<379 
 
 \T 
 
 THE SYSTEM 
 
 OP 
 
 PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
 
 IN TUE 
 
 State and City of New York. 
 
 A MEMORIAL, 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE 
 
 State Legislature and the School Authorities 
 
 BY THE 
 
 §e*man-i*mericatt gttijeus 
 
 OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 May, 1869. 
 
 E. Steiger, Printer, 
 
 22 & 24 Frankfort Street, 
 
 !Uvc lovh. 
 
This Memorial, drawn by a Special Committee on Public Instruction, 
 appointed by the German Republican Central Committee of the City and 
 County of New York, has been submitted to and adopted by the above 
 named Central Committee, the New York Turn-Verein, and other influential 
 associations oi German-American Citizens in our City, without regard to 
 political parties. 
 
 The German Special Committee on Public Instruction: 
 
 Hartwig Gercke, Chairman. E. F. Grauert, Secretary. 
 
 G. P. Stutzmann, L. Jabobs, W. Schlegel, Dr. Wohlfahrt, H. Intemakn, 
 F. Appel, Dr. A. Douai, M. Friedsam, E. Koessly, K. Schlegel. 
 
 4Qp Copies of this Memorial may be had on application at the bookstore of E. Steiger, 
 No. 22 & 24 Frankfort Street, New York. 
 
I 
 
 The German-American citizens, duly appreciating the great importance of 
 a thorough reform in the School System of the State of New York, which has 
 been repeatedly proposed of late, consider themselves justified and hound in 
 duty to place before the proper authorities the results of their experience and 
 observations, both in their native.and adopted countries, and to make known 
 their wishes. 
 
 ' The schools of Germany and Swifzerland are now occupying the first 
 rank in Europe. While such men as Basedow, Campe, Rochow, Pestalozzi, 
 &c., aspired to reform the Common Schools, a more liberal spirit began 
 to operate also upon the High Schools and Universities, and broke the 
 fetters of pedantry. Statesmen, philosophers, and poets, in fact, the entire 
 people joined in the movement of reform; the methods of instruction were 
 greatly improved, and excellent institutions both for teachers and pupils 
 established. So the history of the German School System clearly proves that 
 good High Schools are based upon corresponding Elementary Schools, that good Elemen¬ 
 tary Schools depend on corresponding High Schools, and that a true and effective School- 
 system must embrace Schools of all grades. 
 
 These .results have been obtained in Germany; although that country, 
 owing to the 'want of political and religious liberty, has as yet not been able 
 to rise to the great principle of the American Free Schools. In Germany free 
 instruction is an alms, since the poor only are excempt from tuition fees. The 
 efforts of all enlightened friends of popular education toward introducing 
 the Free School System in Germany have been futile, owing to the appropri¬ 
 ation of enormous sums to standing armies, court officers, and churches, 
 which necessarily must check the further development of the German schools. 
 
 The more the German-American citizens therefore appreciate the high 
 value of the Free School System, the more they urge its realization and per¬ 
 fection to the most liberal extent, and strenuously oppose any attempts at 
 limiting the principle of Free Schools to elementary institutions. 
 
 A. THE PRINCIPLE OF FREE INSTRUCTION. 
 
 The welfare of the Republic is based upon the moral and intellectual 
 culture of her citizens. Popular education is therefore not only the interest 
 of the whole people, but paramount to all other interests. While the Re¬ 
 public holds out citizenship to every man, it ought not to leave education to 
 the humor and the often deficient judgment of individuals. The recognition 
 of this truth corresponds with the great principles underlying this Republic; 
 it has given rise to our Public School System, and must be completely real¬ 
 ized. If, in consequence of this principle the expenses for popular education 
 are paid by taxing the citizens, every citizen is entitled to all the bene¬ 
 fits of the Public School System, and may demand that everybody should 
 acquire a certain degree of general culture. The Public School should, there- 
 3 
 
 p 13 . 11.4 
 
4 
 
 fore, not only be open to all, but all parents ought to be compelled to provide 
 for their children a certain amount of instruction. 
 
 In consequence of the same principle the benefit of gratuitous education 
 should be extended to schools of all grades. While the law should fix a ♦ 
 
 minimum of learning required of every scholar, it ought certainly not to draw 
 a limit to continued study in the Free Public Schools, that would preclude 
 the talented though poor pupils from scientific pursuits, and make higher 
 education a privilege of the rich. * 
 
 The U. S. Government has justly considered it necessary, in the interest of 
 the country’s defense, to establish and maintain institutions for the instruction 
 of officers for the army and navy, the admission to which depends chiefly on 
 talent and proficiency. But is it not far more important that states and towns 
 should establish a sufficient number of Free High Schools, in order to bring a 
 superior education within the reach of all, and thus obtain infinitely more 
 useful officers of general progress, promoters of popular education, of science, 
 art and industry ?— 
 
 It is only by an intimate co-operation with High Schools that Primary 
 and Intermediate Schools can be conducted with a clear insight into the real 
 purpose of all education- This purpose is not, to merely impart to the pupils 
 a certain degree of knowledge and skill indispensable in practical life, but to 
 harmoniously develop all their physical and mental powers, and to inculcate and nourish 
 in them a sense for the good, the true, and the beautiful. This nobler and higher 
 purpose of education is but too apt to be lost sight of by elementary teachers 
 in the toilsome performance of their duties in crowded classes, unless they 
 themselves have received a superior education from which to draw an ever 
 fresh enthusiasm for their profession. 
 
 B. DEFECTS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE STATE OF 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 No thinking man, who has followed the progress of our Public Schools 
 during the last 10 or 15 years, and has studied the annual reports of our 
 School Officers, can deny the praiseworthy efforts made by our Commissioners 
 and Superintendents for improving the Schools, and particularly the methods 
 of instruction; but these efforts have partly failed, and will fail as long as 
 certain difficulties and defects are not removed, which we will endeavor to 
 point out. 
 
 1. The Want of a suEcient number of High Schools and Teachers’ 
 
 Training Institutions. 
 
 There is in the city of New York but one Normal School for female 
 teachers, which, being open only on Saturdays, can of course produce but very 
 limited results; there is but one High School under the present Public School 
 System, viz, the New York College. The other establishments of higher ^ 
 
 grade, as the Columbia College and the University, are private or sectarian 
 institutions, and but slightly connected with the Public Schools. A com¬ 
 parison with the institutions belonging to the Public School System at Berlin, 
 a city of 700,000 inhabitants, will clearly demonstrate how poorly our Empire 
 City is supplied in this respect. There are at Berlin a Seminary, connected 
 
with the University, for teachers in High Schools; two Normal Schools for 
 male and female teachers in Primary and Intermediate Schools; 15 High 
 Schools, a Polytechnical Institute, and the well known University itself. And 
 likewise, if we compare the number of Public High and Normal Schools in 
 the State of New York with that in some German States or Switzerland, the 
 comparison proves also very unfavorable, notwithstanding some recent efforts 
 made for the better.* 
 
 This being so, it seems strange that there could have been a movement 
 towards limiting, or even abolishing, the single free High School in N.Y. City, 
 the N. Y. College: this, too, among men and in public journals, that mean to 
 advocate the interest of the masses. In fact, the reasons adduced in favor of this 
 movement simply prove how little the fundamental conditions of a thorough 
 educational system are as yet generally understood. To those, for instance, 
 who, proceeding from untenable premises, have calculated that every graduate 
 of the City College costs $5000.00—while in fact every student costs only 
 $200.00 a year—we should reply that even such a price were not too high, if 
 the only High School, destined to complete the whole system, could really 
 not be maintained at a cheaper rate. It is to be hoped that our new School 
 Commission, animated with the same spirit of true progress as the former one, 
 will not only successfully resist every attempt to abolish the College, but by 
 promoting its development and by establishing other Normal and High 
 Schools, will meet the most important desideratum in our School System. 
 How shortsighted are those who think they raise the Common Schools by re¬ 
 moving the College ! Deprive the Common Schools of the motive for emul¬ 
 ation based upon the prospective admission of their pupils to the College, and 
 you will soon see them sink and decline, as many of the best pupils are 
 merely induced by this prospective admission to enter the Public Schools and 
 to go through all their classes. 
 
 2. The Want of theoretically and practically trained Teachers. 
 
 Wherever there is a want of Normal Schools for teachers, and of High 
 Schools, there must be a want of competent teachers. There is, as yet, in 
 New York no profession of teachers in the true sense of the word. The ex¬ 
 amination and classification of persons applying for a teacher’s position by our 
 School Superintendents may indeed somewhat mitigate this evil, but where 
 there is no sufficient number of well-prepared teachers, the qualification of 
 them must be on a low standard. In fact, most of those who apply for 
 examination are young ladies who have just left the Ward Schools, and still 
 need instruction themselves. Many of them, it is true, attend the Normal 
 School on Saturdays, but, wearied as they must be by their toilsome and 
 exhausting daily duties, they necessarily lack the freshness of mind required 
 to appropriate and digest what is taught there. They may become enabled 
 to mechanically apply certain methods of instruction, but not to act from 
 clearly understood pedagogic principles. Very few young men embrace the 
 
 * There were only 4 Normal Schools in the whole State, two years ago when the establish¬ 
 ment of 4 more was authorized by law. The grea.t number ( 250 ) of incorporated Literary 
 Colleges and Academies, partly with Teachers’ Training Classes, being of a private character, 
 notwithstanding their reporting to the Board of Regents, and almost as little connected with 
 our Public School System, as other private schools, have, therefore, not been taken into account 
 in this Memorial. 
 
6 
 
 profession of teaching, because they have not by their own education been 
 inspired with the true enthusiasm for this high vocation; even those who 
 have a natural talent and inclination for teaching, generally prefer other 
 employments; whilst in Germany there are many who, notwithstanding the 
 moderate salaries, devote their lives to a vocation which affords the noblest 
 and purest satisfaction. We need not give a commentary to the /act that in 
 1867, of a total number of 2206 teachers in the Public Schools of this city, 
 2030 were female, and only 176 male. (Annual Report of the City Super¬ 
 intendent, p. 19.) 
 
 3. Imperfect Plans and Methods of Instruction. 
 
 The want of a comprehensive and well arranged plan distributing prop¬ 
 erly the whole matter of instruction among the several grades of schools 
 and the classes of each school, as also the partial retention of antiquated and 
 irrational methods of instruction, based on mechanical committing to me¬ 
 mory—are other necessary results of the above mentioned causes. It is but 
 just to acknowledge the very important improvement made some years ago 
 through the adoption in our Public Schools of a revised plan of instruction, 
 yet the new plan is also objectionable in its selection and distribution of the 
 matter of instruction, and cannot have the desired result—notwithstanding 
 its tendency to restrict the abuse of crowding the pupil's memory—until 
 teachers have been trained to give instruction without the mechanical aid 
 of text-books. 
 
 It was only after years of discussion and trial that the school-reformers 
 in Germany and Switzerland succeeded in establishing well balanced and 
 generally approved plans of instruction. They ought to be adopted in this 
 country which, in her Free School System, has a more fertile soil for the 
 highest development of education than Germany ever had, and which should 
 not neglect the advantage of profiting by others’ experience. 
 
 4. The School-Books. 
 
 Wherever text-books are to replace to a great extent, the free activity of 
 the teacher, it is not'surprising that the number of school-books should be too 
 great and should swell inordinately the expenses for maintaining the Schools, 
 or that they should be so arranged as to materially impede a teacher, who is 
 able to instruct in a free oral manner. Besides, those definitions, rules and 
 “answers” intended to be verbally committed to memory, are often themselves 
 inexact and scarely intelligible and a source of useless trouble to the minds 
 of both pupils and teachers; thus, those Readers intended to be read through 
 without choice or discrimination from the first page to the last, must greatly 
 detract fi’om the usefulness of the reading lesson, otherwise so potent a means 
 for the mental development of the pupil. 
 
 5. Teaching Languages in the Public Schools. The German Language. 
 
 Besides arithmetic, no branch of instruction justly receives so large a share 
 of time and attention as the English language; yet, the results, especially re¬ 
 garding the knowledge of grammar, i. e., the natural construction’and laws of 
 the language, are not satisfactory. Not even the grammatical text-books 
 take any notice of the reforms achieved in the instruction of language in 
 iftodern times. Much precious time is squandered with unvaried exercises 
 
V 
 
 
 of a dry mechanical nature, such as spelling, defining and parsing; while 
 grammatical instruction, given after a correct method, can and should re¬ 
 place in the Common School the study of logic and lead the pupil to in¬ 
 dependent thinking. The true method of teaching languages is based on 
 comparative grammar. Hence the universally recognized principle, that the 
 acquisition of a foreign language essentially promotes the knowledge of our 
 mother tongue, and is almost indispensable. ‘ ‘ He who does not know foreign 
 languages, knows nothing about his own,” says Gbthe. It is only this com¬ 
 parison, that renders the study of grammar interesting and truly instructive. 
 For this reason, every teacher in Germany is required to know at least one 
 foreign language, and a foreign language forms an important branch of in¬ 
 struction in the schools from the grade in which grammar proper is intro¬ 
 duced, upward. 
 
 The same should be the case in our country, the more so as the En¬ 
 glish language, owing to its origin, as well as to its paucity of grammatical 
 forms, certainly needs comparison with other tongues, to present its structure 
 under full light to the student’s comprehension. 
 
 The German language, standing in the relation of sister to the English 
 language, and being, as the oldest member of the same family, richer than most 
 other living languages, is particularly well adapted for comparative study 
 with the English and might in this respect advantageously replace the dead 
 languages in our Public Schools. There being, moreover, a close affinity 
 between the English and German literatures, and the number of Germans being 
 steadily on the increase in this country, it is evident, that the knowledge oi 
 German is gaining in practical value. If, therefore, any foreign language w 
 to he taught in our Public Schools, it must he the German. Its introduction in al] 
 classes, beginning with the Intermediate Schools, as a principal branch, would 
 most assuredly tend to improve and complete the school plan ; but good re¬ 
 sults can only be hoped for when the foreign language, introduced in the plan, 
 is a regular part of the curriculum, through a sufficient number of classes. 
 The introduction of German or French in the upper classes of Ward Schools, 
 under the present system, has as yet been of little avail. 
 
 The time required for the study of German might properly be withdrawn 
 from the English lessons and still, for the reasons given, such detraction would 
 by no means prove a hindrance in the study of English. It is a wide-spread 
 error, refuted, however, by experience, that the simultaneous study of several 
 languages tends to embarrass the pupils: on the contrary, it promotes their 
 progress. The experience in our German-English Schools shows that it re¬ 
 quires little more time to teach reading and writing in both languages than 
 in one of them, even in the Primary Department. 
 
 6. Irregular Attendance at School and overcrowding of Classes. 
 
 The irregular attendance and the unequal distribution of scholars result¬ 
 ing in overcrowded classes are very palpable defects in our Public Schools, 
 especially in the Primary Schools, in which a foundation is to be laid foi 
 future education. 
 
 The report of the City Superintendent for the year 1867 contains tho 
 fallowing gloomy facts : In the Primary Schools the average attendance, with 
 a whole number of 130,206 pupils, was only 52,553 or 40 % ; in the Grammar 
 
Schools, with 59,848 scholars, 29,019, or less than 50 %; in the Colored Schools, 
 with 2056 scholars only 737, or 36%; and even in the Normal School, with 
 1000 students on the list, only 406, or 40 %. 
 
 But the disproportion in the distribution of scholars is still less excusable. 
 In one Primary School there were, in 1867, 736 children taught by 10 female 
 teachers; 305 of them in the higher classes were under eight teachers, and 
 431 under the youngest two; 162 being intrusted to one, and 269 to the 
 other. The average number of scholars in the lowest classes of the Pri¬ 
 mary Schools in the City amounted to 160. No wonder, then, that under 
 such circumstances the parents do not send their children regularly to school, 
 and that the children, progressing too slowly, lose interest! The respective 
 figures clearly show, that the greater part of all the children attending our 
 Primary Schools never pass beyond the lowest classes, and either grow up 
 without instruction, or enter schools, less crowded than the Public Schools. ' 5 
 These evils can be cured by laws and regulations and their strict execution, 
 but such laws should be enacted at once. It would be wise to follow the ex¬ 
 ample of Massachusetts, in which State no class is permitted, under any cir¬ 
 cumstances, to embrace more than 50 scholars. 
 
 7. Wasting Time in the Public Schools, 
 
 A regard for the children’s health renders it imperative to limit the 
 time for daily instruction to a moderate number of hours, while, on the other 
 hand, the ever increasing amount of human knowledge calls for an extension 
 of school-time. The two conflicting demands can be satisfied only by the con¬ 
 scientious use of every minute of the school-time. Now, the instruction proper 
 begins in most of our Public Schools at 10 A. M„,instead <of at 9, because fully 
 an hour is spent every day with a solemn opening by singing, and reading the 
 Bible and the roll. As some religious denominations object, and have a con¬ 
 stitutional right to object, to the reading of the Bible, and, besides, since ex¬ 
 perience proves that such practices, repeated every day in the manner pre¬ 
 scribed, leaves not a trace of benefit in the children, it cannot be justified to 
 take for this purpose so much precious time from the instruction proper. 
 We must still more object to the custom, prevailing in several schools, of wast¬ 
 ing time by repeating, before every dismissal, exercises of a devotional nature. 
 
 The hourly and daily making up of rolls and lists concerning attendance, 
 conduct, progress of scholars, takes likewise too much time from instruction, 
 without attaining the purpose intended. For it is a great illusion, as every 
 experienced teacher knows, to believe, that an opinion mathematically exact 
 on the conduct, application and progress of a scholar can be obtained by av¬ 
 eraging numbers more or less exact. 
 
 8. Physical Education. 
 
 Considering the great inclination of our people for physical exercises, and 
 the almost unanimous favor in which Gymnastics are held by the public 
 press, as a means of promoting health and the general development of our 
 
 * The existence and steadily increasing number of Private Schools with both very mo¬ 
 derate and very high tuition fees, proves that the results of our Free School system are, as 
 yet, far behind those of Public Schools in other countries, which, although not free, have over¬ 
 come almost entirely the competition of private institutions. 
 
youth, it is strange, that as yet so little has been accomplished in this respect 
 in our Public Schools. The introduction of regular tuition in gymnastics in 
 all the schools of New-York would require but little trouble or expense. All 
 the school buildings in the City are so spacious and well constructed, that they 
 afford ample room for this purpose and the requisite number of instructors 
 could easily be procured from Turner-Associations. The suggestion may be 
 in place here, that for the boys military drill should be combined with the 
 course of gymnastical instruction, as is the generally approved practice in 
 Switzerland. 
 
 9. The Kindergarten. 
 
 Since the idea of the Kindergarten has met with success in its practical 
 application especially in large cities, it has become an object of interest also 
 in this country. In a city like New-York the introduction of the Kindergar¬ 
 ten in the Public School System would be a great blessing. Thousands of 
 children of a tender age, in which they are still accessible to every good in¬ 
 fluence, and too young yet to be misused for gain by poor or heartless parents, 
 might be sent to this school, saved from physical and moral misery and cor¬ 
 ruption, at least for a considerable time of the day, and thus prepared for 
 ulterior education by the school. 
 
 The establishment, of a sufficient number of public Kindergartens, presents, 
 we admit, great difficulties, owing to the want of competent teachers ; but such 
 as can be found should at once be employed, and a school for the training of 
 Kindergarten teachers opened. 
 
 C. OUTLINES OF A GENERAL SCHOOL-LAW FOR THE STATE OF 
 
 NEW-YORK. 
 
 Our Public Schools should form one well-organized system, embracing 
 the whole State and the schools of all grades; the School-law should establish 
 general principles in order to secure the unity of the system and harmonious 
 co-operation of the different schools from the Kindergarten up to the Univer¬ 
 sity, and of the different districts into which the State may be divided. This 
 can be attained without restraining liberty of action, and without injuring the 
 principle of self-government. 
 
 1. General Principles. 
 
 1. The Public Schools of all grades to be free. 
 
 2. Attendance in school to be obligatory for all children from their 7th to 
 their 14th year. Parents not choosing to send their children to the Public 
 Schools must show that they have otherwise secured to them the required in¬ 
 struction. 
 
 3. Religious instruction and exercises, being matter of private con¬ 
 cern, to be strictly excluded from the Public School. 
 
 4. General regulations should be enacted, by which those schools, which 
 do not, as yet, belong to the Public School System may be received into it.** 
 
 * It would be a great benefit to public education, if means could be found to win over and 
 connect with the Public School system all the numerous and liberally endowed private Educa¬ 
 tional Institutions in our State. In some parts of Germany a similar end has been attained in 
 a. short time and with great success. 
 
10 
 
 5. Only schools, belonging to the Public Schools proper, and those ex¬ 
 pressly recognized as such, may claim support from the Public School Fund 
 or Taxes. 
 
 6. The number of scholars shall not exceed 50 in any class of a Pub¬ 
 lic School. 
 
 7. All schools, not belonging to the Public School System, to be subject 
 
 to the respective regulations of the School-Law. * 
 
 2. Classification of the Public Schools. 
 
 1. The Kindergarten School for children from 4 to 7 years should be in¬ 
 stituted after the pattern of the Kindergarten Schools in Berlin and Hamburg. 
 
 2. The Common School has the double object of preparing the scholars 
 for the High School, and of completing the general education of those who, for 
 their future avocations, need no scientific instruction. It should be divided 
 into 3 Departments, which may be instituted as independent schools where 
 it is thought proper, viz.: 
 
 a) The Primary Department or School . This should be divided, even in 
 small country schools, at least into two subordinate classes, with separate 
 class rooms, but even in the most crowded schools the grade of each class 
 should be so strictly defined, that, the skipping of classes, so frequent now, 
 would be impossible. Over-crowding can be easily avoided by instituting co¬ 
 ordinate classes. 
 
 Although the introduction of a foreign language, is not yet necessary in 
 these schools, it would appear desirable, considering the facility with which 
 children of this age acquire languages, to begin German in the upper classes 
 of the Primary Schools, in those districts, in which the number of German- 
 Americans would justify such an innovation. 
 
 b) The Intermediate Department or School , corresponding in respect to the 
 age of the scholars with the Grammar Department of our Public Schools. 
 The plan of studies, adopted in our Grammar Schools, requires a thorough 
 re-organisation. A new plan should not be made without carefully comparing 
 and examining the plans of corresponding schools in Germany and Switzer¬ 
 land; nor without consulting pedagogues well acquainted with the different 
 systems of instruction. In the selection and distribution of the matter of 
 instruction the double object of the Intermediate Department, to prepare the 
 scholars for the High School, and the Supplementary Course, should never be 
 lost sight of. 
 
 c) The Supplementary Department or School. The above mentioned object 
 of these schools being to prepare for practical life and for an intelligent per¬ 
 formance of the duties of the man and the citizen, their plan should be model¬ 
 ed accordingly. * 
 
 As it can never be entirely prevented that children will leave school before 
 attaining the required degree of general education, Evening Schools, or in their 
 place, as in Switzerland, Day Schools whicli are open only once a week, 
 should be established wherever needed, as supplementary institutes to the 
 Common Schools. 
 
 * A detailed plan of studies for the schools of all grades cannot be given in this Memorial, 
 but will be presented in time to the proper authorities, if the principal object of this Memorial, 
 to initiate a thorough reform in our Public School System, should be attained. 
 
3. The High School aims at preparing the students for all avocations 
 based on a scientific education, and at enabling them to successfully continue 
 the studies of the sciences, of their own free choice, by attending academical 
 lectures, or by the reading of scientific works. 
 
 The principal cause, why the Universities of this country have not yet 
 attained the high standard of the prominent European Universities, is, that 
 the students, when admitted, are not sufficiently prepared for free academical 
 studies, and that the Universities have, therefore, to provide for preparatory 
 classes. The limits between High Schools and Universities are inexactly 
 defined, and generally disregarded on both sides. 
 
 4. The Normal School for Teachers. The want of Normal Schools, the 
 most important for the perfection of the whole system, has already been 
 pointed out. Only in one Normal School, at Oswego, the experience gained 
 in Europe has been utilized to some extent. To satisfy the want of provid¬ 
 ing thoroughly trained instructors for all Public Schools, from 20 to 30 Normal 
 Schools are required for the State. ' For their organization and curriculum, 
 the best institutions of this kind in Germany and Switzerland should be con¬ 
 sulted. The most suitable and simplest way to institute them would be to 
 connect a Normal School with every High School. The scholars of High 
 Schools, desiring to prepare for teaching, could then, according to a well de¬ 
 fined plan, combine professional studies, such as methodics, pedagogics, &c., 
 with the general studies of the school. To prepare scholars of the upper 
 classes of the Normal School for their profession, by means of indispensable 
 practical exercises, a complete Common School and Kindergarten should be 
 closely connected with each Normal School. 
 
 A Normal School, for professional teachers in High Schools, would best 
 be attached to the State University. 
 
 5. Universities and Polytechnic Institutes. Although there exists, as 
 yet, in the United States no University nor Polytechnic Institute that might 
 be compared with the best in Europe, the immediate establishment of a Uni¬ 
 versity of the first rank would offer no insuperable difficulties, if good High 
 Schools, intended to disembarrass the Universities from their preparatory 
 courses, were established. The Cornell University, being centrally located, 
 and bidding fair as a new institution to develop itself powerfully, could per¬ 
 haps be raised to the rank of First University of the State. 
 
 3. Dividing the State into School Districts.—School Administration. 
 
 The present division of the State into School districts should be revised 
 and altered, according to the general rule, that every district ought to con¬ 
 tain at least one Public High and one Normal School, which probably would 
 render it necessary, in some N parts of the State, to combine several counties into 
 one District. Each District should be subdivided into Sub-districts, each of 
 these containing one or two complete Systems of Common Schools, with Kin¬ 
 dergartens, Primary, Intermediate and Supplementary Departments. 
 
 In respect to the administration of the Public Schools, the system estab¬ 
 lished in Switzerland, with the best results, and well adapted to a demo¬ 
 cratic form of government, should be adopted, and the teachers of our Public 
 Schools, organized for this purpose, be legally entitled to a participation in 
 the general administration of the schools. This want has also been expressed 
 
by teachers’ Associations and Institutes. The practical establishment of this 
 organization, and of the school authorities to be instituted, will naturally 
 result from the division and subdivision of the State into Districts. 
 
 There ought to be in every Sub-district: 1st, A Board of Trustees, chosen 
 by all the citizens. 2nd, The Sub-district Institute of Teachers, consisting of 
 all the teachers of the Sub-district. 
 
 In every District: 1st, A District Board of Education, elected partly by 
 the citizens, partly by the Sub-district Institutes of the Teachers. 2nd, The 
 Teachers’ Institute or Conference of the District High Schools, consisting of 
 all the teachers of a High School. 3rd, The District Conference of Teachers, 
 consisting, in smaller districts, of all the teachers; in others, of delegations 
 from the Sub-district Institutes. 
 
 In the State: 1st, The State Board of Education, partly appointed by the 
 State Government, partly by the Institutes of Teachers. 2nd, The Teachers’ 
 Institute of the University. 3rd, The State Convention of Teachers, con¬ 
 sisting of Delegates from the Teachers’ Conferences. 
 
 A few suggestions only may indicate here the respective rights and 
 duties of the different branches of the school administration: 
 
 To the Board of Trustees, the District, and State Board of Education, 
 belong entirely the financial administration of the schools, their control and 
 superintendence, the appointment of teachers, the establishment of new and 
 disposal of old schools, and the final arrangement of the plans of study. In 
 all these cases, the teachers as such, through their legitimate organizations, 
 should have but a consultative voice, and the right of petition and complaint; 
 but it should be their special duty to djscuss methods of instruction and dis¬ 
 cipline, to examine and approve school-books, and to decide all cases and 
 matters concerning the pedagogical management of their schools. The Sub¬ 
 district Institutes and the Conferences of High Schools should meet once a 
 month. Two regular annual meetings of the District Institutes, and one 
 annual meeting of the State Convention, may suffice. 
 
 4. Appointment and Discharge of Teachers. 
 
 Until a sufficient number of Normal Schools is established, the examin¬ 
 ation of the teachers must be intrusted, as it is done now, to the School Super¬ 
 intendents. Only examined and.qualified teachers should be appointed in the 
 Public Schools, and they should be employed within the limitations of their cer¬ 
 tificates. The appointment of teachers for Kindergartens and Common Schools 
 should belong, as now, to the respective Board of Trustees; that of teachers 
 of High and Normal Schools to the respective District Board of Education, 
 that of Professors of the University to the State Board of Education. 
 
 Every teacher for a Public School should be appointed for an indefinite 
 time, and discharged only by legally defined proceedings. By thus securing 
 to the Teacher in his arduous duties and great responsibility a long lease, as 
 it were, of his modest position, we may hope that a sufficient number of able 
 persons will, in future, devote themselves to teaching. 
 
 5. The Principle of Free Instruction. 
 
 The liberal interpretation, prevailing here, of the principle of free in¬ 
 struction, to furnish to pupils all the school-books free of charge, is very 
 
13 
 
 laudable, yet many children are unable to attend the school for want of 
 proper clothing. It might, therefore, very properly be a matter of con¬ 
 sideration whether school-clothing should not also be furnished at public 
 expense. Great advantages, for the main purpose of education, might be 
 derived from such an innovation. 
 
 If all pupils were provided with uniform, plain, yet tasteful clothing, 
 well adapted to their respective age and to the performance of gymnastical 
 exercises, there would be, at least in the outward appearance, no longer any 
 contrast between rich and poor. Vanity and the love for finery would be check¬ 
 ed, a sense for cleanliness, order and decency strengthened. The difficulties 
 of carrying this proposition into effect are not so great as they appear at first 
 sight. The costs could be greatly reduced by furnishing, free of charge, 
 only the clothing worn during school-hours and left in school, and by asking 
 a proportionate pay from those who wish to use it out of school. Besides, no¬ 
 body can doubt that, if only half the extra expenses, now indulged in by the 
 parents for the school-clothing of their children, were paid over to the School 
 Fund, the receipts would suffice to furnish plain clothing to all the pupils 
 attending our Public Schools. 
 
 It will not be improper to mention yet another difficulty that might pre¬ 
 clude the poor from attending High and Normal Schools. In the country 
 districts, only a few of those who wish to attend the High School, live at the 
 place where it is established; hence those, who cannot afford to pay for board, 
 would be debarred from the benefits, and the attendance of High Schools 
 would,.to a great extent, be a privilege of the rich. But this difficulty, too, 
 can be readily obviated, if communities, corporations, and private persons 
 furnish the funds for a sufficient number of pensions or scholarships in each 
 High School, to be given to the most deserving applicants. Then, nobody 
 would be entirely excluded, and such a pension could not be looked upon as 
 an alms, but as a distinction. 
 
 D. REFORMS THAT COULD BE MADE WITHOUT DELAY. 
 
 All great reforms require much time and a great amount of exertion; 
 it will, therefore, be proper to point out some measures that could be earned 
 into effect immediately. 
 
 1. In the City of New York. 
 
 1. Establishment of two complete daily Normal Schools, one for female, 
 one for male teachers, after the model of similar institutions in Germany and 
 Switzerland, and with the assistance of teachers well acquainted with the 
 German method of instruction. 
 
 2. Reorganization of the New York College, with the view of rendering 
 it the Model High School of the State. 
 
 The impending appointment of a new President of the College affords 
 the best opportunity for such a reform, and a man should be selected for 
 this task who has the high scientific qualifications and pedagogical experience, 
 indispensable in a true reformer. 
 
 3. Establishment of a Model Female High School. Normal Sohools 
 should at once be connected with the High Schools. 
 
4. Establishment of as many Kindergartens, as the number of competent 
 instructors will allow. 
 
 5. Adoption of the German and Swiss organic School System, and intro¬ 
 duction of the German language, as an obligatory study through all classes, in 
 a limited number of Ward Schools. 
 
 As experience is more apt than reasoning, to overcome prejudices, this 
 proposition should be taken into earnest consideration. If, in those parts of 
 our City, which are most crowded with people of German descent, a number 
 of German-American Ward Schools—3 or 4 in the Eastern, 2 or 3 in the Western 
 part of the City—were established, there would be an excellent opportunity 
 for a fair comparison between the American and the German systems of educa- 
 tion. By transforming some of the present German-American Schools— 
 as the Free German School in Fourth Street and the German English School 
 of the 19th Ward—into Public Schools, and by altering the Plans in some of 
 the present Ward Schools, this moderate demand of the German-American 
 citizens could be satisfied, without instituting new schools and erecting new 
 school-houses. 
 
 A sufficient number of competent teachers, thoroughly acquainted with 
 the German method, could be had readily, and a specified plan presented to 
 our Board of Education at any time. It would certainly be a task worthy of 
 our new Board, to thus initiate a reform of our whole Educational System. 
 
 6. Appointment of some German pedagogues for the offices of School- 
 Commissioners, Superintendents and Inspectors. 
 
 The German-American citizens now constitute almost one-fourth, of the 
 whole population of this City, and in proportion contribute to the School 
 Fund, without enjoying fully the advantages afforded by our Public School 
 System, because they have so far established and supported a great number 
 of schools of their own, not so much out of regard for their mother tongue as 
 from their conviction of the superiority of the German System. They are, 
 therefore, certainly, justified in the claim of having their views on the man¬ 
 agement and organization of the schools represented by men of their choice 
 and who are honored with their full confidence. 
 
 7. Proper regulations against the overcrowding of Classes in some of our 
 Ward Schools. 
 
 8. Regulations against the waste of time in the schools by exercises that 
 have no relation to the object of instruction. 
 
 9. Introduction of Gymnastics, as a regular branch of instruction in all 
 our schools. 
 
 2. In the State. 
 
 In order to efficiently inaugurate the proposed reformation, and the institu¬ 
 tion of a harmonious School system in our State, based on the best and most 
 liberal principles of Education, a Special Commission should at once be ap¬ 
 pointed for the purpose of framing an elaborate School-Law to be laid before 
 our next Legislature, and of making all necessary preparations for carrying it 
 into effect. The most prominent and experienced teachers, thoroughly ac¬ 
 quainted with the best systems of education, should be invited to participate 
 in the labors of this Commission. 
 
15 
 
 The German-American citizens are firmly convinced that, although not 
 all their views, herein set forth, may meet with the full approbation of 
 their American-born fellow citizens, yet the last object of the proposed reform 
 certainly has been well defined; and also that there is nothing in this Me¬ 
 morial that does not deserve an earnest consideration. In preparing it, 
 we have been guided by the idea, that the educational system of a whole na¬ 
 tion, like the education of the individual, ought to be harmonious. What, 
 among the ancient nations, the Greeks alone found by intuition, has been 
 proved beyond dispute by the modem science of education, namely, that na¬ 
 tional instruction and education has to aim at the development of the moral, 
 intellectual and physical powers of the pupil, i. e., at forming “the beauti¬ 
 ful and good” man in the sense of the Greeks As, with the individual, health, 
 vigor and beauty of the body greatly depend on early physical education; 
 as his mental development and future welfare are built up by harmoniously cul¬ 
 tivating, in his youth ere he encounters the discordant demands of practical 
 life, the germs of the good, the true and the beautiful—so the power, the 
 welfare, and the moral and intellectual growth of a free commonwealth, are 
 based upon the System of Popular Education. 
 
 The object of this Memorial is attained, if it awake a general and 
 lively interest in this most important question, and convince our fellow 
 citizens, that our School System, though it is founded on the most generous 
 and liberal principles, needs a thorough reform, before we can expect cor¬ 
 responding happy results. 
 
 When, as occurred in Germany, the whole nation participates in this move¬ 
 ment, it will be crowned with success. The German nation owes its rescue from 
 the greatest moral, social and political decay, by which, a century ago, it had 
 become the object of general derision and contempt, to the mental labors of 
 her great teachers, poets and philosophers and to her schools. The high rank, 
 which she has attained and now occupies, among the civilized nations of the 
 world, notwithstanding her most unfavorable political condition, must be 
 ascribed to the same causes; what, then, might be expected in this Free 
 Country, if the nation worked in her highest interest—her own education, 
 with the same enthusiasm and devotion !— 
 
 It cannot be objected, that, on account of the great expense which the 
 proposed reform would require, it is impossible to carry it into effect at 
 present; for, in the first place, the expense will prove much less than ex¬ 
 pected, under a wise administration of the School Fund; and then, as with 
 the individual, so with the whole nation, the money spent for educational pur¬ 
 poses wtll soon turn out a saving. In a country like ours, where the wealthy 
 citizens vie with each other in evincing their patriotism by truly princely dona¬ 
 tions, it only needs the establishment of a School System, apt to arouse a uni¬ 
 versal interest, to make, not only the whole people willing to support a 
 moderate increase of the taxes, but, to induce our wealthy citizens to emulate 
 each other, in promoting the great purpose by liberal patriotic sacrifices. 
 
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