The Daily Alaska empire., 1932-11-03

| ors deliberately attempt to fail from one-fourth to one-third of the freshmen.
 MT. Keller admitted that the high school which had sent out only one pupil received the highest rank, according to his study. Do the voters believe that this high school is the best high school in the Territory? Do they believe that it is better than the high schools which have graduated scores of pupils? If his survey of the school buildings is as unscienti- fic as the rest of his survey, his term of office has been an entire failure.
 MT. Keller boasts that he is ma tionally known giving as proof, that his name appears in Who's Who in American Education" list gotten up by a commercial concern to get money from gullible school men; practically every superin- tendent and high school principal is circulated, and the list is com posed most of small-town superin- tendents and high school principals. Probably no other person except MT Keller, knows that he is na- tionally known.
 The real Who's Who" in Am erican education, is the Phi Delta Kappa Directory, list gotten out by the leading educators them selves. The Phi Delta Kappa is an honorary fraternity, having chap ters in the education departments of the various colleges and uni versailles, and membership may be had only by invitation. This has the names of six Alaska school men, including that of A. E. Karnes, while MT. Keller's name is not listed.
 MT. Keller also claims to have. established Regional High Schools" in Kodiak, Seldovia, and other places. MT. Henderson's last report shows that there were high school pupils in these places. as does MT. Breuer's; all that MT. Keller has done is to use the word Regional in connection with the schools He did not start the high school work in these places; they were started by former Commissioners.
 The present Commissioner also claims to have established a build ing program; MT. Henderson had a very definite building program es- tablished when he left, and had blue prints of three types of rural school buildings ready for use whenever buildings were to be put up In fact, every claim that the present Commissioner has made as to new departures in the Territorial schools, is found to be untrue, and it, is found that they were insti- tuted by former Commissioners. If his claims of having saved thou sands of dollars during his ad- ministration were investigated, no doubt they would prove to be un- true also; he has given out no figures as yet, to prove his claim. On the other hand, the Auditors office shows that his miscellaneous expenses have increased 759o over that of the other Commissioners. | Anyone who has read the Alaska School Bulletin, edited by the Com missioner of Education, and paid for by the Territory, cannot help but see that during Keller's ad- ministration, he has used it as a propaganda sheet, advancing his own political interests
 The March, 1882, issue, has a full page devoted to his "21 accomplish ments," many of them purely imag- mary. In others, he boasts of making the most extended trip I over the Territory ever made by any holder of the office" and of getting the State Department of Education at Olympia, Washington, to recognize Alaska teaching ex- |perience when it had always been recognized except for one year, and then the change was made through the efforts of MT Breuer,- year before Keller took office In the September, 1892. issue, he says "At last, Alaska teachers have been exempt from the Federal Income Tax on their teachers salaries" two Ketchikan teachers received the same notice four years ago.
 It is significant that both MT Breuer and MT. Henderson, former holders of the office, are support ing Mr. Karnes for the position in the election. MT. Henderson, in part, says:
 T feel personally that MT Karnes would make a much better Com missioner of Education from every standpoint of his past experience his education, his personality, his fairness. and his superior vision oi real aim of education in Alaska ol anywhere else. I fail to see how the present Commissioner of Edu- cation could possibly inspire either pupils or teachers, as should be ] dntno laxr tl,n i,,n,,.,,los,t 4l.<