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WAUPACA REPUBLICAN POST February 18, 1909 COMMUNICATED. My dear Mr. Editor: In behalf of the teachers of the Waupaca schools I wish
to state that no person questioning the methods practiced in our schools will
be considered a “knocker”. We do
somewhat disregard the opinion of people who attempt to criticize when those
people have made no attempt to inform themselves of the facts, have never
visited our schools, and have no knowledge, except from hearsay of the existing
conditions. The monthly school board meetings are open to the public
and the proceedings are made a matter of public record. There is nothing mysterious about the matter
at all. All the facts called for in the
editorial are either on file in the City Clerk’s office or posted upon the program
in the high school room. The schools are open for investigation five days each
week. We want very much to have the
parents come in and visit the school. At some date in the near future I propose
to have a parents’ meeting to find out what is the matter that we should be so
shunned. The number of teachers who give instruction in the high
school this semester is fourteen. Six of these are grade teachers who aid in
giving practical instruction to some fourteen pupils intending to teach school
next year. This includes eight seniors
who will not go to the University next year and throws some light on the
statements made that the high school course was designed for the ten percent
who might attend the University. One
teacher teaches one hour per day giving practical instruction in stenography
and bookkeeping for those desiring to prepare for a business vocation. The business college has materially cut into
the number of pupils taking this work. One teacher takes drawing one period each day for those desiring
it. There are some forty pupils in this
class, so we can hardly cut it out. It
seems that the pupils want it. As a
parent’s choice is always respected in what a pupil takes we can assume that
the parents wish the pupils to take the subject. It might be well to state here that no pupil is required to take
the so-called University units such as Latin and German. As these subjects have been given in our
high schools for the past hundred years and in Waupaca high school since it has
existed as a high school, so old graduates tell me, it seems hardly fair to
blame their place in a high school course to the University. We have five regular teachers in the high school besides
the superintendent whose time is about equally divided between grades and high
school. The total cost for the year for high school instructions
is approximately $3,910.50. We teach 180 days.
The enrollment averages about 160.
The cost per pupil is $24.43 per year.
The number of recitations per pupil is three and four per day. Five are allowed if a standing of 85 is
maintained. The number of cases for
each teacher is five and six. Five
cases has been found to be the limit at which a teacher can do best work. If there are those who think they can teach
all day, seven periods, and still do the work we want them to do, I wish they
would present themselves for work at the beginning of next year and I will
guarantee that they will be candidates for a hospital before the school year
ends, good old times to the contrary notwithstanding. The length of the class periods is forty minutes. This is an addition of five minutes over
last year in some periods. The length of the day’s school session at present is from
9 to 12 a.m. and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
The length of required service from the teachers is from 8:30 to 12
p.m. Teachers usually remain until 4:30
p.m. from choice and often until 5 p.m. from necessity. The cost to the high school for being accredited is –
nothing. An accredited school is one
whose instruction is good enough in the eyes of the University to admit its
graduates into the University without an examination. The University does not
lay out our courses. The school board of the city of Waupaca at its last meeting made a change in the course
of study for the high school as an example of its power. The state aid is absolutely independent of the fact that
the school is accredited. Many
unaccredited schools get state aid. Now a word as to non-resident pupils. They pay $19 per year. We have at present 56 tuition pupils in the
high school distributed as follows: 1st year – Total, 48;
non-resident, 27. Two classes. 2nd year – Total, 46;
non-resident, 12. Two classes. 3rd year – Total, 45;
non-resident, 11. Two classes. 4th year – Total, 21;
non-resident, 6. One class. Taking out the non-resident pupils we would have as
follows: 1st year, 29 pupils. One class. 2nd year, 34 pupils. Two classes. 3rd year, 3 pupils. Two classes. 4th year, 15 pupils. One class. Only in the first year is the number sufficient to
require the addition of but one teacher and but three-fifths of her time.
$617.50 is about the average wage paid a teacher. The tuition this year will amount to over $1,000. That means that Waupaca is receiving a
surplus of over $400 as a result of her outside pupils. There is a certain fixed expense to be met in any
business. Beyond this the more business
the more profit. If we could seat in
our present building 60 more outside pupils we would have to add another
teacher at a cost of $600 and get in tuition some $1,000. The same teacher who teaches 12 pupils can
teach 24. Any businessman can see the
situation. He must meet it with his
employees every year. This is not an
argument for a new schoolhouse on account of the outside pupils. I will refer my readers to Prof. Skinner’s
criticism on our building for that. One word more, I want the people of Waupaca to realize
the total extent of my iniquity. I want
another teacher. I want an expert in
manual training, a man who can put into our schoolwork a practical element with
sufficient interest so that the majority of our boys at the age of fourteen
will remain in school instead of learning, at an early age, the ways of the
street. Mr. Wood, candidate for State
Superintendent, has said – “We need more men in our villages, our cities and
our country communities who can see a boy or a girl farther than they can see a
dollar”. Very
truly yours, John
W. Steenis |