Evening star., 1922-10-15
Superintendent Declares
Present System Blocking
Progress of Education.
RED TAPE RESPONSIBLE
FOR NUMEROUS DELAYS
Congress Partly to Blame for Re
fusing Necessary Funds,
He Says.

in the concluding section of his an
nual report which was made publ,
last night. This system. tho super
, !ntendent held directly responsible.
for the unsatisfactory education;ll
progress in Washington
Numerous cases of irregularitiee
red tape and the division of authorit;-
under the system were cited by D-
Ballou, who pointed out that IF tn"
school system is to lie lifted to Il
plane OF greater efficiency, and is ="
become q model for the city sch2nl
systems of the country, il must b..
organized, operated and maintainel
according to those principles OF eff
cient administration which have bee.
worked out III practice and are no
in operation in many cities of Il,
country"
Scores Delay in LeEislatfon.
Educational conditions in Wasa-
ington have been more or less ur-
satisfactory for = long period q:
time" declared the superintendent.
ANY one who examines the educa-
tional history OF the city will i'll
evitably reach the conclusion thai
educational progress is slow, not b.-
cause of superficial or passing con-
ditions, but because the present pIaa
of organizing, operating and main
tanning the school system of Wash
ington does not conform to funds-
mental principles of efficient admin
istration."
DR.. Baliou scored the methods OF
making school appropriations, en-
phasiZing that in no other American
city as there to be found such =
system of making school appropria-
tions." He also condemned the de-
lay OF school legisla ton in Congress
and declared that the school apprc-
priations depend very largely on the
five men on the subcommittee of the
House appropriations committee.
After referring to the various meas
ures pertaining to the schools now
in Congress. the superintendent said
that the necessity of securing :"
gress can be reduced by the enac--
ment of bread comprehensive
school code for the District. In that
CODE" the report stated. the Con-
missioners of the District of Colun-
bia and the board of education should
be given the authority to discharge
many Of the administrative functions
which must now be discharged by
Congress through specific legisia-
ton
Charges that the auditor of III"
District has in more than one in
stance endeavored to determine the
eligibility of appointees to positions
under the control of the board OF
education are contained in the re
port.
THE act Of June 90, 1906, prescribe
certain qualifications prerequisite Ia
the appointment of persons to teach
ing positions, and the board OF educs-
ton is not authorized to make the
appointment of any person who may
not have the prerequisite qualifica-
tions," said Or. Bailou. "Sotwith-
standing this fact the auditor OF the
District of Columbia reserves TO him
self the right to pass upon the elig-
bflity of all persons appointed IA
teaching positions. and the board "i
education is not only required to cer-
t;fy to the auditor the fact that an aI'-
pointment has been made. but also L.
certify all the technical and educationa
qualifications which are prescribed
by the statutes and which the board Of
education is not permitted to waive"
DeplOres Red Tape.
I'm one instance the board of eou-
cation appointed a teacher in the high
schools who was eminently qualified
for the position, not only by reasoI
of his education, but by reason OF
his many years of experience tr
teaching. This person. who had
graduated from the regular course In
one of the highest European insti-
tutions, did not possess degree from
q college. as technically provided by
the statutes, but in the opinion OF
the board of education the certificate
which he had from the European il
stftution from which he had gradu-
ated were in every sense che sans
"a the degree conferred by Ameri-
can institutions of higher learning
When these facts were certified te
the auditor of the District of CO.
lumbia, he declared the appointee il.
eligible to be appointed as a teacher
in the public school system.
rThe board of education was COM
pelled to solicit the cooperation OF
the United States bureau of educa'
ton and TO enter into a lengthy dis
cussion of the technical educationa-
qualifications with the auditor Of th'
District Of Co3lznbia before that Off
cisl could be persuaded that ths
board of education had acted within
its prerogatives under the statutes il
determining the eligibility of this
teacher.
THE auditor of the District of Co
lumbia also claims and reserves e
himself the right to determine th'
salaries to be paid to teachers whs,
lK IContnued on Page 8. Column p
s n 8