EDITOR'S TABLE. 



555 



obtained is useful as illustrating tlie 

 vigorous action of our educational ma- 

 chinery upon one hundred and twenty- 

 five thousand pupils. The Superintend- 

 ent of the Schools of New York said to 

 the reporter: 



"My assistants are instructed to 

 visit the schools, and in their examina- 

 tions to find out what the children 

 know and how well they know it. They 

 examine in nothing but the branches pre- 

 scribed by law to be taught, and in each 

 grade only in the work allotted by law 

 to that grade." Again he says: " In 

 my last annual report you will find that, 

 out of twenty-six hundred and ninety 

 classes examined, eighteen hundred and 

 twenty-seven were marked 'Excellent,' 

 and eight hundred and nineteen ' Good,' 

 and only forty-four as 'Not commend- 

 able.' " This is of course the kind of 

 result that officials are interested in 

 making, as it naturally brings public 

 commendation, more ample appropri- 

 ations, and larger salaries. By the very 

 nature of the case, therefore, they will 

 be disposed to favor all those injurious 

 agencies whicb co-operate to heighten 

 the effect. To illustrate how despotic- 

 ally this bad system works, and how 

 completely all who act under it are but 

 parts of it, listen again to the New York 

 Superintendent : " It is my business to 

 stand between teacher and examiner, 

 principal and teacher, teacher and schol- 

 ar, parent and teacher, and protect all 

 in their rights. But as to permitting 

 teachers or principals to dictate what 

 questions shall be asked or how they 

 shall be asked, and what marks shall 

 be given that would be equivalent to 

 resigning my office and handing over 

 the direction of the schools to them, 

 something which I do not propose to 

 do." Thus in machine education the 

 dictation is of course official those 

 who are in closest relation with indi- 

 vidual requirements being allowed no 

 discretion. 



President Hunter, of the Normal Col- 

 lege, applauds the subjects and courses 



of study which lend themselves to the 

 smooth w r orking of the machinery by 

 numerical percentage scales of profi- 

 ciency, on which pupils are promoted 

 from grade to grade, and from lower 

 to higher institutions ; but he does not 

 deny that the marking system has some 

 faults ; he says : " That some of the pu- 

 pils of the higher grammar-grades are 

 overworked in preparing for the col- 

 lege, is undeniable ; but the fault lies 

 not in the course of study which the 

 board has prescribed, nor in the meth- 

 ods pursued in working out that course, 

 but in the ambition of parents to have 

 their children rapidly advanced, and in 

 the desire of the pupils themselves to 

 obtain high marks." 



But where, by the working of the 

 great machine itself, the pupils are set 

 to racing for the Normal College, and 

 to racing for the College of the City ot 

 New York, what else can be expected ? 

 The honors are but a premium for over- 

 driving in the direction of such acqui- 

 sitions as make the best show in ex- 

 amination, and win the highest per- 

 centage of marks. 



President Hunter al-=o naively ob- 

 serves: "Many of the evils complained 

 of in the present system would be rem- 

 edied by allowing each teacher half an 

 hour a day to show the pupils how to 

 study." Verily, verily, the machine 

 must be in perfection where this is im- 

 possible. 



Mr. Commissioner Crawford admits 

 that the New York schools were once 

 quite imperfect, but that "now there 

 are, generally speaking, no poor schools. 

 There is a general uniformity of excel- 

 lence. There is a greater unity, greater 

 harmony, a higher level in teaching 

 power. Then supervision was not so 

 minute as at present. Now we have, 

 perhaps, too much supervision, but the 

 committee have endeavored in this re- 

 port, and the superintendent is all the 

 while trying, to ease up the machine." 

 The ideal of education here implied, 

 that of unity, uniformity, and harmony 



