The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1919-03-27
Cooperation in schools.

Tn recent days Kenosha people have
heard lot about lack Of cooperation
in Schools. From statements which
have been made one might thin4 that
some of the teachers walk around a
block rather than meet one of their
superiors and that others have a chip
on their shoulder most Of the time with
a defiant call to some one else to knock
the chip off.
Undoubtedly the idea Of lack Of CO.
operation has been considerably if not
grossly exaggerated. It's mighty easy
to make a mountain out Of a mole hill
in anything connected with schools
Boys and girls carry stories very rap
idly and any little break in discipline
at the schools usually gets the full
measure of publicity and gets it quick.
Tt is just possible that school heads
may disagree in regard to methods to
he followed. We wouldn It give much
for a school director VINO had no ideas
of his or her own. Tt is ideas that the
city tries to buy when it buys the
services of these people. Some of the
ideas may be excellent and it is with
schools, Just like everything else, that
two heads arc better than one. The
real sort of cooperation that the people
want is the cooperation that is de-
veloped through differences of opinion
Two people may not think exactly alike
and there may be elements of great val
ue in the opinions of each Of them. The
real value of cooperation is to take
the best Of the ideas of both and com
bine them into one central and con-
trolling idea for the betterment of the
schools.
School teachers have their faults,
like the rest of us, they are human.
They may even insist in having opin-
ions which do not coincide exactly with
tho opinions of members of the Board
of Education. Of course it is just pos
sible that some Of these people are a
lot better able to have the opinions
worth while than the members of the
board az education. Unfortunately
the state law does not recognize the
fact that school teacher may know
lot more about how to run q school
than the members Of the school board.
The school board member is usually not
a school man or school woman. Usu-
ally he is some fellow not quite big
enough to be an alderman but one who
insists on getting into training for
such a Job. TTe feels that he has au-
authority and he has Lots Of times
the school commissioner has too much
authority and too little knowledge Of
what is best for the development of a
school system.
The new broom sweeps clean and in
another nth we are going to have a
rev 3, ia Of Education. 1t is only
fair to suggest to this new board that
it establish system of cooperation
netween the board and the actual direc-
tors of the work of the schools. This
would mean that school directors at
tended the meetings of the Board of
Education and that members of the
Board of Education attend meetings of
the teachers. Let the school board
get some first hand knowledge as to
lhow the schools arc managed and why
they are managed that way rather than
depending on the gossip of the street
for their information The work of the
Board Of Education in cooperation
with the directing heads Of the schools
lis the biggest thing in the city of
Kenosha. 1t can not be made real
force unless some of the members of
the board, at, least, have an intelligent
idea of what the teachers are trying
to do. Earnest cooperation between
these two great educational elements
can mean a lot for the betterment Of
the city schools and lack of this CO.
operation is pretty certain to wreck the
school system. 1t is time to get rid
Of the chip on the shoulder even if
Is is necessary to get rid of the school
commissioner or the school teachers
who insists on having a shoulder wait
ing for the chip. A trouble maker new
er gets result. He can always make
trouble but his product never makes
any school system any better. Intelli-
gent criticism and indiscriminate
knocking" are entirely different