AN ADDRESS 
Delivered before the Buffalo Teachers’ Institute, 
Saturday, 6, [872, 
BY THOS. LOTH ROB, M. I)., 
SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION. 
Published by Request of the Teachers. 
BUFFALO: 
Haas & Kelley, Printers, 200 Main Street. 
1872. ADDRESS. 
Ladies and Gentlemen: 
With the present week I have entered upon that portion of mj 
official term granted by the grace of the last Legislature to myself, 
as well as to the other officers of our municipal government, and 
the occasion seems not inopportune to speak a few words of truth 
and soberness concerning the work which has been performed, and 
the results accomplished during the period the public schools have 
been entrusted to the supervision of the present incumbent. 
A retrospective view of experiences in any department of life 
often affords an interesting and profitable theme for consideration, 
especially if it reviews official conduct which has elicited individ- 
ual and public criticism, such as my administration of the public 
schools has called forth. Such a subject is fruitful of practical 
suggestions, and offers an opportunity long desired to break the “ dig- 
nified silence” which self-respect and the dignity of my office 
have hitherto enjoined, and to unfold the thoughts and motives, 
the principles and opinions, by which I have been governed in 
directing the important interests which the people elected me to 
superintend. 
It is not strange in inaugurating the work of reform in our 
system of education—a work plainly needed and demanded by the 
intelligent and discriminating sentiment of the community—that 
the thousands of interests centering in the schools, and extending 
from teacher to pupil and from pupil to patron, until the homes 
and firesides of the people were reached, should have been so dis- 
turbed by the new dispensation, that a storm of opposition and 
contumely should have arisen in the previously quiescent atmos- 
phere of the department, threatening to overpower an inexperienc- 
ed official who was striving with honest purpose to introduce 4 
method, and system, and unity of action in place of the entire ab- 
sence of these essential elements every where prevalent. The com- 
parison may seem far-fetched, but does not the organized system 
of extravagance and waste of the corrupt ring, lately brought to 
light in the municipal affairs of the metropolis, bear a resemblance, 
though in a faint degree, to the manner in which our free schools 
were conducted in many instances ? Our neighbors suffered from 
a waste of their treasure, from a system of robbery and corruption 
in every department of their government, which surpasses any 
scheme of rascality heretofore exposed in our political history. 
We have suffered from a waste of our educational forces, from a 
want of organization in all the departments of our schools, and a 
consequent waste of the time of our pupils, through the absence 
of the most approved methods in directing their education. Ours 
was a “ Tammany,” not of corrupt politicians stealing the people’s 
money, but of inefficient schoolmasters, trifling with the most 
sacred interests, which the nature of our institutions has warned 
the American people to carefully foster. 
Looking at these matters from a business standpoint, it is rea- 
sonable to assume that a department, for the support of which 
more than a fourth of the money raised annually in this city by 
taxation is devoted, should be conducted, in order to yield profit 
able returns, upon the most rigid and systematic principles. The 
maintenance of the public schools of Buffalo costs more than a 
quarter of a million dollars per year. I think I do not mistake 
the sentiment of the people, when I affirm that this enormous ex- 
pense is willingly borne if results are obtained proportionate to 
the sacrifices made on their part to maintain them. The people 
want to see good honest work. They have long ago been surfeit- 
ed with gasconade almost beyond the endurance of a sensible and 
intelligent community. 
I have expressed upon another occasion my conviction that the 
success of any educational system depends mainly upon the char- 
acter and ability of the teacher, “ Such as the schoolmaster is, such 
is the school,” is a trite saying, containing too much of truth and 
practical good sense to be easily controverted. The school bears 
the impress of the teacher’s ability, culture and tact. If en- 
dowed with superior intellectual gifts, the pupils in all the depart- 
ments feel the influence emanating from this higher source. The 
master-mind, like the master-mechanic, brings forth finished work, 
adorned and beautified with the finer touches, which only the 
skilled mind or skilled hand can produce. Can it be said that we 
have always employed in our public schools such an array of tal- 5 
ent as a city of the wealth and population of Buffalo should com- 
mand? Is there a system of free schools in any other city of equal 
size on the continent which could not point to a single classical 
scholar at the head of any of its graded schools ? But my sur- 
prise would stop at this statement of facts, strange as they may seem 
to an educated mind, if, to cap the climax, the opinion had not pre- 
vailed among some of my predecessors that teachers who had re- 
ceived the highest intellectual culture which the leading universi- 
ties and colleges of our country could impart, and whose scholar- 
ship was the source of pride and remark in educated circles, could 
not succeed at the head of any of our grammar schools. Can we 
wonder that our public schools have failed to command the re- 
spect which the large outlay of the people’s money would lead us 
to expect when a class of men found employment therein so well 
known in other localities as not to be wanted, and so well known, 
even in our midst, as to fail to secure the support and confi- 
dence of the community? By my official acts the people 
have been informed, from time to time, that I was dissatisfied 
with the ability and character of some of the teachers previous- 
ly employed in this department; and whenever convinced that 
the public interests would be subserved by a change, I have not 
hesitated to take the full responsibility—not suffering the interests 
of the individual to interfere with the important trusts committed 
to my supervision. There has been an honest difference of opinion 
in regard to the correctness of my judgment in many of these 
changes, but if the facts that were in my possession were not suffi- 
cient to justify the course pursued, the events which have subse- 
quently transpired have more than demonstrated the necessity of 
tne step. I hope the time has passed forever when money rather 
than merit, political influence rather than eminent fitness, are the 
successful means to employ to secure an appointment in the public 
schools of Buffalo. But if my opinions were based upon the 
ability and education of some whose removal I have felt it a sol- 
emn duty to make, I should not hesitate to affirm that private ends 
rather than the public good had been subserved by such appoint- 
ments. Will you pardon the plain talk which the public criti- 
cisms of my official course, by aggrieved parties, seems to render 
necessary upon this occasion, when I state an honest conviction, 
that this department can well afford to secure a perpetual riddance 
of teachers, one of whom has never been long wanted in any posi- 
tion he has before or subsequently filled; of another whose suc- 
cess in raising funds from his pupils for the benefit of his school 
was only surpassed by the adroitness with which he diverted a 
considerable percentage to his private purse; of another whose 
absolute unfitness by nature and education for any position which 6 
he was called upon to fill was manifest to both patrons and pupils 
in every district in which he taught, but not to the Superintend- 
ents who preceded me in this office ; of another, who made to me 
false returns of the work he was called upon to perform; and the 
category might be extended, but I forbear, not doubting that these 
and other facts in my possession will fully explain that the Augean 
stables required cleaning out, and that the people have not been 
disappointed in the capacity of the present Superintendent to do 
that kind of work. 
Having, therefore, carefully examined the qualifications and 
ability of teachers, it followed as a natural consequence that my 
attention should be directed to the system or method in which the 
work assigned them was performed, and it required but a brief 
period to ascertain that no system had ever been adopted whereby 
either teacher or pupil was held to any accountability for the 
amount or accuracy of his work. The Graded Course of Instruction, 
patterned after the graded course in the Chicago schools, had been 
previously adopted, but no system of reviews or examinations 
whereby the proficiency of both teacher and pupil could be tested, 
had ever been authorized by the Superintendent. The failure to 
adopt these means made the grades in the different schools as di- 
versified as the schools themselves, and deprived the graded cours e 
of uniformity, which is one of its most essential features, and al- 
most counteracted the beneficial influences expected from its 
adoption. I will not here discuss the faults of the graded course 
of instruction, nor the palpable defects already developed in that 
now in use in our schools. It cannot be expected that the cur- 
riculum should be faultless, or the manner in which it is carried 
out absolutely perfect or uniform, but we can approximate to cor- 
rect results only by careful labor. It is my purpose to invite sug- 
gestions from the teachers and endeavor to modify the amount and 
character of the work required of the pupils, in order that it may 
be more nearly adapted to their capacity and wants. 
The system of reviews and examinations seems, in my judg- 
ment, wise and judicious. Their object is simply to test the 
thoroughness and accuracy of the work performed by both teacher 
and pupil. This plan has been in successful operation in Cleve- 
land, Chicago, and other cities, with such results as to meet the ap- 
proval of the authorities by whom they were instituted. I know 
of no other method by which the responsibility can be placed 
where it properly belongs, and both teacher and pupil be made to 7 
Icel that there is a rule by which their work is measured, and that 
the required standard of proficiency must be attained to satisfy 
the authority over them. It has been objected to the plan of 
thorough examinations that it imposes increased labor upon the 
teachers, and thus burdens them with an amount of work to which 
heretofore they had lieen unaccustomed. In reply to these objec- 
tions, permit me to say that your own convenience has not been 
consulted in the least in enforcing these rules, but, instead, the 
good of the department. If it is your desire to pass away the 
time required by ordinance for your presence at your respective 
school-rooms with the least possible effort on your part, it should 
be your aim not to favor the prolonged continuance of the present 
Superintendent in the position he now occupies. I believe the city 
pays you for work and not for play ; and it expends its quarter of a 
million dollars annually not to support you in idleness, nor to give 
you positions of ease and comfort, but rather that the youth of 
our city may grow to manhood and womanhood with minds well 
stored with useful knowledge, and thoroughly disciplined for the 
stern realities of their maturer years. I cannot conceive how 
results can be accomplished without the most earnest and conscien- 
tious devotion of your time, energies and abilities to your respon- 
ble vocation. 
But it has been said that the system of examinations and re- 
views induces to a habit of “cramming,” which is prejudicial to 
the health of the pupils. It occurs to me to suggest that such an 
idea must rather have originated in the mind of some teacher who 
was more solicitous of his own personal comfort, or afraid to sub- 
mit his labors to the critical inspection of others, lest he should be 
regarded an unprofitable servant and dismissed from the service 
—than from any anxiety for the sanitary condition of his pupils. 
If I have no greater sin for which to answer at the judgment day than 
that my position has been used to overburden the tender organiza- 
tions of the young, during their pupilage, with tasks unsuited to 
their years and strength, my condemnation may be as tolerable as 
the reward of those who ring the alarm of “ cramming ” when 
there is real work to do, and yearn for the old regime when com- 
pelled to return an equivalent for the salary they annually received 
from the pockets of the people. 
There remains, however, a work of reform which long ago 
should have been instituted, whereby the schools would be render- 
ed more efficient and the expense of maintaining them materially 
diminished. I refer to the consolidation of districts and the higher 8 
grades, and the employment of a less number of teachers. The 
present system of supporting a full-graded school in each district 
was adopted in the earlier history of our city, and could hardly 
have anticipated its subsequent growth in wealth and population. 
It compels the city to employ 350 teachers to do the work which 
300 could easily perform under a different system. It gives em- 
ployment to twenty-four male principals, on a starvation salary, 
when it ought to employ only ten at a salary which would enable 
them to lay up a moderate competency for their declining years. 
In fact, the system is neither wise nor judicious, nor is it adapted 
to the growing wants of our prosperous city. Under our present 
organization the expense of our schools will increase dispropor- 
tionately to the increase of the number of pupils. How far this 
increase may extend, may well be a subject of serious inquiry 
among the friends of popular education. The burden of taxation 
—already onerous—may excite the people to a curtailment of our 
educational privileges, and thus deprive us of the inestimable ben- 
efits which they now bestow. Tnis work of reform will soon be- 
come an absolute necessity. Would it not be well for the teach- 
ers to take hold of this matter and demonstrate, both by precept 
and example, their earnestness in placing the public schools upon 
a more systematic and economical basis? 
During my term of office there is no act to which I refer with so 
much pleasure and satisfaction as to the organization of the sys- 
tem of evening schools, which, through the earnest labors of the 
teachers employed, have deservedly merited the confidence and 
patronage of the public. If we were skeptical as to the propriety 
of such an investment on the part of the city, a single glance in- 
to one of the schools in which these earnest young men and wo- 
men are laboring to supply the deficiency in their education, 
which their pecuniary circumstances or early indifference has pro- 
duced, would not fail to dispel all doubt as to the influence of 
these schools upon the habits and character of the pupils in attend- 
ance. To the devoted labors of the teachers, who, at an inade- 
quate compensation, have added this to their already over-tasked 
strength, I attribute the success which has attended the evening 
schools. I hope that at an early day an evening high school will 
be instituted, in which the ancient and modern languages, the 
natural sciences, the higher mathematics and industrial and me- 
chanical drawing will be taught to the young men and women of 9 
our city, to whom it is the duty of the municipal authorities to 
grant every facility for their intellectual and moral improvement. 
The future of our schools is not without its dangers and its un- 
certainties, but the principle of extending the privileges of a com- 
plete education to the masses of the people without cost, has be- 
come so prominently a cardinal virtue of all political organiza- 
tions, that there is much reason to hope that our citizens will not 
hesitate in the duty due to the well-being of society at large, in 
fostering their common schools and guarding them from the cor- 
rupting influences now so prevalent in almost every department of 
life. The advocates of the principles upon which free institutions 
are founded may well look to our schools for the strength and sup- 
port necessary to ward off the dark and threatening clouds 
ecclesiastical prejudice on the one hand, and of political corrup- 
tion on the other; and if the horizon of the future gives promise 
of brighter days for the oppressed and downtrodden of our own 
as well as of other lands, it arises—with the blessing of Heaven— 
from the diffusion of practical knowledge among the masses of the 
people. 
Upon you, therefore, as laborers in this portion of the educa- 
tional vineyard, rests the responsibility, for which heaven will call 
you to answer, that the system through which the rising generation 
is trained for the actual realities of life should be carefully guarded 
from enemies without and from deficiencies within. To me the 
department over which, by the suffrages of the people, I have 
been called to preside, will ever be an object of especial interest. 
I know the value of your services and the extent of your labors. 
No school system can boast of more faithful and conscientious 
teachers than are employed in our schools. For strict fidelity in 
the discharge of your duties, you have honored yourselves while 
bestowing upon others the benefit of the talents and education you 
have consecrated to your noble profession. The cordial co-opera- 
tion and assistance rendered me in enforcing the strict and often- 
times rigid rules and regulations it has been my duty to lay down, 
I shall always appreciate as magnanimous upon your part; while 
your cheerful acquiescence in complying With my wishes has 
convinced me that faithful teachers will always sacrifice their own 
comfort for the good of the schools. 
I hope that very soon the same authority which has extended 
my term of office beyond the period for which the people elected 
me, will provide for a successor, and in anticipating the relief from 10 
official care and responsibility, which there is now reason to expect 
will very soon be afforded me, I can but trust that the administra- 
tion of the important interests connected with our public schools 
will fall upon those who will carry forward the work of practical 
reform, and render the people a greater return for their annual 
outlay than I have been able to do. 
Such being my earnest wish, may il implore the continued 
blessing of heaven upon the public schools of lluffalo, and its 
corps of faithful and devoted teachers. ■