Year: 1877

It will surprise many of our readers to be in


formed that in Massachusetts, of all States IN
the Union, there is decided and Increasing
dissatisfaction with the Common School system
as there administered. Thirty gentlemen met
10 consider the system in Boston last Friday,
and some of them said hard things about it
that children trained under it " could not apply
"practicaly what they learned" so that some
of them, in frst-class grammar schools, coulu
"not read ordinary matter, such IA may be found
4" in the daily newspapers" One gentleman
described the education of the present DAY as
"a poor article purchased at high price,"
Another spoke of 1.-THE ease with which teach
GERS could deceive committees in the absence
"of proper tests" The complaint was maze
also that "much of what was learned was
"lcarned by rote, and was useless to the pu-
"pis;r while the head of Normal school
asserted that many pupils came to HIM with
"out n proper knowledge of the common
branches of education"


But if this meeting was dissatisfied with the
present condition of the schools, it was not at
a loss for remedy, viz: " system of coun-
"ty supervision by trained specialists" VINO
should stand between the teachers and the
school committeeman, the latter having eX-
hausted their capabilities of carrying forward
the work, and the time having come Tor
scientific educators to have charge OF the
schools. The dissatisfaction seems to be main
" with the school committees. We suppose
that to some extent it must be admitted that
these officers are not what they should be
that they are frequently ignorant and unlntel-
ligent. and that too often they are selected TOR
personal or political reasons, and with but mt
tie regard for their actual qualifications. AT
the same time it should be remembered
that the common schools Of Alassachu-
sets. as well as of many other States,
have actually accomplished work the
MAGNITUDE of which it would be unfair to un-
derrate. 1t is a great fallacy to deduce the IN
efficiency Of the system from the ignorance be-
trayed in individual cases. The result OF the
Massachusetts school teaching must be found
in the average intelligence and enlightenment
of the public. Public education snot designed
to make whole body polite of profound
scholars but to promote the highest possible
degree of general culture.


The Massachusetts critics may say what they
please of their own people within their own
borders, but they would hardly acquiesce if
outside fault-fnders should assert that the in
habtants of that State are generally ignorant.
Indeed, to say so would be to utter an untruth.
We are far from supposing that there Is no
opportunity of improving these or any other
schools but when the best has been done, it
will be found that district school is not
university, and that majority of those who
20 through either school or university will be
remarkable less for special scholarship than
for requirements which we might, although not
in by any means a bad sense, call mediocre.
The public school is designed to promote gen
eral learning, and not profound and exceptional
erudition. This comes only of the devotion OF
lifetime to special study. Our systems of
teaching undoubtedly lack scientific method,
and if this want can be supplied by the exper-


ment which is proposed, the friends of educa-
ton everywhere will be glad to see it tried.