62 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 312 



SCIENCE 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



PUBLISHED BY 



N. D. C. HODGES, 



47 Lafayette Place, New York. 



sanction of any statute ; but it has been built up by the present 

 city superintendent and his predecessors, on the meagre provisions 

 of a single by-law of the Board of Education itself. 



[Entered at New York Post-Office as second-class mail-matter.] 



Subscriptions. — United States and Canada $3.50 a year. 



Great Britain and Europe 4,50 a year. 



Science Club-rates for the United States and Canada (in one remittance): 

 I subscription i year S 3.50 



3 " I year 8.00 



4 " I year. 10.00 



Communications will be welcomed from any quarter. Rejected manuscripts will be 



returned to the authors only when the requisite amount of postage accompanies the 

 manuscript. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name 

 and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication, but as a guaranty of good 

 faith. We do not hold ourselves responsible for any view or opinions expressed in the 

 lur correspondents. 



We called ATTENTION last week to the condition of affairs 

 in the New York City Board of Education, and chronicled the tri- 

 umph of political chicanery over public interest in the organization 

 of the board for the coming year. Inasmuch as this situation in 

 New York is of the greatest importance to educational interests all 

 <5ver the land, we shall revert to it from time to time, and endeavor 

 to aid in forming an intelligent and conscientious public opinion 

 which shall eventually displace the politicians and the politics that 

 are now controlling the schools of the metropolitan city. The next 

 contest will be over the report of the special committee on reform 

 in the schools, the first instalment of which is now before the 

 board, for action at its next meeting. The report is signed by 

 Commissioners Webb, Cole, Sprague, O'Brien, Agnew, Dodge, 

 Galloway, and Schmitt. It limits its consideration to a single 

 point, and that perhaps the fundamental abuse of the New York 

 City system; namely, the examinations of the children, as made by 

 the city superintendent and his assistants, for the purpose of mark- 

 ing and grading the teachers and principals in the respective classes 

 and schools. The committee believe — and we cordially indorse 

 that belief — that many of the existing evils in the schools are the 

 outgrowth and natural sequence of the methods now employed in a 

 vain attempt to ascertain the true character of classroom work. 

 The vicious system which is now in vogue has not (happily) the 



This is the committee's account of the system : " The city su- 

 perintendent or his assistants examine, orally and in writing, the 

 children of every class in every school at least once a year. When 

 the examination is to be made, a notice, varying in time from one 

 to six days, is sent to the principal and teachers. The average 

 time that the examiners spend with each class does not exceed half 

 an hour. The main object of the examination of the pupils is tO' 

 grade and mark the teachers, and to determine with what degree 

 of success the classroom work is carried on. Marks are given by 

 the examiners to the teachers on each subject ; but the teachers 

 are not informed what marks are awarded, nor is any provision 

 made by which such information may be conveyed to them. The 

 general results are reported to the trustees of the respective wards 

 in which the teachers are employed ; but as to how such results- 

 are reached, or in what particular subject a class may have failed,, 

 the record is silent. The teachers know that these marks (if they 

 receive any attention) will form the basis upon which promotion,, 

 or worthiness for promotion, is to be determined. They know that 

 in case of illness, when it may be necessary to come before the 

 board, if the marks are below a certain standard, the salary ex- 

 pected may be seriously diminished ; and that, in case two marks, 

 of ' fair ' are awarded in succession, a summons will be received 

 to appear before a committee of the board and answer to a charge 

 of inefficiency as a teacher. At times, to the young, nervous, or 

 inefficient teacher, the examination is a positive bugbear, and the 

 examiner a natural enemy ; and this estimate is speedily detected 

 and shared in by the pupils. In such a class the examiner is not 

 looked to for help, suggestion, or instruction ; but he is regarded' 

 as one from whom all faults and weaknesses must be diligently 

 concealed, and before whom the children are to make as brilliant a 

 show as possible. His sole purpose is to assign a mark for each 

 study, and that mark is to go down on the official record, to aid or 

 mar the teacher's future advancement in the system." 



This is the barbarous practice by which the executive officers 

 control the schools and intimidate the teachers. Its mere state- 

 ment is sufficient indictment. What are you going to do about it ? 

 say its beneficiaries. The committee is ready with an answer. 

 After' adequate examination, divide the teachers once and for all 

 into two grades, — maximum and standard. All teachers who- 

 have been at least five years in the system, and who satisfy the 

 principals with whom they have served, and the city superintendent 

 (or, if they fail to agree, the committee of the Board of Education 

 on teachers), are to be classed js maximum grade, and relieved of 

 future examinations by the superintendent or his assistants, unless 

 the principal reports that such a teacher is falling off and should be 

 subjected to inspection. All other teachers shall be classed as 

 standard grade, and shall receive not only visits of inspection, but 

 help, from the assistant superintendents, in order to aid them in 

 improving their work and in passing to the higher classification. 

 The committee elaborates this principle, and reports the necessary 

 amendments to the by-laws of the board, to place it in operation. 

 The recommendations should be adopted, although it is reported 

 that the " ring " will oppose them bitterly. We shall await the 

 vote with interest. 



THE VALUE OF MERCURIC CHLORIDE AS A 

 DISINFECTANT. 

 In Science, xii. p. 185, we quoted at considerable length from an 

 article by Dr. W. B. Hills of Cambridge, Mass., which first ap- 

 peared in the Boston Medical and Surgical Jottrnal, in which the 

 author of the article criticised in severe terms the recommendations 

 of the committee on disinfectants, of the American Public Health 

 Association, with reference to the use of mercuric chloride as a 



