UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES FINAL REPORT OF The Educational Commission TO The Forty-Sixth General Assembly of the State of Illinois. fe*-^ <=( / ^ ^1^^ -m-^.tN, Submitted in Accordance with an Act Approved May 25, 1907. SPRINGFIELD. ILLINOIS: Illinois State Jodrkal Co.,'.Statk Printers. 1909. LB S THE ILLINOIS EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION. 03 r-i Francis G. Blair, Chairman. o Ed.muxd J. James, Edwix G. Cooley,* o R. E. HiERONYMUS, A. F. Nightingale, Alfred Bayliss, Harry Taylor. Ira Woods Howerth, Secretary. a 'Resigned Feb. 19, 1909. ii;^2i204 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. Introflnction 1 Bulletins of the Commission 6 Recommendations of the Commission 9 Revision of the school law 9 Amendments 10 Special charters H The Superintendent of Public Instruction 15 (Jualitications 16 Election 16 Term 17 Salary 18 The State Superin tendency in Illinois 18 Powers and duties 22 References 29 The State Board of Education 31 Term of office 32 Compensation 33 Membership 33 Powers and duties 3l 'I'he Massachusetts Board 34 The Connecticut Board So The New York Board 36 The California Board 37 The West Virginia Board 38 Boards recently recommended 38 A bill for an Act to create a State Board of Education and to define its powers and duties 10 The State Board and the Superintendent of Public Instruction 49 Advantages of a State Board ; fiO Objections o2 The County Superintendent 55 Number of states having county or district supervision 5i The county superin tendency in Illinois 'iG Methods of election ■>& Term of office 63 Salaries 64 Powers and duties 3 1 Qualifications "9 References 84 Count >• Boards of Eriucation 87 Number of states having cop.nty boards 87 Membership and term of office 87 Composition 87 (.Jualitications of members 88 Powers' and duties f^S I'ypical county boards 93 Advantages of a county board ~ 93 References 96 Units of School Organization 98 The community system 99 Tlie district system 99 Advantages of the district system 106 The townshir) system 109 Typical township systems 1*2 The county svstem 114 Township Organization 11" Advantages of the township system 118 Obiections 12i 0[) in ions of experts in school administration 129 R eferences 13} Township ortranizatiini of schools in Illinois 137 Discontinuance and abandonment of small schools 145 — B E C VI Table of Contents — Concluded. Page. The Cert Hi cat ion of Teachers 147 Tlie township system 148 Tlie county system , 148 The State svstem 149 The power to grant, renew, suspend and revoke certificates 158 Recognition of normal school, college and university graduates 15!) Uniform examinations J63 Experience of other states with uniform examinations 1(56 Tlie certiiication of teachers it Iowa 170 The cettitication of teachers in Illinois 174 Fees for examinations 180 Plan of certiiication proposed by the Commission 18t References 185 County Teachers' Institutes 186 Number of county institutes held annually 186 Time at which county institu.es are held 187 Length of institutes 187 Methods of securing instruction 188 Attendance 189 Compensation for attendance 189 Methods of supporting county institutes 189 Typical systems of organizing and conducting institutes 199 The New York plan 199 The Pennsylvania plan 202 Tlie Illinois plan 203 County institutes in Illinois 204 The Purpose and Value of Count\' Teachers' Institutes 214 Organizing and conducting institutes 221 Joint institutes ; 224 Time of holding institutes 225 Directors of i nstitutes 226 Duration of institutes 227 Method of securing instructors and the character of the instruction 227 The attendance of teachers -. 229 Financial support 230 Institute plan proposed by the Commission 232 References 233 Salaries of Teachers 2J5 In general 23fi In Illinois 239 The cost of living 24J Wages in other occupations 243 Causes 244 Kffects 244 Remedies 245 Minimum Salary Legislation 247 In the United States 247 Objections 255 Minimum salaries proposed by the Commission 257 References 258 The Restoration of the Two Mill Tax 260 Subjects not Thoroughly Investigated by the Commission 265 Financial statement 268 Index 269 FINAL REPORT OF THE EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION. Introduction. To the Honorable, the General Assembly of the State of Illinois: The general school law under which the educational system of Illinois is now operated was enacted in 1855. Three years afterwards the Super- intendent of Public Instruction wrote that "It conflicts in several parts, while other portions are so obscure by useless verbiage and language wholly unintelligible to the ordinary reader, that no little difficulty has Ijeen experienced by the local school officers throughout the State in com- prehending the true meaning of the law, and ascertaining their several duties enjoined thereby."* Such was the condition of the school law in 1858. Its complexity, verbiage and difficulty of construction were increased from year to year by a succession of amendments and addi- tional acts. Accordingly in 1873 the need of simplifying the law had become so pressing that the entire act was thoroughly revised. From 1872 to 1889 the new body of school law grew by "external and unsystematized accretions" until its condition became practically the same as before. Consequently the Thirty-fifth General Assembly au- thorized another revision, which was made under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and went into effect May 21, 1889. Since that time a similar process of growth by unorganized ad- ditions of amendments to the law, and supplementary acts, has taken place, giving occasion once more for complaints on account of its ob- scurity, ambiguity and difficulty of interpretation. Naturally the first normal com])laint was issued from the office of tlie State Department of Education. In his renort of 190G tlie Superinten- dent of Public Instruction declared that the general school law "has be- come more or less archaic," and recommended, "the relief of the con- gested condition of the school laws in the form of a comprehensive re- vision by a competent commission, authorized by the Ijcgislature, ap- pointed by the Governor, and empowered and instructed to simplify the present general provisions by re-arranging them so that all dead matter shall be cut out, all ambiguous language be made clear, and, as far as possible, all provisions relating to the same subject be brought to- gether; also, that the same commission be authorized to point out lo the Legislature such useful provisions in the special laws now in force as ♦Second Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1857-8, p. 12. might well be iucornorated iu the general scliool laws, thus operating as an indueenient to the l^oklers of special privileges voluntarily to sur- render them."* This recoininendatiou was a))proved b}' various organizations among which were tiie women's clubs of the State. The South Side League of Parents' Chibs of Chicago, for instance, sent out a circular letter to presidents of teachers' associations and to the educational departments of women's clubs requesting them to t;ooperate in interesting the people of their community in petitioning the Governor of the State '"'to recom- mend to tiie next Legislature the appointment of an educational com- mission to revise and codify the laws governing the public schools." When the State Teachers' Association assembled in Springfield, Illi- nois, on December 2G, 1906, the Governor of the State, Honorable Charles S. Deneen, opened the proceedings with an address in which he urged the association to adopt resolutions requesting the General As- sembly to appoint a commission to codify the school law which, he said, had "become so cumbersome and contradictory in its provisions that no lawyer, not to say layman, pretends to know and understand it." He said that he liad come to the conclusion that the matter should be investi- gated by a competent commission to be appointed by the General As- sembly; that he believed that the Legislature would appoint such a com- mission, which should be given two years to inquire into the subject carefully and then recommend necessary changes, and that he believed the Legislature would make any necessary appropriation for carrying on such an investigation and that the people of the State would approve of the appointment of such a commission which would be able to give matured views on the subject of investio-ation.* In an address delivered before the Association on the following day, the retiring Superintendent of Public Instruction, Honorable Alfred Bayliss, said, "No specific additions to our overloaded school statutes, at this time, could be as serviceable as the intelligent elimination of super- fluous, incongruous, absurd and archaic nortions, the simplification and orderly arrangement of the remainder, and, perhaps, the repeal of all surviving special privileges by extending those which have value to all alike. That done, a very few new provisions would suffice to take the question of more law out of this council for years to come, thereby in- creasing our time to consider how best to obey the letter and fulfil the spirit of the essentials." Immediately following the address in which this statement was made the incoming Superintendent of Public Instruction, Honorable F. G. Blair, in speaking on the "Educational Outlook," expressed the follow- ing sentiments: "Now, if, as I have hinted, there is some confusion in educational tiiouglit today, if there are confiicting aims and ideals, if there is over-lapping and waste in the work of the educational system" what are some of the influences which promise to make matters iDetter? •Twenty-sixth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, IlHnoIs, p. 29. •Journal of Proceedings, Fifty-third Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Teachers' Association, Springfield, Illinois, December 26-28, 1906, p. 9. First, one of the most hopeful and promising educational signs of the time is the announcement made by Governor Deneen that at the next session of the Legislature, it will, in all probability, provide for the ap- pointment by the Governor, of an educational commission, whose duty it shall be to study the system of education in Illinois, and the laws under which this system operates, and to compare its form and its work- ings with other states and other countries, and from such study and comparison to formulate a new code of laws and to suggest such modifi- cations of the present system as may seem wise to them. I believe that such a commission has a large opportunity, and I believe that if this opportunity is used as it may be used, great good will come to the cause of education in the State of Illinois."' When the report of the Le.2:islative Committee annointed by the State Teachers' x\ssociation was read, it was found to include the following statement : "We recommend to the State Teachers' Association that the General Assembly be petitioned to adopt a joint resolution authorizing the appointment by the Governor of a commission to examine carefully into needed changes in our present school laws and to report to the Forty-sixth General Assembly a liill for the comprehensive revision of the same." When on December 28th, the Committee on Resolutions presented its report, the first declaration was as follows : "Whereas, The statute known as the general school law of Illinois, to- gether with the numerous additional and supplemental acts, and so-called special charters, form a body of law which is often obscure, sometimes contra- dictory, and much of it, obsolete, or no longer effective; and. Whereas, In many ways there is reason to believe that our plan of school organization itself may thereby be greatly improved; therefore, Resolved, That we request the Governor of Illinois to make effective his very practical and businesslike suggestion that the Forty-fifth General As- sembly be requested to authorize the appointment of a commission to visit the best schools, and study the public school system of this and other countries for the purpose of gathering and reporting to the Forty-sixth General Assembly all the data necessary for an intelligent reorganization of the entire public school system, which shall result in placing it on the plane of the best in the world for simplicity, adaptation and efficiency ; and, be it further Resolved, That we submit this unreserved indorsement of the Executive's views, as expressed to this association Wednesday evening, December 26, 1906, and this request, in lieu of any and all other recommendations or re- quests for new school legislation which this association might otherwise have wished to make at this time, believing that such a procedure not only is the sane, but more expeditious mode of procedure at this time." This resolution was unanimously adonted bv the association. The necessity of an educational commission to revise and codify the school law and suggest improvements of the school system was further emphasized by the Governor of the State in his biennial message to the Forty-fifth General Assembly presented on January 9, 1907. In this message he said : "Fifty years ago our school system fairly representetl the best educational thought. To this has l)een added a mass of ill- considered, incoherent and occasionally obscure amendments, so that the school laws of Illinois now include the General School Law con- taining 301 sections, thirty-seven special charters, eight supplemental acts and twentv-one adtlitional acts. ]\Ioreover, there are more than 400 court decisions constniin>i these statutes. It is manifest that such a condition of our school hiws, calls for a general revision of the system. We have all the parts of a complete school system fairly well developed, l)ut there is no coherence or symmetry. Before a general revision of the school law is undertaken, however, I believe that a commission should be appointed to study other school systems, comparing ours with the best in this country and elsewhere, so that the best information may be secured as to all classes of schools, country, town, primary, intermed- iate, high school and normal, and to frame and submit to the next General Assembly laws to imify our school system and bring our public schools up to the highest standard of efficiency. It will not require a large appropriation to accomijlish this work. I recommend such an ap- propriation as will enable a commission to nerform the work outlined."^ Accordingly a committee of the State Teachers' Association drafted the following bill to provide for an educational commission, which bill was introduced in the House by Eepresentative Coyle and in the Senate by Senator Pemberton: Ax Act to create an educational commission, to define its powers and duties,, and to make a)i appropriation therefor. Sectiox 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, repre- sented in the General Assembly: That a commission of seven members be, and is hereby created, to be known as the Educational Commission, to be constituted and appointed as hereinafter provided. Sec. 2. Upon the passage and approval of this Act, the Governor shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint six persons representing the various phases of educational work within the State, who, together with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall constitute the commission. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be ex officio chairman of the commission. All vacancies that may occur by resignation or otherwise shall be filled by the Governor. Sec. 3. The commission shall meet at the call of the chairman and elect a secretary, and shall cause a record to be made and kept of all its pro- ceedings. Four members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the Educational Commission to make a thorough investigation of the common school system of Illinois, and the laws under which it is organized and operated: To make a comparative study of such other school systems as may seem advisable and to submit to the Forty-sixth General Assembly a report including such suggestions, recommendations, revisions, additions, corrections and amendments as the commission shall deem necessary. Sec. 5. The public printer is hereby authorized and directed to do all printing necessary for the Educational Commission. Sec. 0. The members of the commission shall receive only their actual personal and traveling expenses, to be paid upon the presentation of item- ized statements of such accounts, verified by affidavits, and approved by the Governor: Provided, hotcever, that the secretary may receive fair compensa- tion for the time actually spent in the work of the commission, such com- pensation to be determined by the commission and approved by the Governor. Sec. 7. The sum of $10,000.00 is hereby appropriated for postage, station- ery, clerical and expert service, incidental and traveling expenses of the commission, and the Auditor of Public Accounts is hereby authorized to draw his warrant for the foregoing amount or any part thereof, on the order of the Educational Commission, signed by its chairman, attested by its secretary, and approved by the Governor. The Legislative Committee of the State Teachers' Association and the Legislative Committee of the County Superintendents' Association came to Springfield and assisted in securing the passage of the measure. It finally passed hoth houses and was approved by Governor Deneen on May 25, 1907. Upon its approval one of the ablest and best informed school men of Illinois said : "That is the best piece of school legislation that has been enacted in a quarter of a century." The Educational Commission thus demanded and thus provided for was appointed on September 37, 1907. In its appointment ,the Governor sought to obtain representative men of the various educational interests and the diiferent localities of the State. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Honorable F. G. Blair, was made chairman of the com- mission by a provision in the bill creating it. Edmund J. James, Pres- ident of the University of Illinois, was named as the representative of the StaJte Universitv and of the eastern district. Mr. R. E. Hierony- mus, President of Eureka College and also the president of the State organization of non-state colleges and universities, was appointed as the representative of these institutions and of the north central portion of the State. Mr. Alfred Bayliss, Principal of the Western Illinois State Normal School, was appointed as the representative of the normal schools and of the western section of .the State. Mr. Edwin G. Cooley, Superintendent of the Chicago public schools, was made the representa- tive of city superintendents and Mr. A. F. Nightingale, County Super- intendent of Cook county, of the county superintendents. These two gentlemen represented also the northern section of the State. As a representative of the southern section and also of the public high schools, Mr. Harry Taylor, Princinal of the Harrisburg Township High School, was selected. The commission, as thus constituted, met in Springfield, Illinois, on December 27, 1907, and elected Ira Woods Howerth of the University of Chicago, secretary of the commission at a salary of $4,000.00 a year. The headquarters and office of the commission were established in the main room of the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Springfield, Illinois. Twelve other meetings of the commission, each lasting from one to four days, have been held. The minutes of these meetings are on file in the office of the Superintendent of Public In- struction of Illinois where they may be consulted by anyone who, for any reason, may desire to do so. At the first meeting of the commission the work to be undertaken was thoroughly discussed. It was decided to undei-take first a thorough re- vision, condensation, simplification and codification of the general school law. Later it was determined that through the secretary of the com- mission a thorough investigation of the school laws and school systems of other states should be made as a preliminary to recommendations in re- gard to improving the school system of Illinois, and that these investi- gations should be embodied in a series of bulletins. BlLLKTIXS OF THE COMMISSION. One of the duties required of the commission was "to make a com- parative study of such other school systems as may seem advisable.'* This was thought by the commission to be a necessary preliminary to the formulation of any recommendation in regard to the improvement of the school system of Illinois. The subjects taken up first made neces- sary a study of the school systems of the various states and an investi- gation of the methods of administering these systems. This study and investigation were carried on as thoroughly as the time at the disposal of the commission would permit. The results are contained in a series of bulletins is*;ued by the commission for the purpose primarily of ac- quainting the people of the State with the recommendations of the commission in their tentative form and the facts and conditions upon which these recommendations were based. These bulletins are nine in number, including the preliminary report of the commission, and are entitled, respectively, and in the order of their publication, as follows: A Tentative Plan for a State Board of Education, a Tentative Plan for a County Board of Education, a Tentative Plan for the Certification of Teachers, a Tentative Plan for Making the Township the Unit of School Organization, Tentative Eecommendations Concerning County Teachers Institutes, the General School Law as Eevised, Simplified, Condensed and Codified, Tentative Eecommendations in Eegard to Minimum Salaries for Teachers, Bills Providing for a State Board of Education, the Certifica- tion of Teachers, and Township Organization of Eural Schools, with aa Introductory Statement, and the Preliminar}^ Eeport of the Educational Commission to the General Assembly of the State of Illinois. Of these bulletins, G9,500 copies have been printed, and distributed chiefly, of course, within the State. They have been widely quoted and commented upon outside the State, however, sometimes in part republished, and have been demanded in quantities in at least a dozen of the states for the purpose of influencing legislation. Bulletin Xo. 1 contains the tentative plan of the commission 'to pro- vide for the creation of a State Board of Education, the number of members, method of appointment, and term of office, with the powers and duties that should be prescribed for it, and an exposition of the facts regarding the thirty-three state boards of education now in existence, from the study of which facts the plan of the commission was formu- lated. This tentative plan was based upon the careful consideration of the educational needs of Illinois and upon the thorough examination of the composition, powers and duties of the various state boards of education and the educational advantages which have been derived from the operation of the boards in the various states. Bulletin Xo. 2 contains the results of a study of county boards of education in the twenty-nine states which have adopted some form of an educational county board. It includes also a tentative recommendation for the creation of such a board in Illinois. Following the study of county boards will be found the results of an investigation of the county superintendency in the thirty-nine states and two territories whicli have- provided for countv scliool supervision and tentative recommendations in regard to the qualifications, salaries and methods of electing county superintendents with a suggestion in regard to the number of assistants which should be provided to assist the county superintendent in the performance of the duties of his office. Bulletin JSTo. 3 is devoted to the consideration of a tentative plan for the certification of teachers, which plan involves the following general propositions : First, that the power to issue, renew, suspend and revoke certificates shall be lodged in the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the countv superintendent of schools; second, that examinations shall be uniform throughout the State and that the examination questions shall be prepared and the papers graded under the direction of the State Board of Education ; and that the fees for examinations and renewals of certificates shall be abolished and that all expenses of such examinations shall be paid by the State. The advantages of a State uniform examin- ation system over our present county system, and the successful exper- ience of fifteen states in operating a state system of examinations are set forth. Bulletin Xo. 4 is in the nature of a discussion of the various units of school organization, the district, the town or townsliir> and the county, with the reasons for and against the adoption of the to^Tiship system. The organization for the pur]30se of administerin'^ the school system in the different units of organization is also described and set forth in tabular form. Bulletin No. 5 mav be described as a studv of the county teachers' in- stitutes of the United States, and esnecially of Illinois, with respect to their number, the times at which they are held, their duration, the various methods of securing instruction, the practice with respect to compensating teachers for attendance and the methods of supporttng such institutes. The tentative recommendations of the commission, based upon this study and included in the bulletin, are with respect to organizing and conducting institutes, the employment of a director of institutes, the time of holding such meetings for the instruction and in- spiration of teachers and their duration, the feasibility of arranging for joint institutes, the compulsory attendance of teachers and the support of institutes by the State. Bulletin Xo. 6 is t^ie revised, simplified, condensed and codified school law, with an introductory statement in regard to the method and results of the revision. Originally the law contained 301 sections, thirty-seven special charters, eight supplemental acts and twenty-one additional acts. In the revision the number of sections is reduced from 397 to 280. By the elimination of superfluous sections, paragraphs, sentences, phrafes and words, the number of pages of the law were reduced from 118 to 68, a condensation of more than one-third. Bulletin Xo. 7 is a study of the wages of teachers in Illinois and the other states of the Fnion, of the minimum salary legislation in the eight states which have adopted such legislation, and in foreign countries^ with the recommendations of the commission in regard to the length 8 of the school term, the luiniiuum salaries which should be paid to teachers and a discussion of the advantages of and the objections to mininium salary legislation. In Bulletin Xo. 8 may be found in full the following bills: A bill to provide for a State Board of Education and to define its powers and duties, a bill to provide for the certification of teachers and a bill for an act to enable the districts of any township in the State, no one of which districts shall contain an incorporated village or city, to vest the control and management of their schools in a single board of directors. Bulletin No. 9 is the preliminary report of the commission to the Forty-sixth General Assembly of the State of Illinois. It includes a brief description of the work of the commission, a statement with re- spect to each of its final recommendations, including the recommenda- tions themselves with some of the reasons why they have been proposed. The publication by the commission, in this series of bulletins, of its tentative recommendations has not only kept the people of the State in- formed with respect to the work of the commission, but has also called forth both friendly suggestions and adverse criticisms which have en- abled it to improve these recommendations before presentation in their final form, and these were the main objects of publishing such bulletins. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION. The commission is required by law to submit to your honorable body ''a report including such suggestions, recommendations, revisions, addi- tions, corrections and amendments as the commission shall deem neces- sary." In formulating the recommendations to be presented the com- mission has had under consideration, first, the school law, and second, the school system. Revision of the School Law. The school law under which the educational system of Illinois is operated has grown largely by accretion and is consequently incoherent and in many respects defective and cumbersome. It has been so declared again and again by those who have been required to administer it. It is often obscure, sometimes ambiguous, sometimes contradictory. Some sections are exact duplicates of other sections, some are inoperative, some have been repealed by subsequent legislation, but still encumber the pages of the statutes. The whole body of the school law has consequently long needed, revision and codification, and such revision and codification was one of the duties required of the commission. In the performance of this duty the commission has devoted much time and the most careful attention. How much time and attention have been given to this part of the work of the commission will not be realized unless it is remembered that every sentence and phrase of the law have undergone a critical examination. The commission has en- deavored by every legitimate method of simplification and condensation to produce a code logically and conveniently arranged, simple in ex- pression and lucid in meaning, a code which school officere and the people generally may without difficulty read and understand. The result of its labors will be found in Bulletin No. 6 as the draft of "a bill for an Act to establish and maintain a system of free schools." This bill includes the entire "Act to establish and maintain a system of free schools," approved May 21, 1889, and known a.s the general school law, also twenty additional acts and amendments, tlie whole orig- inally containing 397 sections. In the revision all sections which consist merely of a restatement of some part of the Constitution of the State or of the general statutes have been omitted, also all sections that were merely duplicates in expression or meaning of other sections, all sections that have been repealed directly 10 bv subsequent, legislation, all sections that have become obsolete or wholly inoperative, and all sections plainly inconsistent with other sections more recently enacted. By thus eliminating useless sections, and by combining sections which logically belong together, the commission was able to drop out of the law 117 sections without the least change of its meaning. By striking out superfluous words, phrases and sentences, of which there were many, the bulk of the law was further reduced. With all the changes incident to the revision, however, no alteration was made in the purport of the law. Tbe bill contains no new matter. It is simply a restatement of the existing law. It will hardly be denied that as such it is far superior to the form in which the school law is now expressed. The commission, therefore, respectfully recommends the substitution of the revised, simplified, condensed and codified form of the law as contained in Bulletin No. 6, and later introduced in the General Assembly as Senate Bill No. 96, for the general school laws as they now exist. Amendments. The most important recommendations of the commission, as implied by suggested amendments to the revised general school law, are the following : 1. To provide a uniform system of bookkeeping by the township treas- urers of the State, and to secure promptness in the Inspection and auditing of their accounts. 2. That the minimum length of the school term be extended from sir months to seven months. 3. That the school month shall consist of four weeks of five days each instead of the calendar month. 4. That no person be employed to teach in the public schools of the State who is not at least eighteen years of age. 5. That no person be employed to teach who does not hold, at the time of his employment, a certificate of qualifications covering the entire time for which he is employed. 6. That every teacher must keep, in addition to the daily register, a classification register which shall exhibit the name, age and attendance of each pupil, the day of the week, the month and the year and shall show the exact standing in the course of study of each pupil. 7. That a board of education in cities containing a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants may dismiss a teacher only for cause, upon writ- ten charges, and after a hearing before the board of education. 8. That boards of education may employ a superintendent for periods of four years, instead of one year, after a probationary period of two years. 9. That boards of education in school districts having a population of not fewer than 1,000 and not more than 100,000 inhabitants, and not governed by special charters, shall be limited to a president and six members. 10. That boards of education in cities having a population of more than 10,000 inhabitants shall be authorized to purchase or locate a school house site, or to purchase, build or move a school house without authorization by a majority vote of the district. 11. That boards of school directors be authorized to apportion funds for the purchase of libraries and apparatus •"iien they are needed, and not be limited as they now are to such purchase "after provision has been made for the payment of all necessary school expenses." 12. That the actual traveling expenses of county superintendents in- curred in the supervision of schools be paid by the county hoard. 11 13. That the law be so amended as to provide unequivocally for free high school privileges to pupils residing in a district in which no high school has been established. 14. That the phrase "until otherwise provided by law" be stricken from the section of the law providing for a two mill tax upon the equalized as- sessed value of all the property of the State for school purposes so that the two mill tax levied for such purposes from 1855 to 1873 be restored, thus increasing the State appropriation for schools from $1,000,000 to approxi- mately $2,500,000. Some of the amendments to the law are made necessary of course by the larger recommendations of the commission which involve material changes eitlier in the organization or the administration of the school system. These larger amendments are embodied in the following bills drafted by the commission and introduced in the Clenoral Assembly: 1. A bill to provide for the creation of a State Board of Education and to define its powers and duties. 2. A bill to provide for a uniform system of examining applicants for teachers' certificates. 3. A bill to enable the districts of any township in the State, no one of which districts shall contain an incorporated village or city, to vest the con- trol and management of their schools in a single board of directors. 4. A bill to provide for an increase in the salaries of county superinten- dents. 5. A bill to provide for organizing and conducting county teachers' insti- tutes. All of these recommendations were presented in the preliminary re- port of the commission. Special Charters. The commission respectfully recommends that the general school law be so improved by amendment that an inducement will be offered to cities operating their schools under special charters to surrender the same and organize under the provisions of the general school law. The reasons for this may here be briefly set forth. At the time of the adoption of ithe Constitution of 1870, which pro- hibited further special legislation relating to the management of .common schools, there were seventy-three school districts existing by virtue of special charters. This number does not include the district of the Princeton Township High School which was also created by a special act. Since that time the special charters of thirty-eight of these districts have been abrogated, thus bringin"- the schools of the following districts, most of which contain cities, under tlie o])eration of the general law: Abingdon, Augusta, Aurora, Bardol])h, Bourl)on, Bushnell, Caledonia, Carthage, Centralia. Chicago, Danville, Davis, P^lgin. Evanston, Fair- bury, Freeport, Glencoe, Harristown, Henry, Hliopolis. LaSalle, Lee Center, Lincoln, Lockport, Marion, Mason, Monmouth, Xaper\alle, 01- nev, Oneida, Ottawa, Pittsfield. Quincy, Urbana, Vandalia, Waterloo, Winnetka, Wilmington. 12 There are still in existence, however, thirty-five special charter dis- tricts. The schools of these districts are operated under different kinds of special charters together with supplemental acts which, though general in form, are si)ecial in application. These charters and acts greatly in- crease the bulk of the scliool law. Indeed, they constitute a body of legislation greater than the general school law itself. Of course a special charter with its supplementary acts is of interest only to the people im- mediately concerned. But the entire body of this legislation must be printed and generally distributed although it is not of general interest. Each year something is added, thus increasing- the complexity of the law, its volume and the cost of -legislation. The charters of the thirty-five districts now operating under special Acts are in many of their provisions practically the same. In other respects they are as different as the educational ideas and wishes of those who procured them. They are necessarily imperfect and are becoming irom year to year, owing to the additional legislation made necessary by them, more and more difficult to constnie. They consequently give rise to more vexatious legal questions tlian all of the 11,785 other school districts put together. This is largely due to the fact that these charters themselves are special acts and consequently must receive a strict con- struction. No powers may be exercised by the boards of a special charter district, except those which are expressly conferred in the charter and supplementary acts, and those which bv clear implication are necessary to carry into effect the powers definitely conferred. This is contrary to the opinion of some who favor the preservation of a special charter with the idea that it confers powers additional to those of the general law. The opj^osite, however, is true. The Board of Education of a dis- trict operating under a special charter has only such powers as are ex- pressly granted. Now, it is highly desirable, in order to secure greater uniformity in school organization and administration, to simplify the school law of the State and to diminish the cost and trouble of special legislation, that all these special charters be surrendered and the schools of all special districts be organized and operated under the general law. There is every reason why this should be done. If the charter of a special dis- trict is better than the general la\V, then that district enjoys certain desirable privileges which are withheld from other districts of the State. There can be no good reason why this should be the case. The powers and privileges exercised under the best special charters should be con- ferred upon all districts alike. If this were done special charters would probably be relinquished without additional legislation. There would be no particular object in retaining them. For this reason the general law should incorporate the advantages now enjoyed by special charter districts. The chief advantages enjoyed by these districts are two ; namely, smaller boards of education in most cases, and the power to select sites for school buildings, and to erect such buildings, without a vote of the people. If these two powers were incorporated in the general law there would be little excuse for the continued existence of some of the special 13 charters. They would fall away by their own weiffht and at least some of the special charter districts would voluntarily organize under the general law. That these advantages may be incorporated in the. general law, tho commission recommends that section 123 of an act to establish and main- tain a system of free schools, approved and in force June 13, 190!), be amended to read as follows: Section 123. In all school districts having a population of not fewer than 1,000 and not more than 100,000 inhabitants, and not governed by special Acts, and in such other districts as may hereafter be ascertained by any special or general census to have such population, there shall be elected a board of education to consist of a president and six members. When such board of education is the successor of the school directors, all rights of property, and all rights regarding causes of action existing or vested In such directors, shall vest in it as fully and completely as they were vested in the school directors. This amendment would limit the number of members of boards of education in cities of fewer than 100,000 inliabitants to seven, as well as eliminate from the law an ambiguous statement in re- gard to the increase o'f such members. It would be in accord, too, with the best educational -thought. The tendency today is toward smaller boards of administration. They are more easily brought together, they are more informal in their methods of discussion, and in general more effective. To bring the second advantage within the general school law the com- mission recommends that section 127 of an act to establish and maintain a system of free schools, approved and in force June 12, 1909, be amended so as to give to all boards of education in districts having more than 10,000 inhabitants the power to purchase or lease sites for school houses and to erect school buildings without the necessity of peti- tion or an election. The boards of almost if not quite all special charter districts exercise this power. Twenty-three of these districts have a population of less than 10,000. The amendment here proposed will not reach these districts, but in the case of those having a population of more than 10,000 it will remove one great obstacle in the way of organizing under the general school law. It is reasonably certain from the manner in which this power has been exercised bv boards of education upon whicli it has been specially granted, that it may safely be conferred upon all. With this amendment and others elsewhere sug- gested by the commission section 127 would read as follows: Section 127. The board of education shall have all the powers of school di- rectors, be subject to the same limitations, and in addition thereto they shall have power, and it shall be their duty: 1. To establish and maintain free schools for not less than seven nor more than ten months in each year. 2. To erect, hire or purchase buildings suitable for school purposes, and keep the same in repair. 3. To buy or lease sites for school houses, with the necessary grounds. 4. To furnish schools with the necessary fixtures, furniture, apparatus, libraries and fuel. 5. To divide the district into sub-districts, to create new ones, and to alter or consolidate them. 14 6. To establish different grades, and assign pupils to the several schools. 7. To appoint a secretary who shall keep a faithful record of all their proceedings. 8. To employ a competent superintendent who may, after two years of Bervice, be employed for periods of four years. 9. To dismiss any teacher for cause, upon written charges, after a hear- ing before the said board of education. 10. To levy a tax to extend schools beyond a period of ten months, in each year, upon a petition of a majority of the voters of the district. 11. To request the trustees of schools, in writing, to convey any real es- tate or interest therein used for school purposes, or held in trust for schools. 12. To prepare and publish annually in some newspaper, or in pamphlet form, a report including the school attendance in the year preceding, the program of studies, the number of persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-one unable to read and write, and a statement of the receipts and expenditures, with the balance on hand. 15 THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. With one exception every state and territory in the Union has an executive school officer who is at the head of the state or territorial school system. Delaware should perhaps be recorded as the exception since in. that state the Auditor acts as secretary of the State Board of Education, Between 1875 and 1886 it had a superintendent of free schools. The legal title of this state school executive varies widely. More than a dozen different names are employed. In twenty-two states it is "The Superintendent of Public Instruction;" in ten, "The State Super- intendent of Public Instruction;"' in three, "The Secretary of the State Board of Education;" in two, "The State Superintendent of Public Schools ;" and in two, "The Superintendent of Education." Other titles employed are, superintendent of public education, state superintendent of education, state superintendent of public education, state superin- dent of free schools, commissioner of education, state school commis- sioner, commissioner of public schools and state commissioner of common schools. The first state to provide an executive board of her school system was New York. In 1812 provision was made by legislation for the appoint- ment of a su])erintendent of common schools and on January 14, 1813, Gideon Hawley was elected to that office. He served until February 22, 1821. On April 3rd of that year, the office was abolished and its duties attached to tliosc of the Secretar}' of State. In 1854. the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction was created, since which time New York has had separate school supervision. In 1904, the title was changed to commissioner of education. Manland followed the example of New York and in 1825 created the office of state superintendent. In 1827, however, it was abolished, and it does not seem to have been revived until 1864. The next state to provide for general school supervision was Vermont. A law of that state enacted in 1827 required the Secretary of State to collect school statistics from the various towns. In 1845, the office of State Superintendent of Common Schools was created. In 1851, the General Assembly refused to choose a sunerintendent but the office was revived under the new law passed in 1856. One by one other states instituted general school supervision by a personal executive. Pennsylvania in 1835, ^lichigan in 1836, ilassachu- setts, Kentucky and Ohio in 1837, and Connecticut in 1839, provided in 16 greater or lesser degree some form of state supervision of schools through a state officer — either the SecretaiT of State, a Superintendent of Schools or a Secretary of the State Board of Education. As a rule, how- ever, the office has not been continuous. State supervision, like other desirable features of our present state educational systems, won its way only by slow demonstrations of its peculiar advantages. Qualifications. Only six of the states provide a standard of qualifications for their chief office of educational administration. In Virginia the superinten- dent of public instruction must be "an experienced educator," in Ten- nessee he must be "a person of literary and scientific attainments, and of skill and experience in the art of teaching," and in West Virginia he must be "a person of good moral character, of temperate habits, of liter- ary acquirements and skill and experience in the art of teaching.'" Three of the states have a somewhat higher standard. The school law of Montana provides that the superintendent of public instruction "''shall have attained the age of thirty years at the time of his election and shall have resided within the state two years next preceding his election, and be the holder of a state certificate of the highest grade, issued in some state, or a graduate of some reputable university, college or normal school." An equally high standard is provided by the law of Wisconsin which declares that "no person shall be eligible to the office of state superintendent of public instruction, who shall not, at the time of his election thereto, have taught or supervised teaching in the state of Wisconsin, for a period of not less than five years, and who shall not,, at such time, hold the highest s-rade of certificate which the state super- intendent is by law empowered to issue." So, also, Utali requires her superintendent of public instruction to be a qualified elector, a resident citizen of the state for five years next preceding his election, to have- attained the age of thirty years and to be the holder of a state certifi- cate of the highest grade issued in some state, or a graduate of some rep- utable university, college or normal school." Two of the states, namely, North Dakota and Oklahoma, while the-- require no educational qualifi- cations of their state superintendents, make certain unusual require- ments. In North Dakota the superintendent of public instruction must have attained the age of twenty-five years, be a citizen of the United States and have the qualifications of state electors. In Oklahoma only "a male citizen of the United States of the age of not less than thirty years, and who shall have been three years next preceding his election a nualified elector" of the state is eligible to the office of superintendent of ]-jublic instruction. This specific limitation of the office to male citizens is unique. In Colorado and Idaho, women are now incumbents of the office. Election. The usual method of electing the chief school officer is l)y popular election. This is the practice in thirty-three of the states. In seven of the states and the two territories he is appointed by the Governor. 17 In Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Ishmd he is elected by the state board of education and in Xew York by the state board of regents. In Vermont he is elected bv the General Assembly and in Delaware, as already pointed out, the state auditor is ex officio the secretary of the state board of education. Tlie election by the people, as well as that of election by the General Assembly, is open to the objection that political affiliations and political expediency ratlier than merit determine the selection of a candidate for the otfice of superintendent of public instruction. It does not always happen that the man best qualified for the 'duties of the position belongs to the dominant party. Yet a political party is not likely to select a candidate outside its ranks. Again, the state superintendency is to the politicians, perhaps, the least important of the state offices. The nomin- ation of a state superintendent's usually left to the closing hours of a more or less turbulent political convention. Political "trades" have,, nerhaps, been entered into involving- the office. The demands of congres- sional districts not represented on the ticket have become more urgent and insistent. Availability rather than ability is the consideration. It therefore often hannens that, to say the very least, the best qualified person for the office is not selected, and when this is the case it is diffi- cult to arouse and to crs^stallize ^^^^nilar indignation. It seems to l)e a rule that the more remote an office is from the immediate material in- terests of the people the more difficult it is to nrevent the election of an unsatisfactory candidate. Election of the superintendent by tlie people is well established, the results have been fairly satisfactory, and a proposal to ehano-e the method from election to appointment would ])rob- ably meet the determined ojijiosition of the people. The appointment of the school executive by the Governor or by a state board has worked well in those states in which this method of elect- ing this officer has been practiced. If ■•'political considerations have not always l)een left out of account they have in manv cases been plainly ignored. In Pennsylvania, for instance, in which state the superinten- dent of public instruction is apnointed b" the Gov-ernor, with the advice ami consent of two-thirds of all the members of the Senate, there has been no strictly jiolitical appointment to the office of superintendent of public instruction during the last generation. The present incumbent has held the position for sixteen years. A bi-partisan, or non-political board, as an appointive bodv, is still further removed from political bias and influence than the Goverrrir, and the dauixer of appointment as a reward for party services is con- sequently still more remote. Horace jMann owed his appointment to the secretaryship of the ^[assachusetts state board of education, and his long continuance in office not to his ])olitical services l)ut to his interest in education and his efficiency as an educator. Term. The term of office of the heads of the school systems of the various states range from one year in Delaware, ^lassachusetts and Khode Is- land to five years in Xew Jersov, '"during good behavior" in Connec- —2 EC 1« ticut, and "during the pleasure of the board of regents" in New York. In nineteen of the states the term is two years, in three of the states three years and in nineteen of the states four years. The tendency is .towards. a longer term. A short term is not necessarily inconsistent with long continuance in office. The term in Pennsylvania is only four years, but the present incumbent is now serving his fifth term. In Massachusetts, the secretary of the state board of education is elected each year but the average i:erm of service since the creation of the office has been about ten years. So, also, in Connecticut, although the nominal term is one year the state has had the same secretary since 1883. Salary. The average salary attached to the highest school office of the various states is $2,939.58. The highest salaries are paid by Illinois and New York. In New, York the law provides that the commissioner of educa- tion shall receive an annual salary of $7,500.00 and $1,500.00 for travel- ing and other expenses. In Illinois . the salary is $7,500.00. All neces- sary traveling expenses and contingent expenses for books, postage and stationery pertaining to his office are also allowed. The State Superintendency in Illinois. In Illinois a faint beginning of State school supervision manifested itself in 1837. By an Act approved March 4th of that year trustees of schools were required to make annual reports to county school commis- sioners who in turn were required to transmit abstracts of these reports to the Auditor of Public Accounts to be by him laid before the General Assembly. Under this provision a report was made by the Auditor to the General Assembly on January 7, 1839, showing the condition of the schools for the year 1837. During the next half dozen years the ap- pointment of a State Superintendent was urged in memorials and resol- utions by educational conventions, by the educational press and in the State Legislature. Iij 1841, the Illinois Education Society, organized in that year, urged upon the Legislature the appointment of a State School Superintendent. In 1843 another effort was made to secure State supervision. Petitions were circulated but there was much op- position on the ground of the expense involved ir. the creation of the new State office. On December 3, 1844, tlie Governor of the State, in a message to the General Assembly, declared that but little statistics or other information of the actual operation of existinsr laws on the subject of common school education had yet been collected to enable the General Assembly to legislate upon it with enlightened judgment, and recommended the appointment by the General Assem1)ly of an agent who should travel over the State and collect the desired information. A committee, appointed by the State School Convention to draw up a memorial on the subject of common school education, expressed the need of an executive head of the school system in the following language : "We need a central power like the heart to the liuman system, to keep the works in motion ; and to have a regular communication established 19 by intermediate agents between tlie heart and the extremities — Ijetween superintendent and people; an arterial circulation to supply instruc- tions and advice to under officers, teachers, and parents, and veins to convey information of successes and failures, and of required improve- ments, to the superintendent. Here has been a prime, and a sufficient cause of failure, in -the operation of our school laws. Suitable provisions have not been made to procure statistics and information of various kinds to lay before the Legislature, and without which enlightened leg- islation could not be expected; and our legislators have calculated too much upon the influence of private, individual advantages in having good schools ,and have not attended to awakening an interest in regions, and in particular cases, where education was not justly annreciated, and to enforcing the laws" where they were neglected."* Among the reasons presented for creating the office of State Superin- tendent of Public Instruction were the following: 1. That the State should have an authorized agent, as in other public appropriations, to see that its money is rightly applied, and made useful in the highest degree. 2. That the usefulness of the township funds would be greatly increased. 3. That the Legislature may be supplied with reliable information con- cerning the operation of the law, the condition of schools throughout the State, the plans and wishes of the people, and the improvements made else- where; all of which is necessary to enlightened and permanent legislation. 4. The advantage of an agent to operate in particular regions, where the greatest apathy prevails. 5. The necessity of enlisting a more general interest in common schools; the surest and best method of doing such, is to send a man of the right char- acter, through the length and breadth of the State. 'iJie opposition which then existi'd to the crsation of tlie ofiice may l)e inferred from the appeal of the committee to those who were op- posed to their recommendation. "Several differ from us," it declared, "who have shown by former efforts, their sincere desire to promote this great cause. But we would ask of them as a particular, as a great favor, to waive their objections and yield their own plans, giving tliis their cor- dial support, even if they think some other measure less expensive might be devised. Till now we have not had the office, and all acknowledge the necessity of working a change ; — let our plan be tried for a year or two and watch the consequences. If found not to answer the purpose, the law can be repealed at the next session, and the ex])eriment will not be very costly. Please not only withliold opposition, but give us your hearty support." The result of this wide and continued agitation was the passage of an act making the Secretary of State ex officio superintendent of com- mon schools. In December, 184G, an educational convention, held in Springfield, appointed a committee instructed to memorialize the Leg- islature for an amendment to the school law making the superintendeney of public instruction a separate office to be filled by the Legislature. Another convention which met at the same phicc in 1849 drew up •• memorial containing the same request. Nothing came of these efforts •The Memorial of a Committee of the State Scliool Convention held at Peoria in October, 1S44 upon the subject of Common School Education, p. 103, printed us a Senate Document. 20 until 1854 at which time the office of superintendent of puhlic instruc- tion was created and Niniau W. Edwards was appointed by Governor Joel A. Matteson as the first incumbent. He remained in office until Januar}- 13, 1857. The following table shows the names of the super- intendents of Illinois, the political party to which each belonged, the date of their commission or qualification and the county from which they were elected. Name. Date of com- mission or qualifica- tiOD. From what county. Remarks. Nioian W. Edwards, Dam Mar. 24,1854 Jan. 12,1857 Aug. 1,1859 Jan. 4,1861 Jan. 12,1863 Jan. 10,1865 Sangamon Peoria Appointed by Governor Wm. H. Powell. Rep Newton Bateman, Rep Morgan Newton Bateman, Rep . .do John P. Brooks, Dem Newton Bateman, Rep . .do Newton Bateman, Rep Jan. 10,1867 . .do Newton Bateman, Rep Sam'l M . Etter, Dem Nov. 8.1870 Jan. 11,1875 Jan. 13,1879 Jan. 5.1883 Jan. 6,1887 Jan. 12,1891 Jan. 14,1895 June 23,1898 Jan. 11,1899 Jan. 12,1903 Jan. 10,1907 ..do McLean Term extended to four years. . . . James P. Slade, Rep St. Clair Henry Raab, Dem . .do Richard Edwards, Rep Bureau Henry Raab, Dem St. Clair . .. Samuel IurUs, Rep Jackson ,. Kane Died, June 23, 1898 Jos. H. Freeman, Rep By appointment, vice Inglis, de- Alfred Bayliss, Rep LaSalle ceased Alfred Bayliss, Rep ..do Francis G. Blair, Rep Coles It is unnecessary to trace the development of the state superintend- ency in the other states of the Union. Its history in most of the older states shows that it has rarely been from the first a separate and con- tinuous office. The usual course has been the assignment of the dutv of collecting school statistics to a state officer. Later the establishment of the superiutendency, then its abolishment and re-establishment. Dur- ing the last half century, however, the principle of state supervision of the pul)lic schools has become definitely and permanently established. The following table shows the title of the executive school officer in the various states and the year in which the present system of state supervision acquired some degree of permanence : Table Showing the Title of the Chief School Officer of Each State and Territory, and the year in which the Present System Oriqinated. State. Title. Origin. Alabama ... Arizona Arkansas ... California.. . Colorado ... Connecticut Superintendent of Education, superintendent 185-4-67, state comptroller ex officio 1867-68 Superintendent of Public Instruction . . . State Superintendent of Public Instruction, state auditor ex officio 1836-61 Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction, territorial secretary ex officio to 1870, territorial superintendent 1870-76.... Secretary of State Board of Education, .secretary of com- missioners 1839-42, school fund commissioner ex officio 1845-49 ; pi-incipal state normal school ex officio 1849-65 1868. 1878. 1868. 1851. 1876. 1865. 31 Table ShoiciiKj Tiile, ^/c— Conckded. state. Title. Origin. Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts. .. Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina.. North Dakota ... Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania.... Rhode Island.... South Carolina.. South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia... Wisconsin Wyoming 1875. 1868. 1870. 1890. 1854. 1873. 1846. 1861. 1837. 1870. 18.54. 1886. 1837. 1836 1856. 1870. Secretary State Board of Education (auditor acts ex officio), superintendent of free .schools 1875-1886 Superintendent of Public ]n.struction State School Commissioner State Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Auditor 1837, secretary of state ex officio 1844-54 State Superintendent of Public Instruction 1835-1844 ; state treasurer ex officio superintendent of public in- struction 1844-1867 ; state superintendent of public in- struction 1867-1870 ; state treasurer ex officio superin- tendent of public Instruction 1870-1873 Superintendent of Public Instruction, territorial superin- tendent 1841-43, secretary board 1848-64 Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction State Superintendent of Public Education, secretary of state ex officio 1833-46, superintendent 1847-69 State Superintendent of Public Schools .' Superintendent of Public Education, principal state normal school ex officio 18GS-1902, superintendent 1864-68 Secretary of State Board of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction State Superintendent of Public Instruction State Superintendent of Education State Superintendent of Public Schools, state officers ex officio 1835-39, secretary of state ex officio 1841-51, superintendent 1853-61, secretary of state ex officio 1861-65 Superintendent of Public Instruction, territorial superin- tendent 1872-89 Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction, commissioner 1846- 50, secretary county commissioners ex officio 1850-67.. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction Cf)mmissioner of Education, superintendent 1904, super- intendent 1S13-21, secretary of state ex officio 1821-54. . State Superintendent of Public Instruction, superintendent 1852-65 |1870 Superintendent of Public Instruction 1889 State Commissioner of Common Schools, superintendent 1837-40, secretary of state ex officio 1840-53 Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction, governor ex officio 1859-72 Sui^erintendent of Public Instruction, secretary of com- monwealth ex officio 1835-57, superintendent of com- mon schools 1857-73 Commissioner of Public Schools, agent 1843-45 State Superintendent of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction, territorial superin- tendent 1S69-89 for both states as one territory State Superintendent of Public Instruction, state treas- urer ex officio 1869-72 State Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Education, secretary of board 1856-74.. .Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction, territorial superin- tendent 1872-89 State Superintendent of Free Schools State Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction 1865. 1889. 1869. 1866. 1867. 1845. 1891. 1854. 1853. 1873. 1857. 1845. 1868. 1889. 1873. 1874. 1845. 1870. 1889. 1865. 1819. :^2 Powers and Duties. Tlie powers and duties of the chief school officers of the various states differ considerably in some particulars, but in other respects are prac- tically the same. They have been classified as statistical, advisory and judicial, supervisory and administrative.* All are required to report annually or biennially to the Governor or the Legislature. Many of them hear and determine appeals from the decision of other school officers and decide questions of school law. In several of the states the superintendent exercises general supervision over the public schools, and in certain cases over all the educational interests of the state. Fre- quently he apportions school moneys, grants certificates, organizes and conducts institutes and performs other administrative functions. While in many of the states the powers and duties of the superintend- ent are large, in no other state are they so extended as in New York. In that state all the powers and duties of the board of regents in rela- tion to the supervision of elementary and secondary schools, including all schools except colleges, technical and professional schools, are de- volved upon the commissioner of education. He acts as an execu-ive officer of the lioard of regents and is a member of the board of trus- tees of Cornell University. He has power to create such departments as in his judgment shall be necessary. He annoints deputies and heads of such departments, subject to the approval of the state board of re- gents. He apportions the state school funds, determines the condi- tions of admission, the courses of work and the employment of teachers, and audits all the accounts of the twelve normal schools of the state. He has unlimited authority over the examination and certification of teachers. He regulates the official action of the school commissioners in all of the assembly districts of the state. He appoints the teachers' institutes, arranges the work, names the instructors and pays the bills. He determines the boundaries of school districts. He provides schools for the defective classes and for the seven Indian reservations yet re- maining in the state. He may condemn school houses and require new ones to be built. He may direct new furnishings to be provided. He may entertain appeals by any person conceiving himself aggrieved from any order or proceeding of local school officials, determine the prac- tice therein, and make final disposition of the matter in dispute, and in his decision can not be "called in question in any court or in any other place .'^* •Administration of Public Education of the United States, Button & Snedden, pp 69-70. ♦Education in the United States, Volume 1, p. 20. 23 The fnllowiii at the Summer Institutes? In National education association. Journal ol proceedings and addresses, 1897. p. 301-306. Joyner. J. T. The Relation of the State Superintendent to the County Superin- tendent. In National education association. Journal of proceedings and ad- dresses, 1908. p. 269-71. Fickard, Josiah Little. The State Superintendent. In his School Supervision. New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1890, p. 23-28. (International educa- tion series, edited by W. T. Harris, v. 15.) SchaelTer, Nathan C. Powers and Duties of State Superintendents, /n National education association. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 189.5. p. 350-57. Webster. William Clarence. Appellate Jurisdiction of State Superintendents and State Boards of Education. In his Recent centralizing tendencies in State educational administration. New York, Columbia University, 1897. p. 73-78. (Columbia Universitv. Studies in liistory, economics and public law. v. 8, No. 2.) 31 THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. The tendency toward the completion of State educational systems by the creation of State boards of education seems to be general. Thirty- three of the forty-eight states and territories already have such a board or its equivalent. Of the six states which recently appointed educational commissions to recommend reforms in their school systems, three, namely, Kansas, Kentucky and Washington, already have state boards of education. The commissions of the other three states, namely, Pennsyl- vania, Iowa and Illinois* recommend the creation of such boards. The first state to establish an educational board with state functions was Xew York. In 1784 the board known as the regents of the univer- sity of the state of Xew York was created and vested with the power, in addition to its control of Columbia College, "to found schools and col- leges in any part of the state." The next state t6 establish any thing like a state board of education was North Carolina. In 1825, a fund having been created for the establishment and support of schools, the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court, the speakers of the Senate and House of Commons, and the treasurer of the state, were con- stituted a board to be known as the president and directors of the literary fund, for the promotion of learning and the instruction of youth. Ten years afterward Missouri constituted the governor, the auditor, the treasurer and the attorney general a state board of education, and this seems to be the first use of the name. The name applied to the state hoards at the head of the state educa- tional systems varies. In twenty-five states and territories it is called "State Board (or Territorial Board) of Education." In Colorado, Mas- sachusetts, Mississippi and Missouri, it is called simply board of educa- tion. In Louisiana the corporate name is "Board of Education for the state of Louisiana," in New York it is "Board of Regents of the Univer- sitv of the state of New York," in Idaho it is "Board of Public Instruc- tion." Some of the states liaving a board of education liave also anotlier educational board with state functions, some of them more than one. New Jersey, Texas and Virginia, for instance, Imve each a "State Board of Examiners." Alabama, Montana and Oivgon have each a •The Board of Education of the State of Illinois should not be mistaken for a State Board of Education. It is merely the board of trustees of one of the five State normal schools. 32 "State Text Book Commission," Washington has a "Board of Higher Education/' Missouri a ''State Library Board," and Utah, in addition to her state board of education, a legally constituted State School Committee to Formulate a State Course of Study. Most of the states which have no state board of education have some kind of a board with limited state educational functions. Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyom- ing have state boards of examiners. Minnesota and Xorth Dakota have state high school boards, Nebraska a board of educational lands and funds. South Dakota a board of school and public lands and also a state board of regents of education which has control of the educational institutions which are sustained wholly or in part by the state. Ver- mont luis a state board of library commissioners, and also a board of normal school commissioners which has supervision of the normal schools of the state. Pennsylvania has thirteen examining boards for the thir- teen normal schools of the state, but these should hardly be included among state educational boards. Excluding Pennsylvania, forty-two states and territories have some form of educational l)oard with state functions. The only states besides Pennsylvania that are wholly without sucli, an educational agency are Alabanui, Arkansas, Illinois, Maine and New Hampshire. In most cases, however, there is a preponderance of educators in the membership of the boards having the most extensive powers and duties. There are three women on the board of Massachusetts. In some of the states attention is paid to the element of locality in the selection of members. In New Jersey, Louisiana and West Virginia, each congres- sional district must be represented. In Ehode Island there must be two members from Providence county and one from each of the other coun- ties. In three states at least the board must be bi-partisan. The law of New Jersey provides that the board "shall consist of two members from each congressional district, who shall not be members of the same political party and who shall not reside in the same county except where a congi'essional district shall lie wholly within one county." Of the six members appointed by the governor of Maryland two "shall be from the political party which at the last preceding election for governor re- ceived next to the highest number of votes," and in West Virginia not more than three of the five members appointed may be from the same political party. It may be recalled in this connection that the criteria followed in selecting the members of the first Massachusetts board were religious, political and professional. The element of locality was also considered, Init it was regarded as of minor importance. Ter:m of Office. The terms of office of tlie members of the different l)oards are as various as the number of members. In Kentucky and Washington mem- bers serve two years; in lufliana and Ehode Island, three years; in Con- necticut, Montana, South Carolina, I' tali and Virginia, four years; in Xew Jersey, New Mexico and West Virginia, five years ; in Maryland, Michigan and Tennessee, six years; in Massachusetts, eight years, and in New York, eleven years. The most effective boards have long terms and few contemporary changes. 33 Compensation. The compensiition of members of st;ite boards of education is nominal. The Massachusetts board provides that the "incidental expenses of the board and the traveling and other necessary expenses of the mem- bers thereof incurred in the performance of their official duties, shall be paid by the commonwealth." This is about the practice in most of the states. Kansas limits the amount paid for the actual expenses of the board to $300.00 per annum. Indiana allows members $5.00 per day while actually engaged in the duties of their office and five cents per mile for necessary travel. Membekship. The number of members of state boards of education varies from three to twenty. Eight boards have three members, four boards four members, four, five; one, six; four, seven; five, eight; two, nine; two, ten ; three, eleven, and one twenty. The states having boards of four members are Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma; those having boards of five members are Florida, Georgia, Utah and Wasli- ington. The board of West Virginia has six members. Connecticut, Kentucky, North Carolina and New Mexico have boards of seven members. In the boards of Arizona, Maryland, Khode Island, Ten- nessee and Virginia there are eight members. California and South Carolina have boards of nine memljers. In those of Louisiana and Mas- sachusetts there are ten, in those of Indiana, Montana and Xew York, eleven, and New Jersey has a board of twenty members. Tlie average number of members in the thirty-three state boards of education is about seven. All the boards but those of Xew York and New Jersey have mem- bers ex officio. The number of such members varies from one in Micl\- igan and ^\'est Virginia to eight in Indiana and nine in California. Thirteen boards have ex officio members only. In eleven states and two territories the governor appoints two or more members, in Arizona and Ftali, tAvo; in Indiana and Kansas, three; in New Mexico, five; in Maryland and Tennessee, six; in Louisiana and South Carolina, seven; in j\lapsachusetts and Montana, eight, and in New Jersey twenty. In Arizona, N^ew Mexico, Washington and Indiana the governor is con- fined in his choice to a list of eligibles. The same is true of the Senate whieli in Virginia elects three members. In Oklalioma a bill is to be introduced that will change the composition of the state board from the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state superinten- dent to the superintendent, president of the state university, president of the A. and M. college, and two otlier members to be appointed by the governor from a list of ten eligibles selected by the state superin- tendent. In Connecticut four of the seven members, and in "Rhode Island six of the eight members, are elected by tlie General As'^embly. The three members of the Michigan board are elected by the p'-ople, and in West Virginia five of the six members are a])])oiiited bv the superin- tendent of public instruction. —3 E C 34 As to the personnel of the various boards of. education, those of Kansas (seven members), Washington (five members), and West Virginia (six members), are composed wholly of persons engaged in educational work. Washington might possibly be an exception, but hardly so, since the appointees must be four suitable persons holding life diplomas issued by authority of the state, two of whom must be actually engaged in teaching in the common schools. In Arizona six of the eight members, in New Mexico six of the seven, in California eight of the nine, in Indiana ten of the eleven and in Virginia four of the six members, must be persons engaged in school work. There is no provision in the laws of Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mary- land, Montana, New Jersey, South Carolina or Tennessee in regard to the professional character of the appointive members of the board. Utah provides that its two annointive members shall be "persons of large experience and eminent professional standing." Ten of the states seem to accept the theory that reforms proceed from without and have left the way open for the appointment upon their boards of education of those who are not engaged in school work. Powers and Duties. There is a wide range in the state boards of education as to their powers and duties. In some cases they are few and relatively unim- portant. The board of Texas, for instance, merely apportions the avail- able school funds among the counties, cities and towns. The functions of the Idalio board are limited to issuing and revoking certificates. In several of the states, however, the state board of education is clothed with all the powers and duties necessary to give it the dignity and im- portance which should attach to a board ostensibly in control of .the -educational affairs of a state. They have general supervision and con- trol of the public schools, and in certain cases, of all educational in- terests. They have the management of the whole or some part of the state school fund, the examination and certification of teachers, the recommendation or selection of a uniform series of text books. The tendency plainly is to increase the powers and duties vested in the board. This tendency is revealed by recent legislation. The extent to which it has been brought will be more plainly seen if we examine the scope of the functions of a few of the more tvnical boards. For the purpose of this examination we may select the board of Massachusetts, one of the oldest in the country, the board of New York which is perhaps the most powerful, the board of Connecticut, which lias tlie widest ranse of powers and duties, and the West Virginia ])oard, which is the one most recently created. The Massachusetts Board. The Massachusetts board of education originated in 1837. Horace Mann was its first secretary. It consists of ten members, the governor, lieutenant governor, and eight members appointed by the governor. The number of its members, the method of appointment and the power of the board to elect a secretary are the same todav as at the beginning. 35 Some attempts were made soon after its establishment to abolish the board, but its effectiveness has long since been generally admitted. As at first constituted the board had only duties, no powers. It was ex- pected to prepare an abstract of the school returns and to make an annual report to the Legislature concerning the condition and the effi- ciency of the common school system and to suggest means of improv- ing it. Today the board takes and holds in trust for the common- wealth any grant of land, gift or bequest of money or other personal property made to it for educational purposes. It prescribes the form of census, of registers kept in the schools and of returns made by school committees. It has general management of the state normal schools and of model and practice schools and of schools for the deaf and the blind. It receives applications of teachers for positions and furnishes information in regard to applicants on the request of the superintendent. It determines the length of institutes and may apply not more than $350.00 to meet the expense of an institute. It may pre- scribe directions for testing the sight and hearing of school children, and it furnishes school committees with suitable rules of instruction, test cards, blanks, record books and other useful appliances for carry- ing out the purposes of the law in regard to medical in^;pection. Other powers and duties necessary to the effective supervision and promotion of the schools of the state are devolved upon it. Hinsdale in speaking of the Massachusetts board in his "Horace Mann and the Common School Kevival in the United States" (page 108) says, "It has always stood for safety, at least, if not for brilliant initiative. Still further, it has no doubt provided, all things considered, a better state educational administration than the people would have directly provided for them- selves, voting at the popular election. The board has also proved a very competent authority to manage, with the help of its secretan% the state normal schools." The present secretary in speaking of the efficiency of the board in collecting information says : "It can by asking its agents have by return mail a detailed description of the most obscure school, its numbers, its house, its teacher, its work — a nliotograpli taken within two years and in the agent's note book.'"' In another place he says: "The board has been almost the sole instrumentality in securing help- ful legislation and in protecting the school from hostile enactments. It has also had a powerful uplifting and broadening influence." The Connecticut Board. The state board of education of Connecticut was established in 1838. It is similar to that of Massachusetts. It consists of seven members, the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state ex officio and four mem- bers appointed by the General Assembly. Like the board of Massachu- setts, it appoints the chief school officer of the state, but its other power> and duties are even wider than those of Massachusetts. It prepares and distributes to every school an outline of ---estions and suggestions in regard to the duties of citizenship.- It grants certificates of qualifi- cation to teachers and revokes them. It has the same power as the Massachusetts board in regard to medical inspection. It maintains 36 normal sclwols as seminaries in training teachers in the art of in- structing and governing in the public schools of the state. It deter- mines tlie number of normal schools and the number of pupils in each normal school. Among its other powers and duties are the following: To enforce the law relating to attendance at evening schools, and to employment of children; to inv^estigate and grant certificates of age in certain cases; to appoint public library committees; to order sanitary changes in school houses; to examine teacher's for county homes and appoint acting visitors for such schools; to relieve towns from main- taining evening schools; to appoint agents to act as superintendents in certain towns; to approve high schools in certain cases; to examine incorporated high schools and academies; to anTirove high schools to which children are conveyed ; to approve superintendents in certain cases; to apply to the comptroller for state average attendance grant; and to make estimates and reports. The Xew York Board. The New York board is exceptional. South Dakota has a state board of regents of eiducation which has control of the educational institu- tions sustained wholly or in part by the state. The functions of the N"ew York board are much more extensive. The board of regents of the University of the state of ^ew York is composed of eleven members who are elected by the legislature to serve for a period of eleven years. No officers of any of the incor- porated educational institutions of the state are eligible to member- ship. There are no ex officio members, but the commissioner of educa- tion acts as its executive officer. The university of the State of New York is a corporation created in 1784. It includes all the incor- porated higher educational institutions of the state. The state library and the state museum are departments of the university and the board may establish other departments if they are deemed necessary to the discharge of its duties. It has power to exclude from membership any institution failing to comply wdth the law of the state or the rules of the board. It has charge of private academies and in some measure of the public secondary schools as well as of all the higher institu- tions. All the powers and duties of the board in relation to the super- vision of elementary and secondary schools including all schools, ex- cept colleges, technical and professional schools, are devolved upon the commissioner of education, who is elected by the board. The board of New York has powder to establish such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry into effect the statutes of the state relating to education. It cooperates with other agencies in bringing within the reach of the people of the state, young and old, the largest educational opportunities by stimulating interest, recommending methods, desig- nating suitable teachers and lecturers, and by lending books and ap- paratus. It establishes in the academies of the imiversity examina- tions in studies, furnishes a suitable standard for o-raduation from academies and of admission to colleges and grants certificates and 37 diplomas to those who pass such examinations. It controls the whole matter of granting honorary degrees and diplomas. The board has power to incornorate any university, college, academy, library, museum, or other institution for the promotion of science, literature, art, history or other departments of knowledge. The unification act of 1904 de"- stroying the division of power formerb' existing between the board of regents and the superintendent of public instruction has provided ]Srew York with an educational organization more elaborate than is to be found in any other state. It has been criticised as illustrating too great centralization of authority. It is perhaps too early to determine whether it is superior to the other types of board. "There can be no doubt," says President Butler, "about the general tendency being strongly towards greater centralization. Not only are its advantages quite apparent, but the overwhelming current of legislation and of the decisions of the courts is making it imperative. These are prac- tically in accord, and are to the effect that in each state the school system is not local, but general; not individual schools controlled by separate communities, but a closely related system of schools which has become a state system and is entirely under state authority. Local school officials are now uniformly held to be agents of the state for the administration of a state system of education."* The Califorxia Board. Another type of board is illustrated by that of California. It was originally composed of the governor, sunerintendent of public instruc- tion and the president of the state normal school. But in 1894 the president of the Uliiversity of California and the professor of educa- tion in that institution were added. The governor is the r) resident of the board and the superintendent is its secretary. Among the powers and duties of the board are the following: To adopt rules and regula- tions not inconsistent with the laws of the state for its own govern- ment, and for the government of the public schools and district school libraries; to prescribe the credentials upon which persons may be granted certificates to teach in the high schools of the state; to grant life diplomas of four grades — high school, grammar school, kinder- garten-primary and special; to revoke or suspend diplomas for im- moral or unprofessional conduct; to designate some educational monthly journal as the official organ of the department of public instruction. The superintendent of California describes this board as effective, par- ticularly in raising the standard of teachers. The state board of California was provided for in the constitution of the state. An amendment to the constitution has been proposed, has l)een acted upon favorably by both houses of the legislature and will be submitted to the people during the present year, providing that the l)oard shall consist of the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, a representative of the state university, selected by its president, a representative of the Leland Stanford, Jr.. university, •Education in the United States, vol. 1, p. 21. 38 selected by its president, a representative of the state normal schools, selected bv the presidents thereof, a practical business man not directly connected with any school, selected by the frovernor, a representative of the rural scliools, selected by the county superintendents at the super- intendents' biennial convention, and a representative of the polytechnic schools, selected by the principals of the polytechnic high schools re- ceiving state aid. By this amendment the board is given power to compile or adopt a uniform system of text books for use in the day and evening elemen- tary schools throughout the state. The West Virginia Board. I insert a brief description of the board of West A^irginia because it is the one most recently provided for. The legislature authorized it in March of the present year, but it was not appointed and organized until some time in .June. It is composed of the state superintendent, who is the chairman, and five other persons engaged in educational work, appointed by him, one from each congressional district and not more than three from the same' political party. This board is to per- form the duties hitherto performed by the state board of examiners and is to prescribe a course of study for the puljlic schools of the state, including the district schools, the primary, the graded, the in- termediate and the high schools, and define the relation that each shall bear to the others. It will also prescribe and publish the branches in which applicants for primary teachers' and high school teachers' certifi- cates shall be examined. At the request of the state superintendent it may assist in the preparation of questions for the several examinatiorws. It is to gTant state professional certificates, one class good for twelve years and another for six years. The recognition of certificates from other states is also to be under the control of the board. The state superintendent of West Virginia reports that he has been working for a board of education for several years and that he is not altogetlier satisfied with the provision that has been made. Boards Eecently Eecommended. The modern tendency towards the creation of State boards of educa- tion with large powers and duties is still better illustrated perhaps by the recommendations of the various educational commissions that have recently proposed new school legislation. The commission of Pennsyl- vania urges the creation of a board of education of seven members with the superintendent of public instruction as the executive officer. The members are to 1)0 apnointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Seu'^.te. Three of the members mu'-'t be successful educators of high standing, connected with the public school system of the commonwealth. The term of office is six vears. The powers and duties prescribed for the board are the following: To re- port and recommend to the governor and the General Assembly such 39 legislation as may be needed to make the public schools of the common- wealth more efficient and useful; to equalize through special appropri- ations for this purpose or otherwise the educational advantages of the different school districts of the commonwealth ; to inspect and requiro. reports from and to supervise the educational work in institutions: wholly or partly supported by the state which are not supervised by the public school authorities; to prescribe and enforce rules and regulations for the examination of teachejs in the commonwealth except in school districts of the first class- to encourage and promote agricultural educa- tion, art education, libraries, ])ublic lectures, manual training, domestic science and such educational tvnes of vocational and practical educa- tion as the needs of the commonwealth may from time to time require; to prepare approved lists of text books and school sunnlies; to prescribe rules and regulations and provide for the sanitary equipment and in- spection of school buildings and of their sanitary equipment and to take such other action as it may deem necessary and expedient to promote the physical and moral welfare of the children of the public schools; and to standardize the public school system, to provide for new forms of educational effort, and in general to take such action as may be neces- sary to increase the efficiency of the educational system of the common- wealth. The commission of Iowa has recommended the creation of a state board of education which shall consist of the state superintendent of public instruction who is to be the president of the board, the president of the state university, the president of the state normal school, the president of the state college of agriculture and mechanic arts, one county superintendent, one city superintendent and one member of the faculty of an independent liberal arts college within the state. The three members last mentioned are to be appointed by the governor. The term of office is four years. The powers and duties recommended are the following: To elect a secretary of the board who shall receive a salary not to exceed $1.200.00 ; to act as a board of examiners for all legal licenses to teach in the public schools of the state and to isue uni- form county certificates and states certificates of the grades and classes provided for by law; to inspect and classify all public schools as to classes of study, teaching force, equipment and sanitation, to inspect and supervise the school libraries provided for by law, to inspect and classify such higher institutions as seek accredited relations for the purpose of the certification of teachers: to annoint a state supervisor of schools; to act under the direct superAdsion of the state superinten- dent of public instruction. The state board of education of Washington as recommonded by the commission is to consist of a superintendent of public instruction who shall be ex officio president of the board, the president of the university of Washington, the president of the state college of Washington, the principal of one of the state normal schools elected by the principals of the state normal schools, and four persons holding life diplomas issued under the authority of the state and actiyely engaged in educa- tional work, appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be a super- 40 intendeut or priucipal of a school of a district of tlie first class, oue a county superintendent of schools, one a principal of a fully accredited high school, one a representative of an endowed or private institution of higher learning and one other suitable person. The term of oihce is two years. The deputy superintendent of public instruction is to be ex officio secretary of the board. The powers and duties prescribed are as follows: To approve the preparatory requirements for entrance to the university of \\ ashington, the state college of Washington, and the state normal schools of Washington; to adopt courses for the state normal schools, for the department of education of the university of Wash- ington and the state college of Washington, and for all normal training departments of higher institutions within the state of Washington which may be accredited and wdiose graduates may become entitled to receive teachers' life diplomas or limited professional certificates, to investigate the character of the w(5rk to be performed as a condition of entrance to and graduation from normal schools, colleges, universities and other institutions of higher education and to prepare an accredited list of those higher institutions whose graduates may be awarded certificates by the superintendent of public instruction without examination ex- cept upon the state manual of Washington, to prepare an accredited list of state life certificates and life diplomas issued in other states by ex- amination upon which certificates may 1)e issued in Washington without examination except upon the state manual of Washington ; to examine and accredit secondary schools for which purpose the board is authorized to elect two members; to prepare an -outline, course or courses of study for the primary, grammar and high school departments of the common schools, and to prescribe such rules for the general government of the conunon schools as shall secure regularity of attendance, prevent tru- ancy, secure efficiency and promote the true interests of the common schools; to prepare a uniform series of questions to be used by the county superintendents in the examination of teachers, to determine rules and regulations for conducting the same and to prepare questions for tlie examination of applicants for state elementary certificates and life diplomas; to prepare uniform questions for the examination of pupils of the schools of the state, completing the grammar school course of study, and to hear and decide appeals as provided bv law. The recommendations of the Illinois Eriucational Commis'-inii with respect to a State board are embodied in the following l)ill Avhich lias l^een submitted to the General Assem.blv: A BILL For an Act to create a State Board of Education and to define its poioers and duties. Section- 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, reprerented in the General Assembly: That a State Board of Education consisting of eleven member is hereby authorized, to be constituted as hereinafter de- scribed. Sec. 2. Such a board shall consist of the Superintendent of Public In- struction who shall be ex officio chairman thereof; the chairman of the edu-a- tional committees of the Senate and the House, each of whom shall be a 41 member ex officio; and representatives of each of the following school in- terests to be selected by a board consisting of the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Superintendent of Public Instruction: The University of Illinois, the State normal schools, the non-State colleges and universities, the city superintendency, the county superintendency, the pub- lic high schools; and two eminent citizens of the State not directly engaged in educational work.* Sec. 3. On or before the second Monday of January next after their ap- pointment the appointive members shall cast lots for their respective terms of office for two, four, six and eight years; and biennially thereafter two members shall be selected by the appointive board as successors to the mem- bers whose terms of office then expire, which successors shall serve for a term of eight years. In case of a vacancy the appointive board may select a member to serve for the unexpired term. Sec. 4. Such board shall have the power and it shall be its duty: 1. To make general rules for the supervision and inspection of the pub- lic schools of the State required by law. 2. To provide suggestive courses of study for rural, elementary and high schools. 3. To prepare and distribute among school and municipal officers sug- gestive plans and specifications for the construction and equipment of school buildings. 4. To fix the time of examinations of applicants for State and county teachers' certificates, to prepare all questions for such examinations, to grade all examination papers, and to fix the standard for passing; to prescribe rules for the recognition of certificates from other States, and to prescribe ail rules and regulations necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the law in regard to the certification of teachers. 5. To propose and recommend to school officers plans for organizing and conducting teachers' institutes. 6. In cooperation with the State Board of Health, to prescribe rules and regulations for the sanitary inspection of school buildings, and for pro- moting the physical welfare of pupils and teachers in the public schools. Sec. 5. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the advice and consent of the State Board of Education, shall make such appointments as may be necessary to render effectual the rules and regulations of the board. Sec. 6. The members of the State Board Board of Education shall receive no compensation for their services. The incidental expenses of the board and the necessary traveling and other incidental expenses of its members, incurred in the performance of their official duties, shall be paid from the State treasury from any funds not otherwise appropriated upon the pre- sentation of an itemized and verified statement of such expenses, approved by the Governor. •In the Senate committee this section, with the approval of three members of the commission who were present at the hearmg, was amended so as to read as Sec 2. Such board shall consist of the Superintendent of Public Instruction who shall be ex officio chairman thereof ; and representatives of each of the follow- ing school interests to be selected by the Governor of the State, by and with the approval of the Senate, the University of Illinois, tlie State normal schools, the non-state colleges and universities, the city superintendency, the county superin- tendency the public high schools, the non-state high schools, the state elementary schools the non-state elementary schools, and two eminent citizens of the State not directly engaged in educational work. Provided, hotvever. that not more than seven members of said board shall be of the same political party. 48 The following table shows the states now having a state board of education, the number of members, the term of office, thoir compensa- tion and their powers and duties: Boards of Education. state. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. Arizona . California. Colorado. Connecticut Governor, treasurer, super- intendent, principals nor- mal schools, president uni- versity, two principals or superintendent appointed by governor Governor, superintendent, president University of California and its professor of pedag^ogy, principals normal schools (o) Superintendent, secretary of state, attorney general. . Governor, lieutenant gover- nor, secretary board of education, ex officio mem- bers and 4 appointed by general assembly To prescribe and enforce uni- form series of text books in public schools. 2. Same in regard to course of study. 3. To grant 6 year and life dip- lomas and revoke them. 4. To adopt lists of books for scliool libraries To prescribe uniform series of text books in common schools and cause them to be printed by state and sold at cost. 2. To adopt rules for government of schools and libraries. 3. To prescribe high school credentiaLs. 4. TO grant life diplomas of 4 grades and revoke them. 5. To designate an educational journal as offi- cial. 6. To designate creden- tials of other states on which certificates may be issued. . . . 1. To grant and revoke certifi- cates. 2. To adopt rules and regulations for government of schools. The legislature and the board are prohibited by the constitution from prescrib- ing text books 1. To have general supervision and control of educational in- terests. 2. To direct what books may be used in schools. 3. To secure uniformity of re- ports. 4. To hold and con- duct teachers' meetings. 5. To report to governor. 6. To grant and revoke certificates. 7. To provide for testing eye- sight of children. 8. To en- force child labor law. 9. To maintain normal school and model school. (Note — For ad- ditional powpr.s and duties, see special description of Con- necticut board, p. 16 43 Boards of Education — Continued. Delaware . Florida. Georgia. Idaho Indiana. Kansas. President Delaware College, superintendent and secre- tary of state Governor, superintendent, secretary of state, attorney general Governor, state school com- mittee, secretary of state, attorney general, comp- troller general Superintendent, secretary of state, attorney general Governor, superintendent, president State University. President Purdue Univer- sity, president state normal, superintendents 3 largest cities, and 3 citizens active- ly engaged in educational work in the state, one of whom must be county su- perintendent appointed by governor Superintendent, chancellor State University, president State Agricultural College, president state normal and 3 appointed by governor. . . Powers and Duties. 1. To prescribe uniform series of text books. 2. To secure uniform system of reports from teachers and school offi- cers. 3. To determine mat- ters of controversy To remove public school offi- cers for cause. 2. To manage and invest school funds. 3. To decide appeals. 4. To di- rect and control normal scHools. military institute and Institute for Blind, Deaf and Dumb ]. To decide appeals. 2. To order school census. 3. To prescribe uniform series ^of text books 1. To grant certificates and re- voke them To grant and revoke certifi- cates. 2. To act as teachers" training board. 3. To act as state library board. 4. To elect trustees of state univer- sity, and 5 of the 8 trustees of the state normal. 5. To appoint board of visitors to state normal. 6. To prescribe course of study for accredited schools. 7. To select or pro- cure the compilation of a ser- ies of text books to be used in common schools To grant certificates. 2. To prescribe courses of study for public schools, normal insti- tutes and in Indian training. 3. To examine and accredit educational institutions upon application 44 Boards of Education — Continued. State. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. Kentucky. Louisiana. Maryland Massachusetts Michigan. 10 10 4 Superintendent, attorney I general, secretary of state. 4 Governor, superintendent, [ attorney general, 7 appoint- ed by governor, 1 f n im each CQDgressional district Governor, superintendent and Gappointed by govern- or, at least 2 of of whom shall be from opposite po- litical parties Governor, lieutenant gov- ernor and 8 appomted by governor, with approval of council Superintendent, (secretary, ) 3 elected by popular vote. To prepare rules, by-laws and regulations for govern- ment of schools. 2. To prepare suitable lists of books for county libraries. 3. To pre- scribe regulations for manage- ment of libraries. 4. To pre- scribe and publish graded course of study for public schools 1. To prepare rules, regulations and by-laws for governrrient of public schools. 2. To en- force uniformity of text books in public schools To remove or suspend county superintendents. 2. To decide controversies arising over the law. 3. To have general care and supervision of public school interests. 4. To secure uniformity in statistical re- ports of teachers and county boards. 5. To grant certifi- cates. 6. To act as trustees of state normal schools 1. To secure - uniformity of re- ports. 2. To appoint secre- tary. 3. To manage state nor- mal schools. 4. To arrange for practice schools. 5. To direct and supervise education of state beneficiaries in special institutions for deaf and blind. 6. To receive applications of teachers and furnish informa- tion concerning such appli- cants to school committees and .superintendent. 7. To manage the school fund. 8. To determine the length of in- stitutes and apply not more than $350 to meet expenses of each. 9. To grant certificates to superintendents of schools. 10. To prescribe rules of in- struction, test cards, blanks, etc., for testing sight and hearing of schildren. 11. To visit county truancy schools. 12. To inspect high schools for the purpose of approving for state reimbursement of tui- tion expenditures for pupils of other towns not having high schools 1. To supervise normals and pre- scribe course of study in same. 2. To grant state cer- tificates. 3. To pass on text books in physiology 45 Boards of Education — Contiinied. State. No. Term. ■ Composition. Powers and Duties. Mississippi. Missoiip Montana. Nevada 11 Secretary of State, attorney general and superintend- ent public instruction Superintendent (president,) governor. secretary of state, attorney general Governor, superintendent, attorney general and 8 ap- pointed by governor Governor, superintendent, president of university To decide appeals from the decision of the county or the state superintendent. 2. To revoke a county certificate for cause. 3. To audit claims against the common school fund. 4. To determine neces- sary contingent expenses of state superintendent's office. 5. To regulate all matters arising in the practical ad- ministration of the school sys- tem which are not otherwise provided for. 6. To adopt, if thought necessary, a course. of study to be pursued in the schools. 7. To de.slgnate an ar- bor day. S. To require reports from the county superintend- ents 1. To supervise entire educa- tional interests of state. 2. To see that state school moneys are collected and properly applied, and to report to the legislature. 3. To pre- scribe requirements for ap- proval of summer schools. 4. To prepare outlines of work for county institutes. 5. To appoint 1 of the 3 members of county board of education . 1. To control and supervise state educational instiutions. 2. To grant 6 year and life diplo- mas. 3. To appoint instruc- tors in county institutes. 4. To formulate a state course of study for high schools, and to accredit such high schools as do satisfactory work. 5. To auhorize the superintend- ent to provide rules and reg- ulations for conducting eiglith grade examinations 1. To prescribe the course of study in high schools. 2. To recommend list of books for district libraries. 3. To Issue and revoke state and county certificates. 4. To act with 4 appointees of governor as state text book commission.. 46 Boards of Education — Continued. State. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. New Jersey New Mexico New York. 20 Appointed by governor; supperintendent is secre- tary Governor, superintendent, and 5 appointed by gover- nor from heads of territor- ial educational institutions, president of St. Michaels College and superinten- dents of 4 largest cities Elected by legislature as far H9 may be, one from each judicial district To manage state normal schools and state charitable educational institutions. 2. To appoint, and for cause re- move, county superintendents of schools. 3. To prescribe rules and regulations for teachers' institutes. 4. To de- cide appeals from the decis- ion of the state superintend- ent. 5. To make rules and regulaiions for the examina- tion of teachers and the grad- ing- of certificates. 6. To ap- point 1 member to act with superintendent and principals of normal schools as board of examiners To grant, renew and revoke certificates. 2. To adopt se- ries of text books. 3. To pre- scribe tmiform coufse of study for public schools. 4. To con- trol teachers' institutes 1. To establish such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry into effect the stat- utes relating to education. 2. To encourage and promote higher education. 3. To visit and inspect educational insti- tutions and departments of the university and to require reports. 4. To distribute to, to expend or to administer for them such property and funds as the state may appropriate therefor, or as the university may own or hold. 5. To es- tablish examinations in the academies of the university, furnishing a suitable standard for graduation from acade- mies and admission to col- leges. 6. To confer degrees and diplomas and certificates. 7. To copoerate w'ith other agencies in extending oppor-»' tunities and facilities for edu- cation to adults as w^ell as youths. 8. To have control of the stae library and state mu- seum, and may establish other departments, if deemed neces- sary, and to maintain lectures connected with higher educa- tion 47 Boards of Educaiion — Continued. State. iNo. i Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. N. Carolina. . Oklahama .. Oregon Rhode Island. Governor, superintendent, lieutenant governor, secre- tary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general.. 4 Superintendent, governor, secretary of state, attorney general Governor, secretary of state and superintendent Governor, lieutenant gov ernor, 1 from each of 4 counties and 2 from Prov dence county, county members elected by gen- eral assembly 1. To loan mon^y from state literary fund to county boards of education for building and improving .school houses. 2. To adopt uniform series of text books for public schools. 3. To control colored nor- mals. 4. To elect directors of state normal and Indian Col- lege and trustees of East Car- olina Training School. 6. To sell swamn lands belonging to board. 7. To pass upon ap- peals from county board. 8. To prescribe other studies deemed necessary in public schools 1. To prepare questions for county and city examinations. 2. To grant certificates to teachers, conductors, and in- structors of normal institutes. 3. To prepare blanks. 4. To accredit schools To authorize series of text books adopted by text book commission (the latter com- posed of 5 appointed by gov- ernor.) 2. To prepare course of study of grammar grade schools and of certain high schools. 3. To prescribe rules and regulations for general government of schools. 4. To grant state certificates and diplomas on recommendation of state board of examiners. (4 to 9 professional teachers appointed by state board.) 5. To indicate sources of ques- tions on theory and practice . To elect commissioner of schools, who acts as secre- tary. 2. To appropriate money for libraries and to prescribe the character of books for same. 3. To exercise certain control over private schools. 4. %n prescribe blanks. 5. To make annual report to gen- eral a.s.sembly. 6. To examine teachers and to Lssue and re- voke certificates 48 Boards of Educaiion — Continued. Powers and Duties. S. Carolina Tennessee. Texas Utah Governor, superintendent and not more than 7 ap- pointed by governor Six appointed by governor; governor is president and superintendent is secretary and treasurer Governor (superintendent secretary ex officio), secre- tary of state, comptroller.. Superintendent, president state university, president agricultural college, 2 ap- pointed by governor 1. To adopt rules and regula- tions for government of free schools. 2. To prescribe and enforce rules for examination of teachers. 3. To prescribe standard of proficiency entit- ling persons examined by county board to certificate a.s teacher. 4. To prescribe and enforce the course of study in free public shools. 5. To prescribe and enforce uniform series of text books in free public schools. 6. To grant and revWve certificates. 7. To award scholarships created by general assembly in state in- stitutions To report to general assem- bly. 2. To inspect manage- ment of state normal. 3. To locate, adopt course of study and employ teachers and offi- cers of normal schools. 4. To grant diplomas. 5. To pre- scribe rules and regulations examination of applicants for county superintendent 1. To apportion available school fund among counties, cities and towns. 2. To consider appeals from state superin- tendent. 3. To care for in- vestment of permanent school funds 1. To grant diplomas and cer- tificates. 2. To appoint 2 of 5 members to prescribe course of study 49 Boards of Education — Concluded. State. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. Virginia Washington. W. Virginia .. Governor, attorney general, superintendent, 3 elected by senate from list of eligi- bles, including members of faculties of state institu- tions, 2 division superin- tendents of schools Superintendent, 4 liolding state diplomas appointed by governor Superintendent and 5 others engaged in educational work appointed by him, one from each congress- ional district 1. To divide state into appro- priate school divisions. 2. To prescribe duties of superinten- dent, to make rules and regu- lations for the management and conduct of schools. 3. To provide for the examina- tion of teachers by a state board of examiners, and to accredit schools. 4. To select text books, furniture and ap- pliances for use In the pub- lic schools. 5. To guard against the multiplication of schools. 6. To decide appeals from superintendent of pub- lic instruction. 7. To punish, suspend or remove division superintendents of schools, ft. To appoint directors of the state library. 10. To report to general assembly , To prepare a course of study for primary, grammar and high schools. 2. To grant state certificates and diplo- mas. 3. To prepare uniform series of questions to be used by county superintendents in examinations. 4. To accredit schools. Note — Washington has also board of higher edu- cation exercising control over normals and university 1. To act as state board of ex- aminers. 2. To prescribe a cour.se of study for the public schools. 3. To define the re- lation of the different kinds of schools The State Board axd the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The relation which the superintendent of public instruction sustains to the state board of education differs among the states. He is almost always a member of the board and in nine of the states, namely : Col- orado, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Utah, Virginia, Wash- ington and West Virginia he is its executive officer. As lias already been seen he is sometimes an appointee of the board. This i.< the ca.se in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Ehode Island. In West E C 50 Virginia, however, he is given power to appoint the live other mem- bers. This phin lias been approved by some of the superintendents of other states. Advantages of a State Board. The educational systems of the various states, like the bodies of law under which they are operated, have grown up in a more or less hap- hazard manner to meet the most imperative needs of rapidly increasing populations and rapidly changing conditions. At the beginning the schooling of children was left wholly to the initiative of. the local com- munities, and rightly so for the reason that differences in social and in- dustrial conditions, the customs, predilections and ideals of the people made the educational needs of a state essentially diverse. Moreover, a central body of any Idnd was too remote to act effectively as a stimulat- ing and regulating agency. Not only were the support and management of schools a matter of merely local concern, but it was often left to each community to say whether it should have any school at all. All this was justifiable under the conditions then existing. But conditions have changed. Close interrelations of the various communities in all the states of the Union have been developed with great rapidity. The de- velopment of system in the educational work of the states, however, did not always keep pace with them. Industrial and social conditions, cus- toms and ideals, the population itself, have become practically homo- geneous. A central body to exercise supervision over the schools of a state is not now remote either in time or in space. Education has be- come distinctly a state function. The doctrine that the taxable prop- erty of the entire state should educate the' children of the state has been generally accepted. Complete state educational systems are, there- fore, needed, and a state board of education with liberal powers, and opportunity for discretion in matters of detail, is an indispensible part of such system. One of the greatest advantages to be derived from a state board of education is systematic organization of the educational forces of the state. System means economy,- the elimination of waste, immediate ac- tion to meet unexpected emergencies, orderly progress. The develop- ment of system characterizes all progress, particularly all industrial progress. Business men are quick to see the advantages of it, as is illus- trated by any progressive and successful industrial corporation. ISTow the educational work of a state is, in one of its aspects, a busi- ness proposition. In Illinois, for instance, there are a million pupils to be instructed, 13,000 buildings erected for that purpose, 28,000 teachers employed, all involving an expenditure of $32,000,000.00. If this vast business were put in the hands of business men they would in- stinctively begin immediately to introduce system in order to elim- inate the present waste of education, and thus increase the ratio of eduf-ntional rosults to educational expenditure. They would probabh'' create not only an exeeutive head of tUe business to insure swilt action, but also a board of directors to give counsel, and to lay down rules with- in which this activity should be exercised. A state board of education for the state corresponds in a way to the board of directors in an industrial corporation. The superintendent of public instruction is usually the executive head. The analogy is not per- fect but it is sufficiently close to suggest some of the advantages of a state board, and some of the possibilities of increasing the efficiency of our school systems by making them still more systematic. The super- intendent needs the board of education for some of the same reasons that the executive officer of an industrial corporation needs a board of directors. He needs it for the same reason that the president needs his cabinet, and as the needs of the head of an industry are in reality the needs of the stock holders, the needs of the president those of the people, so also are the needs of a superintendent of public instruction for a state board of education in the final analysis the needs of the state. This need will be the more conspicuous if we consider the duties that devolve upon a state superintendent who is unassisted by a board of any kind. The school law of Illinois, for instance, imposes upon the super- intendent and confers upon him nine different powers. Some of these duties and powers are of the most general nature. For instance, he is required '''to supervise all the common and public schools in the state." He is also required "to make such rules and regulations as may be nec- essary to carry into efficient and uniform effect the provisions" of all laws for establishing and maintaining free schools in the state. He is required to make a biennial report to the Governor. He is ex officio a member and secretary of the board of education of the State of Illi- nois, a member of the board of trustees of the University of Illinois, of the Southern Illinois Normal University, of the Northern Illi- nois State Normal School, of the Eastern Illinois State Noi-mal School, of the Western Illinois Illinois State Normal School, of the Natural History Museum, of the Lincoln Homestead Trustees, of the Commis- sioners of the Lincoln Monument Ground, of the Commissioners of the State Library and of the Directors of the Illinois Farmers' Institute. He is required to visit all the charitable institutions of the state that are educational in their character, to examine their facilities for in- struction, and to prescribe forms for such reports as he may desire from their superintendents. These are only a few of his duties. It is clear that a board of education might relieve him of some of these duties, as well as assist him by counsel. Such a board would be of invaluable assistance to him in impressing upon the people of the state the ideas which he wishes to become dominant and effective in school organization and administration and especially to aid in supporting the ]iolicies which he endeavors to carry into effect. In a word, a State Board of Education properly constituted should increase incalculably tlie olTi- ciency of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Inaddition to the advantasres just described a State Board of Educa- tion should o-ivc to the school system an oxjiansivoness that is highly desirable and that conld hardly exist without it. With some discretion in matters of administrative detail it would enable the system to adjust itself more or less automatically to the changing educational needs and conditions of a growing commonwealth. The law should define the direction of expansion and the limits within which it may take place, but it might well leave to the system some room to burgeon out without the necessity of additional legislation. If the board is essentially a rule making body, the discretion allowed to it, while confined within safe limits, would yet afford a certain liberty of movement and freedom of adjustment which naturally belong to all things that are alive. Again, an efficient State board is valuable to the State if it does- nothing more than serve as a continuous body for the study of school problems and the dissemination of knowledge throughout the state con- cerning educational conditions and educational progress. The Massa- chusetts board has been conspicuously helpful in this respect. Its earlier reports especially not only carried infonnation to the people of Massachusetts, but were republished by the legislatures of other states, by the British Parliament, and by the German government.* Objections. The history of school legislation in every state shows that movements in the direction of a more complete educational system usually meet with opposition. The effort to place the schools of the county under the supervision of a county superintendent of schools, and the effort to put all of the schools of the state under the supervision of a state school officer have evoked many objections. It was said that such efforts were a reflection on the existing school authorities, that they contemplated a dangerous centralization of power, that they involved the creation of new offices of doubtful utility to absorb more of the people's money, that the schools were already highly efficient. Why not let well enough alone? Such were the objections raised by the ultra-conservative. They are now seen to have been without foundation, or to have risen from a misconception of the nature and function of these offices, or a mis- understanding of the true relation of the schools of a community to the general well being of the state ; and county and state supervision of schools has become a well established policy. The same objections are heard again, however, when it is proposed to create a State Board of Edu- cation. The main objection to the creation of a State Board of Education is that it involves an undesirable, if not dangerous, centralization of power. To this it may be said that, in this case, tlie fear arises partly from a failure to distinguish between a true centralization of power and an organization of functions or duties. When a superintendent of public instruction is provided for, he is usually clothed with great power. *Seventy-flrFt Annual Report. Board of Education, Massachusetts, 1906-7, p. 11. 53 Eut the special activities necessarily connected with the full exercise •of this power are distributed among various agencies. To gather them up, organize and unify them under a central board should not be re- garded as .a centralization of power as usually implied by that ex- pression. The second objection is that a board of education may be so consti- tuted as to be or to become a political body with sellish or partisan ends and with no deep and abiding interest in educational problems or the welfare of the schools. This is a real danger but it. may be avoided by the adoption of a wise method of constituting a board. The experience of the various states seems to point . to the selection of the members of the State Board of Education by appointment as the least objectionijble. An efficient board must be a body of educational experts, and when experts , are desired it is generally true that they are more likely to be secured by appointment, if the appointing power can be trusted", than they are by election. With the appointino; power vested in the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or in a carefully selected appointing board, there is little to fear either from unwise appointments or from- appointments dictated by personal or political considerations. The mode of appointment recommended by the Illi- nois Educational Commission is to have the appointive members selected by an appointing board consisting of the Governor of the State, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. If a board so constituted can not be trusted to act con- siderately and unselfishly in a matter so intimateb- related to the wel- fare of the great educational and moral interests of the State, it would seem that we must despair of being able to secure a non-political and effective board. Only one state board of education in the country is elected by popular vote, and this is a board whose powers and duties are relatively few and simple. Constitution by appointment is, therefore, in harmony with the practice of other states as well as in accordance with the conclusions reached from a purcb- rational consideration of the subject. We may say, then, in concluding the discussion of the State Board of Education, that such a body should increase the efficiency of a school system by introducing greater economy, and bv increasing its respon- siveness to newly arising conditions and needs ; that it involves no dangerous centralization of power, that, if properly constituted, it would be an agency by means of which the entire State could avail itself, witli- out any considerable additional expense, of the wisdom of disinterested and high minded citizens in devising educational policies, in guarding the schools from ill-advised, ill-considered or hostile legislation, and in assisting the chief school officer of tlie State to perform more efficientlv the duties imposed upon him l>y law. but wlu'ch under present circum- stances are too often sucli as no single officer can adequately perform. 54 The indications alTorded by the development o^ educational administra- tion are that State boards of education are to occupy an increasingly important relation to the educational activities of the various states. REFERENCES. Brown, E. E. — Early State systems of secondary education ; in his The making of our middle schools. 1903. p. 204-227. — — —Later State systems ; in his The making of our middle schools. 1903. p. 347-68. Dexter. E. G. — The State system ; in his A history of education in the United States. 1904. . p. 199-202. The development of school organization and administration ; in his A history of education in the United States. 1904. p. 182-206. Draper, A. S. — Unsettled questions in the organization and administration of the schools. Lewis and Clark educational congress. Proceedings 1905. p. 24-40. Drapei-. A. S. — Limits of State control in education. Educational Review 1 :26-32. (January, 1891.) ■ Educational organization and administration. In monographs on educa- tion in the United States, edited by N. M. Butler. 1 :3-31. 1904. -Functions of the State touching education. Educational Review. 15 :105- 20. (February, 1898.) Dutton, S. T. and Snedden, David — American states and educational administration ; in their Tlie administration of public education in the United States. 1908. p. 54-72. • Problems growing out of State and local administration of education ; in their The administration of public education in the United States. 1908. p. 96-119. Easton, Warren— Best system of State school supervision ; in United States Bureau of Education. Circular of information 1887. No. 3, p. 156-73. Paper read before National Education Association — Department of superin- tendence. Elliott. E. C. — Administrative control and supervision of elementary and secondary education ; in his State school systems : Legislation and Judicial decisions relating to public education, October, 1904-October, 1906. United States Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1906, No. 3. Elliott, E. C. — Administrative control and supervision of elementary and secondary education ; in his State school systems : Legislation and judicial decisions relating to public education, October, 1906-October, 1908. United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1908, No. 2. Fairlie, J. A. — Public education ; in his Centralization of administration in New York State. Columbia University studies in history, economics and public law. Vol. 9, No. 3, 1898. Valuable as history but not descriptive of present conditions. Illinois — Educational commission. A tentative plan for a State board of education. Bulletin No. 1, 1908. Indiana State Educational Commission. Report. Educator Journal, 7 :289-96. (February, 1907.) Kiddle, Henry and Schem, Alexander J. — Cyclopedia of Education. B. Steiger, New York, 1877. Articles on the various states. Maj'o, A. D. — The development of the common school in the western states from 1830-1865. United States Commissioner of Education. Report. 1898-99, Vol. 1, p. 357-450. The organization and reconstruction of state systems of common-school education in the North Atlantic states from 1830-1865. United States Com- missioner of Education. Report, 1897-98, p. 355-486. New York (state) legislature. Final report of the special joint committee on educational unification. 1904. Contains a chart on school supervision which includes the name, composition, characterization, etc., of the various state boards of education in the United States. Patterson, J. W. — State supervision : what plan of organization and administration is most effective. National Education Association. Proceedings, 1890:432-39. Discussion, 439-46. Prince, J. T. — State administration of schools ; in his School administration, p. 21- 31, 1906. Rawles, W. A. — Public education ; in his Centralizing tendencies in the admini.stra- tion of Indiana. Columbia University studies in history, economics and public law. Vol. 17, No. 1, 1903. Webster, W. A. — Recent centralizing tendencies in state educational administration. Columbia University studies in history, economics and public law. Vol. 8, No. 2, 1897. Webster, W. C. — Recent centralizing tendencies in state educational administration. Educational Review, 13:23-33, 134-45. (January and February. 1897.) Popularization of author's thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the faculty of political science of Columbia University. Ot> THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. The larger subdivisions of the states for political purposes are called counties in all the states but Louisiana in which they are called parishes. The county, or parish, forms a convenient unit for school supervision. Consequently a large number of states make this smaller unit an in- tegral part of the State educational system and provide for county supervision of schools. Number of States Having Couxty (or District) Supervision. Thirty-nine states and two territories have county superintendents of schools or educational officers with equivalent functions or functions corresponding closely to those of county superintendent. In Arkansas in counties which have not elected county superintendent they are called county examiners. In Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, and in those counties of Missouri which have not by vote of the people established county school supervision, the official title of the county educational officer is commissioner of schools. Louisiana being^ divided into parishes, has parish superintendents. In New York and Virginia, the supervisory districts are not co-extensive with counties, being some- times larger and sometimes smaller, hence in New York the official corresponding to county superintendent is called district commissioner of schools and in Virginia division superintendent. In Nevada the office of county superintendent of schools was abolished in August 1907. But the state is divided into five districts and the schools of each dis- trict are supervised by five deputy state superintendents of public in- struction who, by virtue of their offices, are members of the board of education examiners. They are required also to assist the state board of education in preparing courses of study. The states which are Avholly without direct county supervision are Connecticut. IVfaine, Massachu- setts, New Hamnshire, Ohio and Ehode Island. In these states the pre- vailing form of supervision is that of the town or township. In each of these states the law provides for the election of town or township supervisor and permits two or more towns or townships to unite in the employment of such an officer. New York was the first state to provide for a county superintendent of schools. In 1841 an act was passed creating this office, but was abol- isliod in lS4r to reappear in 1856 as the office of county school commis- 56 sioner. Illinois soon followed the example of Xew York in providing for county supervision and as the history of the county superintendency in that State is typical it is given in full. The Couxty Superintendency in Illinois. The county superintendency in Illinois originated in an office "which had nothing whatever to do with the supervision of schools. By an Act of Jan. 22, 1829 it was made the duty of the county commissioner's court "to appoint some good, competent and responsible person of the county to act as commissioner and agent for the county" in the sale of public lands. This person was the prototype of the present county superintendent. Thus the county superintendent was originally merely a county land agent. In 1833 this commissioner was authorized to apportion the interest of the school fund in his county among the several teachers entitled thereto and was permitted to retain as his compensation two and one-half per cent on all sums apportioned. By the Act of 1841 the office af school commissioner was made elective. The term w-as fixed at two years and the compensation was changed to three per cent on the amount derived from the sale of iands, two l^ev cent on moneys reloaned, and two per cent on the amoimt of all moneys distributed and paid to teachers and trustees for the support of schools. jSTo supervisory duties were required of the commissioner until 1845. In that year it was provided that "Each and every school commissioner shall be ex officio superintendent of common schools in his county and shall by himself or some other qualified person, as often as practicable, visit all the townships in his county, inquire into the condition and manner of conducting schools in the same, and use his influence to carry out the system proposed by the State Superin- tendent."* He was also authorized to examine teachers and grant certificates. Under the Act of 1841 this duty had been performed by the township trustees. By the Act of 1849 the county court (the county board) was "au- thorized and required" to pay the school commissioners such an amount as they should deem right and proper, not exceeding two dollars per day for each day, nor exceeding fifty days in any year, actually spent in the discharge of their duties as ex officio superintendents of schools. The Act of 1851 repealed this provision and made the pa^^ment dis- cretionary with the county boards. Supervision by visitation was thus stopped in most of the counties, and an appeal was made to the Legis- lature to restore the per diem. The Act of 1855 -permitted the commis- sioner to retain out of the distributive fund two dollars per day not to exceed fifty days in any year for visiting schools. The Act of 1861 per- mitted him ^ to retain the same amount per day for not exceeding one hundred days in any year. It authorized county boards to make an ap- *At that time the Secretary of State was ex officio State Superintendent of common schools. 57 propriation out of the county treasury to pay the commissioner an ad- ditional sum for visiting schools and other educational services and to pay for holding teachers' institutes. Finally, in 1865, the name commissioner of schools was changed to county superintendent of schools and the term of oflfice was extended to four years. Prior to this time much dissatisfaction had been manifested by superintendents of public instruction both in regard to the term and the duties of the county officer. In 1858 William H. Powell, the second to be elected to the office of superintendent of public instruc- tion, recommended "that the office of school commissioner be so far modified as to provide for the election, once in three years, of a county superintendent of common schools, who shall be commissioned by the State Superintendent, and act directly under his control. To remove the office as far as possible from the control of ' politics, the county superintendent should be elected by the school officers of each county, and the question of qualification should be the only one at issue in his election."* John P. Brooks, the fourth superintendent of public instruction, called attention to the fact that for the least important and least difficult services by the commissioner of schools he was allowed ample compensation, but for the most essential and onerous services no compensation at all was provided. "The policy of the. State with reference to this office," said he, "is strange beyond comprehension. If it had been the direct purpose of the State to legislate the office into public contempt, it could hardly have been done more surely. To associate it with the noisy strifes and chicaneries of party, compelling men to go hawking and bargaining about amongst political traders and hucksters to gain the place — to assign it so frail and precarious a tenure that men who step into the office have hardly time to recon- noitre their position before they are called to step out — to add insult to injury by the appointment of a compensation so absolutely insignifi- cant — ail taken together is certainly enough to make the office con- temptible in the public eye, and to make the office undesirable in the eyes of the incumbent himself." f By the law of 1865 it was made the duty of the county superin- tendent "to visit every school in his county at least once each year, and oftoner if practicable, and to note the methods of instruction, the branches taught, the text books used, and the discipline, government and general condition of the schools." For this service he was allowed a compensation at the rate of three dollars a day. Later this was raised to four dollars a day for each day's service actually performed. In revising -the school law in 1872 the phrase "if so directed by the county board" was introduced, thus making school visitation depend- ent upon the direction of the county board. As a result the county supervision of schools passed almost into al)eyance. At the time the •Second Biennial Report Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois, pp. 29-30. tFifth Biennial Report Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois. 1863-64, pp. 23-24. 58 change was made only ten per cent of the public schools of the State were left imvisited by the county superintendents. Eight years after the change sixty-six per cent of the schools Avere not visited. In forty counties there was no visitation, and in twenty-four counties practically none.* Finally in 1885 the old requirement that the county superin- tendent shall visit each school in the county at least once a year was re-enacted. The number of schools visited increased from 5,134 in 1883-4 to 9,973 in 1885-6, and the number of schools visited more than once increased one hundred and sixty per cent.f Methods of Election. There is great diversity in the manner of selecting county superin- tendents of schools. The prevailing method is that of popular elec- tion. This is the practice in twenty-seven states and the two territor- ies. In four of the states, namely, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana and Mar}dand, the county superintendent, or county commissioner or parish superintendent, as the case may be, is elected by the countv board. In Indiana he is elected by the trustees of schools who in conjunction with the chairman of the board of education in each town and city of the county cojistitute the county board. In Pennsylvania he is elected by the school directors of the county. In Delaware he is appointed by the governor and in Averment by the governor and state superin- tendent. In New Jersey the county superintendent, and in Virginia the division superintendent, is appointed by the state board of education. In Tennessee the county superintendent is elected by the county court. In certain counties of Texas the county judge is ex officio county super- intendent of public instruction. It appears then, that there are eight different methods embodied in this country in the selection of county superintendent. The agents electing or appointing them are as follows: The people, the governor, and the state superintendent, the state board of education, a county board of one kind or another, the township trustees, the school direc- tors and the county court. This diversity with respect to the election of so important a school officer can hai'dly be accounted for on the ground of differences in social, political and educational conditions. Something must be allowed for these differences, but the diversity is due in part to the fact that the method of electing the county superin- tendent is one of the problems of school administration that has not in many of the states been thoroughly worked out. As a rule the method of selection employed represents a form of political inheritance What, then, is the best method of selecting the county superintendent? This is a most important question of educational administration. As to the first method, namely, election by the people, there are scA'eral arguments which may be urged in favor of it. It is first of all a democratic method, giving to the people an immediate voice in the selection of the school official, who, next to the teacher, is most closely ♦Thirteenth Biennial Report Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1878- 80. p. 64. tSixteenth Biennial Report Superintendent of Public In.struction, lUinoi.s, 1884-6, p. 238. 59 associated with the worlv of educating their children. Moreover, it is the method which now prevails in^ twenty-seven states and two terri- tories. It has long been practiced and the people are familiar with it and have grown accustomed to it. The results achieved by it have been, on the whole, fairly satisfactory. The schools have progressed. Good men have been selected, some of them especialy so. On the whole the county superintendents elected by the people will compare favorably both in ability and devotion to the interests of the schools with the county superintendents chosen by other methods. Then, too, it is not a bad thing for a superintendent to be brought into that close contact with the people which election by the people necessitates. The canvass of the county is not a bad preliminary preparation for assuming control of the county schools. It gives a knowledge of the people, their manner of living, their peculiar luodes of thought, their attitude with respect to schools and their general education needs, all of which is necessary to the most effective supervision. By forcing the candidate to get out among the people, to put his "best foot forward," it tends to break up the exclusiveness which is not an uncommon fault among people engaged in educational work. Books rather than men tend to become the object of their study. But the work of the county superintendent is more with men than with books. He must awaken the interest of men and women in things educational. He must harmonize their differences, guide- their efforts, teach them without seeming to teach, lead them without seeming to lead. The knowledge which comes from experi- ence with the people is therefore a necessary qualification of the county superintendent. He will be all the better if he be a man of the people. Finally, there can be little doubt but that election by the people gives to the county sliperintendent a feeling of independence and a courage which election by any other agency tends to diminish or destroy. It is desiralile to have a county superintendent work with a county board rather than under a county board. And this condition is perhaps more likely to be attained if the county superintendent feels that lie is respon- sible only to the people. On the other hand it may ho said that under this method of elec- tion the county superintendent is not, as a rule, elected by the people, that is, by all the people, but by the members of the dominant pol- itical party. To be eligible to nomination for the superintendency he must reside in the county, must be, as a rule, affiliated with the party that is numerically su^ierior and must have what is known in political parlance as '^availability," and this too often is not determined by his promise or merits as a supenisor of schools. To win the election he must subject himself to all the annovances of " the candidate," to impositions that he would like to resent, sometimes to attacks on his character made merely for the purpose of affectino- the vote. If he is successful in the election and wishes a second term, if he needs it to mature his plan? and brinjr to fruition those that he has put in operation, he must divide liis attention l)etween getting a second nomination and 60 getting educational results, between educational policies and partisan polities. He must be assessed as other candidates are assessed and must, for a time at least, neglect the interests of the schools and his own proper field of labor to conduct a political campaign. All this from the viewpoint of school supervision seems a useless waste of time and energy. What has a man's politics to do with his merits as a supervisor of schools? Xothing at all. Another objection to election by the people rises into view the moment the county superintendency is regarded as a professional position requiring special educational qualifications and expert ability. The interests of the schools of a county obviously demand the best talent available no matter where it is found. But election by the people narrows, by custom if not by law, not merely to the available citizens of the county but to the available members of the dominant political party, the number of persons from whom the superintendent may be selected. Why should not the county superintendent, like the city superintendent, be elected without regard to his place of residence as well as without regard to his political affiliations? From the beginning strong opposition to the election of county super- intendents by. popular vote has been manifested by leading educators. In Illinois the first Superintendent of Public Instruction urged that county school commissioners be chosen by the directors of the boards of education in each county in the State.* His successor in 'office de- clared that "to remove the office as far as possible from the control of politics, the county superintendent should be elected by the school officers of each county, and the question of qualification sliould be the only one at issue in his election." f Newton Bateman, certainly one of the most enlightened of the early superintendents, was of the same opinion. "In order to remove the choice of these officers as far as possible from imjust political bias," said he, "and to secure the great ends of ability, unity, fidelity and vigor in the administration, of the school system, county superintendents should be elected by the school officers of the respective counties."! His immediate successors empha- sized this view. One of them complained of the elective method as as- sociating the county superintendency "with the noisy strifes and chican- eries of party" and another declared that "the present elective system often puts a premium upon the unfaithful performance of duty. When continuance in office is altogether dependent upon popular will or upon political influence the strict and impartial performance of duty lies in a path beset with temptations, and if those are ajways resisted county superintendents must, indeed, be exempt from the common infirmities of human nature as seen at the present day."§ Again he says: "The question may very properly be asked, how ought the county superintend- ent of schools to be chosen? In determining this question it must not be •First Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois. 1855. p. 25. tSecond Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1857-58, pp. 29-30. JPourth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1861-2, p. 91. §Eleventh Biennial Report Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1875- 76, p. 426. Gl forgotten that the great object is to secure the best man — the man most competent and faitlifnl — the man who will render the most valuable service. This being the object, the manner of selection should be de- termined by it. The duties of the office are not representative, judicial or executive, but supervisory and advisory. The duties of a county sup- erintendent are essentially the same as those of the city or town sup- erintendent; hence, his selection does not involve the right of repre- sentation any more than does the selection of a city superintendent. It is rather a question of wise selection on the one hand and of eligi- bility on the other."'* Similar opinions have been expressed by the superintendents of other states. The superintendent of Texas for instance, in a paper read in the Department of Superintendence, N. E. A., 1907, said: "There is some debate as to the manner of electing the superintendent. It is main- tained in some quarters that he should be elected by the direct vote of the people. This, in my judgment, is not the best way to select him, because it involves the expense of a campaign and not infequently in- volves the schools in all manner of political broils. The office and the officer should be removed as far as possible from the evil effects and in- fluences of partisan or personal politics, and should be put on a profes- sional basis." Discussing this paper, the superintendent of New Jersey remarked : "County superintendents should never be elected by popular vote." The state superintendent of Kansas, in his report for 1905-6 (page 11), says: "The method of electing a county superintendent is wrong. * * « * rpj^^ present system too frequently puts in the office of county superintendent those whose whole recommendation is that they have been loyal to the party to which they belong. The office is a professional one and should command the highest talent of the county." A legislative committee of the Minnesota Education Association, ap- pointed in 1904, recommended the selection of county superintendents by a non-partisan county board of education to be selected from the various districts of the county, and this plan was heartily supported by the superintendent of public instruction. f In a questionaire on the certification of teachers, sent to the county superintendents of Iowa in 1908, the question was incidentally asked whether they regarded the method of electing countv superintendents in vogue in that state (i. e. by the people) as the best method. Of seventy- eight answers received thirty-six were in the negative, thirty answered yes and twelve were doubtful. The superintendent of Indiana, a state in which county superintendents are elected by the trustees of schools, declares that the county superintendents of that state are unanimously opposed to election by the people. •Eleventh Biennial Report Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1875- 76. p. 42C. tFourteenth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Minnescta, p. 11. 62 In Wisconsin the question has been under consideration during the past two years by tlic .State Teachers' Association and the County Super- intendents' Convention. Tlie state superintendent, in his report, declares that "the consensus of opinion seems to be that our present system of selecting- county superintendents is radically wrong and should be changed.'' For more than forty years, he says, the method of election by the people has been in use in the state and has failed to make the county superintendency a professional position. Before the county superintendency can become a profession, he insists, there must be op- portunity for permanence of tenure on the part of the superintendent and on the part of a county board by whom he should be selected the right to go beyond the limits of the state if necessary in order to secure the best possible service.* Professor Cubberley, in an admirable discussion of the question un- der consideration, speaks at length of the desirability of removing the county superintendency as far as possible from political influence and opening up the field of rural supervision so that in time it may become as much of a profession as city supervision and the county board may seek anywhere for the most efficient superintendent. His remarks are worth quoting practically in full. ''There is no more reason, educationally," he says, ''why we should nominate a local Republican or local Democrat for county superintendent, and expect him to stump the county for election than that we should nominate a Republican or a Democrat from among the voters of a city and ex- pect him to stump the city for election as a city superintendent, or a high school principal, or a grammar school principal. If it is right educationally to vote for one, then it is right to vote for the others; and if it is w-rong to vote for one, then it is wrong to vote for the others. A county superintendent should be as much of an expert educational officer as a city superintendent, a county horiiculturalist, a county entomologist or a county health officer. And the fact that this is not as thoroughly an established principle with the mass of educational men as it is with city superintendents and scientific men is due to the estimate we place upon the functions of the county super- intendent * * * * County and rural supervision is today a closed field. There is no way to enter it purely on the basis of merit. More, it is a closed field to every man not a resident of the particular county and more or less politically inclined. Political affiliations, political availability, place of residence, and often the political dominance of one party or the other in the county — considerations which have no more to do with a man's ability to be an educational leader of the schools of the county than the church he belongs to, the age of his wife, the name of his baby or the size of shoes he wears, are consider- ations which, nevertheless, largely determine the selection of the county superintendent. In the process of nomination and renomination many accidents happen. A successful superintendent may be sure of re- ♦Thirteenth Biennial Report, Department of Public Instruction. Wisconsin. 1906- 8, pp. 17-18. G3 nomination, but fail through some eleven-hour trade made on the floor of the convention. Still more often he fails because his renomin- ation would destroy a good geogTaphical distribution of the ticket as a whole. If renominated, he may be defeated at the polls because of a Koosevelt or a Bryan landside which carries the other party into power all along the line. * * * * Perhaps he is defeated by some third- rate country school master, who puts up the plea that the county super- intendent deals with the country schools and that, therefore,- he should come from the country rather than the town. These are not hypo- thetical cases. Tlie writer knows of at least two actual cases to illus- trate each. These considerations are not educational ones, and educa- tion and politics cannot be mixed in any proportions whatsoever with- out harm to education. Certain fundamental propositions must be laid down with reference to county school supervision, and these must be insisted upon with emphasis. In the first place, it should offer a ■career for which a good man would be warranted in making a care- ful educational and professional preparation. In the second place, a man should be able to enter the work purely on the basis of merit and free from any unnecessary and irrelevant considerations. In the third place, the office in no sense exists to reward old and faithful teachers, and the position should never be awarded as a charity. In the fourth place, the educational functions of the position should be paramount and the clerical and legal functions purely secondary. We tend to emphasize tlie county office side of the position, and then to defend the bad features of the method of selection on this ground. But there is" no argument here that cannot be made to apply with equal force to the work of a city superintendent. We cannot insist too strongly that the first business of the schools is the education of children, and that anything which fails to promote this to the maxi- mum possible is to the extent that it fails a robbery of the child." Enough has been advanced to show that the method of electing county superintendents presents a question upon which, to use the language of Sir Eoger de Coverley, "much mav be said on both sides." In considering any "method of selection three questions naturally arise; first, which one of these methods will attract to the county superin- tendency the better class of superintendents ; second, which will be more likely to select from these candidates the best ones fitted for the work : and third, which will make the tenure of office of the efficient super- intendent the more secure. The Ter^i of Office. In twenty-three states and two territories the county superintendent, or equivalent officer, is elected or appointed to serve two years. In thirteen states the term is four years, and in three states, three years. In South Dakota and Washington constitutional provisions proliibit the election of any person to the office of county superintendent of schools 64 for more than two terms in succession. In other parts of the country the same tenure, even of the hest county superintendents, is brought about by the custom of rotation in office. Such constitutional provisions and such a political practice with re- spect to the office of county superintendent are plainly detrimental to the best interests of the schools. The tenure of office of the efficient county superintendent should be long and secure. He is expected to formulate y county boards and ranp;e from $400 to $4,000. Colorado For the purpose of fixing: the amount of county superintendents' compensation the counties of the state are divided into seven classes with salaries as follows: $2,800, $2,000, $1,200, $1,100, $800. $500. $100. In all but first and second class counties mileag-e not to exceed ten cents per mile for distance necessarily and actually traveled in the performance of -$4800. By people $10(>-$2800. Appointed by governor.... $1,000. By people $.iO-$200 per month based on annual receipts of coun- ty 1. To examine and license teachers. 2. To issue certifi- cates. 3. To keep record of age, name, sex, address and nativity of persons granted certificates. 4. To superin- tend schools. 5. To appoint persons to assist in holding institutes and examinations. 6. To report annually to State superintendent 1. To apportion county funds. 2. To suspend school if aver- age daily attendance is five or less. 3. To determine indebt- edne.ss of lapsed districts and draw requisition upon county auditor in payment of .same. 4. To visit each school once a year. 5. To preside over in- stitutes. 6. To grant tempor- ary certificates. 7. To ap- prove and reject plans for school houses. 8. To grade each school. 9. To appoint trustees to fill vacancies 1. To visit schools. 2. To ex- emine accounts of district of^- ficers. 3. To keep record of his official acts. 4. To hold teachers' associations. 5. To publish annually .statement of school funds apportioned to the county. 6. To appoint di- rectors when district fails to elect. 7. To grant certificates. 1. To advi.se and assi.st teachers. 2. To promote knowledge of schools and school system. 3. To visit each school once a year. 4. To report to county school commissioner and to state board. 5. To suspend certificates. 6. To frame ex- amination questions and com- pile li.st of text books when requested by State board. 7. To examine teachers 1. To visit schools. 2. To con- fer with school supervisors. 3. To look after school build- ings and fund.s. 4. To hold examinations and grant cer- tificates. 5. To revoke certi- ficates. 6. To suspend or close schools. 7. To recom- mend removal of teachers to Board of Public Instruction. 9. To take scliool census 74 Table 2 — Continued. State. Election. Salary. Powers and Duties. Georgia. Idaho. Illinois. Indiana. Iowa By county board of ed ucation By people By people By township trustees By people Fixed by county board: not to ex- ceed $3.00 a day for timeactnally employed in dis- charge of duties. 1. $800-$1200, fixed by county board of commissioners *In counties of 1st class $1200, 2d class $1650, 3d class $7500 4.50 per day for time employed in discharge of duties $1250 and traveling expenses To visit each school once during: school term. 2. To audit all accounts of teachers. 3. To report to grand jury at each spring term of court. 4. To make monthly statements to State school commissioner, 5. To be secretary of county board , To visit each school during each school term and remain at least a half day. 2. I'k) require school trustees to le- pair school property. 3. To ascertain whether boundaries of district are definitely de- scribed and report to county commissioners if tliey a*re in- correctly described. 4. To srant and revoke certificates. 5. To appoint trustees for nev.'ly organized school vacan- cies 1. To sell township fund lands. 2. To register applicants for admission to Normal Uni\er- sity and University of Illi- nois. 3. To visit each school in county once a year. 4. To conduct institutes. 5. To pass on boundary disputes ap- pealed from trustees. 6. To grant and revoke certificates. 7. To require reports from board of trustees. S. To re- new certificates. 9. To re- move directors for neglect of duty 1. To attend township institutes. 2. To conduct institvites. 3. To decide controversies aris- ing under school law. 4. To see that interest on school fund is paid and apportioned. 5. To hold examinations. 6. To grant and revoke certifi- cates. 7. To visit schools.... 1. To conduct examinations. 2. To revoke certificates. 3. To report annually to State sup- erintendent. 4. To see that school laws are obeyed. 5. To decide controversies ♦Counties are classified on the basis of population. Counties containing a popu- lation of not exceeding twenty-five thousand inhabitants are counties of the first class. Counties of the second class contain a population of more tlian twenty- five thousand and less than one hundred thousand. Counties containing a popula- tion exceeding one hundred thousand belong to the third class. There is but one county in this class, namely, Cook county. 75 Table 2 — Continued. State. Klectior. Term. Powers and Duties. Kansas. Mississippi . . By people — By people Missouri By people Montana By people In proportion to school popula- tion; not to ex- ceed $1000 5 per cent of school fund rece i V ed b V county. Minimum, $800; maximum , $18^0* $200-$1500, depend- ing: on school population Counties of 1st class, $2000; 2nd. 3rd, 4th and 5th classes, $1500 ;6th class, $1200: 7th class, .$800, 8th class, $600. Clas- sification is on basis of valua- tion 1. To visit each school once each term of 6 months. 2. To examine accounts of district officers. 3. To hold annual meetings in each district to elevate standard of education. 5. To keep complete record of his official acts. 6. To keep record of semi-annual state and county apportioned school funds. 7. To apportion county fund. 8. To leport annually to State superintendent To keep record of official acts. 2. To conform manner of keeping reports to recom- mendations of State superin- tendent. 3. To preserve all reports of school officers To forward necessary blanks to school officers. 2. To or- ganize institutes and require teachers to attend. 3. To for- mulate course of study and plan for grading schools in county. 4. To hold examina- tions. 5. To visit and in.'jpect schools To have general supervision of schools and visit each once a year. 2. To keep record of his official acts. 3. To decide matters of controversy relat- ing to school law. 4. To as- certain whether district boun- daries are definitely described. .5. To apportion county funds. 6. To issue certificates valid until next regular examina- tion ♦The board of supervisors may fix the salary at an amount between |1,200 and $1,800. The average salary is $1,128.90. 76 Table 2 — Continued. State. Election. Term. Salary . Powers and Duties. Nebraska By people . . . New Jersey... By state board of education. New Mexico.. New York N. Carolina.. North Dakota. Oklahoma By people By people By county board of edu cation By people ... By people Fixed by county commissioners in proportion to school popula tion, $800-$1200. $2000. $30O-$1500, depend ing on number of school rooms in county..,.. $1000. Fixed by county board From $150 up, de- pending on number of schools To visit each school once a year. 2. To hold examina- tions and grant certificates. 3. To examine reports' of district boaids. 4. To report annual- ly to State superintendent. 5. To act as executive oiticer for free high school law 1. To supervise schools of coun- ty. 2. To apportion school money. 3. To appoint mem- bers of board of education in certain cases. 4. To report annually to State superinten- dent. 5. To condemn school buildings 1. To supervise methods of in- struction. 2. To consult school directors concerning improve- ment of schools. 3. To or- ganize, disorganize, or change boundaries of any district. 4. To hold teachers' meetings. 5. To apportion county funds. 1. To visit and examine schools. 2. To order alterations and repairs of school houses. 3. To condemn school houses. 4. To examine teachers in cer- tain cases 1. To hold teachers' meetings in each township. 2. To at- tend State Teachers' Associa- tion. 3. To report annually to State superintenaent. 4. To suspend teachers To advise teachers. 2. To carry into effect instructions of State superintendent. 3. To convene teacliers once a month. 4. To instruct school officers in keeping records. 5. To decide questions of contro- versy. 6. To apportion county fund. 7. To revoke certifi- cates 1. To see that annual reports of clerks are correctly made. 2. To fill vacancies in board of directors. 3. To furnish coun- ty clerks witli description of boundary of each .district. 4. To divide county into con- venient number of districts.. *In counties of less than 1,000 school population, $3.00 per day for time spent in discharge of duties. In counties of 1,000 to l,o00 scliool population, $400. In counties of 1,500 scliool population, $500. and $15 for each additional one hundred. 77 Table ;2— Continued. State. Election. Term Powers and Duties. Oregon Pennsylavnia. SouthCarolina By people By directors... By people South Dakota. Teenessee Texas . By people By county court By people. In certain rases county judpeactstfx officio Utah By people $300-$2500. $1000 -$2000. $30O-$1200.. Fixed by law and based on popu- lation and ass- essed valuation . Fixed by county court $900-$1500. $50O-$1600. 1. ,To visit schools annually. 3. To apportion county fund. 3. To purchase library books with assistance of directors. 4. To appoint librarian. 5. To enforce course of study. 6. To decide appeals 1. To visit schools. 2. To grant and annul certificates. 3. To call teachers' institutes 1. To visit schools annually. 2. To attend annual settlement of county treasurer with Comptroller General. 3. To report annually to county .judge all claims filed, audited, allowed and ordered. 4. To report annually to county treasurer 1. To keep record of official acts. 2. To keep a record of candi- dates for certificates. 3. To apportion county fund. 4. To hold Institutes. 5. To encour- age formation of Teachers' Reading Circle. 6. To clo.se school for good and sufficient cause. 7. To grant and re- voke certificates in conjunc- tion with State superinten- dent ■ .. , To supervise schools. 2:' To confer with teachers and di- rectors. 3. To hold examina- tions and issue certificates. 4. To grade schools To confer with teachers and trustees. 2. To organize and hold institutes for white and colored teachers. 3. To ex- amine all contracts between trustees and teachers. 4. To appoint county board of ex- aminers . To superintend county schools. 2. To decide contro- versies. 3. To administer oath of office to school offi- cers. 4. To hold in.stitutes. 5. To appoint a deputy 78 Table S— Continued. State. Election. 1 Term. Powers, and Duties. \'ermont \'irginia Washington .. West Virginia Wisconsin .. . By governor and superin- tendent Appointed by state board of education By people By people .. By people ... $4.00 per day and expenses not to exceed $2.00 per day $2O0-$5OO. . Maximum, $500 $500-$1200, in pro- portion to num ber of schools . , Fixed by county board with max- imum depend ing on popula tion To make necessai-y arrange- ments for teachers' institutes. 2. To take measures to secure attendance at institutes, to give assistance and furnish such statistical information as may be required. 3. To issue certificates 1. To register applicants for certificates. 2. To make spec- ial reports to the Superinten- dent of Public Instruction. 3. To inspect the record and ac- count books of district clerks. 4. To prepare a scheme for apportioning state and county school funds among the school districts witliin each county under his supervision. 5. To affect arrangements for tlie supply of text books to chil- dren. 6. To hear appeals. 7. To visit schools. 8. To assist in the organization and man- agement of county institutes. 9. To keep a record of his official acts 1. To enforce course of study. 2. To administer oath of of- fice to school officers. 3. To keep transcript of school boundaries. 4. To grant tem- porary and special certificates. 5. To suspend teachers. 6. To visit schools of county once a year. 7. To appoint school officers to fill vacancies. 8. To apportion school funds. 9. To hold teachers' institutes. . To decide appeals. 2. To countersign certificates. 3. To decide location of school house when school board disagree. 4. To report annually to State superintendent. 5. To visit schools annually To visit schools annually. 2. To report annually to county board of supervisors. 3. To organize and conduct insti- tutes. 4. To order district board to repair school build- ings. 5. To examine and li- cense teachers 79 Table 2 —Concluded. State. Election. Term. Salary. Powers and Duties. Wyoming — By people.... 2 $500~$900 1. To report annually to State •sviperintendent. 2. To distrib- ute lilanks to districts. 3. To divide county into districts and to altt'r and change boun- daries. 4. To conduct examin- ations. 5. To dismiss teach- ers. 6. To hear and deter- mine appeals of district boards. 7. To hold institutes. 8. To apportion county funds. Qualifications. Twenty-three of the forty-eight states and territories require of county superintendents and examiners special educational nualifications, usually a first grade certificate. It would naturally be expected that in those states in which the county official certificates teachers scholas- tic qualifications would be required, but of the seventeen states in which this power is exercised five, namely, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Xew York and Vermont, make no requirements whatever. In Cali- fornia, although the county superintendent may in certain cases grant temporary certificates and is a member of the county board which ex- amines teachers and grants certificates, no scholastic qualifications are required of him by law. In Tennessee he is required to possess liter- ary and scientific attainments and skill in the practice of teaching. In Xew Jersey a state certificate is required, and it will be remembered that this is the state in which county superintendents receive the highest compensation. Xorth Dakota requires its superintendents in counties in which the salary is one thousand dollars or more to hold a state certificate of the first gi-ade or to be a graduate of a reputable normal school or higher institution of learning. Superintendents in Indiana must have, at the time of their election, a thirty-six months state license, a life license or a professional license. In Wisconsin a special county superintendent's certificate is provided for. Its requirements are the same as for a first grade county certificate and in addition an examina- tion upon school law and the organization, management and super- vision of district schools. This certificate, together with eight months' experience in teaching in the public schools of Wisconsin, constitutes a legal qualification to hold the office of counts superintendent of schools or to teach in any public school in the state for wliich a first grade county certificate is a legal qualification. The certificate remains in force until revoked by the state superintendent according to law. Five states, while requiring no snecific educational qualifications on the part of the county superintendent, do make some provision general in its nature. Florida, for instance, requires onlv that the superintendent l)e "in full sympathy with the public educational system of the State." Ten states require experience in teaching. The lowest requirement 80 is eight mouths. Several of the states require two years. Thirteen states make no provision in regard to the educational qualiiications for those who are to supervise their rural schools. The following table will show the educational qualifications of county superintendents or equivalent officials in all the states in which such qualifications are re- quired : Table III. Showing ike Qualifications of the County Supennteildents {or Equiva- lent Officers) Required in the Several States. State. Qualifications. Arkansas . Delaware Florida... Georgia .. Idaho Indiana .. Iowa Kansas ... Kentucky Louisana. Michigan Mississippi Missouri . Montana Nebraska New Jersey.. New Mexico. 1. Must have attained the age of 25 years, must have taught at least twenty-four months in the county within five years preced- ing his candidacy, and must hold at the time of his candidacy a first grade teacher's license, to be approved by the State super- intendent, a professional teacher's license, or a State teacher's license 1. Must possess good moral character. 2. Must have had at least 20 montlas' experience in teaching. 3. Must -hold certificate of graduation from some reputable college or normal school, or an unexpired certificate of the highest grade granted to teachers in this State. 4. Must become a resident of the county for which he is appointed and must reside therein during his term of office 1. To possess good moral character. 2. To be temperate, upright, responsible, competent and in full sj^mpathy with public educa- tioftal system of the State - 1. To be examined by president of county board. 2. To stand satisfactory examination, taking into consideration moral char- acter and business qualifications 1. To hold first grade certificate. 2. To have taught two years in Idaho, one of which while holding first grade certificate. 3. To be 25 years of age 1. To hold at time of election a thirty-six months' state license, a life or a professional license 1. To hold first grade certificate, a state certificate or a life diploma. 1. To hold professional certificate, a first grade certificate or a state certificate or be a gradviate of an accredited college or normal school. 2. To have taught 18 months 1. To possess good moral character. 2. To possess ability to man- age common school interests efficiently. 3. To possess good English education. 4. To be 24 years of age. 5. To be a citizen of Kentucky. 6. To have resided two years next preceding elec- tion in this State, and one year in county for which he is a candidate. 7. To hold state diploma or a state certificate or a certificate of qualification of grade of first-class county certificate. 1. To possess high moral character and be a practical educator. . . 1. To have had 12 months' experience. 2. To be a graduate of college, university or state normal school, or hold state certifi- cate, or hold first grade certificate whicli only qualifies the holder to hold office of commissioner in county in which such certifi- cate is granted 1. To be 21 years of age. 2. To be a qualified elector and a resi- dent citizen of state four years and of county two years pre- ceding his election. 3. To pass an examination on branches re- quired for first grade license and in addition on the art of teaching 1. To be 21 years of age. 2. To have re.^ided in county at least one year prior to election. 3. To hold first grade county certifi- cate, normal or State certificate 1. To hold highest grade county certificate. 2. To be a citizen of tlie United States. 3. To have resided one year in state and one year in county in which he is a candidate. 4. To have 12 months' successful experience in teaching 1. To hold first grade certificate in this state and in force at time of his election 1. To hold state teacher's certificate 1. To possess culture and practical experience and learning in those branches of education taught in the public schools 81 Tabic 3 — Concluded. state. Qualifications. North Carolina ..]1. To be a practical teacher. 2. To have two years' experience in teaching. 3. To be a man of liberal education and to be other- wise qualified to discharge the duties of his office North Dakota.... 1 1. To be 25 years of asre. 2. To hold highest grade state certifi- cate or to be a .graduate of some reputable university, college I or normal school Oivlahoma il. To hold first grade certificate or be a graduate of some institu- ' tion of learning Oregon i. To have taught in state nine months. 2. To hold first grade I county certificate, a state diploma or a state certificate Pennsylvania.... 1. To possess diploma or state certificate from college or state normal school, a county certificate issued one year prior to I election or a certificate of competency from the state super in- I tendent. 2. To have had successful experience in teaching within three years of his election South Dakota.... il. To hold first grade certificate or certificate of higher grade valid in South Dakota Tennessee |l. To possess literary and scientific attainments and skill in the theory and practice of teaching Texas il. To hold first grade permanent certificate. 2. To possess good I moral character and executive ability Utah 11. To hold certificate not lower than grammar grade. 2. To be qualified elector in county Washington ]1. To have taught nine months. 2. To hold state certificate or life 1 diploma or first grade common school certificate Wisconsin il. To have taught in state eight months. 2. To hold county certifi- I cate • , The following states have no county superintendents : Connecticut, Maine, Mas- sachusetts. Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island. The following states provide no qualifications: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, South Carolina, Vermont, Vir- ginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. There can be no doubt that the tendency is towards hifjher standards of qualification for county superintendents. This tendency is mani- fested in the recommendations of state superintendents and lefrislative committees. The legishitive committee of the Louisiana School Board Association, for instance, at a meetino; held Anril 10, 1908, recom- mended that "hereafter no person may be appointed to the office of parish superintendent of education without first having obtained, under regulations prescribed by the State Board of Education, a certificate of eligibility or qualification for that office." The arguments advanced in favor of this recommendation are that it is the most import^mt office in tiie educational system; it should be removed as far as possible from political influence and should be made a strictly professional position. Such recommendations are but the visible signs of a general movement in educational thought. "In a general way," says Prof. Cubberley, "it may be said that educational opinion has crystallized on the idea that the certification of teachers should be in the hands of pro- fessional teachers instead of lavmen, and that a county superintendent, or other certificating authority, should be possessed of at least the highest grade of certificate which is issued by him. This is all very good as far as it goes, but is is entirely inadequate to meet the needs of present-day education. Such a system brings to the front only the old and successful practitioner, while what we need is the man Avho, in — 6 E C 82 addition to successful practice, has secured a broad education and made a careful study of school administration and educational theor}'^ as well. There is no particular fault to be found with the present body of county superintendents as such. They are good enough in their way, and are the best the present system can produce. The trouble, however, is with the system. It produces the successful practitioner who has learned largely by experience and imitation, and not the educational leader who works, partly in the light of his past experience, but largely in the light of the best educational theory there is on the subject. Too often our superintendents work without any guiding theory of conse- quence, with the result that their educational work is traditional work and highly conservative, and their main services clerical rather than supervisory, in any broad educational sense of the term. Such work and conditions will not meet the needs of the future in a nation where the changes in the conditions of living, and the consequent modifications of an educational system to meet changed conditions, are taking place as rapidly as they are with us at present. Everywhere our rural schools are calling for leadership and close educational supervision of a new order; but little can be done to answer this call until some important changes are made in our methods of selecting supervisory officers, and the number of these is largely increased. In the judgment of the writer, two fundamental changes ought to be made in our method of selecting men for supervisory positions. Both are of fundamental importance. The first is the erection of a distinctly higher educational and professional standard for supervisors; and the second is the elim- ination of the county superintendency from politics, making it an ap- pointive office, with the selection made whollv on the basis of educational ability.''* In the brief description of the development of the county superin- tendency in Illinois it was seen that originally the duties of the office were merely those involved in the advertisement and sale of public lands and the loaning of money. Educational duties were assigned later and somewhat gradually. It is not surprising, then, that at the beginning no educational requirements for school commissioner were required. The duties of the office were such as any man with ordinary executive ability could perfonn. Hence, the law merely specified that the commissioner of schools should be "some good, competent and respon- sible person of the county." When the office became an elective one this specification was dropped, and from that' time on no scholastic quali- fications for the county superintendencv have been prescribed in that state bv law. That this was in some measure due to the gradual assump- tion of school duties by that officer or was at least an oversight is indi- cated by the fact that when the county superintendent was authorized by law to employ, with the approval of the county board, such assistant or assistants as he needs for the discharff-e of his duties, it was provided that "such assistants shall be persons of good attainments, versed in the principles and methods of teaching, familiar with the public school ♦Fifth vear book, National Society for tlie Scientific Studv of Education, part 2, pp. 67-8. 83 work, and coinpetcut to^ visit schools." We thus have the somewhat peculiar condition in that state of requiring certain qualifications on the part of the county superintendent's assistants, while no require- ments are demanded of him. Now, the office of county superintendent is a distinctly professional one. Since the commissioner of schools was made ex officio superin- tendent of common schools in his county his duties have been to a large extent educational, and consequently the office, if not the law, demanded educational qualifications. Today the duties of the office are chiefly educational. The superintendent is expected to be first of all a leader of the educational work of his county. He is a teacher of teachers. He should, therefore, possess at least the academic qualifica- tions of the more advanced teachers of his county. Such qualifications are needed not merely to beget confidence and to give him standing among those with whom he works, although this is important, but also because without them, other qualifications being the same, he is greatly handicapped in his work as a superintendent. Being a superintendent of the work of teachers, the county superin- tendent should know good teaching when he sees it. He will be all the better judge of teaching after he has had experience as a teacher.. There should, therefore, be required of the county superintendent of schools definite scholastic qualifications and also experience in teaching. Finally, the county superintendent is a superintendent of schools. He is at the head of the school system of his county and is the mediat- ing agent between the schools and the school officers of his county and the educational authorities of the State. He should therefore be familiar with the school system of the State and with the general principles of school organization and administration. As he usually has appellate jurisdiction in matters of dispute concerning educational af- fairs in his county, he should be thoroughly familiar with the school law of the State. In a word, he should have the special qualifications natur- ally to be expected of a professional supervisor of schools. In view of the peculiar duties attaching to the county superintcnd- ency he should be reauired to hold a sunervisory certificate, the lowest form of which should demand the academic preparation necessary to obtain a first grade countv certificate and in addition a knowledge of the school system and school law of the State and of school organiza' tion and administration. This should be required not because prescribed qualifications are ab- solutely necessary to secure competent school superintendents. The ex- perience of many states shows the contrary. A comparatively high standard of qualifications is in most states enforced by public opinion. But the time has come when this standard should be generally recog- nized and expressed in the laws of the states. In some of the states in which the county superintendent is elected by the people it is supposed by some that scholastic qualifications could not legally be prescribed for the office of county superintendent. This is probably an erroneous supposition. Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Michi- gan, Wisconsin and other states elect their county superintendents, but 84 at the same time they provide the requirement of certain scholastic qualifications. The inference would be that other states might do the same. In Illinois, for instance, the matter is not left to inference. The constitution of that State oxpressl}^ provides that the qualifications of the county superintendent "shall be prescribed by law.'^* Fixing the qualifications of the county superintendents, therefore, is not merely something which the General Assembly may do, it is something which it is specifically enjoined to do. Up to the present time, however, no standard of qualification has been prescribed. ''The right of the people to elect their county superintendent of schools," said Batenifi^, "should not be abridged, but it seems entirely practicable for the Legislature to require the candidate to possess certain necessary qualifications for the duties of the office, and I respectfully recommend that it bo done."f In another place he declared that "it .is a solecism in our school system that while no teacher can be employed, or paid, in any school in the State, under any circumstances whatever, without due examination and licensure; no conditions or qualifications of any kind or degree are re- quired of the man who conducts the examination, and issues, or refuses to issue, the license. He may be the first gentleman and scholar in his county, pre-eminently worthy in character and attainments : or deplor- ably lacking in intelligence, scholarship, morality and refinement — it is all the same in the eye of the law, under the present arrangement. It is submitted that this is neither reasonable nor safe — the wise pur- pose of the law in requiring proof of the fitness and competency of teachers, is obviously liable to be negatived arid nullified in any county at any time. Some evidence of competency and fitness, some tangible proof of reasonable qualifications for the office, and of capacity to dis- charge its duties, should be made a condition of eligibility to the office of county superintendent of schools.^J REFERENCES. 1885. Stevenson. R. "W. — City and town supervision of schools. National educational association. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1884. Boston, 1885 ; p. 283-292. 1886. ■ Holcombe, John W. — The county superintendency. National educational associa- tion. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1885. New York. 1886; p. 162-170.' McElroy, B. B. — County suerintendents. National educational association. Journal of proceedings and addresses. 1886. Salem, 18S7 : p. 3.37-345. United States — Bureau of education. Duties of county superintendents. By D. L. Kiehle. Circular of information No. 2, 1886; p. 89-93. 1887. Higbee, E. E. — City arid county supervision. National educational association. Proceedings, 1887 ; p. 102-5. 1888. Hancock, John — School supervision in the United States and other countries com- pared. National educational association. Journal of proceedings and ad- dresses, 1887. Salem, Mass., 1888; p. 512-520. ♦Article VIII, section 5. tlUinois School Report, 1869-70, p. 128. llllinois School Report, 1871-72, p. 146. 85 1890. Pickard, Josiah Little — School supervision. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1890 ; XIV, 175, p. 12. County superintendency discussed on p. 28-37. 1894. '^'aller, D. J. — Supervision of country schools. National educational association. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1894 ; p. 368-72. 1895. Sabin, Henry — Report of the committee on State school systems — Ungraded schools. National educational association. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1895, Denver; p. 459-475. 1896. Pellow, Henry C. — A study in school supervision and maintenance. Topeka, Kan- sas, Crane & Co., 1896 ; 173 p. Tables 8°. County supervision discussed on pages 44-48. 1897. Evans, Lawton B.. Chairman — Report of the .sub-committee on supervision. In report of committee of twelve on rural schools. National educational associa- tion. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1897 ; p. 437-456. 1898. Dougherty, N. C. — School supervision. (Abstract of discussion of report on rural schools.) National educational association. Journal of proceedings and ad- dresses, 1898: p. 576-577. Mclver, Charles D. — Better supervision of the public schools in the South. Na- tional educational association. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1898 ; p. 325-328. 1899. AUerton, Walter S. — School supervision in New York State. Educational review, 17; 287-291; March, 1899. 1904. Draper, Andrew S. — The supervision of country schools. Syracuse, N. Y., C. W. Bardeen, 1904 ; 43 p. 12°. The supervision of the country schools. An address at the 50th annual meeting at New York State school commissioners and superintendents at Syra- cuse, N. Y., November 21, 1904. Albany, N. Y., 1904 ; p. 22-35. [New York (State) educational department. Addresses by the commissioner of educa- tion.] Lefevre. Arthur — Increasing the efficiency of rural schools. National educational association. Journal of proceedings and addresses, 1904; p. 309-313. 1905. Coulter, Minnie — Report on supervision of rural schools. California teachers' asso- ciation. Proceedings and year book. Berkeley, California, December 26-29, 1905. In the Western Journal of education, 11 ; 171-179. Cubberley. Ellwood P. — Report on supervision of rural schools. California teachers' association. Proceedings and vear book. Berkeley, California. December 26- 29, 1905. In The Western Journal of education, 11 ; 181-188, March, 1906. 1906. A plan for rural supervision. American education, 10; 275-8, December, 1906. Carris, Lewis H. — Supervision of rural and village schools ; .some suggested changes in the pre.sent law. New York (State) education department.* Bulletin 389. October. 1906 ; p. 45-51. Cubberley. KUwood P. — The P'ifth Year Book of the national society for the scien- tific "study of education, Part II. The certilication of teachers. Chap. 7, Chi- cago, the University of Chicago, Press. Kern, O. J. — Among country .schools. Boston, Ginn & Co.. 1906; 366 p. 12°. :Suzzallo, Henry — The rise of local school supervision in Massachusetts. (The school committee. 1635-1827.) New York. Teachers' College, Columbia Uni- versity, New York, 1906. vii, 154 p. [Teachers' college, Columbia University. Contributions to education, v. 1, No. 3.] 8G 1907. Toland, T. L. — A concrete example of the benefits of efficient county supervision of the public schools. Texas school magazine, 9 ; 5-7, October, 1906. County supervision. Missouri school journal, 24; 11-12, January, 1907. Draper, Andrew Sloan — Shall we have school supervision in the rural districts? Address by Andrew S. Draper, at the state association of school commissioners and superintendents, Syracuse, N. Y., Wednesday evening, November 6, 1907. [Albany, N. Y.?] 1907; 22 p. 8°. Hartmann, Carl Gottfried — A study in school supervision with special reference to rural school conditions in Texas, by Carl Hartmann, under the direction of W. S. Sutton, Austin. Texas. [University of Texas] 1907 ; 180 p. incl. map, tables, 8° [Bulletin of the University of Texas, No. 90. General series No. 16.] New Hampshire. Department of public Instruction. Eight j'ears of district super- vision. [1907?] 7 p. 8°. No county supervision. Western teacher, 15 ; 247-8, March, 1907. Piatt, H. S. — Rural school supervision. Ohio educational monthly, 56 ; 54-60, February, 1907. States and territories having county supervision. Missouri school journal, 24 ; 70-71, February, 1907. Rural supervision. Journal of education. New England and national, Boston, 65- 99, January 24, 1907. The 1907 fight for county school supervision. INIissouri school Journal, 24 ; 146- 152, April, 1907. 87 COUNTY BOARDS OF EDUCATION. The Number of States Having County Boards. Twenty-nine of the states of this country have some form of county board of education. In one form or another the county board is found in all the middle states but New York and Pennsylvania and in all the southern state but Arkansas. Four of the fourteen central states, namely, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota have no pro- vision for a county board of education. The same is true of four of the Pacific states, namely, Washington, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming, and two territories, Arizona and New Mexico. There are no county boards of education in the New England states. A few states have a provision for more than one kind of county board. Virginia, for in- stance, has a county trustee electoral board and Oregon has a county high school board consisting of the county judge and the two county commissioners, the county treasurer and the county school superin- tendent. Membership and T'erm of Office. The number of members of the county boards in the different states , varies considerably. In eight states the number is determined by the number of districts or townships from which the members of the county board are appointed or elected. In the twenty-one states in which the number of meml^ers is fixed it is either three or five. In sixteen states it is three and in five states it is five. The term of office varies from two to four years. Composition. There is also great diversity in the method of constituting county boards of education. There are at least a dozen digerent ways by which the members are selected. In seventeen of the states the county superintendent is a member by virtue of his office. The remaining members are, as a rule, appointed. In onlv three states, Florida, Nevada and Utah, are they directlv elected by the people. In Delaware and Maryland they are appointed by the governor. In Kentucky, Missis- sippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas the members addi- tional to the county superintendent are appointed bv him. In North Carolina the General Assembly appoints, in Missouri and South Caro- 88 lina the state board of education, in Georgia the grand jury,, in Ohio the probate judge, and in Tennessee the county court. In Indiana the county suijerinteudent, the trustees of the townships and the chairmen of the school trustees of each town and city of the county constitute the county board. Sometimes the board is composed of the supervisors or commissioners of the county or these officers have the power to ap- point some of the members. Examples of this method of constitut- ing the board are found in California, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan and Montana. In Minnesota, in unorganized territory, schools are under the control of a county board, of education which is composed of the chairman of the board of county commissioners, the county superin- tendent and the county treasurer. There is a movement in that state, however, to bring about a radical change. The last legislative com- mittee of the Minnesota Educational Association recommended the creation of a non-nartisan county board of education to be elected at the annual school meeting, one member from each commissioner's dis- trict; the term of office to be four years. Such board is to meet quar- terly and its members are to be paid their traveling expenses and a per diem compensation. Qualifications of Members. Special qualifications are reciuired of members of county boards only in states in which such boards have power to certificate teachers and not in all of these. Of the thirteen states authorizing county boards to issue certificates ten require some definite educational qualifications on the part of the members. In only three are no qualifications re- quired. In seven of these states the members of the county board are required to hold at least a first grade county certificate. In California three of the five members must hold certificates not lower than a gram- mar school certificate, which must be in full force and effect, and if there be a high school in the county one member is required to hold a high school certificate. In Montana members must have been engaged in teaching for eighteen months prior to their election. In Ohio two years' experience is required and members of the board must have been actively engaged in teaching within five years. Powers axd Duties. In ten of the states the duties of countv boards of education are prac- tically limited to holding examinations and granting certificates. Three other states include the certificating function among others. In two of the states county boards have nothing to do but to select and adopt text books for use in the public schools of the county. In Iowa the powers of the board are limited to duties connected with text books. In six of the states power is given to the county boards of education to elect the county superintendent, the district superintendent, or the county 81) commissioner of schools. The powers and duties of the county boards of education in all the states are set forth in detail in the following table : Table I. Showing the Number of Members, T&rni of Office, the Composition, and Powers and Duties of the Countv Boards of Education in the United States. state. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. Alabama . California. Delaware. Florida. Georgia. County superintendent and 4 county trustees elected by the chair- men of the boards of district trustees County superintendent and 4 other members appointed by board of supervisors Appointed by governor.. One member from each school district elected by tlie people Appointed by grand jury except in counties un- der local system To adopt rules and regula- tions for government of schools. 2. To acquire, pur- chase, lease, receive, hold, transmit and convey title to real and personal property for school purposes. 3. To change district boundaries. 4. To organize and maintain teachers' institutes. 5. To ap- Iiortion school fund amotig districts of county. 6. To fill vacancies in district board of trustees 1. To prescribe and enforce rules for examination of teachers. 2. To grant and revoke certi- ficates." 3. To adopt a list of books and apparatus for dis- trict school libraries, and ex- cept in cities having a City Board of Education, to pre- scribe and enforce in the pub- lic schools a course of study and the use of a uniform ser- ies of text books 1. To have general supervision of school system in county. 2. To report quarterly to State Board of Kducation. 3. To hear complaints regarding schools and school officers. 4. To condemn school buildings as unsafe or imhealthy 1. To examine books and records of tax collector. 2. To require prompt settlement of all poll taxes. 3. To appoint grading committee prior to each ex- amination. 4. To contract debts and borrow money 1. To select county commis- sioner. 2. To divide county in .sub-districts when necessary for white and colored races. 3. To employ teachers. 4. To purchase, lease, or rent school sites. 5. To build or repair school houses. 6. To decide controversies relating to school law 90 Table 1 — Continued, state. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. Indiana. Iowa , Kansas. Kentucky. Louisiana Var- ries. County superintendent township trustees and chairman of school trustees of each town and city County superintendent, county auditor and members of the board of supervisors County superintendent and 2 persons appoint ed by county commis sioners County superintendent and 2 persons appoint ed by him One member from each police jury ward, elected by people To adopt rules and regula- tions for government of schools of county. 2. To act with board of county commis- sioners in electing trustees for donated county high schools. 3. To consider general wants of county schools in regard to furniture, books, maps and charts. 4. To determine changes of high school text books (except in cities) and to manage township libraries. Note — The township trustees acting separately elect the county superintendent To submit to voters ques- tions of imiformity of text books. 2. To adopt and con- tract for text books for use in rural schools. 3. To pur- chase text books for sale and appoint depository agents to handle the same .- 1. To conduct examinations and grant certificates 1. To hold examinations and grant certificates. 2. To pur- chase, lease or rent school sites, to build, repair or rent school houses and to purchase necessary apparatus. 3. To fix salaries of county high school teachers. 4. To select text books to be used in coun- ty high schools 1. To elect parish superinten- dent. 2. To report neglect of duty on part of teachers to State Board of Education. 3. To determine number of schools to be opened, location of school houses, number of teachers to be employed and their salaries. 4. To make necessary rules and regula- tions for schools. 5. To receive lands by purchase or dona- tion for purpose of erecting 'a. school house 91 Table 1 — Continued. State. No. Term. Composition. Maryland. Michigan Minnesota. Mississippi Missouri Montana. Nevada Appointed by Governor, t) in 6 counties, 3 in others Powers and Duties. County commissioner and 2 appointed by board of supervisors . . Chairman board of county commissioners, county superintendent and county treasurer compose board of un organized territory County superintendent and 2 appointed by him County commissioner, one member appointed by county court and one appointed by State Board of Education County superintendent and two persons ap- pointed by county commissioners District attorney and two persons elected by people ■ To have general supervision of school.s in county. 2. To build, repair and furnish .school house.s. 3. To appoint assistant teacher.s with advice of principal of .school to which teacher i.s to be appointed. 5. To consolidate .school.s. 6. To report annually to State Board of Education. 7. To revoke certificate.s. 8. To fix the salaries of teachers. 9. To appoint county school su- perintendent To hold two resular examin- ations each year at county seat. 2. To grant and revoke certificates To make levy annually on all property in unorganized terri- tory for purpose of providing teachers, etc. 2. To furnish school facilities to all children in territory 1. To hold examinations and grant certificates To hold examinations and grant certificates. 2. To adopt course of study for use of schools of county. 3. To se- cure uniformity in grading and classifying schools To hold examinations and grade papers. 2. To hold eighth grade examinations and grant diplomas or certifi- cates to persons passing such examinations 1. To estimate amount of money needed to pay necessary ex- penses of county high school. 2. To adopt necessary text books and enforce course of study for county high schooj. 3. To do all things necessary to proper conduct of schools . . 93 Table 1 — Continued. State. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. New Jersey. North Carolina. Ohio. Oklahoma , Oregon , South Carolina. Not fixed. South Dakota. Tennessee. County superintendent and not to exceed three teachers appointed by him Appointed by General Assembly Appointed by probate judge County superintendent and two members ap pointed by him County superintendent and two members ap pointed by him County superintendent and two appointed by State Board of Educa- tion 1. To hold examination.s. 2. To grant and revoke certificates. , To enforce school law. 2. To remove any teacher for immoral conduct or the coun- ty superintendent upon com- plaint of State superintendent. 3. To malte regulations gov- erning attendance of school children. 4. To create, abol- ish, or consolidate districts. 5. To have general supervision of schools in county. 6. To appoint county superintendent 1. To hold examinations. 2. To grant and revoke certificates. To hold examinations. 2. To grant and revoke certificates. 1. To hold examinations. 2. To grant and revoke certificates. To hold examinations. 2. To grant and revoke certificates. 3. To supervise county scliools. 4. To levj- county school tax and apportion fund. 5. To divide county into convenient school districts. 6. To fill va- cancies in board of trustees. 7. To regulate opening and closing of school terms. 8. To set aside from county fund a sufficient amount to provide pupils with text books at act- ual cost or exchange prices. . County superintendent, president board of edu- cation of all cities or towns, county auditor, board of county com- missioners, their suc- cessors m oftice and one person from each com- missioner's district Elected by county court, To select and adopt text book.s for use in public schools of county To select teachers, fix their salaries, erect buildings, re- pair and furnish school houses. 2. To secure as nearly as practicable uniformity of school term. 3. To locate schools where deemed most convenient. 4. To dismiss teachers for incompetency or immoral conduct 1)3 Table i— Concluded. State. No. Term. Composition. Powers and Duties. Texas. Utaii Virginia West Virginia. I Fixed Appointed by county su- I by perintendent county supt. I 4 One elected from each of I five representative pre- 1 cints, (a scliool district board) Division superintendent of schools and school trustees in each county To hold examinations and grade applicants' papers. 2. To report to county superin- tendent number of credits al- lo\ved on each subject To take school census. 2. To purchase and sell school house sites. 3. To establish and support school libraries. 4. To elect district superin- tendent of schools. 5. To purchase or exchange high school apparatus. 6. To adopt by-laws and rules for the procedure of the board of education, and make all need- ful rules for the management of the schools 1. To file annually with the di- vision superintendent 4n esti- mate of amount of money needed during next scholastic year. 2. To apportion county school fund. Virginia has also a school trustees electoral board 4 , County superintendent and eight members ap- pointed by County Court 11. To adopt text books TYricAL County Boards. An examination of the foregoing table will show that there are three types of county boards of education representing three grades of au- thority exercised over the public schools. First, there is the board which is nothing more tiuin a legally con- stituted committee on text books. Such, for instance, are the boards of West Virginia, South Dakota and Iowa. The sole function of the West Virginia and South Dakota boards is to select and adopt all the text books needed in the pul)lic schools of the county. The West Vir- ginia board, we may say in passing, is somewhat peculiarly constituted. It is composed of the county superintendent who is secretary ex officio oi the board and "eight other reputable citizens and tax payers of tlie county." Four of the eight must be free holders and not school teachers. Three members must be persons actively engaged in teach- ing in tlie schools of the county and must hold a teacher's first grade certificate or its equivalent. Not more than five of the eight may belong to the same political party. In Iowa text books are usually selected and adopted by the boards of directors of school corporations. But on petition of one-third of the school directors in a county, other than those 94 in cities and towns, the county board of education consisting of the county superintendent, county auditor and the members of the board of supervisors, may submit to the voters of the county the question of county uniformity of text books. If the question is carried the county board selects the text books for the entire county, under such rules and regulations as it may see fit to adopt. The second type of county board is that represented by what is usually known as a county board of examiners. Its function is limited to the examination of teachers and the granting and revoking of cer- tificates. This kind of board is found in the following states : Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ore- gon and Texas. The county boards of California, Kentucky and Mis- souri have slightly additional functions. California authorizes the county board to adopt text books for district school libraries and to prescribe, and enforce in the rural schools a course of study and the use of a uniform series of text books. In Kentucky the boaid has control of the county high school and may also purchase, lease, or rent school sites and to build, repair, or rent school houses and purchase necessary apparatus. Missouri authorizes the county boards of the State, in addition to the power to hold examinations and grant cer- tificates, to adopt a course of study for use in the public schools of the county and to secure uniformity in grading and classifying schools. Kansas offers a good example of this second type of county board. The law of that state provides that "in each county there shall be a board of county examiners, composed of the county superintendent, who shall be ex officio chairman of the board, and two competent per- sons, holders of professional certificates or first grade certificates, or of state certificates, or of diplomas from the State University, the State jSTormal School, or the State Agricultural College, who shall be ap- pointed by the county commissioners on the nomination of the county superintendent, and shall serve one year from the time of their re- spective appointments, and each of whom shall receive for their services the sum of three dollars per day for not to exceed twenty-four days in any one year."* The board so constituted is required to hold three examinations a year at such places as may be designated by the county superintendent for the purpose of determining the qualifications of all persons proposing to teach in the common schools of the coimty, ex- cept in cities of the first and second class. Eeference has already been made to the almost general requirement of educational qualifications for members of county boards of the second type. Finally, there is a third type of county board. It is found in about a dozen states of the Union, This type is characterized by the posses- sion of practically complete control over the public schools of the county. The school law of Delaware, for instance, provides that "The pupervision of all the free public schools, including those for colored cliildren, in each of the counties of this State * * * * g|-^^]] ij,, vested in the county school commission for each county. The said com- mission shall be composed of three persons, no more than two of whom ♦Laws relating to the common schools of Kansas, chapter 2, section 61, pp. 33-34. 95 shall be ol the same political party. Tliey shall be appointed by the governor.'' Similar provisions may be found in the law of about half of the southern states. The best example in the northern states of the third type of county board may be found in Indiana. The county boards of Indiana are composed of the county superintendent, the trustees of the townships, and the chairmen of the school trustees of the towns and cities of the county. The board looks after the general wants and needs of the schools and school property of which it has charge and all mat- ters relating to the purchase of school furniture, books, maps, charts, etc. The scope of its authority is indicated bv the fact that it may for- mulate and adopt rules and regulations for the government of tlie schools of the county. Perhaps, however, the best examples of this type of board are those of the state of Maryland. Under the general title of supervision the school law of Maryland provides that educa- tional matters affecting the state, and the general care and supervision of public education shall be entrusted to a state board of education; that educational matters affecting a county shall be under the control of a board of county school commissioners; and that educational matters affecting a school district shall be under the supervision of a board of district school trustees.* There is thus a definite suggestion of a com- plete educational system. The county hoard has the general super- vision and control of all the schools in the county. It has power to build, repair, and furnish school houses; to purchase and distribute text books; to appoint all assistant teachers, after advising with the prin- cipal of the school to which the teacher is to be appointed; it fixes the salary of all teachers; it has authority to consolidate schools where, in its judgment, consolidation is practicable and desirable, and to ar- range for any scool to pay the charges of transporting pupils to and from it, and to perform such other duties as may be necessary to secure an efficient administration of the public school system. Such a county board is obviously quite a different body from those described as be- longing to the first type. The Advantages of a County Board. The general purpose to be served by a county board of education is to assist the county superintendent in carr}'ing out his educational policies and in the performance of the work necessary to operate the general educational system of the State. The county board bears about the same relation to the county superintendent as does the State board to the State Superintendent. County boards, it would seem, are needed to complete the educational administrative system of the State. They would extend that system from the general supervising agencies at the capitol of the State and at the county seat to the remotest rural districts. They would serve as an avenue of communication between the various educational authorities of the State and the people of each township. But it is not for the sake of systematic State organization alone that county boardes of education should be constituted. They mav be made the direct means of increasing the general efficiency of the schools •Public school law of Maryland, chapter 1, sections 2, 3 and 4, p. 6. 96 and the school system of the county. The comity superintendent has general supers-ision of the schools of the county as the Superintendent of Public Instruction has general supervision of the schools of the State. For practically the same reasons which make it advisable to have a State Board of Education to assist the State officer in the performance of his duties it is also advisable to have a similar body to assist the county superintendent in directing and improving the ■work of the county schools. The county superintendent is required "^'to labor in every practicable way to elevate the standard of teaching and improve the condition of the common schools of his county." Now, it would be of the greatest assistance to him when he has devised plans looking to this end to be able to call together the county board, explain to its members his idea.s and policies and secure their cooperation in carrying his plans into effect. It would be necessary, of course, for him to convince the members of the board that his plans are wise and ex- pedient, but if he is unable to persuade them that what he proposes to do is calculated to promote the welfare of the schools, it will be evidence that his plans are untimely or at least that they need modification. If on the other hand, he is able to develop in the county board an active interest in school administration and school teaching he will have at his command a strong force to bring into operation in the development of public sentiment favorable to advanced ideas in regard to the con- duct of schools. It will be Avell for him and for them to, meet at intervals to discuss educational needs, problems and expedients and the benefits derived by them from exchange of ideas and opinions would be reflected in the welfare of the schools. It is not alone, then, as an avenue of communication and a means of developing public sentiment in favor of wise educational policies that county JDoards are desirable. Their members would be the direct agents of the county superintendents in promoting the efficiency of the schools. Moreover, there are certain definite powers and duties which are usually assigned to them by law. Among these are the power to adopt and enforce rules and regulations for the management of schools not inconsistent with the regulations prescribed by the State Board of Education; to direct what branches of study shall be taught and what text books and apparatus shall be used in the several schools; to prescribe a uniform series of text books and to enforce their use in the schools over which they exercise control; to select the books for district libraries and in general to cooperate with the county superin- tendent in devising and carrying out plans for promoting the educa- tional work of his countv. REFERENCES. Dexter, E. G. — Organization and administration. The county. In lii.s A liistory of education in tlie United States. 1904. -p. 197-99. Button, S. T. and Snedden. David — Problems growinsr out of state and local admin- istration of education ; in their The administration of public education in the United States. 1908. p. 96-119. Elliott, E. C. — A type of positive educational reform. Educational Review, 33 : 344-.55. (April, 1907.) Describes the workings of the county school board conventions with special reference to Wisconsin and shows them to be valuable factors in public rural education. 97 Cotton, F. A. — Education in Indiana. 190-1. Chapter 2 is on county supervision. p. 50-73. Button, S. T. and Snedden, David — Local units of educational administration ; in their Tlie administration of public education in the United States. 1908. p. 73-95. Evans, L. B. — The county unit in educational organization. Educational Review, 11 :369-73. (April, 1896.) Address delivered before National Educational Association. Department of Supt. February 18. 1896. Glenn, G. R. — The county versus the district as the unit of organization. Southern Educational Association. Proceedings, 1907:143-50. Hartmann, C. G. — A study in school supervision with special reference to rural school conditions in Texas. 180 p. (Bulletin of the University of Texas, No. 90.) Author is superintendent of public instruction in Travis county, Texas and the monograph was prepared while a graduate student at the university. It Is a study of the origin, manner and effectiveness of county supervision of schools, not only in Texas but throughout the country. The writer is a strong believer in the system. Illinois Educational Commission — Bulletin No. 2. A tentative plan for a county board of education. 1908. Missouri — The 1907 fight for county school supervision. Missouri school journal. 24:146-52. (April, 1907.) N. E. A. Department of superintendence — Proceedings, 1908. Round table of state and county superintendents. County supervision, p. 143-63. National Educational Association — Report of the committee of 12 on rural schools. 228 p. 1897. Ohio school improvement league. Report of committee on rural schools. Ohio Teacher. 28 :3S9-91. (April, 1908.) Olsen, J. W. — Rural school supervision ; in N. E. A. department of superintendence. Round table of state and county superintendents, 1907, p. 126-29. Pickard, J. L. — County superintendency ; in his School supervision. 1890. p. 28-37. Powers. J. N. — The county superintendent and his mission. Southern Educational Association. Proceedings. 1905 :116-21. Prince, J. T. — District and county administration of schools ; in his School admin- istration. 1906. p. 52-58. — 7 E C 98 UNITS OF SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. It is obvious that no school system can be effective or even continue its existence without some form of local authority and administration. The primary element of an educational system is the school and the maintenance of the school requires the immediate attention of properly authorized persons to its immediate needs. The school site must be located, the school house be built and furnished, the teacher employed, rules and regulations in regard to the government and management of the school must l^e formulated, expenses met, etc., and these duties are best performed by some person or nersons who are citizens of the community and acquainted with its educational needs. Accordingly we find that in all the states of the union there are local school officers whose duties are practically the same whatever the title of such of- ficers may be. In Maine, Massachusetts and Ehode Island they are called school committeemen, in other states trustees, and in still others directors. There is no question, indeed there is no possibility, of elim- inating the local school or the local school official from our educational system. The school, however, is a social agency. The school officers derive their authority from the j^eople and their duties are prescribed by the people. The people, therefore, must decide for themselvs upon the form of school organization they shall adopt and the area to which the authority and activities of their school officials shall be confined. While communities are isolated, the territorial question is a matter of no practical importance. It settles itself. School officials extend their jurisdiction to the limits of the community. But when com- munities are organized into a state and the school work of the state is to be harmonized and SA'stematized the question becomes highly im- portant. Should the area of local organization be large or small? Should it be coextensive with a civil or political unit? If so, should tliat unit be the district the township or the county? This is a question of school organization and administration. At the same time it is a question of social ccoiiomv and educational efficiency. It is the ques- tion of the unit of school organization. Like most other social questions that of the legal organization and the authoritative administration of the school system has not in many states or communities been the subject of deliberate social considera- tion, and in still fewer localities has the question been brought to a 99 rational and iinal solution. Such svstt'nhs of school or<;-anization as W3 have are as a rule the more or le:*s incidental and unconscious out- growths of historical and social conditions. These conditions have diU'crcd in dilfcrent parts of the country. Hence the school organiza- tion in one section differs from the school organization in another sec- tion. The fact that we have the town system in the Xew England states and the county system in thlie southern states is almost wholly an accidental feature of the well known social conditions which led to the estahlishment of the town as tlie ])olitical unit of government in New p]ngland and of the county as the ]io1itical unit in the south. Our local systems of scliool organization may therefore be said to have come into existence without nuu-h conscious reference to tlic future needs of the states adopting them. These systems are four in number. Conseciuently we have in this country at present four units of school organization. They are the community, the Ji strict, the township and the county. The Co>[muxity System. TJie community system of school organization is exceptional. It exists only in Texas and in Init a few counties of that state. In cer- tain counties of Texas called "community counties" the ])eople nuiy unite in the organization of a free school comunity by making aj> plication in- writing to the county judge asking that their pro rata share of the availal^le school fund of the county be set apart for the benefit of their community. Their ])etition must set forth whether the ai)plication is made in behalf of a white or a colored community, nnist state the name, age and sex of each child to be benefitted, the capacity of the school house, the character of the school conveniences if any, and certain other information. The county judge seems to have little option in the matter of granting the ]ietition. If the request is made in due form he grants it and ap])oints three trustees of the school to whom are assigned the duties usually jierformed by sucli officers. ,Any county may be transferred from the comnumity to tlie district system by an order from the commissioner's court. The coniniunity systi'Ui is obviously adapted only to a tliinly settled regiuild school houses. S. To grant special holidays. 9. To decide when a school house Is unnecessary, unsuitable or inconvenient... 1. To give notice of sub-district rreetings. 2. To employ teach- ers when authorized by town- ship board. 3. To make con- tracts for fuel and in like matters when authorized. 4. To prepai-e annually a list of children in the school district of school age. n. To report to the secretary of the school tf)Wiisblp. G. May have in- dustrial exposition held. 7. Must enforce compulsory at- tendance law lOi Table I — Continued. State. No. Election or appointment. Term. Powers and Duties. Kansas . Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Mississippi . . Missouri Montana. Nebraska. Directors. Trustees Directors. School Board Trustees Directors. Trustees Directors. 3 By people By people .. By people , By people By people By people By people By people 1. To have care and keeping of school property. 2. To admit pupils from other districts. 3. To employ teachers. 4. To suspend pupils. 5. To visit schools. 6. To levy taxes.... 1. To build and furnish school houses. 2. To levy taxes. 3. To employ and remove teach- ers. 4. To visit parents and urge attendance of children. 5. To take school census. 6. To report to county superinten- dent 1. To build or hire school houses. 2. To levy taxes. 3. To em- ploy teachers. 4. To have care and custody of school property. 5. To prescribe the branches to be taught. 6. To furnish books for indigent children. 7. To suspend or expel pupils. 8. To admit non- resident pupils 1. To employ teachers. 2. To adopt rules for organization, government and instruction of schools. 3. To adopt and pur- chase text books when di- rected by vote of district. 4. To admit non-resident pupils. 5. To provide transportation for pupils residing over one- half mile from a school house. 1. To employ teachers. 2. To suspend or expel pupils. 3. To visit schools. 4. To care for school property. 5. To arbitrate between teachers and pupils 1. To care for school property. 2. To make rules for govern- ment and grading of schools. 3. To employ teachers. 4. To visit schools. 5. To exclude children with contagious dis- eases. 6. To take school cen- sus. 7. To levy taxes 1. To employ and discharge teachers. 2. To enforce rules for government of schools. 3. To rent, repair and insure school houses, and to build when authorized by vote. 4. To suspend or expel pupils. 5. To provide books for indi- gent children. 6. To report to county superintendent To employ teachers. 2. To take school census. 3. To ad- mit non-resident pupils. 4. To provide for transportation of pupils. 5. To suspend pupils. 6. To build or hire school houses. 7. To have care and custody of school property. . . 105 Table I — Continued. state. No. Election or appointment. Term. Powers and Duties. Nevada Trustees New Mexico Directors . New York Trustees North Dakota, Directors Oklahoma .... Direcfr.Clerk, Treasurer ... Oregon South Dakota. Directors District Board Tennessee Advisory B'd By people By people By people By people By people By people By people 3 By people 1. To build, purchase or hire School house.s when directed by vote. L'. To employ teach- er.s. 3. To visit schools. 4. To provide books for indigent cliildren. 5. To trade schools. 6. To suspend or expel pupils. 7. To unite contiguou.s dis- tricts. S. To enforce sanitary regulations 1. To have care and keeping of school property. 2. To em- ploy teachers. 3. To take school census. 4. To report to county superintendent.... 1. To have care and custody of school property. 2. To em- ploy teachers. 3. To levy ta.\es. 4. To establish rules for government of schools. 5. To report to school commis- sioner 1. To have general charge of schools. 2. To have care and custody of school property. 3. To employ teachers. 4. To suspend pupils. 5. To pur- cliase and loan text books. 6. To admit children fi-om other districts. T. To levy taxes. 8. To build and repair school houses. 9. To take school cen- sus Note — All the counties in N. Dakota but five are under township organization 1. To build or hire school houses when authorized by vote. 2. To liave care and keeping of .school property. 3. To admit pupils from adjoining dis- tricts. 4. To employ teachers. 5. To levy taxes 1. To visit and inspect schools. 2. To employ teachers. 3. To furnish apparatus. 4. To ad- mit pupils from other dis- tricts 1. To furnish and supply all schools in district. 2. To keep record of all proceedings. 3. To take school census. 4. To report annually to county superintendent. 5. To draw and sign warrants. 6. To em- pl. To suspend or expel pupils. 6. To provide text books and school sup- plies. 7. To report to counlV' superintendent See under Table 1 — North Da- kota lias townshap organiza- tion in all counties but five . . 1. To make rules for govern- ment of schools. 2. To em- ploy superintendent of district, and teacliers. 3. To centralize schools when autliorized by vote Note — In townsliip districts a director is elected by tlie peo- ple who acts under the direc- tion of tlie township board. . . 112 Table 5— Concluded. State. Title. No. Election or I appointment. I Term. Powers and Duties. Pennsylvania Directors and controllers.. Rhode Island. Committee. Vermont , Directors . By people. 3 By people, to By people. 1. To establi-sh common schools and kinderg'artens. 2. To make rules to prevent intro- duction and spread of contag- ious or infectious diseases. 3. To appoint truant officers. 4. To levy tax and borrow money for buildin.? purposes. 5. To adopt and purchase ser- ies of text bool\s, and direct what brandies shall be taught. 6. To visit schools. 7. To employ teachers. 8. To elect county superintendent. 9. To report to county super- intendent 1. To elect superintendent and teachers. 2. To alter and discontinue school districts. 3. To locate and furnish scliool houses. 4. To visit schools. 5. To make rules for govern- ment and management of schools. 6. To suspend pupils. 7. To change text books 1. To have care of school prop- erty and management of . schools. 2. To determine num- ber of schools. 3. To employ teachers. 4. To purchase sites and build school houses when authorized by vote Typical Township Ststeoms. As Massachusetts was the first to adopt the town system and as the system there is possibly the most effective system of rural school or- ganization in the country, we present the plan of its organization more fully than it appears in the table. Every town in Massachusetts elects annually a member or members of a school committee. This com- mittee consists of three persons or a multiple of three. Women are eligible to the office. The powers and duties of the committee are ex- tensive. It has general charge and superintendence of all the public schools, industrial schools, evening schools and evening high schools. It may determine the number of weeks in each year and the hours during which such evening schools shall be kept, and may make reg- ulations in regard to attendance at these schools. It has full power not merely in regard to the employment and dismissal of teachers and their tenure of office, but also in regard to their examination. It di- rects what books shall be used in the public schools and prescribes, as far as possible, the course of studies and the exercises to be pursvied in them. It purchases at the expense of the town the text books and other school supplies used in the public schools, and if instruction is given in the use of tools and in cooking it may purchase and loan the 113 tools, implements and materials that are necessary. It even supervises and controls all the athletic organizations of the public schools. For- merly it was required to visit and inspect the schools, but it has relieved itself wholly of that duty by the employment of a superintendent. If no such school officer is employed, however, the committee or one of its members must visit each school in 'its to^vn on some day during the first week after the opening of the school for the purpose of organiz- ing and making a careful examination of the school and of ascertain- ing that the pupils are properly supplied with books, and also on some day during the two weeks preceding the close of the school. Visits to schools without town superintendents must be made each month with- out giving previous notice of the visit to the instructors. The benefits of the town system in Massachusetts are the same as the benefits of the system elsewhere. They have been summed up by T. M. Balliet, formerly of Springfield, Mass., but now of New York University, as follows : "1. Uniformity of text books. 2. The hiring of teachers by the town committee which is less influenced by local sentiment than a district committee or a prudential committeeman would be. 3. Tlie erecting of better school houses. When the town, as a whole, must pay for the erecting of a schoolhouse, the very jealousy which the district system develops, prompts people to demand better school houses than they themselves would be willing to pay for. In most towns there is a village in which most of the taxable property is found. The rural sections of the town, therefore, benefit by voting a higher tax. for schoolhouses by Avhich the people of the village must contribute to the cost of school houses in the rural districts. 4. Super- vision of schools by experts is made possible. While the rural schools of ^Massachusetts, up to 1888, had poorer sunervision than the schools of the middle states and many of the western states, where county supervision has prevailed for many years, since 1888 there has been developed in Massachusetts a system of town supervision which is probably the best system of supervision of rural schools in the country. Under this system, two or three towns which are too poor individually to pay a superintendent, may combine and engage a superintendent in common. All towns also receive some aid from the state to make up the salary of the superintendent. This law Avas originally permissive; in 1893 it was made compulsory. As early as 18G9 a law was passed ])ermitting towns to pay for the transportation of pupils from thinly settled sections to the more densly settled sections. In this way, pro- vision was made for the gradual concentration of the schools of thinly settled towns. This law was a necessary accompaniment to the later law abolishing the district system and paved the way for the final abolition."* The township systems in Pennsylvania and in Indiana are quite dif- ferent from that of Massachusetts. In Pennsylvania there is a district board of school directors elected for three vears. This board employs teachers, grades the schools, prescribes the course of study and the •BuHetin No. 33, New York State Educational Department, p. 37. —SEC 114 text books, visits schools, establishes schools aud builds houses, levies taxes for school and school buildings, publishes a iiuancial statement and elects the county superintendent. In Indiana the authority over the schools of the township is centered in one officer, the school trustee, who is elected by the i^eople for two years. This officer performs all the duties ordinarily assigned to a township board and has power to close all schools in which the average attendance is less than fifteen. He must close a school if the average attendance is less than twelve. Township centralization has thus been carried farther in Indiana than in any other state. It has probably been carried too far. The supreme court of the state has declared that "the township trustee is clothed with almost autocratic powers in all school matters. The voters and tax payers of the township have little, if indeed any voice, or part in the control of the details of educational affairs. So far as actual au- thority is concerned the trustee is the corporation, although in contem- plation of law it is otherwise."* Indiana has perhaps illustrated in its form of township organization the truth of the old adage that there can be too miK-h even of a good thing. The Couxty System. The remaining unit of school organization is the county. The adop- tion of this unit in some of the southern states arose perhaps not from a conscious effort to adopt the school organization to the educational needs of the State, but from the fact that the district and township as political units did not exist. County organization is effective in some of the states and is looked upon by many educationists with favor. Superintendent Stockwell of Xorth Dakota says, (Eeport 1905-6, page 27), "A county board of education elected by the people and control- ing the educational affairs of the county especially as to the rural school would be a long step in advance so far as the result upon educa- tional progress is concerned. The board would elect as its professional adviser a county superintendent of schools who would direct, subject to the approval of the county board of education, the strictly educa- tional affairs of the county. That portion of the work which pertains to the levying of taxes, issuing of bonds, building; and repairing of school houses, would be under the control of the board." He advances the following arguments in favor of such a board : "First, this board is responsible to the people; second, it means a uniform standard of education for each county; third, under the direction of the State and county superintendents, it would mean a uniform standard for the State; fourth, it would result in wiser and more economical (in the best sense) expenditure of school moneys ; sixth, the county system is in vogue in many of our states and is uniformly acceptable." President Seerley of the Iowa State ISTormal School recommends to the Iowa Educational Commission the adoption of the county as a imit, ex- *Quoted in the Repoi-t of the Commissioner of Education, 1894-5, Vol. II, p. 1460, foot note. 115 cluJiiig thereironi the present city and town orij;anizatious.* We find also that in Georgia, ior instance, where the county unit has had a thorough trial, it has given satisfaction. Superintendent Lawton B. Evans of Kichmond county, Georgia, in an article in the Educational Eeview, April, 190G, (Keprinted in part in report of N. E. A., 1897, l^age 507) argues very strongly for the county system and presents the successful eilueational work of his own county as proof of its efficiency. The chief argument against the county system is that the county is too largo a unit, as the district is too small a unit. It lends itself well to the systematic organization of school forces, but the county perhaps is too large an area for the highest administrative efficiency of a single authority. At all events the Cjuestion of adopting county organization in Illinois is perhaps an impractical one. For this reason, and for the further reason that we believe the township system most nearly approximates the ideal, it has not been considered worth while to enter upon an ex- tended discussion of the county system. We append, however, a con- spectus of the district organization of the counties in the various states that have adopted the county system. Table III. Showing the Title, Number', Method of Annointment or Election, Term of Office and the Most Important Poiuers and Duties of Dis- trict School Officers in States under C&iinty Organization. Title. M- Election or t„_.^ No- appointment, r^"™- California. Florida . Georgia . Trustees . Supervisor. Trustees , By people By county b'd By people Powers and Duties, 1. To prescribe and enforce rules not inconsistent witli law or tliose prescribed by State Board of Education. 2. To manage and control school property. 3. To supply text books to indigent children. 4. To rent, furnish, repair and insure school property. 5. To employ teachers. 6. To re- port to county superintendent. I. To supervise work and man- agement of school, construc- tion, rental, repair, etc., of school buildings, and report to Board of Public Instruc- tion. 2. To co-operate with teacher in efforts to elevate standard of school. 3. To re- view suspensions Note — Jn special school districts trustees are elected and vested with the power of the supervisor 1. To supervise schools. 2. To recommend teachers to coSnty board. 3. To visit schools. 4. To report to county board. . . •Midland Schools, February, 1908, p. IIS. IIG Table 77J— Concluded. State. TiUe. No. Election or appointment. Term. Powers and Duties. Louisiana . . . Maryland . N. Carolina.. Oregon S. Carolina Tennessee .. Visiting Trus tees — Trustees , Committee . .. Directors. Trustees . Advisory b'd By parish b'd By CO. school, commiss'ers, By county b'd 3* By people By county b'd By people . . . . 1. To make quarterly reports to parish boards of the condi- tion of schools, and needful suggestions in regard to schools 1. To have care of schools and school property. 2. To employ a principal teacher, subject to confirmation of county board. 3. To visit schools. 4. To exercise general supervi- sion over schools 1. To take school census. 2. To have care and control of school property. 3. To employ teachers Note — Some counties have adopted the township system so that the committees ap- pointed are township commit- tees 1. To audit claims against dis- trict. 2. To employ teachers. 3. To control school property. 4. To suspend and dismiss pu- pils 1. To have management and control of schools. 2. To visit schools. 3. To provide school houses. 4. To employ teach- ers. 5. To suspend or dismiss pupils 1. To visit schools. 2. To make recommendations to county board. 3. To take school cen- sus. 4. To suspend and dis- miss pupils. 5. To report to county board Note — Each county is divided into five districts *Five in districts of first class. 117 TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. The tendency in the administration of school affairs is toward the establishment of a unit of school organization larger than the district. In a score of states the superiority of the town or township as the unit •of organization has been recognized and the town or township system is in operation in the whole or in a part of each of these states. In Mich- igan, a state in which the township system is permissive m the northern peninsula, the superintendent of Dublic instruction, in a recent bulletin addressed to the population of the rural districts, advocates tlie exten- sion of the system and declares the township to be the logical unit of school organization. "The district system," he says, "was founded a ^ood many years ago, and while it may have been wise and effective for our forefathers, we believe that it is neither wise nor effective in this generation."* The Kansas Educational Commission, in its report of December, 1908, recommends the adoption in that state of the township system, and expresses its belief that "the proposition of a larger unit of school organization is fundamental and absolutely essential to the real progi'ess and development of the schools." Several of the southern states and some of the extreme western states make the county the unit of organization and the county system is recommended by the Iowa Educational Commission in a report made to the present session of the Iowa legislature. Everywhere the tendency is away from the district system. John Fiske said that the township system of political government is "the kind of government that people are sure to prefer when they have once tried it under favorable conditions." The same thing mav perhaps be truthfully said of township school organization. There has been no reversion to the district system in any place after the township system has been thoroughly tried. The present State Commissioner of common schools of Ohio in speaking in his report of 1905 in regard to the merits of the system says, "the present law makes the townsliip the unit and gives the board of education an opportunity to provide the best and most efficient system of schools for the township as a whole. I believe a return to the sub-district plan would be a long step back- ward in our educational work." We have failed to find a single author- itative opinion unfavorable to the township system. The committee •Township Unit System In Michigan, by the State Superintendent of Public In- struction. Bulletin No. 32. 1909. 118 on state school systems appointed by the National Education Associa- tion reported that "The substitution of the township for the district as the unit of organization is absolutely essential to the highest good of the ungraded schools." The committee sent out a circular letter to the superintendents of the yarious states and in its report it quotes replies from thirteen of these school officers strongly fayoring the township as the unit of organization and says that ''with but few exceptions" the judgment of all the superintendents from whom replies were receiyed is the same. The superintendent of Pennsylvania says, "We prefer the township organization to the district and county organization/' and the superintendent of Indiana uses almost the same language as that previously quoted from the commissioner of Ohio. "We should consider it taking a long step backward to drop the township and take up the district system again."' The superintendents of states not under district organization expressed the opinion that the substitu- tion of the township for the district as the unit of the system would result in the increased efficiency of the common schools. The com- mittee on rural schools appointed by the National Educational Associa- tion in 1895 presented its report in 1897. For the preparation of their report four sub-committees were appointed. One of these sub-com- mittees devoted some space to the enforcement of the proposition that "The township unit system is far superior to the district system, and should be substituted, if practicable, for that system wherever it exists." And the. general committee reported as the result of its investigation that "for purposes of organization, maintenance, or supervision nothing should be recognized as the unit smaller than the township or the county ; the school district is the most undesirable unit possible." This, we believe, is the conclusion to which anyone wall arrive who will give the subject careful study. AoyAXTAGES OF THE TOWXSHIP SYSTEM. The various 'arguments advanced to prove the superiority of the township system of school organization over the district system may be classified and arranged under three general propositions. First, the township system is more economical. Second, the township system tends toward a more equitable provision of educational opportunities for the children of the township, and, third, the township is more con- ducive to the general improvement of the schools. Under the first proposition the following areruments may be included : 1. It is financially less expensive than the district system, for the same reasons that a large business is relatively less expensive than a small busi- ness. 2. It greatly reduces the number of school officials. 3. It tends to the discontinuance of schools that have become too small to be operated efficiently, and thus tends to diminish the expense of school maintenance. 4. It prevents the unnecessary duplication of school facilities including the building of school houses. 5. It relieves the county superintendent of a large amount of clerical work and thus economizes energy which may be devoted to school supervi- sion. 119 6. It prevents the wear and tear of petty jealousies, strife and contention betv%'een districts. There would be no more disputes about district bounda- ries. 7. It would allow children to attend the school most convenient. 8. It would establish a uniform rate of taxation throughout the township, and thus facilitate the levying and collecting of taxes. 9. It would economize effort in the matter of securing accurate school statistics. 10. It would lessen the number and cost of elections. Under the jji-oposition in regard to a more equitable distribution of school opportunities the following arguments may be grouped : 1. As it would equalize the burden of taxation, it would render it possi- ble to distribute school funds in inverse ratio to the wealth of the township, thus giving to the poorer districts the wealth to equip and support' a good school. A few districts in a township nov,^ reap practically all the advan- tage of the railroad taxes levied within the towns. 2. It would tend to equality of school provisions in respect to school houses, school grounds, apparatus, length of school terms and the ability and character of the teachers. 3. Since the township system tends to the employment of teachers for longer terms it will restrict in a considerable degree the evils that flow from frequent changes of teachers. Closely related to these arguments are those which fall under the proposition in regard to the educational imnrovements that follow the adoption of the township system. These are : 1. The number of schools being reduced and the number of pupils being increased under the township system there would be better classification, grading and teaching and an increasing interest and enthusiasm on the part of the pupils. 2. The township system is the only means by which we can hope to attain the township supervision which is essential to the highest school efficiency. 3. The township system makes possible a complete system of township schools, including both elementary and advanced. 4. In all probability more interested school officers would be elected. It is perhaps unnecessary to speak at length of the grounds upon which these various arguments in favor of the township system are based or to present the facts by which they are supported. We shall offer a few remarks, however, bearing upon the main propositions. First, then, in regard to the su])crior economy of the township sys- tem. By economy we mean not only a saving of money but a saving of time and energy as well. The a priori arguments on this proposition are c6nclusive. A system which reduces the number of school build- ings, school officers and school teachers, to the actual needs of the town- ship — in a word, which systematizes educational effort — must necessar- ily be less expensive for the same services than the system under which expenses and effort are unnecessarily duplicated. The economy of relatively large units of organization is no longer a matter of doubt. There has lieen considerable discussion of this phase of the question, however, which is necessarily complicated, and there may be those who will deny the actual superiority of the township system so far as financial economy is concerned. Let us therefore look at this phase of the subject a little more closely. It seems probable that under thetownshi'^ svstem the financial man- agement of the schools of the various districts would be more open to 120 public observation and consequently more subject to public criticism than the separate management of boards of directors. This Avould tend to increase the efliciency of financial management, that is, make it less productive of waste. Be that as it may, however, under the township system schools which have become too small to be carried on efficiently would be closed. The expense of operating these schools, of employing teachers, purchasing supplies, etc., would be saved. The expense in- volved in schooling the children ekewhere would be less than that of maintaining the small schools, otherwise there would not be a financial incentive to close them. Here at least is a distinct saving. Moreover supplies, maps, globes, apparatus, books, incidentals, fuel, etc., would be purchased for the whole township at once, and it is fair to assume that they would be obtained at a lower nrice. This is another saving. Again ,there would be fewer elections under the township system and every election eliminated would diminish in some degree the school expenses of the township. It is clear, then, that the efficiency of the schools remaining the same the township system must necessarily be somewhat less expensive than the district system. If, then, it is found in any particular case that the schools actually cost more under the township system than they did under the district system, it must be due to the fact that school facilities are better, school terms are longer, and school teachers receive a higher wage. It is almost impossible to institute a fair comparison for the reason that under the township system invariably the efficiency of the .schools is increased. "As to the cost of the two systems,'' says the secretary of the Connecticut State Board of Education, "it must always be said that the two can not be justly compared except by going over a period of years. Wlien. towns enter iipon the town system they are likely to increase expenses, if their previous expenses have been stingy and in-' adequate. On the contrary, if under the district system they have been liberal the economy which the town system permits will enable them to reduce their expenses. It follows then that you would have to know the policy under the district system before you could judge whether the town system had made a difference in the case. The tendency in the' large districts in this State is to become practically independent and to support the schools liberally under the district system. There are agents of directness, power to borrow money, etc., which make it possible to secure appropriations in large districts. The tendency in small dis- tricts is to diminish the cost because there are few children. As a result, taking the average district, the town system shows in this State very much better schools so far as instruction is concerned as well as more efficient administration." Similarly Mr. Frank A. Hill, formerly secre- tary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, said, "I do not think it will be possible without a great deal of special investigation to furnish figures or statistics to show that the town plan is either cheaper or more expensive than the district plan. The expenditures for schools in Massachusetts have been gradually ijicreasing, because of better "buildings, better sanitation, better equipment, better teachers and better salaries. I have a strong conviction, however, that the same amount 121 of money ma}' be made to go much farther under town management than under district in the way of securing greater efficiency in the schools." Maine has been under tlie township system since 1893, with ample opportunity for observation. W. W. Stetson, formerly State super- intendent of public schools in that state has arrived at the following conclusion: "There can be no question but that for an equal length of terms if all the services rendered and materials furnished are paid for the township system is much more economical than the district system."* This is a conclusion which, as we believe, is incontrovertible. It must be jDerfectly obvious that there can be no fair comparison be- tween the two systems financially without a consideration of the educa- tional facilities provided and the educational results achieved. If it were determined, for instance, that the schools of Massachusetts or Indiana actually cost more per capita than the schools of Arkansas or Mississippi it would be illogical to conclude that the school systems of the latter states are more economical than those of the former. Economy is not determined by a comparison of amounts actually spent, but by a comparison of the results actually achieved by the same amount of expenditures. The financial phase of this question is, therefore, always more or less involved. Difl:erences in administrative efficiency and in educational results must always be taken into consideration. Moreover, the equalization of the tax rate in a township, which would obtain under the township system, must necessarily raise the rate in some districts and lower it in others. A district which pays little or nothing for schools could hardly expect any system of organization adopted with the expectation of increasing the efficiency of the "schools of the State to diminish its own rate of taxation. No sort of juggling of tax rates, however, can obscure these facts, that the township system, the efficiency of the schools remaining the same, is less expensive than the district system, and that it is, from the viewpoint of the welfare of the State and the children of the State, far superior to the district svstem. The financial phase of this question then, while it is important, is not the most important phase of it. What are the relative educational effects produced by the two systems? This is the important question. The great superiority of the township system rests upon educational grounds rather than upon financial grounds. As to the superior economy of energy under the township system it is only necessary to recall the enormous number of men required to control and manage the schools of a state under the district system. In Ohio, for instance, previous to the adoption of the township system there were about 15,000 teachers employed to teach the common schools of the State at the same time more than 35,000 school directors and \ members of hoards of education who were engaged in the administra- tion of the schools. In Missouri there are 10,365 rural school teachers and about 28,000 school directors. In Illinois today there are onlv 28,083 teacliers while there are about 45,000 school officers. There are 1,882 townships, and 11,797 districts. Under the township system. 1,882 •The opinions above quoted may be found In the Report of the National Educa- tional Association for 1897. pp. 509-10. 122 township boards Mould perform the duties now assigned to 11,797 boards of directors. This would certainly be an economy of time and energy. /There is anotlier respect, previously referred to but worthy of still further consideration, in which the economy of township organization would early manifest itself, and that is in the closing of small and poorly equipped schools. In Illinois there are thirty-two districts which have no schools at all. There are 106 schools with fewer than five pupils, 589 with fewer than ten and 1,460 with fewer than fifteen. In one district at least in one of the counties of the State there is not a single child of school age, but of course there is no school in that district. In a district in another county there is but one child of school age. There is probably, however, in each district a school house. A superintendent of Illinois saj's that in visiting four schools in succession in one day he found that the total enrollment of the four was only thirteen. It must be perfectly obvious that to operate schools of this character is a waste of public funds. Such schools may be found, however, in every state organized under the district system. In Wisconsin in 1906 thirty- two schools enrolled less than five pupils, two hundred and thirty- eight more than ten and less than sixteen. In Missouri in 1907 there were five hundred and fifty-five districts enumerating less than twenty pupils. In Arkansas in 1906 four hundred and sixty-two schools en- rolled less than eleven pupils. In Wisconsin two hundred and seventy enrolled less than that number. In Kansas seventy-eight schools have an enrollment of five or less, four hundred and seventy-four an en- rollment between five and ten, and one thousand and forty-nine between ten and fifteen. In Michigan in 1902 fifty-one schools of the State having only two pupils or fewer had no schools at all. Eighty-three schools of the southern peninsula had five pupils or fewer and an aver- age attendance of three, and one thousand and four schools had fifteen pupils or fewer with an average attendance of eight. The cost per pupil of maintaining these small schools was on the average $7.05 or $70.50 for a term of ten months, while the average cost per pupil in the city schools of Michigan was never more than $19.40 per year of ten months, including the high schools. The average cost was, of course, much less. Under the township system the schools which have be- come so small that it is impossible to carry them on efficiently would be closed. In Indiana the law compels the closing of all schools with fewer than twelve pupils and permits the closing of all with fewer than fifteen pupils. Under such a law in Illinois six hundred and ninety-five schools would have to be closed and two thousand one hun- dred and fifty-five might, be closed. The saving that would follow is obvious. It is not to be understood, however, that the township system of itself necessitates the closing of any schools whatever. The township system should not be identified with the consolidation of schools. The relation between the two extends no farther than this, that the town- ship system facilitates the consolidation of schools whenever it be- comes desirable. The econnmv of school consolidation is not here under 123 discussion. It may be said in ])assing, however, that if, as is claimed, consolidation is more economical than the present plan, it goes to show that the township system which permits consolidation, though it does not require it, is all the more superior so far as economy is concerned. So much for economy. Xow a few words in regard to the tendency of the township system to facilitate the establishment of high schools in townships in which such schools are desired by the people and to pro- mote a more effective supervision of the rural schools. As to the high schools, the commissioner of Ehode Island, prior to the abolishment of district schools in that state, said that "As fast as our towns have abolished the district system by their own vote, they at once began to consider the matter of a high school. So long as the districts exists we shall not have high schools; but if we can get rid of the districts, we shall ultimately be able to provide school facilities for the greater part, if not for all, of the children of the state." This would seem to have been the case in the other states that have adopted the townshp system. In Pennsylvania, for instance, there are over two hundred township high schools. In Illinois there are only about fifty.* In Ohio in 1905 there were 893 high schools, 277 of which were of the first grade, that is, covering a period of not less than four years of not less than thirty- two weeks each in which not less than sixteen courses are required for graduation. In Massachusetts every town containing five hundred families is required by law to maintain a high school. Other towns may maintain such schools and on certain conditions receive aid from the state to the amount of $300. Tliirty-seven towns received such aid in 1906. If a town is not required by law to maintain a high school it must make provision for high school instruction in an adjoining town. Under certain conditions the t-own is reimbursed by the state, for the whole or for half the cost of such instruction. One hundred towns sending 1,077 pupils were reimbursed wholly or in part by the state last year under the provisions of this law. Only thirteen towns in Massachusetts have no pupils receiving high school instruction and these towns contain only 789 children between the ages of five and fif- teen. It is significant that a good high school law and a large number of township high schools are invariably found in the states under town- ship organization. Under such organization the high school is naturally and necessarily articulated with the rural schools. It is a part of the system. The township high school so articulated will probably save more to the farmers of a township in tuition, board, clothing and other expenses involved in sending their children away to school, than they ordinarily pay in taxes. As to township supervision, ;Mr. Balliet has already been quoted to the effect that the Massachusetts system is probably the best in the country. That system is briefly as follows: The school committee of a city or town may employ at its own expense a superintendent of schools who, under the direction and control of the committee, shall have the care and supervision of the public schools. The compensation of such •There are, of course, in Illinois alioiit 460 hiRh schools, Including all three-year high schools. The number of townsliip hish .schools in Pennsylvania given above does not include the borough and city high schools. 124 superintcudcut is determined b}' the school committee. Two or more towns b}' vote of each may form a district for the purpose of emplo3-ing a superintendent. Suitable provisions are made for the union of the smaller towns into a supervision district without a vote of the people. In the formation of such unions the various school committees act as a joint committee and a union once made can be dissolved only after three years from its formation by a vote of a majority of the towns con- stituting the union. Towns thus uniting receive state aid not only in the payment of the superintendent but also of teachers employed in the public schools. According to the report of the secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education only two towns in all Massachu- setts in 1906 disregarded the requirement of the law providing for the employment of a school superintendent. Other states have followed the example of Massachusetts with re- spect to township supervision. In Connecticut, for instance, two or more towns together employing not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty teachers may unite by vote of the town school committee, (or school visitors or board of education as the case may be) for the pur- pose of employing a superintendent of schools, and towns so united shall form a supervision district. The state pays half the salary of su- perintendents so employed, providing such salary does not exceed $1,- 600.00 per year. The town school committee or board of visitors or board of education of any town employing not more than ten teachers may petition the state board of education, or by vote request' it, to ap- point an agent to discharge the duties of superintendent. The superin- tendent so appointed is paid one-fourth of his salary by the town and three-fourths by the state. Both in Massachusetts and in Connecticut special qualifications are required for the office of superintendent. In Connecticut no one is eligible to the office of town superintendent who has not had at least five years' successful experience as a teacher or superintendent or who does not hold a certificate of approval granted by the state board .of education. A high school law similar to that of Connecticut was enacted in I'^ew Hampshire in 1899. ''This law," says the superintendent of New Hampshire, "is permissive and not mandatory in its nature. It places upon the principle of expert supervision the stamp of the state's ap- proval, backs up that aproval by meeting the towns half way in the matter of expense, and then leaves the adoption of the principle to be decided by the wishes of each local district."* In Maine the school committee of two or more towns having under their care and custody an aggregate of not less than twenty nor more than fifty schools may unite in the employment of a superintendent when authorized by a vote of the towns. In Pennsylvania in a township with 4,000 or more inhabitants the board may appoint a supervising principal who shall have general su- pervision of the schools of the township. Among the weak points in the Indiana system is the absence of township supervision. If the predic- tion that the township system is to become general is fulfilled, it is •New Hampshire School report, 1905-6, p. 177. 15o inevitable that the principle of township supervision will everywhere prevail. If expert supervision is essential to city schools it is obvious that it can be no less essential to the efficiency of rural schools. Once adopted in a state it will not be long in extending itself into every portion of it. Within fourteen years after the township supervision was adopted in Massachusetts ninety-four per cent of all the teachers and ninety-six per cent of all children of the state were under the super- vision of an educational expert. The question of the value of such super- vision is not an open one in Massachusetts. Legislation in regard to expert supervision has consequently passed the permissive state, and such supervision since 1902 has been compulsory upon all towns and cities. The promotion of township high schools and the encourage- ment of township school supervision are, then, the almost invariable accompaniments of the township system of organization. This alone places upon it the stamp of superiority. Objections. The objections most frequently urged against towmship organization are the following: Tlie township system would take the control of the school out of the hands of the people, a township board would not man- ifest the same interest in the district school as a board elected by the voters of the district only; the township unit means higher taxes; the township system means the closing of schools, the transportation of pupils and consequently hard roads. Let us consider these objections, taking them up in the inverse order of that in which they have just been presented. The objection that the township system of school organization in- volves the question of taxation for hard roads is based on a misconcep- tion of what the township system really is. The misconception arises from the supposition that the towmship system of school organization necessarily involves the consolidation of schools and the transportation of pui)ils. This is a mistake, the township svstem does not mean the consolidation of schools, but the unification of school management. We could have township organization without closing a single school. It is probable, however, that under the township system the people of some townships would vote now and then to close a school which had become inefficient. Certainly they ought to do so in the interest of the children of such schools. But if so, it would be of their own action and entirely incidental to township organization. The commission has expressed the o])inion that schools containing an enrollment of less than ten pupils should be closed and this opinion is supported by the experience and prac- tice of other states. But, as has been seen, the fonn of ortranization pro- )iosed by the commission does not include even that provision. The ob- jection, thouch invalid, is one which naturallv arises, and which has iieen met within every attempt to introduce the township system. The present superintendent of schools of Vermont, in speaking on this sam'e point, savs '"the present law was born amid much annreliension and mis- appre]ien:^ion. The fear was that a reckless consolidation of scliools 12 G would ensue. This- is antagonistic to its spirit. It means consolidation of management; not schools, except in cases where the larger profit to pupils unquestionably justifies the action.''* "Another misapprehension," said he "was largely increased expense." This brings us to the objection that the township system involves in- creased taxation. The answer which comes from all the states which have adopted it is that it does not. In Vermont, for instance, in the year following the adoption of the town system the children of the state received 6411.2 additional Aveeks of schoolino-, and the average cost per week was reduced from $11.69 to $10.90. It is easy to show that if the school facilities remain the same the cost of operating the schools under the township system could not be greater than under the district system. If, for instance, a township has ten schools, employs ten teachers, and has ten boards of school direc- tors, necessitating ten elections annually, and purchases its supplies through ten dift'erent channels, it is contrary to reason to sup- pose that its expenses would not be diminished by uniting the manage- ment of its schools under one board of directors requiring but one an- nual election and by purchasing its supplies in large quantities through one channel. But it is not supposed that the school facilities would long remain the same. One of the chief merits of the township system is that under it they increase. Now, it is nossible, even probable, that in time this increase would raise the expenditure of the township to the amount required under the district system, or beyond it. Such in- crease, however, would depend chiefly upon the growth of interest and pride which the people of the township would manifest in their schools, and the extent of these of course, can not be accurately predicted. ■ It is, therefore, al)solutely impossible for anvone to say whether in a year, two years, or at any given time in the future the tax rate under the town- ship system would be above or below the level of taxation under the district system. All that can be positively asserted is that at the same rates of taxation the township system will provide better school facili- ties than the district system. This may he shown both by calculation and by the evidence from other states which have adopted the township sys- tem, and this alone is sufficient to justify the commission's recommend- ation. Not only does the township system secure better schools than the dis- trict system, but it makes possible a development of schools which could never take place under the district system. The prime object of a sys- tem of school organization with respect to taxes is not the reduction of taxation, but the more economical use of the taxes raised for school pur- poses, and this is attained l)y the townsliip system. It means an equal distribution of the burden of taxation throughout tlie territorv adopting the system, and consequently the taxes of some persons would be in- creased under it and those of others diminished. It means also an equal distribution, of taxes levied and consequently and equal distribu- tion of school privileges. It should, therefore, appeal particularly to the rural population of the State, for it is obvious on the most casual ♦Vermont School Report, 1893-4, p. .69. 127 consideration that the children in towns and cities enjoy superior educa- tional opportunities to the children of those who live in the country. The country people of the State have more to gain from the township system than any other class of citizens. In regard to the third objection, namely, that a township board of school directors would be less interested in the district school than a local board of directors, it seems plausible enough, and yet a careful consideration will show that it is almost wholly without foundation. It assumes what is not true, and that is that interest in the work of i. district school depends upon one's geographical relation to it. It is not even true that a man who sends children to a school has necessarily a greater interest in that school than one who does not. Interest in a par- ticular school depends upon an interest in schools generally, and such interest is due to one's natural bent or is called forth by one's profes- sional duties. It is often times a peculiar personal attribute, and is ■found highly developed now and then in men and women who are child- less. It is an interest, too, which is developed by responsibility. The objection assumes that a school director is more deeply interested in his school and will look more carefullv after its welfare than, for instance, the county superintendent of schools. Everybody knows that this is not the case. The county superintendent, because of his professional re- lationship to the school work in general, is, as a rule, more deeply in- terested in all ouestions affecting the progress of the district schools of his county than the directors themselves. Everyljody knows that this is the case. So it is to be expected that a township board of directors, be- cause of tiicir increased responsibility and wider professional duties, w^ould manifest greater interest in individual schools than is found among boards of school directors as they are now constituted. This has been proven in those states which have adonted the township system. On the other hand, the increased responsibility of the school directors under the township plan would lead the people themselves to be more particular with respect to the professional interest and intelligence of the men selected for that position. Thus there would be a double tendency under the township system towards increasing the interest and ethciency of school directors. It should be remembered, too, that interest in a school is not sufficient. It must be an intelligent interest. Interest in a school sometimes amounts to nothing more than interference with the school. The experience of other states has shown that under the township system more efficient school ofhcers are secured. People who are most deeply and intelligently interested in an institution do not in- sist on managing it themselves, but are anxious to eiitrust its manage- ment to the most efficient officers that can be selected. Thus this objec- tion, which is one of the first to occur to those who begin to think about the two systems of school organization, completely breaks down. Finally, we have the objection that the township system takes the con- trol of the schools out of the hands of the people. This objection betravs an entire misconception of the nature of popu- lar government and also of what the township system really is. The township system merely proposes to reduce the nuuil)er of representatives 128 elected to carry out the popular will. It would increase the territorial area from which these representatives are chosen. But since such repre- sentatives would still be elected by the people the control of the schools would be left in the hands of the people. It is surely a fact that local government does not depend upon the area of the territorial unit from which representatives are chosen. If under our present system two dis- tricts are consolidated, would that affect the participation of the people in the school affairs 6i those districts? . Obviously not. If it did, it might be shown by the same reasoning that to divide a district would make the government still more democratic, which is absurd. School government, like other forms of government, must necessarily be repre- sentative, and its democratic nature is not effected in the least by making the township the unit instead of the district. Does the fact that the town is the unit in the making of roads, the building of bridges, the care of the poor, the levying and collecting of taxes, for town purposes, etc., indicate that in these matters the people have surrendered any of their authority? Certainly not, and so if the people should decide to make the township instead of the district the unit of school organization and administration and elect fewer representatives to look after their in- terests, they would merelv adopt a more efficient system for the exercise of a particular governmental function and would surrender not one iota of the power now lodged in them. As another has said, "the courts pre- vent ^vice and immorality' by stimulating fear through punishment. The schools prevent 'vice and immorality' by developing in the child moral power. It is a strange absurdity, an amazing inconsistency, to hold that the criminal law must be administered by town and State officers, but that the laws relating to the schools and education must be administered by officers chosen by small districts or divisions of towns. The delegation of power over the schools to small localities or neighbor- hoods in towns, which the founders of the state intended should be vested in and exercised by the towns, under the general control of the State has caused, and in one way and another at this time, is causing, nearly all the trouble in our schools. This delegation of power to edu- cate to inefficient agents, (a) has produced the small school; (b) it has produced inequality of taxation; (c) it has produced inequality of school privileges. We must have a permanent and progressive school system. We never shall have one until it is placed on a sound financial basis. There can be no sound financial basis without equal taxation for the support of the common schools."* Another illustration may hel^ to show how thoroughly unfounded is the claim that the district system is essential to popular control of the schools. East St. Louis, for instance, has twenty-two schools, Quincy fifteen and Rockford, Peoria and Danville nineteen each. Each of these cities is a single district. The schools in each are managed by a single board of education. Now if the district system alone is democratic the people of these cities have been deprived of the rights which naturally belong to them as members of a democratic community. Each ward should be a separate district with its own board of directors. They ♦Edwin F. Palmer, Vermont School Report, 1893-4, pp. 68-9. 129 bliould, tlie'i'cl'orc, divide those cities into as many districts as there are schools, and the people in the small division containing; a school should elect their own directors. Why don't they do it? Is it not because they know that they have been deprived of their rights, but that in making the entire city a single district with a single board of directors they have merely adopted a system of school organization far more efficient than a small district system could possibly be? Communications bearing on the subject of school organization have been received by the commission from almost all the state superinten- dents of the country and from other school officials well qualified to ex- press an opinion. Some of these communications express views favor- able to the county system. Only one of them contains anything favorable to the district as the unit of organization. That one is from the as- sistant superintendent of Washington, who says that since Washington "is a 3^oung state, and from the nature of the topography of the country it has been settled in spots," the district system is there practically a necessity. He says, however, that ho "can readily see that the town- ship system might have much merit in a thickly populated state like Illinois." The following are extracts from some of the letters received, and are quoted here to enforce still more strongly the fact that the township system is not a dream but a practicable system of school or- ganization and administration which has been tested by long experience and demonstrated to the satisfaction of school men generally that it is superior in every way to the district system. Opinions of Experts in School Administration. E. T. Fairchild. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Kansas. — "The township as the unit of school organization is the most efficient and econom- ical plan for the administration of school affairs. Kansas has thirteen thousand public school teachers and an army of twenty-eight thousand offi- cers to direct and manage these teachers — an anomalous condition, and one chat means a great waste of energy and a decided lack of unilication and co- ordination in educational matters. A large unit means a more economical and business like administration. It is the small district and the varying conception of school work that are responsible for most of the weakness of our system. The district plan is apparently the last remnant of the old time conception of the widest distribution of business and is at war with every modern thought of classification and organization." J. H. Ackerma7i, Superintendent of Public I71 struct ion. Oregon. — In my opinion, and I find it to be the opinion of the leading educators of this State the small unit, such as we have in the district unit, is not producing the re- sults that could be obtained by means of a larger unit. Personally I am strongly in favor of the county unit. My next choice would be the township unit. I am firmly of the opinion that with a township or county unit the net results of our educational effort v/ould be increased fifty per cent. It is not what we put into a system, but what comes out of it. that should count, and hence, as I have before indicated, the greatest question before the American people is that of a changed unit of administration. We are using a ifiethod that is more than one hundred years old, without any change, and for that reason the country schools have not kept pace with the city schools. The city schools have forged ahead because they have used a larger unit for edu- cational purposes." -i> E C 130 W. L. Stockicell. Superintendent of Public Instruction, North Dakota. — ■ "I am most emphatically in favor of the township system. It makes for efficiency in education which assists materially in consolidation. It brings upon the district school board men of better qualifications; it makes a more satisfactory school, and in this State materially reduces the cost of school management. I think the objection that it would mean increased taxation is not sound unless indirectly better schools mean increased taxation. We have 45 counties in our State, 40 of which have the tov%'nship system and five of w^hich have the district system, and I am sure that it would be greatly to the advantage of those five counties, educationally, if they could make the change." H. A. Ustrud, Superintendent of Puhlic Instruction, South Dakota. — "In this State we have both the township organization and the single district organization. The township organization lends aid to centralization of schools and there is a liklihood of having better school officers in the town- ship system than in the single district system. Local disturbances in the district seem to be more satisfactorily handled by a township school board who are unlikely to be parties to other factional affairs so frequent in the single school district." C. G. Schultz, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Minnesota. — "I am very certain your educational commission has acted wisely and in the inter- est of efficient and progressive school administration, in recommending a change from the district to the township unit of organization. One of the things v^'hich most hampers the rural schools in Minnesota is the small school district." R. B. Cousins, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Texas. — "The change proposed from your district system to the township system is unquestion- ably a step in the direction of the permanent improvement of the ot-^-aniza- tion of your schools. Any territorial unit that is smaller than the- township is in almost every instance too weak to provide adequate school facilities for the children. Larger units are, as a rule, stronger units, because of the in- creased amount of taxable property upon which they rest and the greater degree of intelligence possible in the management of the schools." Nathan C. Schaeffer, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Pennsylvania. — "Pennsylvania has always had the township system of managing schools. From the start the schools have been in charge of six directors. In our opinion this results in economy. My notion is that a county system is more economical even than a township system. The superintendent of one coun- ty claims that if he could locate the school houses, he could accommodate all the children as well as they are now accommodated and save the salaries of fifty teachers." C /. Baxter. Superintendent of Public Instruction, New Jersey. — "We find that the township system v/orks admirably in New Jersey. It has clearly demonstrated the wisdom of those who were its advocates and has prepared the way for other reforms. We have been enabled to greatly strengthen our schools in the matter of supervision by the appointment of township supervising principals, and to make a much closer approach to providing 'equality of opportunity' for the children of the state." Mason S. Stone. Superintendent of Education. Vermont. — "By an Act passed at the biennial session of the General Assembly of Vermont in 1892, the educational system of the State was changed from the district system to the town system. Prior to that Act, the towns in their annual town meet- ings, voted on the adoption of the town system. Each year about eighty per cent of the voters had voted against it and at the time the law was made compulsory by statutory enactment there were only twelve towns in the State which had voluntarily adopted the town system. At the biennial term of 1894, an attempt was made in the General Assembly, to revert to the district system, but the bill failed of passage. Since then no attempt has been made to readopt the previous system, and, for the past ten years I have known of no attempt to return to the previous condition of adminis- tration. The principle involved is that education is a common good; there- 131 fore equal advantages should be furnished all, and the expense of mainte- nance should also be equal. As a result of the town system, there is much better administration of schools, better teachers are employed, and better results are obtained." Oeorge H. Martin, Secretary of State Board of Education. Massachusetts. — "This State began agitation of the abolition of the district system in 1826 and continued it until the system was finally abolished, root and branch, in 1882. No question has arisen since in regard to the wisdom of the move- ment nor is it ever likely to arise. The township is in the judgment of the people of this State, the only system under which public schools of a satis- factoi-y character can be maintained." M. Bates Stephens, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Maryland. — "We Marylanders think it (the district system) prevents the essential fea- tures of uniformity and hinders proper supervision. As it seems to me your people will make a mistake should the township system be disregarded." M. P. Shaickey, Superintendent Puhlic Instruction. West Yirginia. — "This State has had a 'township' system of administration of schools for many years. It has proved so satisfactory that there is little disposition to change it. Of recent years there has been some agitation on the proposition to adopt a county limit for taxation so that the poorer and more sparsely popu- lated communities might have an equal length of term v/ith the richer communities." Payson Smith, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Maine. — "The dis- trict school system was abolished in this State only after prolonged agita- tion and discussion. At the time of the abolition of the district system there was strong opposition to the measure. This opposition continued for a num- ber of years to disturb the schools. However, it is now the very general verdict of our people and the nearly unanimous opinion of our educators that the step was one of the most important that has been taken in the di- rection of progress. Under our former district system the average citizen had little interest in the schools of his town except in the one located in his own district. This interest in the local school unfortunately often took the form of interference in the details of school management, even to the extent of interference with the rights and privileges of the teacher. Under that system also the distribution of school funds was most unfair and there could be nothing resembling equality of opportunity so long as it prevailed. Of course, it would be too much to say that the difficulties I have mentioned disappeared entirely with the abolition of the districts, but I believe I speak conservatively when I say that at the present time a much better educational policy prevails throughout the State as a result of the tov>'nship system. I may add that recently there has been a growing tendency to enlarge the school unit in the direction of making it that of the State rather than the township. I do not believe that in itself the township system is more expen- sive than the district system. Indeed, it is my opinion that there is greater waste under the latter. It may be true, however, that the disposition to con- sider the school problems of a town as a whole tends to enlarge the sense of responsibility on the part of the town towards education and thus ultimately to increase school expenditures. I regret that I can give you no exact figures on this point. Of course, our school expenditures have been increas- ing each year, but there is no reason to believe that they would not have in- creased had the district system continued in force. I feel very sure that any proposal to return to the district system in this State would be met v>'ith very general and emphatic opposition." Walter E. Banger, Commissioner of Public Schools. Rhode Island. — "To one like myself who has experienced the change from district to town sys- tem of schools in two New England States, the district system seems archaic and absolutely inadequate to meet the requirements of the times for public schooling, in distinction from private education. The district system is only one step from home or private schooling. You can educate efficiently all the children of a town only by having uniformly good schools throughout the town. Under the district system I never knew a town of good schools any- where, or a town maintaining a reasonable equality of school advantages among different districts. 132 A town system promises the following advantages: 1. More efficient ad- ministration with comparatively less effort and cost. 2. Greater publicity and greater effort to remedy evils. 3. All the people assuming responsibility for school education of all pupils in town. 4. The machinery of a town system is better adapted for improvement. It means progress. 5. Better equality of taxation among citizens of towns. 6. Greater equality of educa- tional opportunity among the public's children. 7. The administration of schools is by towns as units just as that of roads, bridges and other inter- ests. 8. School officers are more susceptible to public opinion at large. 9. Calls for stronger class of men to manage schools. 10. Promotes unity of town in all efforts for better things." Further citations of the expressed convictions of the leading school oflScers of the country would perhaps be superfluous. Why this practi- cally unanimous opinion among them that the township system of school organization is superior to the district system? Is it because they are unfriendly to the district school and wish to weaken or destroy the work of "the little red school house?" It is absurd to suppose that this is the case. Is it because they are not acquainted with the conditions and needs of the rural schools and do not take these into consideration in arriving at an opinion with respect to school organization? Such a sup- position is a reflection on both their public spirit and their intelligence, and, in the case of elected officers at least, it is a reflection upon the in- telligence of the people themselves who have elevated these men to the highest offices connected with the administration of their school systems. All such suppositions and reflections must be dismissed as unworthy of consideration in a serious discussion. Does not candor compel the ad- mission that the conviction on the part of these men of the superiority of the township system over the district system is due to the fact that they are profoundly interested in the promotion of the educational in- terests of their respective states, that they have observed and studied the operation of both systems, and have consequently learned by study and by actual experience that the district system is unsuited to modern conditions and that it stands in the way of educational progress ? These school officers are men who on account of their interest in educational questions, and especially on account of their relation to the public school system of their states, are accustomed to consider methods of school organization and administration with reference to their general and per- manent effects, which is the manner in which such methods should al- ways be considered. Now, whose opinions are most likely to be worthy of acceptation, those of men who are reauired by their duties to be familiar with the educational conditions and needs of the Stite, and who are compelled by their position to take the broader view of educational questions, or those of men whose vocational interests and whose relation to the school system naturally tend to limit their educational horizon to the boundaries of the school district in which they reside? It is certainly no reflection upon the intelligence of men who have not had occasion to think much about educational systems to refuse to allow their opinion on the best method of organizing the schools for adminis- trative purposes to have a predominating influence in determining the question. It is rather an indication of superior intelligence to trust 133 matters requiring expert knowledge to experts, and the reliance ol a democratic state upon experts responsible to the people is absolutely essential to the successful administration of its affairs. Lest it be said that the opinions heretofore quoted are largely specu- lative, and that if the township system were adopted in Illinois the result would be unfavorable to the schools, it may be well to introduce further testimony in regard to the results in those states which have adopted the township system. Massachusetts discarded the district sys- tem completely in 1882. "During the years of its duration," says the Hon. J. VV. Dickinson, formerly secretary of the Massachusetts board of education, "experience had jjroven the system to be productive of much evil and but little good. Under its intiuence many of the school houses of the town were poor, the schools taught in them were small, and, of necessity, were short and were provided with poor teachers. The juost intelligent friends of the public schools had struggled to free their com- munities from a system which they felt was opposed alike to harmony and progress." To propose a return to the district system in Massachu- setts would today awaken about as much interest as a proposal to return to stage coaches and canal boats as means of travel. iSIew Hampshire adopted the town system in 1885. The then state superintendent of New Hampshire in speaking of the defects of the district system- said, "It will readily be seen that it defeats measurably the very end for which public schools are established, as it fails to diffuse, with an equable hand, that intelligence which is essential to the safetv and highest prosperity of the republic. ]t gives to the minority of children in villages and cities extraordinary opportunities, and very ordinary ones to the ma- jority scattered over the country towns. It gives to the children of non- taxpaying foreigners, concentrated in large places, privileges that it witliholds from the children of taxpayino- natives in the rural districts. It gives to the child of the man who pays a heavy tax in a small district less schooling than to the child of the man who only pays a poll tax in a large one." The same year in which New Hampshire entered upon the town system it was adopted in Maine. Three years afterward Hon. N. A. Luce, who had been state superintendent at the time of the adop- tion of the new system, declared that "the advantages claimed for the towns over the district system are not theoretical. They are the result of experience. True, the number of schools will be reduced, and they should be. But such a reduction will vv^ork no deprivation of right or privilege at all comparable with that wrought by tlie district system. Nor will such reduction be arbitrary and ill-advised for it is an inci- dental, not a direct consequence of the change of the system." Vermont adopted the town system in 1892. An ex-state superintendent of Ver- mont declared that "the district system has become burdensomely com- plex, and its parts have grown incongruous with one another, an evident sign of decrepitude. The town system is vigorous and simple and has shown satisfactory results in all classes of towns, proving sufficiently its adaptation to the entire state." Another ex-state superintendent of Vermont savs, "the experience of another two years in the common schools of the state has still more fullv convinced many of the utter 134 inefficiency of our plan of district management. It is very worthy of note that most of the teachers, and nearly all others who have been practically connected with the schools, favor the change of the district for the town manairement.'' The opinion of tlie '">Tesent superintendent of that state has already been nuoted. In his report of 1894, from which some of the expressions previouslv quoted Iiave been drawn, he enumer- ates among the advantages of the larger unit, better teachers, better school houses, better sunnlics, and better manaaement, and offers various proofs to show that these have been the results of the town svstem. The history of education in many of the states now under the district system shows that school men generally have been conscious of its dis- advantages and have favored the township plan. Illinois furnishes a good .example. In that state every superintendent from the beginning has favored township organization. The first Superintendent of Public Instruction in Illinois was the Honorable N^inian W. Edwards, who was appointed in 1854. In his first report he proposed "to entrust the entire jurisdiction of the system to a township board of education. Under the present system," said he, "the number of directors and trustees in each township is so great as effectually to defeat the objects, and to prevent anything like an effective supervision, without which no schools can prosper. By com- mitting the entire jurisdiction to one board, not only will there be securecl a geeneral and effective supervision, but what is scarcely less important, a laudable emulation will be encouraged among the schools, while uniformity in the mode of instruction, discipline and police will gradualy obtain over the entire State."* Again he said, "I would uro-e the adoption of what is called the township system, which provides, for the election of 'one board of education, to consist of trustees selected as nearly as possible from the various parts of each townshir). who shall have the control of all the schools in the township." f The following are extracts from the reports of subsequent superin- tendents : Hon. William H. Powell. — "No state has ever succeeded in perfecting a free school system with such a mongrel plan as the one under which we are now working in this State. The defects of the present law are radical de- fects, and wholly incapable of being effectually remedied by any alterations or amendments. The only adequate remedy is to repeal the law, and enact an entirely new one, based upon a similar organization. ******* Until such a system is adopted, the highest success, in the opinion of the undersigned, need not be looked for." [Public School Report, 1857-8, page 13.] Hon. Neivton Bateman. — "With my whole heart I believe that the highest success cannot be attained with our present local organization, and that the true remedy is the township system . It was recommended by our first State superintendent and has been indorsed by all his successors; I have cited in its favor the earnest approval of some of the ablest and best men of other states; it is sanctioned by every state superintendent from whom I have heard on the subject; it has been in operation in several states for many ♦Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1855, pp, 11-12. tQuoted in PubUc Scliool Report, 1865-66, p. 93. 135 years, and not one of them could be induced to return to the other plan; the tendency of legislation is all in that direction in states where the system has not yet been established: it has been vindicated by experience, vindi- cated by results, vindicated by its simplicity and self-evident adaptation to the wants of the people and to the necessities of the case: the prepon- derance of argument, of experience, of testimony, of economy, and of common sense is arrayed on its side. I believe it is destined to become, territorily, the ultimate Americal system of school organization: and to the end that it may speedily be inaugurated and established in Illinois, I earnestly invoke the cooperation of the friends of common schools, and the favorable regard of the General Assembly. [Public School Report, 1865-66, page 113.1 Hon. 8. M. Etter. — "The township plan would not only equalize the school expenses, but it would be the means of securing better teachers and better school advantages at a much less expense than can be secured by the system of dividing the territory into small, insignificant parts. ****** I firmly believe that the adoption of the tov^'nship system will give a new impetus and life to our public school work in every county in the State, and when once understood, if adopted, that the people will be satisfied with it." [Public School Report, 1875-6, pages 432-3.1 Hon. James P. Slade. — "It is unfortunate, I think, that our school system makes the district, instead of the township, the unit: for the schools would be more intelligently managed if under the control of a board selected from a whole township." [Public School Report, 1879-80, page 44.] Hon. Henry Raab. — "Should a bill for an Act be introduced in the next General Assembly for a change from the district system to the township system, it is confidently hoped that our legislators will feel the necessity of taking this reformatory step at this time. The advantages are so many un- der the new plan that those who bring about the change will deserve the thanks of the people." [Public School Report, 1885-6, page CCXXIV.l Richard Edwards. — "Many earnest educators would be glad to see a change by which the present school district should be abolished and every township should constitute a district by itself. For this, many sound and convincing reasons are urged. The principal opposition to it arises from the dread of a centralization of power. It is also suggested that the present system which employs 43,000 school officers without compensation is a pow- erful educator to this vast multitude: that the directors in some rural dis- tricts, although ill-qualified to determine the grave questions that concern schools are yet improved by their experience as directors. These arguments undoubtedly have some value. But for the sake of educating these men we can scarcely afford to degrade the quality of the education furnished to our 1,118,472 children of school age." [Public School Report, 1887-8, page CLXXXVI.l Hon. Alfred Bayliss. — "There is one other [handicap! less obvious than these, but which is the cause of all of them. I refer to the small district system. Years ago Horace Mann declared that the practice of dividing towns into school districts was the most unfortunate law on the subject of schools ever enacted in Massachusetts. There is no doubt that the same thing may be said, without reservation, of the Illinois school law. The di- vision of responsibility has been carried one step too far. If the congres- sional tov>'nship could remain as now the unit of our system, but not sub- ject to division, there is no reason why the country schools should not be as generally efficient as the city schools, and not infrequently more so. Horace Mann's opinion is the opinion of students of school organization, almost without exception." [Public School Report. 1904-6, page 25.] REFERENCES. Balliet, T. M. — The town system In Massachusetts (Abstract) ; In New York asso- ciated academic principals' conference. Proceedings, 1905:33-38. (New York State Education Department, Bulletin. No. 3S9.> Bardeen. C. W. — The present status of the township system ; in School issues of the dav. 1890. No. 8. 136 Cotton, F. A. — Towiisliip super\ ision ; in his Education in Indiana, 1904, p. 74-79. Dexter, E. G. — Township and citv organization ; in his A history of education in the United States, 1004, p. 188-96. Draper, A. S. — Educational organization and administration : in Monographs on education in the United States. Edited by N. M. Butler, 1904, No. 1. Tlie supervision of country schools. 1904. Address delivered November 21, 1904. before New York State Association of School Commissioners and Superintendents. -Shall we have school supervision in the rural districts? 1907. Address delivered November 6, 1907, before the New York State Association of School Commissioners and Superintendents. Dutton. S. T. and Snedden, David — Local units of educational administration ; In their The administration of public education in the United States, 190s, p. 54-7 2. Problems growing out of state and local administration of education ; in their The administration of public education in the United States. 1908. p. 96-119. Illinois Educational Commission — Bulletin 4. A tentative plan for making the town- ship the unit of school organization. 1908. JVIacElrov A. J. — The township system in Pennsylvania ; in New York Associated Academic Principals' Conference. Proceedings, 1905 :38-45. (New York State Education Department, Bulletin No. 389.) Prince J T. — The evolution of school supervision ; in his School administration. 1906. p. 247-64. Also in Educational Review, 22:148-61. (September, 1901.) Skinner, C. R. — The township system. (New York State.) Educational Review, 14 :93-95. The social unit in the public school systems of the United States. United States Commissioner of Education. Report, 1894-95. Vol. 2:1457-67. Suzzallo, Henry — The rise of local school supervision in Massachusetts. Teachers College, Columbia Universitj-. Contributions to education. Vol. 1, No. 3, 1906. Township and district systems. Comparative cost. In National Educational Asso- ciation. Proceedings. 1897 :508-10. ■Township system in the United States. United States Commissioner of Education. Report, 1877 :39. Township supervision in Ohio. Educational Review, 4:409. Township Organization of Schools in Illinois. The public schools of Illinois are organized and administered in ac- cordance with the following general plan : The public schools of the entire State are under the general supervision of the superintendent of public instruction, which is the legal title of the officer usually called State Superintendent of Schools. The State ds divided into 102 coun- ties and schools of each county are under the direct supervision of a county superintendent of schools. Each county contains on the av- erage about eighteen and one-half congressional townships, making the total number of such- townships in the State 1,882. Each congres- sional township is established by law as a township for school purposes. In each congressional township three trustees of schools are elected. These trustees exercise over the school affairs of the township an au- thority chiefly but not exclusively financial. Each township in the State is divided into districts, thirty-five of which exist liy virtue of special legislative action. The schools of a district are managed by boards of three directors in districts having a population of one thou- sand or fewer, and by boards of education in districts containing more than one thousand inhabitant^:. 'From this brief description it will l)e seen that the school system of Illinois is in a high degree complex. There is a state system, but noth- ing comparable to the highly organized system of some of the other states, as, for instance, Xew York. There is a county system, but the county is not the real unit of school organization as in Louisiana. There is the form of the township system in as much as each congres- sional township is a school townsliip in which school business is trans- acted by a corporation known as the trustees of schools. Finally there is the district system. "Ours," said JSTewton Bateman, "is, strictly speaking, neither the town system, nor the local sul)-district system, but an awkward and perplexing combination of both; possessing the appropriate excellences of neither, with the disadvantages of each."'* Still, if one were asked to characterize the school svstem of Illinois with respect to its unit of school organization it would have to be said that the schools of the State are operated under the district svstem, for the district is the chief factor in school administration. The trustees of each township are vested with the general power and authority "to lay off the township into one or more school districts." District brundaries may be changed and districts may bo divided and sub- •Sixth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, p. 65. 138 divided or consolidated by the township trustees of schools on peti- tion of a majority of the voters of the districts affected bv the pro- posed change. Each district has its own board of directors, or board of education as the case may be, which controls and manages the school or schools within its borders. This princi])le of subdivision of town- ships into districts and the local management of schools is what really constitutes the district system. Now the district system, as has been suggested, is a very simple one Avhen considered from the view point of a single district, but it is a very complex and awkward system when considered from the viewpoint of the county or the State. There are, for instance, in Illinois in round num- bers twelve thousand school districts. Each district is more or less in- dependent of all other districts. It plans and builds its own school house, selects its own teacher, determines what wages shall be paid, directs what branches of study shall be taught, and what text books and apparatus shall be used. Obviously there will be under any system of this kind many grades of educational effort and many standards of ex- cellence in the development of schools. No general plan of imnrovement is possible. Without some sort of agency to unify, harmonize and direct the educational work of the various districts there could hardly be anything like system in the school work of the county or the State. To provide such an agency Illinois, as well as every other state in the union, has developed some method of town, county or large district and State supervision of schools. In Illinois, as was said before, we have county supervision and State supervision. Neither the one nor the other would be possible, however, had not the districts made some concession with respect to the local control of schools and neither can be brought to the highest state of efficiency until the district system is discarded. The moment county or State supervision is undertaken the district system annears in a new light. It is then seen to stand in the way of effective supervision, to be cumbersome, uneconomical and inefficient. Hence, the snnervisor of schools will, as a rule, be found opposed to that system. Horace Mann, for instance, after some ex- perience with it in Massachusetts, declared that the law of that state passed in 1789 and authorizing the towns of that Commonwealth to divide themselves into districts was "the most unfortunate law, on the subject of common schools, ever enacted in the State.''* A study of the educational history of Illinois will show that the educational leaders of the State have almost invariably been o^^-'osed to the district svstem. Fifty-two year.= ago, for instance, a committee of the Illinois State Teachers' Association reported in favor of a change from the district sys- tem to the township system. Every superintendent of public instruction in Illinois has favored township organization, and at least eight of them have advocated it in their renorts. Extracts from some of these reports containing: the opinions of these men on this subject have already been quoted. The opinions thev have exnressed are the opinions of the com- mission, and it would not be faithful, to its duty if it did not proclaim ♦Horace Mann's School Reports, Vol. 2, Tenth Annual Report, p. 37. 139 that in its judgment the educational interests of the State demand that change in our system of school organization which has been so strongh' urged by those who have had the best onnortunity to observe the evils 'incident to the present system. The commission does not forget, of course, that the educational in- terests of Illinois have made great progress under the district system of organization. Excellent schools have been established. An in- telligent people has been produced. In any consideration of our educa- tional system it should be remembered that wh-atever defects there may be the excellences vastly outweigh them. But no defect should be tolerated merely because it is not fatal. Progress has been made in our schools, in recent years at least, in spite of the district system, not because of it. Useful citizens and great men will appear under any educational system, or without any educational system at all. The district system, so far as it prevents the most rapid development of school facilities and opportunities is to that extent an obstacle in the way of the development of the people. There are few who have given careful consideration to the subject of school organization who will deny that the district svstem does stand in the way of better things in education. In the earlier davs when the country was thinly settled it served a valuable purpose. The viewpoint was then naturally if not necessarily that of the district. But Illinois has developed ; it has be- come thickly settled; it has become in every sense a State. Hence, the earlier system of school organization is no longer adapted to its needs. It has become antiauated. It has outlived its former usefulness and has become one of the chief obstacles to educational advancement. By the district system must be understood, of course, the division of a township into districts and the control of the schools of each dis- trict by a board of directors. AVhcn we speak of supplanting this sys- tem by a better system our remarks should not be understood as apply- ing in any sense to the district school. The district school will continue to exist no matter what system is adopted. The township system does not necessarily involve any centralizing of the schools. It does not of itself even change the "location of a single school house or of a single school. It simply centralizes the management of the schools. The chief object in suggesting a change in our form of school organization is to preserve and improve the district school. It is chiefly because of the fact that under the district system the district school itself can not at- tain the highest state of development that the commission feels war- ranted in recommending that the district system be supplanted by the township system. The recommendation of a better system of public education is what the commission understands its function to be. The existence of the commission is no evidence of the failure of our present educational sys- tem, but it does indicate that defects have been observed and that im- provements are possible. The educational commission of Pennsylvania expressed, through its chairman, the desire "to make the school sys- tem of Pennsylvania the best in the country." This is perhaps the ambition of all state educational commissions with respect to their own 140 state. But in the judgmeut of the Illinois Commission the school sys- tem in Illinois can not be made the best in the country with its present system of school organization. Again, according to a resolution adopted by the State Teachers' Association, December 28, 1900, the purpose of the commission is to gather "all the data necessary for an intelligent reorganization of the entire public school svstem, which shall result in placing it on the plane of the best in the world, for simplicity, adapta- tion and efficiency." The commission earnestly desires to realize this purpose. It has been inspired by the hope of being able to present for the consideration of the people of the State and for favoral)le action by the General Assembly such improvements of our system of education as will not merely place it on the plane of the best in the w'orld, but actually make it the best. Tliis hope is shared, no doubt, by all who are interested in its work. But it may as avcII be admitted that such an ambition or hope can not possibly be realized if the district system of school organization is preserved. In the language of a former super- intendent of public instruction, "no state has ever succeeded in per- fecting a free school system with such a mongrel plan as the one under which w'e are now working in this State.'^ If this is true, and it is almost obviously so, there ought to be no objection to, but on the contrary the heartiest sympathy with, a pro- posal to introduce into the educational system' of the State the few changes necessary to reduce its complexity to the simnlicity and order that would attend the establishment of the township as the real unit of school organization. There are several methods by which this end may be accomplished. In the first place the school law of the State might be so amended as to enable any township by a ma J or it" vote of its peonle to abolish its district boards of directors and place all of its schools under the con- trol and management of the township trustees of schools. The trustees have the power under the ji resent law, when petitioned by a majority of the legal voters of each district affected by the change, to consoli- date districts. But in all probability the transfer from one system to the other would never be made by the separate initiative of the differ- ent districts of the State. Even if a specific act enabling townships to introduce the township system were passed, it would be necessary to offer some special inducement to overcome the inertia of a township and secure independent action. This method of passing from the district system to the township system by the separate action of different townships is perhaps the least promising. It would result at best only in giving to the State, for a long time at least, a double system of school organization. Connec- ticut tried this method. In 1841 a law was passed allowing two or more adjoining school districts to unite and form a union district. In 1860 another step was taken by giving to each town the power to form, alter and dissolve school districts within its limits. Finally in 186G towns were authorized on a majority vote of their people to abolish all school districts and parts of districts Avithin their limits and to as- sume and maintain the control of their public schools. In Connecticut, therefore, for almost fifty years the town system has been permissive. 141 N'evertheless, seventy-eight of the one hundred and sixty-eight towns of that state are still under, the district system. There is consequently great impatience among the school men of Connecticut on account of the slowness with which the township method operates. The more backward the district the less likely it is to proceed to organize its scliools under town authority. We hnd, for instance, a member of the town school committee of New Milford, Conn., in a -recent address before the Connecticut State Teachers' Association declaring that "the parent of all evils in the schools of the small towns is the district sys- tem. A system long outgrown, a breeder of discord, promoter of financial stinginess, the essence of misrule. ... . . .a blot upon the edu- cational system of our state.'' He recommends an act compelling the adoption of town management of schools in all towns not later than July, 1910. "Such legislation," he says, "would remove a great dis- grace from our State, be no undue burden of expense on anyone and mark a long step forward in school management." low'a is another state whose educational history is instructive on this point. For many 3'ears that state has had legislation permitting township organization, but the district system still exists in about one-third of the state. It is easy to understand, then, why the township method of adopting town- ship organization is highly unsatisfactory to the friends of the town- ship system. It is too slow and it burdens the state with the incon- veniences and evils of a double system. Another method of supplanting the district system by the township system is that of allowing counties at their own option to pass from one system to the other. The school law might be so amended, for in- stance, as to enable county commissioners or boards of supervisors on petition of a certain percentage of the voters of a county to hold an election in which the question of township school organization would be submitted to the people. This is the metliod provided in the present law of the State for adopting township organization politically. On petition of fifty or more legal voters of a county the county board is required to submit to the voters of the countv the question of town- ship organization. If the question is carried commissioners are ap- pointed to divide the county into townships. There may seem to be some inconsistency in providing for a countv vote upon what may seem to be almost wholly a township proposition. But it should not be for- gotten that our system of county scliool supervision and the inter- relations of our people make any change in the organization of the schools of a township a question of importance to the whole county. North Dakota provides in its school law that the countv commissioners together with the county sunerintendcnt of schools "shall nuikc such changes generally in the boundary lines of the school districts of the county, not in their judgment detrimental to the interests of the schools of the county, as will reduce the number of school districts in the county, and form school districts not extended beyond the boundaries of the civil townships." Under the operation of this law, and of other enactments preventing the introduction of the district system in coun- ties newly organized, all of the counties of North Dakota but five are now under township organization. 142. There appears to be no legal obstacle in the way of this method of adopting the township system. It is plainly superior to the method previously described for it Tiromises a more rapid spread of the town- ship system of organization over the State. The separate action of one hundred and two counties would probably not require so much time as the separate action of one thousand eight hundred and cisrhty-two town- ships. If township organization were in the experimental stage, if there were uncertainty in regard to its adaptation to the educational needs of the State, this method of adontinof it would perhaps be advis- able. But the township system is not in an experimental stage. It has long since demonstrated its superiority over the district system in all • the states that have given it a trial. Why then resort to any method that would delay the benefits of a simpler organization? Why not ac- cept a demonstrated conclusion? Progress is more rapidly made by ac- cepting the results of the experience of other than by experimenting ourselves to ascertain these results. A third method of making the desired change and. in the opinion of the commission the best method, is to enact an amendment to the law of the State providing that the, control and management of all schools in districts not governed by boards of education, and the control and management of township high schools, shall be placed at once in the hands of the township boards of trustees. All that is necessary is to discontinue boards of directors and townshins boards of education in control of high schools and vest all the power of these boards in the trustees of schools. This is an easy method, a simple method, and it would obviously be the most effective. Whatever benefits are to be derived from the township system of organization would be obtained at once. The State would pass immediately from the district svstem to the township system. The simplicity of this method as applied to Illi- nois and the ease by which the State could nass from one svstem to the other if this method were adopted are obvious. If it is asked what would be the practical effects of a law putting' this method into operation, let I^ewton Bateman, one of the best superintendents of public instruc- tion that Illinois has had, make answer. "Not a right, power, or duty of the State Superintendent, or anv county superintendent, would be added, substracted, changed or modified in any manner whatever, the office of township treasurer would be iust as necessary as before, and his powers and duties remain substantially as now, though much simplified by the abolition of the districts; the boards of trustees and directors would continue in the discharp-e of their respective duties until the dav fixed by law for the election of the new township school boards. Upon the election and qualificfition of these boards, all district boards of direc- tors throughout the State would cease to exist; all existing district lines and boundaries (except when co-incident with township lines) would disappear and be no more ; all school houses, lands and other district school property, would revert and come into the control of the township board of education, who would thereupon assume and exercise the rights, powers and duties, all and sirig-ular. which now devolve upon bonrds of trustees and directors respectively; and Illinois would forthwith be under 143 the township system of school orsranization. Xot a common school in the State would be closed or interfered with, not a teacher discharged, not an existing contract annulled. The great educational work of the State would move right on as if nothing had happened; no visible sign would appear to show that an immense administrative reform hud taken place, and a new and glorious era dawned upon our system of public instruction. The vast accumulations of school property would be presei*ved intact; but few school houses would have to be moved, and none at all immediately, for, as a general rule, school sites and buildings that are in the right place now, wovdd be equally so then. Thus, quietl}^, without shock or confusion, almost without public knowl- edge or notice, the system would lay down the heavy, galling harness of her ten-thousand-headed policy, and assume the light elastic armor of a fresh, compact and simple, but far more expansive and powerful or- ganization. As in the case of our matchless civil government, the people would be reminded of its existence chiefly by the "richness of the bless- ings which it would dispense." This is the conclusion of Newton Bateman after the most careful con- sideration of the effect of entrance upon township organization. It is practically the conclusion at which anyone will arrive who will give the subject the thorough and candid consideration which its importance de- serves. We can be sure, then, of the adoption of the township system in Illinois if the relative merits of the district system and the township system are generally studied and compared. The commission urges this study and comparison. To be of the most immediate and permanent value the change suggested by the commission should he of the people and by the people as it would most certainly be for the people. We may conclude, then, with the utmost confidence that if in the edu- cational system of the State the township were established as the unit of school organization, we should have opened the way to increased econ- omy and ofTiciency in the educational work of the State. We should have substituted unity, harmony, coordination, organization, economy, and efficiency for separation, disunity, confusion, inefficiency, and waste. Contrary to the rule by which advantages are usually secured this great improvement would be obtained without anv serious inconveni- ence. The few legal changes suggested would' enable the State to glide smoothly into the new svstem without shock or jar. To repeat once more the language of "NTowton Bateman, "the great educational work of the State would move right on as if nothing had happened, no visible sign would appear to show that an immense administrative reform had taken place, and a new and glorious era dawned upon our system of public instruction." Notwithstanding- the fact that the commission is unanimously of the opinion that the township system is superior to the district system, and while it recommends the former unhesitatinglv and unqualifiedlv. it has been compelled by the criticism evoked by its tentative recommenda- tion in regard to township organization to recognize tlie futility of an attempt to pass at one step from the one system to the other. It does not think it would be wise to attempt to force the better system of 144 school organization upon the people of any township prior to the time when a majority of the people of that township is persuaded that the schools would be improved by adopting the new form of organization. It does believe, however, that when a majority of the people are so per- suaded tliey should have the right to change from the old system to the new. This is democratic, and it is necessary to give ex])ansiveness to the public school system of the State. Accordingly, as a ])reliminary step to complete township organization, the commission recommends the enactment of the follow-ing bill which provides for the vesting under a single board of directors the control and management of the schools in the districts of a township, no one of which districts contains an in- corporated village or city: Section 1. Be it enacted hy the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly — That upon petition of fifty voters resident within the districts of a township no one of which districts shall contain an in- corporated village or city, presented to the trustees of such township on or before the first day of March in any year, it shall be the duty of such trus- tees to cause to be submitted to the voters of such districts at a special elec- tion called for that purpose under the provisions of section 38 of "An Act to establish and maintain a system of free schools," approved and in force May 21, 1889, and at least fifteen days prior to the regular meeting of trus- tees of schools in April, the question of voting for or against uniting the control and management of the schools of such districts under a single board of school directors. Sec. 2. If it shall appear upon a canvass of the returns' of such election that a majority of the votes cast are in favor of such union, the trustees shall give notice that on the third Saturday in April next an election will be held in some convenient place or places for the purpose of electing three school directors, no, two of whom shall be chosen from the same sub-district. At such election one of the members shall be elected for the term of one year, one for the term of two years and one for the term of three years, and an- nually thereafter a successor to the member of such board whose term of office shall then expire shall be elected to serve for a term of three years. Sec. 3. Such board of directors shall be vested with all the powers and duties now or hereafter to be conferred upon or required of boards of edu- cation in cities having a population not exceeding 100,000 inhabitants and shall be the successor to the various boards of directors of the districts unit- ing the control and management of their schools, and all rights of property and rights and causes of action existing or vested in the district boards of directors for the use of the inhabitants of the respective districts, or any part of them, shall vest in it in as complete a manner as they wei-e vested in the directors aforesaid. Sec. 4. For the purposes of this Act a district composed of parts of two or more townships shall be considered to be a part of a township in which the school house of such district is situated: Provided, however, that any part of such district may l)e restored to the tov^nship of which it is geographically a part whenever a majority of the inhabitants of that part of such district so petition the trustees of schools in said township. Such readjustment of ter- ritory shall not require any payment of money or division of property on ac- count thereof. Sec. 5. Districts which have united the control and management of their schools under the provisions of this Act may dissolve such union in the same manner as is provided for its adoption, but the question of dissolving the union shall not be submitted within the period of three years after its adop- tion. Sec. 6. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1910. 145 Discontinuance and Abandonment of Small Schools. Under township organization there should be vested in the township trustees of schools the power to close schools with an enrollment of fewer than fifteen pupils and they should be required to close all schools having an enrollment of fewer than ten pupils. There would be nothing new in a provision of this kind. Tlic school law of Connecticut in 1856 contained the following provision: "When any school district shall be reduced in population so as to contain less than twelve pupils between the ages of four and sixteen years it shall be the duty of the town or township within which such district is situ- ated to dissolve the same and annex the territory thereof to the ad- joining district or districts." The present law of that state provides that "no school need be maintained in any district in which the aver- age attendance at the school in said district during the i)rcceding year, ending the fourteenth day of July, was less than eight. Ehode Island authorizes the school committee of any town, with the approval of the commissioner of public schools, to consolidate any schools the average number belonging to each of which is less than twelve, or to unite such school or schools with some other school in order to establish a graded school or to secure greater efficiency of the schools. The school law of Maine contains the general provision that in case any school shall have too few pupils for its profitable nuiintenance the superintending school committee may suspend the operation of such school for not more than one year. The law of that state prevents the continuance of any public school which fails to maintain an average attendance for any school year of at least eight pupils unless the town in which the school is located shall by vote, at the annual meeting, if the committee shall have made a written recommendation to that effect, instruct the superintending school committee to maintain the school. The law of North Dakota also provides that "any school may be discontinued when the average attendance of pupils therein for ten consecutive days shall be less than four." Reference has already been made to the law of Indiana in regard to the discontinuance and abandonment of small schools. That law reads as follows : "The township trustees shall dis- continue and abandon all schools under their charge at which the aver- age daily attendance during the last preceding school year has been twelve pupils or fewer; and said trustees may discontinue and abandon all schools at which the average daily attendance during the last pre- ceding school year has been fifteen pupils or fewer: Provided, the con- dition as to roads, streams and bridges permit of siich discontinuance." These states are not the only ones which permit the closing of small schools. This recommendation of the commission is therefore in har- mony with the educational policy of the states most advanced in educa- tion. The uiunlier of schools in Illinois with an enrollment below the minima suggested is 1,450. Then* are 589 schools with an enrollment of less than ten. These schools would be closed at once. Eight hundred —10 E C 146 and seventy-one schools have an enrollment of more than ten and less than llftcen. The closing of these schools would he left to the judgment of the trustees of the township. Xow, if we estimate the annual cost of one of these schools at $350.00, and that is a low estimate, the saving to the State derived from closing the schools with fewer tlian ten pupils would he $26,500.00, and the possible saving from clos- ing all of the schools with fewer than fifteen pupils would be $365,- 000.00. This amount would be saved outright or be used to better ad- vantage. The children attending these small and inefficient schools, for small schools are usually inefficient, would find in the larger schools better social and educational opportunities than they now enjoy. Thus the closing of these schools would be an advantage to the children, to the taxpayers, and to society at large. l-JT THE CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS. Every state and territory in the Union requires teachers in the public schools to hold a certificate granted by a specified authority and declar- ing the holder to be of good character and to possess the scholastic quali- fications regarded as necessary to the work of teaching. In more than half of the states, teachers are required to be of a certain age specified in the la\A-. This age is, as a rule, eighteen years. In ^Maryland, how- ever, no man can teach who is under the age of nineteen. The minimum age limit is highest in the District of Columbia in which no one can teach who has not attained the age of twenty years. Table Showing the Minimum Age Limit of Teachers in the Various States. State. Age. State. Age. State. Age. State. Age. Alabama None. Arizona 18 Arkansas None. California | 18 Colorado ' 18 Connecticut.. .. None. Deleware None. Dist Columbia 20 Florida None. <>eorgia None. Idaho 18 Illinois 17-18 Indiana None. Towa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi . .. Missouri Montana Nebraska None. 18 18 None. None. 18-19 None. 18 18 17 None. 18 None. Nevada N. Hampshire. New Jersey ... New Mexico . . New York N. Carolina North Dakota . Ohio Oklohoma Oregon Pennsylvania.. Rhode Island. . South Carolina 16 18 18 None. 18 18 18 18 16 18 None. None. 18 South Dakota Tennessee... Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington . W. Virginia . Wisconsin .. . Wyoming . . . 18 None. None. 18 17 18 18 17 None. 17 Certificates of qualifications are granted, as a rule, on some sort of scholastic examination. In several of the states a normal school or university diploma relieves its holder of the necessity of an examina- tion. There are other exceptions to the rule but the main avenue to the profession of teaching runs through the door of an examination. Accordingly every state and territory has evolved some sort of exam- ination system for the purpose of examining and certificating the large number of public school teachers required in the education of its children. Such system must necessarily be a growth. We may, there- fore, expect to find the examination systems of the different states in various stages of development. Examinations are conducted and certifi- cates granted sometimes by one authority and sometimes by another. There are at least nine certificating agencies in the Tnitcd States. They 148 are, state boards of education, state superintendents, normal school boards, boards of university regents, county superintendents, county b'-aids, city boards, township supervisors and school district committees. Notwithstanding the apparent diversity in certificating authorities, however, we may roughly classify the systems of examination into the town system, the county system and tlie state system.* The Township System. In the incipient stages of social development the local community pro- vides its own school, employs its own teacher, and deteniiines what qualification shall be required of him. Such was the case in the colonial settlements and such has been the case in some of the western states in the early period of their development. In Illinois, for instance, until 1841, the people of a community who desired to organize a school em- ployed such teacher as they deemed qualified to teach, and after his employment they elected three of their number to superintend the school. This local or district system of examining teachers has been almost entirely eliminated. The first step in advance is from this primitive method to the town system. In New Hampshire the school board of every district is authorized to hold an examination of candidates for certificates of qualification to teach in the public schools. A district in that state, however, is reallv the town and hence the district system has become the town system. In Massachusetts the town school committee, before employing a teacher, must require full and satisfactory evidence of his moral character and must ascertain bv personal examination his qualifications for teaching and his capacity for government of schools. So also in Connecticut, "school visitors, town school committees, . or boards of education, shall, as a board, or by a committee by them ap- pointed, examine all persons desiring to teach in the public schools." This town system existed in Connecticut along with the state system. The same is true of Maine in which the town superintendent of schools examines teachers and grants certificates or endorses certificates issued to teach by normal school principals. It is obvious that the town system of examining teachers is hardly compatible with a larger unit of school supervision. Accordingly in most of the states it has given way to the county system. The County System. The county system of examining and certifying teachers consists, of course, in the examination of teachers by the county superintendent or a county examining board and the granting of certificates to those who are found qualified to receive them. This system exists in one form or another in about three-fourths of the states. In Vermont it is found along with a form of the town system and the beginnings of a state *On these three systems see Cubberley, The Certification of Teachers, fifth year-boolt of the National Society f^- the Scientific Study of El^'-'^iticn, 1906, pp. 12-24 and 47-51. 149 system. The best examples, however, are found in California, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. There is no state, how- ever, in which the county system is employed exclusively. Provision is made for some form of state certificate granted by the superintendent of public instruction or a state board of education or a board of exam- iners. Sometimes the state authority prepares the questions used by the county superintendent in his examinations; sometimes, as in Michigan, the county commissioner may, upon request of any holder of a certificate of a second or third grade certificate, send the papers written by such person, properly certified and under seal, to the county board of school examiners of any other county for their examination ; some times, as in Indiana, the candidate may send his examination papers to the state superintendent for his examination and receive, if he is successful, a certificate good througliout the state. The county system is apparently gradually giving way to the larger and more uniform system demanded by the state supervision of schools. The State System. The state system in which the certificating authority is lodged wholly in the state superiiitendent, state board nt education or state board of examiners, is best exemplified in Alabama, iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ehode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. In Alabauui the system is almost complete. All examinations are held and all certificates granted by the state board of examiners except in the case of special districts. In the territory of Arizona the state system is used exclusively. It seems probable that the state system will come gradually into more general use. The history of school legislation in Illinois affecting the certification of teachers illustrates clearly the growth from the local or community system to the State system. Until 1841, as has already been pointed out, the community employed and examined its own teachers. In that year power was conferred upon the town trustees of schools to examine teachers and grant certificates. Later, when it was proposed to take away from these trustees this particular iiower and vest it in a county school commissioner, there was strong opposition to the movement. A compromise was finally affected and in 1845 an act was passed authoriz- ing county school commissioners to examine and certificate teachers, but the act provided also that "the trustees of schools in their respective townships shall have the same power to examine teachers as is given to the school commissioners." Finally the town plan gave way com- pletely to the county plan. Wlien the State superintendency was created in 1854 the Superintendent of Public Instruction was authorized to ex- amine teachers and grant State certificates. For more than fifty years thase two methods have existed side by side. As the educational needs and conditions of the State have become more homogeneous there is a demand for a uniform State system, and the Educational Commission of Illinois has recommended to "the General Assembly a uniform plan by loO which the schohistie qualifications of candidates are to be determined by a State Board of Education and the 'lower to grant, renew, suspend and revoke certificates is left to the county superintendent and the Su- perintendent of Public Instruction. The following tabular statement will show roughly the examining system or combination of systems existing in the various states : l.jl 8 8g 888888 8 88 88 88 V :§S 8 4) r5 : - N C-l-H 1« Cl M p IC M W e-J CI M MM O ^«" |^-S-§ «A 2 2 : : ; "O £ 2 V CB ca ca c V 4* a? ■Ji CO "S en >i ^ to CO m CO T.'^ « ^o a2 ^22C »- !s o k- ») CO E b I. w ^ c c IB I. t. c« rt n .- rt nl ,; n rt ct ,E 0*^ o E ai ca ca % 0, (U g. 1; aj 11 *^ aj a> 1. 4^ o c H to-*e^ ^ ■*»5'-JcCM — CO -J : oZ CO »^ 03_ . 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Si ^>- ro £•0 c re ii I OS ;G ■ • >. ■ • >. ■ ent mar 1* ■a hf _ 01 c V a o s s •o o T3 g c •a □ « a 3 « 2 a £ a H o h« rt O CQ a V •a a V B 'C 1) a 3 >. a 2 a E n ►< U o •2 ca o CQ V n^ Q Q Qn O Q O p Q Q15 Q Q 25o^^«5^^ "O-S 'S'S O^.Q ™.g.Q.Q "S^^^^rt^^^^^^lB^^M ^^o^^S'§'§'§ ea^^^^ "^^ O O Qb Ob O Om OOiOO- n CO Nc^c^eq 158 The Power to Grant, Eexew, SuspejJd an!) Eevoke Certificates. In a really organized educational system the superintendent is the responsible head of the schools. The public naturally looks to him for the systematic organization of all available educational forces and for educational results, just as a company looks to its superintendent or business manager for economic efficiency and industrial results. !N"o power should be Avitlilield from the superintendent that is necessary to his own highest achievement, for his success is the success of the schools. It is unfair to hold him responsible for the work that is done and yet allow him no authority in the certification and selection of those upon whom his success as a supervisor most depends. He should have not only the certificating power but also a voice in the selection of the teachers that are to work under him. One of our states perhaps carries this idea to an extreme, giving to the township super- intendent the power both to examine and to employ teachers. But in general it may be laid down as a principle in school administration that the certificating function should be closely associated with the super- visory function. It may be said also that the certificating power is likely to be exer- cised by the superintendent with more discrimination .than by a board of education. If scholarship were the only necessary qualification of the teacher this would not be the case, for a board is an impartial and therefore the proper instrument for determining a candidate's scholar- ship. It is an impartial body because personal considerations do not enter as a factor in the examination of an applicant. But there are other qualifications quite as important as scholarship. They are the personality of the candidate, his voice, manner and nhvsical condition; his habits of life, his mental balance, his ability to command respect, and all those peculiar qualities which are not revealed by a scholastic examination but which are essential to success in teaching. There must be some one to determine these qualifications and no one can do this better than the superintendent. He should have the power to reject an applicant for a certificate no matter how hio:h the scholarship if in his own iudgment the personality of such applicant unfits him for the work of teaching. Furthermore, it is desirable that for every certificate issued, renewed, suspended or revoked there be some one person who can be held re- sponsible., If an incompetent person is granted a certificate it should be impossible for the sunerintendent to shift the blame from himself to another or to a collective and therefore more or less indefinite au- thority called a board of education. The superintendent is the proper person to assume the responsibility for every certificate issued, renewed, suspended or revoked. 159 Eecognition" of Xormal School, College axd University Gradu- ates. It is almost the universal practice to give some recognition in the matter of granting certificates to those candidates who have had a normal school, college or imiversit}^ training. Only eight of the states do not authorize normal school graduates to teach without subiecting them to an examination. The rule aDitarently is to assume not only that they have acquired the scholastic qualifications for teaching, but that they will prove to be successful teachers, for they are gi-anted the privilege to teach without examination, sometimes for life, and usually for long periods. It seems a wise educational policy to permit graduates of normal schools or colleges who have specially prepared themselves for the work of teaching at least to show their fitness to teach without being subjected to an examination. A certain nualitv and quantity of prepar- ation should be recognized in the granting of certificates, whether that preparation is made in a normal school, a college or a university. The following tabular statement shows the recop-nition to normal school and college gi-aduates accorded in the various states : Table Showing Recognition Given to Normal School, College and Uni- versity Graduates in the Several States. Arkansas. State. Recognition. Holders of diplomas issued by the Board of Education of the normal schools are eligible to teach in any public school of tlie territory A diploma issued by the normal school board is equivalent to a professional license authorizing the holder to teach in any public school of the state for a period of six years, at the expiration of which time the diploma may 136 converted into a life certificate California , A normal school diploma entitles the holder to a certifi- cate corresponding in grade to the grades of the diploma from any county, or city and county board of educa- tion in the state. Graduates of the state university holding a normal school diploma are entitled to a high school certificate authorizing • them to teach in any grammar and primary and In any high school in the state Colorado. A normal school diploma entitles the holder to teach in any of the public schools of the state when a certified copy thereof shall have been filed with the county superintendent of schools in the county wherein such graduate is teaching or proposes to teach A diploma or certificate of graduation from anv respect- able normal school or college entitles the holder to a certificate to teach in the free schools for one year... 160 Table Showing Recognition in the Scrcral States — C'ontinued. state. Recognition. Klorida A diploma of graduation from either of the state normal colleges of the state entitles the holder to a first grade certificate without examination Georgia No recognition Idaho The State Board of Education has power to authorize the county superintendent to issue teachers' certificates to graduates of state normal schools and to graduates of any chartered college or university having the right to grant degrees, providing the applicant has been successfully engaged in teaching for at least twenty- seven months. Graduates of the University of Idaho who have finished the two years' course in the depart- ment of pedagogy or have taught successfully in the public schools of the state for five years are entitled to a state teacher's certificate Indiana After two years' successful teaching normal school grad- uates may receive a diploma entitling them to teach' in any of the schools of the state Iowa state university, state normal schools, and- state col- leges of agriculture and mechanic arts and from other- institutions of higher learning in the state having reg- ular and collegiate courses of equal rank may be ac- cepted as evidence of scholarship and professional fit- Kan sas A diploma from the state normal school serves as a legal certificate of qualification to teach in the common schools of the state Kentucky A diploma from the A. and M. College of Kentucky confer- ring the degree of bachelor of pedagogy is accepted as evidence of qualification to teach in the public school^ of Kentucky during the life time of the holder unl.ess he or she shall cease to teach for five consecutive years. Louisiana A diploma from the state normal school entitles the holder to a first grade certificate without examination, valTTl for five years, and to a degree of preference in the selection of teachers for the public schools Maine Certificates issued to teachers by normal principals may be rendered valid by the endorsement of the town school superintendents Maryland A holder of a diploma of a respectable college or the- state normal school who has been a teacher for seven years of which five shall have been spent in the state of Maryland may receive a life certificate Massachusetts. Diplomas granted by the state normal schools may be- I accepted in lieu of an examination 161 Tabic Sliowing Recognition in the Several States — Continued. state. Recognition. Michigan Certiflcates of tlie state normal schools entitle the holder to teach in any of the schools of the state for a period of five years. Graduation from the University of ]\Ticliis;an accompanied by a teacher's diploma for work done in the university in the science and the art of teaching: serves as a legal certificate of qualification to teach in any of the schools of the state North Dakota. A gradviate of the normal college of the University of North Dakota or of any of the normal schools of that state who has had nine months successful experience as a teacher after graduation may be granted a State certificate good for five years. A diploma from the normal department of the University of North Dakota or of eitlier of the normal schools of the state is equivalent to a state certificate good for three years , if the holder has attained to the age of eighteen years. Ohio. County boards of school examiners may make their own regulations in regard to granting certiflcates without formal examinations except in theory and practice of teaching and in the science of education to grad- uates of schools for the training of teachers providing at least a two years' course above a first grade high school and of colleges or imiversities providing at least a four years' course above a first grade high school. Certificates thus granted to such graduates may be issued on application within one year after graduation, first for one year, and at their expiration on certain evidence of success in teaching for a longer term Oklahoma No recognition. Oregon. Pennsylvania. Rhode Island. Soutii Carolina. Diplopias from the regular state normal schools and from any other normal schools in the state providing an equivalent preparation and diplomas from any char- tered institution of the state of collegiate or university grade granted upon the completion of a course con- sisting of at least five years work above the eighth grade are equivalent to the teaching experience re- quired for a state certificate Certificates of graduation in any of the normal schools are received as evidence of scholarship in every part of the state without further examination. No certi- ficates of competence in the practice of teaching is issued to a regular graduate of any of the normal schools until after two years and twa successful an- nual terms of actual teaching ► . Trustees of the normal school or a committee of their board may examine applicants to teach in the public schools and give certificates to such as are found qualified A diploma from any chartered college or university of the slate or from Meminger normal school of Charles- ton authorizes the holder to teach without examination. —11 E C 162 Table Showing Recognition in the Several States — Continued. State. Recognition. South Dakota. A. diplnma from any normal school liaving a course of study in wliich at least one year's work above an approved four year high school course Is required may be accepted in lieu of an examination in the subjects named. Graduation from a normal school and evidence of eighteen months successful teaching entitles the ap- plicant to a state certificate Tennessee teach in any county in the state without further ex- amination Texas the Peabody Normal school at Nashville ranks as a permanent state certificate. A diploma conferred by the regents of the University of Texas has the force of a permanent state certificate. A certificate issued by the school of pedagogy to students completing the junior course is equivalent to a state certificate of the first grade for a period of two years. Graduates of recognized colleges or universities who have taught for a period of not less than three years in Texas may receive a permanent state certificate Utah Graduates of normal training schools of high standards are entitled to a certificate valid for two years. Nor- mal certificates and normal diplomas issued by the University of Utah are equivalent to state -certificates and the holder of a normal diploma, after two years' experience in teaching, is entitled to a high school diploma Vermont A certificate of graduation from the lower course of a normal school in this state is a license to teach in the public schools for five years, and a certificate of graduation from the higher course is a license to teach in the public schools for ten years. A graduate of a normal school in another state approved by the super- intendent of education may receive, without examina- tion, a certificate M the first grade, valid for five years. Virgrinia Graduates of the normal schools, of the University of Virginia, the State Female Normal School, William and Mary College, Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute and the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute are entitled to a professional certificate good for seven Washington A. diploma granted bv the normal department of the State University entitles the holder to teach in any public school in the state during life. An elementary normal school certificate authorizes the holder to teach in any elementary school in the state for a period of two years, a secondary normal school certificate five years and a normal school diploma five years. A nor- mal diploma and evidence of two years' successful teaching entitle the holder to a life certificate West Virginia . First grade certificates are issued in duplicates to grad- uates of West Virginia University who have taken' at least six courses in education and to graduates in the normal departments of the state normal school and its branches and to graduates of the normal department of the West Vii'ginia Colored Institute 163 Table Showing Recognition in the Several States — Concluded. Stite. Recognition.] Wisconsin Graduates of the State University who have completed the course of pedagogical instruction and graduates of the state normal scliools are entitled to a certificate grood for one year. After one year's successful teaching the holder of a university or normal school diploma is entitled to an unlimited state certificate, good for a Wyoming Holders of diplomas from reputable universities, colleges and normal schools, presenting evidence of experience and good moral character, are recommended for a second grade certificate. Graduates of the Wyoming State University on whom the degree of B. A. or B. S. or bachelor of pedagogy or B. A. in education has been conferred are entitled to a first grade certificate Uniform Examixations. The certificating power does not necessarily imply the power to examine the candidate to test his scholarship. In the plan proposed this function is assigned to the State Board of Education. The exam- ination questions should be prepared by the State Board of Education, or under its direction, should be uniform throughout the State, and all examination papers should be graded by it or under its direction. This is one of the most important features of the proposed certificating plan. The arguments that may be adduced in support of it are many and, we think, incontrovertible. In the first place it guarantees complete fairness in examinations. The questions for all applicants are identical. No personal considera- tions affect the grading of papers. Every candidate stands squarely on his own merits so far as his scholarship is concerned. If he fails he can not blame anyone but himself. Thus county superintendents will be relieved of unfavorable criticism by applicants and friends of applicants who are rejected on the grounds of insufficient scholarship. Superintendents will be relieved also of the importunity of persons who, though lacking in scholarship, endeavor to secure a certificate on grounds personal, social or political. In Wisconsin in 1900, accord- ing to returns made to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, ninety per cent of the county superintendents were unable to limit the issue of certificates to thoroughly qualified applicants.* It is not so bad as that in Illinois, but there are few superintendents in the State who have not been embarrassed by this kind of pressure. In the second place the assumption by the State Board of Education of the work of preparing examination questions and grading papers will relieve tJie county superintendent of schools of a large amount of clerical work, and thus increase his* opportunity for effective super- vision. The average number of days employed by the county super- intendents of Iowa in grading papers and making out and mailing •Wisconsin School Report, 1899-1900, pp. 71-72. IG-f returns, prior to the passing of the new hiw in that state I'or certi- ficating teachers, was fifty days.* In Illinois the time thus consumed is less since there are fewer examinations than there were in Iowa. But it is considerable, and to add this time to that which is now devoted by the superintendent to school inspection should greatly increase the educational efficiency of our county school system. In the third place uniform examinations will insure inter-county recognition of certificates and thus obviate the necessity of the teacher's passing an examination everv^ time a county line is crossed. At present there are 102 county examining authorities in the State. Consequently there are 102 standards and modes of testing the fitness of candidates. It is to be expected that the examination questions in different counties would not be calculated to test equally the applicant's scholarship and that the markings of examination papers M-ould not be uniform. Hence inter-county recog-nition is impossible under the present system. But under the proposed plan there would be but one examining authority in the matter of scholarship and the only ground for the refusal of a county superintendent to recognize a certificate from another county would be lack of personal fitness of the candidate and of course that would not be acted upon except in individual cases. The proposed plan, therefore, gives us what at jaresent we do not have, namely, a State certificating system. There can be no system with 102 different county certificating authorities. This point that the State Board of Education should grade the papers of applicants for certificates as well as prepare the questions for examin- ations is of such 'importance that it deserves further emphasis. Min- nesota and South Dakota tried the plan of leaving the gi-ading of paper with the county superintendents, but were obliged to give it up. If the State Board of Education should merely prepare the examination ques- tions and leave the grading of the papers to the county superintendent it is obvious that there could not be or would not be general inter-county recognition of certificates. One county superintendent would not ac- cept the grading of another county superintendent. But the principle of inter-county recognition is fundamental. If it were necessary for the county superintendent to surrender an important prerogative in order to- secure the operation of this principle, the advantages that would accrue to the school system are sufficiently great to warrant such surrender. But the really important power, the certificating power, should not be withdrawn from the county superintendent. He should merely be re- lieved of the task of testing the applicant's scholarship. It is easy to exaggerate the importance to the superintendent of the power to grade the papers of an applicant for a certificate. It has been held that it serves three purposes: First, it enables the county superin- tendent to judge the applicant more accurately than he otherwise could; second, it gives the superintendent power to keep out of his corps of teachers anybody he has a mind. to keep out, simply by in- creasing the strictness of his grading; third, it is a means of maintain- ing the authority of the county superintemlent over his teachers. ♦Iowa School Report, 1904-5, p. 149. 165 As to the first point it may be said that the estimate of the county superintendent is formed not by grading the papers of the applicant but by reading them and this privilege is not withheld from him by the proposed plan. He may read the papers. If the superintendent should be in doubt as to the personal fitness of an applicant he ought indeed to read his papers and take into account his style and method and the general appearance of the papers as to form and neatness in ar- riving at his final judgment. The opportunity to do so is left with the county superintendent and therefore it can not be rightly claimed that the proposed plan deprives him of any basis or means of judging an ap- jplicant which is now in his possession. As to the shutting out of undesirable candidates it is difficult to see Jiow the grading of an applicant's answers to questions set by the State Board of Education could be made to serve that purpose without injustice to the applicant. If he fails to pass the scholarship test he excludes himself, if his scholarship is up to the standard it would be unfair to reject him on the ground that he failed in the examination. If he is rejected at all it should be done frankly on the ground that he lacks the necessary personal qualifications. It is doubtless an unpleas- ant duty to tell the person who applies for a certificate and passes the scholarship test that the certificate is refused him on the ground of his lack of personal fitness to teach, and it may be that for that reason under the proposed plan incompetency seeking entrance to the schools will not always meet with* a determined resistance. Nevertheless, as all will agrecj the duty of the county superintendent to the children of his county is perfectly j^lain. It is to reject incompetency. This is a duty which should not be shirked and to the imposition of which no really valid objection can be ofllered. Finally, as to the maintenance of the superintendent's authority, it may be true that when a certain kind of teacher feels that he is entirely dependent upon the county superintendent for his grades and his certi- cate the authority of the county superintendent is more instantly and pemumently recognized. But authority resting on this foundation and maintained in this manner is not of the kind coveted by thoughtful superintendents. There are other and better means of maintaining authority and establishing leadership. According to the proposed plan no certificate is renewable unless the holder gives evidence of profes- sional progress. If, therefore, a teacher absents himself from the insti- tute or refuses to carry out the instructions of the county superintendent with reference to professional study or declines to obey any just regula- tions the superintendent may refuse absolutely to renew his certificate. By the proposed plan he is even required to do so, and may not only compel such an offender to take an examination but may refuse him permission to teach altogether . What further power could the superin- tendent rightly desire? The advantages of a uniform State system of examinations for teacheiV certificates may be summarized as follows: 1. The State system is more widely systematic and consequently more •economical to the State from a financial standpoint. 166 • 2. It tends to equalize the educational conditions of the different parts of the State by raising them to a higher level. The opportuniy it extends to compare the qualifications possessed by teachers in different parts of the State will naturally tend to the promotion of school interests in localities which under the county system are backward. 3. It tends to the development of a uniform minimum of qualifications among teachers throughout the State. •4. It has been highly successful in the states which have adopted it, as the commission has ascertained by corresponding with the state and county superintendents of those states. 5. It relieves the county superintendent of much office work and thus gives him more time for visiting and supervising schools. It thus strength- ens him in the exercise of his most important function. 6. It confines the issuing of certificates to those who are declared by the State Board of Education to be scholastically qualified to receive them, and thus relieves the county superintendent of the necessity of struggling against or yielding to social and political pressure in the matter of granting certificates. 7. It places the determination of the scholastic qualifications of all appli- cants for certificates in the hands of an impartial board, strangers to such applicants. 8. It leaves the matter of determining pei'sonal qualifications other than scholarship to him who has the best opportunity to determine such qualifi- cations, namely, the superintendent of schools. 9. It places definitely the responsibility for granting or refusing to grant a certificate. 10. It forestalls the possible exercise of the certificating power for un- worthy ends, as, for instance, to reward political friends. 11. It encourages academic and professional training for the work of teaching by placing a definite premium upon such training. 12. It relieves the teachers of the continual fear of examinations and the continuous necessity of preparing for them, while at the same time holding them to strict account in the matter of personal culture and professional progress. 13. It practically guarantees the intercounty recognition of certificates and thus tends to give mobility to the teaching force, enabling teachers to go from a place in which they are numerous, to those places in which they are scarce without subjecting them to the trouble and expense of additional examinations. 14. It offers special encouragement to those who are or expect to become professional school superintendents. 15. Finally, it tends to give a dignity to the calling of the teacher which will be instrumental in inducing ambitious young men and women to choose it for their life's work. The Experience of Other States with Uniform Examinations. The most convincing argument in favor of the adoption of the plan of certification proposed by the commission is perhaps the invariably successful experience of other states with the unifonn system. This experience amounts practically to a demonstration that the plan would operate successfully in Illinois. Fifteen states already require that all examination questions be prepared and all examination papers be graded either by the superintendent of public instruction or by a state board. Inquiry has been made of the superintendents of these states in regard to how this system has worked. Without a single exception they have asserted its superiority over the county system. The follow- ing are extracts from some of the letters received: 1G7 Minnesota. — "Prior to 1899 the examination questions in this state were uniform. They were prepared by a committee of county superintendents and generally used throughout the state, but each county superintendent hart his own standard of marking and was the sole judge of the fitness of candi- dates for certificates. Since then the system has been in vogue under whica the State Superintendent's office prepares the questions, designates the time when the examinations must be held and examines the manuscripts submitted by teachers. There is no difference of opinion among educators in Minne- sota as to the great advantages of the present system over the old one. It has resulted in I'aising the standard of requirements for teachers, has given the state a much better qualified force than it had before. Many of our county superintendents, being elected by small majorities, were, under the old system, subjected to severe pressure to issue certificates to those not quali- fied, and too often they yielded to this pressure, which, in many counties re- sulted in having a majority of teachers of very inferior grade. The State Superintendent's office, of course, is so far removed from local pressure that it is not in any way affected by it. The county superintendents are very glad to be relieved of the responsibility of passing upon the academic applica- tions of applicants for certificates. I do not know of one who is in favor of repealing the present law and returning to the old system. I believe that some system of state uniformity and of examinations by a state board is de- sirable for every commonwealth in the union." — J. W. Olsen, Superinten- dent of Public Instruction. New York. — "Up to 1887 we had no uniform basis for teachers' certificates in this state. Local commissioners or superintendents licensed whomsoever they saw fit, and it must be admitted that they saw fit to license a great many v>'ho were not deserving. The thing was much influenced by politics and often teachers' certificates were given in consideration of political sup- port. In 1887 we established a uniform system of teachers' examinations, which has been perfected from time to time until now. It is as thoroughly established in the educational policy of the state as anything can be. It has always commanded confidence and wide acceptation. It has advanced the average qualifications of teachers very materially, and, as it has limited the number holding teachers' certificates, it has operated to lessen competi- tion for positions and thereby to advance wages." — A. S. Draper, Commis- sioner of Education. Alabama. — "Previous to 1899 the several counties in this state conducted their own examinations through a county board of education. Nearly as many standards obtained as we have counties. In some counties but little care appeared to be exercised at times in the work of conducting the so- called examinations. Nine years ago the legislature of this state enacted a law requiring teachers, who receive any of the general school fund, to hold a certificate granted by a state board of examiners. * * *This law has proved one of the most popular and beneficial of all the legislative enact- ments touching schools during the last quarter of a century. The standard of teachers has been gradually raised, a uniformity exists throughout the state, the work of teaching is being recognized as a real profession, the in- creased efliiciency of tlie public school system is everywhere apparent, ineffi- cient teachers in the olden time have entered upon other means of obtain- ing a livelihood, and there is a general uplift and awakening among our people in all matters educational." — Harry C. Guxxeix, Superintendent of Education. Xebraska. — "The uniform system of examination has been in operation in Nebraska for nearly three years. We find the system working with rea- sonable satisfaction. There is a marked improvement in the ability of the teachers of the state already manifest. You will readily perceive by a study of the rules governing the examination that our system is absolutely im- partial and impersonal. Candidates taking the examination are placed solely on their merit. The markers have no way of knowing whose papers they are working upon. I can see nothing in the way of such a system be- ing carried on successfully in Illinois. Mail and express facilities are even 1G8 better in Illiuois than in Nebraska. We experience no difficulty and prac- tically no delay in the transmission of answer papers, examination reports and questions. Your state v>'ould experience even less inconvenience along these lines than Nebraska." — J. L. McBrikx, Superintendent. South Dakota. — "Prior to 1903 all examination questions were made out by the state department for all grades of certificates. The manuscript was marked by the state department for life diplomas and state certificates. First grade manuscript was marked by the county superintendent and re- viewed by the state superintendent. In 1903 a change was made, requiring the state department to mark manuscripts for first and second grade certi- cates and in 1907 a further change was made requiring the state department to mark all raanuscripis, giving the county superintendent authority on his own examination to issue temporary certificates valid no longer than till the time of the next regular examination. For the welfare of schools and the encouragement of teachers to do thorough preparation this system is excellent. It removes the marking of manuscripts to disinterested parties and avoids the local, political and social pressure sometimes brought to bear under the systems where the manuscript is marked by the county superin- tendent. It is the fairest system that can be devised to the school children." H. A. UsTRUD, Superintendent, South Dakota. South Dakota. — "I am convinced that so far as this state is concerned (the uniform certification plan) has affected a vertiable revolution during its brief history. The examinations thus far held have conclusively proven the progressiveness and elevating influences of the law. To my mind, state certification dignifies the profession of teaching, places every candidate en- tirely upon his merits, destroys all possibility of favoritism, and gives to the worthy teacher a credential in which he may take pride." — G. W. Nash, Ex-State Superintendent. Arizona. — "This system does away v/ith so many irregularities in the con- duct of the examinations, and at the same time secures to the teacher a credential that relieves her of the loss of time and annoyance, in taking examinations, whenever she removes from one county to another, that a re- turn to the old county system of certification would be universally opposed both by teachers and school ofllcers. It seems to me that a mere statement of the system ought to convince anyone of its advantages and superiority over the county system, without any argument whatever." — R. L. Long. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Wyoming. — -"Under the old plan of county superintendents giving the ex- aminations and grading the papers, it was impossible to have the questions in the same subjects equally comprehensive. And as the different superin- tendents were so unequally qualified, the papers were not graded on a uni- form basis. It can be readily seen that the questions given by one superin- tendent might be more difficult and the papers more closely marked than would be done by another superintendent. The boaru of examiners are ac- quainted with but a very small percentage of applicants and the papers are thus marked entirely on merit. * * * I believe this system could be adopt- ed in a state as large as Illinois to great advantage. It is my opinion that the greater the number of persons through whom certificates are issued the less uniform they are, and though Wyoming has but thirteen county super- intendents, we find this system vastly more satisfactory than any other which has been adopted. I sincerely hope your state may see fit to adopt this method of certification, for I feel sure it will prove satisfactory t6 all educational workers." — A. D. Cook, State Superintendent. North Dakota. — "Our present examination law is reasonably satisfactory, so far as it applies to count}'* superintendents. The questions are prepared under the direction of the state superintendent and he appoints the persons who read and mark the examination papers written by the applicants. This obviates, to a great extent, favoritism and the bringing of pressure to bear upon the examiner by parties interested. It makes one standard for the en- tire state, which is something desirable." — W. L. Stockwell, Superintendent. 169 To these extraets may be added a statement from the hist report (page 25) of lion. J. D. Eggleston, Jr., superintlndent of public in- stniction, Virginia, and also a paragraph from a p^er by State Super- intendent Thos. C. Miller, of West Virginia, read before the depart- ment of superintendence in Louisville in 1906. Superintendent Eggles- ton says: "The state should not go back to the former method of per- mitting the local superintendents to examine and grade the papers for their several divisions. This would be to make again more than 100 different standards by which teachers would be graded. The present method of having a central board to issue uniform questions and grade all papers comes as near to being an ideal plan as any that has yet been devised.'' Superintendent Miller's paper is a discussion of the question of minimum salaries for teachers. In it he said : "But a more potent influence on salaries for teachers is the uniform examination system provided for early in 1903. Like a thunderclap came this new law, and at first there was almost consternation in the teaching ranks; but now the system is viewed as having wrought the greatest amount of good in the shortest period of time that any educational measure has ever produced in the state. The certificates issued by the state superin- tendent are valid in any county, and this new measure has, without doubt, had more effect in increasing salaries than the minimum wage law itself. Boards of education, in order to retain the best teachers, have been compelled to advance salaries, and there is considerable com- petition, not only between counties, but between magisterial districts in the same county, for the services of the more competent instructors. It is ti-ue that districts with less material development and scant finan- cial resources may for a time seem to be at a disadvantage, but the effect of the uniform examination system has been to increase teachers' sal- aries very materially, and it is now almost iiniversally commended. Of course, there are many other features of this new system that are recog- nized as having wrought much for our educational upbuilding, but we do not underestimate the influence of the uniform examinations in ad- vancing teachers' wages." An inquiry concerning the state system of examining teachers as compared with the county system was also sent to county superin- tendents in different states. The replies have been invariably favorable to the state system. The following are extracts from a few letters received : "No county system of granting certificates can do justice to the teachers certified. Personal interests will creep in. The system now in use in New York weeds out the poor scholar but not always the poor teacher. However, with a state board grading the answer papers and a competent board cf inspectors it is possible to have teachers of ability both as to education and as to ability to instruct. This v>'e are beginning to have in New York state." — PuATT E. Marshall, Covi. First Chautauqua District, Sherman, K. Y. "Responding to your circular of July 9th, I would say first, that in general I prefer the state uniform system to any of the various county systems for the examination and certification of teachers. This conclusion has been reached after personal experience with the systems in vogue in Kansas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and after a careful study of the matter, as chairman of the committee on education in the House of Del- egates, which passed our present uniform law. In my judgment, the state 170 system is preferable, first, because of its advantages to the teachers. By it the teacher has a standing throughout the state and the way is open before him for a broader view of educational interests. The consequent wider exchange of teachers and school ideas is a healthful stimulation to better work. Second, the state system is preferable because it prevents the un- wise lowering of standards that always occurs in more or fewer instances under the county system. This system also takes the examinations and granting of certificates further out of the reach of political or other local influences." — M. P. Siiawkey, County Siiperintenclent and Editor West YiT ginia Educator, Charleston, W. Ya. '"The present system of having the questions made out. and the papers corrected by the state committee is entirely satisfactory. The uniformity thus brought about has raised the standard of the teaching profession and stimulated effort throughout the whole educational system. We would not willingly go back to the old w^ay." — Makgaket E. Brown, County^ Superin- tendent. Grand Island, Nebraska. "As county superintendent of schools of this county I have worked under the system of examinations by this office and am now working under the new plan of examinations by the state. Results prove conclusively that the present system gets better results in the school room." — W. F. Lorix, Coimty Superintendent, Mandan, Tsforth Dakota. "In reply to yours of the 9th asking my opinion of the present system of certification in this state, I am glad to say that I think it a very marked improvement over the one that Avas formerly in use here. Making the mark- ing of the papers an impersonal matter, then asking the county superinten- dent for his personal estimate of the applicant's ability to teach, seems to me about as satisfactory a way to deal with would-be teachers as can be practiced at present. In the interests of progress and uniformity, I hope your state will adopt a system similar to ours." — A. H. Seymour, County Su- perintendent, Be Smet, S. D. "In my opinion our present system of conducting examinations, grading papers and issuing certificates through a state board of examiners super- vised by the state board of education is vastly superior to our old method, similar to the one now in use in your state." — C. A. Hardwick, Dis. Supt. Schools, Giles Co., Ya. "There is hardly a teacher in the state who would like to revert to the old system of examination by questions prepared and graded by the county superintendent. This system has culled out the incompetent teachers, thus causing a scarcity of teachers throughout the state, hence an increase of wages and better teachers. Certificates granted under this system are valid throughout the state, hence doing away with the necessity of teachers tak- ing the examination in different counties. Salaries have increased from a minimum of $28.00 to $40.00 for first grade certificates and other grades in proportion. Taken as a whole this system is building up the schools of West Virginia rapidly and is a step far in advance of the old system of county examination." — Willis F. Evans, County Siipt., Berkley Co., Martins- burg, W. Ya. The Certification of Teachers ix Iowa. The experience of Iowa is of sufficient importance to justify a sepa- rate, discussion. In Iowa, until recently, a state board of examiners consisting of five persons issued, on examination, state diplomas, state certificates and special certificates. County superintendents, on ex- aminations conducted by themselves and for which they prepared the questions, issued county certificates of two grades, good only in the county. The county superintendent had no power to endorse certifi- cates from another county or to renew a certificate issued by himself. in Two years ago a new plan was adopted. Under this new plan the state educational board of examiners issues all certificates, county as well as state. County examinations are conducted by the county su- perintendents on questions .provided by the state educational board of examiners. At the completion of a county examination the county superintendent forwards to the superintendent of public instruction a list of all applicants examined, with the standings of each in didactics and oral reading, as determined by him, and his estimate of each ap- plicant's personality and general fitness, other than scholarship, for the work of teaching. He forwards also the answer papers of the appli- cants with the exception of those in didactics. These papers are graded under the direction of the board and the results are entered upon a certificate provided by the board, which certificate is trans- mitted to the county superintendent of the county in which the appli- cant resides for delivery to him. No certificate is good in a county until it is registered with the county superintendent of that county. The registration fee is one dollar. A certificate may, of course, be vali- dated in any county by registration in that count}^ It will be observed that the Iowa plan is essentially the same as that here proposed so far as uniformity of examinations is concerned. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Hon. John F. Eiggs, writes that, •'When the system was first inaugurated there was much criticism from persons who were not able to successfully pass the examinations, and from others who were not sufificiently informed. The newspaper criticism that was rife last summer and fall has subsided and it is safe to say the battle has been fought and won in Iowa. With a separate standard in every county it is absolutely impossible to have anything approaching uniformity in the matter of licensing teachers, and the result is that a certificate issued in the one countv' can not' safely be ac- cepted in another." Inasmuch as the change in Iowa is recent and con- sequently ihe contrast between the workings of the old plan and the new is still vivid in the minds of the county superintendents, it was thought that it would be especially interesting and informative to secure from the coimty superintendents from that state their opinions in reirard to the law after it has had two years' trial. Accordingly a list of questions bearing upon the merit and workings of the new law was sent to each of the county superintendents of the state. Of the ninety- nine connty superintendents in Iowa, cishtv-one replied. The questions presented were as follows : 1. Do yon regard the present method of certification as superior to the former method? 2. Has the change in the method of certification strengthened or v>'eak- ened the connty superintendent in his work of supervising schools? 3. Has the new law reduced or increased the annoyances of the county superintendent? 4. Has the new- law affected favorably or unfavorably the standing of the county superintendent as a school officer? 5. Does the new lav/, in your opinion, tend to raise the standard of the teaching force? 6. Is the new law more or less satisfactory than the old law to the teachers themselves? 172 The replies to these questions show that so far as the Iowa superin- tendents are concerned they are almost unanimous in support of the law. To the first question, "Do you regard the present method of cer- tification as superior to the former method?" seventy-three answer 3^es, many of them adding some emphatic expression of opinion as "decidedly," "very much superior," "far superior," "most emphatically," "'''there can he no question about it," "most assuredly," "indeed I do," and the like. The following is characteristic: "Our law is splendid. I have worked under the old way, too. I know personally that our present method is much to be preferred." One superintendent de- clares "it has increased the professional interest of my teachers about fifty per cent for the first year. Our schools are in better shape, due to the new law." Eight superintendents are doubtful in regard to the superiority of the law, or think it has not had time to prove that it is superior. Some of these express the conviction that time will prove its superiority. To the second question, "Has the change in the method of certifica- tion strengthened or weakened the county superintendent?" fourteen superintendents answer that it is too early to determine whether it has or not. Nine think the superintendent has been weakened because he has been deprived of the certificating power. Fifty-five, however, an- swer that the new law has strengthened the county superintendent by making it possible for him to spend more time in visiting schools and conducting teachers' meetings. His power as a supervisor is strengthened. One declares, "It has strengthened the real superintend- ent and probably weakened the mere politician." Another says, "It has strengthened his power unless he be a driver rather than a leader." As to whether the new law has reduced or increased the anno3^ances of the county superintendent (the third question), nine answer that no change has been noticed. Sixteen think their annoyances are in- creased, and fifty-four say that the law has resulted in a reduction of the annoyances of the county superintendent. "In time it will reduce the annoyances," says one superintendent, "but just now the shortage of teachers is causing us a great deal of trouble and the people, knowing that we are short, are causing a great deal of annoyance by asking for permits to teach when of course we are unable to grant them." The fourth question was, "Has the new law affected favorably or unfavorably the standing of the county superintendent as a school officer?" Twenty eight superintendents had noticed no change. Nine were inclined to think that the standing of the superintendent had been affected unfavorably but were not positive in regard to it. Three expressed no opinion. One prominent superintendent says, "Probably from the old standpoint it has had an unfavorable effect. He is looked on now in some quarters as a mere clerk. When the law is better un- derstood it probably will place the county superintendent in a more favorable light." Another says, "In the popular opinion, I suppose, it has affected him unfavorably; for people think that since the only thing that county superintendents ever did ( !) has been taken away from them, it certainly has reduced his power. I think that the opposite is true." Forty superintendents, however, are decidedly of the opinion that the hiw has affected favorably the staiuling of the eouiity superiu- tendent. "It has, in my opinion/' says one, "raised the dignity of the office. Best of all it-has started us out for the first time in a real pro- fession.'' "It is my impression/' says another, "that the superintendent is thought of by teachers and patrons more as a supervisor than as an examining clerk." In answering the fifth question, "Does the new law in your opinion tend to raise the standard of the teaching force?" sixty-nine say "yes," eight say "'no" and four reply that they have noticed no change. One of the older superintendents says, "I think it does. It certainly cuts out those who are not prepared to take a full examination and have their papers graded at Des Sloines. It has made considerable difference, in county. Wages have advanced in many rural schools." Another says, "The teachers under my supervision arc working harder than ever. Xearly all are following some line of professional reading. 'J'he requirements have been raised and the teachers are trying to reach that requirement." Still another says, "Yes, in this county. A good many of the old teachers who had been teaching school on second grades, and a few who had first grades, were unable to pass the ex- amination and have been dropped, and almost all who are now teaching are tloing work to raise their grades, and a good many are reading pro- fessional books." "Teachers are coming to the opinion/' says another superintendent, "that if they expect to teach they must fit themselves first and not use a school as a place to get a little money to go to school on." Still another says, "I know it does raise the standard in the state. As far as my county is concerned there is very little change. Only one teacher who had taught under the old law failed under the new. Only four received a lower grade of certificate." On the sixth question, "Is the new law more or less satisfactory to the teachers themselves?" five are in doubt, six answer "less" and sixty-nine say that it is more satisfactory. One does not answer. Man}' say in substance that it is more satisfactory to the competent teachers, less to the incompetent. "To the really good teachers, those who have an education and training which really fit them to be teach- ers," says one, "the law is without question satisfactory. The poorly educated teacher, without professional training, of course has a harder time." "The teachers were afraid of the change at first," says anoth'er, "but now they are well satisfied, and many of our teachers have worked up to a better certificate than they held under the old law." Still another says, "At first there were so many misrepresentations by the press that the teachers became uneasy. Since they have come to under- stand it the progressive all approve. If put to a test I am confident that teachers would strongly uphold it. To the same effect another says, "To the good teachers it is much more satisfactory, but the poor ones and the incompetent do not like it at all. In time we are going to have a teachers' profession in Iowa. Then all the teachers will approve of the law that helped to create the profession." Pi^rhaps a fair judgment 174 is that of a superiuteudeut who answers, ''this, too, can not yet be deter- mined, as one of the most attractive features of the law, the renewal of certificates without examination and without regard to a change of superintendents, has not had time to begin its operations.'^ The Certification of Teachers in Illinois. Under the present system the Superintendent of Public ^Instruction is authorized "to grant State certificates to teachers qualified to receive them." County superintendents of schools are required "to hold I meetings quarterly, and oftener, if necessary, for the examination of teachers, and are authorized to grant certificates of the first 'and second grades, certificates authorizing the holders to teach a special subject, and kinder- garten certificates." Boards of education in cities of one hundred thou- sand inhabitants have power "to examine all persons offering them- selves as candidates for teachers, and when found well qualified, to give them certificates gratuitously." The boards of smaller cities are au- thorized "to examine teachers as supplemental to any ' other examina- tion." In at least one of the schools operating under special charters teachers are required to hold two certificates, one 'from the county super- intendent of schools and one from the city board of education. It will be seen at a glance, then, ( that whatever may be the effective- ness of the present method of certificating teachers it is lacking in uniformity. 'So far as we have a system at all it is a county system. Since there are 102 counties in the State there are 102 standards of qualification for county certificates. It is natural that these standards should vary. In some counties they will be low, in others high. In some emphasis will be laid upon certain qualifications which in other counties may not be regarded as particularly important. Academic and professional training will ''receive in some counties possibly more recog- nition than they deserve, in others less. In some counties there will be frequent examinations, in others only the minimum number required by law. ' Now the commission has been led to the conviction that examinations for county certificates should be held in the various county seats through- out the! State on the same day; that all questions for these examinations should be prepared by the State Board of Education and should be uni- form throughout the State; that the examination papers of applicants for certificates should be graded under the direction of the State Board, and the standing of these applicants should be certified to the county superintendents with whom the responsibility of granting certificates to such applicants should be'-left. This would give a completely uniform system of examinations. The history of school legislation in Illinois affecting the certification of i teachers shows a gradual and, on the part of some, a reluctant ad- vancement towards a general and uniform plan. At first the trustees of schools M'ere the certificating authority. When it was proposed to take away from them the power to examine teachers and grant certificates and vest that power in tlie county school commissioner, objections were 175 made. A compromise was affected by dividing the power of 1841. The law, of 1845 authorized the county school commissioners to examine and certificate teachers, but it provided also that "the trustees of schools in their respective townships shall have the same power to examine teachers as is given to the school commissioners." Finally the township plan gave way completely to the county plan. This county plan has been in operation for more than fifty years. During all this time the educa- tional needs and conditions of the State have been growing more homo- geneous. Our school system has become a State system. We have now arrived at a stage of development in which the county system of examin- ing teachers should give place to the State system. The advantages of a State system of certificating teachers, as demon- strated by fifteen of the states, are many. They have already been set forth. It will be interesting, however, to reconsider some of th'em with special reference to Illinois. They would accrue to the State itself, especially to county superintendents of schools and the teachers, and in- directly of course to the schools. As to the advantages accruing to the State they are all that are de- rived from the system, for the State is the final beneficiary of every ad- vantage which arises from improved methods in educational adminis- tration. If the State plan of certification is instrumental, for instance, as the commission believes it would be, in securing better supervision of schools and a better grade of teaching, the State will obviously benefit from these results. But the larger system of certificatingr teachers would bring an immediate advantage to the State that is at least worth mentioning, and that is the financial saving that would result. During the past year there were in the State 829 county examinations for certifi- cates. That means there were 829 sets of examination questions pre- pared, the same number of printers bills, and the same number of bills for the various items of expense connected with conducting an examin- ation. Under the State plan there would probably be in each county four examinations a year. There ought not to be more. When the standard of teachers' qualifications is sufficientlv high they may be re- duced to one ns has already been done in California. There would then be under the State plan onlv four sets of questions prepared annually, only four printers bills, and the incidental expenses of conducting 408 examinations instead of 829. Again, during the past year there were examined in the State 1^.010 applicants for certificates, and 11.859 cer- tificates were granted. It is obvious that in the mere matter of provid- ing certificates there would be a considernble savins', for thcA' could be pure-based in a I'irsre quantity for a sum much le^ss than that Avhich is now -paid bv the 102 county superintendents of schools. This is sufficient perhaps to show that the State pbin of cortifiration is more economical than the present nlan. But the ndvanta^o to the State thus directlv arising is inconsiderable in comnarison with those which would be derived from the improved supervision of schools and the better qualitv of teaching which, ns misrht naturnllv be expected and as the experience of other states has shown, will result from the uniform plan. There will lie better supervision because the county superinten- 176 dents of schools, being relieved from the merely clerical work of reading and grading some one hundred and fifteen thousand examination papers, will have more time for supervision ; and there will be better teaching both on account of better supervision and also because under the pro- posed plan the academic and professional requirements of teachers will gradually be raised. Turning now to the question of how the State plan of certification would affect the county superintendent of schools it will be seen, as al- ready suggested, that it gives him a better chance to do the real, neces- sary, essential and vital work of a superintendent. It needs to be em-? phasized that the examination of teachers to determine their scholastic qualifications is no essential part of school supervision. He who im- agines that such examination is the chief function of the county super- intendent and that he would be w^eakened if relieved of that work has a very inadequate conception of the duties and possibilities of that officer. The county superintendent of schools should visit the schools of his county, not once a year but many times, observe the conditions of the work of those schools, suggest improvements, draft general plans of instruction and professional reading to be followed by • his teaching foTce, and devote himself in every jjossible manner to stimulating a pro- gressive, professional spirit among his teachers and to provide oppor- tunities for the exercise of that spirit. If he does all this he Avill have no time to devote to examinations. The really essential function of a county superintendent is that of granting, renewing and revoking certificates, and that power should be left to him unimpaired. He may then say who, among those "svho have the necessary scholastic qualifications, shall teach, who shall not, and from his decision there is no appeal. He may determine in most in- stances just how much professional progress on the part of a teacher is necessary to justify him in renewing a certificate. These preragatives give him a control over the teachers of his county which nothing but a strong belief that he will exercise it wisely can justify placing it in his hands. It places upon him, too, a great responsibility, for responsibility is inseparable from power. What ever objections may be raised to the proposed plan of certification, then, let it not be said that it weakens the county superintendent or indicates a lack of confidence in his in- telligence and discretion. The opposite is true. Another advantage which the proposed plan of certification will bring to the county superintendent is relief from the importunity of incompe- tent persons, and the friends of such persons, who beseech him for one reason or another to grant certificates to those who are not qualified educationally to receive them. The pressure of political influence will no longer be felt for the reason that in at least the great majority of these cases it can not become effective. The value of the advantage here suggested will be fully appreciated only by county superintendents them- selves. These advantages are so obvious that they must be admitted by all. But notwithstanding their nature and importance there may he those who will contend that, while it might be well to permit the State Board 177 of Education to prepare unii'orni exaiiiinatioii question!; for all the coun- tieSj yet the dut}' of reading and grading the examination papers of ap- plicants for certificates should remain with the county superintendent. This might seem to be a sort of com})romise between the county plan of certification and the State plan. The suggestion of such a compromise, liowever, betrays an entire misconception of the essential features of the State plan of certification. If urged at all that county superin- tendents should grade the papers, it will he upon the ground that by reading them the county superintendent will be abk^ to form a more definite and a juster estimate of the applicant's scholarship and person- ality. But under the State plan he would not have to trouble himself about the applicant's scholarship for that would be determined by an impartial board. It will remain for him to judge the personal qualifi- cations of the applicant other than scholarship. Now, how many papers of an applicant will it be necessary for a superintendent to grade for the impression they will give him of the applicant's personality? Cer- tainly not the entire number he will write in an examination. But if the superintendent should wish to read them all there is nothing in the proposed plan to prevent him from doing so. If he is a just and con- scientious superintendent he will use all available means to enable him to form a correct estimate of the personal qualities of the applicant, and the reading of some of her papers may be one of them, but the determination of the exact grade which should be given to those papers is not a necessary means to that end. The reasons why the grading of papers ought not to be left to the county superintendent are very clear. The most important of them are three in number. First, it would leave the superintendent burdened •^\dth a large mass of clerical work from which his efficiency as a super- intendent of schools requires that he be relieved. Second, it would leave him still subject to all the forms of social and political pressure to grant certificates to unworthy persons which is now brought to bear upon him. Third, and most important perhaps, it would leave the State with 102 county certificating authorities, the same number of standards of quali- fications, and thus make impossible the inter-county recognition of cer- tificates and the consequent freedom of movement among the teachers' of the State which is one of the chief merits of the proposed plan. These three reasons are sufficient to show that a compromise of the land suggested would be in reality a surrender of the uniform plan of cer- tification. Xo argument can be advanced in favor of such a modification -^f the proposed plan that is not unsound or disingenuous. So much to show the relation of the State plan of certification to the M-ork of the county superintendent. Let us now consider its cfTects ujion a class of persons equally interested and two hundred and eighty times as numerous, namely, the teachers of the State. The commission has repeatedly declared that the proposed plan of certification has reference particularly to those who may enter the pro- fession of teaching after the proposed plan is adopted. It has no in- tention of driving from the scliools those now engaged in teaching, and —12 E C 178 it has certainly no desire to disturb the educational work of the State by creating a shortage of teachers. It is well aware that in order to be effective a new plan of certification should operate not merely to elevate in some general way the 23rofession of teaching, which is an abstraction, but should be calculated, first, to encourage and improvQ the present force of teachers, and, second, to insure better academic and professional preparation on. the part of prospective teachers. It should create no immediate disturbance in existing conditions. The educational work of the State should move gradually to a higher level and should not be crippled by driving from the service of the schools +hose who are now doing good work in them. An examination of the plan proposed by the commission as expressed in the draft of the bill to provide for the certification of teachers will show beyond dispute that not a single teacher in the" State has anything to fear from the enactment of the proposed law. All, however, have much to gain. They will receive in exchange for the certificates they now hold certificates valid for a longer term; in the renewal of their certificates and in examinations for certificates of a higher grade, their experience and success in teaching will be accepted in lieu of professional training; certificates granted under the new plan will be valid in any county of the State on the endorsement of the county superintendent of that county; there will be fewer examinations, the emphasis being laid not on formal tests of the teacher to determine her text l)ook knowledge, but upon growth in culture and professional spirit and knowledge. Teachers, therefore, have everything to gain by the proposed plan and absolutely nothing to lose. In order to make the transition from the present county planr of cer- tification to the proposed uniform State system as easy and simple as possible, the plan of the commission provides for an exchange of certifi- cates, in which exchange the teacher is bound to derive an advantage. By the present plan of certificating teachers the county superintend- ent may grant four kinds of certificates, namety, a second grade, a first grade, a special and a kindergarten certificate. By the proposed plan he is authorized to grant three grades of elementary school cer- tificates, two of high school certificates, a kindergarten certificate and a special certificate. A third grade elementary certificate and the lower form of the high school certificate are limited or temporary certificates, that is, the granting of them may be discontinued at tbe option of the State Board of Education. Xow, if the proposed plan should be adopted all county certificates in force at the time of adoption may be exchanged for certificates of equal grade, that is, "a second grade elementary for a second grade elemen- tary or a second grade high school certificate, a first grade for a first grade high school certificate, a special certificate for a special certificate, a kindergarten for a kindergarten certificate; or, in case the holder of a first grade certificate shall have had three years of successful work as a supervisor of scliools he may. witli tlic approval of tlie Superintendent of Public Instruction, exchange such certificate for a five 3^ear super- visorv certificate," 179 Observe now the advantage offered to the teacher. Let us suppose the ease of a teacher who holds at the time when the proposed plan goes into effect a second grade county certificate. Such certificate is valid for one year in the county in which it is issued. Let us further suppose that this teacher is not a graduate of a high school and has had no pro- fessional training. She has taught successfully, however, and when the new plan goes into effect her certificate is about to expire. She presents it for exchange and receives a certificate good for two years in the county in which it is granted and in any other county of the State when endorsed by the superintendent of such count}', renewable on evidence of successful teaching and professional progress — a certificate which if she were not already in the teaching profession would require of her a high school preparation or its equivalent. The advantage of the ex- change is obvious. Or consider the nature of the exchange in the case of a teacher who holds a first grade certificate. Under the present law a first grade cer- tificate requires merely an examination in the common branches, the elements of the natural- sciences including physiology and the laws of health. It is good for two years and only in the county in which it is issued. This certificate would be exchangeable under the new plan for a first grade certificate, good for three years in any county in the State, on the endorsement of the superintendent and renewable indefin- itely on evidence of successful teaching and professional progress. Teachers who now hold first grade certificates need never be subjected to another examination if the new plan goes into effect and if they show evidence of self-improvement by general and professional reading, and evidence of a professional spirit by the quality of their work and by tak- ing advantage of the opportunities provided for the development of that spirit. The advantages of the proposed plan of certification to the teachers of the State holding county certificates arc sufficiently obvious witTiout further illustration. As to those holding State certificates they will not be subjected to the slightest inconvenience. The validity of State certificates already issued will not be affected in the least by the proposed plan. Holders of such certificates will retain all their rights. State certificates issued subsequently to the adoption of the proposed plan will, however, be of a different form. A life elementary school certifi- cate, a life high school certificate and two forms of supervisory certifi- cates, a five-year certificate and a life certificate, will be issued. As to the purpose of the supervisory certificates they are designed to encour- age and develop the professional supervisor and educational leader and to offer honorable recognition of special preparation on the part of those who intend to make the supervision of schools their special work. After some date in the future, say, July 1, 1914, a supervisory certificate should be the pre-requisite of employment in the work of school super- vision. If, now, in view of the advantages which the proposed plan of certification offers to those already in the service it is thought that the requirements for entrance upon the work of teaching are too rigid, it will be found on a careful examination of the plan that careful provision is made to prevent shutting out any person who has the necessary qualifi- 180 cations to teach, Avliether these qualilications are the result of school at- tendance or not. Section 8 of the proposed bill provides that a future applicant for a certificate who can not show that he possesses a high school education may be admitted to an examination to determine whether he possesses an equivalent preparation. The door of opportunity to teach is thus left open to all who are really fitted for entrance. There is one other feature of the proposed plan which will not be passed without notice. The commission proposes that a second .grade county certificate may be issued without examination, to graduates of recognized nonnal schools or of institutions offering an equivalent prep- aration; and that the graduates of a recognized college or university who shall have had one year of successful teaching may be granted a high school certificate. This recommendation is made after due deliberation, and without a particle of doubt that this feature of the plan is both just and wise. The granting of special recognition to those who have specifically prepared themselves for teaching is almost the universal practice among the states. It arises from no disposition to favor any schools or any class of students. It is due to the fact that the premium thus placed upon special training for a special work is a good educational polic}'. We have already in the school law of the State the provision that the diplomas of graduates of a county normal school which, when \ directed by the board in control of such school, shall be taken by the county superintendent as sufficient evidence of qualification to entitle the holder to a first grade certificate. This provision should be ex- tended, though in the opinion of the commission a first grade certificate should not be granted until evidence is given by successful experience of ability to teach. The extension of such recognition would go far toward giving something of a professional standing to the work of teach- ing. The State expends annually over $300,000 for the support of schools established primarily for the purpose of training teachers. It has the right to expect that the graduates of these schools who offer themselves for teaching are fitted, so far as their training is concerned, for teaching, and such persons have the right to expect that on the com- pletion of a prescribed course of academic and professional training they will be permitted to teach without being subjected to an examina- tion on exactly the same terms as if they had presented themselves with no preparation whatever. Fees for Examinations. In many of the states the examining authority is required by law to collect from every applicant for teacher's certificate a certain fee, rang- ing from fifty cents to ten dollars, and a fee is also exacted for Ihe re- newal of a certificate. During the year ending June 30, 1908, Illinois thus collected from her teachers, actual and prospective, about $27,000. This tax is imposed on a class of public servants who are admittedly underpaid. It would be difficult to defend the practice on the ground of justice. It might be defended as expedient in the case of a state which was unable to raise a sufficient amount of revenue to carry on its educational Avork. But there are no such states. It is the teacher 181 whose means oftentimes are deficient. It is hardly good policy to re- quire a public servant to pay for the privilege of oliering himself for public service. It would seem, therefore, that fees for teachers' certifi- cates should be abolished. The real cost of examining teachers is, as a rule, less than the fee re- quired. In West Virginia for the year ending June 30, 1908, $5,000 was appropriated fpr the examination of teachers. There were 6,482 ap- plicants for certificates. The cost of examining each applicant was, therefore, 77 cents. During the past six years the total appropriation of West Virginia for the purpose of examining teachers was $22,000. During that period there were 30,000 applicants. The average cost per applicant during the six years, was, therefore, 73i/{ cents. In the state of Iowa in the October 1908 examination there were 2,057 ap- plicants for certificates. The average nvimber of papers presented by these applicants was about 10,000, and the entire expense of the examin- ation was $1,100, or 54 cents per applicant. In view of these facts it seems that the examination of a teacher costs the state about 75 cents. Pees, however, are rarely less than one dollar and in many cases more than that sum. The plan of the commission, as contained in the bill recommended, contemplates the abolition of all fees for examinations. Plax of Certification Proposed by the Commission. m view of the manifest advantages of a uniform system of examina- tions, and after the most thorough consideration of the conditions sought to be remedied, the commission presents its complete plan of | certifica- tion in the form of the following bill : Sectiox 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly: That no one shall receive for teaching in the common schools of this State any part of any public school fund who is not of good character, at least eighteen years of age and who does not, at the time he enters upon his duties, hold a certificate of qualification covering the entire period of his employment and granted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a county superintendent or, in a city having a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants, by the board of education of such city. Sec. 2. Certificates granted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the requirements for the same shall be as follows: First — A life elementary school certificate for which the requirements shall be graduation from a recognized high school and from a recognized normal school, or an equivalent preparation, and three years' successful teaching on a first grade county certificate of which two shall have been in the State, a successful examination in English, psychology, and the principles and meth- ods oj teaching, and the preparation of a thesis on one or more elementary school problems, the subject or subjects of which shall be selected from a list prescribed by the State Board of Education. Second — A life high school certificate for which the requirements shall be graduation from a recognized college or university, or the completion of an equivalent preparation, and three years' successful teaching, two of which shall have been in the State on a first grade certificate; a successful exami- nation in English, psychology and the principles and methods of teaching, and the preparation of a thesis on one or more secondary school problems, the subject or subjects of which shall be selected from a list prepared by the State Board of Education. 182 Third. — Supervisory certificates of two grades, first and second. A second grade supervisory certificate shall be valid for five years for supervisory work in any town, city or county of tiie State and for teaching in the schools supervised by the holder. The requirements of such certificate shall be the same as for a first grade elementary school certificate, and, in addition thereto, a successful examination in psychology, the history of education, school supervision, administration and organization, and the school system and school laws of Illinois: Provided, tiowever. that successful experience in school supervision may be accepted in lieu of successful experience in teach- ing. This certificate shall be renewable for five year periods on satisfactory evidence of successful teaching, or supervision, and of professional progress. A first grade or life supervisory certificate shall be valid for supervisory v/ork in any tov.-n, city or county, and for teaching in any school in the State. The requirements for this certificate shall be the same as for a life high school certificate, with the exception that time spent in supervision may be counted in lieu of teaching; and in addition thereto a successful examina- tion in all the subjects required for a second grade supervisory certificate,' sociology and such other school systems of other states and countries as may be prescribed from time to time by the State Board of Education. Life certificates in force at the time of the passage of this Act shall be va- lid for both teaching and supervising in any district in the State. Sec. 3. Examinations for State certificates shall be held at such times and places and under such rules as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education. To each person who is successful in the examination for a State certificate the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall issue a certificate of the kind applied for, if, in his judgment, the personality of such appli- cant and his general qualifications other than scholarship prepare him for the work v/hich the certificate would authorize him to perform. Sec. 4. A life certificate shall be valid in any district of the State out- side of cities having a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants, but shall lapse three years after the person to whom it is issued ceases to engage in educational work, unless it shall have been renewed within that time by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The holder of any certificate granted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, annually, while he con- tinues to teach, present his certificate to the county superintendent for reg- istration. Sec. 5. Certificates granted by the county superintendent and the require- ments for the same shall be as follows: First — A third grade elementary school certificate, valid for one year in the elementary schools of the county in which it is issued, renewable once on evidence satisfactory to the county superintendent of not less than three months' successful teaching, and a second time if, in the period following the date of issuing the certificate, the holder shall have had twelve weeks' professional training in any recognized school providing such training. Ap- plicants for such certificates shall be required to pass an examination in such subjects of the elementary school curriculum as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education. The issuing of this form of certificate may be discontinued at the option of the State Board of Education. Second — A second grade elementary school certificate, valid foi' two years. This certificate shall be renewable on evidence satisfactory to the county superintendent of six months' successful teaching, and a second tim» if in the period following the date of issuing the certificate to the holder shall have acquired twenty-four weeks' professional training in any recognized school providing such training: Provided, however, that if acquired in exchange, under the provisions of this Act, such certificate shair be renewable indefi- nitely for periods of two years. The requirements for this form of certificate shall be graduation from a recognized high school, or the completion of an equivalent preparation, and a successful examination in English, the methods of teaching, and such other subjects of the elementary school curriculum as may be prescribed by 183 the State Board of Education: Provided, hotvever, that this certificate may be issued without examination to graduates of recognized normal schools or of institutions offering an equivalent preparation. Third — A first grade elementary school certificate, valid for three years, renewable indefinitely for periods of three years. The requirements for this form of certificate shall be graduation from a recognized high school, or an equivalent preparation, and four years' teach- ing certified as successful by the county superintendent of each county in which the applicant has taught and an examination in English, the princi- ples and methods of teaching and three other subjects to be selected by th'a^ applicant from a list of subjects prepared by the State Board of Education; or, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, graduation from a recognized nor- mal school, or from an institution offering an equivalent preparation, evi- dence satisfactory to the couiaty superintendent of at least two years' suc- cessful teaching, and an examination in Englis'n and the principles and methods of teaching. Foxtrth — A limited high school certificate, valid for one year, and renew- able for a period of tv/o years. The requirements for this form of certificate shall be graduation irom a recognized high school, or an equivalent preparation, and a certificate show- ing at least one year's successful work in a recognized higher institution of learning, a successful examination in English, the principles and methods of teaching, and three high school subjects, one major and two minors, chosen from a list prepared by the State Board of Education. The issuing of this form of certificate shall be discontinued at the option of the State Board of Education. Fifth — A high school certificate, valid for three years, renewable indef- initely for periods of three years. The requirements for this form of certificate shall be graduation from a recognized high school, or an equivalent preparation, and a certificate show ing the completion of at least two years' successful work in any higher in- stitution of learning; an examination in English, the principles and meth- ods of teaching and three other subjects, one major and two minors, chosen from a list prepared by the State Board of Education: Provided, however, that this certificate may be issued' to graduates of a recognized college or university, or any institution offering an equivalent preparation, who shall have had one year of successful teaching. Sixth — A kindergarten certificate, valid for two years in any kindergarten of the State, and valid also in the first grade of the elementary schools, pro- viding the kindergarten training school of which the applicant is a graduate gives adequate preparation for first grade vi^ork; renewable for three-year periods. The requirements for this form of certificate shall be graduation from a recognized high school and from a recognized kindergarten training school, or the completion of an equivalent course; or. in lieu of .graduation from such training school, such examination in English and the theory and prac- tice of kindergarten work as may be prescribed by the State Board of Edu- cation. Seventh — A special certificate, valid for two years, in the elementary or high schools of the county in which it is issued, renewable for three-year periods. Such certificate shall be issued only in music, drawing, manual training, domestic art, physical training and such other subjects as may be added by the State Board of Education, and shall authorize the holder to teach only the subject or subjects named in the certificate. The requirements for this form of certificate shall be graduation from a recognized high school, or an equivalent preparation, and a certificate show- ing the completion in a recognized higher institution of learning of at least two years' special training in the subject or subjects the candidate desires to teach; or, in lieu of such training, satisfactory evidence of four years' successful teaching of such subject or subjects; a successful examination in English and the principles and methods of teaching. 184 Sec. 6. Examinations for county certificates- shall be held at the various toiinty seats on the same day, under such rules as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education, and questions for each examination shall be uni- form throughout the State. Such questions shall be forwarded to the county superintendents under seal, to be broken only at the time of opening the ex- amination and in the presence of the applicants. The county superinten- dent shall conduct the examination in his county, and at the close of the examination the papers of each applicant shall be forwarded to the State Board of Education, each paper being designated in such a manner as to conceal the identity of the w^riter, as prescribed by the State Board of Edu- cation. Such papers, when graded, shall be returned to the county superin- tendents from whom they were received, each of whom shall issue a certifi- cat of the kind designated by the State Board of Education to each person in his county who shall have passed the examination, if, in his judgment, the personality of such applicant and his general qualifications, other than scholarship, fit him for the work of teaching. Sec. 7. A county certificate, except a third grade elementary school cer- tificate and a second grade high school certificate, shall be valid in the county in which it is issued, and in any other county of the State, when endorsed by the county superintendent of such other county. A certificate shall be renewable only at its expiration, and no certificate shall be re- newed except at the option of the superintendent issuing or endorsing it and on evidence satisfactory to such superintendent for successful teaching and professional progress. In determining such progress the superintendent shall take into consideration, and give credit for, professional reading done under his direction, attendance upon any recognized institution of learning, and upon institutes and teachers' meetings, and for active participation in the same. Sec. 8. An applcant for a certificate who has not completed a high school course shall be admitted to an examination, set by the State Board of Edu- cation, on subjects announced in advance, for the purpose of determining whether such applicant possesses an equivalent preparation. Sec. 9. Any person who holds, at the time this Act goes into effect, a valid county certificate to teach, may, with the approval of the county su- perintendent, exchange the same for a certificate of equal grade — a second grade for a second grade elementary, or a second grade high school certi- cate; a first grade for a first grade elementary or a first grade high school certificate; a special certificate for a special certificate; a kindergarten cer- tificate for a kindergarten certificate; or, in case the holder of a first grade certificate shall have had three years of successful work as a supervisor of schools, he may, with the approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, exchange such certificate for a five-year supervisory certificate. Sec. 10. In the examination of teachers for certificates higher than those \\hich they shall have received in exchange for certificates in force when this Act goes into effect, and in the renewal of their certificDtes, successful exper- ience in teaching shall be accepted as an equivalent for high school and pro- fessional training. Sec. 11. No fee shall be charged for the examination of an applicant for any certificate issued under this Act, or for the renewal of the same. Sec. 12. Any person who shall sell, trade, barter or give away, or offer to sell, trade, barter or give away, to applicants for teachers' certificates, or to any other person; or any person who shall buy, purchase, bargain or trade for, or accept, any of the questions prepared by the State Board of Education to be used in the examination of teachers, or in any way dispose of or accept any of such questions, in violation of the rules prescribed by the State Board of Education; or any person who shall reveal or give infor- mation which shall reveal the identity of any writer of an examination paper, shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $2.5 nor more than $100. Sec. 13. By the word "recognized," as used in this Act in connection with the word 'school," "college," or "university," is meant such school, college 185 or university as maintains an equipment, course of stuay, and standard of scholarship approved by the State Board of Education. The rules of such board shall also be final in the matter of determining the meaning of the words "high school" and "equivalent preparation," as used in this Act, and of other words and phrases in this Act which have no recognized legal defi- nition. Sec. 14. Any certificate issued under this Act may be suspended or re; voked by the superintendent issuing or endorsing it, upon evidence of im- morality, incompetency, unprofessional conduct or other just cause. Sec. 15. All Acts or parts of Acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. Sec. 16. This Act shall take effect and be in force on and after January 1, 1911. REFERENCES. Bachman, F. P., Certification of Teachers Prepared by State Institutions, Ed. 26 :40. Cowdrick, E. L., Licensing of Teachers, Ed. 19 :299. Cubherly, E. P., The Certification of Teachers, fifth year book of the National Wolfe, L. E., Recognition of Certificates and Diplomas, Proc. N. E. A. 1904 :306. Society for Science, Study of Education, Chicago, University Press. Jackson, Wm. R., The Present Status of the Certification of Teachers in the United States, Rep. of U. S. Com. of Education, 1903 : 463. Wolfe, L. E., Recognition of Certificates and Diplomas, Proc. N. E. A. 1904:306. Report of Com. of Education for the United States, Legal Provisions of the Various States Relating to Teachers' Examinations and Certificates, 1897-1898:1659. National Educational Association, Report of Com. on Interstate Recognition of Teachers' Certificates, Proc. 1905 :240. lb'.; COUNTY TEACHERS' INSTITUTES. The 23ractice of '■ holding institutes for the improvement of teachers in the science and art of teaching is general in the United States. As a rule provision is made for the organization and support of .county institutes in the school law of the state, the school authorities of the state or county being required to organize and conduct them. In a few of the states they are optional with the county or state superintendent, and in Massachusetts and Connecticut they depend upon the voluntary initiative of the teachers themselves. In the state of Ohio the commis- sioner of common schools may arrange for an institute if the holding of one is neglected by the teachers for the space of two >years. In. forty-one states and the two / territories county (or district) teachers' institutes are held. The five other states, namely Connec- ticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Tennessee- hold in- stitutes or teachers' conventions ,. and associations but do not provide for county institutes specifically. In Connecticut, for instance, there is no law on the subject, but teachers' meetings are held at various times and places, y In the year ending September 1, 1904, ninety-five teachers' meetings were held in that state with an average attendance of one hundred and sixty-six. In Maine teachers' conventions are held in each county at (.leaat annually. In Massachusetts teachers' as- sociations are voluntary. In 1907 twenty regular institutes were held in that state in which one hundred and eighty-three towns were repre- sented. In lEhode Island institutes are held under the direction of the commissioner of public schools, the state appropriating a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars annually to defray the necessary expenses and charges for teachers and lectures. In Tennessee teachers' meetings are held at the option of the superintendent of public in- struction. It' Avill be - observed, then, that even in those states which do not provide specifically for them the value of county institutes is distinctly recognized and voluntary arrangements are made for hold- ing them. y The ISTumber of Couxtt Institutes Held Axnually. In those states in which the law provides for county institute? the requirement, as .a rule, is that at least one institute he hold annually in each county. Alabama, IMinnesota, Xew Hampshire, Xortli Dakota, Ohio, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin are exceptions to this 187 rule. In Alabama three institutes must be held, in each county every year. In Minnesota and North Dakota the number is determined by the state superintendent. In New Hampshire the requirement is ,one or morC;, and the same is true of West Virginia and Wisconsin. In North Carolina institutes are held biennially. In Ohio there is no legal re- quirement as to the number of institutes that are to be held. In Ver- mont the number may be one or two. ; The Time at Which County Institutes are Held. In only eight of the states is the \time of holding county institutes fixed by law. Of these Alabama requires one of its three annual insti- tutes to be held in September. In 'A-rkansas institutes must be held in June; in Georgia and Nebraska in June, July ,or August; in Kentucky from July to November ; in South Dakota, from April ; 1st to September '1st; in West Virginia, from the third w^eek in July to the last wfeek in October. Texas provides that; institutes must be held within the first four months of the school year. The school year in that state be- gins September 1st. The practice there is just the opposite of \that followed in Illinois and Utah, both of wdiich states require the county institute to be held at ; a time when the schools are generally closed. In nearly all of the remaining states the time of holding institutes is determined either by the state board of education, the state , superin- tendent, or the county superintendent. In perhaps a dozen cases the matter is left wholly with the county 'Superintendent of schools. In Louisiana the time is determined by the state board of education; in North Carolina by the county board of education, and ;in Colorado by an executive committee which acts with the -advice and consent of the superintendent of public instruction and the -jDresident of the state normal school. In a majority' of the states in which the time of hold- ing the institute is optional they are .held in the summer when schools are not in session. Montana, however, provides by law that no insti- tute shall be held between the first day of -June and the first day of September, and Texas, as already noted, requires them to be held "wjthin the first four months of the scholastic :year." These two states thus indicate a definite purpose to make the institute a part of the school work of the year. This is a practice -that receives the recommendation of those who have given most thought to this phase of the subject. The Length of Institutes. In about half the number of the states the length of the regular county institute is one week or less. The expression ; "regular county institute" is here i;sed to distinguish the institute from the summer normal schools Avhich are held in several of the states. Separate pro- visions for such schools are made in the school laws of Louisiana, Min- nesota, South Dakota and Texas. In Colorado and New Mexico the institute must continue two weeks and in Kansas not less than four weeks. In other states the length of time durinor which the institute is held, when not provided by law. is determined by tlie state superintendent or 188 the state board of education. In Louisiana ;the matter is entirely in the hands of the state board. In Michigan, New Hampshire, New- Jersey, New York and Nortli Dakota it is determined by. the state super- intendent or the state commissioner as tlie case may be. In eighteen states the provision of the law is practically for a week's institute. Methods of Securing Instruction. < In those states in which the institute is wholly under the control of state authority ; instruction is secured, of course, by the state super- intendent, the state commissioner or the state board of education. In twenty-one states the ki;id of instruction and the list of instructors are practically detemiined by .the state educational authority. The state either employs the instructors outright or limits the selection of the county superintendents to a list of instructors prepared by the state. In Colorado, Kansas, -New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wisconsin the law* provides that institute instructors must have a special certificate granted by state authority. -In Louisiana the state superintendent of public instruction and the president of the , state normal school consti- tute a board of state institute managers. This board may select "an experienced institute conductor who shall have general charge of the summer normal work." In nine states arrangements for instruction are made by the county superintendent. In Illinois and Iowa instruc- tors are secured by the county superintendent with the concurrence of the state superintendent. Some of the states provide specifically that institute instruction must be given by one or more members of the faculty or faculties of the normal schools. Tn Wisconsin, for instance, one of the conductors must be connected with, one of the state normal schools. In Mary- land the institute must be attended "by one or more instructors of a state normal school or a normal department faculty, to be selected by the state superintendent and the principal of the school."* So also the law of New Hampshire provides that "the principal and teachers of the state normal school shall assist and give instruction at teachers' institutes, so far as they can without interfering with their duties in the normal school, but they shall receive no additional com- pensation, except for traveling and other additional and necessary ex- penses while so employed."! In Utah also the governing board is au- thorized to call upon the state normal schools to furnish expert in- stitute instructors for work in institutes. As a rule instruction may be secured for an institute outside the county or the state, and the practice of securing persons for special lectures is almost general. Arkansas is the exception to the rule. The law of that state provides "That all the time of the said institutes shall be devoted to class work in the branches of reading, writing, arithmetic, orthograph}-, grammar, history of the United States and the State' of Arkansas, theory and practice and physiology ."§ While ♦Public School Law, Maryland, section 82. tLaws of New Hamp.shire relating to public schools, chapter VIII, p. 48. §Digest of laws relating to free schools in the State of Arkansas, section 2, p. 29. 189 tlie praeiice of holding exaiuiiiations iininediatL'l}' after the institute is followed by several of the states, Kansas is tlie only state whieh re- quh'es it by Ian* Attendance, In more than half of the states teachers are required by law to at- tend the county institute. In some of the states attendance is not compulsory, but a special inducement for attendance is held out .by the oti'er of a per diem compensation or by granting special opportunities for securing positions in the schools. In Indiana, for instance, teachers who attend the institute have two per cent added to their general aver- age in examinations, and this increases their wages since the Avages are based upon the average percentage received in examination. In Ohio teachers are paid for attendance at the rate of two dollars a day for not less than four nor more than six days if the institute is held within the vacation period. In some of the states, as in South Dakota, certain persons are excused from attending the institute. These are, as a rule, the holders of the higher certificates. In South Dakota, those holding first grade certificates, state certificates, or life certificates are excused. Oftentimes attendance upon aYiother institute or upon a summer school approved by the county superintendent holding the in- stitute is accepted in lieu of attendance. Compensation for Attendance. It is almost the general practice, when the institute is held within the period for which teachers are employed, to allow the same wages while attending the county institute as teachers receive for their regular work. Minnesota is apparently an exception, for the law of that state provides that "any teacher may close his school for the purpose of at- tending any institute appointed for his county, and he shall be allowed to make up the time so lost upon presenting to the clerk of the dis- trict a certificate, signed by the county superintendent, attesting said teacher's attendance at the institute.'"* In West Virginia teachers are allowed $1.50 per day for each day of attendance. A few of the states authorize pay for attendance even when the institute is held in the vacation period. Indiana and Ohio are examples. The method of pay- ment in these states has already been referred to. Methods of Supporting County Institutes. The county institutes of the different states are supported either by a state appropriation, by a county appropriation, by certification and registration fees, by voluntary assessment of the teachers, or by a com- bination of two or more of these methods. In twelve states institutes are wholly supported by state appropriations. The largest state ap- propriation for this purpose is made by New York which paid for teachers' institutes in the year ending September 30, 190G, $47,712.13. ♦Laws of Minnesota relating to scliools and education, section 262, p. 110. lUO In seven states, institutes are supported whoiiy by county appropria- tions, in nine, wholly by fees, in three, by state and' county appropria- tions, in two, by state appropriations and fees, in six, by county ap- propriations and fees, and in five, by state and county appropriations and fees. Fees are collected for the support of institutes in twenty-two states. In Ohio, Indiana and Maine, and perhaps in other states, the teachers themselves assist in the support of institutes by voluntary con- tributions. The prevailing methods of support are by state appropria- tions, by county appropriations and by fees. It should not be forgotten that in addition to the support of insti- tutes certain of the states appropriate large sums for conducting sum- mer normal, schools. Minnesota, for instance, makes a state appro- priation of only three thousand dollars for institutes, but appropriates thirty thousand dollars for summer normal schools. The law of New York provides ''for the instruction of competent persons in academies and union schools, in the science and practice of common school teach- ing, under a course to be prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction." For this purpose teachers' training classes are established for which in 1906 the state of New York expended $119,517.50.* The principle facts concerning the institutes of the various states may be more graphically shown in the following table : ►Third Annual Report of the Educational Department, New York, .page 163 191 V) ^ CO J9 5s:i O ?i o^ «^ T— 1 S g w -^ CO e e^ < ^ :^ '^ £h S 's:* j^ ri -< O ^ S" s-< ?=^ o § ? -s "» b ^ '^ ~r: ^ o U 2 — ^ 41^.- ^ o-S ? a aOi— a CD »■'*" a 4) a ^ iS.2S-2 £ OS'S ■*- an 3" O « 4> k. •t >^ c^ □ CO O 3.4) «a 3 a O 41 O '1 o . tm : K *J a U B! o 2si 3 2 4>w CO rt**? 3 c O 4) U i: "O ♦: >>*j' 4> 4J 00 ' .S>,3 u 2 Q 4) oS Q < U ■a c OJ m c <1) o c 03 ;j K Ul C 0) ni p 4) m 3 4) c •a 3 "O 41 "S 4) 1/7 3 3 O 3 3 4) WJ ^.-o r^l y o 3 o »i b <1) >, 5 £ 4> ■M g n 43 r-) 3 r; u cfl Vl A-i 3 Oj 01 C ' ' A m a o u 4) 4) 3 rt -a >> bo a; •" 3 3 ,_ •^ o -*-• rrt 4) C o o E o ._, o"" _ o > C 4) O 2 3 .-:; o«H t, O 41 C c 4) C u >-l 4) 193 i '-> o a ■a « c a 3 ni . p (U ii i J-.S i) G u « M j; >,i: » ft oa S m aj li "■ M (U M oj >i: o £ o o c oS in OQ 3 O oyH >. 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'^ " ni 03 ^ ~ t-l S 03 = 3£ o; o J:! gt:^ ■S - --"-^ ::>>>'- *^ c 2 : boiS^Scig'^^S 03 -cc2-S'o£"£gS'3 •S§tf|o§-£|» c3oC?^^03t-<^o>cS 032'Co'^''m03lB o^ c cd o5-^o^ 2 -t; w*. 3aS6a" = ?■« 3 CM OO" Sw"5.: - s- aa3 o 03 •? -d 2 a'S ■S S c - ri ci oSi^;s°E^^s ^-M-" 5 g Oii ^ 3 ^2 ^^"^□►7a3~C rtw'c;:.i'^o)bjo c S = -£ c S sr "^ i^ = 5 ,c-*03t* , .2 03 ■t^O^Cc.'^O O 03 43 "' 03 O 3 •- C 3 a.S "o it 0) u C "73""*^ s.- djcr^ 'ca>.t£ da ,c.^ 3^,01,^ = § >'C C^03g&^3 1) z: 0, — K .2 c *j a; a g§^*2S|dZ^^ Sct;c.tic,„occ^ r c8.S3-S"of"'-'c ■O 03 >..« K ''^ 73 ~ 7i C c8 194 09 O So ff) O QQ — 4J ^ 1; CO CJ ^ CO "3 S ■- D S EoO~ = o£ 3 >J= 13 o O ot! Q.4J o fi O -»-> 5* ^ ^ -i- *-■ Q. t/3 CO dJ aS £" '-■"tea 3 O Ij 11 c U ■o Z m • ■o5: 4) 10 • .5>,p 1) - a *j O ai Q CO Q 5^5 c aa s as O cV w U >> : .S3 E.2 S > Q U 4J O £.s «:^ >>£ cE 3 O O O u Ot3 Z -E'-'o Kcn-- z o 195 e.2 £2 a*) tn u a u 5a .-mo V'-'-o o ™; *' oJS a 73 c BE*' *-• en E O C I- SI— « -2 >- 4) o.i= z O rt 01 < e -2 X^ 4) moo >- n C-o J; o)^^ O a' C o r " U !- c3 •c^tcZ.? Tl •a u • Sccc co-^rt.2 c ^u! 4> a aj aj-3 aE~ uctorseci nty supe t from li superint 3 to « 0.^ « C r: V. m Sg.S' unty nt. I UlSt ate f oard >. >-s-s c*. ill •0 3 c ^ 3 C C m >^ C 4) C UH a ut:j2 u U u 1 3 eo tn — o 3 -S 3 o £ *, C 3 D o'-Z o a 3 c o V U <-■ IB o-a Z Ot3 Z ^X " 3 a3i-, 4* c c 2 4> u.~ n c Q ■~ ^"^ 3 rt < c-S axi < E*' ♦JO 41-M £1 t- i o ^ a) 5 !-, «j Tj > a"" o o .a"'3, t- Oi 03 e CS O 4) E 3 X-t; a* ^ 01 3 .Q .-t; CD [i, O M S ^i-S o 0.2- .c « <* S c O to '-^ 3 r^ ■ '-M "^ 3 OHm'" O C 0._o w2 a 02 c > O 4J . c " ^ S N 3 t. ci c o 5 r s d"2ds '>'!>, ^ .s >- - c >>!» 02 c ; E 4) *j*j o >.© w ca S to «T3 E ^SE « a a .11— c~5. 75 OJ C.- ^rHs-' a -^ « P^ ::?^ c V r...:d TJ c c •*-* as: OJ 3 ^ E E n^ B u m" o o « o a - oca u o 0) T3 O r^ U3 0.5 a o O E - 0) £._ p c|°-Z CO o-a Z Z 3 K to 'fi ^ 3 •S s E u I* 4j « a Q 15S¥ -^ «3 M J^ •ago CO row' CQ ^ 3 3<: M --E O o O o 3 eds -E Sg^c 197 2" 8a 0) 3 CO 3 C S 01 "-' C 03 0) , ^ C -4-» o Id D O •a c ^ (M a 3 O 3 H tj a-w 3 O U ») 2 c Q A 0) c -d o CS _aj d K (U t< ca d _o ft C to o 3 3 S 2 cc XJ aj o C o >. o a ft ■| 3 3 n b m" be o fc<1-l c (D o ID 1-* 'S CJ O +j C cS c '5 O

.^ C a 3 s (V -d i/i u 01 a ^ ^ m ^ o cJ CS si c u o c i E s. £ s. ? M >. d a >. s ^ Is c o a< E-t v-i c C -1- wo r\ 198 Some of the states are not included in the table. They are omitted for the reason that provisions for the county institute are either not made or are not specific enough to furnish the necessary items. The institute systems in these states are as follows: Connecticut has no law on the subject of institutes. Teachers' meet- ings are held at various times and places. In Maine conventions are held once a year under the supervision of the state superintendent and are managed through local organizations approved by him. Xot more than two associations may be formed in any county and each association limits its number of meetings to two annually. The usual practice is to hold only one. The program of the convention is made up in part by speakers within the county who give their services and of speakers from without the county selected by the state superintendent. The attendance of teachers is not compulsory but they may draw pay for two days in each year for the county con- vention and for the same time in each year for the state convention unless a speciftc vote to the contrary is passed by the local school com- mittee. The state defrays the expenses of advertising the convention and the traveling expenses of speakers coming from outside the county. It also makes an annual appropriation for defraying that part of the expenses authorized to be paid by the state superintendent. Members of conventions usually assess themselves an annual fee for additional features arranged by the local school ofificials. In Massachusetts teachers' associations are voluntary, time and place being determined by the county teachers' associations of which there are thirteen. The state may apply not more than $350 to an associa- tion's expenses. Each county association may receive $50 from the Commonwealth. In Nevada the state superintendent conducts a state institute bien- nially and convenes five district teachers' institutes. No institute shall continue less than four nor more than ten days. Expenses are paid out of the state general fund. Teachers are required to attend with- out loss of salary. He may call a county teachers' institute with the approval of the board of county commissioners, the expense of which is paid out of the county general fund. In Ehode Island institutes are held under the direction of the com- missioner of public schools. There is no regular time of holding them. The attendance of teachers is not governed by any law. One city pays the membership fees of its teachers in the Ehode Island Institute of In- struction and requires their attendance at the annual meeting of that body. Not to exceed $500 is appropriated by the state for defraying expenses for teachers and lectures. The State Board of Education pays annually a sum not to exceed $300 for the purpose of providing lecturers and also for publishing and distributing educational publica- tions. In South Carolina the county superintendent is required to '^'encour- age the fomiation of associations for teachers for common improve- ment and conduct teachers' institutes." Institutes are held usually for two weeks during the summer and autumn. Sometimes several counties unite and hold an institute for a month. Attendance is encouraged 199 , b}'' offering the renewal of certiiicates without examination. The in- terest on the permanent school fund is devoted to paying the salaries of instructors for such time as is decided upon by the State Board of Education. The trustees of each school district may bear the expenses of their teachers if they see fit to do so. _ In Virginia .one institute sluill be held during each scliool year. In- struction is secured by division superintendents uuder the direction of the superintendent of public instruction. Typical Systems of Ouganizing and Conducting Institutes. A glance at the foregoing table will reveal the fact that in the dif- ferent states the word institute is not always applied to exactly the same kind of teachers' meeting. In some of the states the institute is merely a convention or association of teachers organized for the pur- pose of discussing questions of interest to teachers and governed by parliamentary rules. In other states the word institute is used to de- note a short summer school for teachers, in which the instruction is chiefly academic, and the principal purpose is to prepare teachers for an examination. In a majority of the states, however, the word implies an assembly of teachers for the pui-pose of receiving instiniction not merely in subject matter, but also, and more particularly, in the phil- osophy of education and the practical methods of teaching. In these states the institute is, or is becoming, a teachers' meeting in which the aim is professional. Of this kind of institute there are three principal types. They are, first, the institute which is wholly vmder the control of state authority — the superintendent of public instruction, commis- sioner of education, or board of education, as the case may be; second, the institute w^hich is organized and conducted wholly by the county educational officer, and third, the institute which is held by the county superintendent, in which the necessary arrangements are subject to the approval or concurrence of the state superintendent. The New York Plan. New York furnishes, perhaps, the best example of institutes of the first type. In that state all institutes are held under the direction and control of the state commissioner of education. As has already been pointed out, the state appropriates $50,000 annually for this purpose, or so much of this sum as may be necessaiT. One institute is heM annually and within the school year in each of the school commissioners' districts. It continues for one week. Throughout the district in which it is held the schools must be closed during its session, and the teachers are paid by the district their regular salaries for the time spent in at- tending. Cities and villages employing superintendents are exempt from the law closing the schools during the institute week, but many villages take advantage of the institute and close their schools. Cities hold separate institutes for their teachers, but euiploy the regular state institute conductors and assistants. The program for the institute is arranged by the state education department which prepares a syllabus giving general suggestions and directions for organizing and conducting £00 institutes and which specifies and outlines the subjects in which in- struction is to be given. The program provides for both general and special work. General work occupies the periods of Monday afternoon, Friday morning and the first period of each morning. The Monday afternoon period is devoted tq the organization of the institute ; the last period on Friday morning to a summing up of the work of the insti- tute and other work incidental to the closing of the institute. During the. morning period for general work, lectures are given upon subjects of general and pedagogical value and upon other subjects informational or inspirational in character. The institute is organized into the following sections : Eural schools, graded schools, and high schools. The basis of organization is the actual grade of work in M'hich the teachers are engaged. Teachers are re- quired to attend the exercises of the particular section to which they belong. The nature of the work is indicated by the following which is taken from a recent syllabus issued by the State Education Department. "Teaching demands knowledge of the subject matter, knowledge of the method of teaching the subject, and the ability to apply this knowledge to the teaching processes. Teachers do not know subject-matter fully and accurately, their methods are frequently unpedagogical and not systematic, and they have little or no conception of the teaching pro- cesses. The problems of the method they are not liable to solve for the reason that they do not understand the problems. They can not analyze the problem^ — when and how to instruct, wiien and how to drill, when and how to test. There is a necessity, then, for three kinds of work in the institute: (a) to instruct in subject matter, (b) to instruct in the best methods of teaching this subject-matter, (c) to secure, so far as pos- sible, such practice on the part of the teachers as shall lead them to understand and to practice right methods and right possesses in teach- ing this subject-matter. The institute conductor, or instructor, must remember in giving instruction in subject-matter that the end in view is the method, and in giving the instruction his methods will not only serve as a model to the teachers, but will be used by him to illustrate the instruction given in methods. Instead of set talks of forty-five minutes, or more, on various subjects, the work in the institute will be based upon the outlines given in this syllabus. Not less than three periods will be spent on each sub-topic, the work covering subject-matter when necessary, methods, and practice." All instruction for the insti- tute is provided by the State Education Department. The state employs five regular institute conductors w^ho are paid $3,000 a year and their traveling expenses. When not emnloved in conducting institutes, their services are utilized in connection with the inspection of schools, prep- aration of examination questions and the review of answer papers re- sulting from such examinations. These men, so far as possible, conduct all the institutes. In the month of October there is such a demand for institutes that it is necessary to emplov additional conductors. Such additional conductors are paid $50 for the week and their traveling ex- penses. To assist the conductors there are two instructors in English and two in drawing. The principals and teachers of the state normal schools are also called upon to assist in the teachers' institutes. 201 For this plan, illustrated also by the institute systems of Xew Jersey, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and in part by those of some other states, there is much to be said. It is systematic. It gives definiteness, uniformity, and continuity to institute work. It enables the state department to plan institute instruction for a series of years, and thus produces an intended cumulative effect upon the development and training of teachers. The institute may thus be made a powerful means in working out definite ideals with respect to the educational interests of the State. With a uniform outline of instruction' and a corps of professional institute conductors and instructors who may be depended upon from year to year, there need be little unnecessary dupli- cation or waste of effort. There is an obvious advantage in having a body of institute instructors who devote almost their entire time to in- stitute work and who prepare themselves specially for it. They come to know the teachers personally, and in time are familiar with the educa- tional needs of each district. They consequently have an advantage which is impossible to those who are employed for a single institute. Moreover this method of providing instruction protects the teachers from that kind of popular lecturer who relies upon "striking the popular chord of approval*' by appeals to instinctive emotions and prejudice, rather than upon a succinct presentation of educational principles. In- deed there are not a few lecturers who, although entirely deficient in a knowledge of educational philosophy, are yet popular platform speakers on platitudinous subjects and who carry a side line of so-called educa- tional lectures consisting for the most part of the baldest commonplace sentiments. It is certainly a decided advantage to the educational work of a state to keep such lecturers out of the institute. Above all, this plan of organizing and conducting institutes definitely recognizes the institute as an integral part of the educational system of the State, it indicates perception of the fact that the benefits of the institute accrue in large part to the State and that consequently the State should provide for its support. On the other hand this plan is attended with all the dangers that accompany rigid system.' Whenever the educational work of a state is highly systematized there is always the possibility, of course, that the educational machinery may fall into unworthy hands and be used for selfish purposes. In the matter of organizing and conducting institutes, however, the chief objection to state control is perhaps the possibility of favoritism in the employment of institute conductors and instructors. While the state plan • tends to protect the teachers from educational charlatanry it also protects the state instructors from the competition of other instructors in the state and out who may be more efficient. It thus may lead to a sort of intellectual inbreeding, very harmful to the interests of the schools. If a state instructor should be inefficient or un- popular it may take a long time to get rid of him. Again, the plan leaves little, so far as the organization of the institute is concerned, to the local officials or the teachers themselves. The work of the institute is, therefore, likely to become formal, mechanical and uninteresting. 202 Teachers, like their pupils, usually manifest more interest in doing things for themselves than in having things done for them. Lack of interest in an institute goes far to destroy the advantages of uniformity, definiteness and continuity. The Pennsylvania Plan. Institutes of the second type are well illustrated by those of Penn- sylvania. In Pennsylvania a county institute is held in each county annually. Cities and boroughs having not fewer than fifty teachers may have separate institutes. The time and place of the institute are de- termined by the county superintendent or a properly authorized com- mittee of teachers acting with him. The institute must continue in session at least five days, including a half day for going and a half day for returning from the place of meeting. The course of instruction and the corps of instructors are entirely determined by the county super- intendent. The only authority exercised by the state superintendent is the requirement of a report from the county superintendent, showing the names of the instructors and lecturers, the subjects upon which in- struction was given, the degree of popular interest awakened, and other information which may be called for by the form prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction. The schools of the county must be closed during the session of the institute. Teachers are paid for at- tendance, their compensation being based upon the official report made to boards of directors by the county superintendent. The amount paid the teacher for attendance must not be less than his per diem pay for actual teaching, but shall not exceed two dollars per day for each days attendance. To support the institute the treasurer of the county is au- thorized to pay one dollar for every three days spent by each teacher of the county in attending the institute. The amount drawn from the county treasury shall in no case be more than two hundred dollars. It may, however, in any case be as much as sixty dollars. It will be observed that the chief distinction between the Xew York plan and the Pennsylvania plan is in the form of control. In Pennsyl- vania the institute is organized and conducted by the county superin- tendent instead of the state department of education as in New York. In Pennsylvania the state contributes nothing to the support of county institutes. They are almost wholly supported by county appropriations, the contributions of teachers, and the proceeds of evening lecturers and entertainments. The amount thus provided is about seventy-five thou- sand dollars. This county plan of organizing, conducting and supporting insti- tutes, of which Pennsylvania offers perhaps the most successful example, is particularly favoraljle to the development of the teachers' interest in tlie success of the institute and the interest of the community in educa- tion. Teachers contribute to the support of the institute by the pay- ment of admission fees to evening lectures and evening entertainments. This ought to increase their interest in the character and success of the institute and it is usually supposed that it does. The county superin- tendent knows that the failure of an institute is charged against him. He 203 is in competition as to the success of his institute with the other county superintendents of the state. There is every inducement, therefore, to effort in the direction of making his institute as successful as it can be made. He secures the best instructors which his means will permit. It is not unusual for county superintendents in Pennsylvania to pay as much as five hundred or six liundred dollars for instruction. Some- times as much as eight hundred dollars is paid. There is variety of in- struction, special musical features and oftentimes forms of entertain- ment. There is consequently great interest in the institute, not always of the professional kind it is true, but interest nevertheless. There is no difficulty, therefore, in regard to the attendance of teachers. It is always large, oftentimes a hundred per cent of the teachers of the county. Great public interest is also aroused. Sometimes the attend- ance is beyond the capacity of the largest halls available. A thousand or fifteen hundred visitors is not at all unusual. In the total attend- ance of the institutes of the state the number of visitors far exceeds the number of teachers. In the institutes of the state there will be, for in- stance, about twenty-three thousand teachers, but the number of visitors will be about thirty-five thousand. It is clear, then, that the effect of the Pennsylvania institutes upon the educational thought of the state is far reaching. An expression frequently heard in connection with the institutes of that state is that they represent a sort of "educational re- vival." The appropriateness of this expression will be admitted by all who have seen the great institute audiences of some of the Pennsylvania counties. The defects of the Pennsylvania plan are obvious enough. There is no state system, consequently no uniformity of educational purpose or method. The instruction of one institute may bear no relation to the instruction of the preceding institute. If a continuous line of work should be followed in the institutes of one county it might be altogether different from the work in other counties. The necessity of making the institute a success sometimes leads the county superintendent to make too large a concession of educational purposes to the desire of the teachers and the public for entertainment. Instructors are secured for their ability to entertain rather than for their ability to instruct. Income depends upon attendance. Consequently "attractions" are in- troduced which will draw the crowd. It happens, therefore, that the institute may be successful in arousing interest and yet may be of small professional value. The Illinois Pl.vn. For an illustration of institutes of the third type we may as well take those of Illinois. Other states, as for instance Iowa and South Dakota, furnish in some respect even better examples, but those of Illinois will serve our purpose. The school law of Illinois provides that "the county superintendent shall hold, annually, a teachers' in- stitute, continuing in session not less than five days, for the instruction 204 of teachers and those who may desire to teach ; and, with the concurrence of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, procure sucli assist- ance as ma}' be necessary to conduct said institute at such times as the schools of the county are generally closed."* In another place the language of the law is that the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion shall be clothed with the power "to authorize the several county superintendents to procure such assistance as may be necessary to con- duct county teachers' institutes for not less than five days in each year."f About nine-tenths of the institutes of the state are five-day institutes. The remainder are, as a rule, for two weeks. Now and then an institute continues for a month. Instruction in the institute is free to all those who hold certificates good in the county in which the institute is held. Others are required to pay a registration fee of one dollar, except those who have paid an examination fee and failed to receive a certificate. The law provides that "the time not exceeding three days in any one term, or five days in any one school year, during term time, actually spent by a teacher of any public school in this state in attendance upon a teachers' institute, held under the direction of the county superin- tendent of schools, shall be considered time lawfully spent by such teacher in the service of the district where such teacher is employed, and no deduction of wages shall be made for such absences."§ Insti- tutes are usually held, however, in the summer months, hence teachers, as a rule, receive no wage for attending. The great bulk of the amount necessary to support the institutes of the state is derived from certificate and registration fees. In a few counties small sums are appropriated by the county board. But this is almost inconsiderable. In 1907 it amounted to $236.15. In that year the total amount collected from all sources for the support of institutes was $52,665.96. Almost the whole of this amount was collected from teachers. The peculiarity which warrants reference to the Illinois system of conducting institutes as an example of the third type is the relation- ship which the state department of public instruction sustains to the county superintendent in the work of organizing and conducting his institute. This relation is something more than advisory. Instructors are secured by the county superintendents with the concurrence of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The- State, however, assumes no part of the financial expense of institutes. The recognition of the institute as an agency for promoting the educational work of the State is, therefore, only partial. The strength of the plan lies more in its possibilities than in actual achievement. The potential advantages of the plan will be considered later. We shall confine ourselves now to a brief outline of the history of institutes in Illinois as they have been conducted under this plan and prior to its adoption. County Institutes in Illinois. The first institute in the State of Illinois was held in Chicago in 1846. It was not a county institute but was organized in connection ♦School Law of lUinois, article VII, section 10. tibid, article I, section 5. §Ibid, article VII, section 11. 205 with ci common school convention wliich met in Chicago. It began on Monday morning and continued until Saturday.* The first county institute was held a little later, either in Will county or in Lee county. f The first reference to county institutes in the school report of the State is found in the report of 1851, made by David L. Gregg, Secre- tary of State and ex officio Superintendent of Common Schools. It reads as follows : "In several parts of the State much interest has lately been manifested in extending the qualifications of teachers. Among other means employed, "^institutes' have been formed in which a regular course of instruction on the subject of teaching is given. Such insti- tutes, I regard as likely to exert the best influence upon the character of our common schools. Teachers, by meeting together periodically, are enabled to communicate to each other the result of their observation and experience, and, by a comparison of views, arrive at conclusions which are of general advantage. An interest is also excited which, by arousing the teacher to diligence and energy, leads to his success." J When Ninian W. Edwards, in 1854, presented his bill for the estab- lishment and maintenance of a system of free schools lie provided for county school conventions consisting of the directors of the boards of education of the several townships of each county and gave to these conventions the "power to organize in their respective counties teach- ers' institutes, for the instruction and improvement of teachers, and the promotion of the common schools of the county." These insti- tutes were to be supported by an appropriation from the common school fund, apportioned to the respective counties. These provisions were rejected by the Legislature. In his report of 1855-56 he recommended that "either the county or State should appropriate a small amount towards defraying the expenses of teachers' institutes, in counties where one shall be held for not less than five days in each year."§ Nothing came of these recommendations. Consequently the teachers of the State, at the meeting of the State Association in 1857, appointed one of their number State agent for organizing and conducting institutes and con- tributed to his support. In 1858 this agent visited fifty-six counties and assisted in holding nineteen institutes, (a) By that time it could be said that "teachers' institutes are becoming one of the most important means of advancing the common school in- terests known to the country. They serve for the time being nearly all the purposes of a well conducted normal school, and are equally bene' ficial to the teachers who attend thejn, and the interests of the cause of education in the locality in Avhich they are held." (h) The Superin- tendent of Public Instruction in 1858 recommended the appointment ♦Sixth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1884-86, p. CLIII. tMr. Pillstiury, in his article on "Early Education in Illinois." in the report just cited, says that "In Will county, so far as appears, the first county institute was held"; but the Illinois Teacher, Vol. I. No. 10, November. 1855. page 37, speaks of Lee county as "the pioneer county" in the matter of holding institutes. According to that .iournal the third semi-annual session of the Lee county institute was held April 16. 1855. ^Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Common Schools, Illinois, 1850-51, p. 13. SReport of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois. 1855-56, p. 18. a Special Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois, 1857-58, p. 21. b Op. cit. p. 18. 206 of a deputy superintendent to "enable this department to extend its sphere of labor, so as to embrace the delivery of public lectures, and the holding of teachers' institutes. This course," said he, "is recom- mended instead of any direct appropriation for the support of teachers' institutes, or state agent, because it will subserve the two-fold purpose of a state agent, and at the same time render valuable and indispensable service to the department."* In 1861 a law was passed authorizing county courts and county boards of supervisors to aid in the support of institutes. Few authorities availed themselves of this permission. In 1865 but eleven institutes, and in 1866 only twenty-one, were thus sup- ported. Meantime Superintendent Bateman had recommended that in- stitutes "should be placed under the supervision of the Department of Public Instruction, and that a sufficient sum should be appropriated by the Legislature, to employ a suitable number of persons, who shall devote their whole time to the work."f This recommendation, also, was not acted upon. In 1863 the State Teachers' Association adopted the following resolution : "That to render professional instruction more universal, and to extend the influence of normal instruction as widely as possible, a system of institutes, under the general auspices of the State Normal University, should be held in each and every county in the State." The plan Avas to divide the State into three districts. The in- stitutes in each district were to be conducted by a superintendent of institutes, assisted by members of the normal classes, whiqh members were to be designated by the principal of the State Normal University and other competent persons. The times of holding institutes were to be decided upon by the faculty of the normal university and three superin- tendents of institutes, in copijeration with the county superintendents or school commissioners. The county commissioner, or such person as the institute might select, was to be the president of the institute of his county, to give notice of the same, and to provide the place for holding it. Teachers were to be permitted to close their schools during the ses- sion of the county institute, and if they were present at the session of the institute, their wages were to continue as though their schools re- mained in session. A committee of five was appointed to elaborate this plan, prepare a bill embodying it, and to introduce it into the Legis- lature. This plan was approved by State Superintendent Brooks. Noth- ing came of it, however. In 1865 an amendment to the law provided that county superin- tendents should "encourage the formation and assist in the manage- ment of county teachers' institutes." There was an immediate increase in the number of institutes held. The number of counties in which in- stitutes were held increased from thirty-two in 1865 to forty-two in 1866. In 1867 the General Assembly increased the compensation of county superintendents to $5.00 a day for services actually rendered. This provision also affected immediately the number of institutes. In that vear thev were held in twentv-five additional counties and the * Op. cit. p. 21. t Third biennial report. Superintendent Public Instruction, Illinois, 1859-60, page 50. 207 number of institutes rose from fifty-six to 131. In his report for 1867-G8 Superintendent Bateman recommended that teachers should be per- mitted by law to attend the county institute and that no deduction of pay or loss of time should be incurred by a teacher for the number of days during which such teacher was in actual and regular attendance in the institute. If the institute were held in term time leave of ab- sence should not be granted more than once during any one period of six months, nor for more than one week at any one time. This became a law in 18G9. It was repealed however in 1872. The law adopted that year merely provided that the county superintendent should "encourage the fonnation and assist in the management of county teachers' in- stitutes." In the same year Superintendent Bateman brought forward once more his recommendation that the State undertake to a limited extent the management and control of local institutes of instruction through the agency of competent and suitable persons appointed or commissioned in such a manner as may be prescribed by law, and who shall be directly responsible to the State for their acts, and be paid by the State for their services, upon such vouchers as are required of other agents and servants of the State. "It should be made the duty of these men," he said, "to organize and conduct a series of meetings or institutes for the instruction of teachers of common schools, and those desiring to become such, in the principles and methods of teaching; the organization, classification, dis- cipline and government of schools; the requirements of the school law; the rights, powers and duties of school officers, teachers, pupils and citizens, and other subjects pertaining to the welfare and improvement of the public schools. It should also be made the duty of these men to instruct the people, by public addresses and otherwise, in respect to the nature and necessity of free schools; their vital relation to free government; the relations that should subsist between parents and teachers ; the characteristics of good schools and teachers, and poor ones ; how to obtain and retain one, and avoid the other; and the incomput- able blessings of right elementally training on the one lumd, and the irreparable mischief of ignorant teachers, irrational methods and mis- education on the other. The sum of $10,000.00 per annum would secure the services of four or five picked men for this work — men of ability and culture, thor- oughly acquainted with systems of public education, and experienced in the supervision, management and instruction of common schools — men of prudence, good sense and sound judgment; able both to instruct and train teachers for the school rooms of the State, and to address public assemblies with force, dignity and effect. Tlicy would give their whole time to their work, so arranging their plan of operations as to bring the teachers and people of the whole State, or so much thereof as sliould be thought expedient, within tlie range of their influence and efforts, every year. Every institute conducted by tliem would l)e in the interest of sound elementary scholarship, scientific methods and principles and true education. These things are essential, and it is not possible to be sure of them in institutes having no intelligent supervision, and working 208 on no comprehensive plan, and toward no definite end. Lack of such responsible control and assured ability, of instruction and management, has been the main element of weakness and inefficiency, and the chief cause of occasional failure, in our present scheme of institute operations. It could hardly be otherwise. Without funds; without recognized leaders; without definite plans or the time to mature and execute them; with no comprehensive system of co-operation among the counties; with no countenance in the laws, and, in many instances, none from the people, but disfavor instead; with the chief school officer of the county ofttimes unable to take the lead and not seldom unwilling to do so — the teachers have done the best they could, and the marvel is that they have done so much and so well. By the proposed plan, nearly all of those obstacles will be removed. Acting by the authority of the State, and not dependent upon the teachers or local communities for their compensation, these men would enter upon their work under the most favorable conditions. Selected for their skill and ability alone, and clothed with discretion to organize the work upon the scale of the whole State, with sole reference to the needs of the representative counties and to the accomplishment of the best results, they would soon be able to devise and put in operation a comprehensive and well matured plan of common school effort, and to prosecute the same with telling effect. In what other way can the dis- trict schools be so soon and so effectually supplied Avitli qualified teach- ers, or with teachers of improved qualifications ? How otherwise can the body of the people be so well instructed in regard to the claims of public education, the principles of teaching, the evils of mis-education, the ele- ments and conditions of successful instruction, and the general economy of schools and school management? Is it seen in what other manner the comparatively trifling sum named could better be made to subserve the purposes for which the State, in compliance with the requirements of the Constitution, has established the system of free schools ?"* This plan suggests the present plan of New York. It is quoted in full because for many years it was the accepted plan of those who thought to improve the institute work of the state. It Avas strongly endorsed by Superintendent Bateman's immediate successors, Mr. Etter . and Mr. Slade. Mr. Etter, in his report for 1875 and 1876 said that the management of institutes and the methods of instruction "should to- some extent be under the control and direction of the state superin- tendent of public instruction. He should have authority to employ a few of the most competent and thorough instructors in the professional training of teachers, and be permitted to send them to those counties where their work in the institutes and their addresses to the people are most needed.^f He asked the General Assembly to appropriate the sum of five thousand dollars annually for this purpose, such amount to be at the disposal of the state superintendent. He also suggested the pro- priety of charging a small fee for each certificate issued, which fee was * Ninth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1S71- 72, pp. 69, 70, 71. t Eleventh Biennial Report, Superintendent Public Instruction, Illinois, 1875- 76, p. 377. 200 to be used b}^ the county superintendent to defray the Uu'iil expenses of the institute. A bill embodying this recommendation in re»i;ard to fe^s was introduced in the Thirty-second (Jeneral Assembly and passed the Senate. It did not become a law, however, until IHSo. Mr. Etter re- newed bis recommendation in 1875). ]\leantime the State Teachers' As- sociation which met in 1878 had passed the foUowin*;- resolution : "This association heartily endorses the proposition to establish a system of teachers' institutes, to be conducted principally at the expense of the state by regularly appointed agents." Mr. Slade reprinted in his re- port of 187y-80 the Bateman plan in full and earnestly endorsed it. Jn 1883 by an amendment to the school law it was provided tliat each applicant for a certificate or for the renewal (if a certificate should pay to the county superintendent a fee of one dollar, and that the fees so collected should be used to defray the expenses of a teachers' institute to be hold annually for not less than five (hiys. It was also ])rovided that the comity superintendent might, with the concurrence of the state superintendent of ])ublic instruction, ])rocure such assistance as may be necessary to conduct said institutes at such times as the schools of the county arc generally clost'd and that two or more adjoining counties might hold an institute together. Finally in 1887 the tollowin-r amend- ment to the school law was enacted: "The timejiot exceeding three days in any one term, or five days in one school year, during term tirne, actually spent by a teacher of any public school in this st:itc in attend- ance u])oii a teachers' institute, held under the dii'cction of the county superintendent of schools, shall be considered lime lawtully spent by such tcai lici' in the service of the district where such teacher is employed, and no deduction of wages shall be made for such absences. And it shall he the duty of the school oflicers and hoards of education to allow teachers to close their schools for sucli attendance upon such institute."* This brings us to the completion of (he institute plan now in operation. Since 1887 no change has been nuidc in the law regarding institutes. The suhject has received consideration, however, not only hy superin- tendents of public instruction in oHice since Ihal lime, hut also by the teachers of the state. In 1S!);5. at a meeting of the county superinten- dents' association a couimittee ol' Ihrei' was appointed consisting of Henry IJaab, IMarviiU' (^uakenhush and Allen 15. Martin, to report a systenuitic plan for institute work. This coiuniittee sent to the county superintendents of the state and to "some successful institute instructors in this and adjoining states" a list of questions. From the answers re- ceived and from their own experience concerning the conduct of in- stitutes they olfered the following suggestions: "Firyl — We regard the institute as a temporary expedient so long as hetter provision for the education of teachers is not made bv the Stall'. We ar'. howevc''. on this account, not of llu' opinion that tln' institute should Iteeome a tlung of the past when the state has established a number of normal schools sulTicient to educate all that are to teach in the i)uhlic schools. Hence, the institute should he a n(U-mal school which, foi- a short period of time, * lUiiKiis School Law, Artich^ VII, .S.'cti.m 11. -U E C 210 attempts to give instruction in the several branches as well as in the principles and methods for imparting it, and in proper doctrines con- ceruiiig school government, school hygiene and sanitation, the ethics and gesthetics of education. The work of the institute must, therefore, be comprehensive and rather calculated to start the student-teachers in the correct way of doing things, than that it can undertake to give extensive academic instruction or complete courses in psychology and pedagogic*. It is, furthermore, evident that lengthy discussions of sub- jects can no^• be given, that frequently statements have to go without full argument, tliat the student-teachers have to do their own thinking to grasp the thought involved by the instructor, which has generally been accepted as truthful and correct. On the whole, it may be said that the institute is what the county superintendent chooses to make it; first, by his own knowledge of the wants of the profession, and the energy he brings to the task; and, second, by the selection he makes of the instructors available for the work. In every institute there should be, at least, one instructor who towers far above the teachers enrolled so that the latter may look up to him as the beacon light. To employ local talent merely to keep the money raised in the county, is a wrong done the teachers who have a right to get the very best service from the institute. We are far tvom discountenancing the employment of competent men of the county in which the institute is held, provided they possess superior qualifi- cations; for .young men must be given an opportunity to develop in this kind of work. That a mature plan for each county's institute may be the outcome, a consultation of county superintendents and instructors before the institute opens, seems imavoidable, aij.d such face-to-face meeting is preferable to mere correspondence. We recommend most strenuously that the county superintendent call his instructors together and form- ulate a definite plan and program before the institute opens. We deprecate the custom, sometimes resorted to, of making license to teach dependent on attendance at the institute ; the work of the institute should be made so good and serviceable that teachers can not afford to stay away from it. Second — In some counties, it may be necessary to hold schools of instruction in which the student-teachers may acquire a better knowl- edge of the different liranches, but we wish to emphasize the state- ment that the institute proper shall not continue over a longer period than one, possibly two weeks. We believe in intensity of instruction rather than dilution. The interest, the enthusiasm, which should be aroused in the institute, can not be kept up throughout a longer session. Third — The principal aims set forth in section one of this report should be constantly before the mind of the county superintendent; it should, however, be modified according to changed conditions and demands as they appear to the superintendent in his school visitation ; e. g., the superintendent finds that a certain branch is poorly taught, may be totally neglected in the schools, or the sanitation of the house 211 &Dd tire premises are not what they ought to be, provision should be made to remedy these defects. Or, it may be found that a number of teachers excel in certain lines, xln opportunity should be given to them to lay their methods before the body of the teachers. Fourth — When the enrollment at an institute does not exceed 75 or 80, the institute need not necessarily be divided into sections, unless the actual conditions of the schools of the county demand such di- vision, especially, when the great number of the schools of the county are ungraded. When the enrollment exceeds the above named num- ber, a division into sections should be made on the line of scholarship, experience in teaching and former attendance on institutes, of which the superintendent is the judge. Work which is conducted on the lec- ture plan, and in which personal recitation by the student and per- gonal supervision by the instructor are not essential, does not require a division into sections, and it may be attended to in general session. Under this head are included school government, school hygiene and sanitation, school economy, and lectures on ethics. We do not recom- mend that all branches taught in the schools should be taught regu- larly in the institute every year, but we do recommend that, besides the recitations in pedagogics, the presentation of every branch should be so conducted b}' the instructor as to carry along the principles and methods of teaching it. Less theory, more practice, should be our motto. The branches, however, which do need constant attention, are English and American literature in their best types, the mathematics, and good oral and written expression, purity of style, a care of the mother tongue. In addition to these, we should recommend drill in light gymnastics, vocal music and drawing. The natural sciences de- mand instruction from things rather than books; laboratory work and the examination of the natural object, in which the treatment of one animal, one plant, one experiment, may serve as a type for the many. In history, it is more important to give the manner of presentation and the method of study than the teaching of historical facts; these can be committed by the teacher without the help of the institute. The question whether the teachers should do any studying of books during the institute is frequently asked. It is our opinion that the mental work of six or seven hours, especially during the time of year when the institute is generally held, does not admit of hard study. How- ever, this does not exclude the looking up of authorities, of preparation for a recitation or of the writing of model work. Let the members of the institute bring with them all the freshness and enthusiasm every morning so that the session may be inspiring. In conclusion, we wish to offer a suggestion on which experience, or rather non-experience, forbids us to make any recommendation, namely, the planning of several institutes in advance for a number of years, so that each succeeding year's work may be a continuation of the work of the preceding year. Under favorable circumstances and in counties where the body of teachers does not change very much in 213 the course of time, this plaiming of the work I'or several years in ad- vance deserves notice, and should be tried l)y pro^iri'cssive county super- intendents.''* Jn 1893 and in 1894 a state institute for the licensed institute workers of the State was held. The expenses of these institutes were paid out of the contingent fund of the Superintendent of Public In- struction. The Superintendent of Public Instruction requested an ap- propriation for conducting what was called the State institute, but it v.as not granted. This resume of the legislation in regard to institutes, together with reference? to various plans proposed in regard to conducting them, is made to indicate something of the attention Avhich they have hereto- fore received. It will be interesting to notice the growth of institutes in the State from the beginning. The following table shows the in- crease in the nu7nber of counties holding institutes and in the number of institutes from vear to vear since 1857 : Table II. SJioiriuf/ ihc uiunher of Counties in which Institutes uxre held, the total ninnher of Institutes in the State, and the total attendance for each year since lSo7. Year. Counties. Institutes. Attendance. Year Counties. Institutes. Attendance. 1857.. 20 30 * ,1883.. 70 167 fi.877 1858.. 33 52 * 1884.. 80 82 7,487 18.=i9.. * * * 1885.. 99 102 11,517 1860 . . 4t 84 1,924 1886.. 101 110 13,f60 1861.. 31 41 2.100 1887.. 97 107 14,428 1862 . . .SO 37 1.554 1888.. 102 111 14,!-55 1863.. 28 38 1.921 1889.. 97 108 14,r9.1 1864.. a.T r,o 2,167 1890.. 97 133 15,f03 186.1 . . 32 46 2. 457 1891.. 97 128 14.712 1866.. 42 56 3,199 1892 . . 100 129 15.022 1867 . . 67 131 .5, 129 1893.. 100 135 16,178 1868.. 71 1.59 6.120 1894.. 95 114 14, .577 1869.. 73 118 4.651 1895 . . 96 102 14,926 1870.. 96 H9 5, 868 1896., 97 141 16,735 1871.. 82 119 7,494 1897.. 101 124 18,fi07 1872.. 87 160 7,771 1898.. 101 112 18,510 1873.. 63 122 5,761 1899.. 97 110 17,403 1874.. 73 184 6; 713 l9no.. 99 121 17,762 1875.. 71 260 7. 063 1901.. 100 116 18.305 1876.. 96 229 7.401 1902 . . 101 1.32 17,009 1877 . . 73 279 8.010 1903.. 91 112 16.478 1878.. 7.5 226 7,491 1901 . . 97 122 16.946 1879.. .55 195 6.112 1905.. 97 lio 17.440 1880.. 7.5 225 8,424 1906.. 101 119 17.9.38 1881 . . 69 147 7,638 1907 . . 99 117 17.540 1882.. 66 151 6,557 190S . . 102 128 20, 132 The figures of this table show more clearly than could otherwise be presented how thoroughly the county institute is estaldished in Illinois. For more than fifty years it has been officially recognized as an efficient means of preparing men and women for the work of teaching. Since 1883 superintendents have been required to hold an annual institute. There are one hundred and two counties in the State. The figures * Twentieth Biennial Report, Superintendent Public Instruction, Illinois, 1893- 94, pages LXXIX-LXXXI. •21?) showing the mimhor of counties in which the institutes are held seem to indicate that all county suj^crintendents do not comply with this re- quirement. It will appear that the figures under "■'counties'* in the table sl^ould be one hundred and two in each year. The apparent discrepancy i*:. due to the fact that two annual institutes of a county may be held v, jthin the same school year and thus for the year preceding or following that county may be reported as having no institute. In general, it may be said that every county in Illinois" has a county teachers' institute. While there has been from the beginning a gTadual increase of at- tendance upon institutes, it will be observed that a larger number is reported for 1897 than for any year since that time except 1908. Slight differences may here be due also to the method of reporting. Still, since the number of teachers in the State, according. to the re- port of 1908, is 28,524, and since due allowance must be made for a 1 irge nu]nber of persons enrolled in the institute who are not teachers but prospective teachers or visitors, it may safely be said that ten thou- sand teachers in Illinois do not attend the institutes. 214 THE PURPOSE AND VALUE OF THE COUNTY TEACHERS INSTITUTE. The primary purpose of a teachers' institute is to secure hetter teach- ing. The first consideration, therefore, should be the needs of the teachers in the county in which the institute is held, for in the train- ing of teachers, as in all educational work, the place to begin is with the ideas and interests of those who are to be trained or instructed. The institutes of a state in which the majority of teachers are graduates of colleges, universities or normal schools, as in Massachusetts and Cali- fornia, should not be identical in aim or method with the institutes of a state in which teachers have received inadequate academic and little or no professional preparation. It would be unpedagogical,' therefore, as well as futile, to lay down .the specific purposes of the county in- stitute with the expectation or the idea that all institutes should con- form to them. We may, however, consider with benefit the question as to Avhat the main purpose of county institutes should be, taking into consideration the opportunity of teachers for professional and academic training and the requirements that are to be made of them. All who become teachers in the schools should have a high school training or its equivalent, and should have passed a successful examin- ation in English, the principles and methods of teaching, and the sub- jects of the elementary school curriculum. To continue in the work of teaching they should acquire, during the next four years, professional training at the rate of nine weeks per year, or be subjected to new ex- aminations. Provision would thereby be made for fair academic prep- aration by the teacher and probably a modicum of professional training. This preparation and training should be acquired in schools recognized by the State educational authorities as properly equipped for the pur- ].>ose. Instruction in an institute should receive no recognition. The institutes of the most advanced states may. in the future, it is hoped, safely neglect to some extent the provisions of instruction in the branches to be taught, and to some extent also instruction in the prin- ciples and methods of teaching, for both of these forms of instruction niay be obtained elsewhere. Again, a higher standard of academic and professional requirements implies a corresponding increase in teachers' wages. With better wages nnd with the opportunities provided by normal schools and colleges, teachers may equip themselves for their work, and should not be ex- 215 cused from" so doing on account of attendance upon institutes. The institute can in no sense be a substitute for the college or the normal school. Page's definition of an institute as "a normal school having a very short course of study,"* is misleading. Instruction in the sub- ject to be taught, in the principles and methods of teaching, and in the work of organizing, managing and governing schools, may be given, perhaps ought to be given, and will probably be given in any case, but this should not be the main purpose of the institute. Eecognizing then that the requirements of teachers may, and prob- ably will for a long time, make it advisable to devote a considerable amount of attention in the institute to the matter of extending the teacher's knowledge of special branches and in perfecting skill in methods of instruction, we still insist that the institute should not be conducted primarily for these ends. The main purpose of the insti- tute is to stimiilate the desire of teachers for professional excellence so that they will be impelled to increase their professional knowledge and skill in schools established primarily for that purpose. The chief emphasis must therefore be laid upon developing in the minds of those who attend the institute, true conceptions in regard to the science and art of education and the dignity and nobility of the work of the teacher ; upon inciting in the teacher, and the public generally, an enthusiasm for education; upon promoting a professional spirit and an esprit clii corps which will raise to the maximum the practical efficiency of the teachers of the county. As to the benefits, general and special, which may be derived from the county institute they seem in this day to be too obvious to need special argument or emphasis. It may be interesting, however, .and it ought to be inspiring, to* read what a former Superintendent of Public Instruction in Illinois thought and wrote on this subject fifty years ago. In his report of 1859-GO, Newton Bateman argued for a more systematic plan of organizing and conducting county institutes and urged the Ijegislature to vote them lilieral State support. His remarks are quite as applicable now as they were then. "The benefits of these conventions," said he, "to the teaclicrs wlio attend them, and to the schools and community, are incalculable. The advantages to the teachers are general and special, professional and social. Through the lectures and addresses of eminent educators and schoj-irs, tl'ov ob- tain broadi'r and clearer views of the laws of mental development, and the true philosophy of teachincf. They learn that the laws of mnterial growth are not more immutable than those of intellectual growth, and that the mental faculties always unfold in a fixed and regular order of succession, first the perceptive, then the reflective, etc.. and that a dis- regard or reversal of this natural order by the teacher, must result in failure, or such a perversion and distortion of the intellectual powers of the child as would be worse than failure. They learn that manv teachers do not succeed, because they, themselves, have never been educated ; because they have mistaken mere knowledge for discipline ; • Page on Teaching, p. 310. 216 the power of renienibering and knowing, for the power of' methodical thinking and reasoning; the knowledge of a thousand isolated facts, for the master}- of a single all-embracing principle. They learn that to be a truly successful teacher, involves more than they had ever dreamed of before — that, while anybody can "keep school," none but a scholar, and, to some extent a philosopher, can educate. They learn that to equal the extreme delicacy and skill required to wisely direct the invisible forces of the brain and heart — to fully comprehend the sweep of their responsibilities, the issues of character and destiny that depend upon their forming hand, and go down the ages to bless or curse the race; that for all this, a range of scholarship, a precision of judgment and discrimination, and a philosophic symmetry of culture are demanded, which challenge to the utmost, the best powers of the best minds in the country. Teachers who have never before rightly estimated the importance and difficulty of their work, are thus led to judge of their own attainments by the light of a true standard, to "magnify their office," and put forth the needful efforts to become teachers indeed. It is a fact which can not be denied, that comparatively few teachers and school officers really laiow what sort of an education they are pro- viding; whether it is well or ill-adapted to the purpose intended; whether it is founded upon the. unchanging principles of mental, progress, or up- on crude theories, half digested schemes, and superficial views of the philosophy of mind. Few, comparatively, are aware that there are any well settled maxims upon Avhich, as an immutable basis, the whole super- structure of all sound culture must rest. And hence, men who can "keep the children still" six hours a day, and hear them "say their lessons," are deemed fit to be teachers. At the institute> the fallacy of these views is exposed, and their mischievous results are pointed •out. The truth is there demonstrated, that the fundamental princi- ples of all correct teaching, by which the work of education must be •conducted, may be as clearly understood, and are as unalterable as the laws of light by which the telescope is constructed, or the rules of per- spective and coloring by which the canvas is made to l)lush with beauty; that the attempt to teach without a knowledge of the former, is as absurd as to attempt the combination of lenses or the production of a picture without a knowledge of the latter, and far more disastrous in its effects. But not only are teachers" institutes of groat value as conducive to a more adequate conception of the exalted character of the work and the broad pliilnsophic priuciples upon whicli it must be conducted, but also in affording direct assistance in ]jarticular cases; in aiding the teacher in the specific lal>ors and ])r;uti(al difficulties of the school room. It often happens that tlie teacher is in doubt about some point in grammar, some principle in science, some problem in mathematics, or some question of government. The cloud may have remained for years, and the point over which it rested have been anticipated with uneasiness, and passed with misgiving and dissatisfaction. The teacher is troubled by the consciousness that he does not clearly comprehend 2ir the subject himself, and of course cannot make it plain to others — the thought haunts and depresses him. This is not a fancy picture; it is confirmed by the experience of many teachers. Now, let that teacher go to an institute and state his difficulty, and, in nine cases out of ten, he will find, among the shrewd and experienced teachers present, a complete solution of the mystery; the cloud is gone, and he will return to his school with a light heart, no longer obliged to slur over or pre- tend to explain what he knows he does not understand. And then, too, the same answer that satisfied his mind, may have removed the difficul- ties from a score of other minds, and thus the teaching in half the schools of a county is improved by that single solution at that institute. An instance in point now occurs. There was a teacher who did not clearly apprehend the philosophy of the rule for taking the cube root. While he could readily apply the rule in working examples, he never had understood it, and well knew that he had not, despite his bold assur- ance in the presence of his class. When at last the veil was lifted, and the clear light of positive knowledge broke upon his mind, as he saw the principle demonstrated, at an institute, by the aid of an algebraic bi- nomial cube, his delight could scarcely be restrained. Archimedes never shouted 'T have found it" more joyfully. Then, again, it often happens that there are particular subjects which the teacher is unable to illustrate and teach successfully, although he thoroughly understands them. He resorts to various expedients, but the best method, the "happy thought," does not occur to him — he can not reproduce upon the blackboard, or in words, the clear outlines of the picture as it exists in his own mind, and is compelled to witness the unsatisfied expression of his pupils, but too plainly assuring him that he has not succeeded. Xone but a teacher who has felt the burden of such an inability to explain to others what he knows that he himself com- prehends, can appreciate the sense of relief experienced, when the felic- itous hint of some brother teacher at an institute, reveals the "better way" in a moment, and ends the trouble forever. And what is true respecting the manner of presenting and illustrat- ing particular points in the several branches of study, is equally true of the general method of teaching the whole subject. Many teachers entirely fail in the attempt to teach geography, history, etc., not be- cause they lack a fair knowledge of those subjects, but because they do not know how to present them to others; they are ignorant of the best methods or have adopted vicious ones in their stead. It is the province of the teachers' institute to discuss methods of teaching, expose the faulty, to demonstrate and vindicate the wise and true. Ignorance, and false ideas of the nature, ends and means of school government, are sources of greai perplexity, and the proximate causes of disaster to many a young teacher. Skill in school discipline conies from experience only. There is, indeed, great diversity of natural gifts in this respect. Some men have a quick perception of the subtle springs of thought and action, and a power of guidance and control to which other men can never attain. But the truth remains, that effici- 218 ency aud tact in directing the \\a3\\ard impulses, diverse natures, and complex mental, moral aud physical manifestations of youth, spring not from intuition, but are developed gradually, by trial. The great importance of this department of the teacher s duly can hardly be over-estimated. How many children are seriously injured, if not hope- lessly ruined, by the ignorance or indiscretion of teachers in matters of discipline; how many schools have been broken up, how many com- munities have been embroiled in angry strife and vindictive litigation from the same cause. jS'o other one subject receives a larger share of careful examination at .an institute, than school government. All the diil'crent systems are compared; the various methods, motives and ex- pedients adopted by the several members of the association, in their dill'erent helds of labor, are brought to view, and the bearings and re- sults of each rigidly scrutinized, and its claims to favor admitted or rejected according to its character and fruits. Particular examples of special difficulty are cited, and the mode of treatment pursued, Avith its effects, minutely narrated. Now, into what a school of improve- ment is the young teacher here introduced, what wealth of suggestion is here presented to him, what variety of experience, what affluence of hints and expedients. He can hardly fail, in the multitude of cases reported and of resources and principles discussed, to find some ex- actly apposite to his own need; and thus, in a sense, he anticipates the results of his own experience, and becomes fortified, by the combined wisdom and experience of all his associates, against the day of trial in his own school. He acquires, in a single week, knowledge of inestimable value, for which he might otherwise have waited for years, and for want of which he might have groped and blundered and failed. It is to him as if he had visited, in person, all the schools represent-ed in the institute, and noted for himself the results in each; a course, the time and expense of which no teacher can aiford. The professional spirit, the "esprit du corps," is quickened by these associations. Teachers are made to feel that they belong to an organ- ized and honorable profession; to attain a front rank in which, they are stimulated, by a laudable ambition, to put forth renewed efforts. The standard of professional knowledge and skill is elevated ; the worthy and the industrious are recognized and encouraged, while pretenders and drones are detected and disowned. Thus -the ranks of the pro- fession are sifted and purified. The views of different authors who have written on the subject of teaching, are fully canvassed, courses of professional reading are suggested to the teacher, and suitable books for teachers' libraries are designated. No teacher can maintain his position in this day, who does not read and study an_^^think, as well as teach. Again, the social advantages flowing from these frequent reunions of teachers, are eminently deserving of notice. The position of the teacher, except in large towns and cities, is comparatively isolated, and many a sensitive spirit feels this most keenly. His life-path is remote from the din of commerce, the busy avenues of trade, and the exciting arena of politics. There are, it is true, advantages in this; the mind 219 and heart are more tranquil, more in harmony with the calm pursuits of knowledge and instruction to which his life is devoted. But, man is a social being, and none have more need of genial converse and sym- pathy, of intercourse with those of kindred tastes and pursuits, than teachers. Their trials and enjoyments are peculiar — they have hours of sorrow and gladness, into which none can enter save those who have known the same. A sense of loneliness and isolation often comes over the minds of teachers, especially of such as pursue their vocation in sequestered rural districts. This often results in morbid sensitiveness, or confirmed despondency. Against such tendencies, there is no an- tidote equal in effect to the enthusiasm, the sparkling spirits, the cor- dial sympathy, the mental life, the ceaseless friction and flash of in- tellect, evoked by a well-conducted teachers' institute. By a sort of spiritual '"induction," the electric current generated by the contact of associated minds, acts and reacts, till it permeates and vivifies the whole. Finding that others have experienced equal or greater trials, each takes courage to endure or triumph over his own. The friendships formed at the institute are often most pleasant and profitable, and lasting as life. Here the habits, manners, tastes, are improved and refined. Egotism, conceit, narrowness, and bigotry, to which teachers are supposed by some to be peculiarly exposed from being long accustomed to deal with children., by whom, their superiority is habitually acknowledged give place to broader views, and humbler self-estimates. From the same cause, the tone of thought and feeling assumes a stronger and manlier type. The whole character, in brief, is elevated, strengthened and dig- nified. But if the teachers only were benefited by institutes, the argument in their favor, though unanswerable, would be shorn of much of its real strength. Such is not the case, nor indeed is it possible that it should be. To say that the schools themselves' must share in all the advantages accruing to the teachers, is to state a seTf-evident .truth. The relation of the former to the latter, is simply that of the stream to the fountain. The effects upon the school of a soimder philosophy, a broader culture, and a higher aim in the teachers, are as immediate and refreshing as those of showers and sunshine upon the parched and sterile soil. Order springs from confusion, energy from stagnation, intellectual life from intellectual death, as by the wand of a magician. The new life of the teacher is communicated to the scholars, and pene- trates the school in all its interests, through and through. Not a new idea, a valuable hint, or a clearer knowledge of any subject, is received by the teacher at the institute, which is not imparted to the pupils, or used for the improvement of the school. All his increase of capital, of whatsoever sort it may be, is at once invested, and becomes immed- iately, richly and permanently productive. Finallv, and as a sequence from the reasons already advanced, the argmnent for the utility of teachers' institutes culminates in the good results following from them to the community at large, and to the general interests of education. All the exercises and discussions are open, not orilv to teachers, but to school officers, parents, and the friends 220 of common schools, without distinction. The iiu'ctiii^is are always at- tended by large numbers of persons who are not teachers, but who are deeply interested in the success of our system of public instruction. Among the good results which accrue to the community directly and necessarily, from the presence of the citizens at these dt'liberations, are the following: 1. . The public mind is aroused to the transcendent importaiice of the subject of education. No obstacle to the progress of free schools is so formidable as the profound indifference and apathy of the people. The most convincing logic, the most moving appeals, learning the most jorofound, eloquence the most persuasive and captivating, will all be lost upon those who do not perceive the necessity and value of the measures proposed for their adoption. But, let the vastness of the is- sues involved be clearly seen, and felt to be commensurate with the earnestness of the invocation to duty, and men will act. So it is in educational work. The people are indifferent. They can be indifferent, only because they do not apprehend as a clear and definite reality, the momentous interests to themselves, their children and their country which cluster around the question of universal education. But let the truth he presented in its real colors, its own simple greatness, and there will be an end of indifference. Let the relation of universal intelligence and virtue to the welfare of the country and the fate of the Republic Ije pointed out — let the peril of entrusting the destinies of a government like ours, the principles of which are embodied in written constitutions and laws, to the arbitration of masses who are unable to read and write be brought home to the mind — let the fact be demonstrated that trusts and responsibilities, vaster in extent, and more sacred in character than were ever before committed to any people, are in the providence of God, committed to us, and that the most momentous question that can be propounded to this age is: Have we wisdom and virtue enough to redeem those trusts and discharge those responsibilities? Let the ap- palling certainty that if we neglect the education of our children, if we do not teach them how^ to use the blessings of lil)crty, we shall perish by a deeper and more terrible perdition than ever yet befell any people, be impressed upon the public heart and conscience. Let all this be done, and the people will rally round the cause of education with beat- ing hearts and trembling hopes and a devotion scarcely surpassed by that which the ancient Israelites lavished upon the Ark of God. And all this it is the province of a well-conducted teachers' institute to ac- complish. 2. A true standard is set before the people, by which they can de- termine the qualifications of teachers, and the character of schools. That good schools and competent teachers are the exception, in the State, and not the rule, can not be denied. The reason of this is to be found, to a great extent, in the equally undenial)le fact, that very few, comparatively, have a clear conception of what constitutes a good teacher and a good school — of what elements must form the one, and what principles must govern the other. Hence, directors and other 221 school officers, having no definite knowledge, no well-settleii princi- ples, no fixed land-marks to guide their action, will be as likely to go wrong as right, to make an unwise choice of teachers, and indorse false views of instruction anxl discipline as to secure the best teachers and the Ijest methods of instruction. None but he, wlio has a cultivated eye and a knowledge of art, would be trusted to select a gallery of paintings — a merchant would not employ. a farmer to purchase his goods, nor the latter confide to the judgment of the former the management of his estates. But the results in each of these cases would be as likely to be satisfactory and fortunate, as those which ensue from the false standard, or blind clioice of school officers. It is not pretended that the unlettered and the non-professional can become adepts in science and in the phi- losophy of teaching, by merely attending an institute, nor is this es- sential to the end in view. But it is confidently claimed, that many false ideas will be removed, that many guiding principles will be clearly established, that great progress wall be made towards a clearer judgment and a wiser policy. Xo man, I care not how humble his intellect or alien his pursuits, can retire from a w^ell organized institute, upon the exercises of which he has closely attended, wdthout information which will make him a better director, and a more intelligent friend of educa- tion, for the rest of his life. All who attend will be benefited more or Ic.-s — all w ill be firmer in their support of a wise, and efficient policy, hceauee all will better understand what such a policy is. But, grant that only a few, after all, can be sufficiently enlightened in the principles, an(l instructed in the details of the subject, to'become competent leaders in the educational work; enough at least of the nature, importance and difficulty of the work, can be learned by all to demonstrate the wisdom of committing the management of it to those few, and that alone would \)v a gain of vast importance. For it is an almost universal truth that the most ignorant are the most confident; the most incompetent are the most self-sufficient. A decisive step in the right direction has been taken, therefore, when a community is brought to see that something snore than moral honesty and mere business capacity is required in a school commissioner, a school director and a teacher, and seeing this, to consent that the best qualified, and no others, shall fill those difficult ])ositions. It is not conceded, however, that tlie exercises of the institute do not furnish the intelligent non-professional observer with reliable data for an acurate estimate of the teacher's abilities, in some important particulars. He can form a correct judgment of his aptness in teaching and ability to illustrate with felicity. These qualities by no means al- ways accompany adequate scJiolarship. While it may be true, as a general rule, that a man can state clearly what he understands clearly, and, hence, that inaliility to explain is prima facie evidence of imperfect knowledge, still the exceptions to this are very numerous. It can not be doubted that the powers of language and of imagination, by which apposite symbols and pictures of truth are summoned at the moment of need, are so limited in some men. of whose learning there is no question, that they can not succeed as teachers. Whatever the cause, the defect is a most serious one. Now, 222 it is not too much to say, that any attentive observer of the proceedings of an institute can know, infallibiy, wlietlier a teacher jjossesses this qualification or not, so far as relates to subjects within the range of his own eojnprehension. If it is an exercise in arithmetic, for example, he knows wnether the teacher makes it clear to his own mind, or not — whether the illustrations are pertinent and forcible, or not — and know- ing this in his own case, he can reason, from himself to others. Nor is it material, so far as a knowledge of the fact is concerned, -whether the cause be defective scholarship, or a peculiarity of mental consti- tution — Avhether the teacher ''knows but can not tell," or does not know, and therefore can not tell. So in grammar, geography, history, reading, etc., the observer knows whether the exercises are rendered per- spicuous and interesting to him or not, and can form his judgment ac- cordingly. So also, in questions of discipline, etc., it is easy to see whether the principles and methods advocated are wise and prudent. Thus by hearing fundamental principles examined and demonstrated at the institutes by able and experienced men — by comparing the efforts of the members with these established principles, and noting the success or failure of each teacher, the people have placed before them a correct standard, theoretical and practical, by which they can judge of the essential elements of good schools and competent teachers. The bene- fits that will redound to the commimity from this improved capacity of school officers and the people, to estimate the wants of the schools, and the conditions of success, are incalculable. A new order of things will ensue. Higher ideas will prevail. With the knowledge .of the vast distance between good schools and bad ones, the latter will rapidly cease to be tolerated. Pompous mediocrity and blustering assurance will give place to sound scholarship and modest worth. Masters in the art of teaching will be employed, and well paid, while sciolists and smatterers will not be allowed at any price. The truth that the best schools are in the end the cheapest — that no district can afford to pur- chase the services of an incompetent teacher, will advance towards uni- versal recognition. 3. Mutual confidence and good understanding are established be- tween the people, and school officers and teachers. As the former learn more of the trials and difficulties of the latter, s*. spirit of sym- pathy and forbearance is generated, and above all the necessity of a firm and cordial cooperation in all just measures for the good of the schools is made apparent. Teachers and school officers, on the other hand, often find that they have been betrayed into harsh judgments of the conduct of the people; into wrong impressions of their motives, feelings and purposes. The fact is not seldom elicited, that what was construed into malevolence, or bigotry, or wanton interference, was in fact only the result of misapprehension. Much that was attributed to a want of respect and sympathy is found to be due to a want of information only. And thus, mutual esteem, unity of aim, and hearty cooperation, the great bulwarks of strength and success, are happily secured. 223 It 'would be eas_v to extend this line of remarks, and adduce other equally weighty considerations in favor of sustaining and multiplying these simple agencies for the development of our system of public in- struction. Enough has been said, it is confidently believed, to arrest the notice and secure the candid examination, if not the approval of the representatives of the people and friends of education. It is im- portant, however, to add that the views and reasonings now presented, and to which your favorable regard is respectfully and earnestly in- vited, derive strong confirmation from the actual experience of the past two years. Teachers' institutes have been held, during the period embraced in this je|)ort, in about fifty counties in this State. And the facts authorize the emphatic statement, that, wherever they have been rif/htly conducted by able and experienced educators, the results have amply vindicated their claim to the high position here assigned to them. They have afforded a sure index of the vitality, condition and progress of the common school cause. But this leads to another and most important view of the subject. The conviction can not be resisted by a candid and well-informed ob- server of our educational affairs, that the condition italicised in the above sentence, is absolutely essential to the realization of the advant- ages here urged as the legitimate fruits of teachers' institutes — upon no other condition can their defense be maintained upon the high ground here assumed — upon no other would I attempt it. To accom- plish the beneficient purpose of their organization; to justify the need- ful expenditure of time and money, however small that may be; to realize the expectations of the friends of education, the institutes must be guided' by the counsels of wisdom and prudence — the exercises must be conducted by able, experienced and scientific teachers. If the "blind lead the blind," the "ditch" will be the inevitable destination of both. The necessity of bringing to the work the highest ability and talent at our command, must be evident from the nature of tlie work itself. An institute is a school — but the pupils are teachers. The instruction, therefore, to be adapted, must be of a higher character, a wider range than that of ordinary schools. It must deal with systems and principles, and philosophies, as well as facts and details. Limited experience and ordinar}' skill and learning are not adequate for these higher depart- ments of the work. There is, indeed, much for all to do, and no institute is true to its aim in which every member does not bear a part — in which the powers of each are not tested, and the services of each made to contribute to the common fund of improvement. But the imperative necessity of a directing mind, to lay out the work, unfold the higher principles of the science of teaching, and hold the insiitide steadily on its legitimate course, is not thereby in the least impaired. Without this the institute would drift out into the sea of irrelevant discussion, or waste its time on unprofitable trifles, or be led astray by false philosophy, or degenerate into a scene of mere recreation and s])nrt.''* * Third Biennial Report, Superintendent Public Instiuction, Illinois, 1869-70, pp. 40-49. 224 Organizing and Conducting Jnsti rriEs. The county institute work of a state, like its other educational agen- cies, should be systematized under the executive head of the school sys- tem. For this reason the State Board of Education or the Superinten- dent of Public Instruction should be authorized and empowered to pro- pose plans for organizing and conducting institutes. There should be, perhaps, no- legal provision requiring these plans to be followed. County superintendents should not be relieved of authority and responsibility in regard to organizing and conducting their own institutes. The plans l^roposed, however, will be, or should be, the product of the most care- ful thought and the most painstaking incpiiry into the educational needs and conditions of the diifei-ent counties of the State and also the in- stitute experience of other parts of the country. Being the result of such careful study they should be so suggestive and helpful, and con- sequently so satisfactory, that county superintendents will voluntarily adopt them and adapt them, as closely as condition:, will permit, in organizing and conducting the institutss of their own counties. The institute work of the State will thus tend to become more and more systenuitic and uniform, and more and more designed to realize com- mon educational purposes. County institutes are a part of the general educational system of the State and should therefore be systematized to the extent that system promotes efficiency. It is impossible to estab- lish and complete uniformity and yet preserve those elements of spon- taneity and local adaptation which are essential to a successful institute. A rigid system attained at the expense of local interest and initiative is not the kind of system and uniformity desired. The different educa- tional conditions of different counties make it necessary that any State plan for organizing and conducting county institutes be more or less elastic. This is a sufficient reason why, in organizing and conducting institutes, tlie relation of the State Board of Education and the Super- intendent of Public Instruction to county superintendents should be advisory and cooi)erative r::'.ther than authoritative. On the part of the State authorities, however, it should be an active and nof a passive relation. The l)oard should devise and pul)lish. [)lans, and then rely on the merits of these plans, and not on its own [jower to enforce them, to secure their adoption. Joint Institutes. In some of the states the law provides that two or more adjoining counties may hold an institute together. This is a wise provision which should be taken advantage of more frequently than is now the case in any of the states. There are great and obvious advantages, in the union of small counties which -have a suitable meeting place easily accessible to the teachers, for the purpose of holding an institute. There are dis- advantages, of course, but tlie advantages in the way of economy in pro- viding institute instruction, of a l)etter o])portun"ity in securing instruc- tors, and of the enthusiasm awakened through tlie association of a larger number of teachers, far outweigh them. If, as should bo the 325 case, the institutes of a state are held Avithin the school period and at about the same time, the holding of joint institutes will lessen the diffi- culty of securing a sufficient number of comiDctent instructors to carry on the work. The Time of Holding Institutes. County institutes should be held within the school year, and as soon after the schools open as practicable. There are several reasons why this is expedient. They should be held within the school year because they constitute naturally a part of the regular work of the school year and should be so considered by school officers and teachers, and by the public as well. This period ought to be the most convenient for the county superintendent, who needs the summer vacation for the clerical work of his office. On the opening of the schools he should be free to devote his time to supervision. The institute is an important if not an essential means to this end. The school period is more convenient for the teachers also for they should have their summers free to attend school, to devote to private study, rest and recreation, or to other methods of self improvement. It is hard to give to an institute held in the vacation period any immed- iate and vital relation to the actual school work of the county. The implication of a "summer institute'' is that it is held primarily for the teachers and not primarily for the schools. Beginning teachers espec- ially should have the entire summer vacation for attending a school which provides special preparation for their work as teachers. The certificat- ing plan of the commission requires an annually increasing amount of professional preparation. This requirement can not be met by attending the institute. If the institute is held within the summer vacation teachers engaged in securing the required preparation can not be present. The present practice in most counties is to excuse these teachers from attending the institute. But unless the objects of the school and the in- stitute are the same it is desirable that all the teachers be present in the institute whether they have attended school during the summer or not. The aim of the institute is chiefly professional and immediate. A county superintendent can no more aff^ord to excuse a teacher from attending than the superintendent of an industrial corporation whose ])roductive efficiency depends upon the progressive spirit and coopera- tion of individual men could afford to excuse any of them from attend- ing a meeting designed to promote the productive capacity of the ])lant. Again, if the institute is held soon after the opening of the school, teachers come to the institute with their minds upon educational prob- lems and the practical difficulties of the school room. They are, there- fore, in a more receptive mental attitude than they are likely to be in tlie summer vacation. Teachers who are beginning the work of the school room will have had time enough to become acquainted with some of the difficulties of teaching and to have had aroused in their mind definite inquiries in regard to the methods of teaching and govern- —15 E C 226 ment. The experience, however brief, is necessary in order to awaken the interest of tlie teachers to the highest degree in the instruction and work of the institute. It is an advantage, too, to have the teachers go immediately from the institute to apply their newly acquired knowledge and newly developed power in the work of the school room and to profit by the inspiration derived from the institute. The chief difficulty connected with holding the institutes of the State at the time suggested is that of securing a sufficient number of com- petent instructors to carry on the work. There will be many institutes in session at the same time. Xormal schools and universities will have begun their work for the vear and consequently few from the faculties fii these institutions will be available for institute instruction. It may, tlierefore, be desirable to begin the institute work of the State in the week preceding the opening of schools. But when this is done the in- stitute should be considered as a part of the school work of the year. Here is a matter in which a State director of institutes could be of great service in helping to arrange the institutes of tlie State so that about the same number of institutes might be conducted in consecutive weeks. Directors of Ixstitutes. To the extent that the State Board of Education and the Superin- tendent of Public Instruction are active in assisting in the work of organizing and conducting institutes, and in cooperating with county superintendents in securing competent instruction, there will need to be some personal agency for carrying their will into effect. This purpose will best be served through the appointment of a State director or direc- tors of institutes who will act under the immediate direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. This official should be an ex- pert in all matters pertaining to teachers' institutes and should devote a large part of his time, if not all of it, to assisting county superintendents in organizing and conducting institutes, to preparing outlines of courses of instruction, to consulting county superintendents, and to devising general plans to increase the economy and efficiency of the institute work of the State. He should give instniction in as many institutes as possible. If any part of his time is not required in the duties just mentioned, his services could be employed in the inspection of schools. Under the topic ''County Institutes of Illinois" it was pointed out that Sii)icrint('ii(lonts of Pulilic Instruction of this State, beginning with Newton Bateman, urged the appointment of a State agent whose chief function should be to encourage the organization of institutes. The organization of institutes, however, is no longer anywhere a subject of State concern, since institutes are held in every county in all the states. The subject of greatest interest now in connection with institutes is their improvement and the organization of the institute work of the State so as to secure competent instructors in a sufficient number and to promote desirable uniformity in the methods and aims of institute instruction. These ends can be achieved only by the careful super- vision of an expert institute director. 227 A director of institutes should serve as an institute instructor in as man}- counties as possible, and in the place of a special instructor em- ployed by the county superintendent, consequently he would save to the counties a large part of the salary he would receive from the State. The increased efficiency of institutes brought about by the efforts of a skillful institute director in conjunction with county -superintendents would far outweigh the expense of his employment. It is a ease in which a small expenditure should effect a great economy. In New York five institute conductors are employed by the state to organize and conduct the various teachers' institutes. The Duration of Institutes. If institutes are held within the school period they should continue not to exceed five days. A longer period is too large a break in the regular work of the schools, and is perhaps unnecessary to accomplish the main purposes of the institute unless these purposes are conceived as academic rather than professional. If academic instruction were the end aimed at very little of value could be accomplished in a Aveek. If under the plan proposed the institute continued for a longer time it would be likely to assume the character of a school for academic instruction and thus tend to defeat the higher purposes of professional insight and in- spiration. The Method of Securing Instructors and the Character of THE Instruction. As to the method of securing instructors for institutes, they should be secured by the county superintendent with the concurrence of the [ Superintendent of Public Instruction. This concurrence should be secured, however, before negotiating with an instructor and not after he has been employed, and the matter of ascertaining whether in a given case concurrence will be given should, as a rule, rest with the instructor himself and not with the county superintendent. It will, therefore, be necessary for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to keep and publish a list of the names of all persons eligible to give instruction in the institutes of the State. The manner in which this list shall be pre- pared, that is, the standard of qualifications to be established for those who desire to give institute instruction and the method of determin- ing whether the standard is attained, should be left with him or the _ State Board of Education. ■ Here again is revealed the relation which should exist between the W state educational authorities and the county su})erintendents in or- m ganizing and conducting the institutes of the State. There should be ■ left with the county superintendent a wide opportunity for initiative ■ and free choice in the selection of those who are to instruct his teachers. ■ At the same time the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the ■ State Board of Education should render him all possible assistance and 22S quality of instructiou in an institute is poor tlie institute must ueces- saxil}- be in part a failure. The problem of securing competent in- struction is therefore the most difficult problem of the institute, and no available means of arriving at a satisfactory solution of it should be neglected. Jt is not a difficult matter to secure instructors if no standard of qualilication is erected. The difficulty is to select from the vast num- ber willing to give instruction in institutes those who are qualified to do so. If the institute is to serve the purpose for w^hich it is intended, if it is to promote the scientific and professional spirit of teachers and arouse a 2)ermauent interest in the philosoph}' of education and its practical application in the school room, if it is to stimulate the earnest thought of the teachers and the 2:)ublic on educational questions and evoke sincere devotion to educational ends, the competence of instruc- tors must be unquestionable. They must be able and disposed to present sane views and solid matter. Without decrying the introduction in the institute of new theories and methods, and without disparaging the employment of that amount of humor necessary to awaken the fagging attention of teachers, it may be said emphatically that the institute is no place for visionaries and fun makers. Professional entertainers have their place and function and contribute a necessary social service, but their place is not in the institute. If entertainment is made the end of institute instruction the main purpose of the institute is defeated. The only instruction that is likely to be of permanent value is that which is instructive in character and serious in purpose. The purpose need not always be strictly pedagogical. The instruction which enlarges life's ideals and purposes may be no less valuable to the teacher than that which enlarges professional knowdedge. In general, however, it may be said that an institute instructor should be acquainted with the principles and methods of teaching and observe them in the presentation of his own instruction; that he should possess a knowledge of the prob- lems, the difficulties, the defects, the achievements and the ideals of our common schools; that he should have enthusiasm and the ability to present the material of his instruction in clear and forceful English, and that he be successful in securing the response of teachers to the presentation of his subject matter. A mistake that is often made is to load down the program of tlie institute with too much instruction. If the sessions are general and the lecture method is employed, as is usually the case in Indiana and Pennsylvania, two strong lecturers are sufficient. These should each deliver two lectures a day and each should have the opportunity to question the teachers on tlie subjects which he has discussed. The lectures of each of these instructors should be on one general subject, that is, the discussion should be continuous and thus designed to pro- duce a cumulative effect on the teachers. The superintendent and his instructors should agree beforehand on the lines of work to be pursued and deviations from tliat line should not be made except for sufficient cai;se. If these instructors are capable they will present all the instruc- 239 tion the teachers can assimihite. Anv time that remains, is needed, and should be taken by tiie county superintendent, himself, who should always be active in an institute in the discussion of educational ques- tions and in presenting to his teachers and calling forth from them plans for improving the schools of the coimty. The Attexdaxce of Teachers. During the time the county institute is in session the schools of the county should be closed and all teachers should be in attendance. For the week of the institute the wages of teachers should be allowed just the same as if they were engaged in teaching. This would involve some- times only a slight statutory change in the school law, as for instance in Illinois where the law now provides that "the time not exceeding three days in any one term, or five days in any one school 3^ear, during term time, actually spent by a teacher of any public school in this State in attendance upon a teachers' institute, held under the direction of the county superintendent of schools, shall be considered time lawfully expended by such teacher in the service of the district where such teacher is employed, and no deduction of wages shall be made for such absences."* 1 Jiis provision of the law implies that in attending the institute the teacher is serving the district, and this is true. The institute is estab- lished not primarily for the teachers but primarily for the schools. With- out the institute there can not be the most efficient school supervision or the most effective school work. The benefits of the institute, therefore accrue chiefly to the community. They result in better supervision, better teaching, and consequently better schools. The payment of wages to teachers for attendance at the institute is not, then, in the nature of a gratuity. It is, in part at least, payment rendered for sen-ice per- formed, and the payment should be cheerfully made because of the re- turns derived from it. It is unjust to the teachers to require them to sustain the loss of a week's wages while attending an institute established as a means of promoting the welfare of the conniiunity through the im- provement of the schools. Again, it is desirable, even essential, that all the teachers of the county should be present at the institute. The absence of a single teacher defeats to some extent the- purpose for which it exists. By tiie payment of wages for the time spent in attending the institute the attendance of teachers may with justice be required. If institutes are held at the time suggested and the teachers are paid for attendance, the percentage of the number of teachers who attend will approxi- mate one hundred per cent instead of sixty-five per cent, which is about the present percentage of attendance. In ease a teacher should not attend the institute, his wages should not be allowed. * School Law of lUlnois, Article VII, section 11. 230 FlXA^•cl.vL SurroHT. At present count}' institutes are supported in many of the states al- most entirely b}' examination fees. In Illinois, for instance, the total amount derived from all sources during the year 19UG-(J? for the sup- port of institutes was $52,665.9(3. Of this amount $23,984.94 was tne balance of the institute fund proj)er on hand July 1, 1906. The differ- ence between the amount collected and the balance is $28,681.02,- which represents the actual cost of the institutes of the State. Of this amount only $993 was derived from registration fees and $360.18 from inci- dental sources. The county boards of the State contributed $236.15. The burden of the expense of the institutes of the State falls at present, therefore, almost wholly upon the teachers. This is essentially unjust. A policy which imposes upon tlie teachers of the State whose wages are comparatively low the entire burden of an institution from which the pupils of the schools, their parents, and the community receive the chief benefits is indefensible on any grounds. As said before, the insti- tute is a part of the free school system itself and should therefore be as accessible to the teachers as the school is to the child. "If common schools are a great public blessing,^' said Bateman, "and if institutes are essential to their growth and improvement, then it would seem clear that the same fostering care which provides for the one, should be mind- ful of the other.''* In addition to the injustice of the present plan of supporting county institutes it is fatally defective in that it does not provide for the smaller counties an amount sufficient to support a good institute. For the year ending June 30, 1907, for instance, the institute fund in Illinois de- rived from certification fees was in seven counties less than one hundred dollars, in twenty-two counties less than two hundred dollars and in forty counties less than three hundred dollars. The average cost of the institutes of the State is about $275. The average cost of the in- stitutes of Indiana last year was $271.74. New York appropriates for the support of county institutes an amount which gave to each institute in the State in 1907 on the average, $414.06. It is clear then that in more than one-third of the counties of the State the fees for certifica- tion, which constitute the bulk of the institute fund, do not provide a sufficient amount to support the kind of institute demanded by the educational interests of the State. On the other hand the larger coun- ties are provided with a surplus of funds — some with more than one thousand dollars, and two counties with $3,366.02 and $3,626.20 respec- tively. Hence there is in many counties a large balance of unused in- stitute funds. The total balance of the institute funds of the various counties on hand July 1, 1906 was $23,984.94. Thus we see that some counties of the State have large institute funds, more than they need, while some, on account of the small number of teachers required and consequently the small amount derived from examination fees, have less than is necessary to provide good institute instruction. The prob- lem is to equalize the institute privileges of the various teachers of • Third Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois, 1859- 60, page 50. . j . 2S1 the State and consequently to promote the efficiency of the schools in those counties in which high standards of institute work mean ex- cessive or impossible financial burdens. The method of solving this problem should be in the nature of an attempt to level up the character of all the institutes to a minimum degree of efficiency, while at the same time allowing to any county the privilege of surpassing the minimum to any extent desired. This means the provision of a minimum amount of money for each institute of the State, so that every county may be assured of a good institute, and the freedom of every county to appropriate from the county treas- ury or to raise from the teachers themselves an additional sum to sup- plement the minimum appropriation in case a larger expense is in- curred. ^Yhence should come this minimum appropriation? As has already been shown, the teachers of Illinois have borne almost the entire burden of the expense of institutes since they were inaugurated more than sixty years ago. Prior to 1883, since which time institutes have been mainly supported by the examination and registration fees required of teachers, the institutes of the State were supported mainly by voluntary contributions made by the teachers. It is time to lift the burden of the institute from the shoulders of the teachers. If they are relieved of the payment of fees to provide for an institute fund, they will still bear in connection with the institute no inconsiderable burden on account of the additional personal expense made necessary in attend- ing the institute. They must pay their traveling expenses to and from the place in which the institute is held, and make an extra outlay for room and board. They are sometimes required in the institute, and al- ways urged, to spend more money for books and journals. The only re- quest that can be rightfully made of the teachers, then, is that they voluntarily assess themselves for the support of an institute which is better than the established minimum. They should be asked to con- tribute no more. What, then, of the county? Under the proposed plan of conducting institutes the coimty will provide for the incidental expenses of the institute and will support a large part of the financial burden occasioned by the payment of wages to teachers during the session of the institute. If. in addition, the county were required to appropriate a sum sufficient to insure a good institute, we should have the same difficulty as at present, namely, the unequal distribution of the burden of institutes. It would be unfair to the smaller counties. Sometimes the law contains the specific pro- vision that "county boards are aiithorized to make appropriations for the holding of county teachers' institutes." Countv boards, as a rule, do not exercise this power with the liberality which might be expected. Still, the power should remain with these boards to contribute, so that in counties which are able to supplement the fund provided, and in which the educational sentiment demands an institute which is not only good but excellent, the institute fund provided from other sources may be supplemented by the county board. The county should not be re- quired, however, to assume more of the financial burden of institutes than will fall upon it naturally by the proposed plan. The fixed ap- propriation should not come from the county. 232 There remains only the State. The State receives a large part of tiie beuelits of institutes just as it receives a large part of the benefits of the common school system. The State in most cases is committed to the policy of providing free schools for the children of the State and of providing practically free training for the teachers of the State through the establishment of normal schools. By the same reasoning by which a State appropriation for the maintenance of normal schools is justi- fied, the partial support of institutes by the State may also be justi- fied. Some states have come to recognize the true relation between the institutes of the state and the schools, and make liberal support to sustain the institute. As has already been pointed out, New York appropriates about $50,000.00 annually for the support of institutes. ^Yisconsin also assumes the entire burden of institutes and appropriates $23,000.00. West Virginia is another state which assumes a large share of the expense of its institutes. Taking into consideration, then, the fact that under the proposed plan of organizing and conducting institutes the teachers bear a part of tlie financial burden by the payment of the additional personal ex- pense made necessary in attending them*, and the further fact that the county will bear a fair share of the burden by the payment of teachers' wages during the week of the institute and by the payment of the in- cidental expenses of the institute, the efficiency of the institutes of the State and the interests of the schools will best be promoted if the State pays the remainder of the cost through a fixed appropriation. The amount of this appropriation should certainly be not less than $300.00 for each county. Institute Plan Proposed by the Commission. On the basis of the facts set forth in this chapter the commission recommends that county institutes be held within the school year and continue for five days ; that during the session of an institute all the common schools of the county or counties holding such institute shall be closed and that the teachers who attend shall suffer no deduction of wages; and that the expenses of the institutes of the State be incurred by the State and not, as heretofore, by the teachers. The complete plan of the commission is embodied in the following hill: SECTioisr 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That the county superintendent of each county shall hold annually an Institute, which shall continue in session not fewer than five days, for the instruction of teachers and those who may desire to teach. With the concurrence of the Superintendent of Public Instruction he shall employ such instructors as may be necessary to conduct such institute. The State Board of Education may prescribe the standard of qualifications to be required of such instructors. Two or more adjoining counties may hold an institute together. Sec. 2. During the time the institute is in session the common schools of the county or counties holding the institute shall be closed, and the time actually spent by the teachers in attendance upon the institute shall be considered time lawfully spent in the service of the district, and no deduc- tion of wages shall be made for such attendance. 233 Sec. 3. To defray the expenses of teachers' institutes there is hereby ap- propriated out of any moneys in the State Treasury not otherwise set apart the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars for each institute held in each county, or not to exceed four hundred dollars for each joint institute, and fifty cents additional for each teacher in actual and regular attendance, and regularly employed in the county or counties holding the institute, to be paid upon the warrant of the Auditor of State, issued upon an itemized state- ment of the expenses incurred in connection with the institute verified by aflidavit by the superintendent or superintendents holding the institute, and approved lay the State Board of Education. Sec. 4. All Acts or parts of Acts in conflict hei'ewith are hereby repealed. REFERENCES. See annual reports of State superintendents for reports of county institutes in the various states. Adams, Fi-anci.s — Teachers' institutes. In liis free scliool systems of tlie United States, 1875 ; p. 187-88. Associated academic principles of the State of New York. — Teachers' institutes. Discussion at annual meeting, December, 1889. In the Academy; 5:44-47. (February,1890.) Barnard, Henry — Teachers' institutes in Wisconsin. American Journal of Edu- cation, 8 :673-78. Extract from his report as agent of tlie board of normal regents in Wis- consin, 1859. Bates, Samuel P. — ^Methods of teachers' institutes and the theory of education. 75 p. D. New York, 1862. Sketches the object of a teachers' institute, method of conducting it and plan of instruction. Boone, R. G. — Teachers' Institutes. In his Education in the United States, 18^7 ; p. 123-25. Changes proposed in the manner of conducting institutes. Wisconsin Journal of Education, 39:87-88, March, 1907. Cotton, Fasset A., and others. — The county institute. Educator-Journal, 8:133-42; November, 1907. Dexter, E. G. — Teachers' institutes. In his Historv of Education in the United States, 1904; p. 392-95. Particulars regarding present organization and support appear in an ap- pendix ; p. 620-22, in tabular form. Dickinson, J. W. — State teachers' institutes. In United States bureau of educa- tion. Circular of information, 1889 ; No. 2; p. 84-90. Address at N. E. A. Department of superintendence ; March, 1889. Gunther, F. P.— The county institute. Texas scliool magazine, 11:5-7; Septem- ber, 1908. Hewitt, E. C. — Teachers' institutes. National Educational Association. Proceed- ings, 1887 ; p. 292-98. In report of committee on normal schools. Outlines the purposes, methods of institutes and their relation to normal schools. Discussion; p. 297-98. Hinsdale, Burke Aaron. — Institute systems, Journal of education ; 46 :259-60 ; Nov. 4, 1897. Hinsdale, B. A. — Teachers' institutes. In Monographs on education in the United States, 1900 ; No. 8, p. 24-28. Teachers' institutes. In his Horace Mann and the common school revival in the United States, 1898 ; p. 13G-38. Hyatt, Edward. — How can we improve the teachers' institute? Western Journal of education; 13:398-400; July, 1908. Kansas normal institutes, 1907. Western school journal; 23:156-59; June, 1907. Kansas. — State board of education. Course of study for normal Institutes, 1908 ; 254 p. 12°. Lane. Albert G. and others. — County institutes. In U. S. Bureau of Education. Circular of information, 1889 ; No. 2, p. 69-84. Discussion at N. E. A. Dep't of Superintendenc, March, 1889. Louisiana. — Department of education. State teachers' one-week institutes. Pro- grams of work, also suggestions and outlines. Series of 1906-1907. Baton Rouge, 1906. 54 p. S. Miller, Thomas C. — West Virginia institute annual containing program for the teachers' institutes and the reading circle course, 1906. Charleston, 1906. 199 p. 8°. Milne, James M. — Teachers' institutes, their past and present. 22p. O. Syracuse, 1894. Maine. — Educational department. Manual for the use of officers and members of county teachers' institutes. 45 p. 8°. 234 Marjiand. — Department of public education. Institute manual, 1903-04 — 1906-07. Denton. Md., etc., 1903-1906, 4 v. 8°. Michigan. — Department of public instruction. County normal training classes in Michigan. 15 p. 8° (County normal bulletin No. 1, of 1906). State teachers' institutes, series of 1904. Revised edition, Lansing, 1904. 85 p. 8°. Missouri. — State board of education. Official course study for teachers' institutes. February, 1902. 48 p. 8°. New York State Education Department. — Professional education in the United States. Teaching. Higher education bulletin, No. 24, 1905. This publication shows the facilities made by each state for training teachers including the provisions and requirements of county institutes. New Mexico. — Territorial Board of Education. Manual for county, institutes, 1908. 192 p. 8°. North Carolina. — State superintendent of public instruction. Manual for teachers' institutes, North Carolina. Raleigh, 1905. 26 p. 8°. Olin, A. S. — The instruction and improvement of teachers now at work in the schools by teachers' institutes. National Educational Association Proceedings, 1895; p. 165-73. Patterson. J. H. — District institute programs. West Virginia school journal, 35 :1S, November, 1906. Peabody education fund. — Proceedings of trustees. Annual report of general agent. This contains reports of counts* institutes in the southern states which receive assistance from the Peabody fund. Professional reading for teachers' institutes. — Western journal of education, 12 :222, April, 1907. Randall, S. S. — Teachers' institutes. In his History of the common school system of the State of New York, 1871 ; p. 59-61, 66, 71, 372. Includes the act of establishemnt and history of their organization and establisliment in New York State. Seerley, Homer H. — Practical value of the institute system. Educational Review, November, 1908 ; p. 356-363. Smart, James H. — Teachers' institutes. 206 p. U. S. Bureau of Education. Cir- cular of information, 1885 ; No. 2. Stone. Kathryn E. — What should constitute a course of music for county institutes. National education association. Journal of proceedings, 1899 ; p. 994-97. Sweet, Samuel N. — Teachers' institutes, or temporary normal schools ; their origin and progress. 139 p. 8°, 1848. Teachers' institutes. — Historical development in the different states compiled from official documents. American Journal of Education, v. 15 :387-414. Includes Connecticut, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Teachers' institutes in New York State. — In New York State Department of Public Instruction. Report of Sup't., 1900 ; p. 35-39. Contains historical outline. Teachers' institutes in Wisconsin. In United States Commissioner of Education Report, 1867-68 ; p. 755-56. Historical account of the system of teachers' institutes inaugurated in Wisconsin by Henry Barnard in 1858. Thayer, J. B., and others. — What is the purpose of county institutes and how is it "best secured? In United States Bureau of Education. Curcular of information, 1888, No. 6 ; p. 44-48. Discussion at N. E. A. department of superintendence ; February, 1888. The county institute. West Virginia school journal; 37:16-17; August, 1908. Reprinted from number for July, 1906. The teachers' institute. Atlantic educational journal; 3:20; June, 1908. Tillotson, D. C. — Teachers' institutes. National Education Association. Proceed- ings, 1886 ; p. 346-49. Town. Salem. — County teachers' institutes. American Institute of Instruction, 1845 ; p. 199-217. West Virginia. — State superintendent of schools. Schedule of county institutes, 1907. West Virginia school journal; 36:9; August, 1907. West Virginia. — Department of free schools. Institute annual containing program for the teachers' institutes and the Reading circle course, 1908. Charleston, 120 p. 8°. Wichersham, J. P. — Teachers' institute in Pennsylvania. In his History of Educa- tion in Pennsylvania, 1886; p. 650-52. Winship, A. E. — Institutes in Ohio. Journal of education, 48:161; Sept. 8, 1890. 235 SALARIES OF TEACHERS. In the declaration of principles adopted by the National Educational Association of 1903 it was asserted that "teaching in the public schools will not be a suitably attractive and permanent career, nor will it com- mand as much of the ability of the country as it should, until the teachers are properly compensated and are assured of an undisturbed tenure dur- ing efficiency and good behavior. A large part of the teacher's reward, must always be the pleasure in the character and quality of the work done; but the money compensation of the teacher should l3e sufficient to maintain an appropriate standard of living. Legislative measures to give support to these principles deserve the approval of the press and the people."* It will be observed that the assertion involved in this declaration is not merely that the compensation of teachers generally is not in propor- tion to the services they render, which is an idea often advanced in educa- tional discussions which arrive at no practical end, but what is more to the purpose, that the salaries teachers receive are frequently insufficient to maintain an appropriate standard of living. Now, the inability of a teacher to maintain an appropriate standard of living, with aU that it implies with respect not merely to food, clothing and shelter, but also with respect to the means of culture and recreation, prevents him from rendering the degree of service of which he is capable. The fact, therefore, if it is a fact, that teachers are underpaid is not merely proof of injustice to the teachers, but also an indication that in the employment of teachers at present salaries society is practicing a false economy. It is evident that we are violating not only the interests of teachers but also those of the children as well. In economics it is a generally accepted principle that low wages do not necessarily mean a low cost of production. High wages may, and often do, lower the cost of production by increasing the efficiency of labor. In the field of education the same principle is involved. We sometimes hear it ex- pressed in the proposition that "the best teachers are the cheapest." This means, of course, that it is economy to hire a good teacher even if the salary is high. The fundamental questions, then, with respect to teachers salaries are : Do the services rendered by teachers bear any relation to the compensation they receive? Are the wages now paid to teachers too low ? If so. would an increase in wages bring benefits propor- tionally greater than the amount of increase ? To all of these question' the answer must be an affirmative. The second question, however, is the one to which attention will now be directed. ♦Quoted by Charles H. Verrill in Report of the Committee on Salaries, Tenure and Pensions of Public School Teachers in the United States, Report N. E. A., July, 1905, page 459. 236 Salaries in General. What are the facts in regard to the wages of teachers ? The most ex- haustive study of the question that has been recently made is that of the committee on salaries, tenure and pensions of public school teachers in the United States, appointed by the Xational Educational Association in 1903, and which embodied the results of its investigation in a voluminous report published in 1905. In this report the committee shows that in nearly every city in the country the earnings of un- skilled laborers exceed those of the lowest paid elementary teachers. Again, the Mosely commission consisting of twenty old British educa- tional experts, apointed in 1903 to make an investigation of the schools and school systems of the United States, unanimously concluded that '"the remuneration of teachers is by no means always placed on a satis- factory basis." This conclusion is the more significant because of the fact that the commission confined its investigation chiefly to the schools of the larger cities, while it is in the rural schools of the country that the teachers as a whole are most inadequately paid. The conditions Avith respect to the compensation of teachers have led some of the states, as, for instance, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, to appoint commissions to investigate the question of teachers' salaries. The conclusion arrived at in each case has been similar to that of the committee appointed by the National Educational Association. Con- cerning the conditions in Minnesota, for instance, a committee appointed by the State Teachers' Association reported that while conditions were somewhat better in that state than for the whole country that even here the wages of the unskilled laborer are better than those of teachers in all classes. "The nearest computation possible for Minnesota,'' says the re- port of this committee, "makes the average annual salary for all teachei's $411.00, which is $50.00 less than the annual income of section men on railroads, who receive from $1.25 to $1.75 per day, but is $50.00 more than the income of domestic servants who average $4.00 per week, in addition to board and home comforts. However, if we think only of the 11,908 women who taught in Minnesota last year, whose average annual salary was $336.00, we say that even the average domestic servant earning $364.00 was better paid than the average female teacher."* A writer in the Educational Eeview for January, 1907, says: "The average monthly pay of women teachers in the United States is $39.77." f This is perhaps slightly below the mark. But if the average wages of ail women teachers are near forty dollars a month it is obvious that women teaching in rural schools, in which wages are lowest and terms are shortest, receive a miserably small compensation for their services. Just what this compensation is can not be ascertained, since the educational reports of the various states, as a rule, make no distinction between the salary statistics of rural schools and those of city schools. It may be inferred, however, in the manner just suggested or from the facts so far as they are made known. In 189'< the Committee on Eural Schools, ap- pointed by the Xational Educational Association, presented a table based ♦Fourteenth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Minnesota, 1905. pages r.SO-oSl. tV\'^here Education Breaks Down, by.WilUani McAndrew. 237 upon rejDorts of state superinteiidents showing that in thirty-four states the average wages paid to men in rural schools was $39.50 and the aver- age wages of women in rural schools was $33.00. Inasmuch as the aver- ago length of term of these rural schools is perhaps not more than six months, it follows that in 1897 the men teaching in the rural schools )i the country received $237.00 a year, tlie w^omen about $200.00 a year. Wages of teachers have advanced since that time, but taking into con- sideration the increased cost of living they are proportionately as low now, if not lower, than they were then. It is curious that the situation thus indicated does not destroy the complacency of the American public in regard to its investment in public schools. The fact is we do not ex- pend half as much as would be necessary to place the schools of the country, especially the rural schools, abreast of the times. The following table will show the number of days taught in the years indicated, and the wages of teachers in all the states for which statistics are available. TABLE I. Showing the Length of Term in Days, the Aveiuge Monthhj Salaries of Men and Women Teachers and the Average Salaries of all Teachers in the Various States. State. Date of report. Number of days taught. Average Monthly Salary of Teachers. Men. Women. All. Alabama 1906 1906 1906 1906 1905 1905 1906 1907 1906 1908 1906 1905 1906 1907 1907 1905 1907 1906 1907 1906 1903 1906 1906 1906 1906 1906 1905 1906 1906 1906 1906 1906 86.9 81 169 tl36.4 189.08 *$ 47 23 39 80 +69 31 t57 46 106 63 72 82 *57 89 *$37 58 35 13 +67 37 i49 57 45 78 34 70 *38 97 $41 59 Arkansas 42 62 Calif orn ia 75 30 Colorado 64 84 Connecticut Dele ware 40 22 Florida 110 115 136 171.6 142 160 130 27 81 Idaho 71 00 §47 47 59 20 48 62 §48 00 55 90 §39 62 53 20 36 06 §40 00 60 11 Illinois 64 44 Indiana .... 55 60 Iowa ... Kansas Kentucky §41 88 34 80 146 136 185 189 §168 +144 123 tl30 128 167.7 158.7 157.3 188 74 50 38 99 49 66 29 92 Maine 30 86 50 78 Massachusetts 149 02 §67 26 +48 83 33 54 +38 91 87 30 60 78 112 51 +51 07 103 02 57 07 §46 17 +38 83 29 46 t38 07 56 07 43 49 67 96 +35 20 54 46 64 90 Minnesota .... 45 35 Mississippi Missouri 30 84 t38 37 Montana 60 16 45 70 Nevada 71 93 New Hampshire N ew Jersey i35 92 61 90 57 00 New York 188.6 86 72 32 68 155.7 1160 100 158.4 163.2 51 78 40 00 48 16 60 02 52 82 44 70 37 00 42 72 44 95 39 47 45 92 Ohio 41 79 4121 1906 1907 Pennsylvania .... 238 Table i— Concluded. State. Date of Report. Number of days taught. Average Monthly Salary OF Teachers. Men. Women. All. Rhode Island 1905 1905 1906 1906 1005 1906 1906 1907 1906 1906 1906 1906 194 149 02 53 70 59 25 South Carolina 30 06 South Dakota 155.5 116 112 63 14 39 00 GO 01 86 40 49 21 47 78 67 86 43 67 35 00 48 01 55 41 33 23 .30 28 53 50 45 89 Tennessee 36 20 Texas 52 71 Utah Vermont 148 128 167 125 170 140 36 78 Virginia Washington 56 89 West Virginia 36 70 Wisconsin 58 87 77 29 38 65 48 34 Wyoming 52 21 * Average for white teachers only. t Average paid in primary schools. i Average in rural schools. § Average paid teachers in ungraded schools. II Average paid all teachers in townsftiip elementary schools. A glance at this table will show not only that the average monthly wages of women teachers in a score of the states is less than $40.00 a month, but that in nine of the states the average monthly wages of all teachers is less than that sum. The true basis of computing a teacher's salary, however, is not the month, but the year. High monthly wages may be altogether inadequate if the term is short. The question of the length of the school term is therefore directly connected with that of the teacher's salary. The following table will show the length of the minimum school term or year required, the length of the school month and the practice with regard to the allowance to teachers of holidays in all the states from which data have been secured. TABLE. SJioicing the Length of the Minimum School Term or Year Required, the Length of the School Month, and the Practice with Regard to the Alloivance to Teachers of Holidays. state. Term. Month. Holidays. Alabama None "0 days ::o davs Not allowed None . Allowed No law— 3 months expected. .. 20 days Not allowed '0 davs Allowed 4 weekF Allowed 36 weeks 20 days * 140 days "0 days * 4 months "20 days Allowed ■!0 days Not allowed Idaho 9 months -0 days Allowed Calendar month ".'0 days Allowed Indiana 6 months Not allowed 120 days 'JO davs Not allowed Not allowed Kentucky 6 months 20 days Not allowed ♦ The matter of allowipg holidays is left with the local boards. 239 Table — Concluded. State. Term. Month. Holidays. Louisiana None Maine 20 weeks .. Maryland 10 months . Massachusetts.... 32 weeks... Michigan 5 months.. Minnesota Smonths.. Mississippi , 4 months.. Missouri 8 months.. Montana Smonths.. Nebraska 7 months.. Nevada 6 months.. New Hampshire . 20 weeks... New Jersey 9 months.. New Mexico None New York 160 days. .. North Carolina. .. 4 months.. North Dakota 6 months.. Ohio 32 weeks .. Oklahoma 3 months . . Oregon 4 months. . Pennsylvania |7 months Rhode Island 6 months South Carolina South Dakota.. Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington .. . West Virginia. Wisconsin Wyoming 3 months. 6 months. None 6 months. 20 weeks . 28 weeks . 5 months. 5 months. 6 months. 8 months. 3 months. 20 days 20 days Calendar month. 20 days 20 days 4 weeks 20 days 4 weeks 20 days 20 days 20 days 20 days 20 days 4 weeks Calendar month. 20 days 20 days 4 weeks 20 days 20 days 20 days Calendar month. 20 days 20 days 20 days 20 days 20 days 4 weeks 4 weeks 20 days 20 days Calendar month. Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Not allowed. Allowed Not allowed. Allowed . Allowed Not allowed. Not allowed. Not allowed. Allowed Allowed Allowed Not allowed. Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Not allowed. Not allowed. * Allowed Allowed Not allowed. Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed Allowed *The matter of allowing holidays is left with the local boards. The average length of the school term in the forty-two states fixing the minimum term by law is 5.7 months. It is, then, a conservative estimate to place the salaries of women employed in teaching in the rural schools of the country at $40.00 a month, or about $2.50.00 a year. In Illinois. The number of teachers employed in the public schools in Illinois is 28,524. Of this number 5,411 are men and 23,113 are women. Dur- ing the year ending June 30, 1908, the men taught an aggregate of 40,751 months and received $346,854.97, or an average monthly salary of $82.13. The women taught an aggregate of 195,484 months and re- ceived $11,877,793.76, an average of $60.76 a month. In ungraded schools, where the salaries are lowest, there are 11,480 teacliers — 3,002 men and 8,478 women. During the last year the men taught an aggregate of 19,440 months for which they were paid $992,- 872.57. The women taught 60,574 months and received $2,400,084.42. The average salary for men teaching in the ungraded schools of the State is, therefore, $47.47 and the average salary for women in the ungraded scliools is $39.62. The following statement will show the average sal- aries for men and women in graded and ungraded schools, and in all grades for the years 1906, 1907 and 1908. 210 1906 1907 1908 Average wages for men in graded schools Average wages for women in graded schools... Average wages for men in ungraded schools Average wages for women in ungraded schools Average monthly wages for men Average monthly wages for women $107 66 $109 89 66 54 67 91 43 79 46 &6 37 61 38 38 73 00 75 85 57 44 58 72 $113 74 70 23 47 47 39 62 82 1» 60 76 The most significant fact shown by this table is tliat the 8,478 women employed in the rural schools of Illinois receive for their services, on the average, less than $40.00 a month. Averages, however, are often misleading. To illustrate, let us suppose that A, B, and C are employed at $100.00, $30.00, and $20.00 a month, respectively. Tlieir average monthly salary would then be $50.00. This average gives no indication of the actual salary of any of them. Or, say that at the same salaries A is employed for ten monthse in the year, B for six and C for four. The average annual salary of the three would then be $420.00. Again, this average tells us little about the real income of A, B, or C. So the econ- omic condition of the teachers of the State is not disclosed by a state- ment of the average salaries they receive. We must go further and en- deavor to ascertain approximately the number of teachers whose com- pensation is insufficient to provide the necessary means of living and the educational means and opportunities necessary to professional progress. In the determination of this question the minimum salaries paid to teachers in each county of the State may be even less enlightening than average salaries. Still, it is worth while to observe in passing that ac- cording to the reports from the various counties for the last school year the salaries of men teachers fell as low or lower than $25.00 a month in twenty-four counties. In six counties it fell to $20.00 a month. In seven counties the average for men was either below $40.00 or only slightly in excess of that sum. There are only seven counties in the State which do not employ one or more men teachers for $40.00 a mont-ti or less. The lowest salary paid to any man teacher was $20.00 a month. The wages of women teachers fell to $20.00 a month or less in twenty- eight counties. One county employed at least one w^omen teacher at $10.00 a month. It is plain then that in Illinois there is a number of teachers who re- ceive a mere pittance for their services. This fact of itself, even if the number is small, is sufficient to create alann in the minds of those whose interest extends to all schools and school children of the State. It indicates that there are localities in whicli there are imprepared teachers, poorly instructed children, and a lack of public interest in education. This is a condition to which no citizen should be indifferent. We shall now show that the number of poorly paid teachers in the State is not small. Five years ago a special inquiry developed the fact that 6,243 teachers in the State received less than $40.00 a month. This number has been reduced but is is still in the neighborhood of three thousand. The fol- lowing table shows the number of teachers in ungraded schools and the 241 number of such teachers who receive less tlian $40.00 a montli. The first cohimu contains the number of men teaching in ungraded schools, the second column the number of women teaching in ungraded schools, the third column the total number of teachers in ungraded schools and the f ourtli the number of teachers who receive less than $40.00 a month : Counties. Men. Women. TotaL No. receiv- ing less than $40 a mo. Adams 48 7 36 1 23 24 20 17 10 36 71 25 47 25 43 11 49 44 10 19 24 4 34 24 29 68 8 82 50 32 33 4 68 78 21 12 7 21 34 63 68 12 9 50 4 15 3 21 6 15 47 4 25 24 33 38 20 39 5 20 21 33 4 41 12 13 21 123 35 38 65 51 161 1.1 87 50 169 68 93 43 38 121 101 62 68 140 70 56 63 105 23 53 79 93 32 147 27 55 81 16 138 11 53 177 201 75 86 75 49 105 24 107 125 65 143 82 268 24 160 233 84 86 122 89 67 75 70 22 138 114 198 41 100 21 171 42 74 66 74 185 33 104 60 205 139 118 90 63 164 112 111 112 150 89 80 67 139 47 82 147 101 114 197 59 88 85 48 216 32 65 184 224 109 149 142 61 114 74 111 140 68 164 88 283 71 164 2.58 108 119 160 109 106 80 90 43 171 118 239 53 113 52 Alexander Bond Boone . Brown Bureau Calhoun Carroll 57 Cass Champaign Christian Clark Clay 42 Clinton 9n Coles Cook Crawford Cumberland 22 DeKalb 37 4 DeVVitt Douglas DuPage 60 Edgar 4 Edwards 19 85 Effingham Fayette 32 17 Franklin 24 56 Gallatin 22 Grundy 42 Hancock 32 15 Henderson 1 134 Iroquois 20 21 Jasper 40 30 Jersey 31 77 Johnson 72 36 Kankakee 20 Knox 35 27 LaSalle 88 11 Lee 46 26 Logan 1 48 10 Marion 96 86 Mason ... 5 19 McDonough 35 McLean 95 8 5 20 4 -16 E C 242 Counties. Men. Women . Total. No. receiv- ing less than $40 a mo. Montgomery 46 32 23 27 19 27 27 46 26 15 3 25 38 2 68 46 25 14 68 13 64 28 28 55 50 33 15 17 83 65 11 9 55 6 16 97 62 56 156 118 53 74 118 46 21 23 65 45 79 18 109 63 24 84 50 94 115 87 12 136 12 104 63 64 40 121 173 54 104 85 143 94 79 183 137 80 101 164 72 36 26 90 83 81 86 155 88 38 152 63 158 143 115 67 186 45 119 80 147 95 132 182 109 110 101 25 Morgan 2 1 Ogle 69 Peoria 7 Perry 50 Piatt Pike 60 Pope 25 Pulaski 23 Putnam 40 Randolph 30 Richland 70 Rock Island 32 Saline 13 Sangamon 15 Schuyler 20 Scott 2 Shelby Stark 38 4 Stephenson 60 1 aze well 3 Union 40 4 Wabash 9 Warren 5 Washington 39 Wayne 65 White 21 Will 117 Williamson 82 Winnebago 20 Woodford 6 3,002 8,478 11.480 2,893 The total of column four is 2,893. Seven counties, however, do not report the number of teachers receiving less than $40.00. Eeturns from these counties would certainly increase the total to something above three thousand. It is thus seen that at least 3,000 teachers in the un- graded schools of Illinois, which is 26 per cent of the total number of teachers thus employed, receive less than $40.00 a month. How much less we can not say, but as was shown before some of them receive less than half that amount. In six of the counties reporting, all women teaching in the ungraded schools apparently receive less than $40.00. In two of the counties the number of teachers reported as receiving less than $40.00 is greater than the total number of teachers in the ungraded schools. Consequently it can not be said, that wages of $40.00 or less are limited to the ungraded schools. It is obvious that in computing the wages of a teacher the yearly basis should be taken. Teachers must live throughout the vacation, and few of them add very much to their income during that period. The average length of the school term in Illinois is 7.8 months. Ob- viously the average can not be so much as that in the country schools. Let us assume that it is seven and one-half months. It is certainly no more than that. At seven and one-half months in the year a teacher whose monthly salary is $40.00 will receive $300.00 a year. It is obvious that on that amount alone no teacher can maintain "an appropriate standard of living." 243 The Cost of Living. No argument will be required to show that teaching can never become a calling chosen by persons who fit themselves to teach unless the salary offered is sufficient to meet not only the individual cost of living but also the expenses of maintaining a family. Now, while a salary of $300.00 a year is a desirable supplement to the annual income of a family which is not obliged to rely upon the wages of a teacher for its support, it is insufficient to pay the food bill of an average family, to say nothing of the bills for rent, clothing, and the other expenses of the household. The average cost of food per family in the tHnited States in 1907 was $374.75. This is an increase of 4.3 per cent over the cost in 1906, and of 26.3 per cent over the cost in 1896. "The increased cost of food,'' says a recent bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor, "^^las been felt b}' everyone, and perhaps more keenly by employes on salaries, as the general tendency is to advance employes on salaries less rapidly than those employed by the day or week whose services are con- tracted for at frequent inten-als.'"* But the cost of food is somewhat less than one-half the expenditure of the average family. A salary of $40.00 a month for seven and one-half months in the year is consequem less than half enough to support a famity. Clearly, then, at the present rate of wages we must depend largely upon unmarried women for our supply of teachers. This may not mean poor teaching, but it does mean that so long as this is the case teaching can not become a profession. Wages in Other Occupations. Space need not be taken to show that the wages of teachers generally are less than those of unskilled laborers. It has been shown again and again, and by evidence which cannot be refuted, that this is the case. In many of our cities a common laborer on the streets receives more than $50.00 a month. Hod carriers in Chicago are paid, on the average, $16.44 a week, or more than $65.00 a month. f It could easily be shown that the salaries of women teachers are lower on the average than those of first class stenographers and saleswomen. It would be difficult, in- deed, to find a reputable occupation demanding anything above average intelligence in which the wages computed on an annual basis are not more than the Avages received by the country school teacher. A woman who left the schoolroom to become a clown in a variety show is quoted as saying, "It pays better to be a member of the ballet than to be a school teacher. The school teacher has a hard time to exist on the pay she gets, but a ballet girl can make very good wages, in fact she can often make twice what a teacher can in a country school."§ With such facts in mind does not the claim of public appreciation of the work of the teacher and of public appreciation of the significance of education scmnd a bit hollow? ♦Bulletin of the United States Bureau of T>,abor. No. 77. July. 1908, p. 197. tBuUetin of the United States Bureau of T^abor. No. 77. July. 1908, page 137. §Illinoi.s Stats Journal, Springfield, 111., Thursday, October 22, 1908. 244 Causes, There are many reasons why tjie salaries of teachers, especially of women teachers are low. In the first place they do not conform to the general law of wages. They are not sustained by the usual standard oi Jiving, since so many teachers do not depend upon their salaries as teach- ers for their entire support. Many young women teach "for experience'^ or to earn a little pin money in the period between school days and matrimony, and hence can afford to accept any salary that is offered. Men in country districts sometimes rely chiefly on some occupation other than teaching for their support, and hence are able and willing to accept a low wage for teaching during the months when they could not other- wise well be occupied. All this is but to say that teaching is not yet looked upon as a calling upon the same plane as the other professions, trades and occupations. The public is to blame for this. Everybody knows better than that anybody can teach school. Children, like other growing things, should be put in the hands of experts. When the public demands expert teaching it wdll find that the supply is small and will therefore be compelled to pay a living wage. The first great demand is to raise the qualifications of teachers. This the commission has had in mind in proposing its plan for the certification of teachers. But an increase in wages will also tend to produce that effect. Effects. But whatever the causes may be, the effects of the present low salaries of teachers are sufficiently obvious. With salaries at the present level it would be futile to expect that young men and young women will delib- erately choose teaching as a jDermanent calling and take the time and spend the money to make adequate preparation for a successful career in that line of work. They could not do so, no matter how much they might be so inclined. Imagine a brilliant and ambitious young man re- flecting deliberately on the choice of an occupation to be followed through life. How much thought do you suppose would be given to teaching, especially to teaching in the elementary schools? We smile at the idea of his giving it serious consideration. And yet it is this teaching in the elementary schools upon which the character of our future civilization largely depends. The friends of education will never be satisfied until the business of teaching, even in the country schools, is made so attrac- tive financially and otherwise that it will draw and hold the brilliant and ambitious. All that can be expected at present is perhaps an in- crease in the public recognition and compensation of the teacher so that the number of those who are repelled by existing conditions may be some- what reduced. But this much at least should be given. As might generally be expected as an effect of the prevailing salaries paid to teachers the number of men engaged in teaching is not only relatively small but is rapidly decreasing. There are only about 3,000 men teachers in the elementary schools. During the last' thirty years the percentage of men in the schools has decreased from approximately 28 per cent to approximately 19 per cent. There are counties in the 245 State which have only one, two or three men in the ungraded schools. There are five counties with only four men in sucli schools and there are seventeen counties with fewer than ten. The following table will show the decrease in the number and percentage of men in the schools of the State and the corresponding increase in the number of women during the last ten years. Year Ending. Men. Women. Percent- age of men. June 30, 1898 7, .324 7.309 7.273 7.164 6,800 6,505 6.248 6,137 5,935 5,571 5,411 18,911 19, .312 19,715 20.117 20, .386 29,595 21,223 21,723 25, 193 22.512 23,113 27.92 1899 27.46 1900 27 69 1901 26.26 1902 25,02 1903 24 00 1904 22 74 1905 1906 22.03 21.00 1907. 19 83 1908 18.97 Now the fact that teaching is, and is becoming more and more, tha work of women is not altogether to be deplored, for women may be and are often the best of teachers. But whatever may be thought of the excellence of their work in the school room, there are few well informed persons who would contend that the number of men in the schools should not be relatively greater than it is now. At all events, it is clear that while the great majority of teachers are unmarried women the teaching force of the State must be a shifting and impermanent one, so that teaching can not possibly become an established profession like law •or medicine. Higher wages would increase at once the number of men teachers and thus tend to put the work of teaching in the way of becom- ing what it should be, namely, a calling to which men and women may de^■ote their lives. Eemedies. It is supposed that sufficient evidence has been presented to convince any impartial mind that teachers are under paid. Much more evidence ■could be advanced if it were thought necessary. This being the case, "we may now turn our attention to the discovery of the best method of increasing the pay of teachers. The first question which presents itself in this consideration is, may not the whole matter be safely left to the law of supply and demand? The answer to this question is an unhesitating and a most emphatic, Xo ! Even if the slow operation of an economic law could be depended upon to bring about in time a better condition with respect to teachers' wages, we could not afford to await its action. Time is always precious, "but never more so than in education. The education of the children of the State is in a very true sense a matter of life and death. We want im- proved conditions and better teaching, not merely in future times but 246 now — for our own children as well as for our children's children. But the economic law of supply and demand can not be relied upon in this ease. Teaching is expert service. The employers of teachers are not as a rule expert judges of this service. Accordingly a teacher will not be paid in the direct ratio of his efficiency and it is useless to encourage him to think that this will be the case. He will as a rule be paid "what is customary" and, in certain cases at least, "what is customary" will be far below a living wage. The State demands that every child within its border be given "a good common school education." This means of necessity good teaching, and for good teaching an adequate compensa- tion should be rendered. The time has come wdien parsimonious direc- tors should no longer be permitted to defeat the ■will of the State. The salaries of teachers are in a different class from the wages of ordinary labor. The product of the laborer is a commodity which is sold, or to be sold, at a profit. If profits are high employers are aware of it and strive to increase the amount of commodities produced. They invest more capital. There is an increased demand for labor and this tends to advance wages. But the profit derived from the work of the teacher is not immediately apparent. It accrues gradually and to the children educated and the State, not directly to the employers of the teacher. Hence the teacher, much less than the ordinary wage laborer, can depend upon the selfishness of those who employ him to enter as an element in advancing his salary. If the economic law of supply and demand could be relied upon any- where to bring about a just and satisfactory adjustment of wages it seems that it would be in the case of common labor. But the history of wages 'in the various productive industries shows that even here it has not been depended upon by the laborers. They have combined with the distinct and definite purpose of promoting their compensation, and in many cases they have succeeded. Inasmuch as the trades-union method of raising wages has been effec- tive it would not be strange if teachers should organize for the same purpose. "If the various trades in this coimtry, by organization, can fix wages, teachers may be compelled to resort to heroic measures to secure wages which are commensurate with the time and money put into prep- aration and in keeping with the dignity of the teaching profession." So says a superintendent of one of our northern states, but he correctly de- clares that the formation of unions among teachers, after the fashion of labor unions, is repugnant to the people. The fact that the public gen- erally would decry an organized effort on the part of teachers them- selves to raise their salaries is a good reason why the public should en- deavor through legislation to secure for the teacher a living wage. This brings us to a consideration of a third method of increasing the compensation of teachers, namely, the establishment by law of a min- imum wage or schedule of w^ages below which the amount paid a teacher by the school authorities of a city, state, or county, as the case may be, may not be reduced. '^^I'his principle of a minimum salary for teachers has been widely applied both in this country and abroad. A brief ac- count and regime of the legislation in which it has found expression will now be given. MINIMUM SALARY LEGISLATION. Ix THE UXITED StATES. Laws providing definitely for a minimum salary for teachers in the public schools have been enacted in eight of the states, namely, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsyl- vania and West Virginia. In some of the other states, as for instance in California, Colorado and Oregon, a minimum salary is established in effect by legal provisions in regard to the apportionment and use of the school funds. California provides that "all the state school money and not less than sixty per cent of the county school money shall be applied exclusively to the payment of teachers' salaries of the primary and grammar schools.''* This practically fixes the minimum salary of the teachers of the state at about sixty dollars a month. Colorado requires its county superintendents in estimating the amount of money needed per capita to enable each school district in the county to maintain a pub- lic school four months in each year to base their estimates on' an allow- ance to each teacher of $40.00 per month, f In Oregon eighty-five per cent of the amount received by any district from the county school tax and the irreducible school fund must be applied to the payment of teachers' salaries. § So also in Virginia the proceeds of the state and county school funds must be used exclusively for the payment of teach- ers. Such provisions it will readily be seen may operate practically to establish a minimum salary throughout the state. The agitation for the enactment of minimum salary laws is of course much wider than is indicated by the number of states in which there has been some form of legislation on the subject. Such laws have been recommended in many of the states either by the state superintendent or the State Teachers' Association, or both, and minimum salary bills have been introduced in the legislature of several of the states but have failed of passage. Among these states are Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ehode Island, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin. In Minnesota the State Educational Association appointed a committee of seven to make an investigation upon the status of teachers' salaries and living expenses. This committee in its report, made in 1906, said that "A wisely drawn minimum salary law is the one remaining important • School Law of California, Sec. 1622, page 42. t Annotated School Laws, Colorado, 1907. Sec. 186, page 195. § School Laws of Oregon, Sec. 27, page 19. 248 legislative act in Minnesota, to make the former acts effective."* The State Superintendent of Public Instruction in jSTebraska, in an address before the superintendents and principals' association at Lincoln, in October, 1906, spoke as follows : '^From a careful study of this question I am convinced that for grade and rural school teachers a minimum salary scliedule would not only raise the salaries and qualifications of all teachers, but that the public would be repaid many times over for the extra expenses necessary/' f So also the commissioner of public schools of Ehodle Island in his report for 1906, in speaking of the di- versity in teachers' salaries in different parts of that state, said that "A minimum salary law with state aid would effectively improve the situation and, in solving the problem of low salaries, would make it easier to maintain a proper standard of the required qualifications of the teachers,"§ and definitely recommended the passage of a minimum salary law to equalize the compensation of teachers. In Wisconsin a minimum wage law for teachers in the rural districts of the state was discussed and recommended by the state superintendent in his report for 1906.^ and in Virginia minimum wage legislation has been recom- mended both by the state superintendent and by the State Teachers' As- sociation. The principle of a minimum wage for teachers is also recognized and practically applied in the hundreds of cities of the country which have a fixed schedule of teachers' wages. The city of Few York, however, is operating its schools under a minimum wage provision enacted by the legislature of the state. This law which went into effect in 1899 is known as the Ahem Law. It originally provided that the board of education should pay not less than certain specified sums to teachers of specified grades. The law was amended in 1900 and also in 1903, but the principle has not been affected. The schedule of salaries in force is elaborate and need not here be given. " It is sufficient to say that no teacher in Hew York can be employed for less than six hundred dollars a year, while the actual average j-early salary of kindergarten and grade teachers is $960 for one class and $1,5.56 for another. Concerning the effect of the law Superintendent Wm. H. Maxwell of New York City writes, "It has worked upon the whole satisfactorily. For six years after its adoption it operated not only to raise materially the salaries of the teachers, which in my opinion had been much too low, but to stop all agitation of the salary question among teachers." West Vvrgifiia. — West Virginia was the first of the states to fix a max- imum of salary for teachers. On March 15, 18S2, more than twenty-six years ago, the legislature of the state passed a bill providing that teachers holding a first grade certificate should be paid not less than $25.00 per month, those holding certificates of the second grade not less than $22.00 per month, and those holding certificates of the third grade not less than * Fourteenth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Minnesota, 1905-06 ; pape 459. t Nineteenth Biennial Report, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Nebraska, 1906, page 275. § Thirty-seventh Annual Report, Commissioner of Public Schools, Rhode Island, 1906, page 88. •f Twelfth Biennial Report, Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin, 1905- 06, pages 30-31, 249 $18. UU per month. This bill has been amended from time to time, so that the law now reads, "Teachers having certificates of the grade of number one, shall be paid not less than $-i0.00 per month; those holding certifi- cates of the grade of number two, not less than $35.00 per month; and those holding certificates of .the grade of number three not less than $30.00 per month." All applicants for teachers' certificates are required to pass an examination in the following subjects: Orthography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar and language, physiology and hygiene, United States history, State history, geography, civil govern- ment, and the theory and art of teaching, with additional subjects for certificates good in graded or high schools. A first grade certificate is granted to applicants who attain a general average of ninety in an exam- ination on these subjects and not lower than seventy-five in any one branch. A second grade certificate is granted upon a general average of eighty with no grade lower than sixty-eight ; and a third grade certifi- cate is issued to applicants who attain a general average of seventy with no grade lower than sixty. Thus the wages of teachers are fixed upon an examination percentage basis. The action of West Virginia in this matter was occasioned by the par- simony of boards of education whose views "were entirely too economical and contracted to suit the progressive spirit of the age." It was found that some of the boards of education were not able to provide for the additional outlay necessary to pay the salaries required by law. The state was therefore led to set apart from the general school fund of the state fifty thousand dollars to aid the weaker districts in paying the min- imum salaries and in maintaining a six months term of school. The effect of the law has been eminently satisfactory. The average salaries throughout the state are considerably above the minimum prescribed by law. This is the testimony of the state superintendent of free schools, the Hon. Thos. C. Miller, who writes the commission that "the minimum salary law has produced good results in this state and while the average salary is considerably above the minimum, our enactment has prevented many districts from reducing wages below a respectable standard." Indiana. — A minimum wage law was enacted in Indiana in 1901. It was amended in 1903 and again in 1907. This law at present reads as follows : "The daily wage of teachers for teaching in the public schools of the state shall not be less, in the case of beginning teachers, than an amount determined by multiplying 21/2 cents by the general average given such teacher in his highest grade of license at the time of con- tracting. For teachers having liad a successful experience for one school year of not less than six months, the daily wages shall not be less than an amount determined by multiplying three cents by the general average given such teacher on his highest grade of license at the time of con- tracting. For teachers having had a successful experience of three or more school years of not less than six months each, the daily wages shall not be less than an amount determined by multiplying 3I/2 cents by the general average given such teacher on his highest grade of license at the time of contracting. All teachers nov.' exempt or hereafter exempt from examination shall be. paid, as daily wages for teaching in the public 250 schools, not less than an amount determined b}' multiplying three cents by the general average of scholarship and success given such teacher: Provided, that the grade of scholarship accounted in each case be that given at the teacher's last examination, and that the grade of success accounted be that of the teacher's term last preceding the date of con- tracting; and, providing, further, that two per cent shall be added to the teacher's general average of scholarship and success for attending the county institute the full number of days, and that said two per cent shall be added to the average scholarship of beginning teachers."* In the year following the enactment of the original law in Indiana the superintendent of public instruction of that state attributed the rise of wages which had taken place in the state to the operation of the law and wrote, "it would be difficult to set out all of the advantages of the wage law — it has increased the demand for male teachers, placed the minimum wage more or less upon the basis of scholarship and successful experience; protected good teachers against competition with incompe- tence and given county superintendents the legal support they have needed in the careful and accurate grading of teachers' manuscripts."! Speaking of the law as it now stands, the present State Superintendent of Indiana, the Hon. Fassett A. Cotton, in a letter to the commission, Avrites as follows : "Our minimum teachers' wage law is working well throughout Indiana. I think Indiana has never had a law which has been so instrumental in arousing professional interest as has the late minimum wage law. The effect throughout the teaching body in In- diana is to stiumulate the teachers to a greater activity in properly equip- ing themselves for the responsible position of teaching. There are now 1,860 students in the Indiana State Normal School and the private normal schools have an increased* attendance. The colleges and univer- sities which have been accredited by the State Board of Education also have an increase in attendance in the professional departments." Indiana also provides state aid for the weaker townships and towns that are not able to raise a sufficient amount from local taxation to carry on their schools for the minimum term and pay their teachers according to the revised minimum law. Pennsylvania. — Pennsylvania passed a salary act in 1903 fixing the minimum salary at $35.00 per month. In 1907 the law was amended to read as follows: "The salary of common school teachers, in districts of this commonwealth receiving state appropriation, shall be no less than $50.00 per month in all cases where the teacher holds a professional, permanent or normal school certificate, and has had two years' practice, and presents a certificate of proficiency in said practice, for said time, from the superintendent in charge of said teacher. The minimum salary shall be $40.00 for all teachers holding certificates of less grade than re- quired under section one of this act. And that the state shall pay the amount of increase in all salaries that are provided for under this act, • School Law of Indiana, Sec. 37, page 261. t Report, Superintendent Public Instruction, Indiana, 1902, page 10. 351 and over the amount of salary paid in each school district in this com- monwealth in one thousand nine hundred and six, and said increase shall be paid out of the increased appropriation for the common schools."* The testimony in regard to the operation and effects of the law of Pennsylvania is similar to that offered in regard to the minimum salary acts of other states. The state superintendent of Pennsylvania, in his report for 1907, say that "no other legislation has reached the remotest districts of the state like the minimum salary act. It will take away from the general school appropriation $856,000.00. The effect has been to raise the compensation of teachers more nearly to a living basis. It is possible that some schools will not be better taught by reason of the advance of teachers' salaries, but the tonic effect of the increase will be found throughout the entire school system. It will necessitate an ad- vance in districts in which domestics were earning better wages than those in charge of the schools."f Again, in a letter to the commission, he writes, "the minimum salary law raised the wages of teachers in many rural and in some urban school districts. It has enabled teachers to go to normal schools and is toning up the entire school system." l^eiv Jersey. — In ISTew Jersev the movement for an increase in teachers' salaries originated in Jersey City in 1897. At that time a bill prescrib- ing the lowest salary which could be paid to each class of teachers em- ployed was introduced in the legislature. It made no progress, how- ever, not even being reported by the legislative committee to which it had been referred. In the following year, 1898, according to an account of the New Jersey legislature furnished the committee of the Xational Educational Association on Salaries. Tenure and Pensions of Public School Teachers in the United States, by Mr. Henry Snyder, superinten- dent of the schools of Jersey City, from which the svnopsis of ISTew Jersey lejrislation is taken, a similar bill was introduced with no better result. "In 1900, a bill fixing a minimum salary schedule, in which the salaries fixed were considerably larger than those contained in the bills of 1897 and 1898, was prepared by the friends of the teachers, and earn- estly advocated by the mavor and the board of education. This bill became a law. In general, it prescribed the minimum salaries to be paid to all teachers. The bill oricrinated in Jersey Citv, and was intended for the teachers of that city. In order, however, that there might be no constitutional objection to it, it had to be made general, in order that it mischt apply to all school districts of the state. As most of these were hostile to a bill of this cliaracter, a referendum clause was inserted in the bill, in accordance with which the provisions of the bill had to be sulmiitted to a vote of the people in any school district desiring to adopt the measure, at any general election. In accordance with the intention of those who advocated the ])ill it wns submitted to the voters of Jersey Citv in the sprinsr election of 1900. It was adopted bv a verv large majority. Since then we have operated under the schedule provided by the act. Since this act was passed a new general school law for the whole state has been adopted. This general school law has embodied the provisions of our special salary act descril)ed above. It is therefore * Pennsylvania School I^w, page 75. t Report, Superintendent Public Instruction, Pennsylvania, 190T, pages 7-8. 253 possible for an}- school district in the state to adopt the advanced sched- \\\es provided therein." Jersey City is the only city which has adopted the minimum schedule. The provision of the New Je.rsey law applies only to teachers of graded schools. The minima established depends upon experience. For assistant teachers in primary and grammar schools and kindergartens the lowest salaries are from $408.00 per annum to $936.00 per annum.* Maryland. — The minimum salary act of Maryland was enacted in 1904. It provided that "Xo white teacher regularly employed in a public school of the state of Maryland having an average attendance of fifteen pupils or more shall receive as a salary less than $300.00 per school year." Concerning this act the superintendent of public educa- tion in Maryland writes, in a letter dated 1906 and reprinted in the Minnesota school report, 1905-6, page 553, "The minimum salary law passed for Maryland in 1904 has had the effect to increase the salaries of 1,500 teachers; this increase varied from 5 per cent to 30 per cent, and, in my opinion, has had a most salutary effect. The school boards of the state have pretty generally endorsed the features of the law. In some counties where the county school tax rate had to be raised, there was naturally some complaint, but these were few. The main argument in opposition to the law was to the increase of the state tax from 17 to 23 cents (i. e., 1.7 to. 3.3 mills.) There ousrht to be an addition to the present minimum salary law — another minimum of $450.00 to such elementary teachers as hold first class certificates ; the class of certificates in this state is determined by the power and efficiency of the teacher." This recommendation of the Maryland superintendent has now become the law. The last general assembly of that state amended the original act so that at present the schedule of salaries for capable and experienced teachers is as follows : For teachers holding a first class certificate and having three years teaching experience in the state not less than $350.00 ; five years $400.00, and eight years $450.00. For teachers holding second class certificates but who have eight years' experience the minimum salary has been raised to $350.00. North Dal-ota. — In North Dakota the law provides that the district school board "shall grade the salaries of teachers for the district in accordance with the grade of certificate and no teacher holding a certifi- cate of a lower grade shall receive a salary equal to or in excess of that paid to a teacher holding a certificate of a higher grade in the same district; provided, further, that no teacher holding a second grade cer- tificate shall receive less than $45.00 per month on and after the passage and taking effect of this act. And nothing in this section shall be con- strued to mean that teachers holding the same grade of certificate must necessarily receive the same wage's." This law was passed in 1905. In regard to the effects of this law. State Superintendent Stockwell writes, "The minimum wage law has had a tendency to keep better qualified teachers in the work, also to stimulate those seeking employment to enter the field of teaching. The rural schools of Xorth Dakota are certainly "in better condition tlian they were a few years ago. The greatest draw- * New Jersey School I^aws, 1903, Article 26, pages 97-102. 253 back to our schools is the fact that there is so little permanency in our teaching force. The average length of time that teachers are employed in this state is about three years. The minimum salary law has a tendency to increase the length of time that people will follow teaching for the reason that it is now a little better, financially, than some years ago." Ohio. — In 1906 Ohio passed what is known as the Duvall Law. It pro- vides for a minimum salary of $40.00 per month for eight months, with state aid under certain conditions. The law reads as follows : "That no person shall be employed to teach in any pulic school in Ohio for less tlian $40.00 a month and that, when any school district in Ohio has not sufficient money to pay its teachers $40.00 per month for eight months of the year, after the board of education of said district has made the maximum school levy authorized by law, three-fourths of which shall be for the tuition fund, then said school district .is hereby authorized to receive from the state treasury sufficient money to make up this deficiency. Any board of education having such a deficit shall make affidavits to the county auditor, who shall send a certified statement of the facts to tbe state auditor. The state auditor shall issue a voucher on the state treasurer in favor of the treasurer of said school district for the full amount of the deficit in the tuition fund. No district shall be entitled to state aid, as provided in section one of this act, unless the number of persons of school age in said distrimct shall be at least twenty times the number of teachers employed in said district." "The effect of the law," says the state commissioner of education of Ohio, "has been manifest in a very marked increase in the monthly wages of teachers as will be seen in the following comparison given in my last report which has not as yet been received from the binders." 1906 1907 Township Elementary Schools- Men $40 37 70 50 48 39 78 57 $44 Women 42 Township High Schools- Men 72 53 Separate Districts, Elementary Schools- Men 52 43 Seperate Districts, High Schools- Men . 83 Wonien 62 In another letter the commissioner explains that the law has brought about a degree of dissatisfaction on account of the fact that the school funds which can be raised in some of the districts by the maximum tax levy of twelve mills is insufficient to increase the salary of all the teachers to $40.00 per month without reducing the salary of the superin- tendent or principal employed in the same school, lie says also that as the law has been in effect for only two years it is perhaps a little early to determine what the real lasting effects of the law will be upon the educational interests of the state. yorili C'lrolina. — In 1907 Xorth Carolina enacted a law wliich pro- vides that the minimum salarv of a teacher holding a five-vear state 254 certificate shall be $35.00 per month, and that the holder of a high school certificate shall receive not less than $40.00 a month. The same law provides also a maximum salary for certain grades of teachers. In foreign countries. — Among European countries which have adopted minimum salary schedules for the payment of teachers are France, Ger- many, Sweden and Italy. "It is worthy of note," says Mr. Eaymond W. Sies in the Educational Review for January, 1908, "that France and Germany, which are far in the lead in education, likewise take the lead in the matters of placing the compensation of teachers on a stable basis and of setting the limits below which no amount of false economy may reduce it. In these two countries teachers are civil officers responsible to the state, and as such they are paid definite salaries by the state. These constitute the legal minimum salaries. In addition to them the communities are privileged to pay such local salaries as they are able or as they choose, a privilege of which the larger communities are glad to take advantage, particularly in Germany, in order to secure the ser- vices of superior talent." Mr. Sies gives also the salary schedules in Prussia and Ftance with some comments upon the situation in those countries. "In Prussia," he says, "which constitutes two-thirds of the German Empire, if no recent alterations have been made, the minimum salaries of regular men teachers in the elementary schools for the masses vary from $180.00 per year to something over $400.00 according to length of service and rank. Those of women, who comprise a small proportion of the teachers of Germany even in the elementary schools, are fixed at figures somewhat lower. In 1905 the salaries of regular men teachers in the French schools for the masses, the elementary primary schools, and the superior primary or high schools, varies from $400.00 to $600.00 in the latter, likewise according to length of service and rank. i\.s in the case of Prussia the salary schedules for women in the same schools are somewhat lower. In both countries the compensation of the teachers in the schools for the classes, of which the gymnasia in Germany and the lycees in France are the best known types, is also fixed at minimum figures by salary schedules established and paid by the state. The same is true of the compensation of all directors or principals. In both cases the salaries are of course made decidedly better than those just given. Before passing judgment upon the adequacy of these minimum salaries of France and Germany several facts should be taken into consideration. The following are the chief of these. (1) The standard of living is distinctly lower in France and Germany than in the United States. (2) Teachers in both countries in accordance with law are provided by their communities with free residences or the equivalent in money, in addition to their salaries. (3) Those teachers who withdraw from the services after a specified time by reason of ill health or age or other disability, are legally entitled to substantial pensions the amount thereof varying with length of previous service and other considerations, and on the death of a teacher his widow and children are pensioned according to fixed regulations. In this connection we should take note of the fact that the legal provisions for free residence or the money equivalent and * School Laws of Free Public Schools of the State of Delaware, 1S98-1907, p. 41. 255 for pensions partake of the nature of legal regulatiQn of the minimum compensation of the teachers. The money equivalent of free residence may with perfect propriety be added to the minimum salary schedules throughout, which would increase them from ten to twenty per cent, but strictly speaking the pensions are not salaries." In Sweden the common schools are primarily the concern of the parish. They receive assistance from the state, however, and are under the su- perintendence of state and ecclesiastical authorities. The salaries of regular teachers are apportioned in five gradations. A public school teacher with a fixed appointment can be removed only upon judicial trial and sentence.* In Italy the state has fixed the minimum salary of rural teachers in the lower elementary schools (the first, second and third school years) in communes of less than two thousand inliabitants at $140.00 a year for men and $113.00 a year for women. The schedule adopted provides higher minima for teachers in rural communes of larger population and still higher for teachers in the lower and higher elementary town schools. The salaries fixed by the national government may be supplemented by the communes, f Objections. The main objections to minimum salary legislation must now be con- sidered. The first objection that will probably suggest itself is that inasmuch as the weaker districts will require state aid to enable them to pay the salaries required by law, it will impose too large a financial burden upon the state adopting such legislation. Undoubtedly there are in most of the states many districts which could not possibly provide a sufficient amount by taxation to pay minimum salary wages to teachers, but it is just these districts which, if education is to be regarded as a state func- tion, should receive assistance in their effort to provide a good common school education for their children. In those states which have enacted minimum salary laws state assist- ance to the poorer districts is provided. In Indiana, for instance, the school law declares that when a school corporation has levied the highest amount of taxes authorized by law and is yet unable to maintain its public schools for the legal minimum term and pay its teacher the legal minimum wage, it shall receive from the state the amount necessary to maintain the schools for the minimum legal term. This law has been declared by the state superintendent of Indiana to be proving itself "timely and wise." The amount of state aid thus required in 190G was $30,536.38. The laws of West Virginia and Ohio bearing upon this subject were quoted in a preceding division of this report. The states with minimum salar)^ laws, however, are not the only states which provide assistance from the state treasury for the maintenance of schools in the poorer districts. The principle has wide recognition. If educa- tion is to be regarded as a state function, and it is and has been so ♦Report, Commissioner of Education, 1904, "Vol. I, Chap. 11. t Report. Commissioner of Education. 1906. Vol. T. pp. SQ-Sl. 256 regarded in this coiintr}- from the beginning, the state lias the right t6 prescribe a minimum amount of education which every child may receive. And when it does fix that amount it ought to assume the corresponding duty of assisting the township or the district Avhich, after taxing itself to the limit, is still unable to provide that minimum. It must be admitted, then, that minimum salary legislation requires the state to spend more money for educational purposes. But money exjjended to give teachers a living wage would be money well spent. Teachers would respond to the increased recognition demanded by the higher wage and the public would be in a position to demand of them in- creased qualifications. Another objection to fixing the minimum salary of teachers by the State is that boards of education and boards of directors will regard the salary fixed as an authorized rating of the value of teaching and the wages of all teachers alike will tend toward the minimum allowed. This is a reasonable objection and in all probability it will have that efiiect on the minds of some of those who employ teachers. But it is more probable that in those districts in which the salaries are now above the minimum that they are practically fixed either by custom or by the present estimate of the community with respect to the value of teaching. In such districts salaries will not be afi^ected by minimum legislation. The decisive answer to this objection, however, is that the states which have enacted minimum legislation the effect suggested has , not been produced. If the reader will turn back to the description of the mini- mum wage laws in the various states, and the declaration of the state superintendents in regard to the operation of these laws, he will not be troubled by this objection. Still another question is raised in this connection, and that is would not a minimum salary law place a premium upon incompetency ? Would not the smaller and weaker school districts be likely to prefer that their school authorities employ teachers of limited attainment, teachers hold- ing second grade certificates, for instance, rather than those holding first grade certificates? It may be that in some instances this also will be the case, but in connection with the recommendation of the commis- sion in regard to a minimum salary law it has also recommended in its plan of certification, as has already been pointed out, that the standard of qualifications of teachers be raised. The two recommendations should be considered together. The commission believes that any teacher who meets the standard' of requirements for either class of certificates is entitled to the wages prescribed. The interest of the community in its own public schools must be relied upon to determine whetlier the one class or the other shall be employed. There are two or three other objections of a doctrinaire nature which it may be worth while Ijriefly to consider. A stock objection to almost every sort of advanced legislation is that it is unconstitutional. If the con- stitution stood in the way of necessary' legislation, the situation would make valid an objection to tlie constitution, not to the legislation itself. The constitution which does not allow freedom for all legislation essen- tial to the well-being of the state is a constitution which obviously 257 ^ should lie amended. But happily in juost cases minimum salary legisla- tion is i)lainly in accordance with the State Constitution if it is not enjoined by it. The Constitution of Illinois, for instance, expressly de- clares that "the General Assembly shall provide a thorough and etticient system of free schools, whereby all children of this State may receive a good common school education.'' But with 253 districts unable within the present limit of taxation to maintain a six months school and with other districts unwilling to pay the wages necessary to secure a compe- tent teacher the school system of Illinois can not be said to be in any complete sense either thorough or efficient. The Constitution leaves to the General Assembly discretion as to the means to be employed to in- crease the thoroughness and efficiency of the system. The commission is of the opinion that minimiun salar\' legislation is at the present time a necessary means to secure the desired end. Furthermore, if minimum salary legislation were unconstitutional it would in all probability have been so declared by some of the courts of the eight different states in wliich such legislation has been enacted. But thus far this has not be^n done, nor does it seem likely that any court will so decide. Courts them- selves recognize the principle that the safety of the people is the highest law. This objection may then be dismissed without further considera- tion. Aga'in, it may be said that the legislation proposed is "class legisla- tion." This in one sense is true. Teachers are a class. They are a class of jjuldic servants. But so are coiinty superintendents and other elective and appointive officials. The minimum amount that may be paid to county superintendents is prescribed by law, as are also the salaries of the great majority of public officers. Why, then, should a law fixing the minimum salary of teachers be declared obnoxious on the ground that it is class legislation ? If it is class legislation in the one case it is class legislation in the other. It is illogical to oppose a minimum salary law for those who teach and to favor such a law for those who supervise. The fact is, to call the legislation proposed class legislation does not con- stitute a valid objection. There is no necessary principle of legislation involved in the matter. The only question to determine is will a mini- mum salary law increase the standard of teaching and promote the effi- ciency of the schools. MixiiiUM Salaries Proposed by the CoMiiissiox. As to the salaries to be paid to the teachers of the State the com- mission recommends the enactment of a law providing that the mini- mum wage of teachers holding a second grade county certificate shall be $45.00 per month or $315.00 a year; and that the minimum wage for teachers holding a first grade county certificate shall be $55.00 a month or $385.00 a year. As a necessary supplement to this provision in re- gard to salaries the commission recommends that all the districts which, after levying the maximum school tax permitted by law, are un- -17 E C 258 able to jDay these ininiiuuin salaries, and maintain their schools lor the proposed terms, shall receive from the State the assistance necessary to enable them to do so. In the attempt to prepare a bill to provide for minimum salaries, however, the commission has encountered two very serious difficulties. The first of these is its inability w'ith the statistics at hand to deter- mine even approximately, not to say exactly, the extent to which ex- penses for school maintenance would be increased by such a law, and, second, its lack of information with respect to how many districts in the State would be unable with the maximum tax levy allowed by law to pa}' their teachers the minimum wages prescribed. Minimum salaries involve not merely an increase in school taxes but also the principle of State aid for the weaker districts. A bill to provide for minimum sal- arises should, therefore, be accompanied by a statement showing at least approximately the additional amount of revenue which would need to be raised and also the amount of State aid required to carry the proposed law into effect. This statement the commission is unable to make, though it has made an effort to collect the necessary data. Without more time than is now at its disposal the commission will be unable to assemble all the essential facts upon which to base a definite proposal for legislation in regard to increasing the salaries of teachers. REFERENCES. Volume and page are separated by colon. Clark, J. B. — Salaries of teachers. Columbia University Quarterly, 1:111; March, 1899. Cotton, F. A. — Teachers' salaries and how affected by the operation of the mini- mum-salary law. National Educational Association, 50th anniversary volume, 1907; p. 132-41. Dyke, C. B. — Economic aspect of teachers' salaries. Columbia University contri- butions to philosophy, psychology and education, 7 : No. 2. Felmley, David — The next step in the salary campaign. National Educational As- sociation, 50th anniversary volume, 1907 ; p. 1S3-91. Harper, W. R. — Are school teachers underpaid? In his Trend in higher education, 1905 ; p. 186-94. Harris, W. T. — The future of teachers' salaries. National Educational Association Proceedings, 1905 ; p. 67-79. Indiana State Teachers' Association. Report of the committee on taxation and teachers' salaries. 1904. Lane, A. C. — Taxation and teachers' salaries. National Educational Association Proceedings, 1902; 323-28. Discussion, p. 328-31. McCain, G. N. — The minimum salary fight. Journal of Education (New Eng'.and), v. 58:303-5. (Nov. 5, 1903.) National Educational Association. — Report of the committee on salaries, tenure and pensions of public school teachers in the United States, 1905. Minimum salary laws of Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Vir- ginia, p. 143-45. Salary studies. — Journal of Education (New England), v. 58-59. (Oct. 1, 1903-Jan. 28, 1904,) Sies, R. W. — Legal regulation of minimum salaries for teachers. Educational Re- view, 35:10-21. (January, 1908.) Considers the present status of minimum salary legislation in the United States and includes a brief preliminary survey of the situation in foreign countries. Gives the provisions of the minimum salary law in West Virginia, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, ^laryland, North Dakota, Ohio, North Carolina and New York City. 259 Sies, R. W. — Comparative study of minimum salarv legislation. Educational Re- view. 35:285-99. (March, 1908.) Considers comparatively the question of ends and values. Sommer. F. H. — Shall the state regulate teachers' salaries? National Educational Association Proceedings, 1905 ; 831-36. Warriner, E. C. — A minimum salary law for teacliers. School Board Journal, 33 ; No. 5, p. 13; No. 6, p. 15. (November and December, 1906.) Paper read before Michigan School Board Convention, October, 1906. Defines minimum salary laws by reference to existing laws and presents arguments for the enactment of such a law in Michigan. Wisconsin State Teachers' Association — Teachers' wages and cost of living ; an in- vestigation pertaining to the remuneration of teachers in the state of Wiscon- sin as related to the cost of living and the efficiency of the teaching service. Wisconsin Public Instruction Bulletin of Information, 11. 1904. Note. — For assistance in preparing the foregoing bibliography the commission is indebted to the New York State Library. Many additional references may be found in the Educational Review, January, 1907. ?eo THE RESTORATION OF THE TWO MILL TAX. The lirst free school law of Illinois, passed January 15, 1855, pro- vided for the levy and assessment of two mills upon each dollar's valu- ation of all the taxable j^roperty in the State for the support of common schools. As revised in 18?3 the law declared that "the common school fund of this State shall consist of the proceeds of a two mill tax, to be levied upon each dollar's valuation of the property in the State, an- nuallj', until otherwise provided by law," etc. On May 3, 1873, the act to provide the necessary revenue for state purposes provided that there should be levied "for State school nurposcs, to be designated State School Fund (in lieu of the two mill tax therefor) $1,000,000 annually."' The same amount has been appropriated for each year since that time. For the reasons now to be given the commission respectfully advises and recommends the striking out of the provision in section 189 of the gen- eral school law, "until otherwise provided by law," in order that the law may provide that the State appropriation for the support of schools may consist hereafter, as it did immediately prior to 1873, of the proceeds of a two mill tax levied upon the equalized assessed value of all the prop- erty of the State. Because of the practice begun in 1873 of ''otherwise'' providing by law for the amount appropriated by the State for the support of schools, the State school fund has remained, as before pointed out, at the amount; then fixed, namely, $1,000,000. Thirty-six years have passed. During that time the population of the State has more than doubled. The school population has increased almost one hundred per cent. The wealth of the State has quadrupled. School expenses have multiplied four and one-half times, but the share of the State in the support of the school-' has remained the same. The following table, although the figures are not altogether reliable, will show Avith sufficient clearness the growth of the State's needs of educational facilities, and its rapid increase in its al)ility to pay for them, since it adopted the unfortunate practice of limiting its ajjpropriation for school purposes to $1,000,000. Total School Year, popula- popula- 1 tion. tion. True valuation of property. Equalized I School assessment. | expenditures. District taxes. State appropria- tion. 1870 2,.=)39.891 8fi2,624l 1873*2.700.000' 909.828 1880 3,077, 871i 1.0I0.8'>1 1890 .3.82(i.33r 1,096,700 1900 4. 821,. 550 1.362.700 190) .5,319,150 1,445.851 1908*5,600,000 1.500,066 $ 2.121.680,759 2,500,000,000 .3, 210. f 00. 000 5,066.751,719 6,976.476,400 iS, 816. 556, 19 10,000,000,000 $ 510,886,683 1.355,401,317 786,616.394 808,892,782' 809,733.405 1,095,681,5.57 1,263,500,487 $ 6,881,537 62 $ 4,780.988 7,65,5.268 32 5,664.587 7,. 531, 942 00 5,735,478 11,64i.l26 00 8,828.120 17.7.57,145 00 15.909.436 22.823,191 00 20.173.619 32,227,605 06 $1,000,000 1.000.000 1.000.000 1.000.000 1.000 oco 1.000,000 1,000.000 ♦Estimated. ^1901. 261 Although the change from a two mill tax to the appro])riation of a lump sum has proven to be exceedingly unfortunate for the schools, it was originally made on the recommendation of no less a friend of tiie scuools than Xewton Bateman himself. In his report for 1871-2 Jiaieman recommended "that the designation of a particular rate of school tax to be levied by the Auditor for the support of common schools, be discontinued and dispensed with, and that, in lieu thereof, a specific annual sum be appropriated by the General Assembly for the support of schools.''* If Newton Bateman could have anticipated that as a result of this recommendation the State appropriation for schools would have increased only by $1UU,UUU in forty years, he would have stood aghast at what would have appeared to be his own. want of foresight. Evi- dently he never dreamed that "the specific annual sum" to be appro- priated would not increase from year to year so as to correspond ap- jjroximately to the increase of a two mill tax, or so as to exceed it. In the same paragraph in which he recommends the discontinuance of the earlier method of providing the State's share of the school expenses he recommended "that the amount of common school revenue raised directly by the State, be largely increased, so that the local district school taxes may be ijroportionately diminished, and the burdens and benefits of the school system, financially considered, more nearly equalized." And he concludes his recommendation by declaring that in his opinion the doubling of the sum then approjsriated would prdve a wise and benefi- cial measure. Why, then, was the two mill tax dispensed with? inside from the convenience of appropriating a lump sum, and the further convenience of being able to anticipate with some certainty the amount of revenue available, there was evidently some fear on the part of those who de- sired a constantly increasing appropriation that under the loose and ar- bitrary methods of assessment then in vogue the revenues from the two mill tax might decrease. The equalized assessed valuation of the prop- erty of the State in 1873, as shown in the table just given, was $1,355,- 401,317. It was considerably higher then than it has ever been since. It declined with varying fluctuations until 1898 at which time it was $778,474,910. The amount derived from the two mill tax when Bate- man recommended the change was $900,000. The appropriation of a million dollars was a considerable increase, and was no doubt hailed as a great victory by Bateman and all other friends of the schools. The following is a statement of the income derived from the two mill tax for the years 185(5-1873, at wdnch time the practice of appropriating $1,000,000 annually was adopted: ♦Ninth Biennial Report, Superintendent Public Instruction, Illinois, 1S71-2, p. 229. 262 Year. Assessed Income from 2 Year. 1 Assessed Income from 2 valuation. mill tax. 1 valuation. 1 mill tax. 1856 $349,951,372 00 $606,809 51 1865 1$ 392,327.906 00 $ 693,000 00 1857 407,477,367 00 660,000 00 1866 410.795,876 00 750,000 00 1858 403.110,321 00 743,000 00 1867 504,683,553 00 750,000 00 1859 366,702,043 00 763,231 00 1868 474,480,877 00 900,100 00 1860 367,227,742 00 738,183 00 1869 489,004,775 00 No report. 1861 330,823,749 00 C78.751 00 1870 480,664,058 00 885, 120 00 1862 312,924,349 00 600,000 00 1871 505,676,311 00 900,000 00 1863 331.999.871 00 600,000 00 1872 510,886,683 00 900,000 00 1861 356,877.837 00 660,000 00 1873 1,355,401,317 00 1,000,000 00 From this statement it will be seen not only that the proceeds of tlie two mill tax were a variable quantity^ but also that the assessed valua- tion of the real and jjersonal property of the State was also subject to strange fluctuations. It will be observed too that in 18G8 on an assessed valuation of $474,480,877 the income from the two mill tax was the same as in 1872 on an assessed valuation of $510,886,683. In 1873 the assessed valuation increased to two and one-half times what it was in 1872. On this new basis of taxation the two and one-half mill tax, making due allowance for the usual abatements, would have amounted to at least $2,500,000. But from 1873 to 1899, the time at which the as- sessment was fixed at one-fifth of the total value, the basis of taxation fluctuated with a general decline until in 1898 it amounted to only $778,474,910, on which the two mill tax would have probably amounted to $1,500,000. If levied on the present assessed valuation of the prop- erty of the State, which is $1,263,500,487, the proceeds of a two mill tax, after making allowance for abatements, would amount to a sum approximately $2,500,000. It may be surprising to learn that at one time the State appropria- tion for schools was ten times as much on the dollar as at present. By an "Act providing for the establishment of free schools," approved Jan- uary 15, 1825, it was provided that there should be appropriated, for the encouragement and support of schools, "two dollars out of every hun- dred hereafter to be received in the treasury of the State." If such an act were now in force the State appropriation for schools would amount to over $25,000,000 instead of $1,000,000. The idea of a twenty-five million dollar State appropriation for schools in Illinois almost takes the lireath away, and to propose anything like that sum would stamp one as visionary. And yet New Jersey, with a school expenditure of considerablv less than one-half that of Illinois, makes a State appro- priation of over $10,000,000. That the amount now contril)uted by the State of Illinois to the sup- port of her common schools is small in comparison with the appropria- tion of some of the other states will be seen by a glance at the following statement sliowing the relative amounts appropriated ])y some of the iiinro ])opulnus states. 263 State. New Jersey... Pennsylvania . California New York Kentucky Wisconsin Indiana Washington . . Minnesota Maryland Mississippi West Virginia Illinois Population in 1907. Total expenditure for sctiools. 2,248,332 7,032,915 1,675,211 8,386,(573 2, 349, 352 2,292,911 2,743,305 630,712 2,071.318 1,290,000 1,734,439 1,096,006 5,518,190 $14,951, 34,070, 12,500, 53,000, 3, 870, 12.505, 12,879, 8.000, 13,4<;3, 3,400, 3,250, 4,271, 32,227, 775 24 916 94 000 00* 000 00 016 00 000 00 015 57 000 00 211 00 000 00 000 00 153 00 tj05 06 Amount of State appropriation for support of schools. $10,097, 7,500, 6,000, 5, 636, 2,661, 2,656, 2,612, 2,2il, 2,000. 1,415, 1,250, 1,067, 1,000, 403 92 000 00 000 00 000 00 867 20 937 00 188 82 068 55 000 00 351 25 000 00 788 25 000 00 Percent of State appropria- tion. 22 54 11 69 21 20 28 15 41 3» 25 3 ♦Estimated. From this statement it will be seen that twelve of the states, some of them having less than one-fifth of the population, make larger ap- propriations for the support of schools, both absolutely and relatively to the total school expenditures, than Illinois. In more than hatf of them the State appropriation is more than one-fourth of the total amount ex- pended for schools. At" a joint meeting of the Educational Commissions of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Kansas and Washington, held in Cleve- land, Ohio, on July 2, 1908, it was moved and carried "that it be the sense of the members of these state commissions that not less than one- fourth of the cost of maintaining the schools of a state should come from the State treasury ; and that, when the larger corporations of a state can not be taxed by the school districts, -but pay state taxes only, not less than one-half the expense of maintaining the schools of the ^tate should come from the State treasury or the State school funds." One- fourth the expense of school maintenance in this State would be $8,056,- 901.27. We see how far below this standard is Illinois with only a three per cent appropriation. This appropriation, of course, since practice has made it a fixed amount, grows relatively smaller year by year as the total expenditures for school purposes increase. The school reports of the State show that in 1859 the amount derived from the two mill tax was $763,331; that the amount raised by district tax for school purposes was $1,201,895, and tliat the entire amount expended for all .=!chool purposes was $2,171,495. A little calculation will show that at that time, that is fifty years ago, the State appropriation for school purposes was 621/2 P^r cent of the amount raised by local taxation, and 34 per cent of the entire expendi- ture for schools. Today, as was shown, it is less than three per cent of the total expenditures and only 4.3 per cent of the amount received from district taxes. Surely this condition could not bo defended by anyone who really believes in the principle of a State apjiropriation for the support of schools. What is this jirinciple to wliich reference lias just been made? Why should the State appropriate any amount for school purposes? Why should not the entire expenses of schools be borne by tlie districts? The 264 auswer to tlieso que^itions is involved in the very idea of the State. A democratic State implies a body of people svitficiently homogeneous with respect to customs, conditions, interests and needs, to undertake to pro- vide for these needs through common effort, that is, through the State government. It further implies that the interests and iieeds of the people is affected by that of some of the people. It is, therefore, a denial of the right of any community to ado})t the })olicy of "go as you please" in any matter of general interest. Education is a matter of general interest, consequently the principle applies with })eculiar force to the care and education of the children of the State. The welfare of the State shall receive at least a common school education. This prin- ciple is recognized in the Constitution of Illinois, as has already been pointed out, for it declares that "the General Assembly shall provide a thorough and efficient system of free schools, whereby all children of this State may receive a good common school education." jSTow it is impossible for some localities of the State, without outside assistance, to provide such a system of schools and give to the children of those Itocalities the kind of education demanded by the Constitution. Last year there were 253 districts in the State which, after levying the full rate of taxation permitted by law, could not support a school for the term required by law. With respect to these districts it is plainly the duty of the State to provide tlieifi with the assistance necessary to enable them to conform to tlie State's requirements. It is a duty which the State owes primarily to itself. These districts, however, represent an extreme variation from a "thorough and efficient system of free schools." Many others fall short of it. It, therefore, is necessary for the State to make a large appropriation for the purpose of equalizing the school privileges of the State, and for the purpose of stimulating all sections of the State to greater efforts towards improving their schools. The same joint meeting of educational commissions previously referred to resolved "that the State should encourage high standards of efficiency in all grades of puldic schools by granting special aid to all rural, gr uk'd and high poIiodIs which reach certain standards in e(|ui])nu'nt and ti-ach- ino- force." ' 26i SUBJECTS NOT THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED BY THE COMMISSION. There are, of course, many subjects of great educational importance whicli tlie commission lias not had time to investigate and upon which it can make no recommendation. Chief among tnese, perhaps, is the subject of industrial and vocational training. it is felt throughout the country that the schools of today are not prop- erly adjusted to the industrial conditions which prevail. ^ The feeling has found expression in a variety of ways — in a flood of literature on in- dustrial education, in the formation of societies to promote instruction in the industrial arts, in the appointment of commissions to investigate the subject of industrial education, and, in a few states, in legislation providing for the teaching of agriculture and the domestic arts in the public schools and for the establishment of separate trade schools. It is true that the modern school too often retiects the scholastic ideals which prevailed a century or more ago. Since the industrial revolution of the latter part of the eighteenth century economic conditions have changed more rapidly than the various forms and methods of education. We now see quite clearly that the education which was fairly well adapted to the ideals and purposes of a leisure class is not suited to the aims and purposes of a democracy. The kind of (MJucation needed in a free state is that which considers on the one hand the socially necessary labor to be performed in forests and mines, fields and factories, offices and studios, and on the other hand the existence in the minds and bodies of the youth of the State of special individual aptitudes for the performance of this labor, which aptitudes it should bo the business of the schools to discover and develop. The cliildren of the State are poten- tially 'farmers, merchants, mechanics, engineers, artists, professional men, etc. Perhaps the greatest educational question of modern times is, how may the public school system be organized and the schools con- ducted so as to aid in the discovery of the s]iecial talents of the youth of the land, develop these talents in the highest degree possible and turn them to social account. This is, of course, largely a school ques- tion, it is one which is engaging increasing attention on the part of those who are striving to improve the efficiency of the schools. The commission regrets exceedingly that it lias been obliged by the amount of its appropriation and for want of time to forego tlie investigation of a question which in importance and present interest stands in the front rank. 266 Among the status mIucIi have attempted a solutiou of this problem through legislation are Massachusetts, New York and Wisconsin. Wisconsin provides for the teaching of elementary agriculture in every district school, and for the establishment and maintenance of county schools of agriculture and domestic economy. It also empowers cities to establish and nuiiutain trade schools. New York has organized, under its education department a special division of trade schools which takes up the organization of factory and trade schools with local school authorities, commercial or labor organizations, or any citizen who may be interested. Such schools when organized become a part of the general school system, and subject to the same management, but the work is not to he mingled and confused with the work of other schools. When the requirements of the education de])artment as to rooms, equip- ment and qualifications of teachers are complied with, a factory or trade school receives from the State an allotment of $500.00 and an additional $200.00 for each teacher employed after the first one. Massachusetts is proceeding under the direction of a commission on industrial educa- tion, appointed in 1906. This commission is authorized not merely to investigate the subject of industrial education but to establish, conduct and maintain industrial schools. Several of such schools have been es- tablished. The commission was created to serve for a period of three years. This time was extended in 1908 to five years. For the years 1900, 1907, 1908 and 1909 the State has appropriated for the use of this commission the sum of $100,323.41. New Jersey has appointed a commission to investigate the subject of industrial education and make a report to the next Legislature, and the same has been done in Mary- land. Other states which have taken some steps towards the introduc- tion of industrial education are Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Vir- ginia, Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The constitution of Okla- homa contains provisions which are meant to create a definite and har- monious system of agricultural and industrial education for that State. With this object in view it enjoins the teaching of the elementary prin- ciples of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, stock feeding, forestry, the building of country roads, domestic science and the ele- ments of economics in all the public schools of the State. The question of the best method of procedure in providing for in- dustrial education in the public schools is regarded Ijy tlie commission as an extremely important one, but at the same time an extremely difficult one. The commission makes no recommendation upon the subject for the reason that it has not had time to enter upon that kind of investigation which would be necessary to insure wise suggestions in regard to legisla- tion. The commission regards the whole question of industrial and voca- tional training as in such a nebulous condition that it does not feel that any definite recommendation concerning it as it applies to the public schools of the State caJi be made without a painstaking and thorough in- vestigation of the whole subject. The time at the disposal of the commis- sion has not been sufficient to enable it to make the investigation neces- sary for such a report as would be required as the basis of definite rec- ommendations. The commission is, therefore, of the opinion, and re- 267 spectfuUy recommends in view of the importance of the subject, that a committee consisting of suitable persons be appointed and authorized by the State to visit the industrial schools of this country and other countries for the purpose of studying the subject of industrial and voca- tional training in all its phases in order to present a report upon it to the General Assembly. The subject of industrial and vocational training is not the only one, the investigation of which was impossible owing to the limited time at tlie disposal of the commission. Questions like the following are fre- quently asked : Why have you not taken up the text book question ? Wh}^ have you made no recommendation concerning temperance legis- lation? Why have you had nothing to say about moral instruction in the schools? Why do you not recommend a law concerning school fraternities? To all such questions the commission makes the follow- ing reply: '^^e agree with you that the subject you urge upon us ia important. It deserves consideration, but we have laid down the rule that a thorough investigation must precede the formation of every recommendation made by the commission. It is better to make no rec- ommendation at all than to make one not sustained by facts or war- ranted by experience. The subject mentioned is one concerning which the commission has not had sutficient time to ascertain the facts or to study the experience. We have done the best we could with a few fundamentally important subjects. We have considered a few questions thoroughly. We have no misgivings about the recommendations wo have made concerning them. With more time we should have consid- ered other subjects. An entire year would "not be too much to devote to some of them. The Massachusetts commission will spend at least five years on the subject of industrial education alone. The text book question is a difficult question. Practically all of the states have had more or less experience w4th text book laws. A thorough study of these laws and this experience should precede a recommendation concerning a text book law for Illinois. So far as the commission is concerned, at least, such an investigation must precede any recommendation concern- ing it, and so with a multitude of other questions. Among these questions which the commisison would like to have con- sidered had time permitted are the following: Industrial and vocational training in their relation to the public schools, the means and methods of jiromoting the physical welfare of school children, vacation schools and playgrounds, the teaching of agriculture, household economics and domestic science in the public schools, the consolidation of country schools, the improvement of the law in relation to township high schools, the text book question, school revenues, the requirements for admission to colleges and the granting of degrees, the kind of school statistics which it is most profitable to collect, the compensation of township treasurers and the auditing of their reports, a minimum wage law for teachers, county normal schools and teachers' training classes, city school svstems, religious aud temporaiue instruction in the schools, and many others. 2(58 FINANCIAL STATEMENT. RECEIPTS. Appropriation for use of the Educational Commission . EXPENDITURES. F. G. Blair, traveling and incidental expenses R. E. Hieronj'mus, traveling and incidental expenses Alfred Baylis, traveling and incidental expenses Edwin G. Cooley, traveling and incidental expenses A. F. Nightingale, traveling and incidental expenses — Harry Taylor, traveling and incidental expenses Francis Cassilly, traveling and incidental expenses Woods Howerth, traveling and incidental expenses Woods Howerth . salary as secretary Rose Crump, salary as stenographer Donald L. Morrill, legal advice L. E. Wheeler, P. M., for stamps Underwood Typewriter Co Central Union Telephone Co Clerical work Labor Printing Expressage Total nn 70 :;07 59 231 82 25 60 20S 97 292 77 10 48 815 98 589 05 165 00 317 .S5 645 00 28 00 2 50 26 24 20 00 66 00 141 97 $10,000 00 $10,000 CO 2(JV INDEX. Page Amendments to the School Law :t Appropriations for schools of other states 263 Attendance at county institutes 189 Attendance of teachers at county institutes 229 Bill to create Educational Commission 4 Bills offered by Educational Commission — Certification of teachers in Illinois 181 Compensation of county superintendent 70 County institutes 232 Tq create State Board of Education in Township the unit or school organization 144 Bulletins of the Educational Commission 6 California Board of Education 37 Certificates — Power to grant — renew — suspend — revoke 158 Recognition of normal school, college and university graduates 159 Certification of teachers 147 Township system • 1 4 S Count V s vstem 148 State system 149 Advantages of a uniform State system 165 Experience of other states 166 Certificating of teachers in Illinois 170 Certificating of teachers in Iowa 174 Certificating plan offered by the Educational Commission 181 Compensation allowed for attending county institutes 189 Conducting teachers' institutes — Illinois plan 203 Connecticut Board of Education 35 County Board of Education, advantages of 95 County Boards of Education in the United States, membership — term — com- pensation — qualification — powers and duties of members 87 Cost of living 243 County institutes 186 Attendance at 189-220 Character of instruction 227 Compensation for attendance 189 Directors of 226 Duration of 227 Financial support of 230 Illinois plan for conducting 203 In Illinois 204 Joint institutes 224 Length of 187 IMethod of securing Insti-uction ISS Method of securing instructors 227 IMethod of supporting 189 Number held annually 186 Organizing and conducting . . 224 Purpose and value of 214 Time held 187 Time of holding 225 Typical system 199 Plan recommended by Educational Commission 232 County institutes, held in the several states 186 County superintendent — method of election — term — salary 58 Compensation — plan offered by the Educational Commission 70 County superintendents in the several states 55 States having county supervision 55 Method of election 58 Term of office 63 Salaries 64 Powers and duties 71 Qualifications 79 County superintendency in Illinois 56. County supervision — states having county or district supervision 55 County system the unit of organization 114 County teachers' institutes 1S6 Discontinuance and abandonment of small schools 145 270 luilc.v — Continued. Pa'-jh: District system of organization — Advantages of 106 Objections to 1 OS Kleotion of county superintendents in general .")8 Fees for examination 180 Financial statement of the Educational Commission 26S Index 26!) Illinois plan for conducting county institutes 203 Institute — county teachers' ■ 186 Institute plan proposed by the Educational Commission 232 Introduction 1 Joint institutes 224 Legislation — Minimum Salary 247 Plan proposed by the Educational Commission 257 List of Illinois superintendents of public instruction 20 Massachusetts Board of Education 3 4 Methods of electing county superintendents in general 58 Minimum salary legislation 247 Foreign countries. 254 : Indiana, 249 ; Maryland. 252 ; New Jersey. 25] : North Dakota. 252; Ohio, 253: Pennsylvania. 250; United States, 247 : We.st Virginia, 248. Objections to 255 Plan proposed by the Educational Commission 257 New York Board of Education 36 New York plan for county institutes 199 Organizing and conducting county institutes 224 Pennsylvania plan for county institutes '. 202 Powers and duties of chief school officers in th^ several states 22 Qualification of the county superintendents in the several states 79 Recognition of normal school, college and imiversitj- graduates in granting certificates 159 Recommendations of the Educational Commission 9 Revision of the school law 9 Amendments to the school law '.0 Special charters 11 State Board of Education 40 Teachers' institutes 232 Township unit of school or.ganization 144 r^niform system in certificating teachers 181 Compensation of county superintendents 70 Reference.^ — Certification of teachers 185 County boards of Education 96 County institutes 233 • County superintendents in the several states 84 Minimum salaries 258 State Board of Education 54 State superintendency in the United States 29 Township organization in the several states 135 Resolution — Illinois State Teachers' Association, recommending the appoint- ment of the Educational Commission 3 Restoration of ' the two-mill tax 260 Revision of the school law .* 9 Salary legislation 247 Salaries in general 236 Salaries in Illinois 2-''-'^ Salaries of county superintendents in the several states >^ ' Salaries of teachers '??•' In general 23'^ Plan proposed by the Educational Commission 25" School appropriations of other states 2fi i Special charters 11 State Boards of Education in the United States — term — compensation — mem- bership — powers and duties 31 State Board of Education and its relation to the Siipoiintendent of Public In- struction in the several states 4 ;) State Board of Education — Advantages of 5'i Objection to , 52 State Boards of Education, recently r^^commended .?8 State Board of Education, plan recommended by the Educational Commission. 40 States having county boards of education 87 ••Superintendents of Public Instruction, list of 20 8?1 ] ndf.r — ( 'oiitimicd. Pagk Superintendents of Public Instruction in the United States — qualifications — election — term — salary 15 Powers and duties of 22 State superintendency in Illinois 18 Subjects not thoroughly Investigated by the Educational Commission 26:j Tables- Certificating age limit. in the several states 147 Certificating systems in the several states 151 Chief school officer — title in each state and territory, giving year present system originated 20 Chief school officers in the United States — manner of election — term — salary — important duties 23 Compensation of county superintendents in the several states Go County boards of education in the United States — number of members — term — compensation and powers and duties of 89 County institutes and attendance in Illinois 212 County institutes in the several states 191 County superintendents in the United States — manner of election — term — salary — powers and duties 72 Decrease in men teachers 24o District school offlcers in the United States — title — number — method of ap- pointment or election — term — powers and duties 102 District school officers under county organization — title — number — metliod of appointment or election — term — powers and duties 115 Income from the two-mill tax and State school appropriations 262 Increase of population and valuation of property 260 Increase in women teachers in Illinois 245 Minimum school term required — school months and allowance of holidays in the several states 238 Number teachers in ungraded schools 241 Number teachers receiving less than $40.00 per month 241 Qualification of county superintendents in the several states 80 Recognition of normal school, college and university graduates for certifi- cation in the several states 159 State school appropriations in United States 263 State Boards of Education — number of members — term — compensation — powers and duties 42 Term — average salary, etc., of teachers in the several states 237 Town or township school officers in the United States — title — number — method of appointment or election — term — powers and duties of 110 Teachers' salaries 235 Causes for low ". 244 Effects of low 244 In Illinois 239 Remedies for 245 Time at which county institutes are held 187 Time of holding county institutes 225 Township organization •. 117 Advantages of 118 Objections to 125 Typical system 112 Township organization of schools in Illinois *: 137 Township system — Unit of organization 109 Opinion of experts— E. T. Fairchild. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kansas 129 J. H. Ackerman, .Superintendent of Pulflic Instruction, Oregon.... 129 W. L. Stockwell, Superintendent of Public Instruction, N. Dakota. . 130 H. A. Ustrud, Superintendent of Public Instruction, S. Dakota... 130 C. G. Rchultz, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Minnesota... 130 R. B. Cousins, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Texas 130 Nathan C. Schaeffer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Penn- sylvania 130 Mason A. Stone, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Vermont.. 130 M. Bates Stephens. Superintendent of Public Instruction, ^laryland . 131 Geo. H. Martin. Secretary of Board of Education. ;Massachusetts. . 131 M. P. Shawkey, Superintendent of Public Instruction. W. Virginia. 131 Payson Smith, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Maine 131 Walter E. Ranger, Commissioner of Public .Instruction, Rhode Island 131 Wm. H. Powell, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois 134 Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Illinois. . . 134 S. M. Etter. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois 135' Jas. P. Slade, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois 135 Henry Raali. Superintendent of Pul)lic Instruction, Illinois 135 Richard Edwards. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois. . ISS' Alfred Rayliss, Superintendent of Public Instruction. Illinois 135 System recommended by the Educational Commission 144 272 J lule.i- — Conrludi'd. Page Two-mill tax. restoration of 260 Typical county boards of education S3 Typical township system 112 Typical systems of organizing and conducting county institutes 199 Uniform examination for certification in other states 166 Letters of county superintendents from other states 169 Uniform examinations for certificating teachers in Illinois 163 Plan recommended by the Educational Commission 181 Units of school organization 98 Community system ." 99 District system 99 Advantages of 106 Objections to 108 Township system 109 Township the typical unit 112 County system 114 Plan offered by the Educational Commission 144 Wages in other occupations 243 West Virginia Board of Education 38 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below APR 2 i 1951 Form L-9-15m-7,';!l UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES LIBRARY LB 2809 Illinois. I2A52 Educational coJM^^ission - Pinal report > » .