AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE N. Y. STATE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION, AT LOCKPORT, AUGUST 5, 1858, Wi\ \ 3.rd BY EMERSON W. KEYES, dep. supt. of public instruction. ALBANY: PUBLISHED BY JAMES CRUIKSHANK, No. 35 STATE STREET THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: It has been oftentimes remarked that Education is a thread-bare theme. But why should it be so esteemed ? True, the theme is old. More than two thousand years ago Socrates instructed Athenian youth in the principles of reason, virtue and truth, and Plato hal- lowed the groves of Academus by lessons of wisdom, which time’s obliterating finger has not yet, nor ever shall efface from the heart nor mind of man. True, it is an oft recurring theme. In it do poets find, the inspirations of immortal verse; philosophers are never weary of investigating its phases, and of analyzing its occult elements; sages dwell with impressive gravity upon its worth and the perils that are sure to follow its neglect; statesmen seize upon it as the corner stone of the political institutions which they so elaborately construct; it is the hobby on which demagogues seek to ride over the path of popular favor into places of power and trust and profit; from the pulpit it is extolled as the handmaid of religion, designed to elevate and adorn the Christian character and life; the lawyer pleads its want in extenuation of the offence of his client; the judge admits the plea,. and mitigates the penalty which the commission of crime has incurred; the press everywhere enforces upon the public mind the importance of ample educational facilities, knowing well that these are the only guarantee of that pervading intelligence upon which its own existence depends; twelve thousand temples dedicated to rudimental science, by their unpretending presence si- lently bear witness to the deep and abiding hold which this subject has upon the public mind; while in two hundred and fifty thousand homes it is the shrine to which half a million parents make their costliest sacrifices for the promotion of the highest welfare of their little ones. But other themes as old and as perpetually recurring as this, are not lost to human interest — do not fail to inspire enthusiasm and stimulate to high endeavor. 1 2 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. Science has not lost its novelty, because it is older than the phi- losophy of Plato, and every day we are called to witness some of its wonder-workings, to follow its guidance over untried paths in the fields of remoter space, to realize some newly found relation in the infinite nature that surrounds us, or to admire the subtlety of the analysis and the grandeur of the generalizations which the “che- mistry of the sunbeam” unfolds. Invention has not ceased to inte- r rest man, though Tubal Cain was born Anno Mundi 1100 instead of Anno Domini 1800, nor because patent paddles for the sea, patent reapers for the' land, patent churns for the kitchen, patent cradles for the nursery, patent plasters for the poor, patent pills for the sick, and patent coffins for the dead — are thrust upon our notice at every corner of every street, and pursue us with merciless clamor every- where, until we long for one patent more — patent brains for such as can not discern where enterprise ceases and impertinence begins. Has Poetry lost its charm because it was nine hundred years before the Christian era that sightless Homer, with the wrapt vision of in- spiration glowing in his soul, sang those strains that have made his name immortal ? or because in humbler verse a countless host of bards, of high and low, and no degree, call to us from gilded volumes, or more modestly pour forth their plaintive platitudes at the “poePs corner” of the rural press ? Does this profusion render Shakspeare’s genius less universal, or mar the sublimity of Milton’s verse, or unfit us for listening to the swelling periods and stately march of “Thana- topsis,” or “The Forest Hymn” of Bryant’s muse, or to the sweet and mournful numbers of “Angel Footsteps” and the “Psalm of Life ?” Do we weary of Art because the colors of the painter are un- changed since God set his bow in the clouds, or the lapse of ages has failed to produce new forms for the sculptor’s study? because each day challenges our admiration for some new combination of the infinite beauties of the out-spread earth, some new triumph of man’s imitative skill in the re-creation of nature’s glories, some fresh blend- ing of hues, some rare touches that reveal forms living only in the vague ideal, until genius imparts to them a realness almost instinct with life ? And yet Education, as an objective theme of contemplation, is not older than Science, or Invention, or Poetry, or Art; it does not oftener obtrude upon our notice than these; nor, rightly viewed, is it more exhausted than they. Associated as it is with the de- velopment of those faculties of mind upon which progress in science and in all human enterprises depends, and reaching beyond the be- neficent influences which these exert upon the condition of man- kind, to the formation of character, and the determination through this of those remoter social relations which have most to do with human happiness and destiny — Education becomes invested with an importance transcending any other, and possesses an intrinsic inte- rest of which no amount of pedantic twaddle, impracticable theoriz- ing, chronic stupidity, or inveterate fogyism can wholly divest it. That it has a vitality able to survive all indifference, and neglect, and unskillful treatment, to which through centuries of time it may be exposed, is evinced, by our presence here to day. It has the ele- ments not only of ceaseless vitality, but of perpetual newness. Edu- 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 3 cation is not to-day what it was yesterday — nor will it be to-morrow what it is to-day. It comprises the same elements, but in different combination, and differently applied to the production of results; that is, applied to a different community under altered circumstances and with a view to the development of conditions unlike those exist- ing at the present time. Education and human progress act and react upon each other. Education promotes progress, and progress demands for its proper regulation and control more correct and enlightened processes of education. The laws of force and motion are the same to-day that they were when the pyramids were built; but the deve- lopment and application of these, constituting a system of mechanical science, have greatly changed. As mechanical science will not be- come perfected until the problem of the simplest and cheapest deve- lopment and application of force, is fully solved, so Education will present new phases and aspects, until mankind shall have attained that perfect state which good men pray for — I fear with more fer- vency than faith. In this view, Education is not an old theme even, still less is it worn quite thread-bare. It has depths yet unfathomed, hights to which none have soared, an expansiveness which no man hath com- passed. Its parallel in duration of interest and susceptibility of de- velopment is God's great humanity. But Education has many phases or aspects, many points of view, from which it may be contemplated — and that which I have selected for remark is Popular Education, taking the educational system of New York as the specific topic with which to illustrate and exemplify my theme. In treating of the system of public instruction of the state of New York, the three leading branches of the system, under the name and style of colleges, academies and common or public schools, must be kept in view. These are to be considered under two aspects: 1st, Plan of Organization; 2d, Plan of Operation: the former relating to the corporate character and powers of these institutions — the source from which and the terms upon which their charters are derived — and the latter, relating to the specific educational work which each proposes to itself, and the means or methods employed for its accom- plishment. Let us consider each branch in its order, under these leading aspects or features. I. PLAN OF ORGANIZATION. 1. Colleges. — Among the earliest acts of the legislature of this state under its republican constitution, was one in the year 1*7 81, founding a university and committing its guardianship and control to a board of officers, styled the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The act named those who should compose the board at that time, and provided for filling vacancies by the legis- lature. To this day this corporation exists, in all repects essentially the same as when organized. The board has a material and tangible existence, but the university of which it was to have the direction and control, is yet destitute of a corner stone. The same act renewed and enlarged the powers of Columbia College, which fyad been char- tered under the colonial government — and was at the time the only 4 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. institution of the kind in the state. It also provided for the incorpo- ration of other institutions with like powers under the direction and approval of the Board of Regents. In the exercise of the authority thus conferred upon them, the regents have from time to time incor- porated four colleges — and under special authority and direction of the legislature, have incorporated two colleges of medicine exclu- sively, one of which is now extinct. The earliest exercise of their general powers of incorporating colleges was in 1195, and the latest in 1851, being a period of sixty-four years from the time that the authority was conferred, during which it has been exercised as stated, but four times. Down to 1831, the legislature did not once assume, itself to exercise the authority which it had so wisely de- legated as a special trust to a most fit and worthy corporate body. Since that time, however, that is, within the last twenty-seven years, twenty-two colleges have been incorporated by acts of the legislature! while since 1825, a period of thirty-eight years, the Regents have granted but a single collegiate charter. These facts carry their own conclusion. Of the causes which led the legislature to depart from the policy of non-intervention, I have no knowledge, but its action once successfully invoked, it requires no deeply penetrating power to discern why its threshold, rather than that of the regency, should be thronged with importunate petitioners. The Regents, by an ordi- nance controling their own action, had made it a condition precedent to the incorporation of any college, that an endowment should be assured sufficiently large to gurantee its permanent establishment and effective operation, and all the colleges incorporated by them were compelled to comply with the provisions of this ordinance. On the contrary, of the twenty-two colleges incorporated by the legis- lature, but a single one was required by the terms of its charter, to have any endowment secured. The entire absence of conditions in granting charters by the legislature rendered this body the favorite resort of visionary enthusiasts, who deemed the essential elements of a first class university, to be simply a name and an act of incorpora- tion. The effect of this policy of indiscriminate college hatching is easily predicted. But I will indulge in no speculation — “ I appeal to history.” Of the twenty-two colleges incorporated by the legis- lature within the past twenty-seven years, seven have no local habita- tion, and their name can only be found after diligent search through the volumes of the session laws. They are extinct. Of the fifteen remaining, three are exclusively medical, leaving twelve literary institutions of which only six render through the Regents any report of their operations. Thus six more, making thirteen in all, are practically extinct. Of the six who report their condition and prospects to the Regents, I gather the following- facts. During the year 1851 two only had over 100 students each. The remaining four report an attendance of 111 all told during the year, being an average of 42| each. The whole number of graduates during the last year from these six pets of legislation was 60 — an average of 10. These results will appear more clearly in contrast with those of other institutions. The four colleges incorporated by the Regents report an average attendance during the year 1851, of 168J — the highest number being 281 and the lowest 95. The whole number of 1$58.J EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 5 graduates was 149, being an average of 37 ; and tile highest number 76. This comparison is eminently suggestive. It renders apparent the correctness of that policy of the Regents which demands an en- dowment as a condition of granting a charter. It exhibits most clearly the waste and uselessness of a multiplicity of collegiate in- stitutions. If one college is found adequate to instruct 287 students and to send forth 76 graduates in a single year — why should six colleges be established at no little cost of labor and of money (even though most inadequately furnished) — to instruct 171 students and to send forth 60 graduates? It shows how much more safely, prudently and wisely educational affairs are conducted when committed solely to the control of a special board of administration, with no legislative interference except to organize and define the powers and duties of such board. Other inferential suggestions are as obvious to the understanding as the above are to the reason. The incorporation of institutions of learning without regard to the facilities they have for fulfilling the design of their establishment must often be attended by injury to the cause of education, through the inefficiency of their practical operation. They hold themselves out to the world — under the sanc- tions of the great seal of the state, as institutions deserving patron- age and support. Being accessible to a limited locality or com- mitted to the fostering care of some favorite ecclesiasticism, their pretentious tone attracts the ear of a few literary aspirants, who might otherwise seek elsewhere that higher culture of which they are in pursuit. Just in proportion to their weakness is their impor- tunity for aid from the state. But where there is no solid pecuniary foundation, the largest contribution which the state can give will be swallowed up without producing the slightest appreciable benefit in permanent results. Many generous enthusiasts are induced to con- tribute of their means to inflate one of these literary balloons, and they only find, too soon, that their investment and the college have “gone up” together. It would be interesting to ascertain with ap- proximate accuracy the amount of public and private means that has been thus diverted from legitimate and worthy educational enter- prises, and squandered on defunct institutions, and others whose only remaining chance of being a benefit to community is to fulfill the promise they hold out, of speedy dissolution. The limited investiga- tion I have been able to make, satisfies me that not less than half a million is thus permanently invested in the clouds, not to descend again upon the generous but most unjust donors, nor yet indeed at all in the form of practical educational results. One other thought concerning the evil tendency of this diffusion of collegiate facilities. From the causes suggested, no one of our institutions, however worthy some of them may be, is able is take that elevated position in the popular mind which is maintained by one or two institutions in other states. The result is, very many of our young men are drawn away from the diffused advantages here held out, to those more concentrated and efficient which they find elsewhere. We have thus seen that our collegiate system is not uniform in its organization — some of its institutions deriving their charter from the legislature, and others from the Board of Regents. All of those 6 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. which I have chosen to regard as having an existence, however, are subject to the visitation of the Regents, and are required to report to them annually in such form as the board shall prescribe, concern- ing their operations. The general management of these institutions is committed to a board of trustees, who appoint the president and his subordinates, prescribe the course of study, and direct generally concerning its financial as well as educational interests. In their main features, the charters granted by the Regents and by the legis- lature, are similar. The pecuniary support of colleges is derived from voluntary con- tribution in subscriptions, donations, or bequests — from tuition fees, and from occasional legislative aid. The latter is wholly capricious, depending upon the facileness of the committee to whom the appli- cation for aid may be referred. Such is our collegiate system in its Plan of Organization. I pass to consider the next branch of our educational system. 2. Academies. — By the act under which they were created, the Regents were also authorized to incorporate academies under such provisions as they should deem wise and expedient; and the visita- tion of these, and investigation into their affairs, as well as of colleges, was committed to them. Under the authority derived from this act, and various others subsequently passed, the Regents have at various times, down to 1854, a period of sixty-seven years, in- corporated 131 academies, of which 45 are extinct, while 92 con- tinue subject to their visitation, and report their condition annual- ly^ The legislature here, as in the case of colleges, for a time prudently abstained from exercising the prerogatives with which they had invested the Regents, but not for so long, the first de- parture from the principle of non-intervention being in 1811, or thirty years after the power had been conferred upon and exercised by the board. From this time down to 1854, a period of thirty- seven years, the legislature incorporated 116 academies; of these 105 are extinct, and 11 only are subject to the visitation of the Regents. Sixty-nine never complied with the requirements pre- scribed by the Regents as a condition of their visitation, guardian- ship and favor. It has ever been the policy of the Regents not to incorporate an academy until it had secured a reliable pecuniary basis, upon which its permanence and efficiency might reasonably be predicated. The conditions of incorporation have been modified from time to time in detail, but not in principle, and the precedent require- ment now is, that the academy shall possess property in the lot, building, library, and apparatus, to the value of $2500. I have no evidence that the legislature has ever exacted any conditions in granting a single charter. The consequence is apparent in the large proportion of those, which have no longer any being. The plan of organization of academies, whether incorporated by the Regents or by the legislature, is, in its main features, similar to that of colleges. The authority is vested in a board of trustees, with general corporate powers, who appoint the principal and sub- ordinates, direct and prescribe the course of discipline and study, and make such laws and regulations as they deem necessary and proper for carrying into effect the powers conferred upon them. It 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 7 will further be seen, that those academies not incorporated by the Regents may subject themselves to their visitation, and become entitled to the advantages which that condition confers; so that between these and others there is no apparent difference of organic structure. Previous to 1838 the Regents had prescribed to acade- mies incorporated by the legislature, the same conditions for admis- sion to their list of visitation and its privileges, that they required for incorporation by their own body. This put them upon an equal footing, and made them to all intents and purposes the same class of organizations, though deriving their original powers from different sources. But the meddling spirit of the legislature could not be content with incorporating academies and letting them take their chance of finding favor with the Regents, but must go further and fix the conditions upon which they might be admitted to the super- vision of the board. This was done by an act in 1838, and the Regents were compelled, in order to preserve a just equality between the academies, to fix the same conditions as a standard for incorpo- ration. We have already noticed that the discretion of the Regents in the exercise of the power of incorporation has been wiser than that of the legislature, as evinced by the greater proportion of the latter that failed to support themselves. This fact is still further apparent from a comparison of the workings of those still in success- ful operation; the academies chartered by the Regents reporting an average attendance of 206 during the last year, and those by the legislature an average of 191 — no great difference, to be sure, but pointing in the same direction as stronger facts. As we proceed to examine the academic organization with refer- ence to their distribution uniformly throughout the state, we shall find that neither the Regents nor the legislature have regarded a rational principle — or indeed any principle of apportionment. There are four things that should be considered in determining the number of academies to which a given district or section of the state is entitled. These are population, wealth, area, and access- ibility. Of course, the greater the population, other things being equal, the more schools will be required. The more wealth there is, the greater the number it will support. The wider the area, the more may reasonably be tolerated — provided, fourth, the con- veniences for traveling do not render this a condition of little im- portance. Now to illustrate how every one of these conditions has been ignored, I will compare two counties lying far apart. In the one there have been organized 22 academies. It has a popula- tion of 107,749, which gives one academy to each 4,891; the other has one academy to 19,669 inhabitants. If we compare the wealth of the two counties, we shall find that the first has had one academy for each $811,193 of property, while the last has had but one for $2,751,172, or more than three times the basis of the former. Comparing area and we find the one has an academy for each 51 square miles, the other only one for 911 square miles — and the convenience of getting about, facility of access, is so wholly in favor of the former, that it could make no appreciable difference with its convenience in that respect, if there were but one academy in the county instead of 22. In such differences as these, there is 8 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OP NEW YORK. [Oct. neither justice nor reason. If I am told that the latter county would have been more highly favored had her citizens taken the initiative; that it is no part of the business of the state, through any of its de- partments, to anticipate the wants of the people upon education, I dissent; but even if that were granted, there is still left no excuse for the needless multiplicity of academies in the former county, where- by the funds of the state are divided among so many separate insti- tutions, instead of being concentrated more efficiently on a few or upon one. Though I have made my comparison between counties, I would not be understood to suggest this division as the proper basis of academic districts. In some localities, one academy for two or three counties would be found most convenient, while in others a single academy in a county might be found insufficient. What I do claim is, that as these are 'public institutions , incorporated, hence sanc- tioned and approved by the state, designed as a public benefit, and not as an encouragement to private enterprise or to promote local convenience, and supported in part from the funds of the state — the constituted authorities should have reference in their organization to public interests, and not permit them to be multiplied indefinitely, thereby dividing up the fund appropriated by the state until its bene- fits are scarcely appreciable. I make no war upon merely private institutions — these have a just right to establish themselves when- ever they can maintain a foothold; but when these come forward and demand a patent from the state in the form of an act of incorporation, it is the duty of the state to demand in return evidence that the inte- rests of popular education will be promoted by such an endorsement. It is a mistaken idea that the multiplication of schools contributes to the advancement of education. Into this delusion have the legis- lature and the Board of Regents alike fallen in some degree, the former wholly, and the latter partially blinded to the true principle which should control their action. We have now in the state 183 report- ing academies, with a total attendance some time during the year, of 31,683 students, being an average of 205 students to each. The highest number attending any one academy, is 110; the lowest, 35. Now if 110 students can be collected in one institution, we really need no more academies to accommodate the present demand for higher culture than that average would furnish, and that is 48. For I have no idea that if the present number of academies was doubled, that the attendance would be increased five per cent, while the edu- cational efficiency of these institutions would be diminished 15 per cent. On the other hand, if they were reduced to the number I have named, and distributed with a due regard to the considerations I have suggested as proper to control that matter, I believe that they would not lose five per cent of their legitimate attendants, and their efficiency would be increased four-fold. But admitting a change in the organization, so sweeping and radical as this to be impracticable, still, is there not some plan that may be devised that shall at least approximate a just and natural ratio in the number of these institu- tions, and the method of their distribution ? This query will receive further attention hereafter, being in some measure connected with that other branch of our subject, the plan of operation of the differ- ent branches of our system. 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 9 I pass now to notice the source from which academies derive their support. The establishment of an academy, so far as relates to the procuring of the lot, building, libra^ and apparatus, is effected by subscription or donation. Application is then made to the legis- lature or to the Board of Regents for a charter. If a charter is ob- tained from the legislature, it is still not entitled to any distribution from the literature fund until it has become subject to the visitation of the Board of Regents by complying with the conditions which they prescribe. If a charter is obtained from the Regents, that of itself subjects it to their visitation, and it becomes entitled to a share in the distribution as soon as the other conditions relative to its report, etc., are fulfilled. The academic share of the literature fund is a sum of $40,000 annually distributed among the academies of the state, subject to Regency visitation, in the ratio of the number of students taught by them during the previous year, for a period of not less than four months, in the higher English or classical branches of study. The Regents prescribe what shall be regarded as higher English branches or classical studies, and the age or proficiency of the pupil before he shall be permitted to be enumerated as pursuing them. This, it will be seen, is a rational basis of distribution, being founded on practical results, and not like appropriations to colleges, determined by the persuasive power of trustees, and the gullibility of legislative committees. The largest sum received by any academy the present year is $1,014*49, and the smallest $18*30 — the ratio is $1*83 for each pupil pursuing the branches as above stated. The sum thus apportioned is expended wholly for teachers’ wages. Besides this regular distribution from the literature fund, the legis- lature has provided that from the revenues of this fund the Regents may distribute to the various academies of the state, a sum not ex- ceeding $250 to each, to be expended in the purchase of books, maps, or apparatus. The condition of this distribution is, that the academy to which it is awarded shall raise an equal amount for the same purpose — the sum so raised to be exclusive of that required as a condition of incorporation. Under this provision there has been dis- tributed since the passage of the act in 1834, $61,353*49, and a like amount has been raised by the academies themselves. Another source of revenue to the academies has been derived from appropriations made by the legislature and distributed by the Re- gents for the gratuitous instruction of common school teachers. The amount so distributed for the year 1851, was $12,810, which was divided among 115 academies. I have not time to treat of this ele- ment of distribution further than to characterize it as wholly thrown away; but justice demands that I should further state that it is an appropriation exclusively legislative, and made against the advice and even protest of the Regents. The residue of the support of academies is derived from tuition fees. The total resources of academies may therefore be presented in the following summary: 1st. Voluntary subscription or donation whereby the academy is founded and becomes eligible to incorporation, and subject to the visitation and guardianship of the Regents; and in some cases EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OP NEW YORK. 10 [Oct. further donations or endowments from which a limited income is de- rived. 2d. A participation in the funds appropriated by the state for the support of academies, comprising $40,000, annually distributed among all the reporting academies, on the basis of the number of students instructed in the higher departments of study — a sum not exceeding $250 once appropriated to such academies as raise a like amount for the purchase of books and apparatus; and $12,500 annu- ally distributed among such academies, not less than 90, as the Re- gents may select, in which common school teachers are gratuitously instructed. 3d. Tuition fees — these constituting about five-ninths of their whole revenue. There is, however, another source of revenue accruing to those academies, organized under the Free School Law, in connection with and as a higher department of a Union Free School. These and the New York Free Academy, in place of tuition fees, derive their sup- port from taxation. They share in the distribution of the literature fund, however, like other academies. Such are some of the more prominent features pertaining to the plan of organization of the academic branch of our system of education. 3. Common or Public Schools. — We shall find that this branch of our system is less uniform in its organization than either of the others. We have first the general provisions of statute under which school districts are organized throughout the state — each district being a quasi corporation, empowered to levy taxes to build and repair school-houses, and to defray the incidental expenses of sus- taining a school. The custody of the property and the general management of its affairs are committed to a board of trustees, or under a recent act to a single trustee. These employ the teachers, superintend the building and repairs of school-houses, make out tax- lists and rate-bills, and enforce the collection of the same under their warrant, call special meetings at their discretion, draw orders for the public money, and expend the library money of the district. These districts are subject to the rules and regulations of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as prescribed under the statutes, and to the supervision and visitation of School Commissioners elected in and for each assembly district, exclusive of cities. The teachers in these schools are required to hold a certificate of qualification from the commissioner or some higher authority, and the neglect of this requirement renders the district liable to forfeit its share of the public money appropriated to the support of schools. Districts are further required as a condition of receiving their quotas of the public money, to have school taught during a period of not less than six months each year. These district organizations are always defined by territorial limits, in which respect they differ from academies. The formation and alteration of districts is devolved upon the commissioner, with whom may be associated the town clerk and supervisor of the town or towns which the proceeding is to affect. Their action is conclusive, subject only to appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The policy of the Department and in general of local officers, is to make as few districts as may be 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 11 compatible with the convenience or necessities of any locality. Con- solidation, wherever the territory is so limited as to admit of it, is always advocated. The number of districts should never be in the ratio of the population, but always be determined by the area — modi- fied to some extent by the face of the country, and other conditions. This principle is measurably regarded, though not to the fullest ex- tent. The support of these schools is derived — 1st, from taxation, by which money may be raised under the authority of a vote of the district for all the lawful expenses of the schools, except the pay- ment of teachers’ wages; 2d, from the common school fund of the state. From what special departments of the general funds of the state the school moneys are derived, it is unnecessary for the pur- poses of this investigation to explain. Suffice it, that from the reve- nues of the state, independent of those derived from general taxation, about $250,000, which sum is annually increasing, is appropriated for the support of schools, added to which for the same purpose, are the proceeds of a general tax upon the property of the state of three- fourths of a mill upon each dollar of valuation, which for the last year yielded $1,073,T68*97, making an aggregate of $1,323,768. Two-thirds of this amount is apportioned to each county in the ratio of its population, and the amount so apportioned to each county is by the commissioners apportioned among the several districts in the ratio of the number of children residing in them between the ages of 4 and 21. The remaining one-third is divided equally among all the districts of the state, the districts for this purpose being computed, not territorially, but by the number of teachers employed — any dis- trict employing two teachers or more at the same time for a period of six months, being entitled to a corresponding number of quotas from this part of the fund. It will be noticed that this distribution, unlike that to academies, is, for the most part, based upon the con- tingency of population, which may be a most unfair indication of the wants or just claims of a district. The proper basis would be — actual results as indicated by the aggregate attendance. This sum of $1,323,768, is to be applied exclusively to the pay- ment of teachers’ wages, to that use of it the districts are inviolately held. Besides this, the sum of $55,000 is annually appropriated for the purchase of library books, which sum is apportioned among the districts in the same manner as the two-thirds applicable to the pay- ment of teachers’ wages. I am free to say that as at present applied I regard this sum most injudiciously expended. Half or a fourth of the amount, expended upon a library in each town, conditioned upon an equal sum being raised by the inhabitants, would in my mind be pro- ductive of far worthier results. Another source of support, enjoyed by some districts, arises from local town funds derived from the sale of certain lands donated by the state in 1789, for the support of the gospel and the use of schools, and called gospel and school lands. These however do not constitute any considerable feature of the school revenues. The last source of revenue is the tuition of the pupils in actual attendance at school. This is applied exclusively to teachers’ wages, and in amount is the excess of the wages which the district agrees to pay over the public 12 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. money apportioned to the district for that purpose — and is assessed upon those who send in the ratio of their attendance. Of all the moneys received from all sources for the support of schools, exclusive of cities which are to be separately considered — about one third are raised by rate-bill. The next division of this branch of the system comprises the Union Free Schools, organized under the provisions of the Free School Law, having boards of education instead of trustees, and special powers in the matter of levying taxes of greater amount and for other pur- poses than those granted under the general statutes, thus permitting them to make their schools wholly free. They are not required to do this however, so that we have in the state, not unfrequently, the anomaly of Union Free Schools that are not free — and that differ from other schools only in the complexity of their organization and the extent of the pow T ers which they may exercise, and the increased efficiency which consolidation imparts. These boards of education are also authorized to grant licenses to the teachers whom they em- ploy thus making them independent of the commissioners. Their organization is regarded as beyond the control of any authority less than the legislature ; hence their boundaries are not subject to altera- tion by the local authorities. Substituting taxes for rate-bills, they derive their support from the same sources and in the same manner as other schools. We next have special acts of organization for each of the cities of the state. These generally transfer to appointed authorities in the cities the entire charge and control of all the schools within their cor- porate limits, subject to the direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction only in the matter of making their reports, all the details of organization, support and supervision being directed by the board, to whom the general interests of the schools are committed. These schools are free, their support being derived from local taxation and the general appropriations from the school fund. Another class of schools embraces those organized in villages quite frequently, under a special act from the legislature, the provisions of which are similar to those of the Union Free School Law, but with such modifications, either extending or limiting or otherwise varying the powers conferred, or their form and mode of application, as the inhabitants of the locality deem best adapted to promote the objects they have in view. These too are generally made free, and committed to boards of education, with powers similar to those of union schools. Nothing short of legislative authority can change their boundaries. Their support is derived from the same sources as that of schools under the general statutes, except when made free, then taxes are substituted for rate-bills. Finally,- a few districts organized under the general school laws, have obtained from the legislature the power to defray all the ex- penses of the school by tax, thus dispensing with rate-bills and making the school free. They differ from schools organized under the free school act or under special acts, in that they create no new officers, nor are the general powers of the district enlarged, but the power to levy a rate-bill is changed to the power of levying a tax. In all other respects they arc like schools organized under the general laws. 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 13 Such is a comprehensive survey of the school system of this state in its various branches, considered with reference to their plan of organization. We find they present to view seven distinct classes, as follows: colleges, academies, schools organized under the gene- ral statutes, schools organized under the Union Free School Law, city schools, schools organized under special acts, and those with simple provisions authorizing them to support their schools by tax. Of course, schools organized under the general law comprise the great mass of all the schools in the state, numbering 11,280. City schools are next in order and number 533, while all reported as free under the other three classes of public schools are only 44. The prominent defect of our system as here exhibited, is its lack of unity in organization. We find the correct principle preva- lent in the common school organization, which is to make the schools the largest possible, compatible with accessibility. To pro- mote this, the power is removed from the inhabitants themselves, who might be influenced by local considerations, and conferred upon public officers who are supposed to be influenced only by considerations affecting the general welfare. But passing to the organization of the academy and the college, we find no conservative element in them. An application can hardly be presented, so barren of merit, but some facile committee may be found to report it favorably to the legislature. Even the Regents, whose general discretion I am disposed to com- mend, make the matter of $2,500 the only test of favor. But we know that a commodious building with all suitable accessories is no guarantee of an efficient institution — that being determined by the wants of the community and corresponding provision of competent and thorough instructors. Under such a dispensation as this, rival academies may arise within a stone’s throw of each other, and de- mand the division between them of the fund that would be none too munificient if bestowed upon one alone. The same question of area does not present itself in the founding of an academy that does in the formation of a school district — for it makes but little difference when one must leave home for school privileges, whether he has ten or twenty or even a hundred miles to go — except of course in those secluded localities where traveling facilities have not yet reached. But I need not enlarge upon this topic further, having already devoted much attention to it in a former part of my remarks. Its great im- portance as a feature to be incorporated into our educational system must be my apology for devoting to it so much time. II. PLAN OF OPERATION. It will be my purpose in the remainder of my remarks, to note the distinction between the Plan of Operation and the practical opera- tion of the system, or between the work proposed to be done and the means provided, and the methods pursued in doing it; and to make such suggestions for improvement as may occur. The Common School, whether in city or rural district, proposes for its object, the instruction of pupils in the elements of an English education. I am aware that some of these aim at higher accomplish- ments, but I regard these as exceptional. But how much is com- 14 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. prised within that object ! What order of study, and what text books, and what methods of instruction will best promote it? In truth, the specific amount of attainment and the specific agencies to be employed, vary not only with each class, but almost in every school. Districts are required to keep their schools moving , but whether they make progress backward or in a circle, is left to their own dis- cretion; no positive standard of attainment is established to which they must conform, no defined limit which they must reach, but a helter skelter scramble among the one million children in the schools, is made for an education to be somehow acquired through the ruth- less rustling over of a mass of printed leaves. I am pleased to expect from this chaotic condition many of our City and of our Union Schools, which prescribe and enforce a course of study in the primary no less than in the higher departments. The result of this aimless desultory course is obvious. Few, very few, ever thoroughly acquire a know- ledge of reading, writing, spelling, geography, grammar, and arith- metic, even in their most elementary forms, at the common school — and those who do, are indebted to individual genius or energy, or to some unusual and fortuitous conditions for their good fortune. I do not deny but they get some information upon these subjects, and in- deed they often get a smattering of much beyond — of botany, astro- nomy, geology, physiology, zoology, and I know not how many other ologies — more than they can correctly spell — but information is a very different thing from knowledge. Our academies assume to instruct students in the higher English branches as the common school does in the rudimentary. But with few exceptions these prescribe no course of study, no standard of ultimate attainment, no measure of progress but time. First no given standard of literary attainment is made a condition of admission to their privileges. The student who has left the public school with the shallowest pretensions to elementary culture, is admitted side by side with those of advanced attainments, and enters gravely upon studies that presuppose a thorough primary discipline. But here he is not confined to any course of study, but is permitted to pursue such desultory course as suits him best. Only when he enters upon classical studies is the student restricted to a specific order of pro- gress, which is measured by attainments and not wholly by time. This is rendered indispensable by the requirements of colleges which demand a certain attainment as a condition of entering, and a fixed and defined course of discipline and positive acquirement as a condition of leaving with its honors. Thus only at the top of the temple do we find the qualities of firmness and security which we should have found at the base. Strange policy of our academies that prescribes a systematic course of culture for those who leave their walls to enter college, but regards any system of instruction as wholly unessential for those who leave to go forth to take their stations for the battle of life ! But it is gratifying to find this principle of uni- form and progressive culture recognized at all in our system of instruction; and now that it is found at the top, let us conspire to incorporate the same into the foundation of the system. Let the district school be regarded wholly as a primary institution, with a prescribed course of study and grade of attainment. The 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 15 thorough completion of this course should he rigidly insisted upon as a condition of entering any public school or department of a higher grade. When the prescribed course is thus completed, let the pupil receive a diploma which then represents something tangible and real — not in age, nor the number of days attendance at school, but in positive attainment. A school for instruction in the higher English branches, mathema- tics, and the elements of natural science, established generally in each town — sometimes more sparsely located — would sustain to the locality or district for which it should be designated, the same rela- tion that the English department of academies now sustains to an indefinite territory, with this difference, that the students admitted to the town school would come with a uniform degree of attainment, and would enter upon the prosecution of another course of study as rigidly defined as the last. Excluding from its course the classics or modern languages, and confining its efforts exclusively to instruc- tion and discipline in the mathematics, sciences, principles of lan- guage, literature, and social and political economy, its aim in the formation of practical thinking men, intelligent and truly accom- plished women, independent and self-judging citizens, would be ef- fectively accomplished. Not a few of our academies would find it for their interest to confine their efforts to the course above prescribed, and the remainder, limited in number, and judiciously distributed throughout the state might then assume that higher and worthier position for which they are designed, and so far trench upon the do- main now occupied by our colleges, that these, combining their faci- lities and means would push themselves up into the rank and dignity of a university that should honor the name and the state. The effect of this systematic course of culture would be to enhance greatly the interest in popular elementary instruction. Now, many parents take little interest in the public school, because they know that when their children get a little older, not wiser , they can send them to the neighboring academy — hence they do not disturb them- selves over the inefficiency they know to exist. But once let them know that before their children could enter any higher school, they must reach a certain point of attainment in the district school, and they would be more alert to see that their school was the very best it could be made. We should hear less of the enquiry concern- ing teachers, “How much ?” and more of, “Where is he to be found?” Another evil is, that the academy and its strength is much of it ex- pended in imparting elementary knowledge, when they should confine themselves to a more advanced course of instruction. Only two- thirds of all the students attending academies are represented as at- tending to the higher English branches or classical studies, showing that one-third of the force of academies is expended on those branches which should be completed in the primary school. A systematic plan of operation like what I have detailed, where each grade of institutions is but a part of one continuous whole, each taking the work where the next lower leaves it, and carrying it on toward the highest ultimate of attainment, requires a system- atic plan of organization throughout the state, and a uniform system of administration. We have already seen that the administration of 16 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. affairs relating to public instruction is committed in part to the Regents, in part to the State Superintendent, and in part to local authorities with diverse powers. This division is fatal to harmonious or efficient action. The general administration of educational affairs, should be committed to one department or body. It is unnecessary to define the characteristics of such a body too minutely. Still, one or two features may be noted. It should possess one valuable ele- ment belonging to the Board of Regents, and that is permanence. Nothing is so fatal to progress in educational affairs, as a vacillating administration. Still, a life tenure may be attended with difficulty in the opposite direction, by cumbering the administration with tena- cious, fossilized ideas. A board, constituted of members elected for ten or twelve years, and so classified that one or two should go out each year, would seem to combine the conservative and progressive elements in due proportion, by retaining at all times enough of the old stock to prevent any sudden or radical changes, and at the same time infusing into it from the spirit and enterprise of surrounding life, some wakeful and progressive ideas. To such a body should be committed exclusively, the powers and trusts relating to the entire educational system, which were designed to be conferred upon the Board of Regents by the act of their organization, with reference to academies and colleges. To give permanence to such an organiza- tion, its powers and duties should be defined by the Constitution; and legislative action upon educational matters should be restricted to such as the board itself might invoke. We find this principle is re- cognized in the consecration — by constitutional authority — of a cer- tain part of the revenues of the state to educational purposes. The legislature is restrained from creating debt; are not the educational interests of the state worthy of as sacred and inviolate guardian- ship ? The Superintendent should be the executive officer of the whole school department, instead of a fragmentary part of it — defining, judging and enforcing the ordinances of the board, as he now does those of the legislature. It does not follow that a uniform system of public instruction, uniformly administered, would not regard and provide for the vary- ing conditions of rural districts, populous towns and large cities. It would indeed regard these conditions, but it would make the system uniform among them, and would hold the special authorities to whom their school affairs should be committed, in such wholesome check as should promote the highest educational interests from being sacrificed to considerations of personal or political advantage, or sectarian prejudice. Our towns and cities present opportunities for the exem- plification of the highest conditions of popular education. They only need to be harmonized, directed by some central intelligence to rise superior to the adverse influences which now hold them in check, but still do not prevent them from being worthy of our fostering care and glowing pride. Other incidental differences in the operation or administration of the different branches of our educational system may be briefly noticed. We have seen that the teachers of the common school, under the 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 17 general laws, are required to hold a certificate of qualification from the commissioner. I will not speak of the injustice and absurdity of this requirement, and how it finds no parallel in any other profession; lawyers, doctors, and clergymen, having their merits passed upon by those of their own profession. I shall treat of it only as a question of policy affecting the interests of education. The temptation to the com missioner, even where he is fully competent to judge — to yield to the importunity of friends, especially when it is known that his action may have much influence upon his popularity and subsequent success, is one to which he ought not to be exposed, and the perils of which, to the cause of education, need only to be suggested. Other conside- rations often bear upon commissioners and cause them to violate their own honest judgment in the discharge of this function. One commissioner tells me that in his district there are normal graduates, ladies, who can not get employment because they will not put them- selves in competition with misses just in their teens, who will teach for a dollar or ten shillings per week. And the trustees insist that he shall license these, whom they have employed inf advance; and as a refusal to license deprives the school of 6 its share of the public money, whereby the children may lose all the advantages of school, he is constrained to choose the less of two evils, and certify to the qualifications of teachers whom he knows to be unqualified. No teacher should be regarded as qualified, who does not hold the certi- ficate or diploma of some responsible educational board or institution. These, having* a character to maintain, would be apt to be guarded in their endorsements. Our academies and colleges do practically and without any prescribed form, what all institutions of learning should do systematically. The principal usually bears the diploma of the highest educational institutions known to our system, and his subor- dinates are subjected to his critical examination before they become associated with him. Here we have the testimony of educational men, informally, but conclusively given to the qualifications of those called upon to teach. To my mind, there is no reform more vitally important to the teacher’s profession, and to the interests of educa- tion, than this at which I have so hastily glanced; I commend it to you as one worthy to engage your serious attention, and to enlist your earnest efforts. There are other features of our educational system of which I had intended to treat, but the waning hour admonishes me that I am trespassing upon your patience too far, and I can only briefly advert to them. The pecuniary provision for the support of schools, whether it should be derived from a general fund, from general or local taxation, and how far these should be made to contribute to the entire support of schools, making them free; the ratio of distribution among the various schools of the state; the principle or doctrine of compulsory attendance at school; the mode of supervision; the provisions for the education of teachers through the normal school, teachers’ institutes and academic classes; are topics each of which might engage our attention most worthily for an hour. But they must pass till another occasion shall serve, and a worthier voice shall speak of them as their importance deserves. 3 18 EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. [Oct. In conclusion, we can not fail to be impressed concerning our sys- tem of public instruction, that it comprises features and accomplishes results of which we may justly be proud. Whatever its defects — decry them as we will and I have not been sparing in my strictures, — this great fact yet remains: that this state of 46,000 square miles, con- tains not a home within its borders, that is not embraced within the limits of a district, furnished with facilities for elementary instruction at a merely nominal cost. Nearly one million of children were instructed in the public schools of the state during some portion of the year 1856, at an average cost to those attending, of less than forty-six cents per pupil, per annum. With such facts as these before us, we need not be utterly cast down. Imperfect though we have found it to be in de- tail, it yet comprises in some of its departments every principle of vital efficiency. Among all the suggestions for improvement which I have seen proper to make not one is an innovation, not one but has its practical recognition in some part of the system. I have, as I said I should at the outset, suggested nothing new! I have but called attention to existing conditions and recognized principles, and advo- cated the more extended and uniform application of the choicest features disclosed. We have all the elements of a noble system; they only require to be more carefully combined, more generally and uniformly applied, more intelligently and earnestly wrought into practical organization. It requires no rapid transition, no radical revolutionary movement, to effect all that we need. A calm, judicious exercise of 'power, properly vested, could in a few years work noise- lessly, yet openly and apparently, such a transformation in the prac- tical working of our educational system, as would make it appear to be a new creation; and yet it should be but the combination and ap- plication of the same elements, that to day impart to it whatever of vital efficiency it is found to possess. In the accomplishment of this desired work, you teachers, indi- vidually, and especiall}* in your associated capacity, can do much. It is your fitting field of effort. No nobler honors, nor more lasting fame wait on aspiring souls, than those that attend on him whose name becomes identified with the improvement of the educational system of a state like ours. Grant me this boon, and let the trophies of war, the pomp of heraldic honors, the pride of power, and the homage of royalty attend their struggling votaries. Bend we to a holier shrine — consecrate are our energies to the achievement of infinite purpose and the determination of an immortal destiny. Duly impressed with a sense of the importance of these truths, as a means to the elevation and improvement of your profession, animated by a worthy zeal to contribute to so grand a consummation as the perfec- tion of the educational system of this mighty state, you should study carefully the principles of instruction and general educational policy, make each day’s experience a lesson for all future time, and then keep the results of your study and labor constantly before the people in your works and your words, talk upon them, write upon them — agitate — agitate — not frenziedly, but earnestly, as the convictions of truth shall urge, and in due time we shall reap if we faint not. And when throughout this Empire State, there shall be established a system of educational facilities extending in due progression from 1858.] EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF NEW YORK. 19 the simplest elementary instruction to the highest attainable culture, open alike to the humblest child of misfortune and the proudest sons of rich and noble sires, all blending into one complete harmonious effort for a common purpose, without rivalry, or jealousy, or strife, but infused with a generous emulation, each to fulfill its specific work as essential to the completeness of the effort — what prouder monu- ment of our greatness and glorjq as a free, independent, and sovereign state, shall we then have? We, and the world, listen to the awe inspiring tone of Niagara’s undying anthem, or lift our eyes in wrapt vision to the grandeur of the towering Adirondacks, or muse with serene delight upon the outspread valleys of the Genesee, the Mo- hawk, the Hudson, and the Susquehanna, glowing with the richness of cultivated fields, peaceful homes and abundant harvests; or bear- ing to our ears from the serene distance, on the tranquil air, the hum of earnest toil and busy traffic, from a hundred towns dotting the surface of the opening landscape; or from some cloud-capped summit of the Catskills, with one majestic sweep of vision take in the long extent of that surpassing valley, wherein the swelling sails, the rush- ing steamer, and the eager panting train bear the fruits of a conti- nent to the mart of the western world lying within our borders, and reaching forth its arms to gather in the treasures of all the globe — and what wonder that our hearts should swell with grateful pride and exultation that this noble heritage is ours! — yet these are the monuments of time, while our school system, from its relation to im- mortal destinies, will stand, through all eternity, an enduring monu- ment of a nobler heritage and a prouder fame.