Page images
PDF
EPUB

to the preservation of our free institutions, that if the obligations which rest upon every good citizen in this particular are disregarded, the persons having the custody of such children ought to be visited with such disabilities as will induce them, from interest if not from principle, to cause the children to be instructed, at least in reading, writing and arithmetic. Intelligence has been regarded as the vital principle of a free government, and every parent, guardian or master, who neglects or refuses to give the children under his charge the advantages of a common school education, particularly in cases where the instruction is offered "without money and without price," is as much an offender against the state, as the man who refuses to perform any other duty which is deemed essential to the preservation of our liberties."

On the 15th day of January, 1833, JOHN A. DIx was appointed secretary of state and Superintendent of Common Schools, Mr. Flagg having been promoted to the office of comptroller. During the administration of the latter, a period of seven years, the number of school districts in the state had increased from 7,773 to 9,600; the number of children instructed in them, from 425,586 to 494,959, and the proportion of the number of children taught to the whole number residing in the several districts, from 100 to 93, to 250 to 249. The amount of public money annually appropriated for the payment of the wages of approved teachers, had increased from $182,790.09 to $305,582.78. The external organization and internal details of the system had received the fostering care and enlightened attention of the most practical and discriminating minds of the state; and the unequalled rapidity with which districts sprung up in every section of the state, and children of all ages and classes were gathered into the common schools, sufficiently indicate the general appreciation of the advantages and merits of the system, on the part of the people generally. To untiring industry and great efficiency, Mr. Flagg united an eminently practical mind, which enabled him, in the midet of numerous and plausible projects for the elevation and improvement of the system of popular education, to select and recommend those only which promised the realization of the hopes and aspirations of the sound and judicious friends of the common schools; and accordingly, while steadfastly setting his face against the adoption of an uniform series of text books, and of a state seminary for the instruction of teachers, as impracticable in the existing state of things, he strongly urged the adoption of a more efficient and vigorous system of inspection and supervision, and several years in advance of any direct movement on the subject, recommended the publication and distribution of suitable books for the diffusion of useful knowledge, among the several school districts of the state.

During his administration of the common school department, the foundations were laid of those equitable principles upon which the various controversies growing out of the several school laws, were adjusted by the decisions of the Superintendent. Up to this period, no records of the adjudications of this officer had been kept; and the various questions almost daily presented for settlement had been determined upon their specific merits, without apparently any attempt to reduce the system to unity and harmo ny, or to establish and maintain general principles of interpretation and decision. The decisions of Mr. Flagg, and his successor, Gen. Dix, were in 1887, collected by the latter and published, for the benefit of the several of ficers connected with the administration of the system throughout the state; and they have not only served as a basis for the determination of the numerons and complicated questions which have since arisen, but have exercised a highly beneficial influence upon the councils and proceedings of the officers and inhabitants of the several districts, by repressing litigation, by defining the powers, privileges and responsibilities of those called to the performance of any duty in relation to the common schools, and by the introduction and settlement of fixed principles of interpretation, applicable to almost every emergency likely to arise in the practical operation of the system.

From the annual report of Gen. Dix, as Superintendent of Common Schools, made on the 8th of January, 1834, it appeared that there were 9,690 school districts in the state, from 9,107 of which reports had been made in accordance with law. The number of children between the ages of five and sixteen, residing in the several districts from which reports were received, was 522,618; and the whole number of children taught in the several district schools, was 512,475; being an increase of 17,516 over the number thus instructed during the preceding year. In reference to the amount of the public funds provided for the support of common schools, the Superintendent expresses his opinion that the sum ($100,000) distributed among the several districts, was as great as was necessary to accomplish every object of such a distribution. "Experience in other states," he observes, "has proved what has been abundantly confirmed by our own, that too large a sum of public money distributed among the common schools has no salutary effect. Beyond a certain point, the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants decline in amount with almost uniform regularity as the contributions from a public fund increase." "Should the general fund at any future day be recruited so as to admit of an augmentation of the capital or revenue of the common school fund, or both, the policy of increasing the sum annually distributed to the common schools, beyond an amount which shall, when taken in connection with the number of children annually taught in them, exceed the present rate of apportionment, would be in the highest degree questionable."

With respect to the preparation of teachers for the common schools, the Superintendent concurs generally in the views of his predecessor, that the several academies in the state, aided by liberal appropriations for this purpose from the literature fund, are abundantly adequate to the accomplishment of the object in view; that the establishment of one or more teachers' seminaries, devoted exclusively to this subject, would be impracticable without requiring the districts not only to employ such teachers when prepared, but to provide them with an adequate compensation-neither of which measures would for a moment be tolerated; and that the demand on the part of the districts for teachers of a higher degree of qualification will be met by a corresponding supply from the academies, whenever sufficient inducements are held out to the latter to devote a large portion of their attention to the preparation of such teachers. An enlightened appreciation, on the part of inhabitants of districts generally, of the functions and responsibilities of teachers-a determination to secure the highest order of talent, and to provide an adequate compensation and a disposition to elevate the character and advance the social rank of the teacher, by assigning him that station in the regards of the community which is due to the dignity and utility of his profession; these are regarded as indispensable pre-requisites to the success of any system which contemplates the specific preparation

of teachers.

On the subject of the adoption of a uniform series of text books for the use of schools, the Superintendent also adopts the views of his predecessors, discountenancing such a measure as impracticable and unjust.

In reference to the establishment of DISTRICT LIBRARIES, the Superintendent observes:

"If the inhabitants of school districts were authorized to lay a tax upon their property for the purpose of purchasing libraries for the use of the district, such a power might with proper restrictions become a most efficient instrument in diffusing useful knowledge, and in elevating the intellectual character of the people. A vast amount of useful information might in this manner be collected, where it would be easily accessible, and its influence could hardly fail to be in the highest degree salutary, by furnishing the means of improvement to those who have finished their common school education, as well as to those who have not. The demand for books would ensure extensive editions of works containing matter judiciously selected, at

prices which competition would soon reduce to the lowest rate at which they could be furnished. By making the imposition of the tax wholly diseretionary with the inhabitants of each district, and leaving the selection of the works under their entire control, the danger of rendering such a provision subservient to the propagation of particular doctrines or opinions would be effectually guarded against by their watchfulness and intelligence."

By an act of the legislature passed this year, the surplus income of the literature fund, beyond the sum of $12,000, was placed at the disposal of the Regents of the University, to be by them distributed to such of the academies subject to their visitation as they might select, and to be devoted exclusively to the education of common school teachers. The funds thus appropriated were estimated at about $3,000 per annum.

[ocr errors]

At the opening of the session of 1835, Gov. Marcy, in his message, commended to the special attention of the legislature, the adoption of "a provision for supplying competent teachers, improvements in the method of instruction, and the faithful and economical application of the funds to such objects and in such a manner as will insure the best results." He observes: In regard to the common schools, considering their great importance in a political and moral point of view, the efforts of the legislature should not be intermitted until the system shall be so improved as to secure to the children of all classes and conditions of our population, such an education as will qualify them to fulfil in a proper manner, the duties appertaining to whatever may be their respective pursuits and conditions of life."

The number of school districts at this period had increased to 9,865; the whole number of children between the ages of five and sixteen to 534,000, and the number taught in the several districts from which reports had been received to 521,240, or 18,256 more than were so instructed during the preceding year.

The following extract from the annual report of the Superintendent, transmitted to the legislature on the 7th of January of this year, will exhibit the views of that officer in reference to the adequacy of the academies to furnish the common schools with a competent supply of duly qualified teachers, and also in reference to the relations which the various institutions for the promotion of public instruction should sustain to each other :

If the foundations of our whole system of public instruction were to be laid anew, it would, perhaps, be advisable to create separate seminaries for the preparation of teachers, although from the nature of our institutions, it might be deemed arbitrary, if indeed it were practicable, to compel the school districts to employ them. It would be equally difficult, without a great augmentation of the school fund, to present to the districts a sufficient pecuniary inducement to engage the individuals thus prepared; and it may be safely assumed that nothing short of a thorough conviction in the public mind, that common school teachers are in general incompetent to the proper fulfilment of their trusts, and that the standard of education is extremely imperfect, would accomplish the object. If that conviction can now be created, the existing evils may be readily redressed. Our common school system is so perfectly organized, and administered throughout with so much order and regularity, and so many academies under able management are already established, that it would seem the part of wisdom to avail ourselves of these institutions, to the extent of their capacity, for the purpose of training teachers for the common schools. Their endowments, their organization, the experience and skill of their instructors, and their whole intellectual power, may be made subservient to the public purpose in view, and with the aid which the state can lend, much may be effected. But, whatever differences of opinion may prevail with regard to the foundation of this plan, in sound policy, the question has been settled by the legislature, and it remains only to carry it into execution with proper energy.

Should it prove inadequate to the ends proposed, a change of plan may then be insisted on, without being open to the objection of abandoning a system which has not been fairly tested.

"It may not be improper to remark in this place that the necessary connexion which exists between our common schools and the literary institutions of the state, including those of the highest grade, has been too frequently overlooked. The academies have already been, in effect, without receiving from the state any direct pecuniary aid for the purpose, nurseries for common school teachers. The great body of those who have either temporarily or permanently devoted themselves to teaching, have been prepared at the academies with a view to that occupation, or to some professional employment. The instructors in the academies have in their turn been educated in the colleges; and but for the latter or some other system of classical and scientific education, as a substitute for the course of training pursued in the colleges, the academies would obviously be destitute of the necessary supply of tutors. Thus all our incorporated literary institutions minister to the improvement of the common school system, on which the great body of the people are dependent for their education."

The Superintendent, after adverting to the defective state of the systems of instruction in common schools, proceeds at considerable length to combat the idea that "the education which an individual receives, should be designed exclusively to fit him for the particular employment which he is destined to pursue." "The attention of the great body of the people" he justly remarks, should be directed to objects beyond the sphere of the employments on which they depend for their support." Knowledge carries with it influence over the minds of others, and this influence is power. In free governmentswhat is of more vital concern-it is political power." And he illustrates these views by a reference to the range and importance of the duties devolving, upon every American citizen.

66

On the 8th of January, 1885, Gen. Dix, as chairman of a committee of the. Regents of the University, appointed to prepare and report a plan for the better education of teachers of common schools, submitted an elaborate and able report recommending the establishment and organization of a teachers' department, to be connected with one academy to be designated by the Regents, in each of the eight senatorial districts of the state; indicating the course of study to be pursued in such departments; and suggesting for the consideration of the Regents the academies to be selected for this purpose, which should each receive annually the sum of $400 from the fund applicable to this object. The report was agreed to by the Regents, and Erasmus Hall Academy in Kings county, Montgomery Academy, Orange county, Kinderhook, St. Lawrence, Fairfield, Oxford, Canandaigua, and Middlebury Academies were designated for the establishment of these institutions, on the basis and subject to the restrictions and regulations indicated in the report.

On the 13th of April of this year, the foundations of the District School Library were laid by an act authorizing the taxable inhabitants of the several school districts to impose a tax not exceeding twenty dollars for the first year, and ten dollars for each succeeding year, "for the purchase of a district library, consisting of such books as they shall in their district meeting direct."

This bill was ably advocated in the Senate by COL. YOUNG of Saratoga, and the Hon. LEVI BEARDSLEY of Otsego; and its friends were indebted for its success, in great part, to the untiring exertions and extensive influence of JAMES WADSWORTH of Geneseo; an eminent philanthropist, who lost no opportunity to aid, by his ample wealth and enlightened intellect, every means by which the mental and moral advancement of the youth of the state might be promoted.

On the 6th of May, Mr. WETMORE, of New York, chairman of the literature committee of the house, made a very able report, concluding with a recommendation for the establishment of a separate " Department of Public Instruetion," under the superintendence of an officer to be known as Secretary of

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Public Instruction," to be appointed by the legislature triennially, in the same manner with other state officers; who should possess the powers and discharge the duties of Superintendent of Common Schools, and be ex-officio Chancellor of the Regents of the University, &c. The several colleges and academies of the state were to be subject to his visitation; and he was required particularly to visit and inspect those academies in which departments for the education of teachers were established. No definite action was however had on this proposition, by the legislature.

The following is an extract from Gov. Marcy's message at the opening of the session of 1836:

"In a government like ours, which emanates from the people, where the entire administration, in all its various branches, is conducted for their benefit and subject to their constant supervision and control; and where the safety and perpetuity of all its political institutions depend upon their virtue and intelligence, no other subject can be equal in importance to that of public instruction, and none should so earnestly engage the attention of the legislature. Ignorance, with all the moral evils of which it is the prolific source, brings with it also numerous political evils, dangerous to the welfare of the state. It should be the anxious care of the legislature to eradicate these evils by removing the causes of them. This can be done effectually, only by diffusing instruction generally among the people. Although much remains here to be done in this respect, the past efforts of legislation upon the subject merit high commendation. Much has been already accomplished for the cause of popular education. A large fund has been dedicated to this object, and our common school system is established on right principles. But this is one of those subjects for which all cannot be done that is required, without a powerful co-operation on the part of the people in their individual capacity. The providing of funds for education is an indispensable means for attaining the end; but it is not education. The wisest system that can be devised cannot be executed without human agency. The difficulty in the case arises, I fear, from the fact that the benefits of general education can only be fully appreciated by those who are educated themselves. Those parents who are so unfortunate as not to be properly educated, and those whose condition requires them to employ their time and their efforts to gain the means of subsistence, do not, in many instances, sufficiently value the importance of education. Yet it is for their children, in common with all others, that the common school system is designed; and until its blessings are made to reach them, it will not be what it ought to be. If parents generally were sensible of the inestimable advantages they were procuring for their children by educating them, I am sure the efforts and contributions which are required to give full efficiency to our present system would not be withheld. If I have rightly apprehended the indications of public opinion on this subject, a more auspicious season is approaching. At this time, a much larger number of individuals than heretofore are exerting their energies and contributing their means, to impress the public mind with the importance of making our system of popular instruction effective in diffusing its benefits to all the children of the state. I anticipate much good from the prevalence of the sentiment that the efforts of individuals must co-operate with the public authorities to ensure success to any system of general education."

From the annual report of the Superintendent, it appeared that the number of districts had increased to 10,132; the number of children between the ages of five and sixteen, to 543,000; and the number taught in the several districts from which reports had been received, to 541,400, being an increase of over 10,000 from the preceding year. The Superintendent repeats the expression of his conviction, "that a school fund so large as to admit of a distribution of money to the common schools in any degree approaching the amount expended for their support, would be likely to be injurious rather than beneficial. A school fund," he observes, "can only be useful when its revenue is sufficient,

« PreviousContinue »