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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 022 152 189 4 
 
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SUGGESTED READJUSTMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Years of Study of the Public Schools 
 
 of New Vork City 
 
 A MEMORANDUM ADDRESSED TO 
 
 Those Interested in the Public Schools 
 
 of New Vork City 
 
 THE CITY CLUB OF NEW YORK 
 
 OCTOBER, 19(K 
 
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 F( >REW< >RD. 
 
 Fo those interested in Public School Education of the 
 
 City of New York: 
 
 The occasion for issuing this memorandum is to 
 secure opinions from the public that will aid the City 
 Club in making recommendations to the Charter Revi- 
 sion Commission with relation to that portion of the 
 (.'barter dealing with the public schools. 
 
 The memorandum endeavors to point out certain 
 defects in the schools as now conducted and presents 
 certain remedies that have been suggested — not as 
 recommendations of the Club, but as a program for 
 consideration by the Public. 
 
 The Hoard of Education at present, under Section 
 1084 of the Charter, has power to prescribe and regu- 
 late the courses of study. This power of the Board is 
 not likely to be curtailed by the Charter Revision Com- 
 mission. The question of salaries, however, is so inti- 
 mately interwoven with the years of teaching and 
 school grades that it is difficult to consider the salary 
 question (which must be reviewed) without at the 
 same time considering its relation and adjustment to 
 the years of study. 
 
 The Club feels justified in presenting this tentative 
 plan, since the solution of the salary problem may most 
 readily come through a readjustment of the years 
 of study; such a readjustment made solely for the 
 purpose of solving the salary problem would not be 
 warranted, but inasmuch as this change is urgently 
 recommended by many of the leading educators of the 
 country, it seems opportune to consider it at this time. 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JACOB W. MACK, 
 Chairman Committee on Schools. 
 HENRY C. WRIGHT, 
 
 Bureau Director. 
 
A SUGGESTED READJUSTMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 YEARS OF STUDY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 OF NEW YORK CITY 
 
 The system of public school education in operation 
 in New York City may be described briefly as follows: 
 
 The first eight years are devoted to elementary 
 studies, each year being divided into two grades de- 
 noted by iA, iB; 2A, 2B ; 3A, 3B, etc. A teacher in 
 charge of a grade teaches all the subjects assigned to 
 that grade. This system of grade teaching continues 
 through the seventh and eighth years in the majority 
 of our elementary schools. During these eight years 
 the children are instructed in district school buildings, 
 situated within easy reach of the homes. High school 
 instruction begins with the ninth year and takes place 
 in a few large buildings so located that a majority 
 of the pupils are under the necessity of riding to school. 
 During the four years of this course the instruction is 
 on the departmental plan, i. e., a teacher teaches but 
 one subject, so the pupils come in contact with as 
 many teachers as they have subjects. 
 
 Defects in the Present System. 
 
 Some of the defects of this system may be sum- 
 marized as follows: 
 
 I. Proper provision is not made for the child who 
 drops out of school at the end of the eighth year or 
 earlier. 
 
 Diagram I on page 4 shows the number of pupils 
 
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registered in the public schools of the city during the 
 year 1906-07, grade by grade. At the right is shown 
 the percentage of pupils that dropped out at the end 
 of each year. It will be noted that these percentages 
 rapidly increase each succeeding year until at the end 
 of the eighth year, or the end of the elementary course, 
 57 per cent, of the number in the eighth grade quit 
 school. The large percentages continue into the high 
 school, but at the end of no high school year is there 
 such a thinning of the ranks as at the end of the ele- 
 mentary course. The percentages as shown above are 
 fairly representative of every year. 
 
 This situation is bad from three standpoints, (a) 
 that so large a percentage fail to continue on into the 
 high school, (b) that no provision is made for the 
 advancement of the brighter pupils, (c) that when they 
 drop out they are so ill prepared. To substantiate 
 this latter point let us note the course provided in the 
 seventh and eighth years. In the seventh year are the 
 following: English, Geography, History and Civics, 
 Elementary Science, Mathematics. In addition is a 
 course in drawing and construction work; for a boy 
 this means a simple form of manual training involving 
 the use of the knife and a few simple tools ; for a 
 girl a course in sewing and cooking is provided. The 
 eighth year continues the same studies somewhat more 
 advanced ; the manual training, however, merely ex- 
 tends the use of a few more tools necessary to make 
 such articles as book shelves, paper racks, etc. ; the 
 courses for the girls in sewing and cooking are some- 
 what advanced over the previous year. In other 
 words, the 33,000 pupils who drop out at the end of 
 the seventh and eighth years have, in addition to their 
 elementary training, no practical equipment for life's 
 duties other than, for the girls, some cooking or sew- 
 
ing, and for the boys, the ability to use some simple 
 wood-working tools. We give the boy who intends 
 to leave school at the age of fourteen the same train- 
 ing and same studies as the boy who contemplates 
 passing through the high school, and these elementary 
 courses are planned chiefly as a preparation for the 
 higher courses. 
 
 It is well to re-emphasize the recognized fact that 
 a boy who leaves the public schools at the end of the 
 elementary course, having been trained in no special 
 direction, finds it difficult to secure work, to any ad- 
 vantage, except as clerk or office boy. As a result, 
 either he enters this, at present, overcrowded field with 
 small chance for advancement, or else, finding it diffi- 
 cult to secure a position, he drifts into less honest ways 
 of securing a livelihood. It is scarcely open to doubt 
 that our public school system would be much more ser- 
 viceable if it gave a boy leaving school at the age of 
 14 or 15 years a special bent, energizing him with a 
 confidence in his power to do things. 
 
 II. The second notable defect of the system is the 
 constantly recurring lack of co-ordination between the 
 number of sittings and the number of pupils. 
 
 Each fall the Board of Education reports that from 
 50,000 to 75,000 pupils must be accommodated by 
 part time because of the lack of sittings. Neverthe- 
 less, more than enough sittings are provided, taking 
 the city as a whole. In 1907 there were 651,307 sit- 
 tings for an average attendance of 512,718 pupils. 
 Only about 10 per cent, more stationary seats than 
 the average attendance are needed to accommodate 
 all pupils ; over 27 per cent, additional are at present 
 provided. These extra sittings, however, were not dis- 
 tributed according to the needs. So long as our sys- 
 
tern remains inelastic it will be necessary to continue 
 year by year to expend a large amount for new school 
 buildings, regardless of the fact that enough sittings 
 are provided with the present equipment. This dif- 
 ficulty could not be completely overcome by any sys- 
 tem of readjustment, since from year to year new 
 sections of the city are built up where no school build- 
 ings exist. These new sections, however, account for 
 but a portion of the yearly demand for new buildings. 
 
 III. Our system of having a four years High 
 School course taught in a few buildings demands a 
 great amount of time and car fare from many thou- 
 sands of pupils. 
 
 A committee of the High School Teachers' Asso- 
 ciation reported to that body that during one school 
 year in the Borough of Brooklyn the High School 
 pupils paid out $103,141 for car fare. They esti- 
 mated that for the whole city the first year pupils alone 
 would expend for the same purpose not less than 
 $119,700. 
 
 IV. At present the pay of men and women teachers 
 is not equal for the same work. "Equal-pay" is 
 strongly urged by the women teachers. 
 
 During the legislative sessions of both 1907 and 
 1908 a bill was introduced making mandatory the 
 equalizing of the salaries of men and women 
 teachers in the City of New York. The first of the 
 bills passed and was vetoed by the Governor; the sec- 
 ond passed the Senate, but died in the Assembly. The 
 vigor with which those bills were pushed indicates a 
 very strong determination on the part of the women 
 teachers to secure a readjustment of salaries. Had 
 either bill become law, it would have required, accord- 
 

 . 
 
 
 
 
 Dl AGi 
 
 
 
 
 SUGG 
 
 B ST 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ROF 
 
 
 
 PUBLIC 
 
 
 
 
 Bv the: C 
 
 ITY CL 
 
 School 
 
 Approximate 
 
 Compulsory 
 
 Educational 
 
 
 Lower Upp 
 
 Yearg 
 
 Age of Pupils 
 
 Education Law 
 
 Grade 
 
 Elementary 
 
 High Hi- 
 
 
 Under 6 
 
 
 Kindergarten 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 6-7 
 
 
 iA and B 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 7-8 
 
 
 2A and B 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 8-9 
 
 Mandatory 
 
 3A and B 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 9-10 
 
 Mandatory 
 
 4A and B 
 
 4 
 
 
 5 
 
 10- 1 1 
 
 Mandatory 
 
 5A and B 
 
 5 
 
 
 6 
 
 11-12 
 
 Mandatory- 
 
 6A and B 
 
 6 
 
 
 7 
 
 12-13 
 
 Mandatory 
 
 7A and B 
 (Departmental) 
 
 
 I 
 
 8 
 
 13-14 
 
 Mandatory 
 
 8A and B 
 (Departmental) 
 
 
 2 
 
 i 9 (a 
 
 ) 14-15 
 
 Qualified 
 
 Vocational 
 or 
 
 J" 
 
 3 
 
 or 
 
 1 9 
 
 14-15 
 
 Qualified 
 
 Secondary 
 
 ( .. 
 
 3 
 
 10 15-16 Qualified Secondary 
 
 11 16-17 
 
 Secondary 
 
 ; 
 
 12 17-18 
 
 Secondary 
 
 Note: — Pupils intending to go through the Lower High School only wc 
 High School would take course 9 instead of course number 9(a). 
 
M 
 
 S V ST 
 
 M 
 
 ■ NEW YORK CITY 
 5 of New York 
 
 Type of 
 
 
 
 
 Teachers and 
 
 Ed (nation 
 
 Lines of Study 
 
 Evidences of Efficiency 
 
 Instructors 
 
 Play-schools 
 
 Formative-discretionary 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Elementary 
 
 Essentials only 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Element a ry 
 
 Essentials only 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Elementary 
 
 Essentials 
 
 only 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Elementary 
 
 Essentials 
 
 only 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Elementary 
 
 Essentials 
 
 plus Manual 
 
 
 Women 
 
 
 and Domestic Science 
 
 
 
 Elementary 
 
 Essentials 
 
 plus Manual 
 
 Certificate of Effi- 
 
 Women 
 
 
 and Domestic Science 
 
 ciency 
 
 
 \dvanced 
 
 Essentials 
 
 plus Trades 
 
 
 Men and 
 
 
 and Vocational Electives 
 
 
 Women 
 
 \dvanced 
 
 Essentials 
 
 plus Trades 
 
 
 Men and 
 
 
 and Vocational Electives 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Constructive 
 
 Essentials 
 
 of One Me- 
 
 Certificate of Gradu- 
 
 Men and 
 
 Operative 
 
 chanical 
 
 Vocation 
 
 ation, Trade 
 
 Women 
 
 ! D rofessional 
 
 Advanced 
 
 Study — For- 
 
 Certificate of Gradu- 
 
 Men and 
 
 Classical 
 
 mative 
 
 
 ation, Lower High 
 
 Women 
 
 , Scientific 
 
 
 
 
 
 Commercial 
 
 
 
 
 
 j 'rofessional 
 
 Advanced 
 
 Study— Object- 
 
 
 Men and 
 
 Classical 
 
 ive 
 
 
 
 Women 
 
 Scientific 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 'ommercial 
 
 
 
 
 
 Professional 
 
 Advanced 
 
 Study — Spe- 
 
 
 Men and 
 
 Classical 
 
 cialized 
 
 
 
 Women 
 
 cientific 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ommercial 
 
 
 
 
 
 j'rofessional 
 
 Advanced 
 
 Study — Spe- 
 
 Certificate of Gradu- 
 
 Men and 
 
 lassical 
 
 cialized 
 
 
 ation, Upper High 
 
 Women 
 
 ; cientific 
 
 
 
 
 
 'ommercial 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 ,ke course number 9(a); 
 1 
 
 those intending 
 
 to continue through 
 
 the Upper 
 
 I 
 
ing to an estimate of the Auditor of the School Board, 
 an additional annual expenditure of approximately 
 $9,100,000. Unless the end is secured in some other 
 way, it is probable that sooner or later a law will be 
 passed requiring the equalizing of the salaries of men 
 and women teachers. The cost to the city of such a 
 readjustment will depend upon the ratio of the increase 
 according to the grades and years of service, and upon 
 the distribution of men and women in the different 
 years of study. 
 
 Suggested Improvements in the System. 
 
 Can our system of study be wisely readjusted so 
 as to minimize these four defects, viz: 
 
 1. Ill-adjustment of studies for the child who drops 
 
 out of school at the end of the eighth year. 
 
 2. Lack of co-ordination between the number of 
 
 pupils and the number of sittings. 
 
 3. Large expenditure of time and car fare by first 
 
 year High School pupils. 
 
 4. Unequal salaries of men and women teachers. 
 
 In February, 1908, Mr. J. Edward Swanstrom, for- 
 merly president of the Brooklyn School Board and 
 ex-Borough President, proposed for consideration a 
 modification of the "six and six plan," a plan that has 
 been much discussed by educators. (See Brooklyn 
 Eagle, February 25, 1908, or Evening Post, February 
 26, 1908.) This plan provided for six years elemen- 
 tary and six years high school study, the high school 
 being divided into two equal parts of three years each 
 to be called junior and senior high school. The 
 advantages to be gained by the plan he set forth as 
 follows : 
 
 10 
 
"i. It will put new life into the school system 
 and render it more efficient in every department from 
 the kindergarten period to the period of graduation 
 from the high school. 
 
 "2. It recognizes the principle for which the 
 women teachers are struggling without unduly bur- 
 dening the taxpayer. 
 
 "3. It breaks down the present gap between ele- 
 mentary and high schools, inasmuch as under our 
 compulsory education laws every pupil would have 
 to be taken from the elementary school and carried 
 over into the lower high schools. 
 
 "4. It saves the time and expense of attempting 
 to educate each year thousands of pupils who are un- 
 fitted for high school work; 
 
 "5. It will encourage pupils who have done suc- 
 cessful work in the lower high schools to try for ad- 
 mission to the upper high school or college for the 
 masses. 
 
 "6. The requirement that hereafter in the sev- 
 enth and eighth years teachers shall be college gradu- 
 ates will not only lead to greater efficiency in our 
 schools, but furnish an adequate reason for paying 
 women teachers the same as men. 
 
 "7. It will abolish part time in the high school 
 and obviate the necessity of constructing additional 
 high schools for several years to come." 
 
 We desire to submit for consideration a modifica- 
 tion of the plan as set forth by Mr. Swanstrom. The 
 main difference is that the ninth year of study, or the 
 third year of the lower high school, is made an elective 
 year. The plan is as follows: diagram II, pages 8 
 and 9. 
 
 11 
 
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( Operation of the Plan. 
 
 The first six elementary years would be taught as at 
 present. What are now 7A, 7B, 8A and 8B grades 
 and the first year of the present high school course 
 would be taught in one or more buildings in each 
 school district within walking distance of the homes 
 of all the children of the district. Trade electives 
 would be provided in the 7th and 8th years. The 
 9th year would be a double course, having for pupils 
 intending to continue on through the upper high 
 school studies similar to those now taught in the first 
 year of the high school, and, as an alternative, trade 
 courses for the pupils intending to quit at the end of 
 the 9th year, the end of the lower high school. The 
 courses of the upper high school would be taught as 
 at present in the high school buildings, the first year 
 of the course corresponding with the present second 
 year. 
 
 Women only would teach in the elementary grades. 
 
 The chief advantages of this system, as compared 
 with that now in operation, would seem to be some- 
 what as follows : 
 
 Pedagogical Gains. 
 
 (a) It would to a large degree obviate the difficul- 
 ty noted in our first objection to the present system, 
 i. e., it does not properly prepare the pupil who leaves 
 school at or before the end of the eighth year. A 
 lower high school with trades elective in the first two 
 years and a third year of electives devoted chiefly to 
 trades would give a pupil intending to leave school at 
 that time a fair start in some one chosen trade. 
 
 (b) Besides, there would be a tendency, no doubt, 
 for a large number who now drop out at the end of the 
 
 13 
 
elementary course to continue on for another year 
 to get a graduation certificate and to secure a more 
 competent knowledge of a practical vocational trade. 
 An estimate of the increase in the number who would 
 thus continue through the ninth year, is made in dia- 
 gram III, page 12. It will be noted by this diagram 
 that the larger number completing the lower high 
 school would tend to increase the number who would 
 enter and complete the upper high school. 
 
 (c) This lower high school would also obviate to 
 a certain extent the break that now occurs between 
 the elementary school and the high school and would 
 at the same time accustom the pupils to the depart- 
 mental methods of instruction used in the high school. 
 
 Economic Gain. 
 
 (a) It would correct to a certain extent the lack 
 of co-ordination between the number of sittings and 
 the number of pupils. By taking the first year pupils 
 out of the high school buildings abundant sittings 
 would be provided for the pupils of the remaining 
 years, and in fact it might not be necessary to build 
 any new high school buildings for several years. By 
 putting the seventh and eighth grades, which now have 
 many vacant seats, into a separate building or lower 
 high school the sittings of the remaining six grades 
 would probably be so adjusted as to accommodate all 
 the pupils, at least in Manhattan. In Brooklyn no 
 doubt it would be necessary to construct some new 
 school buildings. The average attendance of each 
 school building not being published, it is impossible to 
 give any accurate estimate of the relation of sittings 
 to the attendance in each district. Unquestionably, 
 however, the flexibility of this new system would per- 
 
 14 
 
mit of more nearly adjusting the sittings already fur- 
 nished by existing buildings to the needs of the pupils. 
 The installation of this system would result, according 
 i" an estimate made by one thoroughly conversant with 
 our school needs, in a saving of from $10,000,000 to 
 $20,000,000 during the next five years. 
 
 (b) The new system having a lower high school 
 in each school district would save yearly to the pupils 
 now attending the first year of the high school about 
 $119,000 in car fare. At 4^% interest this represents 
 a capitalization of over $2,600,000, which would pro- 
 vide fully 325 classrooms located where needed. A 
 corresponding amount of time now occupied in the 
 street car rides would be saved. 
 
 (c) By confining men to the last six years, or ex- 
 cluding them from the elementary courses, "equal pay" 
 could be established at a comparatively small cost — a 
 cost which the taxpayers might be quite willing to 
 incur. The failure to pass of the "equal pay" bills 
 was, no doubt, due largely to the additional heavy bur- 
 den which they would have placed upon the city. 
 
 Additional arguments could be brought forward 
 touching upon the need of less elaborate buildings 
 under this system, convenience to the pupils, greater 
 efficiency in the schools, better teaching under a de- 
 partmental system, with promotion by subject and 
 teachers organized in faculties, etc., but space will not 
 permit of their elaboration. 
 
 The City Club will appreciate an expression of 
 opinion from every person who reads this memoran- 
 dum covering the following points: 
 I. Do you believe the system of public education now 
 
 in operation is in the main satisfactory? 
 
 Please state reasons. If you believe it un- 
 
 15 
 
satisfactory, please answer the following 
 questions : 
 
 2. Do you think it feasible to attempt to change the 
 
 system at the present time, 
 
 (a) As applied to the whole city? 
 
 (b) Experimentally as applied to certain 
 
 schools or certain portions of the city ? 
 
 3. Do you regard the plan as set forth in this memo- 
 
 randum desirable? Please give arguments 
 for or against. 
 
 4. Please state whether you are willing to have your 
 
 opinions published. 
 
 Later the Club will issue a memorandum contain- 
 ing reports of committees of the National Education 
 Association recommending a shortening of the ele- 
 mentary and a lengthening of the high school course 
 and also opinions on the plan presented in this 
 memorandum. 
 
 16 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 022 152 189 4 9 
 
 Hollinger Corp. 
 pH 8.5