The Washington herald., 1922-05-08
us. SCHOOL HEADS
pEPLORE DISTRICT
EDUCATION SYSTEM
Tigert Declares City Gov
ernment Control Is
Faulty.
ASK BUSINESS CHIEF
Herald Investigation Points
Out Need for Entire New
Machinery Here.
Continued From Page Que.

ration of the school system from
the District government. While
this Is in keeping with the practice
of. the vast majority Of large Amer
lean cities. it also relieves public
ofhcials. who have no connect on
with the schools, Of the RESPONSE
bility of cutting estimates on which
they have no personal Information.
Recognition by other cities that
public education Is equally import
ant with police and fire protection.
and construction OF streets and
SIDEWALKS. has resulted in placing
schools on an equal plane. Sepa-
ration Of the schools from the city
government and appointment OF tho
Board Of Education In the same
manner that COmmiss 'Oners are
named will place the school system
ou plane with the police and fire
departments.
.sAttentiOn is called to the fact
that the Commissioners Of the Dis
trict OF Columbia are constantly
occupied with the duties of their
RESPECTIVE Offices. Work n theT
own departments prevents their
making personal investigation OF
the schools. In view of this, IL is
pointed out by educators that il is
unreasonable to impose on these
officials the responsibility Of re-
ducinS a school budget prepared
by experts.
Plan Lends Dignity.
= Reference to the above charts
show the simplifications provided
II nthe proposed plan. The Board
OF Education will be responsible
to the head Of the ely government,
the President. in the same manner
as the Commissioners. They are
appointed 1 nthe same manner. The
necessity of submitting school
budgets to the Commissioner is re-
moved. Educators declare tat this
cannot be emphasized too strongly.
BY placing the power to fix the
school budget DIN control of hose
most interested in the welfare OF
the schools, il will also place the
power In the hands OF those best
Informed. the Board of Education.
IL is believed that appointment OF
the Board of EGucaiO nby the
President will lend a dignity to the
position that will 4insure its ac-
ceptance by the most capable citi-
zens
Control of the educational func-
tions of the schools by the board
Is designed to place the vital re-
sponsibility of raining children in
the hands of skilled educators
Under the present system the
lives of thousands of children are
Influenced by school policies in
stituted by men whose work does
not qualify them function IA
educaOTs.
business Manager Needed.
business man as assistant su-
perlntendent of schools. proposed in
the above program, is regarded as
essential to efficient administra tion.
Under the present system the busf-
ness Of the entire school system is
handled by the Superintendent of
Schools and four other officials.
Each Of these men has educational
duties whose Importance should re-
quire constant attention. The su-
perintendent is not empowered to
change this situation. and as a re-
suit the business management of
schools Is divided into FIVE, unco-
ordinated parts. Inefficiency and
duplication of work results.
Speaking of thes system Of public
Instruction in Washington ]. ].
Tigert, United States Commissioner
of Education, said" there is some
thing wrong with the school sys-
tenn in Washington. II you could
eliminate the troubles of teachers
salaries. buildings. Fairgrounds.
etc, by large appropriations for
the netx twenty years. I think that
under the present school machin-
cry the schools would deterioate
and you would still find yourself
in a bad position.
ID. c. system FIayed.
school boards that are RESPONSE
bic to any city officers he con-
tinued. have been uniformally
failure. That has been the expert
ence all through the country. The
whole thing should be reorSanIzed
SO that school men will be given
authority to carry out their pro-
gram. and then they can be held
responsible. The present system is
ineNcusehly had. II is efficient and
wastefuI and is directly RESPONSE
BILE for failure to keep Washington
schools abrest Of current progress
r. IN other cities. The permanent
solution lies In comforting RESPONSE
bility for control and management
of schools upon non-paid lay
board of education appointed in the
same manner as the District Com
missioners- There are certain prin-
ciples Of education that are funda-
mental The plan of fiscal indepen-
dence for boards as an accepted and
successful plan OF administration
Other authorities on education
express like opinions. The Ency-
clopedia Of Education SAYS of
Washington schools. the confusion
existing in the public schools OF the
District OF Columbia is hardly
creditable. Authority and RESPONSE
oiity are hopelessly tied up with
red tape. The methods in use are
entirely inadequate to the task. An
attempt Is made to manage a large
city school system by small town
methods Educational conditions in