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THE

EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION, AT HARRISBURG.

'HE Directors' Department of Pennsylsylvania State Educational Association was called to order in the Assembly Room of the High School at Harrisburg on Thursday morning, February 12th, at 11:30 o'clock, President Harry Sloyer in the chair,

The opening devotional service was conducted by Rev. J. Rauch Stein, of St. John's Reformed church, and consisted of reading of the 145th Psalm and prayer.

ADDRESS OF WELCOME.

In the absence of Mayor McCormick, the address of welcome on the part of the city was made by Charles B. McConkey, esq., who said:

Voicing the sentiments of the 50,000 inhabitants of the city of Harrisburg and on behalf of the Mayor, who sincerely regrets his inability to be present, I give you cordial greeting and a hearty welcome. I congratulate you on the splendid attendance at the opening of your session, and regard it no small honor to address those in whose care is placed the work of preparing every child in the commonwealth for the duties and privileges involved in true American manhood and womanhood. The schools of the state will well repay the generous expenditure of five and a half millions a year, if they develop the love and zeal for country, the patriotism and valor, which won our independence and must perpetuate it. The devotion of capable and efficient directors to this work commands the respectful admiration of every man who loves his country and his God. The training in the schools

under your care develops the sense of right and duty; and to-day, when we are reaching out in all directions as never before, we good judgment, along with the rest of our need to train our successors to integrity and

education. All successful men, whether educated or not, want their children to have the best advantages. It is the glory of the education you offer that it is open to all alike, and that it opens up to the view of those who must soon succeed to the reins of power a view of those duties and privileges which constitute the highest development of citizenship. Once more I bid you welcome to our city and God-speed in your noble work, and on behalf of the Mayor I plause.] tender you the freedom of the city. [Ap

Joseph P. Luce, esq., of the Harrisburg School Board, on behalf of that body, made the following address:

Mr. Chairman and Fellow School Directors:

You have been welcomed to our city by Mr. McConkey, and he has told you how welcome you are, and now it falls to my lot, and I may say that it is a very pleasant duty that has been assigned me, that of welcoming you to our district on behalf of the Harrisburg Board of Control, and to say to you that we are glad for your presence among us, that we trust your stay will be one of pleasure as well as profit, that the doors of the district are thrown wide open to you, that this high school building where you are assembled is yours; in other words, the district is yours while you are here, with two exceptions, namely, our school buildings and our teachers, as these we reserve for future use, inasmuch as they are all of such good material, it would be difficult to duplicate them in any part of the State.

Gentlemen, you have assembled here in annual session, some of you coming a long distance, even from the most remote portions of the State, which indicates very clearly your great interest in the cause of education, and furthermore reveals the fact that you are willing to make a personal sacrifice in the giving of your time, with no hope of reward save the reward that comes to one when in mind and heart he feels that be has discharged the duties devolving upon him to the very best of his ability.

We have gathered here at this time, fellow directors, to talk over matters pertaining to the public school question or questions, and who is there among us that would dare to say there are no questions worthy of consideration? On the contrary, there are questions of great moment arising continually, and it is that these questions may be discussed freely and fully that this annual convention of school directors is held, and by reason of the interchange and exchange of thought, a solution may be found to some of the problems that continually annoy and vex the average school director.

I am not unmindful of the fact that in different localities throughout the State different conditions exist, and each local board of school directors is expected to make such rules and frame such laws as will meet the local conditions; but, after all, there is a strong, underlying principle in connection with our great public school educational system that should become a fixed, inexorable law with every school board, not only in the State of Pennsylvania, but in every State in the Union, namely, "the best is none too good for our children.'

It is not my purpose at this time to touch upon many of the questions that confront us, but to touch upon one or two of the most vital ones, leaving the other questions for the consideration of those that may follow on the programme.

We have in our State a number of powerful and influential newspapers, and at times they bring some great question to the front, but of all questions presented and consequent revelations made by any of our leading State newspapers for some time past, that presented by the Press, of Philadelphia, during the past ten days, relating to the salaries paid our school teachers, to my mind, is the greatest and should have the attention of every school director that is present, and he in turn carry home the news to his local board.

The question of educating the youth of our land is an all-important one, in fact, the future of our national government rests upon what our youth of to-day receives in the way of an education, because it is a recognized and undisputed fact that where education is, stability exists; where ignorance is found, rottenness

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throughout the State. According to statements published in the Press, and we have no reason to doubt these statements, instead of the State assisting some districts, the State is doing nearly all; the amount collected in said districts from taxation being the minimum amount, just enough for those in authority to be able to say, "We levy a school tax."

Gentlemen, what is the rssult of this? Unless one is deaf, dumb and blind, it is very apparent; the children of the district with the teachers suffer. The children, from poorly erected, uninviting school houses and underpaid teachers, persons who are expected to appear before their classes in a neat, attractive manner, with their lessons all committed to memory, ready to instruct those under their care, and yet their minds are nearly distracted trying to solve the problem of making both ends meet on the small salary received, when their minds should be clear and keen, with nothing on them but the duties of the day.

Gentlemen, I submit this proposition to you: Is it fair to our children, is it fair to our teachers, is it fair to our district, is it fair to our State, is it fair to our Nation-the Nation we profess to love so much—that such a condition should exist?

It may be safe to infer that men who would pursue such a penurious policy in the administration of school affairs in their district, would be too mean to spend money for car fare to attend this convention and in consequence are not present, therefore will not hear what may be said on the subject; but one thing we who are present can do, is to take such action as will be heard from one end of the State to the other, rally to the support of the underpaid teachers, do for the cause of education as we would be done by, and put an end to the low salaries paid, so that our teachers will not be compelled to seek other fields for a livelihood, but may have the opportunity of following the profession of teaching, that is dear to the heart of so many, feeling that there is a living in it for them, otherwise the ranks of our teachers will be depleted, applicants will be few, the cause of education will suffer, and our children be raised in ignorance.

Here in Harrisburg, with our twenty-five buildings, 203 teachers and 8,175 enrolled pupils, while our teachers are not overpaid "by a long shot," yet they are paid living salaries, far in advance of some other districts, and as for ability, it would be hard to surpass them as a whole.

The lowest salary paid our primary teachers is $35.00 per month, the salaries in the grammar school buildings gradually advancing until $83.00 is paid; while in the high school, the lowest teacher is paid $75.00 per month; the highest $110.00; the principal receiving $170.00, and the City Superintendent $2.500.00 per annum. Steelton, our next door neighbor, pays her teachers about the same as Harrisburg.

Yes, gentlemen, our teachers should be better paid. The bill now before the House of Representatives should pass, making $35.00 per month the minimum salary to be paid to a teacher in Pennsylvania; this great State of ours, that pays the highest for education of all States, should be first on the list and not twenty-sixth in the

average salary paid. The Press should be highly commended for the stand it has taken in regard to teachers' salaries. Resolutions should be passed at this session calling upon every district to raise the salaries of their teachers to where they should be, even before the present bill passes the House.

Then there is the question of short terms, which is a very serious question. To make the school term a period of seven months out of a year is too short entirely, as the children hardly get under way in their studies when it is time to close. An eight-months term is also too short, as schools should be kept open at least nine months of the year, and longer, if possible.

The position of school director, we realize, is not a bed of roses, as we have troubles of our own, but after all we have our compensation in knowing that we are doing that which will help our children in after life. So when some parent comes to us with a grievance, take it goodnaturedly, do the best you can, and await results.

Gentlemen, we again extend to you a cordial welcome, and hope that by reason of your gathering at this time, great good may result to the school interests of the several districts of the State.

RESPONSE.

We

Hon. Harry M. Scott, of Braddock, Allegheny county, made response to the address of welcome. He was complimented by being called to a position he scarcely felt competant to fill. In response to the welcome of Harrisburg, he would say on behalf of the Association that it is accepted in the same spirit of kindness in which it is tendered. shall be glad to know a people and their officials who so appreciated our coming as to appoint their chief magistrate to welcome us. Perhaps you have made no mistake, for nobody will assemble here of more importance than a convention of school directors; not even excepting the legislature. The pupils of Pennsylvania number a million and a quarter-an army four times as large as that of Washington in the Revolution; half as large as the total Union forces in the rebellion, five times as large as our army in the Spanish war. The directors have also under their control another army of thirty thousand teachers-five thousand more than the entire army of the United States on a peace footing before 1899. The moneys expended by directors amounted last year to twenty-three millions-more than a third of the net income of the Pennsylvania railroad system, the greatest transportation system in the world, and only a few thousand dollars less than the next largest, the New York Central. Directors also control property amounting to fifty-four millions; one can hardly

realize what such figures mean. By way of comparison, we may mention the agitation in the whole United States, England and Germany, over the great steel deal, and yet the entire amount of capitalization of this great trust which has raised such a commotion in the financial world, is four millions less than our property figures.

In a system of schools which lies at the foundation of the greatness of the commonwealth, we must not expect absolute perfection, and should congratulate ourselves that we are approaching, however slowly, the star to which we have hitched our wagon. He had not been a teacher for twelve or fifteen years, and as an outsider could no longer hope to emulate some of the great things of the past. Perhaps no other man will ever equal the Emile of Rousseau, or the speech of Thaddeus Stevens here in Pennsylvania in 1835. In recent years no educational event equaled in importance the act of 1895, furnishing text-books free to pupils; this was the longest step in advance from 1835 until the present time. We must not be too ready to criticise our schools, but must learn by experience what ideas are good or bad, and separate the wheat from the chaff. There is considerable attention given just now in Pennsylvania and other States to the centralization of country schools and public transportation of pupils. We thought at first there was a good deal in it, but experiment develops difficulties under our conditions. We cannot expect to do great things all the time; we should remember Naaman, who thought it was a small thing to wash in Jordan, but when he did so, he was cleansed. It pays to look at the little things. There is danger at two points, both arising from good intention and a desire for progress-I may call them fads and frills. We need to learn the limitations which condition all our activities, and having done this, locate the points of our greatest power, and direct it on the lines of least resistance and greatest profit. One of the frills may be found in the new relations of the school boards as boards of health-requirements to fumigate once in two weeks under penalties of prosecution by anybody who thinks he has a grievance. It may be well to take some action on this when the committee on resolutions has been appointed, and send your opinion to the legislature. While it is true that a sound mind in a sound

body is the ideal product of the school, we cannot accomplish this under all conditions; here again we must consider our limitations. Among the fads may be named some things which are pressed upon teachers that are not only unnecessary but have no place in their work. He instanced the notion of making musicians or lawyers or doctors out of school children; most of them will have little use for music or medical knowledge in after life. He would not say such instruction should be abolished, but it should be arranged with a view to the purpose for which the common schools were established.

There is a tendency to make the class the unit of instruction, instead of the individual pupil. A child is out of school for a time, the class advances, and of course cannot go back; the child takes up the work where he finds it, and loses what has been done in his absence. Each should be required to do the work required for the term. He closed his re

marks with a reference to the greatness of Emerson and a quotation from his works.

LETTER FROM DR. PASSMORE.

The following letter from Dr. John A. M. Passmore, of Philadelphia, one of the founders of the State Directors' Association, was read by the President :

MR. HARRY SLOYER, President Directors' Department-My Dear Sir: It is with a great of regret that I must inform you that I will not be present at your annual meeting on the 12th and 13th. This is the first meeting I have missed since a few of us, you may remember, met at the Lafayette Hotel some years ago to organize this Association. You and my other friends all over the State know how hard I have tried to advance the interests of the Directors' Department of the State Educational Association, and as I have said many a time, I fully believe that in this body there is more capability to do good, and to advance the interests especially of our country and borough schools, than in any other organization in the State.

You have my most earnest prayers for a pleasant and successful meeting. I know it will be a peaceful one, and trust that you will convey to the members of the Association my personal and fraternal regards, and my wish that they may be able to accomplish some very good work. Were I present, I should advocate with all the power at my command the Snyder Bill before the Legislature, making the minimum pay for teachers $40.00 per month, and I sincerely hope you may all see the wisdom and good judgment in urging that measure in the strongest way possible. With a great deal of respect, I remain, Fraternally your friend,

JOHN A. M. PASSMORE.

On motion of J. Milton Lutz, of Delaware county, the following resolution offered by him was unanimously adopted:*

Resolved, That it is the sense of this convention that they very much regret the absence of Col. John A. M. Passmore, one of the founders of this organization, from the sessions of the convention on account of inability caused by an accident some weeks ago; and be it further

Resolved, That the convention extend to him their sympathy and best wishes for his speedy recovery to active business life, and that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes and also sent to his address.

INVITATION TO GOVERNOR.

The following committee was appointed to wait on the Governor and request him to address the convention: Messrs. J. Milton Lutz, Delaware county; A. C. Coulter, Allegheny county; Dr. Brower, Chester county.

Department then adjourned, and the rest of the morning was spent in enrolling members.

TH

THURSDAY MORNING.

HE convention assembled at 1:50, and the President, Harry Sloyer, esq., of Phoenixville, delivered the following address:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Convention: It is my purpose this afternoon to give a short history of this organization, the cause which led to it, and its objects. In the early year of 1895, Mr. H. H. Quimby, the president of the Montgomery County School Directors' Association, conceived the idea of an organization to be called the State Directors' Association. At the regular semiannual meeting of the Montgomery County Association, held at Norristown, Pa., March 24, 1895, a resolution was adopted favoring the organization of a State Association of School Directors, and the following delegates were elected to represent the county association in the first convention: H. H. Quimby, Jason Sexton, S. P. Childs, C. D. Caley and J. A. Moore. Correspondence was entered into with the officers of all county associations whose addresses could be ascertained, and the following circular letter was sent to every county superintendent in the State, from the President of the Montgomery County School Directors' Association.

Dear Sir: I desire to enlist your interest and efforts in behalf of the organization of a Pennsylvania State Association of School Directors. A number of the counties have Directors' Associations, and find that their meetings and

*The death of Dr. Passmore occurred while these proceedings were being prepared for the press.-Reporter.

discussions result in much benefit to the schools -spurring lukewarm directors to greater interest and more active efforts in the line of their duty, and enlightening, through interchange of views, all who are ambitious to increase the efficiency of the schools.

It may reasonably be expected that an association of representatives from the county associations will be productive of corresponding good, by improving methods through exchange of ideas, and by obtaining desired legislation and wider influence through concert of action.

The Associations in Montgomery and Bucks counties have each elected five delegates and appointed a meeting to be held at Harrisburg, on the second Wednesday in January, 1896. A programme of topics for discussion can be arranged in advance, and other questions may be presented at the meeting.

The convention can organize a State Association, and the session may continue two or three days, as will appear expedient. The only expenses will be the personal ones of the attending delegates. A hall for the meeting will be provided by the State Department of Public Instruction. The debates and action will probably be of such interest to educators throughout the State that a report of the proceedings and abstract of the discussions may be published in The Pennsylvania School Journal.

If your county has an organized association, will you kindly transmit this communication to the president, or any other officer or member who will be interested in the movement, and in the event of its not being brought forward at the next meeting, will it be convenient and agreeable for you to present the matter?

If your directors have not yet organized, your next institute will probably afford a favorable opportunity on Directors' Day to do so.

Will you have the kindness to write me at your convenience as to whether you have an association, and what the prospects are for the sending of delegates to the State Convention. Very respectfully yours,

Mont Clare, Pa.

H. H. QUIMBY, President.

In response to this circular letter, delegates to the projected convention were appointed in twenty-five counties. A call was issued for a preliminary meeting of delegates from near-by counties, to be held at the Lafayette Hotel, Philadelphia, December 14, 1895, to make the necessary arrangements for the convention.

The meeting was held on the above date at the place designated, and the following were present: F. R. Brunner, M. D., Berks county; J. K. Wildman, H. B. Eastburn, C. G. Knight, C. M. Berkemeyer, Bucks county: I. A. Cleaver, Harry Sloyer, Geo. M. Phillips and Supt. Jos. S. Walton, Chester county; John Standing, W. J. Hall, Isaac P. Garrett, John Leedom, Wm. P. Dickinson, Miss Garrignes, Miss Smith, Dr. M. P. Dickinson, John M. Parsons and Supt. A. G. C. Smith, Delaware county; Dr. M. G. Brumbaugh, Huntingdon county; H. H. Quimby and P. A. Moore, Montgomery county; A. D. Harrington, H. H. Hubbert and J. A. M. Passmore, Philadelphia.

You will notice that Delaware county sent the largest delegation to the meeting. I. A. Cleaver was called to the chair, and H. H. Quimby elected secretary. The president stated the object of the meeting was to prepare a programme of work for the convention to be held at Harrisburg, January 8th and 9th, 1896, and the secretary, that the convention had been called in the hope that a permanent association of the School Directors of the State might be effected with the two-fold purpose of conferring upon questions of school administration and influencing legislation. County associations have demonstrated their value and the amount of good that they have done is incalculable. A State association will do the same kind of good in a greatly enhanced degree and will doubtless have the added utility of checking harmful and promoting beneficial legislation for the schools by giving authoritative expression to the sentiment of school authorities.

On motion, the chair appointed a committee of five to suggest a programme of topics to be discussed at the convention. The following gentlemen were appointed: Messrs. H. H. Quimby, J. K. Wildman, Jos. S. Walton, H. B. Eastburn and W. J. Hall. They reported the following programme for Wednesday, January 8, 1896, at 2 p. m.:

Organization; address by Governor Hastings; response, H. H. Hubbert; address, State Supt. Schaeffer; discussion, of the consolidation of districts and free transportation of pupils, opened by Prof. R. S. Macnamee and continued by S. C. Weadley. In the evening, Supt. Jos. S. Walton to present the question of standard plans of school houses. For the morning session of Thursday: The organization of the State Association; the question, What legislation is needed for the public schools? opened by D. F. Fortney, followed by Supt. J. Q. Stewart and Hon. A. G. Seyfert; and the question, What should be the basis of distribution of the State appropriation? to be opened by Mr. H. H. Quimby.

The first convention of the School Directors of Pennsylvania was held on the dates named. It was called to order in the Supreme Court room in the city of Harrisburg by H. H. Quimby, who, after a few remarks, nominated Mr. I. A. Cleaver as permanent chairman of the convention. He was unanimously elected. Mr. Rowland Thompson was made secretary. The programme as prepared by the committee was approved, and necessary committees were appointed to nominate officers, on resolutions, and to prepare a constitution and by-laws.

In the absence of Governor Hastings, on account of sickness, the address of welcome was made by Supt. L. O. Foose, of Harrisburg. The programme was carried out with few modifications, the various topics being well and ably discussed. A permanent organization was effected, and a constitution adopted.

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