OCR Text |
Show BECOMMOS CIIGP IN SCilL CONTROL Commissioner Would Take Place Now Occupied by-Superintendent. by-Superintendent. GOWANS FILES REPORT Proposed Alteration Vill Require Amendment cf Constitution. Abolition of tho office of mi prti intn-dent intn-dent of puhlir-. in riK lion in tin: thto of Utah and r r 1 t i o n o I the o ffu e of commissioner of duration is one t)f the important recommendations to be made to the noit legislature y tho durational duration-al codo commission, according to the. biennial report of K. O. Gowans, atato cuperin ten dent of public instruct ion, which was filed with the governor yesterday. yes-terday. This proposed change, if made, will have to be done by constitutional amendment, but the roinmiissmii believes be-lieves that grent'jr efficiency :nid better bet-ter results in ailniiiiiritratiuu of H-hool affairs in the stale would be attained thereby. A number of other important changes in tho school laws are also to be m-ommendod m-ommendod by t ho commission, whiclf in now working on its report, according accord-ing to a preliminary intimation' contained con-tained in trie report of superintendent Go wan a. Ab explained in the report, the educational edu-cational codo commission was authorized author-ized ,hy tho 1 1 If) legislature for the purpose of revising, recodifying and readjusting the laws of tho state governing gov-erning educational matters, and to make a report to the legislature recommending recom-mending such ehai"res as are considered necessary to facilitate and improve the work of educating the youth of the state. Plan Is Outlined. The commission recommends that t he-state he-state board of education, as at present constituted, be given such riphts and powers as are now vested in the state superintendent, namely, "the general coat rol and suner vision of the public school system. ' It recommends that the appointment ; of a commissioner of education should be made by a non-partisan state board of education and that lie should bo the executive officer of tho board. It is further recommended that a closer relationship bo brought about between be-tween tho state department and tho institutions in-stitutions of higher education by providing pro-viding for membership on the state board of tho presidents of the University Univer-sity of Utah and the Agricultural college; col-lege; that tho commissioner of education educa-tion shall be, ex-of licio, a member of tho board of regents of the university ami of the board of trustees of the Agricultural college. It is further recommended that, the educational work of the state custodial schools be under the supervision of the state board of education. Tn regard to district organization, the commission recommends that in cities of tiie fir.t ami '0.:d - The .-h.i.il yy-'.-ms -hail i.e .j emr-i as th-pt-f-i-nt f.r.v p!'(;--'r:ht-. hut that the r t ; 1 1 - a t i ojt of te:.f:i'-:'a he a star-- r.:n :-t'on :-t'on -rio-riv; ;.!.-,;. m lie county d;--trj.-r-i tii-1 j r 1 1 r law 1 a -rl'-n-i-'l to r--M!n-r- incw.-,isrer. '!(- and To per!:t lii" or!;uuatnii 'iain'-d u::der cnn ulida-tioit ulida-tioit (-.'' a-i fM-n-at irtn-; that so:i:c more ,-,:! h.,-is ( d'-l.-rj:;!U.-d l'-r the kvy-i kvy-i ! ri.'.-T f"f o i-tri- t u ard-i tiian the pr-'-mr ba-i.. ii!-h tal-j no account uf rdc ni'-nlnT r,i school children in a .i-:r;.-r, but whi'-h rnu-idrs only the ii-Mv-fil nation ' property. The lizard mrik.-s no scgf-tion as to a basis to b'i a.lopt.l, it explains, because of the present chaotic condition of the sta! 0 's tax laws. KecniTHin-ndation is made that the Vg-i.-lafi:r bp fivni power, under constitutional consti-tutional amendment, to distribute school moneys accruing from the state school tax on some other basis than (that at pr"sMit prescribed, to the end tli at educational opportunity shall be more nearly equalized throughout the state and that there shall be an added t i mill us towa rd seen rin g a maximum erficioncy in the work of the schools as v. ell as a maximum attendance of pupils. The boa rd recommends that it be i made possible for a city of the scond c!a.- s to rerun i n an integral part of a comity district until the school reaches a point where greater efficiency will be 1 promoted by a division. Health Instruction Important. In connection with health conditions Superintendent Gowans declares, in the main body of his report, that: In.-truction concerning health and the care of the human body has been so seriously neglected by the srhools that something must be dune by all concerned to remedy the present condition. Why should ' I we spend so much of the, time of a school child in teaching him how to study and how to think and so little in' teaching him how to live? Of what benefit "will be the power to think if life is cut short by neglect neg-lect of his own body? In tins matter, mat-ter, as in some others, teachers and supervisors must get the forward lotdv in place of the backward. The ! a indent classics are valuable, but ! 9 not to he compared with an elemen-i elemen-i ta rv knowledge of practical bac- teriology. ! Pr. Gowans also urges the importance ' of medical and dental inspection work ' and the school nurse work, such as has i been so successfully carried on in Salt I I,ako City and in portions of Salt Lake I county. The report says that a begin-j begin-j ning has been made in the care of ; children's health, but the rural schools ; especially are in need of more professional profes-sional assistance in health inspection. Teachers' Salaries Small. I Jr. Gofans calls attention to the general gen-eral tendency t hroughout the state to ' pay teachers small salaries and declares , i hat in comparison with the pay for , other lines of work the teachers are ; not getting a fair compensation. He points out that by paying 3U cents additional ad-ditional school tax on each $1000 on assessed as-sessed valuation, there could be added $oU a year to the salary of every teacher teach-er in the state and he iisks if the people peo-ple would not be willing to do this, in view of the importance of the work of the teachers, which is that of educating the children of today to be the men and women of tomorrow. The superintendent finds that the six-three-three-year plan of organization of the schools is operated to great advantage advan-tage in the matter of increasing attendance attend-ance in the high schools of the state. This plan represents six years of elementary work, with three of intermediate or junior high school work, and three years of high school work proper. The gradation grada-tion between these divisions of the work is so gradual and indistinct that tho pupil is led on from elementary to a completion of the high school work more easily than under the old system ' where the break between the elenien- tary and the high school was so pronounced pro-nounced as it was under the eight and four year plan. In regard to the county consolidation plan, the superintendent finds that it is operating to great advantage in every line of school administration. He says it has a tendency to eliminate inefficiency ineffi-ciency among supervisors, teachers and administrative officers, and so centralizes central-izes the administration of school affairs af-fairs as to bring about better school conditions and to largely increase attendance at-tendance in all districts of the state. The superintendent calls attention to the peculiar practice of selecting text books before the courses of studv have been determined upon. This situation, he suggests, should be just reversed, as it is highly essential to first decide upon up-on a course of study and then select the text books best suited to teach this course. In connection with the report, Dr. Gowans calls attention to the modern tendency toward one-story school buildings and advocates the" exclusive adoption of this type of building for state schools as being the cheapest, the most satisfactory, the safest and most convenient form of structure that has yet been planned for school purposes. |