With these thoughts and admonitions of Root in mind, Frye returned to New York where he met with several textbook publishers and secured their assurances that reduction in prices would be made. He then purchased a ticket for Cuba and departed on the steamship Seguranca. The voyage to Havana was peaceful; Frye enjoyed watching the different aspects of nature from a seaward point of view.

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On October 16, 1899, the day after his arrival in Cuba, Frye reported to General Brooke for the first time. The two men talked over the outlook for opening schools, and Brooke gave Frye a copy of the proposed school laws(23) "which were based on an old Spanish Church system."

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Frye made a thorough study of the laws and returned to report to Brooke the following day. He told Brooke that the proposed laws had little to offer aside from embroidery and catechism for girls, and logarithms in the fourth year of primary school for boys!(24)

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Frye told Brooke that since a public school system was practically lacking in Cuba and since the citizens of the Island in general had had little experience in organizing schools, a uniform school system seemed very necessary. Frye felt that at first the school funds should come entirely from the insular treasury. There were four articles of the proposed law that bothered Frye the most. He felt that they contained the central thought of the entire law.(25)

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Article twenty-nine of this law stated that "city councils may freely determine the number of schools and their grade”. The councils could also set salaries of the teachers, assistants, and other personnel needed by the schools, and could prescribe the method of organizing the schools and their expenses. Furthermore, the individual city councils would be responsible for the organization of municipal inspection of schools, for the appointment of boards of education, and for the regulation of the expenses of these bodies. This article concluded by stating that "for approval of this part of their budget no further formalities should be required than those the law requires for the approval of other sections of the budget."

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Article thirty of the proposed school law put a reservation on the previous article. It stated that this previous article would apply only in cases where city councils paid all the expenses of primary instruction, without any aid from the state. In those cases where aid was received from the insular government, the councils were require to submit to the Military Governor all measures arising from the preceding article.

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The other two articles which Frye believed to be particularly indicative of the weakness of the proposed school law also tended toward disorganization of the school system. Article thirty-one stated that the appointment ofthe teaching force of the schools would be in the hands of the municipal councils. These councils would be allowed to exact whatever conditions they might see fit, and subject each candidate "to the tests which they may deem necessary”. Article thirty-four provided that the municipal councils were to make the selection of textbooks to be used. They were to make this selection, however, "without infringing upon the right which the government makes as to selection later on”.

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As Frye pointed out to Brooke, it could be seen from these articles that whatever might have been the thought of the authors of the law the result would have been the organization of a large number (131) of school systems –a number equal to the number of municipalities in Cuba.

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Frye stressed that what was needed at this point was organization and centralization since the municipalities had had so little experience in the organization of free public instruction.(26)

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General Brooke agreed with Frye and decided to send him to talk with Secretary Lanuza. He gave Frye a card of introduction which read, “Mr. Secretary Lanuza, will you be kind enough to consider Professor Frye in the light of my representative in the discussion of the school question –I have every confidence that you will make a solution of this important matter promptly."(27)

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The day before he met with Lanuza, Frye gave an interview to the Havana Herald in which he outlined his thoughts about the organization of public instruction for Cuba.(28)

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Frye told the Herald that he had come to Havana at the special request of General Brooke who had “entered upon this subject of the school question with more than usual zeal, in order to establish in Cuba a system of education that will be second to none." Frye said that he was in Havana to tell General Brooke and Secretary Lanuza all that he knew regarding various educational systems. To quiet the public dissent about the length of time required by the Military Government to establish an educational system, Frye informed the Herald that he was “more than agreeably surprised at the progress that already been made in formulating the plans for the revisions of the school system”.

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In regard to the future development of the school system Frye told the Herald that it had practically been decided to abandon the old school laws and to adopt a new set of rules to govern the first schools to be established in Cuba. He proposed that within a short time, at least a thousand free primary schools would be established throughout the entire island. He explained that centralization would be the rule in the establishment of the educational system –the schools would be classified into districts, presided over by superintendents responsible to a general superintendent who would be responsible to the Secretary of Education. “By this method the whole school system will be under the direct control of the general government and the various municipalities will, for the time being; be released from the responsibility of the control of schools.”

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In regard to teachers Frye stated that for the immediate purpose of establishing schools, he was proposing to grant temporary certificates to teachers, until such time as normal schools could be established and teachers could be examined in a suitable manner. During this temporary period, teachers would be engaged on a yearly basis and would be expected to attend normal schools during their vacations to prepare themselves for the regular teacher’s examinations. Frye announced that he felt the teaching of English should be made compulsory with the incentive of higher salaries for those teachers who had learned the language. Knowledge of English would be made a prerequisite to the attainment of a regular teaching certificate.

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On October 19, Frye had his first meeting with J. A. González Lanuza, Secretary of Justice and Public Instruction. At this meeting the two men discussed their ideas regarding the best plan of studies and school law for Cuba. Frye, who developed an immediate veneration for the Secretary,(29) explained why he felt a more centralized system to be necessary for Cuban education.

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The two men also talked over various plans for the opening and organization of schools. Before anything could be done by Frye for Cuban education, an article entitled "Una Prueba de Desconfianza" appeared in the Havana newspaper, La Lucha. This article attacked Scretary Lanuza and Director of the Education Nicholas Heredia for their long delay in opening publics schools. The periodical stated that the educational code being proposed by Heredia and Lanuza was not suited to Cuban needs but was instead based on a French plan. The article concluded by saying that "which has passed in the disgracing project, which the previously mentioned American professor is reorganizing, clearly demonstrates that we are completely right in attributing the incompetence in the matter of Lanuza and Heredia; demonstrates that we are right when we lament that which has been left to pass for many months without beneficial accomplishment in public instruction; demonstrates also our correctness in protesting the fact that the cooperation of such eminent professors as Varona, Borrero, López, and others, was not sought; demonstrates finally that General Brooke has never had much confidence in the ability of Lanuza and Heredia to discharge the duties of Secretary and Director, respectively of public instruction".(30)

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Frye was asked the following day by the Havana Herald(31) how he regarded the attacks made by La Lucha against Lanuza and Heredia. He answered that he had never had the pleasure of meeting with the author of the Lucha article who, he was told, was named Dr. Arturo Díaz. He further stated that he held Secretary Lanuza in the highest esteem "as a man, a scholar, and a patriot; he has invited me to make suggestions in regard to the school matter and there is not a single question at issue between us”.

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Frye further stated that should differences of opinion arise between himself and Secretary Lanuza he would defer to the Secretary's judgment, "because I am not in any official capacity, and because the Secretary commands the fullest varied data as to the needs of the Cuban schools." It was regrettable that some Cubans thought they could improve the school system through a mere abuse of Secretary Lanuza. Frye called on all classes and parties to unite in trying to upbuild the schools of the island. In concluding his remarks concerning Secretary Lanuza, Frye stated that, "no one calling himself a friend of education in Cuba will ever try to assail the man who is now bringing all his strength, intelligence, and culture to bear on the great work of upbuilding a school system for Cuba, by serving as Secretary of Public Instruction".

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On the day after his talk with Frye, Lanuza wrote a long letter to General Brooke explaining some of his ideas regarding Cuba's educational needs.(32) He wrote Brooke that he felt the opening of the schools should not be delayed until a superintendent of schools could be appointed, and that the appointment of teachers should not be postponed until permanent provisions for examination and licensing of teachers could be made. Lanuza advised Brooke that nothing would be gained by such a delay, especially since conscientious examination of teachers would take at least several months.

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Instead of waiting to make permanent appointments Lanuza recommended that temporary ones be made. These temporary appointments could be made from the teachers who were still receiving salaries and who, until the previous summer vacation which had begun in June, had been providing at least some teaching. Lanuza noted that some schools had been opened in the interior of the island by “ayuntamientos” seeking to provide public instruction. He agreed with Frye that a uniform code was needed, but he felt that the most urgent need was to open schools as fast as possible.

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In other words Lanuza felt that the individual “ayuntamientos” could best open schools on a rapid, though temporary, basis. The “ayuntamientos” were “corporations already in existence, and which, according to the system prevailing until now, have had in their charge matters of primary instruction." Lanuza posed the question, "is it not better to leave it in their charge provisionally, to furnish them with certain general rules, to order them to make provisional appointments of teachers and to open the schools, than to leave them closed in anticipation of the creation of other organisms that will attend definitively to these matters?".

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Lanuza stressed that after the provisional reforms for education had been instituted, and schools had been opened on a temporary basis, ''we would work actively in the organization on the basis proposed by Professor Frye, which I have always believed to be the best."

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In addition to the need for an immediate and temporary organization of Cuban public instruction, Lanuza was concerned with the matter of adopting a plan of study, and arrangement of courses. He noted that his recommendations in his proposed law might have been “deficient”, but he had done the best job possible. He had taken as a base a plan submitted to him by the university.

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He had consulted with many persons, and he had studied the plan of the French schools. If his proposed plan was deficient, it was because he had had little experience in educational matters and had been primarily concerned with reforms in the Department of Justice.

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Lanuza asked Brooke to have Frye tell him whether ''he thinks well or ill of my Plan of Study (subjects that should be studied, arrangement of the same in each course, and the hours of time that should be devote to each subject)." Lanuza questioned whether or not Frye's idea of adopting specific textbooks would take a prohibitively long time. Lanuza lamented that, "professor Frye says nothing to me on this point, on which he should be frank with me without fear of wounding my feelings because in these matters I am not, nor should I be sensitive. Why should my feelings be hurt, from the fact of a person, who is better informed than I am on certain things giving me his views thereon? On the contrary they would be a source of satisfaction to me and would surely be admitted".

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The way was now opened for Frye to put his abilities and experience to work to develop a viable system of public instruction. His education and experience as an educator and school administrator had made him uniquely suited for this work. The War Department and the United States Military Government of Cuba were ready to support him as were the Cuban people and leaders. In a short time Frye was to provide uniform central control of educational development in a manner resulting in an excellent system of public instruction.