The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-11-29


The superintendent as a body have
likewise taken more active part in
tthe discussion and formulation OF
courses of study. SkilfuI workman.
/ ship of the greatest value has sigma
iized the entrance Of these educational
1 experts upon the higher functions OF
| their Office as they Rave exhibited
both zeal and patience in fostering
those experiments and tests which are
! demanded BY the best educational
! thought Of our day, In nothing per
! haps has this body of able men been
more helpful than I'm developing an
esprit du corps which has assured a
fair trial for every undertaking de
cided upon by the department of pub
lie instruction. No superintendent has
been content to have 1t said that any
enterprise was too difficult for his
division. Nevertheless this fruitful
spirit of emulation has never descend :
ed to envy nor has IL tended TO create
Ia dictatorship among democrats.
school Leagues.
Second. the school leagues have
been brought in closer touch with the
actual work Of the schools and their
leading officers have been invited to
take part in our neu plans and enter
prises. both state and tctai. Tho pc
culiar advantages Of having an or
genizatton Hike this which links the
home and the school SO closely togeth-
er were never SO we'll eaempiified as
in the novel aud exacting experiences
of the war. Indeed, II seems evident
tAat the Cooperative Education asso,
citation has been rated--dra ftad shal !
say--by the federal authorities as
q modified body OF social workers
ready for service instead or an aggre-
CATION Of volunteers waiting for the
moulding influences or this national
government.
Teachers Associations.
Third. the locn teachers aasocia
lions have been stimulated to renewed
and inrr eased activity. the sweep OF
our plans contemplating intensive ac-
ttvity not somewhere but every where
in each county and city of the common
wealth We have frequently wished
that It might be possible for the pres
ldent Of tho state Teachers assocla~
non and also the president OF the
School Trustees association. 10 take
part in our monthly conferences in the
department OF public Instruction.
The local teachers association is
TN its infancy. Its roesibf'ities admit
Of almost infinite development AS
teachers grow professionally. thej
Teachers association win become more
end more natural and more aud more
influential, Here as nowhere else, per
haps. woman should learn to make her
voice beard as many an anwise nrj
wastefui pedagogic step might be pre-
vented by listening 20 her gentle coun-
sci and prohting By the results of her
vide experience IN actual teaching
The Collective Voice of Teachers.
magnify The collective voice 81
teachers Nothing serves so ~eH to
correct the possible tSranntes OF lead
srshIp, the stubborn insistenee of doc
trinairee and the derIorAhls tfmfdtty of
young eachere Amid all Of the nohla
dreams and qalxottc notions concern i
Ing education, we may confidently 81
pect thar the Teachers association with
it's Intelligent discussions and onen
voting-the best expression OF damoc-
raey--wtil And way TO separate the
wheat from the chat and to purge
with hyssop the great educational
system Of the stats upcn which our
hopss depend
Sanitation.
The nrst assignment OF lsrge+ pro
portions under this dsnnIte policy OF
which have spoken felt most heavily
upon tire shoulders Of the trustees. ss
II concerned the Yof atcss bstternlemt or
school property t'ew will fail to re
member the statewide effort to provide
sanitary conditions for every school
building IN the commonwealth. doubt
II a similar attempt was ever mad
before over such wide area i'm such
azure that none was ever crowned with
3 batter measure OF success
Enrolment.
Our second effort WIS so inereas~
enrolment BY means Of appropriate
lie gisiative action the door Of the
schoolhouse was rpensd in Virginia as
ia other states to children six years of !
urged 10 enter anon q statewide cen
test TO increase enrolment. AS a re-
SUIT our enrolment increased nearly /
aoNoo in 1--WE years-
ttllte-&ry.
Our third undertaking was the fe~
dueticn Of illiteracy Having shown /
how the enrolment was increased |
testimony OF the 1915 census to show
that Juvenile iliiteracy including white
and negroes. Was reduced from 1f-1 PEI
cent Virginia eensus) in 1919 10 500
per cent in 1915.
Despite these encouraging figures /
we cannot feel wholly contented when (
We recall that there are Yet a.o00 white /
and $4,000 colored iiliteratas who re- /
main as serious menace to the wei !
fare Of Virginia, Every critical refer /
cnee we make 70 iliiteracy is but /
another plea for 3n attendance law
Every success We achieve In narrow
ms the limits of darkness emphasizes 4
the necessity for immediate legislative
action to enable us TO complete our
task.
Compulsory Attendance.
Under modern conditions and the
sway of the almost universal desire 10
have some educN<ion and attendance
Jaw is far more compulsory upon the
state than upon the Individual 1t
simply compels the state to go out into
he highways and hedges and force the
or the unthinking parent TO
perform vital duty in giving the
,hild an education that will inure to
ITS own weilbeinS and the general
Welfare of the state.
trrhe southern mind must be edu-
associated the idea OF parental r~spon
'ibiiity for child's education with the
'acred principle of states rights in the
arger political relations. Jeaiousiy |
foes 1t guard the home from govern
mental interference just rs II was won't
% guard the state from federal inter-
ference, Times change however, and
= Q must change with them. Nearly all
he Southern states have secured good
attendance laws. statewide In their APP
,lication. and II looks now as IL vir-
ginia may find herself In tho unen-
liable position of being the only
american state. or province perhaps.
githaut- mn eHa Srhrnf