Further Expansion of the Baltimore Public School System, 1866-1900

 In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Baltimore expanded its borders; diversed its interests; and became a modern city.Two new wards to the west and north of the city were added to its territory in 1888, and after rapid transit facilities were introduced, the development of suburban areas became practicable. Baltimore’s harbor continued to play a vital role in the progress of the thriving community and was deepened to accommodate the larger vessels of the day.

From the Civil War on, Baltimore progressed steadily. The population of the city grew from 267,354 in 1870 to 508,957 in 1900, and the extremes of wealth and poverty were probably less perceptible than in any other city of equal size in the country. As the community advanced in wealth and commercial importance, its educational and cultural facilities experienced a corresponding growth. The city became noted for its universities, colleges, medical and other professional schools, hospitals, charitable institutions, theatres, musical schools, and art collections.

In contrast to the rapid growth and development of the Baltimore Public Schools during the formative period, the period from 1866 to the reorganization of the schools in 1900 was an era devoted more to maintaining the status-quo than to expanding the services of the schools. In this period of arrested development, the educational system experienced few significant accomplishments. The beginning of the colored schools, the English-German Schools, and the manual training schools represent exceptions and were innovations which marked progress in public instruction.

The schools became caught in the maze of municipal politics. Professional educators and those commissioners who were not pawns of political bosses were faced with endless frustrations as they worked zealously for the improvement of public education. Appropriations for the schools provided for minimum essentials and little thought was given to facing realities of the near future. Constructive suggestions of the superintendents were frequently ignored and, even in matters of great importance, procrastination appeared to be the rule of the day.

Although the management of the schools was entrusted to the Board of School Commissioners, the real authority in all matters of consequence was the City Council. Even though the schools were operated under the shadow of political corruption, their history is free of serious mismanagement and scandalous action. The New Charter of Baltimore City, 1898, in creating a Department of Education and reducing the number of commissioners to nine, aimed to protect the schools from the direct control of ward politicians and to provide an atmosphere in which the schools could serve the community to its best advantage.

Five superintendents headed the system during the last half of the nineteenth century. Several years after the close of the Civil War, steps were taken to remove Superintendent M’Jilton from office. In1868, William R. Creery was elected superintendent and remained in office until his death in 1875. Superintendent Henry E. Shepherd held the position until he resigned in 1882, and was succeeded by Henry A. Wise, Jr., who continued in office until 1900 when James H. Van Sickle was brought from Denver to become the fifth superintendent.

No radical changes were made in the curriculum, but new objectives introduced included drawing, physical education, cooking, and manual training. Influences of the psychological educational movement were being felt, and successful curricular experiments, in which newer approaches were demonstrated, indicated the direction in which methodology was headed.

Unfortunately, the public schools were not able to keep up with the growth of the city, and consequently, lost the position of educational leadership in the country, which they enjoyed in the 1860’s. In the thirty-four years between 1866 and 1900, the school population grew to 64,720 students and teaching staff expanded to 1,676 teachers, one hundred fifty of whom were men.

Despite the prevalence of low salaries, the supply of teachers greatly exceeded the demand. In the absence of an adequate salary scale and pension system, beneficial associations, designed to assist the teacher financially in times of illness or personal disability, were started. Confusion resulting from questionable practices of appointing and promoting teachers was lessened in 1897, when a revised set of civil service rules was adopted.

In striking contrast to the general apathy of the municipal authorities in their relations to the schools was the vigor of the teaching staff as it worked toward professional improvement. The standards of the profession were further raised by professional development activities sponsored by the administration of the schools, professional associations, and Johns Hopkins University.

With the rapid growth of the school population, the authorities were faced with the continual problem of providing sufficient classrooms. The school facilities throughout the era were miserably inadequate, and overcrowding pupils in unhealthy quarters, some of which were rented temporarily, was the rule rather than the exception. Toward the close of the period, conscientious attempts were made to safeguard the student body against health hazards and to provide the children of Baltimore Public Schools with comfortable and attractive buildings in which to learn.

Although there were evidences of wholesome school-community relationships, the parents and community were less active in visiting the schools and sharing in their functions than in the earlier period. The schools were more or less removed from the activities of the community and the criticism they were subjected to resulted from, to a degree, from a lack of knowledge of what was really going on in the schools.