Xll PROCEEDINGS. 
tuost advanced edueationists. That it is frequently criticised arises from- 
the fact that there are in any community very few persons possessed of 
sufficient knowledge of the science and history of education and at the 
same time of the requirements of modern civilization to enable them 
to judge intelligently, and further, from the fact that but few of our 
teachers are possessed of the necessary professional qualifications to adapt. 
themselves and their work to the various conditions and circumstances. 
To quote from Dr. Rice: ‘That the mass of our teachers are 
incompetent for any very high quality of science-teaching is a truth as 
unquestionable as melancholy.” But it is not the fault of the teachers 
that they are not prepared for their work. Out of 2,485 teachers we 
have 1,750 who receive less than $200 a year, out of which they have to. 
pay for board and clothing, buy educational books and magazines, and 
purchase the apparatus and materials for science experiments in their 
schools. With such miserably inadequate salaries, insecure tenure of 
office, and no pensions, it is no wonder that the brightest young men 
and women look upon teaching as but a stepping stone to other 
positions that offer more substantial rewards with the promise of greater. 
permanency. 
All complaints against our course of study will cease when the 
complainants are capable of appreciating the worth of good teaching and 
are willing to give the moral and pecuniary support that will call forth 
the best talent and training. As the country advances in populations 
wealth and civilization the course of study will need to be modified, but. 
to foreshadow the coming changes at present would be unwise. 
3. What means must be used to secure for science the place which 
it should have in the actual work of the schools and colleges ? 
(a.) Make it an imperative subject in the College Matriculation 
Examination for B. A. 
The colleges, more than any other agency, determine the character. 
of the education given in the schools below them. They train those 
who become teachers of teachers. Legislators look to them for direction 
in educational matters. The High Schools and Academies work slavishly 
to produce the kind of students upon whom they are most likely to set 
their seal of highest approval. They have in every learned body 
throughout the land an ever increasing constituency moulded by their 
teaching and adopting their ideals. If there is a general lack of 
interest in science, or if it is badly taught, the colleges are largely 
