PRESENT PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOL 



BY WILLIAM H. MAXWELL 



[William H. Maxwell, City Superintendent of Schools, New York City. b. 

 March 5, 1852, Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. B.A. Queens Uni- 

 versity, Ireland, 1872; M.A. 1874; Hon. Ph.D. Saint Lawrence University; 

 Hon. LL.D. Columbia University. Associate Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion, Brooklyn, New York, 1882-87; Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 1887-98. Fellow of Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; President of 

 National Educational Association. Author of Introductory and Advanced 

 Lessons in English Grammar.] 



BECAUSE parents do not in all cases desire education for their 

 children, or, desiring it, do not know what good education is, or, 

 knowing what it is, cannot afford to procure it for their children, the 

 state is compelled, as a measure of self-preservation and a means of 

 progress, to assume the responsibility of establishing and maintaining 

 schools. A despotic government may establish schools for the 

 purpose of developing a particular type of subject, - - the soldier, for 

 example, as was the case in Sparta. In a democratic society, 

 however, the object is, not to develop a particular type of citizen, but 

 to develop the fullest efficiency, individual and social, of each citizen. 

 In the light of this fundamental truth, the following propositions 

 regarding the functions of the state and the functions of the school in 

 providing education will, I believe, be generally accepted. 



(1) The public schools should provide such an education that the 

 opportunities of all citizens to make a living and to lead happy and 

 prosperous lives shall be equal, as far as education can make them 

 equal. 



(2) The public schools should provide the highest quality of edu- 

 cation, not only for the purpose of equalizing the opportunities of all, 

 but in order that there may be a " perpetual succession of superior 

 minds, by whom knowledge is advanced, and the community urged 

 forward in civilization." 1 Even if comparatively few can avail 

 themselves fully of such education, it is still invaluable to the many 

 by supplying intelligent leadership and expert counsel. The field of 

 human activity is so enormous that, in the more complicated affairs 

 of life, each man, outside a necessarily limited field of experience, 

 needs and should learn to accept the guidance of experts - - the 

 specialists in the various departments of law, medicine, surgery, 

 sanitation, engineering, agriculture, and the like. Moreover, as 

 Professor Marshall has pointed out, at least one half of the best 

 natural genius born into a country belongs to the manual-labor 

 classes. Without opportunities for the higher culture the greater 



1 John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, book v, chap, xi, sec. 8. 



