USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > West Bridgewater > Town annual reports of the selectmen, overseers of the poor, town clerk, and school committee of West Bridgewater for the year ending 1860-1869 > Part 9
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SECT. 12. The several towns shall, at their annual meet- ings, or at a regular meeting called for the purpose, raise such sums of money for the support of schools as they judge neces- sary ; which sums shall be assessed and collected in like man- ner as other town taxes.
SECT. 14. A town which refuses or neglects to raise money for the support of schools as required by this chapter, shall for- feit a sum equal to twice the highest sum ever before voted for the support of schools therein. A town which refuses or neg-
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lects to choose a School Committee to superintend said schools, or to choose prudential committees in the several districts, when it is the duty of the town to choose such Prudential Com- mittee, shall forfeit a sum not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, to be paid into the Treasury of the county.
SECT. 15. Three-fourths of any forfeiture paid into the Treasury of the county, under the preceding section, shall be paid by the Treasurer to the School Committee, if any, other- wise to the selectmen of the town from which it is recovered, who shall apportion and appropriate the same to the support of the schools of such town, in the same manner as if it had been regularly raised by the town for that purpose.
We believe by a recent act of the Legislature, agriculture has been added to the list of studies, in Section 1. In computing time four weeks are considered a month, or " reckon twenty days to the month," says a document from the Board of Edu- cation. This same document also states, concerning " all schools sustained at the public expense," - " when such schools are prolonged by private subscription, and open as before to all the children of the district, they are still to be reckoned as public schools." It would appear by this, that the four weeks school, in District No 1, sustained by general sub- scription, and prolonging the public school of the Grammar department in the summer term, -answered to all intents the purpose of the school laws. For the reasons already given, the Committee, as general agents of the town, deem it expedient, -in order to comply with the statutes and secure the benefits of their design to the children, and avoid the penalties of Sec- tion 14, - to employ teachers as they did, with the arrange- ment that they should receive their pay, when the appropri- ations of the town became due to that district. The schools in this district have been, this winter, a few weeks short of six months, for the same reason that caused a refusal of the em- ployment of teachers in summer ; but the Committee did not
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think that the continuance of the school two or three weeks, owing to some circumstances connected with it, would secure the advantage to the district that it ought for the expense that would be incurred. There are also two other districts that fall a little short of six months school. But any of these deficiencies are not caused by a wilful neglect of the town to do their duty ; and any person who is a friend to the interests of the town and to education will not bring an action against the town; and if he should, we think that a conscientious and judicial court would decide in the town's favor.
GENERAL STATUES, CHAPTER 38.
SECT. 16. Every town shall, at the annual meeting, choose, by written ballots, a Board of School Committee, which shall have the general charge and superintendence of all the public schools in town. Said Board shall consist of any number of persons divisible by three, which said town has decided to elect, one-third thereof to be elected annually, and continue in office three years. If a town fails or neglects to choose such Com- mittee, an election at a subsequent meeting shall be valid.
This section " declares that the Board of School Committee ' shall have the general charge and superintendence of all the public schools in town.' This great power has been interpreted by the Supreme Court." This, says Mr. Boutwell, "in the absence of expressed legal provisions, includes the power of determining what pupils shall be received and what rejected. If children are suffering from a contagious disease, or so impure in morals as to render association with them pernicious to others, the School Committee may direct the teacher to exclude them temporarily or permanently." We think this power should be exercised carefully and promptly, as sometimes, under the circumstances, it may be the only means by which the discipline and character necessary to the school's success can be secured. The teacher has no right to exclude a scholar
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permanently ; but if a scholar is disobedient he may suspend him until seeing the Committee. The power invested in Sec- tion 13, determines what scholars shall attend the Primary and Grammar departments of graded schools, as in District No. 1. Mr. Boutwell [also quotes the following : "The general School Committee of a city or town have power, under the laws of this Commonwealth, in order to maintain the purity and discipline of the public schools, to exclude therefrom a child whom they deem to be of a licentious and immoral character, although such character is not manifested by any acts of licen- tiousness or immorality within the school." (8 Cush. 160.)
GENERAL STATUTE8, CHAPTER 38.
SECT. 10. It shall be the duty of the president, professor, and tutors of the University at Cambridge and of the several colleges, of all preceptors and teachers of academies, and of all other instructors of youth, to exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety and justice, and a sacred regard to truth; love of their country, humanity, and universal benevolence ; sobriety, industry, and frugality ; chas- tity, moderation, and temperance; and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society and the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear under- standing of the tendency of the above-mentioned virtues, to preserve and perfect a Republican Constitution and secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to promote their future happi- ness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices.
SECT. 11. It shall be the duty of the resident ministers of the gospel, the selectmen, and the School Committees, to exert their influence and use their best endeavors that the youth of
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their towns shall regularly attend the schools established for . their instruction.
We are to infer from the authority herein quoted, and from Sections 10 and 11, that the Committee and teacher's duty in using their influence, -to form good habits of society, to secure respectfulness of tone and manner among the pupils, and to make a proper foundation for a good character, - is not to be exercised in the schoolroom during school hours, more than it is before and after school, when the scholars are in and about the building, and going to and from the schoolhouse in the streets. If scholars mar and destroy wilfully the property of the district or of others, or commit outrages towards other scholars or persons near or about the schoolhouse, the teacher has a perfect right to adopt all proper and legal measures to prevent such injuries ; but we hope parents who are more responsible for such actions will perform this duty. We hope that all concerned will do what they can in carrying out the design of Section 11. There is a later law than this imperative upon the towns, requiring them to make " provisions and ar- rangements concerning truants and absentees." (See Laws and Resolves of 1862, Chap. 207.) We would call the attention of the town to the examination of this to see if they will take any action upon it. We think something in this direction is needed. It was a testimony of the teachers that the articles passed by the last March meeting were beneficial in securing attendance ; we would recommend something similar again.
GENERAL STATUTES, CHAPTER 41.
SECT. 1. Every person, having under his control a child between the ages of eight and fourteen years, shall annually, during the continuance of his control, send such child to some public school in the city or town in which he resides, at least twelve weeks, if the public schools of such city or town so long continue, six weeks of which time shall be consecutive; and for
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every neglect of such duty the party offending shall forfeit to the use of such city or town a sum not exceeding twenty dol- lars : but if it appears, upon the inquiry of the truant officers, or School Committee of any city or town, or upon the trial of any prosecution, that the party so neglecting was not able, by reason of poverty, to send such child to school, or to furnish him with the means of education, or that such child has been otherwise furnished with the means of education for a like period of time, or has already acquired the branches of learning taught in the public schools, or that his bodily or mental condition has been such as to prevent his attendance at school or application to study for the period required, the penalty before mentioned shall not be incurred.
SECT. 2. The truant officers and the School Committees of the several cities and towns shall inquire into all cases of neg- lect of the duty prescribed in the preceding section, and ascer- tain from the persons neglecting, the reasons, if any, therefor ; and shall forthwith give notice of all violations, with the rea- sons, to the treasurer of the city or town ; and if such treasurer wilfully neglects or refuses to prosecute any person liable to the penalty provided for in the preceding section, he shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars.
Section 2 emphatically requires the School Committee to take some action in carrying out the designs of the first. We are quite positive that there are violations of section 1, and liabili- ties to its penalties, in town ; but we hope that an insertion of these two sections will be a sufficient suggestion for those con- cerned to do their duty. If "parents are poor, then not a moment should pass until the children are provided with the means of escaping from ignorance, as the best security that they will ultimately escape from poverty."
In the history of the commonwealth we find that, as early as 1642, the general court instructed the officers of every town to " have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors, to see first that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any
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of their families as not to endeavor to teach by themselves or others, their children and apprentices, so much learning as may enable them to read the English tongue, and obtain a knowledge of capital laws." Let us not fall into the " barbarisms" avoided by our fathers more than two centuries ago.
GENERAL STATUTES, CHAPTER 39.
SECT. 40. The public schools required by law shall continue to be maintained in each of the districts thus associated, as if no union district had been formed.
We would call the attention of Districts No. 4 and 7 to this section referring to union districts, in relation to their union district. We think that the scholars under ten (10) in Dis- trict No. 4, have never, and in District No. 7 but few times, received the benefits of the public schools required by law, since the formation of the union district ; though we think undoubt- edly the union has been a great advantage to many scholars. We pronounce this course illegal ; and as a remedy for this we would earnestly renew the proposition to these two districts made by the Superintendent of last year. If there is no action taken on this proposition, we would suggest to District No 4 the propriety of moving their schoolhouse out of the road.
GENERAL STATUTES, CHAPTER 41.
SECT. 5. Children living remote from any public school in the town in which they reside, may be allowed to attend the public schools in an adjoining town, under such regulations and on such terms as the School Committees of the said towns agree upon and prescribe ; and the School Committee of the town in which such children reside, shall pay out of the appropriations of money raised in said town for the support of schools, the sum agreed upon.
For the benefit of those residing in the borders of a district, and desiring to send out of town, we give this section. The
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statutes seem to imply that money, for the purposes herein spec- ified, is not to be drawn from any district, but from the gen- eral school appropriations. It has been decided by the court that a town cannot legally act upon the design of this section ; the duty remains with the School Committee.
GENERAL STATUTES, CHAPTER 39.
SECT. 49. The respective School Committees of the towns from which such united district is formed, shall discharge the duties of School Committee for the district in alternate years, commencing with the most ancient town.
This section, referring to " contiguous school districts in ad- joining towns," will inform District No. 6 in regard to the supervision of their school.
The Superintendent, on entering upon his duties, felt a desire of a clearer understanding of the true contemplation and practical operation of the School laws of the State ; and ex- amined the statutes carefully, according to his abilities, to secure this information, necessary to his official duty. That the town may secure the benefit of his investigation of their meaning, and observation of their application, he has inserted these sections of the statutes, not, perhaps, as Horace Mann says, because they are wanted, but because their influence is needed. But he does not desire to establish any precedent, and has endeavored to make no statements not based upon good authority. We believe that in no way can the best possible advantage of our schools be secured, except by following the instructions of the General Statutes, Title XI. Of Public Instruction and Regulations re- specting Children.
STUDIES, DISCIPLINE, AND SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE INTER- ESTED.
We all agree that those studies which teach the scholars "what they will need to know when they become men," should receive the most importance in our common schools ; and we believe
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those which will do this to the best advantage are the common branches required by law, -" Orthography, Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, the History of the United States, and good behavior." It is a fault of some schol- ars to pursue their studies beyond what their age and capacity will allow, or their ambition seems to exceed their real mental energy, and by pushing on they get into battle before they are really prepared for an attack, and they are apt to weaken and discourage the mind and defeat its object, while a little longer preparation would enable them to advance successfully.
Orthography. - This is very difficult for some pupils to learn, and none the less important to them when learned.
Some teach this orally and others by writing, but when the two methods are combined they secure the best results, as some require the impression upon the eye and others upon the ear.
Reading .- Of course the teacher who is the best reader, would be more apt to teach good reading ; hence the importance of becoming so. But it is useless to suppose that you can in- struct your class in elocutionary principles, and by so doing make them good readers ; and we think rules in reading should be taught only to a limited extent, but the teacher should under- stand well the principles of good reading.
The scholar can only attain the art by continual drill in the right and natural direction. We have as many varieties of teaching this as we have teachers, and some of them equally as good as others ; and if we should criticise the different methods, they could say, as Dr. Johnson did when a person was compar- ing his writings with Addison's, - " Sir Addison has his style, and I have mine."
Writing. - It is plain that those books with copies prepared, so as to take the pupil along in a natural order, in the different characters and motions, are best to make good penmanship. We think that fifteen minutes in writing each day is better than a longer time taken less frequently.
Grummar. - This branch misrepresents the real qualification 7
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of the scholars more than any other study taught in town. Many of the classes are advanced in the pages of the book, but they are too deficient in the principles of etymology, especially in the properties of the noun and verb. There is a great incon- sistency in the study of grammar and the use of it in writing and conversation. There is also a great lack of thoroughness in this branch. Tower's Common School Grammar, and the selec- tions in it for parsing, are sufficiently advanced for any scholars in our schools, and the use of a higher parsing book should not be approved.
Geography. - This should be principally taught from the map ; and by the aid of the globe a clear idea of latitude and longi- tude should be given as possible. Some teachers have used map-drawing in teaching geography. This is a successful means and should be encouraged when the size and convenience of the school will permit. When the scholar leaves the map or com- mences to study physical or descriptive geography, he should be able to bring before his mind a picture of the map with all its principal features. Descriptive geography should not be at all discarded, but used after leaving the map, and it is one means of learning the use of language.
Arithmetic. - This ranks as high in the schools as any other study, and we hope the interest in it will not be lessened. We would impress upon the scholars the importance of thoroughness in this branch, especially in the first six operations, properties of numbers, and fractions, - common and decimal ; thorough scholars in these principles will make good arithmeticians. Care should be taken that the scholar's reason is not misled by the rules. Definitions and rules should not be confounded. The definition generally should be thoroughly learned, then should come the analysis, and then, if the teacher thinks it wise to learn them, the rules, and not before. To give the rule is not to explain the example.
Some teachers in this as well as in other branches are liable to lead their pupils too far out of the teaching of the book in
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order to conform to their idea of teaching, and in the end the pupils do not get a definite idea of either. On the other hand some are more liable to follow the book so closely that if the scholars are drawn aside from it into practical problems of life, they perform them with difficulty and often with inaccura- cy. These two extremes should be guarded against. His aptness to teach the subject, the subject itself, and the manner in which it is treated of in the book, and the aptitude and capac- ity of the scholar, are the things to be considered by the teacher ; and he should bring them all as near the same channel as possible to secure the best results.
In Eaton's Arithmetic we have this example given : " Sold a watch for $ 21 and gained 5 per cent on the cost ; had I sold it for $ 18, should I have gained or lost, and how much per cent ?" This may be analyzed as follows : If by selling the watch at $ 21, I gained 5 per cent on the cost, then 21 must be 105, or 21 of the cost, and > must be 21 of this, and 2, or the cost, 21 of it, which is $ 20. Now if I had sold it for $ 18, I should have lost $2, or 2, or 10, or 10 per cent of the cost.
The following rule is given to perform it by : " Make a frac- tion by writing the proposed price for the numerator and the actual price for the denominator. Then multiply the per cent at which the article is sold by this fraction, and the product will be the per cent at the proposed price. The difference between the product and 100 is the gain or loss per cent at the proposed price." In such cases as this, will you have the scholar learn the rule or the analysis ? The answer should be decisive and determined.
History. - This has not been for some time a very common study, but it has been introduced into several of the schools the past year. This study, especially general history and that per- taining to our country, is useful, and ought to be encouraged among the large scholars.
Compositions. - We think these should receive more impor- tance than they do, and where the size and convenience of the
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school will allow, all scholars in Tower's Common School Grammar should be requested to write compositions, as an effi- cient means of teaching Orthography, Writing, Reading, and Grammar.
Singing and General Exercises. - When the teacher can sing, or when the larger scholars are prepared to lead in this matter, the practice, two or three times a day, in any school where it can be used successfully, has a pleasant and renovating influ- ence upon the school. It has been practised in a number of schools in town, and should be encouraged. General and daily exercises upon some practical subject which will be interesting, useful, and adapted to the scholars are very beneficial, sug- gestive, and often produce incentives to interest in study and to a more thorough investigation of the subjects alluded to. If the size of the school will not allow special time for such exercises, then collateral and practical information should not be omitted in the recitation.
Discipline. - This, at least in an ordinary degree, is abso- lutely essential to the successful working of the school ; and one of the indispensable principles for securing it is prompt and respectful obedience to the proper, just, and impartial authority of the teacher ; this obedience should be insisted upon in and about the school premises, and all hindrances to it, whether coming from the scholars or from outside conversation about minor objections to the teacher's plan, serve as real injuries to the school ; objections should be made by direct communication to the teacher ; if otherwise they result in injury. The disci- pline, with a few exceptions, in the schools has been very good, we have noticed that generally that which was obtained by the best means, and which secured the good will of scholars and parents has been the most conducive to success, but the criti- cism generally, is not strict enough, rather than too strict. We have also noticed that those teachers who have some definite and systematic plan of discipline and teaching, and adopt it at once on the commencement, and carry it through the term,
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succeed the best ; but whenever such a plan is entered upon, and objections not previously anticipated arise which are liable to defeat the object sought, - we think there should be no hes- itation in turning from it, and it is a duty to do so; some teachers say " When I commence a thing I will carry it out any way ;" this is open to severe criticism. Whenever there is a continued or wilful disobedience of the teacher's request, there must of necessity be some penalty attached to avoid its repeti- tion ; and after a due consideration of the nature of the offence, and the disposition of the scholar, the teacher should be prompt in using that form of reprobation, or of punishment, which he thinks will be most proper, expedient, and effectual.
Care should be taken not to use improper punishments. Good order can generally be obtained with but very little cor- poral punishment. Whether it shall be used or not, to much extent, depends upon the disposition of the scholars, teachers, and parents. Experience and observation prove that those teachers who are the most interested in their schools and in the branches which they teach, succeed the best in accomplishing their object. The action and energy of the scholar's mind and his manner of movements depends a great deal upon the daily habits of the teacher and the state of his mind ; the teacher, therefore, should never be vulgar or lazy in his deportment, especially in the schoolroom, for it is sure to act upon the school.
Very few teachers are so amply prepared for their work that they will not benefit themselves and their school, by occasional reflections upon their duty, and previous examination of their studies for the recitation ; if the teacher's mind is familiar and active upon the subject, there will be comparatively few cases where the scholar cannot be made so. Many difficulties are overcome only by thought, but the teacher should not fall into the habit of burdening the mind too much about the cares of the school, an excess in this matter is often a fault with begin- ners, and it has a negative rather than a positive influence. The first thing for the teacher's consideration is his health ;
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without good or ordinary health all good designs in the school- room fail. The too frequent practice of teachers' attending evening entertainments at late hours, and neglecting necessary preparation in their studies, or indulging the mind with unreal and extravagant representations of life's object by reading a certain class of fictitious writings, is not at all conducive to a didactic state of mind, and to a successful performance of their professional duties. If a teacher's mind is not in the schoolroom he is not fitted to be there himself. Teachers can derive much benefit to their success from visiting schools and receiving suggestions from each other.
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