History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 26

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840

USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 26

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In this small group we find one who had for thirteen years volunteered his services to the best interests of the schools General Rufus King. IIe had served as president of the board for many years and almost continuously in a capacity similar to that of secretary of the board and superintend- ent of the schools, having had much of the clerical work done by his assistants in the Sentinel office,

and doing much of the work of supervising, ex- amining teachers and visiting schools himself. In 1859, when the position became an elective office with a more generous salary attached, he was chosen superintendent of schools, but held the po- sition for only one year. It has been suggested by his son-Milwaukee's well-known citizen and author, Colonel Charles King, who was then old enough to see and appreciate all the facts at the time-that the spoils system in the School Board, had most to do with the retirement of his father. It would certainly seem to have been a great loss to the school system, as those who succeeded him for the next five years did not in all respects meet with popular approval.

Mr. Jonathan Ford, who had been a teacher in the schools, succeeded General King as superin- tendent of schools, having been elected to that position May 4, 1860. Mr. Ford was succeeded as superintendent and secretary by Mr. J. R. Sharpstein, who had been editor and proprietor of the Daily Milwaukee News. Mr. Sharpstein was a "ready and genial writer and speaker," but seems not to have had training or experience in school work. Mr. Edwin De Wolf followed Mr. Sharpstein as superintendent and secretary, and served the city and board in that capacity until May 15, 1865, when Mr. F. C. Pomeroy succeeded to the position and Mr. DeWolf was made clerk. Mr. De Wolf is *referred to as a politician, with no fitness or qualities whatever that would en- title him to occupy the important and responsible position of superintendent of schools.

" During the last years of Mr. De Wolf's terni of office, the following were the principals in the employ of the School Board : First ward, F. C. Pomeroy; Second ward, Jacob Wernli : Third ward, Patrick Connolly, Jr .; Fourth ward, C. K. Martin ; Fifth ward, Galen B. Seaman ; Sixth ward, F. C. Lau; Seventh ward, H. B. Furness ; Eighth ward, O. M. Baker; Ninth ward, Louis Hillmantle. With the active work of the schools in such hands, the deficiencies of the superintend- ing power hardly reached to the work of a class teacher. Probably the mistake that was made in selecting Mr. DeWolf as superintendent was so manifest to all, that when the board chose his suc- cessor a very excellent choice was made."

By act of the legislature, April 7, 1865, relating

* Donnelly, Milwaukee Public Schools 12; Buck, volume 4, p. 79.

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HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

to the public schools of the city of Milwaukee, it was provided that the superintendent of schools shall be a graduate of some college or normal school in the United States, or shall have received from the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, a certificate of his qualifications for the office of superintendent of schools. By the same act of the legislature, it was also provided that, for the purpose of enabling the superintendent to devote his time more thoroughly to the inspection and supervision of the schools and the careful exami- nation and proper grading of the same, the board may employ some suitable person to act as clerk to the superintendent at a salary not to exceed eight hundred dollars per annum, and who shall take charge of the office during the absence of the superintendent and perform such other duties con- nected with the office or the management of the schools as the board or superintendent may re- quire.

The annual report of the School Board for the year ending August 31, 1861, shows that the sal- aries of principals of the schools were eight hun- dred dollars per annum, and of assistants from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty dollars. From the same report we find an effort being made to introduce "object teaching " into the schools, and an attempt also to hold to the graded system. Complaint is made of the want of books, pupils failing to provide themselves with the necessary text-books.

In the year 1863 text-books were required to be uniform and the following list adopted : Sargent's readers and spellers, Robinson's mathematics, Warren's geography, Greene's grammar, Wells' natural philosphy, Wilson's United States history, Cutter's physiology and Webster's dictionary. During the following year a Text-Book Com- mittee was added to the committees already existing. Previous to this time there were only the executive, finance and examining committees.

It was in the school year 1862 and 1863 that the first regular monthly reports were required of teachers, containing statistical information of the number in classes in various subjects of study, number of visitors, promotions, etc. In the school year 1863-64 a branch school on Fond du Lac avenue was added to the number already existing. In this year a classification of teachers' certificates was made. They were known as A 1 and 2; B 1 and 2. Those passing an examination in

orthography, geography, English grammar, his- tory, written arithmetic, mental arithmetic, and discipline, with a standing of eighty-five per cent. or more, received the B-1 certificate; less than eighty-five per cent. and more than seventy per cent. received the B-2 certificate. The number 1 certificate entitled the holder to act as princi- pal in primary and intermediate departments and number 2 as assistants in those departments. In addition to the subjects required for certificate B, candidates for certificate A were examined in physical geography, physiology, natural his- tory, algebra and geometry. Those obtaining an average of more than eighty-five per cent. received A-1 and were eligible to positions as principals of grammar departments ; while those having a per- centage less than eighty-five and more than seventy per cent. received A-2 certificates, and were eligible to positions as assistants in grammar departments.

It was during the sixties that several public- spirited citizens, including E. D. Holton, R. C. Spencer and Alexander Mitchell, offered prizes to pupils in the public schools for excellence in school work, in attendance and deportment, and these prizes secured emulation on the part of pupils and greater interest on the part of parents and citi- zens generally. It was in the year 1864 that the board in their annual report called the attention of the Common Council to the necessity of more room for primary pupils, notwithstanding the ex- istence of seven branch primary schools. It was during this year that the finances of the board had sufficiently improved to enable the board to restore the salaries of principals of grammar schools to one thousand dollars, and of assistants to three hundred dollars and fonr hundred and twenty dollars per annum.

May 15, 1865, Mr. F. C. Pomeroy was elected to the superintendency. Mr. Pomeroy was a man of education and refinement, having graduated at Dartmouth college. He had had some experience in business life, and was for nearly fifteen years principal of the Third ward school. He thus brought to his new duties ripe scholarship with a large and successful experience in school work. Mr. Pomeroy knew the needs of the school sys- tem and was able during his administration to unify the work in the various schools. In the re- port for 1866, we find that the superintendent had made during the year six hundred and twenty-

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nine visits to the schools, had considered fifty-one cases of discipline and one hundred and forty-one cases of suspension.

We find for the first time in the history of Mil- waukee schools, that the superintendent and ex- amination committee in July, 1866, examined and reported the results of examinations of all pupils in the primary classes. Those of the intermediate departments were examined in the following year. In these reports are given the name of the teacher, the standing of the class and the subject. The principals had previously exercised quite unlim- ited powers in their respective schools in the mat- ter of grading, arranging courses of study and in prescribing the text-books to be used. Attention is called in the report of 1866 to the fact that the primary classes are neglected, some of them hav- ing more than a hundred pupils to a single teacher, and the average in the primary classes being eighty-five. Each principal of the grammar school has a class doing a sort of irregular volun- teer high-school work, and it is suggested that it would be in the interest of economy and efficiency in the work, to have a central high school, so that more attention could be given to the lower de- partments by the principal.

In January, 1866, the Washington street school was opened, and in January, 1867, the Sherman street school in the Sixth ward, in addition to the branch schools already existing. In January, 1867, twenty per cent. was added to the salaries of the teaching force, so that principals now re- ceived twelve hundred dollars per annum, and the superintendent eighteen hundred dollars. The salary of the superintendent was again increased to two thousand dollars, the maximum allowed by law, in the following May. Rules for the govern- ment of the public schools were published in the annual report for 1866-67, which substantially form the basis of the present rules of the board. We observe one rule requires of teachers that they shall not allow the temperature of the school- room to exceed 65º Fahrenheit. The schools were divided into four departments, primary, inter- mediate, grammar and high schools. The inter- mediate and primary departments had principals with assistants, but were under the general supervi- sion of the principal of the grammar department. For the school year ending August 31, 1868-69, we find considerable discussion as to the jurisdiction of principals and of the superintendent and other

school officers. The report for that year, 1868, says: "There has been and still is a feeling that each ward school is an independent school, and must be considered as such, rather than as one of several schools, all working upon a uniform sys- tem. This ward or sectional feeling does not tend to advance the interests of our schools. Our commissioners are elected by wards. We think they sometimes forget that they have charge of all the schools; and we are inclined to believe that the time has arrived when the city should be divided into school districts without regard to ward lines." Again, in the report of 1869: "This ward or sectional feeling exerts too great an in- fluence npon both teachers and school officers, and operates against uniformity in system throughout our schools. A system may be established, but if it is to be maintained it must be carried out in a uniform manner. If some circumstance peculiar to a certain school or ward is allowed to modify the working of the system in that ward or school, then in like manner other schools may be modi- fied also, and the uniformity of instruction in a short time destroyed."

In the year 1868 the board changed the system of grading, the primary department correspond- ing to grades ten, nine, eight, seven; the interme- diate to grades six, five, four, and the grammar to grades three, two and one. The text-books adopted by the board in June of this year were as follows:

Readers-McGuffey's first, second, third, fourth and fifth, and McGuffey's speller. Arithmetics- Ray's mental, practical and higher. Grammar- Kerl's common school. Geography-Mitchell's primary, intermediate and physical. History- Goodrich's United States history. Penmanship- Spencerian system and Spencerian copy books. Constitution-Alden's young citizens' manual. German-Raffler's first, second, third and fourth readers; Ahn's German course, first and second books; Hey's-small-German grammar; Oel- schlager's dictionary.

The law was, and still is, that no text-books can be changed until five years have elapsed from the time they were adopted. By the new gradation, the superintendent examined all grades when the teachers reported that they were ready for promo- tion, while promotion from one class or division to another in the same grade was made by the principal. By consulting the annual report for

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HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

1870, it will be seen that the attempt is made to have the graded system an elastic system, whereby the dilligent and intelligent pupil will not be re- tarded by the indolent and stupid ones. The report says, "the objection to the graded system is rem- edied in a great degree by the division of the grades by the principals into several classes, by the exam- ination of these classes every month, and by the transfer of pupils from one class to another in accordance with the result of such examination. By so doing there may be two or three examina- tions of a grade by a superintendent during the year, and there will be no delay in the progress of the more capable or more deserving pupils."

By the beginning of the year 1870 the organi- zation of the public school system had become systematized and unified. Examinations of teachers were now held regularly, but teachers who had once passed the examination were no longer obliged to undergo the ordeal every year. Suspension and transfers must go through the central office. Text-books were now uniform, the various grades were brought to a common standard, promotions were made as rapidly as consistent, and according to a uniform standard. The high school was now firmly established and the school system had grown in efficiency and in the confi- dence of the community. From 1865 to 1870 we can trace a decided advance in the efficiency and influence of the public schools. In 1865 the num- ber of children attending the public schools was nineteen per cent. of the whole number of school age, while in 1870 it had increased to thirty-one per cent. Again, in 1865 the percentage of attend- ance on the average enrollment was seventy-eight, and in 1870 it was eighty-nine. This improve- ment in the schools was no doubt largely due to the personal influence and the laborious and intel- ligent work of the superintendent, Mr. Pomeroy. It was accompanied by a strengthening of the central authority and a weakening of the local authority, but not to such an extent that the free- dom of action of the teachers in the several schools was unduly restrained.

On the 25th of August, 1870, Mr. Pomeroy died. He was in the full vigor of his mature powers and was still active at his post of duty. His influence will long be felt in the Milwaukee school system. Mr. George H. Paul, who was then a member of the board, was elected to com- plete the unexpired term of Mr. Pomeroy.

In May, 1871, Mr. F. C. Lau, who had been for more than ten years teacher and principal in the public schools, was chosen as Mr. Paul's suc- cessor. We find that he early emphasizes the im- portance of carrying out more completely the graded course adopted in 1868 with reference to oral instruction, which was required to be given in all the grades. This oral instruction to be given was mainly in the nature of science lessons. To do that kind of work successfully means the pos- session of great power as a teacher and of exten- sive general information and scientific aquirements. He further urges teachers to hold more strictly to the grade work. He also makes the criticism that memory work is too general, and too little at- tention is given to development of the per- ceptive and reasoning faculties.

Previous to the years 1870 and 1871, principals were in general obliged to give the same time to class teaching as the assistants. At this time they were given more assistants so as to give them more time for general supervision.

Corporal punishment in the schools has always been discouraged by teachers and school author- ities, and its infliction only resorted to as a last extremity. In 1870 and 1871 the board modified the rule previously existing, now vesting the right to inflict corporal punishment in the principal of the school only. In the annual report for this year this abridgment of the powers of the teacher is regretted, and it is maintained that the teacher in whom this power cannot be safely trusted is not fitted to instruct. It is urged further that there is no substitute for corporal punishment in extreme cases that is practicable. In the following year the rule was again changed, restricting corporal punishment to blows on the hand by a rattan. This restriction was removed in the next year, and the principal was required to report details of each case of corporal punishment to the superintendent in his monthly report. Superintendent Lau, in his report for the year ending 1873, discourages suspensions as being in many cases no punishment to the pupil, and resulting in a loss of time and lessons. By reference to the tables it is seen that the number of suspensions were less than in for- mer years.

Previous to the fall of 1871 it had been the custom of teachers in making out monthly re- ports to count sick or excused pupils as present. Commencing with September of this year all

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absent pupils, including sick and excused, are re- ported as absent, so that subsequent statistics of average daily attendance are materially reduced. At the beginning of Mr. Lau's superintendency we find an effort on the part of the board to carry out more completely the graded course as adopted in 1868, and to still further enrich the course by the addition of physical culture and music.

Drawing and German were already introduced into each grade, but instruction on these subjects had previously been optional with teachers and pupils, and no general and systematic work had been accomplished. It was not until September, 1873, that music and drawing were regularly introduced, with a director having supervision of the work in all the schools.

During the year 1871-72 there was a con- siderable movement in the way of amplifying and enriching the school work. Several new standing committees of the board are added for the year 1872-73, so we now find the complete list is Execu- tive, Finance, High School, Examinations, Text- Books and Graded Course of Instruction, Rules and Regulations, Discipline, German, Visiting, Music, Drawing and Calisthenics, and Teachers' Institute. In the next year there was added to this list, standing committees on School Supplies, School Buildings, Truancy, and Evening Schools; and again in the year 1874, there was added the Committee on Printing. These committees assist very much in devising and carrying out new and improved school methods and devices, and make annual reports to the board of the work done during the year past and offer suggestions for the year to come.

Complaints are made in nearly all the annual reports of the School Board up to 1873, of the large number of children of school age, who are not attending any school, and it is urged that some form of compulsory attendance be required. The State Teachers' association also, in 1865 and again in 1867, recommended to the legislature the desirability of a law for compulsory education. In accordance with demands of a similar character from all parts of the state, a law was passed in 1873 authorizing cities to establish truant schools for pupils between the ages of seven and sixteen. Superintendent Lau recommends in his report of 1873 that the Common Council establish truant schools under this law and appoint truant officers,

" whose duty it shall be to investigate all cases of truancy in the schools, and to look after all chil- dren leading idle and vagrant lives."

In the winter of 1871-72 a law was passed providing for the appointment of a secretary of the School Board. Thomas Desmond had been clerk of the board and to the superintendent since Novem- ber, 1866, and now continued as secretary. With this change in the title of his office in May, 1872, the salary was changed from one thousand dollars per annum to twelve hundred dollars, with the amount received for taking the school census-six hundred dollars-still remaining the same.

In 1872 the salaries of principals were thirteen hundred and seventy-five dollars, first assistants six hundred dollars, and teachers of German nine hundred and twenty dollars. These were raised to fourteen hundred dollars, seven hundred dollars and one thousand dollars, respectively, the fol- lowing year. In 1873-74 the salaries of assistant teachers were raised so that the lowest salaries paid new teachers holding Partial B certificates, were three hundred and sixty dollars for the first term and four hundred dollars for the balance of the year. In the following year the salaries of principals were raised from fourteen hundred to fifteen hundred dollars per annum.

In November, 1872, a Standing Committee on Teachers' Institutes was appointed by the board. Under the directions of this committee and super- intendent, several general meetings of teachers were held during the year. The exercises at these meetings were conducted by well-known educators, including Professors Albee and Graham of the State Normal school at Oshkosh, and Pro- fessor Adams and J. L. Pickard of Chicago. This seems to have been the first and the last work of the board in maintaining Teachers' Institutes, and on the following year the Standing Commit- tee on Teachers' Institutes was discontinued.

In 1872 Mr. Lau suggests a change in the course of study, such that it will be more adapted to the nature and capacity of the child. Text- book memorizing is deprecated, as well as cram- ming for examination. He recommends fewer and simpler text-books with more oral instruction. He would have more first hand and practical education, bringing the child in actual contact with natural objects which may be studied through the guidance of the teacher, directing the child so that he may observe and learn for himself.

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HISTORY OF EDUCATION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.

In the study of grammar Superintendent Lan says, we need less of the analytic and more of the synthetic ; and he would have more oral instruc- tion and writing, and less text-book-especially in the lower grades. Even in the higher grades he would have one book, a simple and practical manual with simple rules and proper hints and guides for correct speaking and composition. In geography he suggests less word-memory work and more map drawing by the pupil, and study of physical features before the political divisions of a country are studied.

It was in 1873, the last part of the superintend- ency of Mr. Lau, that the five-year period had expired when text-books which were adopted in 1868 might be changed.

The only material changes in text-books were Greene's grammar in the place of Kerl's, Swinton's condensed United States history in place of Good- rich, and Guyot's common school geography in place of Mitchell's geographies. Cutter's phy- siclogy was added and Allen's citizen's manual dropped from the list.

'Manners and Morals." Special attention was to be given to object lessons and oral instruction, "for the purpose of awakening the intelligence and cultivating and developing the perceptive faculties." Much of this instruction was to be based upon "Hooker's Child's Book of Nature," "Our World," "Wilson's Manual," "Hadley's Language Lessons," etc. Ray's mental and higher arithmetics seem to have been dropped from the course; technical grammar was dropped from the lower grades and composition and language les-

sons substituted, and geography with a text-book was limited to the three upper grades: Draw- ing had been provided for in all the grades, but had amounted to little excepting in a few schools where a special teacher had been pro- vided by private subscription. In the year fol- lowing, spelling was added as a distinct subject with a text-book, and Swinton's word books were adopted for use in that subject in all the grades.

In 1871 the superintendent had placed at his disposal a small amount of money with which to start a professional library for teachers. In the following year he recommends a library that would be accessible to pupils; but his plan was never carried out. Additions were made to the library from time to time, but the care of it finally became burdensome to the office, and the Public City Library had become so complete and accessible to all, that the Teachers' Library was at last discontinued. It was a source of some trouble in finding missing books in 1879, and a catalogue of the library was made, and rules were adopted with reference to the using of books. In the fall of 1893 a large portion of the books were distributed among the libraries of the various public schools.

In 1873 it had become apparent that with the increased number of pupils in the schools, the superintendent could no longer personally exam- ine all the grades nor even superintend the exam- inations for promotion in all the grades; and the

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History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895, Part 26

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co Number of Pages: 840

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. cn
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago and New York, American Biographical Publishing Co
Number of Pages: 840