School Economies 
 
 By 
 FRANK M. RICH 
 
 Baltimore 
 
 WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 
 
 1920 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/schooleconomiesOOrich 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 By 
 
 FRANK M. RICH 
 
 BALTIMORE 
 
 WARWICK & YORK, Inc. 
 1920 
 

 Copyright 1920 
 By WARWICK & YORK. Inc. 
 
 ©CI.A659941 
 

 CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 Heating ...11 
 
 The Stove Jacket 13 
 
 Ventilation , 16 
 
 Toilets , 21 
 
 Lavatories 24 
 
 The Care of Books 29 
 
 Book Varnishing 31 
 
 Book Mending 34 
 
 Teachers 43 
 
 Finding Good Teachers 52 
 
 An Experiment in the Cooperative Registry of Teach- 
 ers 55 
 
 Supervision 60 
 
 Parents' Associations 71 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 "There is that scattereth and yet increaseth," said the wise 
 King Solomon. "There is that withholdeth more than is 
 meet, but it tendeth to poverty." 
 
 Being a wise old monarch, Solomon was not to be taken 
 in by the kind of economy that pinches the sheckel till it 
 spoils the inscription, and then has to let the battered metal 
 go as scrap. 
 
 Economy is not the art of spending less, but of realizing 
 more; not of reducing investments, but of enlarging divi- 
 dends. It is not getting along as best you can with what 
 you have, but having what you can get along with best. 
 Above all it is not the lose-at-the-bung policy of the typical 
 rustic school board when they are penny-wise in paring 
 down all expenses, and pound-foolish in squandering the 
 public good. 
 
 In the business world economy tends to regulate itself 
 by a process of natural selection. Lost profits and wasted 
 opportunities quietly drive the inefficient organization to 
 the wall, while more thrifty and enterprising rivals capture 
 the markets and reap the benefits. In commercial matters, 
 therefore, economy needs no more eloquent defense than 
 its own generous balances on the credit side of the account. 
 But in government, church and school affairs the situation 
 is somewhat different. The product cannot be measured 
 in terms of the expenditure. It often requires some study 
 and reflection to detenmine what true economy really is. 
 Where one sows and another reaps, it is not surprising if 
 
8 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 some fields receive a rather scanty seeding. Unfortunatly, 
 it often happens that the greater the need, and the more 
 limited the resources, the less real economy is used. 
 
 In all enterprises there is a point of diminishing returns — 
 a place where the product begins to fall off in increasing 
 ratio to the investment — till the fire is too small to heat the 
 boiler, the power too weak to move the machinery, the stock 
 too poor to attract customers, and the salaries too small to 
 hold efficient workmen. Wherever the economist attempts 
 to lower the investment much below the point of highest 
 economy, his organization rapidly begins to peter out for 
 lack of the means of healthy sustenance. 
 
 The problem in school economy, like the problem of the 
 economist in any system, is to keep as close as possible 
 to this point of diminishing returns — the place where greater 
 expenditure would fail to produce proportionally greater 
 results, and where any further retrenchment would be loss 
 rather than gain. 
 
 Whatever else a school system has to do without, there 
 are three essentials that cannot profitably be surrendered: — 
 
 (i) Competent instruction, 
 
 (2) Adequate appliances, 
 
 (3) Conditions making for decency, comfort and 
 health; 
 
 in other words: capable teachers, respectable books and 
 furniture and effective sanitation, ventilation and heat. 
 Any economy that sacrifices these elements is false econ- 
 omy — "muzzling the ox that treadeth out the corn." 
 
 The problem of furnishing good teachers and building up 
 the equipment in a run-down system where taxes are high 
 and tax-payers apathetic is not altogether easy. It re- 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 quires a very respectable amount of political ability to 
 make a hard pressed community realize that the same pinch 
 of sacrifice that the average family has to endure in raising 
 and educating its children falls to the lot of the district as 
 a whole, if it is to do its duty by the generation coming on. 
 And yet, the need for funds even in the poorest neighbor- 
 hoods is seldom so pressing as the need for intelligent in- 
 terest and wise control. As Jonathan Swift said: a man that 
 can make two blades of grass or two ears of corn grow 
 where but one grew before is worth a world of politicians. 
 No one who is in earnest in his wish to make good schools of 
 poor ones need utterly despair because funds are low. The 
 conditions that any school man has to face, when, in an 
 unguarded imoment, he has accepted the generosity of the 
 citizens in appointing him to make up, single-handed, for 
 the generations of neglect and indifference of his predeces- 
 sors, will hardly be worse, financially or educationally, than 
 those that confronted the writer as district superintendent 
 in three of the poorest unions of Vermont, Massachusetts 
 and New Hampshire. The devices worked out here under 
 necessity's maternal guidance are offered in the hope that 
 they may help others in a similar situation. 
 
 The problems we set to work upon are the problems of 
 poor schools everywhere: to make the old stoves heat the 
 rooms evenly and comfortably; to provide effective venti- 
 lation in all weathers; to render washing and drinking 
 facilities sanitary; to clean up the unspeakable outside 
 closets, and make them stay so ; to restore tattered books to 
 usable condition, and make them dirt, ink and water-proof 
 for the future; to replace the old hit-or-miss, try-'em-a- 
 while methods of hiring teachers, and institute a system 
 
10 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 that guarantees the best teachers available for the salary- 
 offered ; in general, to make the old school house do its full 
 duty in a toned up and awakened community without resort- 
 ing to charity and without asking the tax payers for more 
 than they are able and willing to pay. 
 
HEATING 
 
 The first step in bettering school conditions is to make 
 teachers and pupils physically comfortable. No one who 
 has spent a winter morning in a poor white's school house 
 needs any flight of rhetoric to picture the difficulties under 
 which the inmates are trying to teach or study. Good work 
 is alike impossible for the group shivering in the corners, 
 or for the others scorching in a ring about the stove. 
 
 Unless the school is singularly fortunate, the fire is built 
 by a boy janitor shortly before the time for school to begin. 
 In desperate haste he heaps the stove with fuel and turns 
 on all drafts to get as quick a fire as possible. In a few 
 minutes he has a stove unbearably hot in a room still un- 
 comfortably cold. The trouble is not in the amount of 
 heat, but in the uneveneess with which it is distributed. 
 If the heat that is blistering the paint on the ceiling could be 
 brought down to warm the chilled limbs of the pupils, all 
 would soon be comfortable. 
 
 It is a well known fact that a close room heats more 
 quickly if the windows are opened for a moment when the 
 fire is started. This seeming paradox is explained by the 
 fact that the air set in motion by an outside breeze con- 
 tinues in motion for a long time, mixing cold and warm 
 currents till the whole room is even and comfortable. On 
 the other hand when a fire is started in stagnant air, a hot 
 draft rises and lies in a blistering layer along the ceiling, 
 while a sluggish icy stratum remains for hours along the 
 floor. The little heat that would be lost by opening a 
 window could profitably be sacrificed for a breeze that 
 
12 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 would mix these layers and make the heat at the top avail- 
 able for use in the bottom of the room. The secret of 
 comfort and economy in heat lies in even distribution. 
 
 The poorest method of heat is by radiation, as when one 
 sits before an open fire, and roasts his face and freezes his 
 back, while what little warm air there is floats away up the 
 chimney. The best method of heat is by convection, or the 
 circulation of warm breezes throughout the atmosphere. 
 The stove in a room heats partly by convection and partly 
 by radiation. To improve the system, the radiation needs 
 to be eliminated and this heat turned toward increasing the 
 circulation. Hence the purpose of the stove jacket, or 
 casing, which partly surrounds the stove, cuts off the heat 
 that beats into the faces of nearby pupils, and uses it to 
 warm the larger volume of air that circulates around it. 
 The jacket, of course, cannot create any heat, neither can it 
 destroy any. It merely serves to cut off some of the heat 
 where it is not wanted and transfers it to the moving air 
 where is is needed much indeed. The comforts of a stove- 
 jacket are not merely theoretical. The moment one is in- 
 stalled the improvemnt is apparent, in a temperature many 
 degrees cooler near the stove and several degrees warmer 
 in distant parts of the room. The stove is by all odds the 
 simplest and most economical form of heat for a rural 
 building, and if provided with a jacket and proper atten- 
 tion given to ventilation, there is no reason why it should 
 not be entirely satisfactory. 
 
THE STOVE JACKET 
 
 The writer has experimented with a number of home- 
 made jackets, and while all did the work and answered the 
 purpose, it took some time to evolve one that was not 
 flimsy, noisy or unsightly, and yet could be made by any- 
 body out of easily found material. The result is a jacket 
 of medium light sheet iron on a frame of iron piping and 
 lined with heavy asbestos sheathing or light asbestos mill 
 board. 
 
 The iron frame, constructed of I inch iron pipe and mal- 
 leable railing fittings, should be 6 to 8 inches larger than 
 the stove all around. The one shown here, intended for a 
 box-pattern wood stove, consists of 
 
 4 lengths of pipe, I foot more than the length of the stove. 
 
 3 lengths of pipe, I foot more than the width of the stove. 
 
 4 lengths of pipe, the same size as the height of the stove. 
 4 long — 3 or 4 inch nipples ; 
 
 all the above threaded right and left. 
 
 4 side opening elbows — 2 threaded right, and 2 left. 
 
 2 side opening tees — 1 threaded right, and 1 left. 
 
 2 plain tees, 1 threaded right and 1 left. 
 
 4 floor flanges, 2 threaded right and 2 left 
 with screws for the flanges. 
 
 As the joints do not have to be water or steam tight, a 
 left hand tap, in case of necessity, can be run through a 
 right hand thread and it will screw up tight and make a 
 good job. 
 
 The covering of black sheet iron is in three pieces, — a 
 back and two sides. The front is left open for convenience. 
 The pieces are cut the size of the spaces inside the frame, 
 
14 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 with 6 inch flaps on all sides to wrap around the frame and 
 fasten with stove bolts, through holes drilled in the sheet 
 metal 6 inches or so apart, just inside the frame. 
 
 The right and left flaps of the back piece cannot, of course, 
 be wrapped around the same pipe that has already been used 
 for the flaps of the side pieces ; and this method of fastening 
 is unnecessary, as these flaps can be bent over against the 
 side flaps and the same holes and bolts run through to 
 fasten the two. 
 
 The asbestos lining should be cut the same size as the 
 three sheet metal pieces, minus the flaps. It can be stuck to 
 the metal with linseed oil varnish before the imetal is fast- 
 ened to the frame, and then made doubly secure when flaps 
 are bolted. When built, all metal parts should be given a 
 coat of fireproof paint or enamel for appearance sake and 
 to prevent rust. 
 
 A little work and expense can be saved by omitting the 
 rail at the bottom of the frame, screwing the floor flanges 
 directly to the legs, turning out a flange of sheet metal an 
 inch wide at the lower edge and nailing it directly to the 
 floor. A foot or so of the back piece would need to be 
 folded up from the floor to leave a space for sweeping and 
 for circulation of air. Such a jacket is inconvenient to move 
 
 A jacket for a round coal stove is similar to the box-stove 
 in case the stove is put away for the summer, but otherwise 
 is satisfactory. 
 
 jacket except that the horizontal rails have to be bent in a 
 quarter circle, the front rail left out entirely, and 4 tees, 2 
 crosses and two elbows substituted in place of the fittings 
 listed above. 
 
3fe* 
 
 ^Jp* d&*> 
 
VENTILATION 
 
 Along with the heating problem comes the problem of 
 ventilation. For centuries men have known that fresh air 
 was healthful, and stale air dangerous ; but only in recent 
 years have they come to regard ventilation as a life and 
 death affair. In the old days builders of halls and school 
 houses generally provided the rooms with a spice box cover, 
 where the foul air was supposed to got out whenever it 
 wanted to. As no one ever tested these contrivances, and 
 as the victims seldom died on the premises, the will for the 
 deed was held to be sufficient. 
 
 But mere good intentions as a ventilating device compares 
 strongly with its reputed use as a paving material. With 
 further light on the ventilation question inspectors began to 
 demand something more scientific than a mere register, and 
 the reign of the patent ventilating systems began. On paper, 
 at least, these all worked to perfection. Neat little squadrons 
 of arrows swept around with unerring accuracy, never mix- 
 ing, nor getting in each other's path. But when the test 
 came in actual practice, and one stepped into the crowded 
 schoolroom from the fresh outside air, it was plain that 
 some of the arrows must have gone astray. 
 
 When we come to think about it, the reason is not hard 
 to understand. Gravity systems are bound to be slow and 
 unreliable. To attempt to move a great volume of air 
 through a narrow pipe by heating it, is like trying to raise 
 freight with a hot air balloon. Some mechanical means 
 like the fan is the only thing that will move a great weight 
 of air through a flue. 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 17 
 
 In our day another generation of prophets have arisen, 
 who decry the patent ventilator, and advance the revolution- 
 ary theory that air is not fresh unless it smells fresh and 
 feels fresh, and claim to have demonstrated that window 
 ventilation is the only practical ventilation after all. This is 
 good news from the standpoint of economy, for the mere 
 lowering of a window is a cheap opening to make. 
 
 A little computation shows clearly how effective window 
 ventilation really is. A window of ordinary width lowered 
 4 inches on two sides of a room with a 10 mile breeze blow- 
 ing through, in an hour's time lets in a square foot shaft 
 of air 10 miles long — in other words, 52,800 cu. ft., nearly a 
 thousand cubit feet a minute. A fan or stack heater would 
 have to "go some" to do the work of two or three windows 
 like this. The objection to window ventilation is, of course, 
 the danger of drafts and uneven heating and the annoyance 
 of blowing papers and flapping curtains. This can be 
 effectively overcome by means of the device shown in the 
 diagram. 
 
 This consists of a pair of long curtain fixtures made of !4 
 inch band iron, 1 inch wide, attached to the upper sash of 
 the window. When the sash is lowered, the curtain comes 
 down with it, leaving the open space clear, instead of al- 
 lowing the wind to flap the curtain, and be directed down- 
 ward upon the pupils underneath. One diagram shows a long 
 fixture that sets the curtain well out beyond the casing, and 
 permits the use of a curtain considerably wider than the 
 window. Where the curtains are narrow enough to go inside 
 the casing, the shorter fixture is sufficient, though it will need 
 to be long enough to set the curtain out beyond the lower sash. 
 §uch a curtain is not a good one for a schoolroom, however, 
 
1 8 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 as there is always likely to be a space at the side for sun- 
 light to come through, and this is sure to annoy somebody. 
 
 As we pointed out above, a cool breeze blowing into the 
 top of a stove heated room does not necessarily mean a low- 
 ering of the temperature of the main part of the room, as 
 it mixes with the hot air and brings it nearer the floor. 
 Ventilation, then, (may be a saving of heat rather than a 
 profligate attempt "to heat all outdoor." To ventilate suc- 
 cessfully it is necessary for the teacher to keep an eye on 
 the direction of the wind, opening the upper sash on the 
 side where the wind is blowing in, and the lower sash where 
 the wind is blowing out. Complete circulation requires an 
 outlet as well as an inlet. 
 
 For the highest economy and efficiency in heat and ven- 
 tilation there is an advantage in having the window open- 
 ing covered with cheese cloth. The cheese cloth tempers the 
 strength of the incoming current, provides a better mixing 
 of cold air with warm and prevents considerable escape of 
 heat from the room by radiation. Cheese cloth, in spite of 
 its open texture, is said to be warmer, foot for foot, than 
 glass. 
 
 For these reasons the cheese cloth curtain illustrated on 
 the opposite page is worth consideration. 
 
 The regular curtain is supported on fixtures the same as 
 those described above. A wooden bar of light half inch 
 stuff connects the two fixtures. A curtain of cheese cloth 
 comes down from a roller attached to the casing, passes 
 over this bar and is attached with thumb tacks to the sash. 
 A bit of solder is placed on the cam of the cheese cloth rol- 
 ler to prevent the roller from hitching as a curtain ordi- 
 
O O . CI) 
 
20 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 narily does. The spring keeps the cheese cloth taut, and it 
 winds and unwinds automatically as the upper sash is raised 
 or lowered. 
 
TOILETS 
 
 Sanitary neg^ct in country schoolhouses reaches its cli- 
 max in the outside closets. Conditions in ancient prisons, 
 or among soldiers in the trenches, or pigs in a pig sty are 
 not worse than what the writer has seen in school out- 
 houses. How utterly inconsistent to spend hundreds of 
 dollars in one part of the property to promote a hypotheti- 
 cal culture, while in another part of the same plant, within 
 smell if not within sight, pupils are forced into daily prac- 
 tice in personal filth, and too often foul language on the walls, 
 and moral leprosy in the atmosphere, for the lack of a few 
 cents spent in the interests of cleanliness and common 
 decency. 
 
 The boys' toilets are always worst, not because boys are 
 naturally nastier than girls, but because it is impossible for 
 boys to use the same seat both for stool and urinal with 
 any degree of cleanliness. The separate urinal without run- 
 ning water and constant care is objectionable. The seats are 
 frequently used for this purpose, and then there is trouble. 
 The worst conditions can be cleaned up immediately and 
 kept so by simply providing the closets with spring seats 
 that turn up out of the way when not actually in use, leav- 
 ing the whole space at other times open for use as a urinal. 
 
 The form here given is easily made and installed. The 
 shape is somewhat different from those generally used, but 
 the change in pattern makes it easier to construct, more 
 substantial in use and easier to keep clean than the more 
 common form. 
 
 It should be made of hard wood, put together with long 
 screws, should be covered with spar varnish or waterproof 
 
22 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 paint, and fastened to a cleat on the back of the building 
 with brass spring screen door hinges. Two hinges are gen- 
 erally enough to make the seat tip gently up when the pres- 
 sure that holds it down is removed. In placing hinges it is 
 always important to have them in exact alignment, for if 
 the spindles are not in the same straight line they either 
 wear lose or work with difficulty. 
 
 Having the whole top of the vault open makes it easy for 
 the janitor to put in a light sprinkling of sand or ashes daily. 
 This must be done regularly to keep earth closets sanitary. 
 There is no better place than the closet for the winter's ashes, 
 if the vaults are built deep enough to receive them. This 
 not only gets them out of the playground but turns them to 
 good account as deodorizer and disinfectant. 
 
 Earth closets, cleaned every few weeks and sanded daily, 
 can be made as respectable and healthful as water closets, 
 with none of the annoyances of freezing pipes and disorder- 
 ed plumbing. But the old filth reeking abomination, which is 
 still the rule rather than the .exception where earth closets 
 are employed, is too expensive in health and morals to be 
 tolerated, whatever a better one may cost. Its abolishment 
 is unquestionably one of the highest economies a board can 
 put into practice. 
 
Seats tip back. 
 against the wall 
 v»h«n not in vse, 
 
 hence are 
 always 
 
 a™ 
 
 -rrr*r~— 7T7~. 
 
 /mole vault open for use as urinal 
 
 TT-T 
 
 
 Fastened to cleat with spri"8 'nlrfees 
 SAttT/VW S£*T FOR EW?H cu>se*rs r 
 
LAVATORIES 
 
 Where there is no running water the unsanitary school 
 toilet is usually accompanied by corresponding neglect in 
 washing and drinking facilities. While the lavatory is more 
 directly under the teacher's observation, experience shows 
 that, as a rule, it does not receive much better care, unless 
 special emphasis is placed upon it. The almost universal cam- 
 paign against the common drinking cup has done much to 
 eliminate this nuisance. The rusty, slimy old dipper, loaded 
 with bacteria, is fast going out of fashion, and the same fate 
 should meet the water pail and festering tank. The pail is 
 unfit for anything but waste water. It is sloppy to carry and 
 the wide mouth catches germ-laden dust from clothing, 
 from the air and from sweepings. The painted tank with 
 its faucet and cover looks more sanitary than the pail, but 
 in practice it is sometimes even less so, for it is less likely 
 to be washed and scalded; and after all the water is no 
 cleaner than the pail it is poured from, and that frequently 
 stands open-mouthed all day to catch dust from the time it 
 is used till the next time. 
 
 The best water vessel for a schoolhouse is a small size 
 covered garbage can, provided with a small rubber or gas 
 tubing described below. It is easy to clean and easy to carry. 
 It has a cover to prevent contamination and spilling. There 
 is no tendency for the pupils to put their own cups into the 
 general supply. The cans are substantially made and heavily 
 galvanized to withstand hard usage. It can be made self- 
 cooling without ice. Even at the present high price of such 
 ware it need cost but little over a dollar. 
 
School economies 25 
 
 Cut off the handle of the cover with tin snips or file ; bend 
 in the top to make it concave instead of convex, so that, 
 when turned upside down, as it will stand when in use, there 
 will be no tendency to rock. Drill a hole in the bend near 
 the cover and solder in a metal nipple if rubber tube is used, 
 or else a foot of flexible galvanized gas tubing, with a short 
 heavy rubber connection at the end. Trim the rubber straight 
 across, even with the end of the metal, and you have a bub- 
 bler as good as any. Make a hook of copper or brass wire 
 with which to hang up the bubbler on the edge of the cover. 
 
 Bore a couple of vent holes near the wire rim at the 
 mouth of the can, and two more an inch and a half from 
 the rim. Fill the can; put on the cover; reverse it quickly, 
 and scarcely a drop will spill. Water in the pan will rise 
 to the level of the second vent holes ; no higher, unless the 
 can is tipped. Set the tank on a shelf not higher than the 
 smallest child's head. Provide a wash basin and waste pail 
 underneath. Simply lowering the bubbler an inch or two be- 
 low the water in the pan gives a sufficient flow of water. 
 Waste from the fountain, if run into the basin, will provide 
 water for washing. A clean towel or piece of cheese cloth tied 
 around the tank, with one edge immersed in the water of 
 the basin, will cool the tank by evaporation from I to 12 
 degrees, depending upon the humidity of the air from day 
 to day. 
 
 To reverse the tank to refill, it is necessary either to draw 
 off the remaining water, or take the tank to a place where 
 a little spilled water does not count, for if reversed with the 
 cover on, the water in the outside edge is bound to come out. 
 Children will need to be instructed to avoid putting their 
 lips directly on this or any other bubbler. 
 
26 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 A good wash bench can be 'made by screwing a set of box- 
 desk irons on a plain board. A cheap tissue paper, or regular 
 paper toweling is almost a necessity in every school. Chil- 
 dren need to play on the playground. They need also to 
 handle books and stationery. Proper washing facilities are 
 the only means or reconciling the two. If paper towelling is 
 out of the question, at least old newspapers can be brought. 
 If immersed in water and then dried again to remove the 
 glaze, they absorb moisture from the flesh fairly well. 
 
THE CARE OF BOOKS 
 
 The old saying about a stitch in time is nowhere better 
 illustrated than in the care of books. A book is like a gar- 
 ment: fully half of its usefulness is lost if it is allowed to 
 fall apart and go to waste for lack of the few minutes it 
 takes to keep it in serviceable condition. A large proportion 
 of text book money could be spent for improvements if a 
 few simple, effective means of repairing books were more 
 generally known and used. 
 
 Book mending is not hard to learn, nor to teach to others., 
 though not one teacher or librarian in a hundred knows the 
 first thing about it. With the right method even the worst 
 books can be made presentable in a few minutes, and almost 
 as sound as new. The whole of the work is within the abil- 
 ity of the more careful of the upper grade pupils, and a 
 good share of it can even be done by the littlest ones. It is 
 good manual training, good economy and good ethics. But 
 right materials and right methods are essential, for a little 
 bad work is unquestionably worse than none at all. 
 
 The first "stitch in time" should be taken while the book 
 is still new, to keep the outside from wear, and protect it 
 from stains and dirt. Book covers of heavy paper are widely 
 used and they have done good service, but they cost consid- 
 erable, are slow to put on ; they hide the distinctive, attractive 
 bindings that add so much to the charm of the book, and 
 they are not proof against rainwater and ink. Infinitely bet- 
 ter in every way is a coat of floor varnish which is 
 soil-, germ-, ink-, and water proof, and adds to rather than 
 detracts from the appearance of the book. An active begin- 
 
30 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 ner can cover 100 books in an hour and will use only about 
 a pint of varnish ; which makes the cost in time and material 
 considerably less than for ready made paper covers. 
 
BOOK VARNISHING 
 
 The outfit for varnishing should be a good rubberset 2 Yl 
 or 3 in. brush that will not shed bristles, a pan for varnish, 
 with steep sides just high enough to hold the brush upright 
 without touching the handle, a string, wire or stick fastened 
 across the top of the pan to drain the brush against, a little 
 turpentine for cleaning hands, pan and brushes, a light 
 board of convenient length, to serve as a tray for carrying 
 varnished books, and a quantity of paper to spread down 
 under books while they are drying. 
 
 From the start, the worker may as well look for a method 
 that will be neat and quick and cut down false motions to 
 the minimum. Grasp the book by the pages and hold it back 
 up, horizontally, with the left hand inside the covers. Dip 
 the brush half the length of the bristles and scrape off run- 
 ning varnish on the string, wire or stick provided for the 
 purpose. Start in the middle of the back of the book and 
 paint toward the outside edges and corners ; never the re- 
 verse, or a brushful of varnish will be scraped into the 
 covers. 
 
 When one side is done, turn the wrist and paint the other 
 side, without setting down book or brush. As in painting any- 
 thing else, the varnish must be spread thinly and evenly and 
 well brushed out with some pressure or the varnish will crawl 
 or run. When the book is done, set the brush upright 
 against the side of the pan, and place the book, back up, on the 
 tray, with the covers slightly open, so that it will not be likely 
 to tip over. When the tray is full, books can be transferred 
 to the papers on the floor or shelves to dry. In handling 
 
32 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 while wet, place the fingers on each side of the book near 
 the back, and lift without touching the varnish. 
 
 Let the books remain undisturbed for 24 hours or longer. 
 They should not be piled one upon another for several days, 
 but may be set up in rows, in the usual manner. Old books 
 will probably need to be varnished twice before they look 
 bright and glossy all over. Pasteboard covers with no cloth 
 covering will need special care, or they are likely to be 
 streaked, where different parts of the surface absorb var- 
 nish unevenly. The wearing qualities of all covers, even 
 paper, are improved by this treatment. The longer it is 
 used, the more favorable the user will be toward it. 
 
*?urpen- A 
 'tine, / S 
 Pan and! 
 Brush 
 
 Spar or Floor 
 
 Varnish 
 
 Cheaper 
 
 Turn the Hand 
 
 I i \\ Setting 
 XaWthe Book 
 > \J~* Down 
 
 Keep books 
 ink-, dirt-, 
 and moist- 
 i proof by 
 giving them a coat 
 of spar or floor varnish, 
 than book covers, and quicker and easier 
 to apply 
 
BOOK MENDING 
 
 It is unwise to throw away books, even those that look 
 hopeless. A little skill and patience will do wonders toward 
 putting them back into usable condition, and even when, too 
 bad for repair themselves, they can be used to patch the rest. 
 
 A complete book mending outfit consists of a pair of long 
 sharp shears, cheese cloth for backing and for wiping glue, 
 dress lining or crafts paper for patching (ready made book 
 covers, new or old, cut up into good patches) a large can of 
 the best liquid glue, a tooth brush for spreading glue, a 
 pickle bottle for soaking brush, raffia needles, white thread, 
 coarse sandpaper for removing glue, fine sandpaper for re- 
 moving ink spots, a rubber eraser for removing pencil marks, 
 and a supply of the transparent, gummed mending tissue 
 sold by all school supply houses. Mucilage and library paste 
 are useless and gummed cloth even worse than that. 
 
 The first step is to have pupils look over books, arrange 
 loose pages in their proper order, straighten out all folds 
 and dog ears, however small, paste little pieces of trans- 
 parent mending tissue on all tears across print and erase 
 pencil marks with a rubber and ink marks with fine sand- 
 paper whenever it can be done without injury to print. 
 Missing pages should be located, and a strip of paper in- 
 serted with the number of the missing page protruding so 
 that it can be seen at a glance. One or two old books may 
 have to be used to supply missing parts of the others, and 
 the paper strips show which ones can be used to best ad- 
 vantage. Pages torn out of the binding should not be stuck 
 in with transparent paper. In most cases the difficulty needs 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMICS 35 
 
 to be remedied by rebuilding, or if not, the torn edge of the 
 page can be drawn across the glue brush and the tiny 
 thread of glue will serve to keep the page in place. 
 
 The method of repairing a badly worn book will depend 
 somewhat on the way it is bound. School books are of two 
 general types — sewed bindings and stitched. Sewing and 
 stitching are not synonymous in bookbinding. Both sewed 
 and stitched books consist of a number of pamphlets or 
 "signatures" sewed together and attached to a piece of 
 cloth, which, in turn, is glued to the board covers. The dif- 
 ference is that, in the sewed books, each folded signature 
 is sewed separately through the middle of its fold, then 
 glued at the back to a single strip of cloth; while in the 
 stitched books, all the signatures are piled up, with a strip 
 of cloth on the top and another on the bottom and the whole 
 fastened together with one line of heavy wire or cord stitching, 
 a quarter inch or so from the edge of the folds. Sewed books 
 open readily and lie open at any place, but stitched books 
 are firm and unyielding. 
 
 As the stitched book wears out, the cloth strips separate 
 from the board covers, the stitching ravels from top and bot- 
 tom, and the cloth covering frays out at back and corners. 
 In the sewed book, the signatures come loose from the cloth 
 backing, or the backing from the boards, signatures tear 
 apart into separate pages, and the cloth covering gets more 
 or less dilapidated. 
 
 By mending a bad sample of both kinds, we shall have 
 covered all the problems of book mending. Here is an 
 old primer — a stitched book in the last stages of dilapida- 
 tion. One cover is off, the other only hanging by a thread 
 of the covering. Except for a couple of loose stitches, the 
 
36 SCHOOL economies 
 
 pages have separated from each other and from the cloth 
 strips. The book looks hopeless perhaps, but after a little 
 practice one can easily restore a dozen or imore of these an 
 hour. 
 
 The first step is to replace the stitching. Put 6 or 8 
 strands of thread through the blunt pointed raffia needle. 
 Push the needle from the front of the book to the back 
 through the old holes in the cloth strips and pages previously 
 made by the stitching machine. Bind the cloth strips and 
 the pages firmly together by tying the thread as shown in 
 the diagram. 
 
 Usually one stitch at the top and one at the bottom is 
 sufficient, but more can easily be put in if necessary. Use 
 needles, one at each end of the thread, to avoid pushing the 
 needle from the back to front, as the needle goes through 
 the hole readily only in the one direction. 
 
 When the stitching has been replaced, the cloth strips 
 should be glued to ithe board covers, the glue being applied 
 to the stiff board surface rather" than to the flexilbe cloth. 
 When tightly pressed and thoroughly rubbed, the book is 
 now sound except for the loose and torn cloth covering. 
 This is mended the same whether the book is sewed or 
 stitched. Have a rectangular patch of cloth or paper cut 
 large enough to cover the back of the book with an inch 
 or so on each side to lap under. Peel the covering back from 
 the board covers a little more than an inch, using the scis- 
 ors if necessary at the edges. 
 
 Cover the exposed back and boards with glue. Replace 
 the cloth covering and rub down thoroughly. This is the 
 neatest and easiest way to spread glue on the flimsy covering. 
 Peel the flaps of the covering back again immediately. In- 
 
38 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 sert the cloth or paper patch. Rub down this patch smoothly 
 with a moist cloth. Then stick down the cloth covering. The 
 result is a neat patch under the rents in the covering. Any 
 superfluous glue can be wiped from the outside of the book 
 with the moist cloth. Ragged edges can be trimmed now or 
 later. The book should remain undisturbed till the glue lias 
 hardened. 
 
 A stitched book that shows signs of loosening, or even 
 one that is still sound can be strengthened with very little 
 trouble by running a thread through the binding the same as 
 described above without taking the book to pieces. Open 
 the front cover and put the needle through the first needle 
 hole near the edge of the pages. 
 
 Open the other cover and draw the needle out. As near 
 as possible to where the needle comes out take a stitch 
 through the cloth covering close to the board covers, bring- 
 ing the thread out near the hinge of the covers. 
 
 Sew the thread back to the starting place, taking up a tiny 
 bit of the covering near the edge of the pages, back and 
 then front ; then down through the hinge of the front cover 
 where the thread can be tied to the first end. A little glue 
 should be placed on the knot, and cover and pages will be 
 firmly fastened with the one loop of inconspicuous thread. 
 If this is done at both ends of the binding it will double 
 the life of a stitched book. 
 
 Now let us try one of the larger, sewed books, — a history, 
 for instance — where the contents has come loose from the 
 binding, and many of the pages are torn separate. The first 
 step is to peel the whole book separate from the cover. If the 
 cloth binding is not spoiled in the process and is still firmly 
 glued to the board covers, it is only necessary to smooth 
 
40 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 off the rough glue from it with a folded strip of sandpaper, 
 and glue the book back into it when the book is made ready. 
 If the backing is torn or weak, however, it will need to be 
 stripped loose from the board covers. In doing this, if the 
 paper lining of the cover is scored with the points of the 
 scissors, the backing will tear off more easily. 
 
 The pages of the coverless book are now jogged absolutely 
 even and the back thoroughly sandpapered. This takes off 
 the roughness of the old glue, and enables the new glue to 
 penetrate to the loose pages and find a solid surface to stick 
 to. 
 
 Jog the pages even again and cover the back with glue, 
 rubbing it well in with a toothbrush. 
 
 If a new backing has to be used, cut it as nearly as pos- 
 sible the size of the old one. Place it evenly on the glued 
 surface and rub down thoroughly with the moist cloth. 
 Spread glue on the board covers where the old backing 
 was peeled off. Lay the book into the covers, bringing the 
 edge of the pages absolutely even with the edge of the 
 paper cover lining. 
 
 Put the glued edge of the cover carefully in place on the 
 cloth backing and rub the whole back firmly and thoroughly. 
 See that the book is perfect in shape, and remains so, under 
 weight until the glue is thoroughly dry. If proper care is 
 taken any book rebound in this way ought to look like a 
 similar sound book in its original binding. A little pains 
 taken to get edges absolutely even will make this easily 
 possible. 
 
 By far the most difficult task in book mending is that of 
 undoing the bad work of others — the fruits of those repair 
 epidemics, when in the joy of approaching vacation, some 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 41 
 
 teacher with confirmed optimism and a liberal supply of 
 library paste, gummed paper, gummed cloth and patent bind- 
 ers has turned a bevy of excited children loose upon the books 
 with the laconic direction to "fix" them. There is great 
 joy but little system. Pages are irrevocably fastened together, 
 a quarter or even half and inch out of alignment. Useless, 
 ungainly hinges of tape, tissue, and binders are applied in 
 fanciful ways, until at last a crazy product results, too 
 weak to hold together, and too firmly stuck ever to be 
 taken entirely apart. 
 
 After an experience of several years in rebinding thous- 
 ands of worn out text books, the author gives it as his un- 
 qualified opinion that gummed tape, tissue, paste and muci- 
 lage are worse than useless on book bindings. Nothing but 
 the strongest glue will hold. The tissue has but one use — 
 to mend tears across the print, not pages torn out of the 
 binding. The patent tape binders, advertised so generally, 
 look interesting, and it seems a pity to say anything against 
 an article manufactured for such a laudable purpose, but, 
 alas, there is no way of mending the interior of a book by 
 sticking something to the outside. 
 
 Even when binders, paste, mucilage, tape, tissue and flour 
 gravy have been made to do their worst, the case is still not 
 entirely hopeless. The first thing is to undo as much of the 
 old work as possible without tearing the pages too badly. 
 Pages that have been very tightly stuck together would 
 better not be disturbed even though they are badly out of 
 alignment; but tape, etc. should be removed. Take off the 
 cover and jog up the pages as well as possible. Then place 
 the uncovered book on a block or crayon box turned bot- 
 
42 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 torn up, and with the cover of the box placed on the book 
 as a straight edge, prepare to file off the protruding edges 
 with a coarse file or wood rasp. Holding the book and box 
 cover firmly — also your breath and your temper, for it is 
 dusty work — make the edges of the book clean and uniform. 
 The dust that settles is the sins of the fathers descending 
 upon a second generation of bookmenders. When the edges 
 are even the book is ready for rebinding. 
 
TEACHERS 
 
 The most vital factor in the whole problem of school 
 economy lies in the choice and retention of capable teachers. 
 The quality of equipment beyond what is reasonably safe 
 and necessary is as nothing compared with the quality of 
 mind and character that is brought into immediate, hourly 
 contact with the minds and characters of the children. The 
 teacher's clearness of thought, breadth of intrest and whole- 
 someness of spirit, or his muddled ideas, narrow views and 
 peevish, vindictive disposition are alike communicated to 
 his charges. A poor teacher, like a poor tgg f is a bad in- 
 vestment at any price. 
 
 The value of teachers' services ranges all the way from 
 plus 1 00% to minus 100% ,, or wholly good to wholly bad ; 
 and the price paid often bears surprisingly little relation 
 to the service rendered. Many an ideal instructor is giving 
 years of invaluable service for a mere pittance, while not a 
 few are getting a good living for doing the community ir- 
 reparable harm. The teaching profession has always at- 
 tracted more than a fair share of incompetents — the lazy, 
 the impractical, those at a loss to know how else to make 
 a living with their schooling. On the other hand, there are 
 many of singular high pupose and devotion. The board 
 that can weed out the misfits, and attract and keep only 
 competent teachers, or at least make their responsibilities 
 and salaries proportional to their abilities, has a tremen- 
 dous advantage from an economic point of view. 
 
 Unfortunately there is no labor saving device for finding 
 out just what a teacher's work is worth. Only the most 
 
44 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 painstaking survey will give a fair estimate of the relative 
 efficiency of a school. To resort to hearsay evidence and snap 
 judgment — to pounce upon some little detail such as a par- 
 ent's impression, a moment's conversation, a pupil's report, 
 a closing exercise — or to act upon a miraculous sixth sense 
 that certain asinine dictators imagine themselves possessed 
 of, is almost criminal. Nor indeed is the common practice 
 of rating teachers according to experience or examination 
 marks or professional courses hardly more defensible. 
 Knowing and doing are very different matters. Getting 
 marks in examination and keeping a school at top notch ef- 
 ficiency have no necessary connection. Instead of granting 
 regular yearly increases for length of service, in the ma- 
 jority of cases it would actually be fairer justice to cut down 
 salaries according to a regular schedule; for, with no dis- 
 paragement of the exceptional few who go from strength 
 to strength, the majority in the teaching field, unless kept 
 up by something more than their own initiative, after the 
 first two or three years steadily decline in energy, interest 
 and idealism, without acquiring mechanical ability enough 
 to offset the loss. A regular annual decrease would be a 
 fairer policy in the majority of cases than the indiscrimi- 
 nate annual increases are. But as a matter of fact, neither 
 one is right. Teachers should be paid in proportion to their 
 demonstrated ability, whether more than, less than, or equal 
 to what they got the year before. It takes a little time and 
 pains, of course, to find out accurately what a teacher's 
 work is worth, but if it is good economy for the scientific 
 farmer to spend time keeping a careful record of the 
 product of every cow and field and fowl in order to know 
 just which ones are yielding a profit — in short, if there is 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMICS 45 
 
 anything in scientific management as opposed to rule of 
 thumb methods in any productive enterprise, it cannot be 
 bad economy for the school board to take equally pains- 
 taking measures to estimate with accuracy the returns in- 
 dividual teachers are making in exchange for the salaries 
 they receive. 
 
 As a help in determining the relative efficiency of a school, 
 an inspection blank, or card, similar to one that the writer 
 has used for several years, is suggested here. At each reg- 
 ular inspection one of these is made out in duplicate, one 
 copy left with the teacher after being frankly discussed and 
 perhaps corrected with him, and the other half kept on file 
 for reference. While improvements may suggest them- 
 selves, this one covers with reasonable thoroughness the 
 points to be considered in rating a school and is unquestion- 
 ably an improvement over the unmethodical, hit-or-miss vis- 
 its by board or superintendent. 
 
 The use of such a blank necessitates long, half-day visits. 
 The superintendent cannot breeze into a school now and 
 then for ten minutes and make a report that will do justice. 
 The teacher on his part will have to plan his work daily, 
 and keep the program of lessons for each day and the writ- 
 ten work accompanying for the periodical inspection. For- 
 mal examinations of the pupils will become a part, but only 
 a minor part, of the total rating. 
 
 By this system poor work is made immediately apparent, 
 not only to the inspector but to the teacher himself. When 
 a teacher is unable or unwilling to do good, all-around work, 
 he is brought face to face with his own incompetency. Us- 
 ually he does not wait to be pried out of the position, but 
 of his own accord seeks another occupation where he can 
 earn a greater measure of satisfaction and success. 
 
46 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 To the capable teacher and the one who is able to grow, 
 such a survey is a source of satisfaction and honest pride. 
 He is not left in doubt as to whether anybody appreciates 
 the labor he is putting into the work. No amount of per- 
 functory praise compares with a discriminating estimate 
 that reports "weighed and not found wanting." For the 
 young teacher such a report is a continual course in normal 
 school. 
 
 When, as is sometimes the case, it becomes necessary to 
 remove a teacher, it helps to remove some of the feeling of 
 unfairness and ill will on the one side, and of uncertainty 
 on the other, to have a series of these honest, systematic 
 surveys of the work to fall back upon. 
 
 Two copies of the outline are given here — one blank, the 
 other hilled out to describe conditions in a "maximum" 
 school. 
 
 Visit to School, Date Teacher 
 
 i — appearance: and physical conditions op the school. 
 Grounds Flag Closets 
 
 Lavatory Entry Waste and fuel 
 
 Sweeping Dusting Decoration 
 
 Temperature Ventilation Seating 
 
 Games and calisthenic exercises 
 
 II — attendance and other data. 
 
 Register Absence Tardiness 
 
 Report cards Program Plan book 
 
 Other reports t 
 
 III — SCHOLASTIC WORK AND ADVANCEMENT OP PUPILS. 
 
 General writing Writing lessons Drawing lessons 
 
 Applied drawing General spelling Spelling lessons 
 
 Oral reproduction Memorized poems, etc. Dictation 
 
 Applied grammar Formal grammar Hand work 
 
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SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 IV — methods and management. Correlation of Subjects^ 
 Corrections Seat work Postures 
 
 Cleanliness Order Spirit 
 
 Courtesy Speed Adherence to schedule 
 
 Recitations Care of supplies Previous suggestions 
 
 Note — Estimates and criticisms are necessarily more or less casual. 
 You will be doing a favor by calling attention to any comment that 
 seems over hasty and unfair. 
 
 Visit to .School, Date Teacher 
 
 I — APPEARANCE AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE SCHOOE. 
 
 Grounds — Neat, free 
 from sticks and ref- 
 use. 
 
 Lavatory — Sanitary, 
 clean and attractive. 
 Always water, soap, 
 towels. 
 
 Sweeping — Well done. 
 Sweeping compound 
 used. 
 
 Temperature — Never 
 above 72 nor below 
 65. 
 
 Flag — Flying daily. 
 Down by sunset. 
 
 Bn try — Attractive. 
 Garments in order. 
 
 Dusting — Thorough 
 Cloth dampened with 
 oil or polish. 
 
 Ventilation — Lack not 
 noticeable on entering. 
 All windows open 
 right amount. 
 
 Closets — Absolutely 
 clean. Sanded and in- 
 spected daily. 
 
 Waste and fuel — Neat. 
 No fire hazard. 
 
 Decoration — Simple, 
 effective. Paper pic- 
 tures, specimens, etc. 
 Frequently changed. 
 
 Seating — Seats ad- 
 justed. Blocks for 
 feet of others. 
 
 Games and Calisthenic Exercises — In class short, brisk interesting, 
 four times daily. Supervised playgrounds. Happy and orderly. 
 
 II — ATTENDANCE AND OTHER DATA. 
 
 Register — Marked at 
 opening of session. 
 Neat, up-to-date, ac- 
 curate. 
 
 Absence — Less than 
 3%. Excuses required. 
 
 Report cards- 
 fairly, with average 
 requirements of grade 
 in mind as a standard. 
 
 Program — Correct as 
 to time allotment and 
 Marked order of subjects. 
 
 Tardiness — Less than 
 one a pupil per term. 
 
 Plan book — Workout- 
 lined in advance 
 daily. Progress 
 clearly indicated 
 Course of study fol- 
 lowed. 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 49 
 
 Other Reports — Registration cards, medical inspection cards, dupli- 
 cates of report card marks, monthly reports, etc., kept as required. 
 
 Ill — SCHOLASTIC WORK AND ADVANCEMENT OF PUPILS. 
 
 General writing — On 
 all papers neat. 
 
 Applied drawing — ■ 
 Plenty in comp., 
 geog., hist., arith, na- 
 ture, etc. 
 
 Oral reproduction — 
 Fluent and spirited in 
 story telling, descrip- 
 tion, etc. 
 
 Writing lessons — Ac- 
 cording to system. 
 
 General s p e Hi n g — 
 Good in all written 
 work. 
 
 Memorized poems — 
 Good showing in 
 amount. Intelligent 
 and pleasing render- 
 ing. 
 
 Drawing lessons . — 
 Good, following 
 course of study. 
 
 Spelling lessons — 
 Good showing. 
 
 Dictation — Good re- 
 sults. 
 
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SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 51 
 
 IV — methods and managkmEnt. Correlation of Subjects Evident 
 in Many Lines. 
 
 Corrections — M i s- 
 takes in papers and 
 recitations not neg- 
 lected. 
 
 Cleanliness — Evident 
 in hands, faces and 
 materials. 
 
 Courtesy — Apparent 
 in relations to teach- 
 er, mates and visitors. 
 
 Seat work — Every- 
 body profitably em- 
 ployed the while. 
 
 Order — Workmanlike 
 spirit — No unnatural 
 constraint and yet no 
 wasteful disorder. 
 
 Speed — Brisk and 
 snappy. No useless 
 waits. 
 
 Postures — In sitting 
 and standing, health- 
 ful and manly. 
 
 Spirit — Good natured, 
 earnest, helpful. 
 
 Adherence to schedule 
 — Everything on time. 
 Plans and program 
 followed absolutely. 
 
 Recitations — Full, natural, interesting. Pupils address rest of class. 
 Teacher does less than half of the talking. 
 
 Care of Supplies — Writing shows clean ink wells ; paper cut to 
 fit amount of work ; no scrawls on books, desks, etc. ; loose papers 
 in envelopes, not in books ; very little crushed waste paper. 
 
 Previous Suggestions — Corrected at the next visit. 
 
 Note — Estimates and criticisms are necessarily more or less cas- 
 ual. You will be doing a favor by calling attention to any comment 
 that seems over hasty and unfair. 
 
FINDING GOOD TEACHERS 
 
 In most cases it is easier to recognize the good work of 
 capable teachers than to retain their services, and less diffi- 
 cult to get rid of incompetents than to find better ones to 
 take their places. A few unfortunate experiences in replac- 
 ing teachers 
 
 "Makes us rather bear those ills we have, 
 Than fly to others that we know not of." 
 
 The boards in the smaller places are particularly at a 
 disadvantage. Low salaries and poor living conditions, 
 many grades and much exposure (not alone to the weather) 
 make town positions look attractive to the rural teacher in 
 comparison with his own. In the cities there is a lively de- 
 mand for teachers of proved ability. It is folly to attempt 
 to put any obstacles in the way of a teacher's promotion. 
 In justice to him, and as a matter of policy as well, it is 
 better to make a virtue of necessity. If a teacher's services 
 command a higher salary than his present employers can 
 afford to pay, let them rejoice in the extra value they have 
 already received, and turn his success and the help they 
 can give him to good account as an incentive to his suc- 
 cessor. The smaller places must serve as feeders for the 
 larger ones. Young teachers and short-termers will be the 
 rule rather than the exception. The country districts cannot 
 afford to pay as much for a school of 8 children as the city 
 school pays for a teacher of 40. Of the two, a series of 
 short administrations by live teachers is better than a long 
 administration by a dead one. 
 
 A great problem of the country board, therefore, is to get 
 in touch with a great many low priced teachers and from 
 these select the ones that bid fair to give the best returns 
 
1 
 
 SCHOOL ECONOMICS 53 
 
 for the salaries offered. The country board has usually been 
 sadly limited in this regard, their choice being restricted to 
 a number of local candidates of indifferent preparation and 
 a few left-overs who happened to write in from outside. 
 Occasionally a local candidate proves to be a treasure, supe- 
 rior in every way to any outside applicant; but as a rule 
 home talent would better be avoided. Outside candidates 
 are likely to take their work more seriously, and to depend 
 more upon themselves in emergencies than upon their 
 friends' powers of outcry, to save them. Psychoanalysis shows 
 that individuals who have not felt or have not responded 
 to the natural instinct of adolescence to get away from 
 childish surroundings, to cut the parental apron strings, as it 
 were, and make an independent place for themselves in the 
 world, remain at a more infantile level so far as character 
 development is concerned. The validity of this fact as it 
 affects teachers must be apparent to one who has had an op- 
 portunity for extensive observations of both groups. More- 
 over, educational life, like any other kind demands a certain 
 amount of cross fertilization to produce healthy growth. A 
 stranger is certain to bring new ideas that will be whole- 
 some for any, especially an isolated, community. 
 
 The chief reliance of the board will have to be in an agency 
 outside of themselves to cover the field thoroughly, and 
 have just the right candidate at hand when the need arises. 
 The commercial agencies are a help. The majority undoubt- 
 edly try to do a useful and legitimate business. But their 
 patronage by candidates for rural schools is very limited, and 
 the fees, while nominally paid by the teachers, in the long 
 run must come out of the school treasury. There is a fed- 
 eral teachers' employment bureau, recently organized, con- 
 
54 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 nected with the Department of Education, Washington, and 
 a number of state bureaus that attempt to find teachers 
 without charge either to the teachers or to the districts. 
 Some of these, notably the Massachusetts and the Minnesota 
 bureaus, are very successful, but unfortunately their can- 
 didates, like those of the agencies, are not usually seeking 
 the kind of position that is so hard to fill, namely the low 
 price place in country schools. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the country will soon awake to the 
 need of national aid, first in attracting desirable young men 
 and women from other fields outside the schoolroom, where 
 future leaders can have had some practical contact with 
 the outside life for which, presumably, they are attempting 
 to prepare others ; second, short intensive courses in teach- 
 ing — direct and to the point — that will do for the teachers 
 in the making what the training camps did for the officers 
 of the army; and finally the financial aid necessary to pay 
 men and women of superior mind and character more near- 
 ly what they are worth for a public service of inestimable 
 value. 
 
 But great bodies move slowly. While awaiting a general 
 millennium, a good deal can be done on a small scale, if one 
 is willing to exert himself. It is easily possible for a number 
 of boards to keep in touch with a supply of teachers, ob- 
 taining authoritative estimates of each one's ability at very 
 little expense by clubbing together, pooling their applica- 
 tions and managing a bureau of their own, as was done by 
 20 towns in Southern New Hampshire under the direction of 
 the writer. 
 
AN EXPERIMENT IN THE COOPERATIVE REG- 
 ISTRY OF TEACHER 
 
 The first step in trie project was to direct the following 
 circular letter to individual members of the school boards 
 in three counties: 
 Member of the School Board: 
 
 Dear Sir or Madam: 
 
 This letter is written in the hope of interesting you in a 
 (movement to establish a free teachers' registry in this 
 vicinity. 
 
 This registry will undertake to collect and keep at 
 your disposal complete, up-to-date information about desir- 
 able candidates for vacancies that may occur in your district. 
 It will enable teachers looking for positions to get them 
 without being obliged to pay the 5% or 7% commission 
 asked by the teachers' agencies. 
 
 Briefly, the plan is this : — To invite as many teachers 
 as possible to register with us; to privide that they shall 
 keep us informed as to their availability, so as always to 
 have a list of teachers ready to accept positions ; to investigate 
 their references carefully, through letters of inquiry like 
 the sample enclosed; to have all this information instantly 
 at your service whenever you may need it. 
 
 The only cost will be your town's small proportion for 
 postage and stationery, and perhaps later for clerical work 
 and advertising if the growth of the business and the 
 number of towns entering make that necessary. Nobody has 
 anything to gain except the towns and the teachers. There is 
 nothing to lose, for care will be taken not to disturb teach- 
 ers already at work within the district. 
 
56 SCHOOL economies 
 
 Does the plan look attractive? 
 
 Will it not solve one of your most perplexing problems? 
 
 Think what it will mean to committees not to be limited 
 to the few candidates who happen to apply in their par- 
 ticular locality, or whom they have heard somebody imention. 
 
 Think what it will mean to teachers not to be obliged to 
 pay a large percentage of their salaries — a very large per- 
 centage of their net savings — simply to learn about positions. 
 
 Think what it will mean to have first hand, disinterested 
 information as to each candidate's qualifications. 
 
 If you believe, with many other boards and superintend- 
 ents in this vicinity, that such an agency will be a notable 
 step forward, toward better schools and better service, 
 will you not let us count your town in as a part of the 
 Southern New Hampshire Teachers' Registry? 
 
 Let us hear from you anyway. 
 
 Reply card enclosed. 
 
 Enclosed with the circular were samples of the registra- 
 tion and inquiry sheets, that committees might know just 
 what information the Registry undertook to get together. 
 
 has registered with us and applied for a position as teacher. 
 We desire to get as fair and accurate an estimate as pos- 
 sible of each candidate's character and ability, and hope that 
 you can help us. If you will kindly fill out the following 
 blank and return it in the enclosed envelope as soon as con- 
 venient, it will be a favor we shall appreciate. Replies are 
 confidential, 
 
school economies 57 
 
 I have know the above named candidate years. 
 
 As one of your students, teachers, or in what relation? 
 
 Physique , 
 
 Disposition 
 
 Popularity 
 
 Industry Scholarship 
 
 Mental alertness Moral character 
 
 Special accomplishments , 
 
 Do you estimate that the candidate would be strong, medium, 
 
 or weak in discipline ? 
 
 Do you know of anything that you suspect would interfere 
 
 with the candidate's success as a teacher ? 
 
 Remarks and signature 
 
 SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE TEACHERS' REGISTRY 
 I agree to keep the registry informed promptly whenever I change 
 
 address or accept position. vSigned 
 
 Telephone address 
 
 Mail address 
 
 Space for 
 
 Changed address 
 
 Age Weight Height Health 
 
 Married Church preference 
 
 EDUCATION: 
 
 Dates : Institution : Course taken : Principal's name 
 
58 SCHOOL economies 
 
 In the following list draw a line through subjects you have never 
 studied. Give approximate length of courses you have had in the 
 other subjects above the common school: 
 
 Agriculture Elocution Hist, of Eng. . . . Pedagogy 
 
 Algebra French Hist, of U. S. . . . Physics 
 
 Arithmetic Geography Hist, of other Physiology 
 
 Astronomy Geology countries Psychology 
 
 Bookkeeping . . .Geometry Instrumental Rhetoric 
 
 Botany German music Stenography .... 
 
 Calisthenics . . . .Grammar Latin Typewriting 
 
 Chemistry Greek Literature Vocal music 
 
 Composition Hist, Ancient. . .Mineralogy Zoology 
 
 Drawing .Hist, of Educa.. . Painting Additional 
 
 Indicate briefly what special training or experience you have 
 had in teaching or directing the following: 
 
 Playground activities 
 
 Domestic science or manual training 
 
 Vocal music 
 
 Business penmanship 
 
 What certificates do you hold ? 
 
 Salary expected by week or year 
 
 On the other side give complete list of positions you have held, 
 with dates, location, character of work, salary, and name of super- 
 intendent or committee. Add the names of any others who are ac- 
 quainted with your character and ability. Photograph desirable. 
 
 These circulars were sent to 85 boards. Favorable re- 
 plies were returned by individuals from 30 of them. Later 
 2Q sent written agreements, offering - to divide the expense 
 among the several boards in proportion to the number of 
 schools maintained by each. Provision was made that this 
 expense should never run till it was more than the pro- 
 portion of 25 cents per school. 
 
 The work began in March, 1913, and was continued till 
 September, 1914, when I left the state. In January, 1914, 
 when the first report was sent out, and the first money 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 59 
 
 called for, the registry had enrolled 94 elementary and 23 
 high school teachers, sent out 238 inquiries concerning them, 
 placed 25 elementary and 4 high school teachers, whose sal- 
 aries amounted to 10,000 dollars. A 5% fee on this, col- 
 lected by agencies, would have been $505. The entire ex- 
 pense of the registry, including all the preliminary corres- 
 pondence was $28.19, less than 3-10 of 1% of the principal. 
 In August the registration had been increased to 228, and 
 the number placed more than doubled. The entire ex- 
 pense had been $50.60, or if we subtract the $20 I re- 
 ceived from a commercial agency for the papers of candi- 
 dates on hand in September, $30.60, less than 10% of the 
 agency fees that would otherwise have been due in my own 
 district, not to mention the help given to neighboring com- 
 mittees. The total time spent, including printing and mail- 
 ing of weekly lists of candidates and positions to com- 
 mittees and teachers during the busy season had not aver- 
 aged more than 20 minutes per day for the entire period, — 
 not an extraordinary amount of time for a superintendent 
 to spend simply in filling the vacancies in his own system. 
 
SUPERVISION 
 
 The subject of school economy cannot be left without a 
 word concerning some of the moral elements making for 
 good management and efficiency, in contrast with the more 
 mechanical elements that we have stressed in the pages that 
 precede. It is conceivable that a school administration might 
 be admirably successful in perfecting the plant and in select- 
 ing and overseeing the workers and yet register surprising 
 failure when the final balance is cast. Indeed, if we are to 
 take the word of some of our keenest critics in the educa- 
 tional field, that is what is happening in not a few of the 
 more highly organized systems of schools. Often teachers 
 are well paid, given an abundance of help and material, 
 looked after by experienced supervisors, who try to be rea- 
 sonable in their demands, and yet carelessness and dis- 
 affection permeate the schools. Where is the difficulty? 
 Dr. Frank M. McMurry, of Teachers' College, says that 
 the weakest spot in education today lies in supervision. 
 
 One cannot gainsay the importance of courses of study, 
 inspections, tests, score cards and the like; of business 
 methods and scientific management. In these respects su- 
 pervision in late years has made steady gain. The danger 
 has been that in perfecting the mechanics of administration, 
 the subtler, more human elements are lost from view. When 
 the superintendent and board of education have drawn up 
 their rules and regulations, have devised the forms and 
 machinery that take care of work in routine fashion, have 
 adopted their text-books and completed their courses of 
 study, they are inclined, like the rich man in the parable, 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 6l 
 
 to say, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 
 years ; take thine ease." Then it is that they are in for the 
 rude awakening: "This day shall thy soul be required of 
 thee!" 
 
 Unquestionably the soul element is the most important 
 feature of anything so human as teaching. Any administra- 
 tor who does not recognize the supreme importance of inner 
 growth, spontaneity, individual differences will be found 
 wanting. It is a lack of nurture and care, a failure to 
 take into account the great personal equation in the teacher's 
 art which has created so much discontent and dissatisfaction 
 and resulted in such a feeling of opposition to supervision 
 among teachers of the rank and file. 
 
 A recent bulletin of the St. Paul Grade Teachers' Asso- 
 ciation is prefaced: — "We, the teachers of this broad land, 
 who are the mute recipients of so much wisdom from the 
 mighty, find, now and then, rising in our American trained 
 hearts, a desire to advise our advisers; therefore we have 
 devoted this issue of the Bulletin to the "gentle art" of 
 supervising." 
 
 Then follow twelve small pages of wholesome material, 
 original and selected, ending with the clause: "And just so 
 far as any supervisor fails to give true help to any teacher 
 under her charge — just so far may be the measure of her 
 failure." 
 
 "True help!" what is it? Is it to take all the planning 
 and constructive thinking to oneself and leave only the 
 drudgery of execution to another? Evidently this does not 
 harmonize with the avowed American training of the St. 
 Paul sisterhood. Probably "in this broad land" it is more 
 or less of a failure everywhere. Most of our people prefer 
 
62 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 to live in democratic organizations where they can feel the 
 effects of their own mistakes and successes, rather than 
 ride supinely on the back of an autocracy, however provi- 
 dent and efficient, and miss the chief joy of life, which lies, 
 in the opportunity to work off the energetic, restless, crea- 
 tive desires of one's nature by action in a world that is real. 
 Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness loom large in any 
 scheme of government that is democratic. 
 
 But the chief advantage of living in any scheme of 
 democratic government lies not so much, perhaps, in the fun 
 of having a finger in the pie as in the fact that a wide- 
 awake, intelligent democracy is more effective. Given a 
 group of people who are agreed upon what they want and 
 who are able to make themselves understood, then the more 
 individuals and plans there are to choose from, the greater 
 the probability of finding those that will succeed. Auto- 
 cratic power is often more prompt than democratic, but by 
 no means more efficient in the end. Granted that an auto- 
 cratic leader may represent the pinnacle of all-round wis- 
 dom; granted that a miracle has happened and we have 
 found a quick hitter who is also a deep thinker, and have 
 made him supreme. His general score of proficiency is 
 higher than all others ; he is near the top in many things ; 
 in some few he outdoes everybody, yet in a few respects 
 is he not bound to be inferior to others? Somebody can 
 reach farther, or add quicker or crawl through a smaller 
 hole. Even a half-witted creature, helpless with rheumatism, 
 will be a better prophet of coming storms. In their fields 
 each specialist is supreme, and to make them give way in 
 every case to him, not only galls them and produces demor- 
 alization of spirit, but cheats the group out of the more 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 63 
 
 competent handling of the case. An ideal of democracy has 
 been stated: "Whosoever will be great among you shall 
 be your minister; and whosoever will be chiefest, shall be 
 servant of all. ' Democracy respects one who aspires to be 
 a leader, but it cannot abide one who insists upon being the 
 whole show. 
 
 The value of democracy and of a training for democracy 
 among the pupils in the classroom is beginning to be felt in a 
 movement to motivate the work and to socialize the recita- 
 tion. It seems never to have occurred to the old time master 
 that the pupils might, now and then, have been able to sug- 
 gest something more interesting and even more profitable 
 than even he could invent. He felt that it would indicate 
 weakness to tolerate, much less to encourage advice and as- 
 sistance on the part of underlings. Their part was fin- 
 ished when they did as they were told. Now we are stead- 
 ily learning to turn to better account the individual initiative 
 and the collective good sense that even little children display ; 
 to the end, not only that they may have the pleasure and inner 
 growth that comes from making and executing their own 
 decisions, wherever possible, but that the course of study 
 and the method of the recitation may be enriched by ma- 
 terial that children alone of all people are able to supply. 
 
 It requires, of course, rather unusual breadth of mind and 
 discernment in a teacher to be able to find genuine worth in 
 the work of those who are, in general, so much below him in 
 skill and experience. It requqires even rarer qualities of 
 character to be willing to sacrifice one's own desire to lead, 
 to talk, to work out pet ideas, and instead, give the prefer- 
 ence to some one of the learners, whose projects are barely 
 as good as the ones he himself has originated. It is a good 
 
64 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 deal to ask of a fond parent that he choke his own intel- 
 lectual offspring and give their place to a lot of unkept 
 foundlings, however lusty some of them promise to be. But 
 recent developments in the teaching art seem to indicate 
 that a teacher who is a sufficient master of himself to be 
 able to democratize schoolroom procedure, who provides 
 for pupils initiative, growth, and satisfaction even in prefer- 
 ence to personal satisfaction of his own, has hit upon a 
 pedagogical principle unmatched since the days when old 
 Socrates demonstrated that no conclusions are effective un- 
 less the learner does the thinking for himself. 
 
 And all of additional value that can be accomplished by 
 the teacher who is keen to secure self activity and coopera- 
 tion of the pupils can be accomplished by the supervisor who 
 is alert to make use of the same spirit among his teachers. 
 And far more can be secured, for the differences in judg- 
 ment and ability between supervisor and teacher are negli- 
 gible, as compared with those between teacher and class. 
 If pupils, now and then, prove to have plans, choices and 
 subject matter as good as or superior to the teacher's, how 
 much more often has the teacher some element to suggest 
 that will be superior to the supervisor's. 
 
 A teacher told me yesterday of an interview with her 
 drawing supervisor. This supervisor is very artistic, gets 
 remarkable results, has a magnificent yearly exhibit. Most 
 of the teachers, however, hate the work, and the pupils 
 do only as much as they are forced to do in the schoolroom. 
 The supervisor instructed the teacher to give the making 
 of a poster advertising a flower sale for the next art lesson. 
 
 "But," the teacher objected — she was very young and 
 did not know any better — "this class has no flowers for sale. 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMICS 65 
 
 May we not make some other kinds of posters that we could 
 give to the storekeepers of the neighborhood, or something 
 else of practical value?" 
 
 The supervisor raised her eyebrows, pursed her mouth a 
 little and answered coldly, "All the 4A teachers in this sys- 
 tem are making flower posters." 
 
 The young teacher who had had an idea, drew in her horns 
 and stuck her head into the yoke with the rest of the cattle. 
 Like many others, she is a very artistic supervisor in every- 
 thing but supervision. 
 
 The art of successful supervision is, of course, unique, 
 and yet there are strong analogies between it and other per- 
 suasive callings. It has points of resemblance to the art of 
 salesmanship. There are salesmen, of course, who know 
 ways to inveigle customers into subscribing for things 
 they do not want, and then trusting to the sheriff to make 
 the deal effective. This, however, is considered poor sales- 
 manship in the long run. The good salesman knows that 
 his customer's confidence, justified and unshakeable, is the 
 biggest single asset in his business; and that such a con- 
 fidence can be gained only by a rather searching study of his 
 needs, a very adroit handling of his prejudices, and an un- 
 failing record for delivering the goods. 
 
 There are little traits of character that must be reckoned 
 with in both salesmanship and supervision and one is ego- 
 tism. A very successful writer on salesmanship says, "If 
 for any reason I wished to impress a man with the true 
 glory of Niagara Falls, I would contrive to have a picture 
 taken of the falls, with the man himself showing large in 
 the immediate foreground, and then give him a copy of the 
 picture to study and admire." The moral is that we are 
 
66 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 all so constituted that we want to see ourselves in the 
 picture somewhere, if we are to take any very vital interest 
 in the surroundings. Teachers are no exception to the rule. 
 As much as possible of thimeslves, their own inspirations, 
 ambitions and affections, have got to be, somehow or other, 
 woven round that job of teaching school before the work 
 can go on with verve and dash. If many teachers in 
 isolated spots, with no help and the crudest apparatus, are 
 working themselves to the bone for a mere pittance, while 
 many more in big systems, at good salaries and with every- 
 thing provided, can only be got to yield a grudging minimum 
 of half-heated service, the explanation can be found in the 
 fact that one group has identified their own ambitions and 
 satisfactions with the work itself, while the others see in 
 the work only so much annoyance and confinement for so 
 much money. A changed attitude is one of those things that 
 can sometimes be caught in a properly baited trap, but it 
 eludes those who go after it with a gun. The bait used will 
 depend somewhat upon the game sought. One thing is cer- 
 tain ; it will not be got solely by the bitter pill. 
 
 The St. Paul poet in the Bulletin mentioned above, is very 
 modest in what she asks of "That Supervisor :" 
 "Oh, woe," she cried, " 'tis surely true 
 We are but grown-up children, too. 
 A kindly glance — a smile or so, 
 A word of praise goes far, I know." 
 Little kindly human attentions once in a while have their 
 effect, if only good wishes on a picture postcard. 
 
 Another page in the Bulletin points a moral from the 
 fable of a Roman general who rebuilt a habit of success in 
 his beaten army by beginning again with easy victories. 
 "Teachers rarely build success upon a sense of defeat— •" it 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMICS 6? 
 
 says, "rather they build success upon a sense of success." 
 A teacher who can get his class to a point where they can 
 do one thing in a superior manner has given the supervisor 
 a priceless opportunity to give merited praise, to bring visi- 
 tors to see the work, to write up the idea for the press, 
 and in every possible way to build up a righteous sense of 
 pride and satisfaction so that it will become a habit to go 
 on earning more and more. 
 
 The pride and satisfaction that the teachers take in the 
 system as a whole are likely to be measured by the individual 
 contributions they have been allowed to make to the system. 
 And democratizing the system so as to make use of all the 
 good ideas from the ranks is not simply a bait thrown to 
 the mass to keep them contented, but a measure of solid 
 efficiency. The revision of a course of study becomes an ad- 
 mirable project for the whole teaching force to work upon. 
 If for no other reason than to get the teachers to thinking, 
 studying, experimenting, it would pay to let the teachers 
 have a responsible part in the making of curricula. Here is 
 a specific purpose for holding meetings, for gathering data, 
 for weighing values and for using the results of the work. 
 The teachers have read, talked and learned things for 
 themselves, and the result, like the Baltimore county course 
 of study, is a very superior piece of work. 
 
 Likewise the selection of text-books can be made the 
 means broadening the teachers' equipment, improving the 
 selection, but more than all, giving the teachers a personal 
 interest in their own work. I see no reason why the mak- 
 ing of a budget and the award of bids could not be in some 
 measure decided by those who have to use the material ; nor 
 in many cases why the choice of janitors, assistants and 
 
68 SCHOOL economies 
 
 possibly of colleagues could not be partly decided by a 
 democratic vote. It would be hard to think of a case where 
 a lowering efficiency would be the effect of such a course. 
 Doubtless the construction and selection of cards and meth- 
 ods for scoring and rating could also be put on a more 
 cooperative basis with good effect. 
 
 Of course democracy in supervision is not the panacea 
 for all the ills of school life There remains the irreducible 
 minimum of the immoral, the constitutionally lazy, the men- 
 tally effete. Psychology, theoretical or practical, does not 
 show how everybody can be altogether remade. 
 
 For all the evils we endure, 
 
 Either there is, or isn't a cure. 
 
 If there is a cure, let's try to find it. 
 
 If there isn't a cure, then never mind it. 
 
 The cureless situations in education must either be elim- 
 inated with as little outcry as possible or else let alone. If 
 there are teachers who by rights should be addressing en- 
 velopes or watching sheep or digging graves, poor things, 
 and they are irrevocably wished upon the schools, the rule 
 of helpfulness still holds. 
 
 I remember a good lesson I learned in my early days as 
 supervisor in a scattered section of Vermont. A little 
 school of a dozen pupils was taught by an old lady, a good, 
 motherly soul, but with the dreadful teaching methods of a 
 hundred years ago. I usually stayed with her a half day, 
 and ate my lunch with her at noon, and being ambitious, 
 talked volubly on the principles of teaching with the hope 
 of giving her a better conception of modern education. But 
 in spite of all I said about expressive reading, or illustrated 
 
SCHOOL ECONOMIES 69 
 
 arithmetic or written spelling, and in spite of all the illus- 
 trative lessons taught for her benefit, she continued to teach 
 the same old stuff in the same way. One day during a pause 
 in my peroration she remarked cordially, "Well, I'm glad 
 to see ye. Your visits do me lots o' good. I love to hear 
 ye talkV' 
 
 When I had recovered sufficiently I said, "I appreciate that 
 
 compliment, Mrs. A , I really do. But now in the few 
 
 minutes that are left, is there not something I can do that 
 will be of real help in the work of the school?" 
 
 "Wal, naow," she answered briskly, "if you really feel 
 like workin', I wish you'd work some o' them examples in 
 the back o' Raub's arithmetic. I never knew how some o' 
 them was done." 
 
 I tackled an atrocious problem about how many 16 ft. 
 boards in a fence around a square field of such a size that the 
 number of acres equalled the number of boards. It was a 
 terribly old-fashioned problem, and I hated to see it in- 
 flicted upon the school, but it satisfied an ambition of the 
 old lady when, for the first time in her life she could teach 
 it, and it certainly strengthened her in the opinion of the 
 upper grade. Best of all, it got her into the habit of seeking 
 help from the supervisor when she needed it, and not simply 
 trying to enjoy the supervisor's talk. A supervisor is cer- 
 tainly working at a big advantage when he can give help in 
 response to a felt need. 
 
 Any discussion of democracy in education must suggest 
 John Dewey. In his great book, "Democracy and Educa- 
 tion," Dewey's criterion of the worth of any society, ethically 
 or educationally is summed up in the questions, "How nu- 
 
^O SCHOOL ECONOMICS 
 
 merous and varied are the interests which are consciously 
 shared ? How full and free is the interplay with other forms 
 of association?" 
 
 Applied to the school organization the questions become : 
 How much more does the teacher see in the supervisor than 
 one of the snags that lie between her and her monthly 
 salary? How much more does the supervisor see in the 
 teacher than merely a means of putting his own particular 
 ideas into operation? How well do they understand each 
 other and the community for which they work? How full 
 and free are their means of communication, each with the 
 others? If each looks upon the others as mutual friends and 
 confidants, sources of inspiration and appreciative criticism, 
 means of doing more things more easily and with more satis- 
 faction than they could possibly do alone, their joint product 
 will be something infinitely better than the hostile, buck 
 passing disaffection too often apparent in organization of 
 the strait-laced, militaristic type. Blessed be the tie that 
 binds. It is not red tape, nor any mechanical binder, how- 
 ever elaborate ; but as Dewey says, "A society which makes 
 provision for participation in its good of all its members 
 on equal terms, which secures flexible readjustment of its 
 institutions through interaction through the different forms 
 of associated life, . . . and which gives individuals a 
 personal interest in social relationships and control, and 
 habits of mind which secure social changes without intro- 
 ducing disorder." 
 
PARENTS' ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 All of which leads to the conclusion that democracy in 
 education cannot be limited to the teachers or even the 
 pupils. The public must be taken into confidence, too. The 
 people as a whole must be educated to work together and 
 work with the board and their appointees to strive heartily 
 toward general improvement. 
 
 No matter how much power a machine may develop, 
 unless the friction can be reduced to a minimum, there is 
 bound to be trouble. While misunderstanding and criticism 
 are rife in a neighborhood, the schools, no matter how good, 
 fail to accomplish what they might, unless the better ele- 
 ment can be organized to control them. 
 
 In this respect the school management are in somewhat the 
 same position as the boy in the story who went out to ride 
 with his grandmother. The boy drove the old horse along 
 till he came to a narrow place in the road and met an auto- 
 mobile. The horse began to prance a little, whereupon the 
 old lady, violently excited, got out, screaming and gesticu- 
 lating. The chauffeur stopped the car at a safe distance 
 and came forward to the boy's assistance. 
 
 "Shall I lead the horse ?" he inquired. 
 
 "No!" the boy answered. "I can manage the horse all 
 right. You lead grandma." 
 
 Conducting a school system is a comparatively simple mat- 
 ter when the excitable grandmothers, male and female, can 
 be coaxed along and kept reasonable. 
 
 For these reasons a parent teacher association is almost 
 indispensable. School board, parents and teachers all need 
 to get together to exchange views and to see matters more 
 and more from each other's standpoint and from the stand- 
 point of the leaders in the work. 
 
J2 SCHOOL ECONOMIES 
 
 It is not a hard matter to conduct informal meetings once 
 a term or once a month, sometimes at the school house to 
 observe some of the regular work perhaps, sometimes in the 
 evening at any convenient gathering place. State associa- 
 tions of the different states offer useful suggestions. Many 
 speakers with a real message can be got without expense. 
 There is usually some musical talent available to add inter- 
 est to the program. A question box is a method of bring- 
 ing up live topics for discussion. Reports of visits to fine 
 schools elsewhere are interesting and inspiring. But the 
 discussion should be brought round as often as possible to 
 the question, "What can we do to improve conditions here ?" 
 In the ranks of such an organization there will always be 
 found some few, at least, earnest, intelligent people who 
 will set themselves to the task of carrying improvements 
 through. 
 
 It is true that the work presents problems that are not 
 always agreeable. A hundred details need attention. So- 
 and so's boy must be prodded into building fires earlier and 
 sweeping floors cleaner. Such-a-one's daughter needs to 
 be ousted and replaced by some competent person that un- 
 derstands teaching. Slack labor, overcharges, and faulty 
 material come in for just treatment and alas ! consequent bit- 
 terness. The enemies made may be loud in their condem- 
 nation, and friends faint in, their praise. Yet there is an 
 inward satisfaction in being able to render a public service, 
 and the public, sooner or later, are bound to appreciate. It 
 is this satisfaction that really pays for the work and the 
 sacrifice and the effort to steer a course toward better 
 schools with the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon, 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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