from school at vacation time,
some through Y. NJ. C. A. branches some through
advertising, through acquaintances. Every
boy he engaged came out of New York school. OF
more than 90 he hired only one wrote a good hand
and was fair in arithmetic. Most of the boys were
utterly useless Some of them had natural bright
ness but school had bunted their desires for knOwl-
edge rather than awakened or developed them. 1t
was tragedy to that amount of human mate
rial had been misused by our socalled public edu-
Gators.
There is too much of politics in the educational
system of New York and too little teaching
There is too much of jugglery and too little of
work
A few years back the Sunday editor of one of the
New York newspapers looked the school re-
ports of his youngest son. The reports were fiat
tering The editor looked at the boys school work.
1t was bad In spelling the boy had erred grossly.
In multiplication division, addition. subtraction he
had made various mistakes. His hand writing was
not satisfactory.
And yet in everything the teacher marked his
work 100 per cent.
To her that child was perfect as pupil.
The editor demanded an explanation. 1t was that
the teacher rated the child by effort not by result
The editor gave page to exhibit the work of his
son and to express his horror of such a system of
schooling. He might as we'll have printed page
blank for all the impression it made on the school
beard.
The rising generation is entitled to be taught and
be taught we'll.
The present generation of New York is entitled
to have its children taught and taught we'll for it
pays $40,000,000 year for that purpose.
The youth of New York should at least have OPP
portunity to be grounded in the three Rs.
To start boy or girl the voyage of life today
without being sound in reading, in writing and
'rithmetic is wrong. very wrong