California’s Textbook System Criticized
By Editor
The educational problem is not a settled one by any means. This is indicated strongly by the Sierra Educational News, the magazine owned and published by the teachers of California, the August number of which is before us. Boards, text-book committees, obstructionists, and live, progressive teachers are floating neither the flag of peace nor of truce. We do not blame the teachers. Prof. Will C. Wood, superintendent of Alameda city schools, in a review of the text-book system says: "Out of forty-three books which have been adopted under the California system, we have had eleven poor books, nineteen fair books, five good books, and eight books whose merits have not been determined as yet. In other words, seventy per cent of the books have fallen short of the standard of good books, and only twelve per cent have met that standard. With these facts in mind, I do not hesitate to say that the present system has not resulted in the placing of satisfactory text-books in the hands of the pupils."