564 



NEW JERSEY. 



tract to the profession those who possess the 

 suitable talents and attainments: 



It may be doubted whether there is any profession 

 in regard to which the theory of the world at large has 

 differed so much from its practice. The accepted the- 

 ory is, that there is nothing nobler than the work of 

 educating the young, nothing more important than the 

 training of the future citizens and rulers of a free 

 country. The necessary inferences from this theory 

 are, that teaching should be a profession, not a trade , 

 that teachers should, as far as possible, possess a high 

 order of intellect, tact, adaptability, and patience ; 

 broad, general views and information united with 

 mastery of detail ; the power of teaching children to 

 think for themselves, as well as that of impressing 

 facts upon their minds j self-command and kindness of 

 heart united with a strict sense of justice and firmness 

 of purpose ; knowledge of human nature and the 

 ability to grasp and deal with the individual charac- 

 teristics of every pupil ; entire devotion to the work ; 

 large experience especially for the higher positions 

 and, in addition to other self-evident qualifications, 

 the true spirit of Christianity ; in other words, that 

 teachers should possess, in a high degree, all those 

 qualities which insure success in the best-paid and 

 most alluring walks of life, and that they should make 

 teaching their life's work. 



The practice, too generally , is to commence all meas- 

 ures of economy by reducing the small salaries of the 

 teachers, and to regulate the quality of the teachers by 

 the amount set aside for the salary, instead of the re- 

 verse operation. 



The consequence is, that there is seldom any in- 

 ducement for highly qualified persons to devote their 

 lives to the profession, so that such persons either 

 adopt teaching as a temporary resource, until some- 

 thing better offers itself, or they are obliged to ^submit 

 to the anxieties of poverty, while they see their infe- 

 riors in intellect and acquirements gaining all the ad- 

 vantages of worldly prosperity, or the places must be 

 filled oy incompetent persons, who can find nothing 

 better to do. 



There can be no question that the general results of 

 public education would be far greater were those in- 

 trusted with the direction of such matters to adopt 

 the principle that they would first select the most 

 competent teachers available, and then assign them sal- 

 aries sufficient to content them and make them re- 

 gard teaching as their permanent occupation, and that 

 the last measure taken in the interest of economy 

 should be the decrease of the teacher's salary below a 

 proper point. 



If education is worth doing at all, it is worth doing 

 well ; and the quality of the teachers is at the founda- 

 tion of the whole system. 



The subject of public education has been so widely 

 discussed that there is no necessity for its being en- 

 tered upon in any detail here. It is generally con- 

 ceded that in a republic it is the right and duty of 

 the Government to require that each future citizen 

 shall possess and use the means of obtaining an edu- 

 cation which will enable him to understand his rights, 

 duties, and responsibilities. 



Many able and experienced men, as well in our own 

 country as in others, have reached the conclusion that 

 where public instruction is general its purpose should 

 be to fit young people for that position in life which 

 from their surroundings they are probably destined to 

 occupy ; that for the great majority of the schools 

 there should be established a plain and useful course 

 of studies, not only to afford the necessary informa- 

 tion upon essential points, but also to train the pupils' 

 minds and give them habits of thought and study to 

 enable, and, if possible, induce them to continue their 

 studies when the obligatory course has been completed: 

 that for those exceptional cases of intelligence and 

 vigor, which are sure to force themselves upward, ex- 

 ceptional facilities should be afforded, surrounded by 

 just enough difficulty and sacrifice to make sure that 

 the aspirants possess sufficient intelligence and earnest- 



ness of purpose to prove them worthy of the advan- 

 tages they seek. 



A question of such magnitude as that of public in- 

 struction can seldom be solved by theory alone ; care- 

 ful inquiry and thought, comparison of theory with 

 practice, and the best energies of able men devoted to 

 the subject, are required to reach satisfactory results. 

 It may prove to be the case that a Board of Education, 

 less numerous than our existing one, clothed with a 

 good deal more power than it now possesses, and em- 

 powered to determine the course of studies and meth- 

 ods pursued, could facilitate the solution of this vital 

 problem, which perhaps may be concisely stated thus : 

 to afford all young persons in the State that founda- 

 tion of knowledge and habit of correct thought which 

 will enable them to do their duty as citizens and to be- 

 come useful members of a thriving and progressive 

 community ; to do this fully without undue waste of 

 time, while avoiding that superficial over-education of 

 the many which really unfits them for the every- 

 day work of their lives, without enabling them to 

 enter upon a successful competition for the higher 

 prizes of life. 



It would be well if all in this land could be taught 

 to realize that for those who perform their allotted life- 

 work honestly and manfully all pursuits are alike 

 honorable, and that he who spends his life in hard 

 manual toil, if he is worthy and industrious, is just 

 as deserving of respect as he who devotes himself to 

 purely intellectual labor ; and, more than this, that it 

 may be doubted whether at the close of a busy life 

 the sum of content is greater in the latter than in the 

 former case. 



State Superintendent Apgar instituted in- 

 quiries with regard to the length of time which 

 is passed in the schools by city children, for the 

 object of arranging a proper course of study for 

 the city schools. The school age in New Jersey 

 is between the ages of five and eighteen years. 

 Of the total school population in the cities, 53 

 per cent, is enrolled in the public schools, 18 

 per cent, attends private schools, and 29 per 

 cent, does not attend school. Less than half 

 of the children between five and six years old 

 attend the public schools, and about one sixth 

 private schools, more than one third being 

 kept out of school. The numbers attending 

 both public and private schools increase, and 

 attain their maximum between the ages of seven 

 and ten years, only one per cent, being out of 

 school at those ages, 75 per cent, attending the 

 public and 24 per cent, the private schools. 

 Many attend only a small portion of the year. 

 At the age of thirteen the children begin to 

 drop out of the schools at a rapid rate ; at the 

 age of fifteen more than one half have ceased 

 going to school, only 13 per cent, of the per- 

 sons between fifteen and sixteen years of age 

 attending the public and five per cent, the 

 private schools. Between sixteen and eighteen 

 years seven per cent, are remaining in the pub- 

 lic and three per cent, in the private schools, 

 while 90 per cent, are out of school. 



In 1878 the Legislature passed a law to pro- 

 vide for the establishment of industrial schools. 

 Through the imperfections of this act, and by 

 reason of other difficulties, the system of public 

 technical instruction has not yet been intro- 

 duced. Governor McClellan strongly recom- 

 mends the plan of supplementing the cominon- 

 school system with a scheme of technical and 

 artistic education. He deems it an experiment 





