Conservative. 3
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
EDITOR CONSERVATIVE :
In your issue of August 29 , you say ,
"There seems to be a quite general
opinion that the public schools are very
uncommon , and that they commonly
teach a little of too many things which
are not absolutely necessary to success
in everyday life and not enough of the
few fundamental things like reading ,
spelling , arithmetic and geography
which are essential to even moderate
success in the humblest avocations. . . .
The trend of the practical thinkers of
this day and generation is toward technical -
' nical education. . . . To learn to make
a decent living is to be educated. "
In the same issue you also commend a
letter from Miss McDermott , wherein
she says that agriculture should be
taught in the public schools , by putting
in the right kind of nature study work ;
pupils might be taught to plant fruit
trees , etc. , including care , pruning ,
grafting , etc. , of varieties suited to the
climate.
You say her letter treats of a very
vital and entirely new proposition. I
presume you are not aware of the fact
that at the late session of the legislature
a bill was enacted into law making "the
elements of agriculture , including a
fair knowledge of the structure and
habits of the common plants , insects ,
birds and quadrupeds , " a requirement
for a teacher's second grade certificate
after July 1 , 1908. The bill was en
dorsed by the State Board of Agriculture
and by many of the most prominent
school people of the state. I say that
it was made a "requirement" for a
teacher's certificate.
The school laws of Nebraska require
that provision shall be made by the
proper local school authorities for in
structing the pupils in all schools sup
ported by public money , or under state
control , in physiology and hygiene ,
with special reference to the effects of
alcoholic drinks and other stimulants
and narcotics upon the human system ,
but this is the only subject that is re
quired by law to be taught in the pub
lic schools of the state. Each district
board has the power to cause pupils to
be taught in such branches and classi
fied in such grades or departments as
may seem best adapted to a course of
study which the school boards of any
county shall establish by cue consent
and advice of the county superin
tendent thereof. In nearly all the com
mon school districts of the state each
board has adopted its own course , or
they work without adoption , with the
"expectation that the teacher will teach
the branches in which she has been ex
amined for a certificate , viz. , orthog
raphy , reading , penmanship , geogra
phy , arithmetic , physiology , English
composition , English grammar , and
United States history , and sometimes
civil , government , book-keeping and
drawing.
You say , "First readers for children
con in words of one syllable impart
valuable knowledge just as well as to
inform the urchin to "see the r-a-t ! "
The cat-aud-rat and readers
- - cap-aud-pnn
ers gave way some years ago to others
that deal with leaves and fruit and
flowers and birds. I quote from sev
eral : "I see on oak leaf. " "I have a
red apple. " "I can roll an orange. "
"Do not harm the robin. "
It has been charged that our schools
of today teach less thoroughly than
those of long ago , that we attempt too
many subjects and give but a smatter
ing of each. We may seem to be tend
ing somewhat in that direction , but the
pressure is from without , not from
within the schools. The medical men
demand that a regular system of physi
cal training be used ; the G. A. R. want
military science and drill ; the turnverein -
verein ask for gymnastics ; the clergy
men insist that morality be inculcated
by line and precept ; the W. O. T. U.
has succeeded in introducing formal
teaching of the effects of alcohol , to
bacco , narcotics and stimulants ; the
women's clubs beg for domestic sci
ence , the sewing guilds for needle-work ,
the trades for manual training , the
business world for stenography and
typewriting , the editors for current
events , the artists for picture study
the musical world for music ,
and the farmer for the elements
of agriculture.
One of the gravest problems pre
sented to our rural school teachers and
their county superintendents is the de
sire of many school boards and patrons
to introduce into the rural schools high
school subjects. School people gener
ally understand that these subjects can
not be taught there without great detri
ment to the work and instruction of the
little folks , but in my rounds this sum
mer I have found many places where it
is demanded of the teachers that they
instruct classes in algebra , civics , and
physical geography , in addition to
thirty or more classes in reading , arith
metic , spelling , geography , etc.
The demands of our modern civiliza
tion are great. Two or three genera
tions ago it was not necessary for the
youth to study the sciences there was
but little known of them to study.
Today the well-educated youth must be
familiar with modern machinery , with
common business practice , with affairs
of state , and the latest scientific dis
coveries. "With the telegraph and cable
connecting all the cities of the world ,
with the telephone soon to connect all
its farm houses , with steam-ships and
steam-cars and electric cars connecting
all its cities , great and small , with mil
lion-dollar bridges spanning all its
great rivers , and with its vast commer
cial enterprises , there is no end or limit
to the practical knowledge that may be
gathered. The amount of it appals one ,
and I am fain to believe that the nearer
our schools keep to the rudiments and
the elements , to careful training and
right habits , both of discipline and
study , the bettor they are.
You endorse technical education and
agriculture , others endorse various
things. Who is to bo the judge ? Must
the school people teach everything that
is demanded ?
It is true there is poor and indifferent
work as well as excellent work done in
the school rooms of Nebraska , but this
is true in every state of the Union , in
every country of the world , and it al
ways has been true. There is always
good , bad and indifferent work in every
other walk and avocation of life , in
every trade and other profession , and
with less excuse for it ; for in many of
the trades and the other professions
there is more regular , systematic and
professional training for the work than
we find for teaching. In the 8,000
school rooms in Nebraska this month we
will find nearly 2,600 teachers who have
had no experience whatever , and not
more than 350 of this number have had
any special training for the work. A
few other statistics gathered from the
last reports made to the state depart
ment of public instruction may bo in
teresting and valuable in discussion , but
it is my purpose to present the statistics
only and leave the discussion to others.
I will give the figures in round numbers
with one , .two or three ciphers that
comparison may be more easily made in-
simple ratios.
Nebraska employs annually over 9,000
teachers , including only 2,000 male
teachers. They ore employed for an
average of 27 weeks in the year at an
average salary of less than $88 for each
four weeks. Think of it ! The average
yearly salary of teachers in this state is
$255 , and only this morning a teacher
informed me that her room rent and
board cost her $312 per annum. It is
true she receives a salary much above
the average , but it .is also true that
many receive a salary far. below the
average. Less than 1,000 of our teach
ers hold first grade county certificates ,
about 5,600 hold second grade certificates
and 1,000 hold third grade certificates.
The others hold professional life cer
tificates or university or normal school
diplomas. The 90 county super
intendents in the state receive annually
a total compensation of $80,000. The
average life of a Nebraska school teacher
as a teacher , is three years. Each year
we find in our school rooms about 2,500
who have had no experience whatever ,
1,800 who have taught one year , 1,200
who have taught two * years , 800 who
have taught three years , 500 who have
taught four years , and about 2,000 who
have taught five years or more.
There are 0,700 school districts in the
