Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-26
Geographic News
Bulletins BY the
National Geographic Society
SCHOOL HISTORY


when the sunburned vacation
lad picks up his school books he
recks little of the a of strug-
gle and slow development that have
given him the excellent public
school system of today" says the
National Geographic Society in a
bulletin issued from its Washington.
d. c., headquarters.
sit took years to break down
the prejudice against building up
a free institution where the rich and
the poor alike might obtain i~nstruc-
ton, and in some of the colonies
the fight was a more formidable
one than in others. Massachusetts,,
always serious in purpose because
her settlers had come primarily to
make a permanent home in the new
world in 1647 passed a law requir-
ing every town of fifty householders
to maintain a teacher who could in
struct pupils in reading and writing.
More pretentious communities of
n hundred householders should
have a grammar school. Connecti-
cut, top fell in line with much the
same law in 1850.
INV hDAtthA
New York was not so progress
sive In the early days because there
was disagreement between the Eng
lish and Dutch settlers as to how
the school system should be worked
out. New Jersey was wiser in her
generation and in 1896 passed laws
providing for the establishment of
schools. The problem in Pennsyl-
ania NJ ,ottph thA CatnNn o0 fhaf
in New York, and in most of the
Colonies the difficulties under which
poor Ichabod Crane labored in get
ting his meals out among the pat
rons of his school existed as vivid
realities, the support of the school
as well as Of the master depending
almost entirely upon h generosity
of the patrons Of the master de-
pending almost entirely upon the
generosity of the patrons.
I'm the South it may be said that
there were virtually no public
schools prior to the Revolution and
few before the Civil War. While
England still governed the Atlantic
seaboard one of her kings, through
the Commissioners for the Foreign
Plantations, inquired into the state
of education in his possessions. The
reply of Governor William Berkeley
of Virginia, together with his noto-
rious behavior in suppressing Ba-
cons rebellion, ire perhaps the two
things which make him remem
bered in the annals of history. 1
thank God there are no free schools
or printing press and I hope we
shall not have, these hundred
years.
Connecticut a Pioneer
"On the other hand ~Connecticut's
governor PROUDLY answered, one
fourth the annual revenue of the
colony is laid out in maintaining
free schools for the education of our
children But in this connection
it must always be remembered that
as long as slavery existed in the
South and the plantations were
large and very far apart, the COM
mon schoo! could not exist. And
even today, as was the case after
the emancipation of negroes, the
South has her problem in that she
maintains separate schools for the
different elements of her popula-
ton.
But from the time of Washing.
ton and Jefferson it gradually be-
came apparent that the system
| would prove one of the most effec-
tive institutions in determining the
character of our national life. And
that fact is probably what was in
mind of the Father of his Country
when he said in his Farewell Ad-
dress, Promote then, a 8 an object
of primary importance, institutions
| for the general diffusion of knowl-
| edge. In proportion as the struc-
ture Of a government gives force tc
public opinion, it is essential thai
public opinion be enlightened
when common schools were first
founded in America, it Is doubtful
whether any such farseeing purpose
was in the minds Of the more pious
among New Englanders, however
The Connecticut statute of 1861
does not fail to enlighten us as tt
the true purpose, for it states that
1T being one chief project Of tina
old deluder, Satan, to keep mer
from a knowledge of the Scripture:
= " = and that learning may not bt
buried in the grave Of cur fore
fathers public schools should b.
provided for.
How European Schools Differ
'They were democratic at least tt
the point of demanding that thu
same sort Of training should b'
available to everpone-a definlt'
departure from the system that hat
been gradually growing Up in Ger
many and in other places on tn
continent, where even until the tim
of the World War, though the coun
try is classed as n Of the mos
l~iterate, the boy or girl Of the com
mon family from age OF six wen
to the Volkeschule and the boy o
the aristocratic family at the sam
age went to their respective schoo
houses the line of social distinction
was sharply drawn. A professor o
one of the most learned universitie
in that country remarked in aston
ishment upon the number of stu
dents in American high schools
Such a number of students in Ger
man higher schools would be tn
gravest kind of a social menace
perhaps .one of the most inter
esting phases and in a sense n o
the most distinctive of the American
system is that the schools in tn
various states have developed aloni
independent and individual lines. A
a consequence there has been
friendly rivalry, which togethe
with suggestions derived from tn
experience of each other. has mad
the American system of publ
schools such a vital factor in mould
ing loyal American citizens and il
placing the system itself in the
forefront among public schools tn
would over"