The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-04-22
OUR EYES OPENED

| leads US to infer that Adam and Eve
were considerably the worse off for
having that optical operation per-
formed on them-but then we never
was as innocent as they were, any,
| how.
All our life, we have labored under
the impression that a few things
| learned well were worth more than
many things only half or a quarter,
or perchance a tenth, learned. And
it has seemed to US that that impress
sion was impressed upon us by read
ing the opinion of the wise men of
! antiquity, as well as that of those of
later date; it also seemed to be the
theory of the practical men we have
met during our terrestrial career.
We have tried to apply this theory
to public school affairs, and have
found to our surprise and sorrow that
it has met the stern reputation of
the educational caste. We have harp
ed on it rather freely of late, because
it has seemed like a chord that need
ed harping on right smart. There
is no doubt that we have been having
a parrot and monkey time in school
matters. On one side is a band of
teachers working for salaries entire
ly too small not only in proportion to
the value of their services, but also
in proportion to their imperative ex-
penses. On the other side are the tax
payers, loaded to the limit of endur-
ance, and with heavier burdens stack
ing up In plain sight.
So it seemed to US, when we looked
over the educational program, and
noticed number of studies that we
were sure the students would never
use, and some that we had made GER
tain by close questioning that they
forgot in few years after leaving
school-said studies, however, requir-
ing expensive books and taking time
of both pupils and teachers-that it
would be pretty good play to cut
them out. We thought that with
fewer studies the students could
learn faster and remember longer,
that there would not have to be so
many teachers TO pay nor SO many
books to buy; consequently what
teachers there were could be better
paid and the public school patrons
would not be so heavily taxed. When
we mentioned this program, it seemed
to have the cheerful appreciation of
/ most taxpayers and public school
students, but when we tried to recon-
mend it to the teachers we found we
were up against it. They called US
| everything but a bolshevik, and the
only reason they did not call US that
was because at that time the word
was not in their dictionaries. They
had but one remedy for all evils, and
that was more money, which, as we
| all know, is obtained for public pur-
i poses only by taxation.
We had never been able to under
stand why what we considered bust
ness-like and commonsense solution
of this problem should receive such
fierce opposition, amounting some
times to abuse as rank as we have
ever excited in politics, tho our
schools are supposed to be out of and
our school teachers above politics. But
this friend of ours, to whom we allud-
ed at the beginning of this spiel. shed
/ light on the subject. Discussing
school affairs with him, and abiding
to the superfuity of studies, how USE
! less some were and often forgotten In
! few years, he told us that no stu
dent was expected to remember all he
OF she was taught, and that this ex-
cess of study was principally for the
purpose. of developing the youthful
mind.
Now, if some stranger had told US
this, we would have slipped to the
telephone and passed the word to the
sheriff that there was an escape from
i Chattahoochee in the neighborhood.
But this valued friend of ours is edu-
Gated and disinterested and of more
than usual intellect. In many things,
we would trust his Judgment before
our own. So when he dropped the
aforesaid chunk of information into
our ear we simply gasped and sat
down on the sidewalk to recover our
breath. And as soon as our dazed
wits began to work. we realized that
we had at last got wise to the great
Florida education theory. 1t works in
exactly with the words and the ac-
tions of those, or most of them, to
whom the education of our children is
entrusted.
But is it right?
We trow not, and we believe the
opinion of the great majority of men
and women outside the teacher class
is with US.
It is our belief that children need
] to be led to thinking, and not to be
driven thru it. We do not believe there
is any wisdom in teaching a child any
thing it is likely to forget, and that
will be useless if it is remembered.
The world is full of useful things for
children to learn. If they are taught
the basic principles, and taught them
well, their own minds will do the rest
and do it better than any teacher can
drill into them something they do not
care to know.
Any farmer knows that it is better