L^j~^i3 
 
 .Mi 
 
'O 
 
 UNION OF TOWNS 
 FOR THF PURPOSF OF 
 EMPLOYING SUPER- 
 INTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 
 
 By the State 
 Superintendent of 
 Public Schools 
 of Maine. '^U-^c^^-^ M^^jC. 
 
 AUGUSTA 
 1905 
 

 The Educational Department is prepared to send copies of this docu- 
 ment free of charge on application. 
 
 W. W. STETSON, 
 State Superintendent of Public Schools. 
 Augusta, Maine. 
 
 SEP21 1907 
 
 D.ofa 
 
% 
 
 
 CjJ 
 
 I UNION OF TOWNS FOR THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYING 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 
 
 The legislature at the session of 1897 passed a law authorizing towns 
 to unite for the purpose of employing a superintendent of schools, who 
 shall devote his entire time to the work of superintendence. This law 
 is explained in detail in the accompanying circular and it is hoped this 
 explanation will be carefully read by all persons who have an interest 
 in the improvement of our public schools. 
 
 The distinguishing feature of successful industrial enterprises of the 
 present time is that the work is carried on under the direction of 
 trained superintendents. Business men have learned that it is for their 
 financial interest to have their workmen perform their labors under the 
 direction of experts. It has been demonstrated that the money devoted 
 to this service makes the entire investment more remunerative. What 
 has thus been found true of industrial and business enterprises is equally, 
 if not in larger measure, true of school systems. 
 
 The law referred to above provides that one-half the amount expended 
 for superintendents' salaries shall be paid by the State. It also provides 
 that the person elected to serve as superintendent shall be a person of 
 such education and training as will fit him to direct the teaching in 
 the schools under his charge. This is especially important because for 
 some j'ears many of the teachers in the public schools must be persons 
 who have had but little experience as instructors and who are deficient 
 in professional training. These two facts account for the large number 
 of failures which the local superintendents report from year to year. 
 Many of the persons who serve as teachers have not attended a sec- 
 ondary school more than one or two terms and have never attended 
 a training or normal school. They enter upon their labors so poorly 
 equipped that failure for one or more terms is the rule rather than the 
 exception. They experiment at the expense of the State and the local 
 communities and, in a still more serious way, with the time and lives of 
 the children. Some of them continue to be failures and some learn 
 by experience and develop into efficient instructors. Much of the 
 waste along these two important lines might be saved if competent 
 superintendents visited the schools taught by these untrained persons, 
 indicated to them definitely wherein they were making mistakes and 
 what changes they should institute in their methods and suggested to 
 them ways and means, plans and devices by which they could improve 
 their work. Under such supervision they would be able to shorten the 
 experimental stage of their careers and would soon develop into 
 acceptable teachers, or in an equal length of time demonstrate their 
 
unfitness to remain in the schoolroom. In either case, a great saving 
 would be made in money and in that which is worth infinitely more 
 than dollars, i. e., the early years of the children. This question is not 
 one which has any experimental phase about it. It has been worked 
 out in other states and in other departments so fully that it simply 
 resolves itself into the question of whether we have such a desire to 
 make progress as will render us willing to accept the advantages 
 offered by the law. 
 
 The following objections have been urged to its adoption: "'It will 
 increase the cost of maintaining the schools." "It takes the office of 
 superintendent from some one who resides in the town and gives it to a 
 non-resident and thus takes a part of the school money from the 
 town raising the same." "It will tend to introduce teachers from 
 other communities and thus shut out local talent." "It tends to establish 
 a monopoly and looks towards centralization." "It will result in large 
 salaries for a few persons instead of small salaries for a large number of 
 persons." "Some person who lives in each town better understands the 
 wants of his community than they could be understood by any non- 
 resident." 
 
 The answer to the first criticism on the law is given in so complete 
 a form in the circular referred to above that it seems unnecessary to 
 repeat it at this point. The second objection is made by a class of 
 people who can be convinced only by that kind of logic which results 
 in depositing money in their own pockets, or those of their friends and, 
 therefore, it is useless to discuss the question. The third criticism 
 answers itself. Every person who has an unselfish interest in the schools 
 is interested in their being supplied with the best teachers that can be 
 obtained for the money which can be invested in the service. The ten- 
 dency always has been to give local teachers the preference, other 
 things being equal. No change in the administration will ever make any 
 change in this particular. The introduction of a trained superintendent 
 will not result in the exclusion of any teacher who is a resident of the 
 town in which she teaches, if she is fairly well fitted for her position. 
 The desire naturally felt by every official to win the approval of the 
 people for whom he labors, will be a sufficient pressure to prevent 
 any injustice in this direction, but will, on the other hand, lead him to 
 give quite as much weight to the claims of local candidates as should 
 be conceded to them. The charge that it tends to monopoly and central^ 
 ization is always made by persons who have no sufficient argument to 
 present against a movement. The law in no way savors of monopoly, 
 except that it reduces the number of officials and calls for a higher 
 grade of preparation for and efficiency in the work. No powers are 
 given the superintendent under this law zvhich are not given the super- 
 intendents of the several towns under the general law. The towns 
 decide by vote zvhether or not they will unite in the employment of a 
 superintendent. They elect the committees who have in charge the 
 employment of a superintendent and zvho may delegate to him as 
 
many or as fezv powers as they see fit. The law in no way abridges 
 the privileges of the towns that enter upon this arrangement. The 
 only changes it makes in the administration of the schools are that it 
 reduces the number of persons who act as superintendents by about 
 four-fifths and increases the amount paid to the individual superintend- 
 ent in about the same proportion. THE DUTIES AND POWERS 
 OF THE COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS UNDER 
 THIS LAW ARE THE SAME AS UNDER THE GENERAL LAW. 
 The objection urged that big salaries will be paid to a few persons 
 is answered by the fact that it is left with each group of towns to 
 make its own selection of superintendent and to decide upon the 
 amount he shall be paid and the State furnishes one-half the sum 
 expended, under certain conditions and limitations, which are fully 
 explained in the circular referred to above. It is still further urged 
 that some person living in a town knows more abovit the wants and 
 condition of the schools of the town than any outsider. This may in 
 some cases be true ; but any person who will make an efficient superin- 
 tendent for one town will make a still more useful official for a group 
 of towns, if he can devote his entire time to the work. Any person 
 who is fitted to hold one of these positions can get a better idea of 
 local conditions and needs in a few weeks' study of his schools and 
 can be in a better position to meet these matters than any one can 
 possibly be who devotes the most of his time to some regular work 
 and occasionally devotes a half hour to the schools. 
 
 A canvass of the situation makes it clear that it would not be neces- 
 sary to go out of the State for superintendents even if all the towns 
 decide to take advantage of this law at once. A large number of persons 
 are acting as superintendents at the present time who would be excep- 
 tionally efficient officials if they had an opportimity to devote their entire 
 time to the work. A considerable number of persons are also acting as 
 principals of high or grammar schools, or are teaching, who would make 
 equally desirable superintendents. From these three sources could be 
 selected thoroughly competent persons to fill all the vacancies that would 
 exist in the State. 
 
 CIRCULAR. 
 
 The statute provides that on and after July i, 1897, the school com- 
 mittees of two or more towns having under their care an aggregate 
 of not less than twenty or more than fifty schools, may unite in the 
 employment of a superintendent of schools, provided they have been 
 so authorized by a vote of their towns at the regular town meetings or at 
 special town meetings called for that purpose. 
 
 The school committees of the towns comprising the union shall form 
 a joint committee and shall be the agents of the towns comprising 
 the union. The joint committee shall meet annually on a day and at a 
 place agreed upon by the chairman of the committees of the several 
 towns comprising the union and shall organize by the choice of a chair- 
 
man and secretary. They shall choose by ballot a superintendent of 
 schools, in which choice the committee of each town shall have a vote, 
 proportional to the town's share of the expenditure for the superin- 
 tendent's salary. They shall determine the amount of service to be per- 
 formed by the superintendent in each town, fix his salary and apportion 
 the amount thereof to be paid by the several towns, which amount 
 shall be certified to the treasurers of said towns, respectively. The 
 amount to be paid by each town shall be determined by dividing the 
 entire sum expended for superintendence among the towns comprising 
 the union in the proportion of the service performed in each town. 
 
 Whenever the chairman and secretary of the joint committee shall 
 certify under oath to the State Superintendent of -Public Schools that a 
 union has been effected, that the towns unitedly have raised by taxa- 
 tion a sum not less than five hundred dollars for the support of a 
 superintendent of schools, that a superintendent of schools has been 
 employed for one year and that the full amount appropriated foi 
 superintendence has been. expended for that purpose, then the Governor 
 and Council shall draw a warrant on the treasurer of the State for 
 the payment to the treasurers of the several towns of a sum equal to 
 one-half the amount expended for superintendence by each of the 
 several towns, provided that not more than two hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars shall be paid to any one town, or more than seven hundred and 
 fifty dollars to all the towns comprising any union. 
 
 Persons employed to serve as superintendents of schools under this 
 act shall hold State certificates under the act of 189S, providing for the 
 State examination of teachers, and shall devote their entire time to super- 
 intendence. The powers and duties of superintendents elected under 
 this act shall be the same as those prescribed for town suprintendents. 
 
 No town shall receive State aid_ under this act unless its appropria- 
 tion and expenditure for superintendence have been exclusive of the 
 amount required by law for public school purposes. 
 
 The above is the most important single statute, relating to the main- 
 tenance of public schools, that has been passed by any Maine legislature 
 for fifty, years. It is hoped that the people will make a careful study 
 of its provisions and will avail. themselves of the assistance offered by 
 the State. The following extract from the report of this department 
 for 1896 will show the necessity of expert superintendence and will 
 also explain its benefits and methods of operation : 
 
 'A casual study of the special returns made by the local superintend- 
 ents and tabulated in the first section of the report of this department 
 for 1896, makes it entirely clear that the time has come when it is nee 
 essary to provide for expert superintendence of the public schools of 
 Maine. 
 
 "The returns show that ninety-six per cent, of these superintendents 
 are engaged in some other occupation and only give to this work 
 such time as they can spare from their regular business. The work 
 done by such persons must necessarily be, to a great extent, haphazard 
 
in character, unsatisfactory in results and wanting in those elements 
 which insure good service. To superintend schools intelligently, one 
 needs scholarship, professional training and experience in the work 
 of the schoolroom. He needs to know the subjects studied, the meth- 
 ods used in giving instruction and to be familiar with the history, 
 science and art of education. He must not only be familiar with the 
 facts found in school text-books, but he must also be a student of 
 science, art, literature, history, economy. He must know what the world 
 has done, what it is doing, what it is capable of doing. He must know 
 men, things, means. He must be strong of mind, rugged of body, rich 
 in personality. His work must be his absorbing vocation. To it he 
 must give his entire time and devote his best thought. He must stud> 
 schools ; he must study teachers ; he must study children. K one's 
 best thought is devoted to his patients, his parishioners, his business, 
 or his farming, it is not possible for him to serve the schools in such 
 a way as to help the teachers to give the best instruction and the 
 children to do the best work. 
 
 "The amount expended annually for the superintendence of schools 
 in the State of Maine is about $60,000. This is a sum large enough to 
 give to each town about $120 for this purpose. The State offers to 
 supplement this amount with an equal sum if a number of towns join 
 in employing a superintendent of schools. The contribution made by the 
 State added to the amount raised by the town would give a sum large 
 enough to enable the towns to secure a competent person to perform 
 these duties. 
 
 "Perhaps the plan of procedure can be made clearer by using the 
 following illustration : Suppose the towns of Turner, Livermore, Leeds 
 and Greene unite and employ a superintendent. Suppose Turner con- 
 tributes $225, Livermore $145, Leeds $90 and Greene $90, making a total 
 of $550. If an equal sum were furnished by the State, the amount 
 would be $1,100. On this basis Turner would be entitled to five votes, 
 Livermore to three, Leeds to two and Greene to two in the selection of 
 a superintendent. If the schools were consolidated even to a reasonable 
 extent in these towns, the whole number would not exceed twenty- 
 five, and in no case would they exceed thirty. The amounts appor- 
 tioned to each of the towns named above are not materially in excess 
 of the sums now appropriated for this purpose. This uniting of towns 
 and placing all the schools in the charge of one person who would 
 be expected to devote his entire time to the work, would insure 
 the employment of an official who would have a personal interest and 
 professional pride in making the schools the best the means placed at his. 
 disposal would allow." 
 
 THE VIEWS OP A SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 In the majority of towns the superintendent is elected without any 
 regard to the preparation or qualification he may have for the work. In 
 many instances superintendents are put in charge of teachers who know 
 
8 
 
 more about teaching than they do and are required to hold examinations 
 that they themselves could not pass. Add to this the fact that they 
 are paid very small salaries (an average of $44.00 per year in Wash- 
 ington county,) and that they must engage in other business and regard 
 supervision of schools as an incidental matter, and it becomes apparent 
 that competent supervision is too often the exception rather than the 
 rule. 
 
 Superintendents should know as much of teaching as the teachers, 
 under them and should instinctively be able to distinguish good teachers 
 by their manners, dress, speech, disposition and character. The best 
 work of a superintendent is his skill in selecting teachers. This can 
 only be done successfully by following the knowledge that conies to him 
 through study, by long experience, by careful observation and by consci- 
 entious conviction. 
 
 "Teaching is a matter of both disposition and knowledge. The 
 former cannot be examined, but it ought to be recognized ; careful 
 supervision will aid in developing it. Skill in doing this is an essential 
 characteristic in a good supervising officer, especially in connection with 
 rural schools. If the cry is raised (and it is) that there is not enough 
 money to pay for professional supervision, the reply Is that it would be 
 wiser to have fewer teachers in order that those employed might be 
 better qualified. A supervisor who is an expert can so arrange and 
 organize the system that a less number of teachers can do the work, 
 and do it better, because each one is thoroughly competent. A good 
 superintendent earns many times his salary ; a poor superintendent is too 
 dear at any price." (Pennsylvania State Report, 1895.) 
 
 "Underpaid supervision is often unskilled and inefficient, and against 
 this we raise our decided protest. Such supervision is of no value what- 
 ever to the schools — a penny-wise policy that economizes in the wrong 
 place. A supervisor should have no other business than to care for the 
 schools. He should not be a merchant, nor a lawyer, nor a doctor, nor 
 a clergyman, nor a farmer, nor an active teacher, nor anything but a 
 superintendent of schools — that and nothing more. 
 
 "With a given sum of money for school purposes, to devote a pan 
 of it to skilled supervision, will bring more children under enrollment, 
 better teachers in the community, better instruction in the schools and 
 more satisfaction to the people than if all the money were spent in pay- 
 ing the salaries of teachers." (Report of the Committee of Twelve, 
 
 1895.) 
 
 "If it is desirable to insist upon a certain degree of qualification for 
 a school teacher in the humblest district of the State (this preposition 
 has passed beyond the realm of discussion,) it would seem that there is 
 no question but that the superior officer, clothed by statute with such 
 extended powers as a school superintendent, ought to be a person possess- 
 ing some fixed qualification for the performance of the duties of his 
 office. The schools of the State will never reach that degree of efficiency 
 which the State has a right to demand, and which is expected from 
 
the generous provision made for their support by the people, until this 
 evil is corrected. Some standard of qualification should be insisted upon, 
 and the power of removal in case of the election of a person not pos- 
 sessing these qualifications should be vested in the State Superintendent." 
 (New York State Report, 1895.) 
 
 Enough has been quoted to indicate the opinion of competent judges. 
 
 The one thing most needed in our rural schools is efficient supervision 
 and they will never be greatly improved until this is supplied. 
 
 The whole matter may be summed up by stating that we should 
 apply the same business principles to the management of our public 
 schools that we do to other important matters. The superintendent 
 of public schools should be educated and trained for that particular 
 work, as much so as the lawyer, doctor or clergyman. 
 
 As the State has made ample provision for aiding towns in 
 defraying the expenses of experienced supervision, there is no good 
 reason why they should not avail themselves of it and profit by the same. 
 
 When I began to look up this subject I sent to each superintendent 
 in the county a circular letter asking the following questions : 
 
 Name? Age? Of what schools are you a graduate? Have you taught? 
 Have j'ou had normal training? How long nave you been superintendent? 
 "What is your salary? What is your regular vocation? How much time 
 do you devote to school work outside that occupied in visiting? How 
 often do you visit each school? How long do you remain at each of 
 your regular visits? Do you conduct the exercises when visiting or allow 
 the teacher to do the work? Do you arrange the work for the teachers 
 or allow them to do so for themselves? Who does the grading? What 
 educational journal do you take? How many schools in your towns? 
 
 My first call brought me thirty answers, my second five, which I will 
 endeavor to tabulate and criticise. 
 
 The ages range from twenty-one to seventy-four, the average being 
 forty-three. Very few persons at the age of twenty-one can possibly 
 have had the training and experience to fit them to superintend public 
 schools properly while those at the advanced age of seventy-four are 
 usually physically unfit for the work and, unless they have been very 
 active workers in this field, are not up to date, so the exttemes should 
 be avoided. 
 
 I find that twenty-seven or sixty-five per cent, are not gradu^^tes of 
 any school ; five are graduates either of a high school or an academy ; 
 six are graduates of normal schools ; three of medical colleges ; one of 
 Colby; one of Lehigh University; one of a theological school and one 
 of Lenox College. 
 
 Leaving out the graduates in medicine, which, of course, does little 
 toward fitting a 'person for school supervision, we have but three college 
 men and two of these are serving for the first time this year and have 
 not given special attention to school work. With ail due reverence and 
 respect for those able, intelligent, broad-minded men, who have suc- 
 ceeded in life after a superficial fit in an ordinary district school, we must 
 
lO 
 
 maintain that few persons are actually qualified to superintend schools 
 properly, who have no better preparation than this. Even if they had 
 mastered the studies taught in their own schools, surely those of the 
 present day should be better and more advanced, which leave? them 
 entirely unprepared in a certain amount of the work. Notwithstanding 
 their indefatigable industry, they have had their families to support from 
 earnings gained in other pursuits and consequently have had little time 
 to give to schools. We believe if these men could answer for themselves 
 they would testify that they are not qualified for the work. 
 
 The high school graduate has a better fit, but this is by no means 
 sufficient. Of the six normal school graduates, two are physicians, one an 
 ex-teacher, one at home, one a teacher and one superintendent, so that 
 four of these are ovit of line. 
 
 Of the three college men, one is a physician and has a large practice, 
 still he gives a great deal of time to school work ; another is an analytical 
 chemist and the third names no particular business. With the excep- 
 tion of the first, it is evident that these gentlemen have given no especial 
 attention to school work. 
 
 As to the vocations of our superintendents : Twelve are farmers ; 
 five are teachers ; three, doctors ; two, clergymen ; two, lumbermen ; one, 
 housekeeper ; one, laborer ; one, retired ; one, superintendent ; one, stu- 
 dent ; one, chemist ; one, painter ; one, ex-teacher ; one, salesman ; one, at 
 home. It is an old saying that variety is the spice of life and if this be 
 true our schools should surely be well spiced. 
 
 With the exception of the superintendent and five teachers, these 
 people are chiefly dependent on some other business for a livelihood 
 and must give that business their chief thought and attention. Of the 
 five teachers, three are graduates of no school and consequently are 
 not suitable for teachers, to say nothing of superintendents. Nine are 
 serving their first year, eleven their second, the others have served from 
 three to eight years. Short service is always objectionable unless the 
 incumbent is inefficient. Nine receive two dollars per day; the others 
 have a salary of $44.00 per year an average, and one, no salary. This 
 surely comes under the head of underpaid supervision, which is nevei 
 of much value to the schools. 
 
 Nearly all visit the schools twice each term, one visit being made at 
 the first of the term, the second near the close. In this way you havt 
 no chance whatever to improve the work, for at the first visit you can 
 only give instructions, while at the second, if they have not been carried 
 out, the school is nearly done and there is no chance for improvement- 
 many of the teachers are employed for but one term. By making one 
 visit at the commencement and another near the close, you can be of no 
 practical benefit to the schools. It is necessary to watch the work from 
 week to week and know whether it is being properly done. 
 
 The time spent in school at each visit varies from half an hour to an 
 entire day, the average being one hour and twenty minutes, or two 
 hours and forty minutes for each term. It is needless to add that 
 
II 
 
 more time than this is absolutely necessary, in order to make the service 
 of much value. Unless the superintendent knows the standing of every 
 class and every pupil, how much ground they have covered and how 
 well they have done the work, he is deficient in his knowledge of the 
 school. 
 
 Ir is a matter of common observation that the efficiency and thor- 
 oughness of every school worker depends materially upon the time and 
 thought given to the work outside school hours. On this subject the 
 answers were very indefinite, so much so that it was impossible to esti- 
 mate the time. However, such answers as the following are very signifi- 
 cant: 'not much,' 'very little,' 'none,' 'don't know,' 'two days in a year,' 
 'what I can,' etc. 
 
 Some are more explicit, one stating that he spends an hour per day 
 which is very creditable. The only conclusion we can arrive at on this 
 point is : That not enough time is spent in preparation to enable them 
 to do good work. 
 
 Superintendent Gowan of New Hampshire once said to a class leaving 
 the training school : "Now, girls, if you ever go to school in the morn- 
 ing without knowing just what you are to do that day, just lock the 
 house and go home. The children gain physically by playing all day out 
 of doors and that is much better than being bored in school by a teacher 
 who has no definite idea of what she is driving at." 
 
 The same principle will apply to superintendents. If you visit a school 
 withotit having a clear conception of what is to be accomplished at that 
 visit, you may as well stay away. Nothing is gained by haphazard man- 
 agement in school work. 
 
 The grading and arrangement of the work is left almost entirely in 
 the hands of the teachers. This might do very well if the same teacher 
 was in charge from year to year, but, when a new teacher is employed 
 every term, it must be ruinous. One of the principal duties of a superin- 
 tendent should surely be to lay out the work for the teachers and instruct 
 them how he wishes to have it done. His should be the master mind 
 and direct the course in which the ship shall sail. If he does not do 
 this, he is only a superintendent in name, a mere figurehead. 
 
 I find that twenty- four take no educational journal, the others from 
 one to three. A superintendent or teacher without an educational journal 
 stands in the same relation to the educational world as a business man 
 without a newspaper stands to the business world. They know nothing 
 outside their own narrow sphere. 
 
 To sum up the information gained from these statistics, we would 
 conclude that several of the town superintendents are doing good work, 
 as good, or even better, than can reasonably be expected of them, but 
 that the work of the large majority is inefficient. Now. do not misunder- 
 stand me to say that they are responsible for this ; they do not seek this 
 office, they do not claim to have prepared themselves for it, but accept it 
 because it is pressed upon them and they can only be expected to do the 
 best they can under the circumstances. Those of you who attend our 
 
12 
 
 town meetings will, I think, bear me out in this statement, that there is 
 much less attention given to the election of members of the school com^ 
 mittee or superintendent than to that of tax collector. — E. H. Bennett, 
 Ivubec. 
 
 THE OPINION OF A LAYMAN. 
 
 The most of our superintendents are men who have been trained to 
 almost every known calling — except superintendence. Can a blacksmith 
 go into a harness shop an hour or two once in a while and make a good 
 harness, to say nothing of giving helpful instruction to the regular work 
 men? Can the average bookkeeper put a few hours now and then upon 
 Agnew's "Principles and Practice of Surgery," then step out and instruct 
 experienced surgeons upon trepanning and tracheotomy? Even a Li 
 Hung Chang would not generally make a great success of architecture 
 as a side issue, nor would a Lyman Abbott always be successful at run- 
 ning a Wyoming cattle ranch. In like manner we should not expect the 
 greatest excellence in school superintendence from the odd moments of 
 an efficient surveyor or even an eloquent preacher of the gospel. Indeed, 
 men "do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." In that Held 
 only, wherein a man sow his efforts and energy, may he expect to reap 
 the highest effectiveness and the best results. 
 
 This is an age of specialization. One who wishes to travel very far in 
 any domain of human endeavor must be content to walk a narrow path. 
 One man has not the necessary force and versatility to become a great 
 mechanic, general, electrician, poet, physician, theologian, financier, chem- 
 ist and astronomer. Division of labor has advanced with the ages until 
 we find the highest specialization hand in hand with the highest civil- 
 ization. 
 
 Nowadays a man specializes and becomes what is termed a scholar ; 
 he specializes farther and becomes a linguist; still farther and is a 
 student of some particular language ; farther yet and is perhaps an 
 English grammarian or a critic of German poetry. If one man could 
 live ten thousand years, he might reasonably attempt to attain to gen- 
 eral greatness ; but it is actually given to any one person to walk an 
 extreme distance, the greatest distance, in only one direction. The placing 
 of every department of human effort in the hands of a specialist has pro- 
 duced results almost magical. Dewey, a specialist, breaks the pride of 
 Spain and gives his country an Eastern empire. Kipling, a specialist 
 thrills his race with "The Recessional." Marconi, a specialist, astonishes 
 the world with wireless telegraphy. Specialization works wonders in 
 other directions, why should it do otherwise in the art of managing- 
 schools ? Certainly there is, there can be, no valid argument against it. 
 We admit the need of the trained teacher ; then how much more of a 
 necessity is the trained superintendent, with more human beings under 
 his influence, larger financial interests under his control, the very organ- 
 ization and system of the schools dependent upon him? 
 
 But if our superintendents are wanting in ability to perform their 
 duties properly, small is the wonder. The average Maine town thinks 
 
13 
 
 it can not afford to pay a salary sufficient to employ a professional super- 
 intendent. To benefit just such towns as these, the medium-size and 
 smaller towns of the State, is the object of this law admitting joint 
 supervision. Two or more towns combine their superintendence money, 
 this amount is then supplemented by an equal sum paid by the State, 
 and an amount sufficient to employ a competent professional superin- 
 tendent is thus easily obtained. In the case of the single small town, the 
 amount paid for school supervision is very meagre, usually from four 
 hundred dollars a year down — yes, very far down. The work must 
 therefore be done by someone who gets his living in some other vocation 
 and who uses the school work only as a convenient means of getting a 
 little pocket-money, trusting too often to smiles, policy and favoritism 
 to carry him through a task in which he would be swamped if compelled 
 to rely upon his fitness for the place. Let it be understood that we are 
 not impugning the motives or disparaging the general ability of most of 
 our superintendents. The ineffectiveness of much of their work is simply 
 the inevitable result of our system, and the popular lack of appreciation 
 of the importance of skillful supervision. Many faithful school officials 
 now give more time and strength to school duties than their salaries 
 warrant; and many, too. are far more successful — almost by instinct, 
 rather than professional education — than could reasonably be expected. 
 
 Small pay for supervision is a fatal error. It is always supreme folly 
 to attempt economy by keeping low the salary of the manager of vast 
 interests. Small salaries will hire small men, who will do for small 
 positions. Places of great responsibility require great men and the 
 services of such men always command large money. 
 
 Another evil of the dominant system is the shortness of the stay most 
 superintendents make in office and the fleeting character of the interest 
 they must consequently feel in their labors. By endeavoring to do his 
 duty the strongest man is sometimes unpopular and is elbowed out by 
 some useless but well liked individual who sees in the position "a good 
 thing." If superintendence means anything, such frequent changes in 
 it means frequent changes in much of the school management r.nd con- 
 sequently disconnected and desultory work. 
 
 Lastly, as so many use the position of superintendent only until some- 
 thing better presents, or until they can get a living strictly in their own 
 business, they are not sufficiently anxious about retaining their positions 
 to perform their duties conscientiously. To many such, the blood of 
 relationship proves thicker than the milk of human justice and cousins 
 and nieces and nephews are employed too numerously for the good of 
 the public. 
 
 So much for the imperfections of the present system. How can such 
 a weak, haphazard method of school guidance long obtain among an 
 intelligent and progressive people, right in the face of another system, 
 immeasurably superior, which stands at our gates and supplicates us for 
 admission. 
 
14 
 
 Turning now to the advantages of town partnership in school manage- 
 ment, we see, first, and more important than all else, that it will bring 
 with it trained superintendence. In the case- of a combination of towns 
 there can be employed one who is, by nature, education and experience, 
 fitted for the work in hand, and who can, will and must devote to it 
 all his time and interest; one who will take a professional pride in his 
 work and a personal interest in building up a group of schools ; one who 
 hopes to do his duty so well as to warrant his retention in a good 
 position or his promotion to a higher; one who has generally not spent 
 his best years in work foreign to schools, but who has turned the forces 
 of a whole life into this chosen channel. 
 
 Another consideration is that, in a given territory, during a given 
 time, the total number of school superintendents employed would be 
 far less than under the present system, for the two obvious reasons 
 that the number of superintendence divisions would be less and the 
 tenure of office would be longer. On general principles, whatever keeps 
 people attending to their own affairs, without the yearnings and striv- 
 ings for office, is a good thing. 
 
 Another great advantage of this company supervision is that half the 
 expense of supervision is saved the towns by the State. The cities and 
 the wealthier towns in this way contribute toward the expense of good 
 superintendence for the smaller and poorer ones ; and surely these smaller 
 towns will not be unwise enough to refuse to profit by such a golden 
 opportunity. Thus in most cases, expert and effective superintendence 
 will cost hardly more than the indifferent and poor superintendence that 
 now prevails. Why feed husks to our schools when they may as cheaply 
 have corn ? 
 
 Yet another consideration will readily suggest itself. A superintendent 
 under the proposed plan will have larger responsibilities than under the 
 present. Strong minds and characters are fond of work and the new 
 system would therefore attract into its service men of greater calibre than 
 the old could possibly do. 
 
 Lastly the union of towns would have a broadening, as opposed to a 
 provincializing, effect upon their people. Sometimes the officials employed 
 would be strangers, from greater centres of education and culture and 
 their new ideas and unconscious influence should be elevating and val- 
 uable. 
 
 But we must remember that nothing can promise so well that it will 
 not encounter honest opposition. One dislikes the idea of joint super- 
 vision because of fear that strangers may supplant "home talent" in 
 school offices. This may often be the case, but only when strangers 
 can give the better service. In this case, would not the schools be for- 
 tunate? Besides, if any individuals qualify themselves properly, they 
 in turn can find employment in school management, either at home or 
 elsewhere. 
 
 We must remember, also, that better supervision is not altogether a 
 question of better training on the part of superintendents. It is also a 
 
15 
 
 result of an actual increase of hours and energy put into the work. 
 Under the law, a superintendent of a combination of towns is to give all 
 his time to his school duties and none need be told that ten or twelve 
 hours a day will accomplish more in school oversight than a daily average 
 of only an hour. » 
 
 One cautious man believes the new law centralizes power too much. 
 In reply, his official name and his care to retain his position would cause 
 an officer to do his best; as long as an officer is directly or indirectly 
 accountable to the people at so short intervals as once a year, there is 
 scarcely a danger of autocracy. But it should be borne in mind that 
 a. superintendent can have only those powers that are delegated to him 
 hy the joint committee. If they fear a certain amount of authority is 
 too great to give a superintendent, they will simply give him less. When, 
 in his own town, years ago, the "town plan" was substituted for that 
 heterogeneous plan, the "district system," the writer knew a well 
 informed and most estimable old gentleman who bewailed the change 
 almost with horror, as a dangerous centralization of power. But years 
 of actual test proved the change a blessing. 
 
 Others are concerneH lest a stranger should turn the "cold shoulder" 
 on local teachers. Under present conditions local teachers are rightly 
 preferred to strange. Under the new system they would be favored 
 likewise; for no superintendent would have the hardihood to draw down 
 upon himself the indignation of the towns employing him by showing 
 an unjust preference for "outside teachers." 
 
 Most of the objections that can be urged against joint supervision 
 can well be met. We do not claim it has every advantage, but we do 
 ■claim it is far in advance of anything in that line yet attempted among 
 the average and smaller towns of Maine. 
 
 Nearly two years before the law now upon the statute bocks was 
 passed, the writer had the honor, in his annual report as superintendent 
 of Fort Fairfield schools, to advocate joint supervision for the schools 
 of the Aroostook valley ; and events have since transpired which should 
 tender the advocacy of that system even more strenuous. Without being 
 perfection, the law as it stands is good, and its operation would cause 
 l)y far the greatest advance step our rural schools have made for more 
 than a generation. 
 
 What, then, do we as individuals feel to be our duty in this matter? 
 Clearly it is to induce our people to benefit by the provisions of the 
 law. How can such a consummation be efl^ected? By using every means 
 to that end. In private conversation, advocate the system ; in school 
 reports, advocate the system, in teachers' conventions, advocate the 
 system. Try to avoid jealousies and to promote necessary harmony 
 among towns. A few words now and then in the local paper would be 
 a powerful aid, calling the attention of the public to this matter. The 
 irrepressible town meeting orator, even, might be of some service if he 
 would lend his energies to so good a cause. All interested in schools— 
 and who dare not be interested? — should champion the law in question. 
 
i6 
 
 In season and out of season, let us advocate its provisions ; let us bring it 
 into effect wherever applicable, not as the ultimate good, but as an 
 immense stride in the right direction ; let us improve it when experi- 
 ence has shown its defects and thus let us earn the gratitude of edu- 
 cators now and of our children and our children's children hereafter. — - 
 C. C. Harvey, Fort Fairfield. 
 
 FURTHER TESTIMONY. 
 
 Our town united with Stonington in i8g8, and employed T. M. Coombs, 
 superintendent of public schools. He performed the duties of the office 
 so satisfactorily that the town of Deer Isle got permission to join with 
 us, this year. 
 
 Modern methods of teaching are introduced in all the classes success- 
 fully. 
 
 The superintendent is authorized to employ all teachers and held 
 responsible for school work; therefore, he is respected and obeyed 
 accordingly. 
 
 The joint town supervision is a success with us. — Frederick Wales, 
 Vinalhaven. 
 
 I think that it would be of great advantage to small towns to so unite- 
 In country towns there are but few men who are qualified by experi- 
 ence, education and training to fit them to manage successfully schools, 
 and such as are so qualified have positions which pay very much more 
 than the town would be willing to pay a superintendent. 
 
 Ten or twelve schools is not enough to engage all of a man's time irt 
 supervision and he must necessarily have some other business or employ- 
 ment. A man with other business is liable to be so engrossed with other 
 affairs that he gives the schools merely his spare time and his work 
 in the schools becomes uncertain and unsatisfactory. 
 
 A superintendent should have such education and training as will fit 
 him to direct the teachers under his charge. To get a man of such 
 qualifications, he must be paid a reasonable salary and no town with a 
 dozen schools or less can alone afford to engage such a person. By 
 uniting they can employ as good men as are employed in the cities. 
 
 Country towns need experienced superintendents. Many of the schools- 
 are small and it is customary to hire young and inexperienced teachers. 
 These teachers should be instructed how to teach, if time is to be saved 
 to the children. The superintendent should be an expert, know how to- 
 teach teachers and instruct the beginners in teaching. 
 
 Under our old system the young teacher is allowed to blunder along 
 until he learns by experience or leaves teaching for some other employ- 
 ment. 
 
 Superintendents that are elected by our old systems are not required to 
 have any special qualifications and in many instances men are put in 
 charge of teachers who know more about teaching than they do and 
 are required to hold examinations that they could not pass. Add to- thia. 
 
17 
 
 the fact that superintendents are generally paid very small salaries and 
 engage in other business, and regard supervision of schools as an inci- 
 dental matter, it becomes apparent that good supervision is too often 
 the exception rather than the rule. 
 
 I think that by towns uniting and carefully selecting men to look aftei 
 the schools, a great improvement can be made. — C. R. Tupper, Boothbay 
 Harbor. 
 
 This town is employing a superintendent of schools under the joint 
 town supervision system. Seeing the advancement of the schools of 
 adjoining towns under this system, induced us to adopt the same metho9 
 and we united with Stonington and Vinalhaven, employing Mr. T. M, 
 Coombs as superintendent. Our schools have been graded and the 
 advancement of the scholars is very satisfactory. — P. S. Knowlton, 
 Deer Isle. 
 
 We do not claim that our common school system has reached an ideal 
 standard ; neither do we pretend that it will rise, under the new system, 
 to be Utopian. We find all our advance steps have been improvements, 
 seldom have we discarded the new to return to the old. If the newer 
 method has been put aside it is because something better than that or the 
 old has taken its place. American energy never ''progresses backward." 
 Until we are sure of improvement we stick -to the old method. 
 
 The most faulty feature of our school system has long been the method 
 of supervision — or rather super-neglect ; for if any phase of our town 
 affairs has persistently and success'fully been evaded, it is this. 
 
 Under the old method, the schools in three joining towns were par- 
 celled out to nine "superintendents" to be visited by them singly, such 
 visits covering from one-half to two hours, the only benefit being the 
 detraction of the scholars' attention from their studies and giving the 
 superintendent a chance to draw his pay. The utter impossibility of 
 any one being able to familiarize himself with the work or needs of a 
 school by such hasty oversight is apparent to the most casual observer. 
 
 But under the new system which many of the towns are adopting, 
 given a man fitted for his work, a position and a salary worth striving 
 to retain, a constant and watchful care and oversight and a personal 
 ambition to make his work successful and appreciated ; all these and 
 many other things clearly apparent from the supervisor's standpoint 
 clearly tend to the success of the system. 
 
 Our teachers are or should be better prepared for their work than 
 they were twenty or thirty years ago and being under the constant and 
 watchful oversight of the superintendent, who is liable to drop in upon 
 the school at the most inopportune moment, and knowing that any imper- 
 fect or doubtful work will be criticised or discarded, prompts them to 
 give their most faithful and efficient service. 
 
 The scholars also seem to catch the inspiration of the system and 
 strive to make their best impression on the superintendent, who is a 
 man more apt to be from some town other than ours and often a 
 stranger. By frequent visits he detects the perfections or imperfections 
 
of the various teachers' methods ; and while he encourages the one and 
 seeks to introduce it into other schools, he checks the other and watches, 
 for evidence of its cropping out elsewhere. While under the old sys- 
 tem, merits or demerits of the teacher were not discovered till the last 
 visit of the term, then it was too late to take advantage of the former 
 in the other schools during that term; it was also too late to check the 
 injury being done by the latter during the whole of that term. 
 
 This is a most hasty survey of the work of the new system in the 
 short time allotted me, but to the careful observer, many other excellent 
 features will manifest themselves which give promise to give it success 
 if it can have the hearty co-operation of pupils, teachers, parents and 
 superintendent. — C. E. Smith. 
 
 There are some things which are not purely an experiment, thougk 
 they have never been tried, or, as in the present case, with us, tried so 
 little time that best results cannot be expected, at least by men of under- 
 standing. There are certain fundamental principles that we know arc 
 right. The experience of man for ages has proven them to be so. Thej- 
 are like the law of gravitation, always sure. Whenever and wherevei- 
 these principles are applied, if good results are not obtained, the fault 
 must be looked for in or with the men who are entrusted with theii 
 application and not with the principles themselves. This system of 
 school superintendence rests on some of these principles and, when 
 the right men are employed as superintendents, good results must be had.. 
 It is perhaps not necessary to say what these principles are. Everjf 
 informed man knows that some of the distinguishing features of present 
 day success are that experts are given the control and superintendence of 
 things and that men give their entire time and even entire life to the 
 doing of one thing. As a town, we have been trying this new systerrt 
 but two terms, the third has just begun. It is impossible to go 
 into detailed results after so short a time. If many and great changes- 
 had been made in this little time, it would argue one of two things, either 
 the town was but half civilized or the man far from level-headed. And 
 Boothbay is and was considerably more than half civilized, so evolu- 
 tion, not revolution, is the normal and healthy course to pursue. Mr. 
 Tuttle, as far as I can learn, is doing good work ; all he needs is suffi- 
 cient time and powers from the committee to make our schools the 
 best that we can have. But any man who expects this in a day is not 
 wise. — Rev. A. E. Russell. 
 
 I have been requested to give my opinion as regards the value of 
 towns uniting for the purpose of employing a superintendent of schools. 
 In reply I will say that I consider it the most important advance in edu- 
 cation yet undertaken in Maine. The town system and free text-books 
 have been steps in the right direction, but active, intelligent, interested 
 supervision will do more for the teachers and pupils than either of the 
 others. The country is making rapid advances in art, science and inven- 
 tion ; our modes of travel, living and administering the government are 
 becoming more complex and demand better education on the part of 
 
19 
 
 the people. Intelligent citizenship means more to the average citizen^ 
 than it did fifty years ago ; the simple act of voting for our chief State 
 executive is more difficult than it once was. To meet this requirement 
 for a better preparation for citizenship, the schools of our State must 
 give the young people a better start toward an education than they have 
 been doing. 
 
 Much toward this can be done by having our schools in charge of 
 a competent superintendent who is paid a salary sufficient to enable him 
 to keep in touch with the educational improvements in our section of 
 the country and to bring to his teachers suggestions of what should be 
 taught and how. By visiting the schools often and at unexpected times 
 he can determine the character of the work being done and many times 
 correct serious mistakes on the part of teachers, especially the young, 
 teachers. Under the old system, the work in many schools was not 
 properly graded and many pupils were doing work altogether beyond 
 their powers. Of course the town superintendent could correct this_ 
 but I think he seldom did. I think the teachers will strive to keep 
 themselves better prepared when they know they must teach before one 
 who has an intimate acquaintance with the subject taught. The selection 
 of the best text-books is an important part of the superintendent's work 
 He can do this better than most town superintendents who may not know 
 the value of books from the teacher's standpoint. The union superin- 
 tendent would naturally wish to retain those workmen who did good 
 work and keep them in the same position as long as their work improved. 
 Quite likely there are many other things that might be said of the value 
 of towns uniting, but these few are all I have thought of. — A. P. 
 Greenleaf. 
 
 In regard to the value of towns joining for the purpose of employing 
 a superintendent of schools, I can say I think it is a great benefit to 
 both teachers and scholars, for they each work with more earnestness, 
 and ti-y to accomplish as- much work as those of adjoining towns are 
 doing. Then again it is designed to give us a man thoroughly fitted for 
 this line of work, and receiving a salary sufficient for his support, he can 
 give this work his worle thought, energy and time and thus bring to his 
 teachers and pupils most valuable suggestions and helps in their work. 
 While on the other hand, or adopting the other method, the superintend- 
 ent chosen is usually a business man or farmer, who cannot put his mind 
 on school work, for he has other business to attend to and who, if he 
 had time, could not get up an interest, for he is not up to date in this 
 line of work. So I heartily recommend towns joining for the purpose 
 of employing a superintendent. — William Cameron, Southport, Maine. 
 
 The question has been asked a great many times, Do you think a 
 "union of towns" for the purpose of hiring a superintendent of schools 
 will pay? And what are your reasons for advocating the plan, and will 
 you give us your opinions on the benefits derived from such a union? 
 Well, I think the subject is one of the most important to be considered 
 in connection with the whole educational department in our State. We 
 
20 
 
 need to have a larger range of interest in our schools and a wider scope 
 of influence brought to bear on parents and teachers. We need a gen- 
 eral upraising and awakening to this all-important and stirring question. 
 We need to look at the facts from different standpoints. We, as parents, 
 should look after the financial interests of our schools. We should look 
 after each scholar's separate welfare. And how can we do this? We, as 
 fathers and mothers, have all we can do to look out for food and cloth- 
 ing for our children in order to have them attend school properly fed 
 and clothed, and now who can we get to manage the rest, that is, to 
 procure proper schoolrooms and books, teachers, etc. ? I will say, hire 
 some one to do this for us. If we can find a man whose whole heart 
 is in the work and who loves to do good and watch the expanding minds 
 of the rising generation, (for our hope of State and Nation lies in the 
 hearts of our boys and girls) hire him and pay him well for it, give him 
 two three or four towns to look after and let him devote his whole 
 time to the task — for task he will find it. He has a great responsibility 
 resting on him. He has got to know how to grade those schools. He 
 must buy suitable books and buy to the best advantage for the town. 
 He has got to see that every scholar in the town is attending school 
 and if not there, he is the man to hunt him up and enforce the school 
 laws of the State and to place him where he belongs. This is great 
 gain, because the unruly scholar knows when the superintendent goes 
 after him he has got to go and stay there. Then if a man has his whole 
 time to devote to schools, he can call often on the different ones and 
 advise the teachers in regard to the best methods of reaching the child 
 mind and making suggestions which will be made use of to very great 
 advantage. Then he can ascertain by frequent visits to the different 
 schools, the merits and fitness of teachers and of the growth in knowl- 
 edge of the several classes under his care and if he finds a delinquent 
 teacher he is supposed to talk with him or her and advise better methods 
 but if he finds things no better as the weeks pass on, he is supposed to 
 make the necessary changes. When we have a superintendent in charge 
 of the schools in two or three towns, he can buy school books and all 
 other school supplies at a large discount on the retail price. This will 
 amount to one-quarter of the salary paid to our superintendent nearly 
 in one year and in two or three years, if we continue to unite with 
 other towns, will be a large amount. Some will say, Oh, yes ! I know 
 it is a little saving, but not enough to make up for the extra salary we 
 pay the new superintendent. But you see there is another side to thfe 
 question, the man who has other business to attend to will visit the school 
 and stay only a few minutes, while the man hired to do the work will 
 stay longer and devote his whole time to the special wants of each par- 
 ticular school. Put the right man in the right place of superintendent 
 of two or three towns and our State has done the best thing for its 
 schools and will make the most out of its money spent for school pur- 
 poses. — (Mrs.) Annie A. Reed. 
 
21 
 
 Last year, this town and the town of Vinalhaven joined for the employ- 
 ment of a superintendent of schools, and employed T. M. Coombs as 
 superintendent. At the beginning of last year, our schools were in a very 
 poor condition, but under this system the grade of our schools has been 
 very much improved. The superintendent has the employing of all 
 teachers ; therefore, favoritism is not considered, but the best teachers arc 
 employed. 
 
 This year, the town of Deer Isle joined with us and the district now 
 comprises the three towns, Stonington, Deer Isle and Vinalhaven. We 
 are well satisfied that the joint town supervision was a move in the right 
 direction with us. — John L. Goss, Stonington. 
 
 This town has employed a superintendent of schools by joining with 
 other towns for the past two years and we are satisfied that it is very 
 much of an improvement over local supervision. We are employing a 
 superintendent who is devoting his entire time to school work, at less 
 expense than when we were employing a person who was engaged in 
 some other business the most of his time and I am satisfied that the joint 
 town supervision will prove profitable to our public school system. — 
 A. B. Wooste;r, Vinalhaven. 
 
 I have served on the board of selectmen in this town for the past eight 
 years up to last spring and have been in the way of knowing something 
 about the working of the old methods of looking after our schools. We 
 were obliged to select from some of our doctors, lawyers, or some of our 
 best business men to serve as supervisor of schools and, as would nat- 
 urally be expected, these men as a rule have all the business they can 
 attend to of their own. Last spring we adopted the plan recommended 
 by you for towns to unite and hire an expert superintendent of schools 
 This we did by uniting with the towns of Boothbay and Southport. This 
 plan has now been in operation two terms and I think has worked 
 very successfully. LTnder the old system, the superintendent as a matter 
 of form would visit the schools twice in a term of eleven weeks, usually 
 the first and last weeks, and the scholars would know just when to expect 
 him. Under the new plan, the scholars have to be prepared every day 
 during the term, as the superintendent is giving his whole time and atten- 
 tion to the schools, not only to the scholars, but to the teachers as well, 
 many times giving them advice which helps the school very much. As 
 one of the business men of this town, I heartily recommend the new 
 system. — C. J. Marr, Boothbay Harbor. 
 
 In conjunction with the towns of Stonington and Deer Isle, Vinal- 
 haven has employed a superintendent of schools under the union system 
 of joint supervision during the years 1898 and 1899 and I am pleased 
 to say that, so far as my observation has extended, the results have been 
 most satisfactory. This plan enables us to employ a competent person 
 who thoroughly understands school work and who, by devoting his 
 entire time to this work, accomplishes, I believe, much more than was 
 possible under the old system and at less expense in the aggregate. I 
 can see no' reason why this plan is not a move in the right direction.— 
 E. H. Lyford, Vinalhaven. 
 
22 
 
 This town has joined with other towns the past two years for the 
 employment of a superintendent of schools and the advancement made 
 has proved it to be more profitable than former local supervision. This 
 system enables us to employ a competent superintendent, who is devoting 
 his whole time to schools and methods of teaching without any extra 
 taxation for his services. — D. M. Matthews, Stonington. 
 
 I think it is best for the towns to unite, providing they have not a 
 greater number of schools than the superintendent can handle and keep 
 in touch with. To be sure, it costs the towns more to unite and pay 
 a superintendent $i,ooo a year salary, but they are getting a greater 
 amount of labor, to repay them for the extra cost, for they get a man 
 who devotes his whole time to school work. I think this fact alone would 
 demonstrate in a few years the policy of so uniting. There is no man 
 that can follow two or more vocations, and devote very much time and 
 thought to any one of them, without neglecting tne others. This is 
 true with town superintendents. The town cannot afford to pay a super- 
 intendent a salary that would enable him to devote his whole time to 
 school work, consequently he has to do other work in order to live and 
 just the time that he would be of most use to the schools he is at work 
 for someone else, the supervision of the schools is left to the teacher 
 the greater part of the time, and in many instances the teacher is a 
 college student, earning money to help him through college and as he 
 does not care about building up a reputation as teacher, gets along as 
 easy as possible. 
 
 The town superintendent does not get pay enough to make him uneasy 
 about losing his position and so does not study, to any extent, the meth- 
 ods of other towns and cities and they -travel along the same old rut 
 for years. 
 
 There are a number of people who say they think it is better to hire 
 a superintendent in town, as they can save about $ioo by so doing and 
 that they cannot see any great change in the schools since the employ- 
 ment of the superintendent by the union of towns. They expect to set 
 a radical change immediately after the new man takes charge, but is such 
 a change best for our schools? I say it is not and I would not want to 
 employ a man that would cause such a change to take place. If we 
 are to have improvement in our schools, it will be of slow growth, it 
 should be a process of evolution and in order to bring this about, we 
 should learn not alone by the experience of the past, but should study 
 the improvement made in school work in other towns and the larger 
 cities, and try and keep up with them, and in order to do this, we should 
 employ as superintendents men who have been in the schoolroom all 
 their lives and have taken note of all the advancement made in educa- 
 tion, both in this and other states of the Union. 
 
 As men of this description command high wages, it would be impos- 
 sible for one town alone to hire them. And so I think that where two o^ 
 three towns adjoin each other and have not more than twenty-five oi 
 thirty schools, it is better for them to unite and employ a superintendent. 
 
23 
 
 If he devotes his whole time to the schools, he will do more and better 
 work for the same money than a town superintendent bould do, for 
 he could visit them a greater number of times during the term, and by- 
 visiting the different schools he could be helpful to the teachers, "tell 
 them wherein they were making mistakes and show them the methods 
 used by the best teachers in the towns." 
 
 Get the teachers to meet and discuss the different topics that come 
 under school work and thus create a desire to improve their education 
 and by doing this they will raise the standard of our schools. — Charles 
 Chapman, Boothbay. 
 
 This town has employed a superintendent of schools under the joint 
 supervision for the years 1898 and 1899, and the advancement of schools 
 has been very satisfactory. A uniform system has been established in 
 the rural as well as in graded schools, and the work carried along on 
 even footing, the same work being done in the same classes in all schools. 
 I consider the district supervision very profitable to our public school 
 system, as it enables towns to employ a competent person to be at the 
 head of its schools, and at the same time not to be overtaxed for his 
 employment. He can devote his whole time to school work; thus keep- 
 ing in touch with the best methods and advancing the same to his 
 teachers. — T. P. Gales, Stonington. 
 
 This town is employing a superintendent of schools under the joint 
 town system and I am satisfied we are receiving more efficient super- 
 vision and the improvement in our school system is superior to our 
 former local system of supervision. — E. E. GrEEnlaw, Deer Isle. 
 
 In regard to the union of towns for a superintendent of schools, I 
 think it is a move upward in the right way to a higher standard of 
 schools and will surely, if continued, prove a success. It gives a man 
 fitted for the position who can give his whole attention to the schools, 
 which is impossible under the old system. — Alphonso Dyer. 
 
 From my personal observation, the success and efficiency of our schools 
 have been greatly promoted under this system. Heretofore, we have 
 not appropriated such sum of money as would secure the services of a 
 competent superintendent, but during the past year we have had efficient 
 supervision without increasing our expenditures. For these reasons, 1 
 approve the action of our school committee in uniting in the employ- 
 ment of a superintendent. — E. P. Spofford, Deer Isle. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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