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 ^f)t Centennial 
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1818 1918 
 
 The Centennial Anniversary 
 
 of the 
 
 Public Schools 
 of Philadelphia 
 
 A Kocapitulation 
 
 by 
 
 John P. Garber 
 
 Printed by pupils at the 
 
 I'HiUAnRLPHiA Trades School 
 
 March. 1918 
 
^^^'2** 
 
 D« of D. 
 
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE PUBLIC 
 SCHOOLS OF PHILADELPHIA 
 
 The public school sj^stem of Pennsylvania is the direct out- 
 growth of the Charity Schools established in our city and 
 state for the education of indigent children. Although 
 William Penn and many of the early immigrants were men 
 of learning and strong advocates of general education, the 
 hard conditions of the American wilderness were not favor- 
 able to its promotion. Besides the people were poor and the 
 colony was divided by the religious and political controversies 
 ■ attendant upon the welding together of people from all lands 
 and imbued with greatly divergent thoughts and practices. At 
 the time of the Revolution the population of the state was 
 only about 350,000 and was so widely scattered that there was 
 little opportunity for strong initiative in any matter demand- 
 ing the general interest and support of the people. However, 
 such religious organizations as the Society of Friends, the 
 Episcopalians and the Mennonites had kept alive the demands 
 for education, and after the Revolution a more general interest 
 was awakened in communities here and there which resulted 
 in legislation for the establishment of private schools and col- 
 leges with certain opportunities for those unable to pay their 
 tuition. In Philadelphia the influence of such institutions as 
 the William Penn Charter School, the Germantown Academy, 
 the Academy on Fourth Street, which afterwards became the 
 University of Pennsylvania, and the schools established by 
 the Episcopalians, began to be felt. But the direct movements 
 leading to public education are to be found in the free classes 
 started at first in connection with the Sabbath school work of 
 the various religious denominations. A ^^ Society for the Es- 
 tablishment of Sunday-schools" had been formed in the city 
 and as early as 1792 had made an appeal to the Assembly for 
 ihe passage of a law providing for a general system of edu- 
 cation. 
 
■ The Constitution of the State, which had been revised in 
 1790, contained two provisions for education which indicated 
 a growing interest in the subject. They were as follows: 
 
 1. "The Legislature shall, as soon as con- 
 veniently may be, provide by law for the es- 
 tablishment of schools throughout the State, in 
 such a manner that the poor may be taught 
 gratis. 
 
 2. "The arts and sciences shall be promoted 
 in one or more seminaries of learning." 
 
 In accordance with the latter, favorable legislation was 
 soon secured for the establishment of a number of such "semi- 
 naries," several of them within the present limils of the city. 
 
 However, it was not until March 3, 181S, that the law was 
 passed which virtually was the beginning of our present pub- 
 lic school system in Philadelphia. The Board of Control, 
 under whose charge the free education established by this law 
 was placed, met for organization on the sixth day of April of 
 that year. Hence it seems entirely appropriate for us now 
 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the founding 
 of the public school system of our city even though the schools 
 attended by the boys and girls of to-day are very dilferent 
 from the ones known then — just as in many respects our city 
 is also different. 
 
 At that time the city extended only from the Delaware to 
 the Schuylkill and from South Street to Vine Street, and most 
 of the city west of Seventh, south of Pine and north of Vine 
 was open country. The remainder of what is now included 
 in Philadelphia was known as the Northern Liberties, Ken- 
 sington, Southwark, Moyamensing, Passyunk, Penn Town- 
 ship, Spring Garden, Oxford, Lower Dublin, IBybeny, More- 
 land, Bristol, Germantown, Roxborough, Blockley and King- 
 sessing. On the lamp posts surrounding City Hall is indicated 
 the boundaries of these various districts and townships which 
 now form a part of our city and which with the city itself 
 were then known as "The City and County of Philadelphia." 
 Under the new school law this Avas called "The First School 
 District of the State of Pennsylvania," a name which it has 
 borne ever since. Tlie city and county was divided into seven 
 "Sections," the city itself being "The First Section"; the 
 Northern Liberties and Kensington, "The Second Section"; 
 Southwark, Moyamensing, and Passyunk, "The Third Sec- 
 tion"; and Penn Township, "The Fourth Section." 
 
The schools of these four sections were placed in charge 
 of "directors," who, in the city proper, were chosen by the 
 Common and Select Councils and elsewhere were chosen by 
 the Commissioners of the district or township. These di- 
 rectors, of whom there were twenty-four in the city, twelve 
 in the Northern Liberties, and six in each of the other sections, 
 were under the jurisdiction of "a select body" called "The 
 Controllers of the Public Schools for the City and County of 
 Philadelphia." This body was composed of men selected by 
 their own members from each of the boards of directors and 
 they had general supervision as well as general control of all 
 the schools. The Controllers met for organization on the 
 sixth day of April, 1818, and at once proceeded to establish 
 schools for both boys and girls. In the city proper they es- 
 tablished the "Model School," which was located on Chester 
 Street and which was to serve not only as a school for in- 
 structing boys and girls, but also as a school for training 
 teachers, it being the first school established for this purpose 
 in the United States. In the Second Section they established 
 the Adelphi School with two teachers and the Kensington 
 School also with two teachers; in the Third Section the Moya- 
 mensing School with two teachers and the Southwark School 
 with two. Both of these schools were in rented buildings. 
 In the Fourth Section only a one-room school was established 
 and it was also in a rented building. 
 
 The law required that the pupils be instructed under what 
 was known as the Lancasterian System. This was a plan 
 whereby one teacher assisted by the older pupils was con- 
 sidered sufficient for the instruction of three hundred pupils. 
 This Monitorial System, as it eventually came to be called, 
 was introduced by its originator, an Englishman named Joseph 
 Lancaster, who also established the Model School on Chester 
 Street. The plan had been adopted largely because of its 
 cheapness, the average cost per pupil being less than four 
 dollars per year, while where it was not in use the cost was 
 then nearly ten dollars. It continued in general use in the 
 city and the nearby districts until in 1838 when the President 
 of the Board of Control, Thomas Dunlap, condemned it in his 
 annual report by saying: "The fullest experience has induced 
 the Controllers to question the efficiency of this arrangement, 
 which they think cannot be defended on any but nan-ow and 
 parsimonious views" — views which experience has shown work 
 irremediable harm in educational affairs. 
 
The Controllers determined the number of school houses 
 that should be built and also their size and cost, although the 
 Directors in the various districts supervised their erection. 
 Twenty "respectable taxable citizens" could, by petition, com- 
 pel a public hearing before the courts in regard to any addi- 
 tional schools they might desire. As there was at lirst no 
 superintendent of schools, the Board of Control exercised 
 general super\dsion over both teachers and pupils, although 
 the Directors elected the teachers. The books and supplies 
 needed for the pupils w^ere furnished free then just as they 
 are now. 
 
 In 1821 the schools of the. other districts and townships of 
 the County of Philadelphia were also placed in charge of the 
 Board of Control. This increased the number of Sections to 
 eight. Oxford, Lower Dublin, Byberry and Moreland were 
 denominated The Fifth Section; Germantown, Bristol and* 
 Roxborough being The Sixth Section; Blockley and Kingses- 
 sing, The Seventh Section; and the township of Passyunk, The 
 Eighth Section. By that time the first four sections had 7 
 schools with nearly 3000 pupils in attendance. Three years 
 later this number had increased only 500, indicating a very 
 slow growth in these schools. In order to learn to read and 
 spell pupils were first taught the alphabet from A all the way 
 through to Z and even including &c. What they were then 
 taught in the schools is well indicated in the distribution of 
 the above 3500 pupils. "Exclusive of the alphabet and spell- 
 ing departments, and writers on slates, there are among these 
 children 1728 in the reading, 899 in the paper w^riting, and 
 1474 in the arithmetic classes: in the latter branch, some have 
 advanced to vulgar (common, to distinguish from decimal) 
 fractions, and in several schools grammar and geography are 
 successfully taught. Knitting and other useful needlework 
 forms part of the instruction of the girls, and at one of the 
 schools the plaiting of straw has recently been beneficially in- 
 troduced." In geography the ability to point out places on 
 the globe was regarded as the highest evidence of success. A 
 great deal of interest was taken in the moral instruction of 
 the pupils and much of the "paper-writing" was in imitation 
 of moral and scriptural texts written at the head of the sheet 
 by the teacher. 
 
 The Board of Control from the very earliest days made a 
 special effort to instruct colored children. As this was long 
 before the question of slavery became a great public issue, it 
 
forms a matter of great credit to the Board of Control and 
 the citizens who supported these schools. That the colored 
 pupils made good use of the opportunity is indicated by the 
 following report on their progress: "The proficiency of the 
 colored children in the branches they are taught, and the or- 
 derly habits which they have acquired by attendance at school, 
 promise the happiest results for society." 
 
 Although the Act establishing these free schools several 
 times refers to them as "public schools," they were not such 
 schools as we now know them. As early as 1790 the State 
 began to pass laws for the free education of the poor, and 
 Philadelphia had secured most of such legislation. While 
 the law of 1818 was excellent in many respects, its purpose 
 was simply to establish a better and less costly system of ele- 
 mentary schools for poor children than the plans then in 
 vogue. It contained no provision for the education of any 
 children at public expense except "indigent orphan children 
 or children of indigent parents" — boys between 6 and 14 
 years of age and girls between 5 and 13. Hence these schools 
 were "pauper schools" and as such people in general had no 
 thought of sending their children to them; therefore, the 
 greater part of the children of the city were then in private 
 "pay schools." By the year 1834, however, a strong sentiment 
 had developed that education was so essential to the welfare 
 of the State, as well as so beneficial to the individual, that it 
 should be made free to all. This was a new thought based on 
 the idea that in a democracy education should be free, not 
 because some could not otherwise secure its benefits, but rather 
 because opportunities in such fundamental things must be as 
 nearly equalized as possible for all. Both ignorance and 
 class distinctions are fatal to a democracj^, and the most ad- 
 vanced thinkers of that day soon realized that the schools 
 afforded the best means of removing these menaces to the wel- 
 fare of the people. 
 
 A leading part in the final movement for free education 
 for all was taken by the Pennsylvania Society for the Promo- 
 tion of Public Schools, which was organized in Philadelphia in 
 1827. Roberts Vaux, the first president of the Board of 
 Control, was also made president of this Society. Fortu- 
 nately, Pennsylvania had several governors who, during this 
 period, were deeply interested in education. Of these Gov- 
 ernor Hiester took a deep interest in securing the advantages 
 of education for as many as possible. He especially com- 
 
mended Philadelphia "For the establishment of schools in 
 which the terms of tuition are greatly reduced, and in which 
 those who are not able to meet the expense are taught gra- 
 tuitously." Governor George Wolf, in his first inaugural ad- 
 dress, also showed his interest in education by commending 
 the legislature that should provide for education ^'on a scale 
 so l)road and extensive as to reach every village and neighhor- 
 hood." When it is remembered that there were a great many, 
 even among adults, in the State at that time who could neither 
 read nor write, and that schooling was regarded by many as 
 unnecessary, especially for girls, the need for such action is 
 apparent. Upon his re-election in 1832, Governor Wolf again 
 manifested great interest in the schools and efforts were at 
 once made to place education on a better basis. Joseph G. 
 Clarkson, of Philadelphia, who was chairman of the House 
 Committee on Education, made an able report fa\'oring the 
 establishment of a broad system of public education with 
 schools open free to all children of proper age. At the be- 
 ginning of the session of 1833-34, on motion of Samuel Breck, 
 of Philadelphia, a joint committee of the House and the 
 Senate was appointed "for the purpose of digesting a system 
 of general education for this Commonwealth." The committee 
 obtained "all the information possible from persons engaged 
 in the business of education" and also made a study of the 
 systems in force in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, 
 where public schools had already been established. As a re- 
 sult of their work they presented a bill, which is said to have 
 been drawn up by Senator Breck, and which was passed with 
 only one dissenting voice. This was in 1834. While there 
 were things in the new law which were "found to be clumsy 
 and inconvenient in practice," and were therefore soon re- 
 pealed, the fundamental idea of free public schools for all 
 was thereby established and the State committed to an educa- 
 tional policy which has enabled it to rank among the best in 
 the nation. 
 
 But the new law did not have smooth sailing. It had 
 many strong friends and worthy advocates, but there were 
 some who had no sympathy with the doctrine of equality upon 
 which the law was founded. They had not outgrown the Old 
 World idea that there are two classes of society, a higher and 
 a lower, and that it is a mistake to endeavor to break down 
 the l)arrier between the two. There were others who were 
 unwilling to help, through taxation, to pay for the education 
 
 8 
 
of other people's children. They had not the vision to see 
 how, in human society, the welfare of the individual is 
 wrapped up in that of his fellow-men. Nor did they stop to 
 consider what they owed to society for all of the benefits they 
 themselves enjoyed. Those who believed in two classes of 
 people — "the hewers of wood and the drawers of water" and 
 a superior class— held that to educate the "lower class" beyond 
 the mere elements was both unnecessary and apt to render 
 them unhappy. That these were human beings like them- 
 selves, and therefore entitled to all of the resources of growth 
 and satisfaction, did not enter their minds. They did not 
 realize that both the safety and the prosperity of the State, 
 and therefore their own, were in direct proportion to the in- 
 telligence and breadth of training of every individual in the 
 State. Opposition to the new educational plans and ideals 
 also arose from several religious organizations that had al- 
 ready established schools and from others who were influenced 
 by narrow ideals. It is not surprising therefore that efforts 
 were at once made to have the law repealed. Not only did 
 these efforts fail, but the friends of the law were able to 
 strengthen some of its provisions. This was largely due to 
 the championship of Thaddeus Stevens, who made a plea for 
 the law, when the issue was in doubt in the Assembly, which 
 was "so convincing that the friends of education were brought 
 in solid column to the support of the measure and thus saved 
 the common school system." 
 
 Although the cause of the public school triumphed. Gov- 
 ernor Wolf, who had been renominated for a third term, was 
 defeated for re-election. Like many another man who has 
 faithfully and fearlessly espoused a good cause, he became a 
 martyr to the great idea of an education for all. He went 
 out, however, with these prophetic words in his last message : 
 "There can be no doubt that as the system advances into more 
 general use and its advantages become more apparent, it will 
 increase in favor with the people generally, but especially with 
 the more liberal-minded and intelligent"— a fact fully demon- 
 strated by the history of public education everywhere, as much 
 of its opposition and lack of support has always arisen from 
 a lack of definite knowledge of the work of the schools and 
 their essential place in human progress. 
 
 In 1836 there was a reshaping of the public school law 
 for the State, which left it, in its essentials, practically as it 
 exists to-day. A few notable changes have, however, been made 
 
 9 
 
since that time. The public meetings at which the tax rate 
 for school purposes was fixed are no longer required; holding 
 elections at w^hich people voted "scliools" or "no schools" was 
 discontinued in 1848; and the legal school age has been raised 
 from four, as it existed then, to six. But, aside from the fact 
 that the year 1836 marks the real beginning of public schools 
 in the State as w^e now know them, Philadelphia's main inter- 
 est in the act consists in its repeal of the portions of the law 
 of 1818 which made the Lancasterian system obligatory in the 
 city and which limited the benefits of the public schools to 
 the children of indigent parents. It also authorized the es- 
 tablishment of the Central High School "for the full education 
 of such pupils of the public schools as may possess the 
 requisite qualifications," This was a decidedly advanced step 
 in public education and showed that, in Philadelphia at least, 
 there were enough advanced thinkers in the Commonwealth 
 to justify the statement of one of tlie advocates of the law: 
 "In other ages and countries, the lower orders might be con- 
 fined to the rudiments of knowledge, while the higher branches 
 were dispensed to the privileged classes, in distant and ex- 
 pensive seminaries. But here we have no lower orders. Our 
 statesmen and our higher magistrates, our professional men 
 and our capitalists, our philosophers and our poets, our mer- 
 chants and our mechanics, all spring alike from the mass." 
 
 That the freeing of education and the opening of the high 
 school, had a general stimulating effect upon the public schools 
 is evident from the fact that the attendance leaped in a few 
 years from 7000 to 35,000. This was a triumph of the fact 
 so fully being demonstrated in public education in recent 
 years — namely, that the people will support and take pride 
 in their schools to the extent to which they are convinced that 
 they contain the maximum opportunity for their boys and 
 girls. And that the high school idea Avas not for the benefit 
 of "aristocrats" only, as w^as then claimed b\^ some, was 
 clearly shown by an investigation of the principal of the 
 school, Dr. John S. Hart, which revealed the fact that more 
 tlian 75 per cent, of the entering class were the sons of 
 laborers, porters, conductors, artisans, storekeepers, etc. 
 
 The year 1854 was a notable one in the history of the city 
 because, at that time, an act was passed by the Assembly 
 which consolidated all of the districts and townshii)s within 
 the County of Philadelphia with the city proper, Tliis in- 
 creased the number of sections under the jurisdiction of the 
 
 10 
 
Board of Control to 24, the number of schools to 303, and the 
 number of pupils to 52,073. The number of teachers then 
 employed was 876 and the entire payroll was only $294,316 
 or an average of $336 per teacher. The average cost per 
 pupil for the year 1854 was $9.16, and the total value of the 
 school-plant was placed at $1,236,823.61. It is interesting to 
 note that "night schools" (evening schools) had already been 
 established and that the Board spent $20,000 upon them that 
 year. The president of the Board at that time, T. G. Hol- 
 lingsworth, said of those attending these night schools what 
 is even more true of our evening activities under our present 
 city conditions: "How much better that they should be thus 
 engaged, preparing to become useful and respectable citizens, 
 than that they should be attending those other schools, to be 
 found on every corner, where idle young men learn, from 
 experienced teachers, those lessons of vice and crime which 
 bring not only ruin to themselves but irreparable damage and 
 loss to the community.'' 
 
 The Act of Consolidation placed the entire power of levy- 
 ing taxes in the hands of the Citj^ Councils. This soon proved 
 a source of irritation and friction between the Board and 
 Councils. As the body controlling the finances always pos- 
 sesses predominating power. Councils from that time were in 
 a position to wield an undue influence upon the policies and 
 practices of the Board. That the friction early became serious 
 is evident from one of the annual reports of Edwin Shippen, 
 who was President of the Board from 1864 to 1869. After 
 complaining of the inability of the Board to secure promised 
 funds with which to carry on the educational work and of the 
 efforts of Councils to interfere with the progressive policies 
 of the Board, he said: "The Councils of the City of Phila- 
 delphia have no more right to instruct the Board of School 
 Controllers in respect to educational affairs than has the 
 Board of School Controllers the right to instruct Councils in 
 regard to details of municipal management." It should be 
 added, however, that this condition continued as late as 1906, 
 when the minimum amount that could be appropriated to the 
 schools was fixed at 5 mills, or in reality until 1911, when the 
 Board w^as given the right to levy and budget its own taxation. 
 
 That President Shippen was exceptionally well prepared 
 to represent the best interests of the people in their educa- 
 tional affairs is evident from his educational vision and his 
 advocacy of progressive policies. He realized the desirability 
 
 11 
 
of carefully-prepared school statistics, the importance to the 
 child of a properly developed body, the need of compulsory 
 school attendance, and also the need of expert school super- 
 vision. In one of his earliest reports he lamented the fact 
 that Philadelphia, in common with other cities, lacked the 
 educational records and statistics that would furnish a basis 
 for judging of "the practical workings of different school or- 
 ganizations." In his report for 1867 he urged the introduc- 
 tion of "a thorough, simple, and effective system of physical 
 exercises to give children the advantages of healthful exer- 
 cises, more important even, we are free to say, than any por- 
 tions of the mental culture." As early as 1865 he advocated 
 compulsory attendance at school. As it was estimated, a few 
 jTars later, that there were over 20,000 children not attending 
 an}^ school but who w^ere running the streets "in idleness and 
 vagabondism," the need for such a law was evidently great. 
 In regard to expert supervision of the schools. President 
 Shippen said in his report for 1867: "The time has arrived 
 when the huge machinerj^ of the Public School Sj^stem of 
 Philadelphia requires the most careful action and delicate 
 sui)ervision. . . . The whole system requires a governing 
 hand, one who has experience, tact, and executive ability. 
 
 . . Philadelphia alone, of all large cities, is without such 
 supervision. . . . There is no one upon whom is charged 
 the duties and responsibilities of supervising all the schools 
 of Philadelphia as a connected bod}^ . . . And to the want 
 of this office has been attributed, to a considerable degree, 
 many of the imperfections which have been charged against 
 our school system." A committee appointed to consider the 
 subject reported: "No plan of general education, the success 
 of which depends upon the conduct of others, however solici- 
 tous these may be in the performance of their duties, can be 
 complete without a supervisory head to recommend to the 
 consideration of the Board such improvements as his o^A^l 
 experience, and that of other cities, may from time to time 
 suggest." However, the necessary appropriation for tlie pur- 
 pose was not secured until in 1883 when, in the spring of that 
 year. Dr. James Mcxllister was elected as the first Superin- 
 tendent of the Public Schools. 
 
 President Shippen was greatly annoyed bj^ some who 
 would liave wrecked the schools with cheapness and by others 
 who would have blighted them by their carping criticism. But 
 he was especially bitter in his denunciation of secret opposi- 
 
 12 
 
tion. These secret enemies, he said, lose no opportunity by 
 which to impair the usefulness and effectiveness of our schools. 
 "This secret opposition is always dangerous, and must be 
 carefully watched, and openly fouglit. Among these specious 
 oj^ponents, we hnd men of intelligence; men who have never 
 been within the walls of a public school edihce, and who are 
 utterly and shamefully ignorant of the instruction, at whicli 
 their malevolence is cast." AVhile he recognized the imperfec- 
 tion of the schools, he also saw the vital connection between 
 them and the prosperity of the city and between them and 
 the welfare of the nation. Although he was often disap- 
 pointed at receiving no help in the work from sources from 
 which he had a right to expect it, he believed in the possibili- 
 ties and ultimate triumph of our democracy through the in- 
 telligence upon which it would be firmly established by the 
 thorough education of the masses. Writing in 1SG6, he ut- 
 tered words which should be peculiarly significant during our 
 present great European struggle. "The final success of our 
 republican institutions," he said, "will depend, more than all 
 else, upon the success of our republican education; that the 
 triumphant evidence we have just been giving of the strengtii 
 and stability of those institutions is an evidence, more than all 
 else, ... of our success in educating the people." 
 
 There are many interesting things connected with these 
 early days of our school system. For many years the law re- 
 quired the county auditors to examine the accounts of the 
 Board. That both the Board and tlie auditors did not always 
 favor the bills presented for payment is clearly shown in the 
 following : 
 
 "The Auditors have examined the objections 
 of the Controllers to Benjamin Martin's account 
 as rendered February 4, 1821 ; in whicli he 
 charges 100 dollars 49 cents, for a raising din- 
 ner, which exceeded the amount allowed by the 
 Controllers 50 dollars 49 cents; and also Syl- 
 vester Roberts's account for i:)rinting 1000 copies 
 of an address delivered at Ebenezer Church on 
 the 4th of July last, 3 dollars fov printing a 
 Hymn for the same occasion ; John Graham's ac- 
 count of 4 dollars for a suit of clothes given to 
 a boy for reciting the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence at same time; and John Allen's of 1 dollar 
 50 cents for preparing the said church for the 
 
 13 
 
same occasion; and they perfectly coincide with 
 the Controllers in the opinion that the said 
 charges are improper, and cannot be admitted." 
 
 On April 16, 1845, the Board of Controllers was given 
 corporate powers under the title of "The Controllers of the 
 public schools of the first school district of Pennsylvania." 
 As a corporate body, they were by this act given legal title 
 to all of the school property then in possession of the Com- 
 missioners of the County or of any other person. However, 
 at Consolidation of the City in 1854, these privileges reverted 
 to City Councils, in whose hands it remained until 1911, when 
 the Board was again vested with the full control of its own 
 property. 
 
 As an indication of the salaries paid in these early days, 
 the annual report of President Hollingsworth for 1855 shows 
 that, although the pay of teachers had been increased because 
 at existing rates for board, clothing and other necessary ex- 
 penses "it was found exceedingly difficult for an educated 
 young woman to live decently and comfortably on the salaries 
 named," it still left 198 teachers at a salary of $200 per year 
 and 146 at a salary of $225. This was out of a total of 935 
 teachers, of whom 9 per cent, were male teachers. At this 
 time the average cost per pupil was $9.16 — "a sum not so 
 large as the ordinary cost of books alone in private schools." 
 The average cost per pupil in the high school at that time was 
 $37.72. 
 
 In 1867 the appointment of the members of the Board of 
 Control was taken away from the various Boards of Direc- 
 tors and given to the courts, the members so appointed hold- 
 ing, by virtue of their office, full privileges in the Board of 
 Directors of their respective sections. At that time there 
 were 27 members in the Board of Control, 15 of them being 
 appointed by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and 
 12 by the Judges of the District Court. 
 
 By an Act of Assembly the name of the Board of Con- 
 trollers was, in 1869, changed to that of the Board of Public 
 Education, as a more distinctive title. In 1905 there was a 
 general recodification of the school laws of the State, in 
 which the number of members of the Board was reduced from 
 one for each section (the sections corresponding to the city 
 wards), then 42 in all, to 21. At the same time the Boards 
 of Directors of the several school sections or wards, whicli 
 had been fixed by the law of 1894 at 13 for each section, or 
 
 14 
 
Cathakixk Stkkkt Scikxm. ( .Mt. Vkknon), Nokth Siuk of Catharine 
 Stki'-kt. West of Thiri> 
 
546 in all, were replaced by Boards of School Visitors of 7 
 members each, elected by the people. At the same time the 
 right to elect teachers and to control their rating was re- 
 moved from the local authorities and placed on a civil service 
 basis under the control of the Board of Education. This was 
 an important movement in the direction of centralizing au- 
 thority and the establishment of a merit system for the elec- 
 tion and promotion of teachers. In 1911 the Board was given 
 independent control of taxation, within the six-mill limit set 
 by law, as well as independent borrowing power. The size of 
 the Board was at the same time reduced to 15 members. This 
 was done in connection with the remodeling of the 1905 gen- 
 eral school law of the State, and has been referred to by the 
 Bureau of Education at Washington as "perhaps the most 
 extensive and radical instance of educational legislation that 
 has ever been accomplished in a single act in this country." 
 From the small and imperfect beginnings of 1818 has 
 grown a public school system in our city which now enrolls 
 over 230,000 pupils taught by over 6300 teachers in 307 
 school buildings, and representing in buildings, grounds, and 
 equipment a valuation of over $35,000,000. In the earlier 
 days there was little attempted beyond the imparting of 
 knowledge. The home and community life provided for many 
 of the things which now must be included in the program of 
 the school, or they will not be taught at all. The changed and 
 increasingly complex conditions have thrown a burden on the 
 school that was unknown in former days. To meet these 
 insistent needs the school must now not only impart knowl- 
 edge but must develop intelligence and adaptability of a high 
 type and also see: (1) that during youth health knowledge 
 and health habits are inculcated; (2) that there is the maxi- 
 mum amount of vocational intelligence and training as a 
 preparation for self-support; (3) that civic duties and re- 
 sponsibilities are as clearly appreciated and accepted as pos- 
 sible; (4) that helpful recreational activities are chosen and 
 provided for, with uplifting ideals and inclination for the use 
 of leisure time as their safe foundation; and (5) that woven 
 through this entire program there shall be a clean and high 
 moral purpose. In addition to this the modern school must 
 care for the physical and moral unfortunates so that they, too, 
 may have the fullest opportunity to outdistance their handicap 
 and find life worth living. The modern school must also reach 
 out into the community and become a gi'eat center of com- 
 
 15 
 
munity intelligence and welfare. In brief, the schools of 
 Philadelphia are and must continue increasingly to be the 
 inveterate foe of ignorance, poverty, disease, crime, and all 
 forms of human waste and neglect, and a great fundamental 
 agency for increasing the welfare and influence of our City, 
 State, and Nation. 
 
 To carry on this important work the Board of Public Edu- 
 cation has provided Kindergarten classes, for children from 
 three to five years of age; Elementary schools, for from six 
 to eight years of instruction in the fundamentals of knowl- 
 edge and training; Junior high schools, for the first three 
 years of a secondary education, during which the work of the 
 elementary school is applied and extended in a most helpful 
 way; Senior high schools, for three or four years of a more 
 definite and scientific preparation for life; a large number of 
 free scholarshij)s to institutions of higher learning; Teacher- 
 training schools, where two and a half years of professional 
 training is given as a ^preparation for teaching; Continuation 
 schools, both day and evening — the day continuation schools 
 providing eight hours' instruction per week for those between 
 the ages of 14 and 16 who are in employment, and the evening 
 schools providing evening instruction, both elementary and 
 high, for those beyond the age of 16 who desire to improve 
 their education, as well as for the foreign-born who may de- 
 sire to learn the English language; Special classes for back- 
 ward, crippled, anaemic, or tubercular childi^en for whom 
 there are separate schools ; Cooking classes and Sewing classes, 
 where the domestic arts so essential to the making and keep- 
 ing of a good home are taught ; Handwork classes and Shop- 
 work classes, in which the foundations of vocational training 
 are laid; and School garden and Home garden classes, in 
 which are taught many of the things in connection with food 
 production and food conservation that we are now finding 
 so vital to our welfare, as well as a knowledge and love for 
 flowers and fiower-raising. Music and drawing are taught as 
 part of the regular daily program and with the strong under- 
 lying purpose of introducing the boys and girls to the rich 
 storehouses of art for their fuller aesthetic and spiritual en- 
 joyment. Physical training is systematically given as a means 
 of developing a strong and enduring body, a healthy attrac- 
 tive carriage, and for the correction of many bodily defects. 
 Warm lunches are provided at cost in all of the higher 
 schools and in many of the elementary. The Board also main- 
 
 16 
 
tains careful Medical Inspection of the schools, both as a 
 means of preventing the spread of contagion and for the dis- 
 covery and correction of remediable physical defects; a Com- 
 pulsory Attendance department that cares for both truancy 
 and the truant, and which also has charge, under the law, of 
 granting working certiticates ; and a system of School play- 
 grounds that after school and during vacations affords a better 
 place to play than the street. Many valuable Community 
 Meetings are also being held in the school buildings, although 
 the community use of the school has far greater possibilities 
 than have, as yet, been provided for. 
 
 This, in a general way, indicates the activities and pur- 
 poses of our Philadelphia public school system. It is not 
 intended to indicate that school accommodations and equip- 
 ment are as adequate as they should be nor that there is not 
 room for improvement and enlargement along all lines. But 
 more and better school buildings, larger school yards, and 
 enlarged activities mean additional expense; and the funds 
 of the Board are limited. There must be full value received 
 from every dollar spent in the schools, but as some one has 
 tersely said, "A school system that is not costing a great deal 
 these days is not worth a great deal." And it still remains 
 true that the entire annual cost per pupil for public instruc- 
 tion in Philadelphia represents a sum not much larger than 
 the ordinary cost of books and other materials alone where 
 instruction has to be paid for. 
 
 With its modern safe and sanitary school buildings, many 
 of them representing an expenditure of several hundred thou- 
 sand dollars each, with equipment and supplies well adapted 
 to the work, and with teachers and methods represeenting the 
 best in modern educational training and thought, the public 
 schools of Philadelphia to-day are in marked contrast to 
 those attended by boys and girls of a hundred years ago. To 
 the work of enlargement and the improvement of these schools 
 we all should dedicate our best efforts; for they represent 
 for our young people not only the heritage of the past, but 
 also the opportunities of the present and the vision and hope 
 of the future. The great European conflict is forcing a tre- 
 mendous readjustment of human thought and practice. It is 
 rapidly setting aside that which no longer meets the needs of 
 the day, and proving that things which are cheap and small 
 have no place in modern educational thought. We are thinking 
 more and more in terms of the big things of life — of the 
 
 17 
 
things that go far beyond the daily task and which put a 
 larger purpose and meaning into life. May we all measure 
 up to the demands of this new day, in our ideals, in our prac- 
 tice, but especially in a sincere interest in the welfare of the 
 young people whose destinies are being shaped in our public 
 schools. This is not only our duty to them and to the 'com- 
 munity and State we are endeavoring to serve, but also an 
 opportunity for the highest form of service that human so- 
 ciety has to offer. 
 
 John P. Garber. 
 
 Philadelphia, April C, 1918. 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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