The School Board met again for its annual and monotonously regular quibbling contest over the value and results of German instruction in our public schools. Both sides present their arguments with considerable bitterness. Inspector Jones, one of the most sullen nativisto of the city, leads the opposition, while Inspector Pruessing, a freethinking radical whose attitude made him permanently hostile to certain American members of the School Board, upholds the contention of the pro-Germans. Attacks and defence, in so far as speeches are concerned, are almost entirely confined to these two gentlemen, and they overwhelm their colleagues--as well as the reporters who are compelled to listen to their tirades--with an onslaught of statistics and statements from schools of other cities where German is taught, until the assembly is completely bewildered. As no clear, concise facts could be gathered, even though the closest attention was paid to the present disquisitions on the subject (German-language instruction in our public schools), our reporter decided to make an independent investigation of the subject and at once began delving into the archives of the schools, consulting the foreign-language teachers and so forth, in order to give 2reliable information to our interested readers.

Statistics given by the Board of Education are very incomplete. For instance: No evidence is available concerning the nationality of any of the school children, or rather, their parents. A list giving the "land of birth" of the pupils is available, however.

In the material dealing with those taking German, consideration is given to the nationality of pupils, but this is [relatively] valueless for it includes no indication of the nationality of those children who do not avail themselves of the opportunity to learn a foreign tongue. Evidence of the cost of conducting classes of the various grades is also very meager, though this information is essential if one is to ascertain the actual expense incurred in teaching German, or--let us say--the cost of providing instruction in this language as compared with that of other subjects which are taught in our schools.

For these reasons it was impossible--even with the best of intentions--to obtain a thorough statistical foundation on which to base demands that German be taught 3in the schools. For an adequate solution of the problem such records would have been desirable.

Daily school attendance during the past school year showed an average of 41,569; of this number, 31,990 pupils belong to the elementary classes; the middle or grammar classes had 8,274.4 (sic) and the high schools, 1,332 students.

Our reporter has not investigated the figures of the high schools and so only the middle classes [grammar] come into consideration in so far as the study of German is concerned. The elementary schools are not included either, since German has not been taught in these lower classes for several years. Furthermore, not all the grammar schools teach German and this decreases considerably the number of students who might study German, if given an opportunity. Thus on July 1, 1877, the end of that school year, 5,019 students (aside from those in the high schools) had an opportunity to take German lessons, and 1,806 scholars were enrolled, or [about] 36 per cent. On January 31, this year, 5,945 grammar students could have taken lessons in German, and 1,969, or roughly 33 per cent, participated; so one notes an increase in the absolute number of those taking 4up German but a smaller percentage of the whole.

The appended table gives comparisons of German instruction, or rather, of student participation in the various schools.

School	Total number of pupils	Students studying German	Percentage
Scammon	226	85	37	261	120	46
Kinzie	247	120	49	313	112	36
Franklin	303	137	42	364	193	53
Washington	360	99	28	368	75	20
Moseley	490	130	27	584	177	30
Brown	664	188	28	759	158	21
Ogden	374	146	39	429	151	35
Newberry	238	157	66	232	124	53
Wells	314	83	26	316	83	26

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Skinner	401	102	26	502	80	16
Haven	329	149	45	333	120	36
Cottage Grove	216	56	26	276	71	26
Dore	306	150	50	340	183	54
Lincoln	260	131	50	313	112	68
Carpenter	152	31	20	145	39	26
North Clark	140	54	39	153	29	19
King				201	86	43
Calunet Ave.				56	56	100
Total	5,019 (sic)	1,806	36	5,945	1,969	33

This compilation shows that the lowest participation rate, 20 per cent in July, 1877, dropped to 16 per cent; the highest rate rose from 66 to 68 per cent. (The Calumet Avenue school gives German instructions to all its grammar pupils, and a German instructress is in charge, if our reporter's statements are not based on error.)

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It is to be noted that the increase in the number of those taking German is almost entirely attributable to the fact that two more schools provided this instruction.

The considerable decrease of pupils studying German at the North Clark Street School is partially due to transfers to Ogden School, but mostly to the uncooperative attitude of the teachers. If that is eliminated, then increased attendance may be looked for. An actual increase in attendance at German classes is noticeable only at the Franklin, Moseley, Dore, Lincoln and Carpenter schools.

About one half of the number of pupils taking German lessons on February1 were of German parentage. On February 1, sixteen special teachers taught German, besides the principal and the teachers in the high schools which give German instruction, and their total salaries amount to $9,400 annually. To this must be added one half of the Calumet Avenue schoolteacher's salary, and $1,020 from the principal's salary, the portion prorated to the grammar schools, so that the cost of German instruction for 1,969 pupils amounts to $10,720 annually, or $5.95 per year for 7each participant.

It would be unfair to condemn German instructions forthwith, on the ground that it is too expensive, since the average cost of all school instruction, including high schools, is only $12.52 per year. In Ascertaining the true proportionate cost, one must assume that the teachers of this subject are given the same average quota of pupils as prevails in other classes--in other words--consideration should be given to teaching activity commensurate with an expenditure of 10,720.

The average teaching period in our local public schools, with the exception of the high schools, is 386 hours (5 hours for 52 pupils). German instruction averages one-half hour daily. The 1,913 children who study German (with the exception of the Calumet school) require 957 hours or instruction a day, whereas they are provided with 4,576 hours of available time on the part of teachers, which would be equivalent to teaching 9,152 children each taking a one-half-hour lesson. Even if time loss incident to short periods and repeated changes of teaching personnel is estimated at fifty per cent, there are, nevertheless, enough German teachers available--if their time were fully utilized--to instruct 4,576 children. This 8would mean a yearly average cost of 2.27, or about one fifth of the total cost of school instruction. Then we must consider that the average cost in the grammar schools amounts to about 20 per pupil; therefore, German instruction would only require one eighth of the total outlay for all school subjects.

Now in regard to the results thus far obtained--that is, the educational accomplishments--these are not particularly brilliant, according to the confidential statement of our reporter. But here we must remember that only a very few students completed the entire grammar course. Not even one third of those matriculating in the first entire grammar classes, completed the final class of the course. Even when students did complete the course they were given merely a suitable foundation for further progress.

Our reporter showed his statistical figures and findings to a prominent German-American pedagogue and the latter read to him a highly confidential report which really should be disseminated and made available to the general public. But the gentleman, showing the usual modesty of German scientists, asked that his name be withheld. He said: 9"Your statistics are very valuable indeed and snow us two facts: First, that our school statistics are lamentably incomplete and, second, that German instruction in our public schools has been greatly neglected. If the statistics were complete, then we would have evidence to prove just how much time is devoted to each subject; information would be available to show the national origin of each pupil and, above all, whether the pupils obtained their elementary schooling in our or other institutions.

"In so far as German instruction is concerned, I must say, as a teacher, that it should represent a prominent part of our curriculum, particularly since Chicago has such a large German element. In making this assertion I am not influenced by any prejudice in favor of my mother tongue. The German language should even be taught in the elementary classes, at least the two upper ones, net merely for linguistic reasons, but as a means of inducing children to think, and of developing that trait. I am convinced that familiarity with the German language, if acquired during youth, must be beneficial to the English-speaking people, as it is a great help in gaining a proper understanding of English itself and as it definitely develops and hastens our knowledge of grammar.

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"English instruction in our schools, if given simultaneously with the German, would lose much of its mechanical character which makes our absorption of English a mere matter of memory at present. As soon as the student begins to understand the characteristic logic of the German grammar, he is naturally led into applying it to English word and sentence structure, also, although in a somewhat inverted order, since both languages originated from the same source. To obtain such a benefit it is of course necessary that the German language be taught early--in the elementary classes.

"It is entirely erroneous to believe that the study of German interferes with other subjects. To the contrary, aside from mathematics, there is no subject taught in the lower classes which develops thinking and thereby facilitates learning in general as well as systematic instruction in German.

"In so far as instruction in German here in Chicago is concerned, the chief faults are that this subject is entirely excluded from the elementary classes; and, above all, the [incorrect] method of teaching which now prevails. In Chicago, as well as throughout the country, we formed the habit of teaching in a rather mechanical 11manner; as a natural consequence the students drop a subject whenever they can because interest is lacking. Also, unless compulsory school attendance is generally adopted, we face one unsurmountable obstacle; very few students finish the entire school course. Thus they acquire only a superficial idea of what they ought to learn. This, then, is probably one of the outstanding reasons for the linguistic confusion noticeable among descendants of Germans. Perhaps this linguistic confusion would also manifest itself if the children had not studied German in school, because children who constantly hear a German-English jargon at home necessarily are affected, and the patois, the pernicious habit of the parents, unless persistent schooling counteracts it.

"I am of the opinion that should we improve our study course and introduce German in all grammar schools, participation in the language classes will reach seventy-five per cent; this can be accomplished without increasing the school budget or slighting other subjects. I an convinced that the older students of the grammar schools, who attended the German course and passed, are better in English spelling than their companions who, as the result of being influenced into regarding German instruction as a waste of time, neglected it. Perhaps it might be a good 12policy to compile accurate statistics on this phase. When the public is confronted with evidence which shows the advantage of studying German as a general subject, then our people, regardless of nationalistic origin, will definitely oppose abolition of linguistic studies in our schools.

"It is a parental duty of people so closely interwoven with Germany as our Americans, to help their children to make the wealth of German literature more accessible, by providing an opportunity to learn the language."