i ntrr^mr' Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/educationiOOgenerpublicich Lie EDUCATION IN MARYLAND A REPORT TO THE MARYLAND EDUCATIONAL SURVEY COMMISSION GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD NEW YORK 1921 PUBLICATIONS OF THE GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD REPORTS: THE GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD: AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ACTIVI- TIES, 1902-I914. CLOTH, 240 PAGES, WITH 33 EULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND 3 1 MAPS. ANNUAL REPORTS: 1914-1915; 1915-1916; 1916-1917; 1917-1918; 1918-1919; 1919-1920. STUDIES: PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND, BY ABRAHAM FLEXNER AND FRANK P. BACHMAN. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN DELAWARE. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA. PRIVATE ENDOWMENT AND PUBLIC EDUCATION — A REPORT ON THE USE OF THE HANDLEY FUND, WINCHESTER, VA. TEACHER TRAINING DEPARTMENTS IN MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOLS, BY LOTUS D. COFFMAN. COLLEGE AND UNH'ERSITY FINANCE, BY TREVOR ARNETT.* THE SURVEY OF THE GARY SCHOOLS: THE GARY SCHOOLS: A GENERAL ACCOUNT, BY ABRAHAM FLEXNER AND FRANK P. BACHMAN. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION, BY GEORGE D. SIRAYER AND FRANK P. BACHMAN. COSTS, BY FRANK P. BACHMAN AND RALPH BOWMAN. INDUSTRIAL WORK, BY CHARLES R. RICHARDS. HOUSEHOLD ARTS, BY EVA W. WHITE. PHYSICAL TRAINING ANT> PLAY, BY LEE F. HANMER. SCIENCE TEACHING, BY OTIS W. CALDWELL. MEASUREMENT OF CLASSROOM PRODUCTS, BY STUART A. COURTIS. OCCASIONAL PAPERS: 1. THE COUNTRY SCHOOL OF TO-MORROW, BY FREDERICK T. GATES. 2. CH.tN'GES NEEDED IN AMERICAN SECONDARY EDUCATION, BY CHARLES W. ELIOT. 3. A MODERN SCHOOL, BY ABRAHAM FLEXNER. 4. THE FUNCTION AND NEEDS OF SCHOOLS OF EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES, BY EDWIN A. ALDERMAN. 5. LATIN AND THE A. B. DEGREE, BY CHARLES W. ELIOT. 6. THE WORTH OF ANCIENT LITERATURE TO THE MODERN WORLD, BY VISCOUNT BRYCE. 7. teachers' SAL.ARIES in CERTAIN ENDO^VED COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, BY TREVOR ARNETT. *In Preparation The REPORTS issued by the Board are official accounts of its activities and ex- penditures. The STUDIES represent work in the field of educational investigation and research which the Board has made possible by appropriations defraying all or part of the expense involved. The OCCASIONAL PAPEFIS are essays on matters of cur- rent educational discussion, presenting topicsof immediate interest from various points of view. In issuing the STUDIES and OCCASIONAL PAPERS, the Board acts sim- ply as publisher, assuming no responsibility for the opinions of the authors. Any publication of the Board may he obiaineJ on request. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND A REPORT TO THE MARYLAND EDUCATIONAL SURVEY COMMISSION BY ABRAHAM FLEXNER AND FRANK P. BACHMAN Fifth Edition NEW YORK THE GENERAL EDUCATION BOARD 6l BROADWAY 1921 ,0 \ pe of state educational organi- zation as the best that can be devised, for it allows at one and the same time for local initiative and for central direction, both of which are indispensable. Further, the state deals generously with its public schools in the mat- ter of money. Some of the counties, as we shall learn, do less than their duty in this matter, but the state has been liberal — too liberal, indeed, with such counties a? have failed to help themselves. We do not propose, therefore, any fundamental changes in the general struc- ture of the public school system of Maryland nor do we suggest that the state increase at all its appropriations to the schools. TV xvi INTRODUCTION So far the people of Maryland have, as we have said, reason to be satisfied. But there are other aspects which will cause grave concern. A system of public education, in the main soundly conceived, yields on the whole ex- tremely unsatisfactory results. A few counties possess good and steadily improving schools; a good school may be found here and there in other counties. But the large majority of the schools are poor; teachers are, for the most part, poorly trained; instruction is ineffective and ob- solete; children attend school with disastrous irregularity; school buildings are far too often in unsatisfactory condi- tion, school grounds frequently neglected and untidy. How can a fundamentally sound system produce such results? There are, indeed, a good many reasons. The state possesses a sound organization in skeleton or outline only. Neither the State Department of Education nor the office of the County Superintendent is so manned and equipped that they are really effective for the purposes for which they exist. The State Superintendent is charged with many important duties, but he has only a single assistant to help him in discharging them. The County Superin- tendency is in even more unsatisfactory condition. In the first place, the law does not even require the County Superintendent to be a trained or experienced school man; in the second place, adequate provision for skilled as- sistance exists in only one or two counties. In most counties, therefore, an untrained official without expert aid certificates teachers, arranges courses of study, super- INTRODUCTION xvii vises instruction, and examines for promotion pupils who attend school regularly or not, as they or their parents please. Finally, the state's large school fund is not distributed so as to accomplish the greatest possible good. For it is distributed almost unconditionally. The counties get their quota whether they do their educational duty or not. with the result that the backward counties some- times do much less than they ought and some well-to-do counties do much less than they should. The state fund thus becomes a source of positive demoralization. It can be converted into a real help and stimulus only if payment by the state is conditioned upon the perform- ance of local duty. In N-iew of these conditions it is easy enough to under- stand why a fundamentally correct t>'pe of organization produces unsatisfactory educational results in Mary- land. But. as a matter of fact, the state does not even fare as well NN'ith its present organization as it might: why not? A few words suffice to explain. Public education in Maryland is ''in politics." Politics are apt to prevent the State Board from acting with vigor; to determine the composition of the county boards; to affect the choice of the county superintendents; even to enter into the selection of the one-room rural school teacher. Of course, there are exceptions. Some of the county boards are excellent; some schools are entirely free from political taint. But, in general, political and personal xviii INTRODUCTION considerations impair the vigor, independence, thorough- ness, and efiSciency of the school system. The public does not begin to realize the seriousness of the political infection or the damage it does. The following chapters discuss in detail the situation which has thus been briefly summarized. It is hoped that legislation supplementing and improving the present state system may result. But even should this be the case, public education will continue to disappoint, unless higher ideals result in completely divorcing education from politics. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND Public Education in Maryland I. MARYLAND AND ITS SCHOOLS BEFORE undertaking to describe or to discuss education in Maryland it is necessary to know the state itself. The very fact that we nowadays begin with an inquiry of this kind is significant. It means that there is no single educational pattern that ought to be applied to every state or to every county in any state regardless of local conditions. Not only the substance but the end of education must be defmed with reference to the needs and opportunities of the people who are to be educated. Maryland is a border state, lying midway between North and South; in population and occupations it is therefore partly Northern and partly Southern. It differs, however, from all other states of the Union in the extent of its water area, for of a total area of 12,210 square miles, almost one-fifth (2,319 square miles) is water. Of the estimated state population, 1,300,000, 43 per cent., live in the city of Baltimore; a dozen small cities raise the urban population to just about 50 per cent. From the standpoint of numbers, therefore, the state is half urban and half rural. If, however, the city of Balti- 3 4 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND more is ignored, an overwhelming percentage of the rest of the population live in the country. Maryland is, therefore, with the exception of its one great city, a rural state with an unusual water development. Its rural character is clearer from the educational than from any other point of view; for of 388,486 children of legal school age in the state, 234,900 live outside Baltimore City. For education this is a fact of prime importance. The Federal Census of 19 10 shows that more than five hundred occupations are carried on in Maryland. Of these a few are regional — mining, for example, in the mountain regions, fishing and oystering about the Chesapeake. Baltimore thrives on manufacturing, trade," and transportation. Outside of Baltimore, agriculture predominates. Indeed, one-third of all the wage-earners outside that city and 21 per cent, of those in the entire state are engaged in one branch of farming or another.' Agriculture has prospered in Maryland, though less so than in some other parts of the country. In the last decade the number of farms has increased by something over 6 per cent. ; the value of farm property has increased by 40 per cent.; farms now average slightly over 100 acres as opposed to twice that size in 1850. Simultane- ously with the decrease in the size of the farms, the num- ber of owners has increased. The tenant farmer, so apt to be an unfavorable symptom, is not prominent and is disappearing. The significance of these facts for our MARYLAND AND ITS SCHOOLS $ inquiry is obvious. As the city of Baltimore is not in- cluded in this study, we are called on to deal with a sys- tem of schools serving mainly a rural population. The population of Maryland grows steadily, but no longer rapidly. The state ranked sixth with 320,000 inhabitants in 1790; it ranks twenty-seventh with over four times that number to-day. Its population is un- usually stable. In 1910 about 80 per cent, of those living in the state were born there, while only 8 per cent. were foreign born. In the rural districts this condition is even more marked; there the percentages were 84 per ^nt. born and living in the state; 3.7 per cent, foreign bormi^T!k? border-line situation of the state adds, how- everfa complication; for approximately one-fifth of the population belongs to the Negro race. The schools of Maryland serve then in the main native races, living largely in the country, the Negro race being numerous enough to make a heavy demand on the state. The history of the state need not be reviewed in this connection; but a single fact of outstanding importance must be noted. In the development of its institutions, as in the South generally, the county has from the begin- ning played a vital part. The Maryland county is not an aggregate of smaller units, such as towns and town- ships; it is the original and fundamental governing unit. The state began with counties; eleven were created be- tween 1637 and 1695. Division into election and school districts took place later and simply for purposes of con- venience. The priority of the county is, as we shall ob- 6 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND sei-ve, a fortunate circumstance from the educational point of view. As early as 1671 legislative efforts to provide schools or colleges "for the education of youth in learning and virtue" are recorded. But despite intermittent agita- tion, the better part of a century passed before certain schools were established, which were the forerunners of the "academies" established during the latter part of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries. Of these academies we shall learn more later. Suffice it to say here that they represented mainly the concern of the state for the education of the upper classes. Not until 1 81 2 was an effort made to provide elementary schools for the poor. Thereafter, developments were fairly rapid. In 1825 an ambitious scheme, never put into full operation, created by legislative action a complete system of public instruction, beginning with a superintendent at the top and ending with county and district organization at the bottom. The system failed; but efforts did not cease. Forty years later a new state system was established by the constitution of 1864. This system, distinguished by the great power conferred on the State Board and the State Superintendent, was evidently premature; for three years later a new constitution sounded its death knell. The State Board and the State Superintendent were abolished in the following year (1868); the county and the district thus became supreme. Well-founded "i .£ Li ■^ C C c r'- ^ ^ 2 -Jl C — Ex •'•-^ ^ iMARVLAND AND ITS SCHOOLS 7 discontent led f^radually to the revival of central state educational arin in whirh this xohnni- linds it. Thou<^h the facts will emerge as our study ])rocccds, it may be worth while, by means of a brief statistical state- ment, to show in advance the extent and importance of Maryland's educational interests. In the 23 counties of Maryland, and inclusive of Baltimore city, there arc i .g^s white and 550 colored schools; the children of school age (6 to 18) number 275,503 white and 63,964 colored; 200,783 white children and 44,475 colored are enrolled. The state employs upward of 5,000 white and almost 1,000 colored teachers. Its annual outlay is more than $5,000,000, one-half of which is spent outside the city of Baltimore. We are about to inquire how wisely this large sum is spent and whether or not the people of Maryland could spend it more wisely than they do. II. THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION PUBLIC education in America has developed most satisfactorily in those states in which a judicious combination of state and local author- ity has been effected. The reason is plain. The in- fluence of the state makes for unity of design and uni- formity of standard; local initiative ensures the interest, effort, pride, and sacrifice of the community to which the' school belongs. The public school system of Maryland is of this prevailing American type. The state de- termines the general outlines, while the details are largely managed by local authorities. We shall in this chapter describe the organization and operation of the State Board, discussing its part in centralizing educa- tional administration. The State Board consists of eight members of whom the Governor and the State Superintendent are two. The remaining six, of whom at least two must represent the political party defeated at the last preceding election for Governor, are appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. Appointments run six years, two terms expiring every two years. Thus a total change of membership requires something more than a single gubernatorial term. The political complexion 8 THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 9 may, however, he altered, whenever a Governor is elected whose politics ditler from the politics of his predecessor. The present Board, a majority of whom are Republicans, consists of the Governor (a lawyer), the State Superin- tendent (an educator), a retired publisher, a banker, a manufacturer, a lawyer, and two college presidents. We shall, in a moment, discuss the functions, powers, and duties of the State Board. But it is important to call attention at the outset to the fact that the arrange- ment above described makes the State Department of Education part and parcel of the elected state govern- ment and thus exposes it — and, with it, public education in general — to the vicissitudes of state politics. It is not a question as to whether, at this time, or indeed at any time, the State Department has been "in politics." It is enough to point out that the statute regulating the personnel of the Board looks in that direction. Gover- nors should, of course, be sufficiently wise and strong to prevent local or national politics from determining the composition of the State Board and thus influencing school administration; and Maryland may be fortunate enough to escape the dangers to which she is exposed by the terms of the statute. But it is assuredly safer to dimin- ish the danger. The law should be drawn on the theory that while the people, through the State Board, decide general educational policies, the Board should be so con- stituted as to avoid the ups and downs of party contests. How should a State Board of Education be constituted and what should be its functions? There is as yet no lo PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND agreement in practice on either point. It happens there- fore that in some states the Board is an ex-officio body; in others a lay body; sometimes it is composed of both laymen and educators. The duties laid upon the Board also vary greatly from state to state. In one place its functions are nominal; in another, detailed and responsi- ble. As a rule, the powers exercised by state boards have grown by accretion, uncontrolled by a clear concep- tion of what is aimed at. Meanwhile, in the light of our experience, it may safely be said that the State Board should be essentially a lay body representing the people in large matters of educa- tional policy and keeping the viewpoint, experience, and need of the layman before the school executive. Obvi- ously a Board, made up of laymen and meeting a few times a year, cannot be charged with the direct execution of matters of policy nor can it undertake to decide and supervise in matters of detail. It is rather to be re- garded as a criticising, suggesting, and reviewing body, that the Superintendent must consult and convince in regard to all decisions of moment. The Board cannot supersede the Superintendent, but it can make sure that he does his duty and can enormously assist him with sug- gestion and counsel. The Maryland State Board does not appear to be con- stituted according to any clear principle, nor have all its functions been logically arrived at. As the Governor and State Superintendent are members, the membership is partly ex-officio; it contains, besides, both laymen and THE STATE BOARD OF EDITATION ii educators. Its tlutios are varied, not to say indiscrimi- nate, for it is at once a legislative, a judicial, and an executive agency. As a legislating educational body, it makes courses of study, determines the minimum re- quirements for the degrees conferred by the academic institutions of the state, passes on the qualifications of regular high school teachers, and classifies high schools that are to receive state aid. As an executive, it is ex- pected to enforce the school laws, which will be described in the course of this report — and, when necessary, to em- ploy legal proceedings to that end. On the judicial side, it interj^rets school legislation, deciding controversies and disputes, and even possesses, though it has not used, the power to remove from office an inefficient County Super- intendent. Finally, the State Board also administers the state normal schools, manages the state teachers' retire- ment fund, and grants professional certificates valid throughout the state and for life to teachers of experi- ence and established reputation. In exercising its authority and carrying out its will, the State Board acts through its secretary and executive officer, the Superintendent of PubUc Education. Aside for the moment from the question as to whether the State Board should or should not possess the particular powers above enumerated, it is clear that adequate execution of the law depends primarily on the State Superintendent. As the Superintendent is not omni- present and cannot make himself efficiently felt through circulars, blanks, and documents, he cannot make the 12 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND State Department effective unless he possesses an ade- quate organization and is vigorously supported both by the Board and by public opinion. As a matter of fact, not one of these three conditions is satisfactorily ful- filled. The State Superintendent's staff, as we shall more fully observe in the next chapter, consists of himself, an assistant, and a clerk — an organization altogether inadequate to the duties laid upon it. Public opinion in the state is in the main indifferent. The State Board, partly for this reason, partly because of the way it is constituted, frequently acts on the theory that friendly and patient pressure may in the long run accomplish more than would be achieved by vigorous measures. It follows inevitably that the State Board does not en- force all the laws. In some instances the law is simply ignored; in others it is applied with considerable laxity. For example, the statute requires that county superin- tendents "shall devote their entire time to public school business."^ The State Board of Education is not un- aware of the fact that in the counties of Somerset, Calvert, and Montgomery the county superintendents now in ofiEice do not "devote their entire time to public school business." Again, the law provides that "no persons shall be employed as teachers unless such per- sons shall hold a certificate of qualification."^ The State Board knows that this law is disregarded, as, for 'Public School Laws of Maryland, Chap. XI, Sec. 80. ^Public School Laws of Maryland, Chap VIII, Sec. 53. THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 13 example, in the counties of Caroline and Dorchester. Thus neither of these imix)rtant statutes is well enforced. It must, however, in fairness be said that inefficiency sometimes results from defects in the law itself. For example, nothing is more important than uniformity at a high level in the training of teachers. Unfortunately, in Maryland, several agencies, v^orking independently of each other, participate in determining the qualifications of teachers. The State Board grants teaching certifi- cates valid for life, and in so far regulates one important part of the teaching profession. At the same time, the State Superintendent and the county superintendents control other parts of the teaching profession. Thus, in respect to certification — a matter of crucial importance — the law prevents the execution of a consistent and eflfective policy. Again, waste or ineffectiveness results when powers which should be lodged in the State Superintendent are delegated to the State Board. The Board is, for ex- ample, required to interpret the laws and to decide controversies arising under them. Such questions are at times presented to the Board as part of the regular docket; at times special meetings are called for their consideration, now at Annapolis, again at some remote corner of the state. Perhaps one-fourth of the Board's time is thus consumed. If the Board had not had to sit as a court in such matters, there would probably have been no occasion to hold six special meetings in 191 2, four in 1913, and five in 1915. 14 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND Here again the law is responsible for inefficiency. The State Board should not be required to exercise judicial functions. Its members are widely scattered; most of them lack legal training and experience; they meet regu- larly only four times a year, and even then but for a few hours. They should not be expected to deal with mat- ters of minute detail or technical nature. The trained Superintendent who has their confidence should act for them and without their intervention in deciding tech- nical points. Such is already the practice in certain states — among others, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, and Virginia — in all of which the interpretation of the school law and the handling of appeals from county and town authorities are given over to the executive officer of the Board. To some extent inefficiency has also arisen because the Board, given a specific responsibility, has misconceived the manner in which that responsibility should be met. The State Board is — as it should be — the Board of Trustees of the state normal schools. It has, indeed, no more important duty, for from these schools, the Baltimore Normal School, the Frostburg Normal School, and the Normal and Industrial School at Bowie, come and will continue to come the major part of the trained teachers in the elementary schools of the state. Now, what should the board of trustees of a normal school do? In the first place, the board should select the school head, and in conference with him determine the general policy of the institution. It should visit, THE STATE BOARD Ol" EDUCATION 15 inspect, and control. But it should not conduct the school. If the head of the institution is competent, he should, in cooperation with the faculty of the institution, devise detailed plans and submit nominations to the State Board. In respect to these matters, the Board should be a sort of jury, whom the principal and his associates must convince of the propriety and wisdom of their suggestions. It is, of course, within the duty of the Board also to make suggestions in the course of their discussions. But the initiative should lie with the school head and staff. The Board cannot possess the technical knowledge, training, and experience, nor has it the time, to " run " the school. Unless the head and faculty of the normal schools are capable of discharging their proper functions, they are unequal to their task and should be replaced. The State Board now manages the normal schools through committees. Each institution is in charge of a committee made up of three members of the State Board, the chairman of the Committee being in a sense its repre- sentative and active agent. These sub-committees are so important that the State Board is in danger of exces- sive deference to them in the appointment of principals and teachers and in the determination of details of policy. To be sure, the principals of the normal schools have the right to appear before the Board on questions connected with their institutions. But advantage is seldom taken of this privilege. There is, moreover, no evidence to show that principals have been or have been expected to 1 6 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND be properly active in making known the larger needs of their schools or in outlining the steps in advance to be taken by them. Indeed, the more important changes in the course of study, in entrance requirements and the like, made within recent years, have had their origin with the State Superintendent. Again, principals have no particular responsibility in the matter of finding and recommending to the State Board qualified teachers to fill vacancies. Applications for positions may be sent to them, but quite as often they are sent to the State Board. Even though such applications are subsequently referred to the principal, it is evident that there exists an unfortu- nate doubt as to just where initiative belongs. The State Board should of course continue to exercise a strong and vigilant control over the normal schools, but the character of this control needs to be modified. Di- rect responsibility should be imposed upon the principals for working out plans for the training of teachers and for the development and improvement of their schools. Larger opportunity should be afforded them for the exercise of their powers in the management of their re- spective institutions. Thereupon the State Board must hold them to strict account for results. In respect to other technical points, the policy of the Board has been generally sound. The Board, for ex- ample, is authorized to prepare courses of study. In the elementary schools the statute specifies the subjects, but leaves the Board to determme details; in the high schools, normal schools, and colleges, the Board has THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 17 practically complete power. In these matters the Board depends, as it should depend, on its executive offi- cer to lead, suggest, and devise. The details of the pre- scribed curricula will be taken up in connection with the ditTercnt types of school. Suffice it at this point to say that the State Board, through its executive oftker, has given no little attention of late years to courses of study, to the end that instruction might be better adapted to economic and social needs. The courses of study for both the elementary schools and the high schools were re- vised in iQoi, in 1907, and in 1913. Important changes were made in the course for the normal schools in 1905 and in 190S, and a complete revision of college courses for teachers is now under way. As we shall hereafter see/ it is, however, one thing to recast a course of study and another thing to recast the actual instruction given in the schools. The course of study, while still needing revision, has probably improved in recent years rather faster than the teaching through which it is ad- ministered. The Board has, though not without some excuse,' done less well in regard to its recording and reporting methods. As far back as 1872, the legislature empow- ered the State Board " to issue a uniform series of blanks for the use of teachers and of county boards, and to re- quire all records to be kept and reports to be made on these forms." Accordingly, the State Board through its ■Chapter VIII, "Instruction." *Viz., the lack of necessary assistance. i8 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND executive ofl&cer has prescribed a system of school records covering, among other things, the financial transactions of the county boards, the daily records and term reports of the teachers, records and reports for ap- proved high schools, and forms for the annual report of the county superintendents — a degree of uniformity found in few other states. The value of these uniform records can scarcely be overestimated, for modern school administration rests not upon personal opinion, but upon objective facts, such as these forms aim to elicit. Unfortunately, the blanks now prescribed by the State Board are by no means perfect, either as to form or as to the data called for. It would be a great improvement to adopt the financial forms suggested by the National Bureau of Education and the educational blanks rec- ommended by the Committee of the National Education Association on Uniform Blanks and Reports. There is, of course, no virtue in the mere accumulation of statistical data in the State Department of Education. The endless filling out of blanks is largely a waste of time unless the data accumulated are studied, interpreted, and utilized. As the Board is required by law to issue an annual Report and is allowed in its discretion to issue special pamphlets from time to time, opportunity to utilize the data collected cannot be said to be lacking. The Reports thus far issued, while comparing not un- favorably with reports issued by many other states, do not make effective use of the material available. A school report should not only give an account of what has THE STAll-; HOARD OF EDUCATION 19 happened, but shoukl ilevelop, expound, and recommend educational policy. It should exhibit vividly not only achievements, but needs, dilViculties, and opportunities as well. A well-written report is the most cfTectivc means of communication between the Board of Education and the people of the state. The Annual Report of the State Board, prepared by the Superintendent, is now a volume of some 400 pages. It could be greatly reduced, and to that extent improved as a means of communication, by omitting such matter as the abstract of the proceedings of the Maryland State Teachers' Association, which are, as a matter of fact, separately published by the Department, and the alpha- betical list of the teachers of the state — a separate publi- cation of which would serve the purpose better. The reports of the county school boards could be much condensed. In place of what is thus omitted, the Report, utilizing the data obtained on the blanks above de- rribed. should present in narrative and graphic form the essential facts bearing upon the preparation and salaries of teachers, the attendance and classification of children, the condition of schoolhouses, and the financial support of the school system. Such information would supply a solid basis for deciding upon educational policies and for determining administrative and supervisory action. Each report might well carry some important message to the people. One might "feature" Compulsory School Attendance, another, The Sanitary Conditions and Care of Schoolhouses. still another, Better Pre- 20 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND pared Teachers. Obviously the executive officer of the Board, with his present force, cannot act on these sugges- tions. This, however, is simply another reason for plac- ing larger resources at its command. The State Board is not unmindful of the value of an aroused public interest in education. Indeed, not a little has been done within the last two years to centre the at- tention of the people upon their schools. Educational mass-meetings and school exhibits, authorized and en- couraged by the State Board, were held in 1914 in all but two counties of the state. There was usually a parade of the school children of the county, competitive athletic games, fancy drills, a display of school work, and a mass-meeting at which addresses were given by persons of prominence upon the work and needs of the schools. As many as eight to ten thousand attended these Educa- tional Rallies in a single county. Some of those attending realized for the first time the number of children there are to be educated. Others saw for the first time an ex- hibit of what the modern school does, and appreciated as never before the significance of public education to the youth of the state. Few, indeed, of all the many thou- sands attending these great meetings, failed to pledge their loyal support to the schools. The State Board has wisely resolved to continue this campaign for enlightened public sentiment. The failure year after year of counties to take advantage of the liberal aid offered by the state for particular kinds of elementary education; the demand of certain counties to THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION 21 be exempt from the provisions of laws regulating the length of the school term, the minimum salary for teach- ers, compulsory school attendance and the like; the meagre local support of the schools in certain counties — are all due more to the stagnant condition of public sentiment than to any other single cause. It is the business of the State Board not only to carry on, but to develop, popular education as fast as public sentiment can be created and the necessary resources found. Summarizing, we may conclude that the Maryland statutes are sound in providing a State Board of Educa- tion, though the body as constituted requires reconstruc- tion. The staff of the office should be increased so that the laws can be more intelligently and uniformly applied; and largely through its activities an aroused public opin- ion must be developed, ready to follow when the state authorities give the word. III. THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION THE State Superintendent of Public Education in an American commonwealth is the head of its public school system. As such, he is the execu- tive officer of the State Board; he represents the Board in the long intervals between its meetings ; he is the profes- sional adviser of the Board in session; his position makes it possible for him to unite and to direct the educational forces of the state. Whatever the limits upon his legal powers in this respect, a man of tact, force, and resource- fulness can exert an influence that goes .far beyond his actual authority. As aU our states are, educationally speaking, still in the relatively early stages of their devel- opment, the state superintendency offers a splendid field for well-endowed and well- trained educational statesmen. In Maryland the Superintendent of Public Education is appointed by the Governor in the second year of his term, "by and with the consent of the Senate" and holds office for four years — as does the Governor who appoints him. Professional qualifications there are none, the vague word "competent" being the only limitation upon the Governor's freedom of choice. The salary of the Superintendent, which may not exceed $3,000 a year, is THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT 23 fixed by the State Boanl, which possesses also a qualified veto on his removal. I''or thoui^h the Governor may re- move the State Superinti-ndent at his i)ieasuri', the act, to be valid, must be sanctioned by a vote of two-thirds of the Board. In these provisions, as in the provisions regulating appointment to the State Board, there is, once more, evidence of lack of clear thinking. For the Superintendent, who is the state's educational executive, should be chosen, not by the Governor, but by a board as far removed from political influences as possible, for a term either indefmite or long enough to avoid danger of political complications. Aside from his duties as member of the State Board, and as the executive who carries out the Board's orders, the Superintendent of Public Education exercises certain [lowers and performs certain duties in his individual capac- ity. These duties are both supervisory and inspectional in character. For example, he accepts or rejects in his discretion normal school and college diplomas issued by other states; defines the qualifications of teachers of special branches in high school domestic science, manual training, etc.; rates teachers who, not being normal school graduates, offer instead some supposedly equivalent training plus practical experience; and examines the reports and expenditures of the county school boards. The Superintendent is, moreover, authorized to prepare and distribute pamphlets to teachers giving information as to the best methods of instruction in the various studies pursued in the schools. 24 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND For our present purpose it is immaterial whether the Superintendent is called on to do a particular thing in his own capacity or on the order of the State Board. Our real concern is as to the efficiency with which the work of the department has been carried on. In passing judgment on this point, an important distinction must be made. The "mechanics" of the office have been well attended to, better indeed than one could reasonably expect with existing facilities. Modern methods of handling business have been introduced, correspondence is promptly dis- posed of, records are well kept and easily accessible. On the other hand, the larger opportunities have not been met and under existing circumstances cannot be met. True enough, the department has, over and above the explicit requirements of the statute, in recent years initi- ated certain progressive measures of great importance : it has, for example, secured legislation providing for state aid to and supervision of high schools, for state certifica- tion of high school teachers, and for a minimum profes- sional training in case of elementary school teachers. These measures, however, represent only a "drive" in one direction or another. The department has been unable to follow them up vigorously and steadily or to give the requisite attention to other large problems of equal urgency. The reason is plain. Nothing is simpler than to author- ize or require the State Superintendent to "supervise," "inspect," "examine," or "pass upon." But neither inspection, supervision, nor examination can avail, unless THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT 25 an adequate trained organization is provided through which he can work. As has been pointed out in the pre- ceding chapter, the force at the Superintendent's disposal is utterly insutTicient. He has a single assistant appointed with the approval of the State Board at a salary of $2,000 and one clerk, at a salary not to exceed $1,200. In addition to his owti salary, he has an expense allowance of five hundred dollars, and one thousand dollars more for furniture, supplies, and printing.^ Three persons thus constitute the entire stafl at the disposal of the State Su- perintendent of Education in Maryland. It goes without saying that the functions which we have enumerated sim- ply cannot be efTectively discharged by this organization. In lieu of an organized and specialized staff of which he would be the directing and inspiring chief, the State Superintendent of Maryland obtains, as best he can, such knowledge of school conditions as will enable him and the State Board to perform their various duties as intelli- gently as may be. He therefore spends the major por- tion of his time in actually visiting schools in different parts of the state. Obviously he cannot thoroughly cover the field. He is thus compelled to assume that by hastily "sampling" the situation here and there, he ob- tains a fairly adequate conception of existing conditions. Thus he glances at the school grounds, notes the condi- tions of the buildings, and examines cursorily the school 'The State Board has an appropriation of $3,000 to cover the expenses of members in attending meetings, printing, supplies, etc. The depart- ment therefore costs the state Siojoo a year, all told. 26 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND equipment. His main concern, in the brief period at his disposal, is, however, the teaching in progress. On the basis of a hurried inspection advice is tendered to teach- ers, principals, and school officials. In addition to these efforts to study and to improve schools scattered through- out the state, the Superintendent frequently participates in teachers' meetings and civic conferences. He main- tains, besides, an active and voluminous correspondence with principals, county superintendents, and County School Board members throughout the state. Aside from information thus acquired, the Superintendent can know only what the county authorities report to him. But these reports are of very uneven quality ; and the state department can under existing conditions do little either to improve them or to utilize the data which they obtain. The high school situation may be cited to show the folly of not giving the State Superintendent staff enough to ensure the wise expenditure of the state's money or the effective execution of the state's policy. In 19 lo a complete high school reorganization was undertaken on the basis of state aid. It was provided that, on the basis of reports made by high school principals, and inspections made by the State Superintendent, the high schools should be classified in two groups, those of the first group to receive an annual maximum grant of $2,500 each, those of the second group to receive an an- nual maximum grant of $1,400 each.^ The law provides ^In igi4 there were 29 first-class high schools, receiving from the state $67,700; 36 second-class high schools, receiving $50,400. THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT 27 that every statc-aiilcd high school shall he inspected annually; if, on notification of defects, the proper remedial steps are not taken, the state subsidy is to cease. The law thus creates for the State Sujierintendent the opportunity to direct the high school development of the state. He simply cannot take full advantage of this opportunity. The letter of the law has indeed been com- plied with: the Superintendent or his assistant has visited the high schools once a year. But the visit has been casual, concerning itself with ascertaining whether the formal requirements of the statute are complied with. Again, the last General Assembly provided that no per- son is to serve "as principal or assistant teacher (in a state-aided high school) whose qualifications have not been passed upon by the State Board of Education." To carry out the provisions of this act, the Board will need to prescribe the minimum qualifications for high school teachers, including principals, and then to examine the qualifications of the 300 regular high school teachers in service. Thus far the State Board has failed to move, not because it is dilTicult to prescribe the minimum qualifications of high school teachers, but rather, as we might suppose, because its executive officer, upon whom the duty falls, lacks the necessary time and assist- ance. One more illustration, taken from a ditTerent field, that of school finance, may be worth giWng. The public schools of Maryland are supported partly by local tax- ation, partly by apportionment of a state fund. The 28 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND State Superintendent is expected to safeguard the interest of both the state and the local taxpayer by examining the accounts of county school boards and reporting thereon to the State Board. It was evidently intended that the State Board should thus exercise a reasonable control over the finances of the county boards, in refer- ence to acts omitted as well as acts committed. At any rate, such should be the policy of the state. Though the bookkeeping of the county boards is fixed except in minor details by the forms prescribed by the State Board of Education, the forms in use are quite defective. It is, for example, diflScult to determine from them the exact financial status of a County Board, no separate accounts being kept with funded debt, current loans, ordinary receipts, and the like. It is even more difficult to de- termLne the expenditure for separate items such, k:r instance, as new buildings, repairs, upkeep, and main- tenance; and it is quite impossible to tell what the ele- mentary schools and the high schools are each costing. The use of antiquated forms is undoubtedly to be attributed to the lack of a skilled accountant in the Superintendent's office. And the same lack accounts for the fact that, having received these reports, the State Superintendent can simply check them up and file them away. The moral of the foregoing discussion is obvious. The Superintendent of Public Education in Maryland cannot be the state's educational leader unless he has proper assistance and support. The office can no longer THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT 29 be conducted with its present force or on its present allowance. In ways that will appear as we proceed, the State Superintendent must be assisted by adding to his resources a few experts capable of takinf^ the field under his direction in charge of specialized activities. IV. THE COUNTY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES CENTRAL control of public education is thus, as we have now seen, in the hands of the State Board and the Superintendent of Public Education. Local control is, in the main, exercised by a board of county school commissioners. The present chapter will discuss the functions of the local authorities and their re- lations with the state department. Three forms of local educational administration are in use in this country: the district system, the township system, and the county unit. Of these the district and the county represent the two extremes. A word as to the district system may assist us to appreciate the im- portance of the form of organization that Maryland possesses. Under the district system every school, as a rule, has an independent board of trustees, which "runs" the school, levying and collecting taxes, erecting the school- house, determining the length of the term, prescribing the curriculum, selecting text-books, and employing the teacher. The mere description at once suggests the defects of the scheme. In the first place, no state and no county contains as many persons qualified to manage schools intelligently as the district system requires. 30 ^ i: ° 2 c-S r 2§ 4J-S THE COUNTY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 31 Again, the district system accepts all sorts of inequalities in educational facilities and efforts. One district may possess a good school with ample grounds and comfort- able buildings, while in another, close by, the school is wretchedly poor. No agency e.xists which can diminish these divergencies by working toward a general plan. Finally, teachers need teamwork and supervision if they are to keep in touch with professional progress. But teamwork and supervision presuppose a larger area than the district. The truth is that the district school re- flects pioneer conditions. It goes back to the time when an isolated group, desiring some sort of education for its children, pooled its meagre resources in order to establish a neighborhood school. Increased wealth, larger num- bers, improved communications, and more complicated educational requirements render the district system and the district school obsolete. As the county organization offers a wider service, it tends to attract able men into the County Board; and as this body can dispose in its discretion of the total yield of the county school taxes plus the state apportionment, something like statesmanship may be employed in locating, equipping, and consolidating schools. Educa- tional opportunities can thus more or less be equalized. The situation may, in a word, be viewed as a whole, the county schools forming a system in the development of which intelligence and design may be employed — provided, of course, the people are wise enough to take advantage of their opportunities. 32 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND Maryland is fortunate in possessing the county as the educational unit. Nevertheless, it has by no means realized to the full the advantages of the county type of organization, partly, as we shall see, because political and personal considerations are too apt to influence the selection and the policy of commissioners, partly because in the selection of teachers a vestige of the district sys- tem confuses and weakens administration. The county boards of education in Maryland are appointed by the Governor and are composed of six mem- bers each in six counties,^ and of three in the remaining counties. Continuity of service is secured through a six-year term, and through so ordering the appointments that there are at the end of each second year not to ex- ceed two vacancies in the large counties and not more than one in the small counties. The County Board ap- points three district trustees for each schoolhouse dis- trict. These district trustees are the custodians of the school property and have the power to select the principal teacher, subject to the approval of the County Board. All subordinate teachers and all high school teachers are appointed by the County Board. The district trustees may also remove any teacher they themselves appoint, though the teacher retains the right of appeal to the County Board. To these powers of the district trustees we shall have occasion later to recur. The method of appointing the members of the County ^These counties are Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dorchester, Wash- ingtcn, and Montgomery. THE COUNTY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 33 Board is open to question. Undoubtedly, ai)[)()intment by the Governor might draw into service men of character and standinj^ who would not be willing to wage an elec- toral campaign for the post. The system, however, docs not always work in that way. The law provides that at least two of the members in large counties and at least one in small counties must be of the political party defeated in the last election, and that these api)oint- ments must be made "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." These limitations make the partisan consideration needlessly prominent; in conse- quence, appointments are viewed by local politicians and local political organizations as "spoils," so that the County Board of Education is almost everywhere looked upon as a "Democratic" board or as a "Republican" board, with party allegiance and party interests to con- sider. Again, the "advice and consent of the Senate" have come to mean, not the approval of the entire Senate, but the approval of the local senator. Indeed, to such a pass has senatorial courtesy come, that the Senate flatly refuses to confirm an appointment not endorsed by the local senator. And the local senator is tempted to act not as the representative of the people, but rather as the spokesman of the county political organization. The ofl5ce of county school commissioner is thus usually re- garded as a political office, the public being for the most part indilTerent to the dangers involved in this concep- tion. The county boards are therefore in the main seriously infected with politics. 34 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND In order to discharge its functions the County Board must be in position to procure adequate school funds, to select the County Superintendent, and, through him and his assistants, to provide suitable facilities and com- petent teachers, whose work is from time to time in- spected and supervised. Let us now see how the county boards do their work. Money is the first requisite — money for buildings, for up-keep, for equipment, for teachers and supervision, but county school boards are not "authorized, empow- ered, directed, and required to levy and collect" such taxes as will be adequate to maintain an efficient school system throughout the county. The tax-levying body of the county is the county board of commissioners, who are required under the law to levy such sums of money as the County School Board requests for the schools, provided such sums shall not exceed 15 cents on each $100 of the taxable property of the county; whether or not the county commissioners shall levy any amount in excess of 15 cents is left entirely to their discretion. Satisfactory county schools cannot possibly be main- tained on a local levy of 15 cents on each $100; in fact, every county of the state spends in excess of this rate. This limitation practically transfers the control of school finances from the County School Board to the county commissioners: thus, while the county school boards are, both by law and by the people, held responsible for the schools, they are in practice deprived of the financial power to meet their responsibility. THE COUNTY SCHOOL AU 11I0R1TH:S 35 The result is easily foreseen. The county commis- sioners are also a political body. Elected as they not infrequently are upon a j)latforni of economy, and having, as is human, their own political future as well as that of their party in view, they often give scant attention to the requests of the county school boards for funds in excess of 15 cents on the Si 00, quite regardless of the merits of the application. The records of every county in the state show how seldom the full requests of the school boards for funds are granted by the county commissioners. Here and there a school board, on easy terms with the commissioners, makes no formal request for funds; the subject is talked over informally and an agreement reached. Elsewhere, requests are cut year after year, even in the face of the fact that in some instances th(^ schools are kept open by county boards by means of current loans. Where the commissioners and the majority of the school board happen to be of the same political faith, the school board members are at times asked to modify their requests on the grounds of party loyalty or political expediency. Even the county superintendents do not escape. Persons with powerful political connections have been known to appeal to them, to reclassify teachers, in order to lower their salaries, and thus reduce the amount of money needed by the County School Board. In one instance that came to our notice the teachers were actually reclassified ; in another, occur- ring in the spring of 191 5, be it said to the honor of the Superintendent, the intermediary was defied to do his 36 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND worst. To protect the schools against such dangers, five of the larger counties of the state have secured from the General Assembly special legislation rendering man- datory a higher levy by the board of county commissioners than that provided by the general law. Thus, Allegany may make a levy of 31 cents on $100 for usual expenses, and an additional 7 cents for buildings; Baltimore County may levy 31 cents and 9 cents, respectively; while Mont- gomery County requires its county commissioners to meet any demand made by the school board for the support of the elementary schools. In Frederick and Prince George counties the school authorities secured local laws providing for larger teachers' salaries, and the county commissioners are required to levy the necessary funds. The most serious difficulties are usually encountered when funds are requested for the erection of new school- houses. A few boards of county commissioners make such allowance, but only a few. It does not follow that the rest get no money at all for new buildings; they get it. however, in ways that are roundabout and inefficient. Two counties — Allegany and Baltimore — have procured from the legislature laws compelling the commissioners to make a separate levy for buildings. But in the majority of counties almost all the money spent on new buildings within the last half decade has been wrung from the county commissioners through special laws, requiring a levy or a bond issue. Indeed, some counties — for ex- ample, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's, have had to THE COUNTY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 37 appeal to the General Assembly to secure funds even for the erection of schoolhouses costing less than S600. The methods used by the county commissioners in granting funds aid them to shirk their responsibility. The requests of the school boards are as a rule presented by items; definite sums are asked for new buildings, for maintenance, for teachers, etc. But the county com- missioners, as a rule, make a lump allowance, less than the total sum asked for, and generally omit to state which items have been granted in full and which cut or refused altogether. This lump sum includes, ordinarily, enough for teachers' salaries and operating expenses; but for years in certain counties — Calvert and Charles, for in- stance—little has been provided even for repairs, to say nothing of the betterment of the plant, the commissioners trusting to the members of the County School Board to use their own ingenuity in keeping the schools open and some kind of roof over the heads of the children. To check this way of escaping responsibility, IVIontgomery County obtained special legislation which provides for a detailed school budget and compels the county commis- sioners to make their allowances by items. Such funds as the school boards obtain are usually administered with somewhat more than ordinary effi- ciency. Engaged in business and in commercial farming, as the great majority of the members are, it is natural that they should take a close interest in the business aspects of education. The county unit facilitates the use of intelligent methods of accounting, and perhaps 38 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND explains the introduction of a uniform accounting system throughout the state. Bills are audited by the Board members, and accounts are kept by the County Superin- tendent, the assistant superintendent, or the clerk. In a few cases — Allegany County, for instance — these ac- counts are examined monthly by an outside accountant; usually, however, this outside audit is made once a year, as in Howard County; however, there are a few counties — Garrett is an example — where no audit at all is made by an outside agency. More or less uniformity of method has also been de- veloped in handling routine matters of school supplies, fuel, and repairs. In some counties a blank is employed by the district trustees to indicate to the County Board what repairs, etc., are deemed necessary. Elsewhere the County Board members make visits with the County Superintendent to decide what repairs are to be under- taken. Occasionally as much as a week is thus spent. On jobs of sufficient magnitude competitive bids are received. Work done under contract is supervised by the County Superintendent or his assistant; if a local man is employed he is more often subject to the direction of the district trustees. In our judgment these details are, as a rule, honestly and efficiently managed. The building problem has been less happily handled. The situation is obviously not a simple one. Funds are limited; old buildings can neither be torn down nor reconstructed to keep pace with modern notions of construction, as to size of classrooms, lighting, cloak- THE COUNTY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 39 rooms, hcatin<; arrangements, closets, etc. On the other hand, these clilVieulties make it all the more imperative that new buiUlings should be soundly planned and that repairs and reniotleiling should be carried on with up-to- date models in mind. The State Department should exercise a general control over buikling o{)erations, as it does in Minnesota, for example. As a matter of fact, the state has no policy and only a few counties, Allegany, Baltimore, Wicomico, and Queen Anne's, among them, handle this problem with intelligence. As for the rest, schoolhouses of obsolete type are still constructed, just as though standard types, soundly planned in respect to light, hygiene, drainage, etc., had not been evolved and were not elsewhere in use. District School No. 3, re- cently built in the third school district of Calvert County, shows less appreciation of sound principles of school architecture than was shown in the erection of certain schoolhouses in the same county fifty years ago; the new consolidated schoolhouse at Clarksville, Howard County, ignores the principles of good lighting; city school build- ings costing from $12,000 to $15,000 and disregarding modern ideas as to hygiene and sanitation have recently been erected at North East, Cecil County; at St. Mich- aels, Talbot County; at Accident, Garrett County, and at Federalsburg, Caroline County. Highly objectionable is a practice, not altogether in- frequent, by which both County Board and County Superintendent have been completely deprived of con- trol in certain cases. Buildings were needed, for example, 40 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND at Hyattsville, Prince George County, and at Kennedy- ville, Kent County. The county commissioners refused the necessary funds. "Influential" citizens then ap- pealed to the General Assembly which was thus induced to pass special legislation making mandatory upon the county commissioners the raising of the sum desired. In both the instances under discussion the acts named a local committee to have charge of the construction. Such legislation is absolutely pernicious. It encourages legislative favoritism and log-rolling, destroys local re- sponsibility, discourages systematic planning by the county authorities, lodges control in inexpert hands, and in the end produces an obsolete school building at great expense. For this reason the buildings erected at Hyattsville and Keimedyville are defective in respect to ventilating, hghting, and internal arrangement. We have already mentioned the fact that the county school boards appoint district school trustees, who choose and may remove the principal teacher. Politically selected county boards are, of course, apt to choose the district trustees on a partisan basis. The way is thus open for the introduction of politics into the management of every school. As a rule, the district trustees do little. They do not meet to talk over school affairs with the teacher; they take no especial interest in the schoolhouse or the school grounds. They wake up, however, when a teacher is to be appointed or dismissed, but the danger is great that their action will not be based purely on educa- tional considerations. THE COUNTY SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 41 We have in a previous chapter cHscussed the relation of the State Board of Education to the State Superintend- ent; its counterpart is to be found in the relation of the County Ht)ard to the County Superintendent. The Countv Board is a small, lay, unpaid body, composed of farmers, business men, physicians, or lawyers, more or less interested in public education and more or less competent to look after it in a general way, but necessarily without professional knowledge or experience. Under these cir- cumstances, while accepting from the state department their general policies, they look to the county superin- tendent for local leadership. Thus far, we have dis- cussed mainly the composition of the county boards and the transaction of certain business matters — the raising of funds and the erection of buildings — as to all of which we conclude that Maryland derives less benefit than it should and might from its superior type of school admin- istration. There remain to be considered the ways in which the county boards discharge their specifically educational responsibilities. This can, however, be most advantageously discussed in connection with the County Superintendent, to which subject the next chapter \n411 be devoted. V. THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS THE County Superintendent of Schools occupies in respect to the county schools the same posi- tion as the City Superintendent occupies in respect to the city schools. He is the expert adviser of the County School Board on all matters of educational pohcy; he supplies professional inspiration to the teaching staff of the county; he must be the organizer and leader of public opinion if increasing popular support and inter- est are to be won. In addition, as secretary-treasurer of the County Board he is its business representative and executive agent in financial and other matters. What kind of person must the County Superintendent be if he is to fulfill these specifications? If the County Superintendent is to be the source of professional inspira- tion and popular leadership, he must be a trained educa- tor, familiar with modern ideas as to curriculum, method, and supervision; he must be a man of weight in the community; he must command the respect of the County Board ; and he must hold his office long enough to develop an educational program. Even so, it is clear that no one person can himself perform all the duties of the County Superintendent. The County Superintend- 42 THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 43 ent must therefore have at least a minimum of clerical and professional assistance — a specialized "staff" of modest proportions. Now, what are the facts? The county superintend- ents are elected by the politically constituted county boards. The politicians view the county superintend- ency as ''spoils, " and in most counties the inditTerence of the people permits them to dispose of it on that basis. A general election, bringing about a change in party control, is scarcely over before political candidates are brought forth and "groomed" for this important office. In the four years during which the Republicans were in power — 1 896 -1 900 — new county superintendents were chosen in 19 out of the 23 counties of the state, 1 1 of them in the very year when the county school boards became Republican. In the first year of the new Democratic administration of 1900, 16 new county superintendents were appointed, whereas during the ensuing 11 years, aside from removals by death, there was a total of only 1 1 changes. Similarly, the first three years of the present Republican control witnessed the election of 12 new superintendents. Some of these changes were indeed for the better; but as long as a political upset is the inciting cause, there can be no certainty that changes will insure to the public advantage. Luckily, these deplorable conditions are not universal. In a few — a very few — counties, politics, as we shall shortly see, play no part in either the selection or retention of the county superintendents. While a dozen superintendents have 44 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND served three years or less, three have been in office for fourteen years. Though nothing can be said in extenuation of the county boards, in so f'ar as their choice of the County Superintendent is influenced by political considerations, it must in fairness be added that highly desirable candi- dates would not be likely to covet the post in most counties under existing circumstances. The law makes no stipulations as to the professional qualifications or the salary of the incumbent. Of 23 county superintendents, one receives $5,000 a year, one $3,000, one $2,250. Of the remaining 20, one receives $800 a year, 6 receive from $1,200 to $1,500, and 13 from $1,600 to $2,000. In addi- tion there is an allowance of from $100 to $500 for ex- penses incurred in visiting schools, though Garrett County makes no allowance, and Harford and St. Mary's only $25. One cannot be surprised, therefore, to find that such positions have not attracted trained men. In- deed, three county superintendents have had less than a high school education and four of them never went be- yond the high school. Only one of the seven has added to his initial preparation, and he only to the extent of six weeks at a summer school. Of those remaining, one is a normal school graduate with a summer term of profes- sional work. Though fifteen hold college and university degrees, yet not more than six of the fifteen have made special and professional preparation for their work. Conditions are aggravated by the almost universal lack of competent assistants. The law, while permitting THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 45 the county boards to expend thousands annually in their discretion, forbids the employment of even a clerk to assist the Superintendent, unless the numlx-r of teachers in the county exceeds 85; an assistant superintendent may not be employed unless the number of teachers ex- ceeds 175. Hence, five counties depend almost entirely upon the County Superintendent alone, employing only occasional and temporary clerical assistance. Six out of the twenty-three have assistant superintendents, and supervisors are found in four. In only three counties — Baltimore, Frederick, and Allegany— are the ofHces iraple and well-equipped; elsewhere space is often meagre and equipment usually limited. One-fourth of the county superintendents have but one room, often a small one at that, which serves alike as a store-house for school supplies, as meeting-place for the County Board, and as general office. Let us now see what happens. The County Superin- tendent is, in the first place, the custodian of the records of the County Board. He conducts the correspondence with district trustees, teachers, patrons, and the general public. He arranges the business to be considered at the regular monthly or special meetings and keeps min- utes of the proceedings. He collects such statistics from the schools as are required, answers all inquiries for in- formation, and prepares the annual report submitted to the State Department of Education. As treasurer he has charge of funds varying from $28,000 annually in the smallest to $660,000 in the largest county. He receiveL-, 46 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND and when audited by the Board members pays, all bills; keepsallaccounts;purchases,collects,and distributes text- books and educational material, and prepares the annual budget to be presented to the county commissioners. For lack of assistance and of facilities, clerical work is too often poorly performed. In seven or eight coun- ties at most — Baltimore, Allegany, Frederick, Harford, Washington, Wicomico, Talbot, and Queen Anne's — order prevails. In half a dozen more the work is fairly well done. Elsewhere there is a total lack of system. Teachers' examination records are indeed preserved, but they are inaccessible; school reports are merely bundled together and filed, little use being made of them, and data are almost never collected as to why children do not receive promotion or why they attend school irregularly. The financial accounts, however, be it said, while frequently handled in an unbusinesslike man- ner, are nevertheless carefully and accurately kept. The more purely educational duties begin with main- tenance of the school plant. In the smallest county of the state — Calvert — the County Superintendent must supervise 54 buildings, scattered over 216 miles of terri- tory, and in the largest (Baltimore) 181, scattered over an area of 650 square miles. District trustees, being the immediate custodians of their respective school- houses, may spend on their own authority upon upkeep and repairs $5 in any one term; larger expenditures can be made only after authorization by the County Board. Hence, anything costing more than five dollars — whether Substantial, but unsanitary and unhyf,'icnic rural school — one ol many Ancient desks still in u>e THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 47 a new fence, the grading of the school grounds, the re- pair of an outhouse, the roofing or painting of the school- house, a new stove or new furniture, is referred to the County School Board, and the duty of attending to such matters devolves upon the County Superintendent, who investigates and reports upon the need, makes the necessary purchases, and supervises work done under contract. If a new building is to be erected the County Superintendent bears the burden of acquiring the ground, drawing the plan, letting the contract, and look- ing after the construction and equipment. Here, then, is a second field of operations, much more technical in character, and sufUciently extensive to con- sume almost all the County Superintendent's time and energy-. With what results? It was stated in the pre- ceding chapter that neither the state nor the county pursued or could, with its present staff, pursue a definite and intelligent policy in regard to new school buildings. With respect to sanitation and hygiene there is not lacking evidence that recent agitation has had a bene- ficial effect. School grounds have here and there been cleared of underbrush, outhouses have been cleaned and whitewashed, and old buildings have been repaired, painted, and redecorated. Nevertheless, it remains true that a thoroughly decent and comfortable rural school plant, consisting of a neat school building, a clean yard, and sanitary outhouses is exceptional. There are in the state 1,935 school buildings for white children, 550 for colored. In the course of this investigation 500 of the 48 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND former were visited, 50 of the latter. Perhaps 8 per cent, of those visited may be called satisfactory. The duties thus far considered — those of the Secretary and Treasurer of the County Board and those of the cus- todian of the school plant, consume at least three-fourths of the time of the majority of the county superintendents and not less than half of the time of the others. More- over, if the school plant is to be kept in proper order, this drain will increase rather than diminish. In the smaller counties relief can be furnished by providing clerical assistance in the oflEice and a reliable, all-round mechanic for the field. The larger counties might well follow the example of the cities, that is, employ a secretary-treasurer to care for the clerical work and the accounts of the Board, a business manager to look after the physical side of the schools, and a Superintendent, directly responsible for the secretary-treasurer and the business manager, yet free to devote his major energies to the educational conduct of the system. Important as are good records and neat schoolhouses, the really significant duties of the County Superintend- ent are educational. One-half the teachers in the rural schools enter the service by way of the county examina- tions which he conducts. Do these examinations select the best talent available? Do they direct the candidate's attention in the right direction? How could they? How can an untrained County Superintendent examine sensibly and judiciously the candidates for teaching positions? How can an un- Unsanitary. unhyK'i<-nic, and nc^lcctcti oiilhuuM.-.s THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 49 trained County Superintendent indicate by the character of the examination the Hne of preparation which pros- pective teachers should follow? The situation, be it granted, is not easy. Salaries are low — ranging from an average of $271 a year in St. Mary's to S662 a year in Baltimore County. Three counties pay an average of less than S300; four less than S3 50; seven less than $400; seven less than S450; and only two, Allegany and Baltimore, pay in excess 01 S450. In counties with few or poor high schools the probable candidates will be the abler boys and girls who have lingered an extra year in the grades or in the rural schools; high school graduates will be applicants only in counties well supplied with secondary school facilities. But these inherent difficul- ties make it all the more important that the Couniy Superintendent should be able, by reason of his training and experience, to make the best of a bad situation. The untrained official does not and cannot do this. He fails also, and for the same reason, to use such opportunities as he possesses for the improvement of his teaching corps. Teacher certificates issued by the County Superintendent on the basis of the examinations just dis- cussed are, in the first instance, probationary, good for only six months. At the end of this period the County Superintendent may cancel the certificate, require an- other examination, or issue, in lieu of the probationary certificate, one valid for five years. The discretion of the County Superintendent in respect to the re- examination of teachers thus gives him the power to in- so PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND sist upon further professional preparation. He possesses also an even more potent instrument. The minimum salary law of 1910 guaranteed to teachers ranked by the County Superintendent as first class a higher minimum wage than was provided for other teachers. Thus a positive financial inducement was ofifered to all teachers to improve themselves. Wherever county superintend- ents have dared to use their legitimate authority the effect has been excellent. The enrolment in the Mary- land Teachers' Reading Circle has increased, the Teach- ers' Institute and Teachers' Meetings have been taken more seriously, and teachers in larger numbers have at their own expense attended the summer session of nor- mal schools and colleges. Unfortunately, however, very few county superin- tendents have acted. The holder of the probationary certificate is seldom dropped and only occasionally re- examined. The salary bonus is also usually wasted. Partly because of the lack of professional ideals, partly because of the generally low salary scale, superintendents commonly award the salary increase to teachers of long service and local favor instead of using it as a lever to lift the profession. On the whole, therefore, it is fair to say that the County Superintendent usually leaves the teaching profession just about where he finds it. The teacher is the first — and the most important — factor in securing good teaching. The second is supervi- sion. The teachers of a school or of a school system are molded into an efficient team animated by one purpose THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 51 and working toward a common end very largely by the pressure, guidance, and inspiration of the supervisors. It is one of the advantages of large cities that supervision is easily provided; it is among the most serious flaws in the district system that supervision is well-nigh impossi- ble. Marylantl's county educational organization fa- cilitates eflective supervision, embracing town and country schools alike. For the area is large, the schools varied in t}'pe, the financial resources more or less sub- stantial, and the authority of the County Board unques- tioned. But even a trained Superintendent cannot, in addition to his other duties, take upon himself, except in the very smallest counties, the details of classroom supervision. He requires for this purpose a small but highly specialized staff. Once more, the possibilities of the situation are in this matter almost entirely unrealized. Supervisors, includ- ing assistant superintendents, are employed in only 7 of the 23 counties' ; and of the assistant superintendents, two, perhaps one might say three, are engaged in clerical work. To be sure, in addition to these 7 counties, one county uses a portion of the state appropriation for Colored Industrial Schools to employ a part-time super- visor- and another is making a limited use of high school teachers^ for the same purpose. In short, the teachers '.\Jkgauy, Baltimore, Caroline, Dorchester, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George. '.\nne .\rundel. •Queen Aunt. 52 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND of 1 6 out of the 23 counties receive no supervisory as- sistance other than that given by the County Superin- tendent, and but three counties, Allegany, Baltimore, and Frederick have anything like an adequate super- visory force. The failure to provide adequate super- vision is attributed by the county boards to the lack of funds. Too true. But lack of funds is not fundamental. At bottom lack of supervision is due in most counties, not so much to financial inability, as to a lack of appre- ciation of the significance of efficient supervision on the part of the Board and of the Superintendent who has failed to lead the Board. Of the three counties above mentioned Baltimore County must be singled out for especial commendation. The County Superintendent is a man of experience and modern training; and he is aided by a corps of supervisors, including an assistant superintendent, a primary super- \dsor with an assistant, a grammar grade supervisor wath an assistant, a manual training supervisor, a domes- tic science supervisor, and, finally, a supervisor of rural schools. Working as a team, they have not only im- proved the schools, they have also developed a public sentiment which demands increasingly better schools, better instruction, better trained and better paid teach- ers. The teaching body of the county is permeated by genuine enthusiasm. Every improvement effected makes itself felt practically throughout the county. The situ- ation is, of course, still far from homogeneous, but it is developing steadily in the right direction. What Balti- THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 53 more County has accomplished cannot be literally dupli- cated in counties with more limited resources. But every county in Maryland could, up to the limits of its financial ability, do the kind of thing that Baltimore County does. At bottom it depends on the competency of the County Superintendent. In counties without supervisors, whatever there is of personal supervision depends upon the county superin- tendents who are required by law to visit the schools. But the number of reported visits is no index to the amount of effective supervision performed. These visits are usually brief and of a business or inspectorial char- acter. The Superintendent calls to look after the physical plant or to classify a teacher on the basis of a hasty inspection. This is not "supervision" in the sense which the term bears in these pages. The County Superintendent also comes into touch with the teaching force at the teachers' meetings and conferences held throughout the state at least quarterly. Here again one notices the ditTerence between counties lacking and counties possessing proper supervision. In the former the occasion is apt to be devoted to generali- ties—to the discussion of plans or to exhortations on general lines. In the supervised counties the confer- ences between Superintendent, supervisory staff, and teaching body are of an intensive character. Definite problems are formulated and presented. A lesson actually given by way of illustrating the use of materials and methods of presentation is made the basis of dis- 54 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND cussion. Or the teachers are divided into groups accord- ing as they teach in rural or urban schools, in the lower or in the upper grades, and attention is centred upon questions of interest to particular groups. With one group it may be discipline, with another how to teach beginners reading, and with still another what arithmetic should be taught. The County Superintendent can thus em- ploy the strong teachers to strengthen the weak. The entire body is in this way professionalized. But, obvi- ously, such organization and endeavor presuppose a trained leader and a trained staff. In still another important respect is the County Super- intendent charged with direct responsibility for the work of the classroom. He is required by law to prepare semi- annual examination questions for all the schools of the county, the second, or June examination, serving as the basis of promotion. Now examinations may serve several purposes: they may, for instance, ascertain what children know and how freely they can use their knowl- edge; but their main function is to guide the teacher; for by the examinations he sets, the County Superin- tendent tells the teacher the kind of instruction she should give, the things she should emphasize, and the habits of thought and action in which children should be trained. As one would expect from our account of the quali- fications and resources of the county superintendents, the current examinations belong in most counties to an obsolete type. By demanding from children isolated and unrelated facts and meaningless definitions, they do in- More outhuusc-.> THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT 55 calculable harm to instruction. As the child's failure or promotion tlepends upon them, even teachers capable of something better are forced to defer to them. They must, therefore, rush their pupils in the most superficial manner over the assignment for the year, in order to have three and even four months free for the reviews necessary for the June examination. It is indeed not uncommon for teachers to give children the task of find- ing the answers to sets of examination questions running back for years and to have them write out these answers and commit them to memory, as an effective preparation for the coming tests! A single topic remains to be briefly considered before this chapter can be brought to a close. The law re- quires the preparation and publication annually of a county school report, exhibiting the financial transac- tions of the Board and containing data bearing on enrol- ment, attendance, etc. The county report might be an attractive document, serving as a means of communica- tion between the Board and the community. It might depict conditions, record progress, explain policy, and stimulate interest. It does, as a rule, nothing of the sort. The county reports are usually in Maryland — as elsewhere — dull pamphlets throwing little light on educa- tional problems. In the course of our description and criticism of the County Superintendent the needs of the situation have been clearly implied. Effective schools require skilled and specialized leadership. Maryland must define in the 56 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND statute the qualifications of the County Superintendent. It must go into the open market to get him. Having found him, the county must give him a decent salary, assured tenure, and at least a minimum of clerical and professional help. VI. THE TEACHERS BOARDS, whether state or county, superintend- ents and supervisors, all have their part to play in education; but they strive to little purpose, except through well-trained and carefully selected teach- ers. Disregarding, for the moment, the influence of adequate supervision, the efficiency of the schools de- pends upon the preparation of the teachers and upon the inteUigence with which teachers are chosen. There are reasons for exercising unusual watchfulness in Maryland, for the law guarantees what is tantamount to unlimited tenure. Once appointed, removal is in practice rare. What safeguards may an American state wisely set up in respect to the training and selection of its teaching body? The problem is by no means a simple one. The public school system consists of schools of many types — urban elementary schools, rural elementary schools, in- dustrial schools, and high schools. One sort of teacher is needed for the graded city school; a modified type is needed for the ungraded rural school. The teacher of high school Latin needs a diflerent equi[)ment from the teacher of high school physics; the teacher of high school physics needs a different preparation from that of the teacher of industrial art or domestic science in elementar>' 57 58 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND or high schools. Differentiation of function thus requires within limits specialization in training. We say ad- visedly ** within limits," for all teachers of a given rank ought to base their professional training on a cer- tain common educational background or experience. All teachers in the elementary schools, city or country, should possess something like a high school education fol- lowed by normal school training; all high school teachers — certainly in the usual branches, should possess a higher education. Otherwise, the teaching force will be little above the level to which it hopes to elevate the pupils! Exceptions do indeed occur. There are some good teach- ers who have received little training and some poor teach- ers who have received much. But public school systems that turn the exception into the rule make precisely the showing that, as we shall now see, is made by Maryland. There are in Maryland, exclusive of Baltimore, 3,467 white and 672 colored teachers. Accurate information was obtained as to the professional training of 3,444 white teachers (99 per cent, of the whole) and 505 colored teachers (75 per cent, of the whole) both before and after they entered the profession. Regarding the train- ing of these teachers, no general statement can be made at all. There are the widest possible variations in the training of teachers doing the same grade of work — incon- ceivable confusion and lack of sequence and order in their preparation. For example, some teachers had entered the normal schools after high school graduation, as they should; but some of them had entered from the first, sec- THE TEACHERS 59 ond.or third high school year, and not a few went straight from the elementary schools. Some went from the ele- mentary schools to college in order to study "education" ; others spent a year or two in a normal school and then PREPAKfi-TlON OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS (WHITE) / \ PAR HIGH SCHOOL 33.7 7' \ /^ / J HIGH SCHOOL y\ 20.77. / \ \ /elementary 5chool\ \/ 1277- / ^ r— / /normal / ^^^-^-^2 '" / C ^ \5TANPARPW 7 \4.8 7o / 'NON 5TANPARP X^ / 20 7» / entered college; still others reversed this last-mentioned process! There is no rhyme or reason in what has been taking place. Of over 3,000 white elementary teachers in the state outside of Baltimore (Fig. i) 391 (12.7 per cent.) have had only an elementary school education; 634 (20.7 per cent.") have spent one or two years in a high 6o PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND school; 1,031 (33.7 per cent.) have completed a four- year high school course; only 148 — less than 5 per cent, of the whole — have received a standard normal school training. Of the rest, some have spent a little while in normal school; some have received an irregular normal schooling; a few have been to college and still fewer through college.^ Grouping together standard normal school, part college, and college graduates, about 10 per cent, of the elementary teachers of Maryland — not more — may be called well trained; not quite one- third could on a stretch be called fairly well trained; at least one- third are practically untrained. The body as a whole is thus heterogeneous to the last degree.^ How could it possibly function as a unit in carrying out a well- conceived educational policy, even if there were one?^ ^I. e., have had a regular high school education or its equivalent fol- lowed by a college course. n^o say nothing of classes prior to 1910, of the last six graduating classes of the Maryland State Normal Schools, less than 40 per cent, entered from standard high schools. ^n the following table the figures are grouped: TABLE I PREPARATION OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS (WHITE) Kind of Preparation Number Per cent. Cumulative Per cent. Elementary School Part High School Standard High School Part Normal Course Non-standard Normal Course Standard Normal Course Part College 391 634 1.031 82 614 148 98 65 12.7 20.7 33.7 2.7 20. 4.8 3.2 2.1 12.7 33.4 67.1 69.8 89.8 94.6 97.8 99.9 Grand Total 3,063 99.9 THE TEACHERS 6r The colored elementary teachers, including the super- visors, make a better showing than might have been anticipated. (Fig. 2.) Eight per cent. api)car to have received a standard normal training. In view of the fact that there is not a single colored high school in the state outside of the city of Baltimore and the local facilities for training colored teachers are extremely meagre, this is a surprising fact.^ To some extent it may be accounted for on the ground that, while the returns for the white teachers are practically complete, reports were received from only three-fourths of the colored teachers. This was not due to negligence on the part of the county superintendents, but to the fact that many colored schools had closed for the year before the blanks calling for data on teacher preparation were received, making it impossible to secure the requested information. Complete returns from the colored teachers would prob- ably lessen the per cent, of those adequately trained. 'The exact figures are as follows: TABLE n PREPARATION OF ELEMENTARY ANT) SPECIAL TEACHERS (COLORED) Kind of {'reparation Elementary School Part High School . . . . Standard High School . Part Normal Course Non-standard Normal Course Standard Normal Course . Part College College Grand Total Number 78 99 110 25 114 40 18 21 505 Per cent. 15.4 19 6 21.8 4.9 22.5 7.9 3.6 4.2 99 9 Cumulative Per cent. 15.4 35. 56.8 61.7 84.2 92.1 95.7 99.9 62 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND The teachers in the high schools are of two kinds: regular teachers, (i. e., those handling the older studies) and special teachers (i. e., those working in manual training, domestic science, agriculture, and the commer- FIG. 2 PS^PAHATION OFELEMENTAIOrAND SPECIAL TEACHER^{COtJOm^ cial branches) . It has been stated above that high school teachers ought to be college graduates who have also had a certain amount of professional training. But it would be unfair to apply this standard to Maryland — or to most other states, for the high school movement is so recent and has developed so rapidly that professionally THE TEACHERS 63 trained teachers have been unobtainable. Separate pro- fessional training may therefore be ignored. Never- theless, despite this concession, Maryland makes an un- satisfactory showing. (Fig. 3.) Not exceeding two-Hf ths FIG. 3 PREPAMATION OT ZECUUiR. HIOH SCHOOL TEACHEg^ / -- — /•/ ^\. /^NON StANPARP 18 1% y JTAKfpARP \ / HIGH SCHOOL \ / ^^ NORMAL / 13 1*/. ^^^\ \ PAF.T \ ^\^ ^,^-'15arthigh school! "^ 5 11. »T«M»UTAH.Y.lT, k COLLEGE y FULL 37.4 % / of the regular high school teachers of the state may be described as adequately prepared ; a second two-fifths are from one to four years short, though they have had some kind of training — a partial college or normal school course, for example; the remaining fifth arc wofully lacking in 64 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND proper preparation, being made up of those who have had only a high school education, a part of a normal course, or some similarly inadequate and ill-adjusted preparation.^ In reference to teachers of special high school branches — manual training, domestic science, agriculture, and commercial subjects, it was not possible to ascertain what specialized training teachers had had. We were compelled, therefore, to limit our inquiry to their general rather than their particular fitness. On this basis^ less ^TABLE rn PREPARATION OF REGULAR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS Kind of Preparation Number Per cent. Cumulative Per cent. Elementary School . Part High School . . . Standard High School Part Normal Course Non-standard Normal Course Standard Normal Course . Part College College Grand Total 2 14 36 5 51 7 57 103 5.1 13.1 1.8 18.6 2.5 20.7 37.4 .7 5.8 18.9 20.7 39.3 41.8 62.5 99.9 275 99.9 ^.A.BLE IV PREPARATION OF SPECI.M, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS Kind of Preparation Manual Training Com- mercial Domestic Science Agricul- ture Totals No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Elementary School . Part High School . . . Standard High School . Part Normal Course Non-standard Normal Course Standard Normal Course . Part College .... College 1 3 8 2 7 4 8 1 2.9 8.8 23.5 5.9 20.6 11.7 23.5 2.9 1 3 8 12 1 1 6 2 2.9 8.8 23.5 35.3 2.9 2.9 17.7 5.9 3 11 1 1 2 10 5 '9!l 33.3 3. 3. 6.1 30.3 15.1 4 1 'so 20 2 1.9 9 8.5 27 25.5 15 14.1 9 8.5 7 6.6 28 26.4 9 8.5 Grand Total 34 99.8 34 99.9 33 99.9 5 100 106 100 ^S^^^SSfOSSm-i THE TEACHERS 65 than 10 per cent, of the special high school teachers now in service are well trained. Forty per cent, have had a normal school or a part college course, but a fourth have never gone beyond the high school itself. To be sure, those high school graduates have had in most cases the special high school course in manual training or domestic science, or the commercial branches, but such instruction hardly gives them the broad outlook upon life and industry which is essential to efficient work in their chosen fields. A fair degree of uniformity in the teaching body can be obtained only if admission thereto is controlled by a central agency. Maryland, instead of a single portal, has almost half a dozen: the county examination, normal school diplomas, college certificates, and other evidences of training. No one authority passes upon these diverse credentials. In consequence, there is no common stand- ard and no way of enforcing a common standard, if one were formulated. As has been intimated in the preceding chapter, the teachers' examinations conducted by county superin- tendents form the most objectionable feature of the exist- ing situation. We have called attention to the fact that untrained superintendents cannot conduct judicious ex- aminations. As a matter of fact, under the existing law, neither can highly trained county superintendents. For the subjects of the examinations are regulated by stat- utes that make a sensible examination practically im- possible. 66 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND These statutes go back to the period between 1866 and 1872, when the conception of a free public school system was just beginning to be formed. The pioneers in this field were men of vision who planned a program of in- struction unrealized even at the present time. Their ambitious ideas were embodied in the law of 1872, which prescribed that there "shall be taught in every district school, orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, history of the United States, good behavior, algebra, bookkeeping, natural philosophy, the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Maryland, the history of Maryland, vocal music, drawing, physiology, the laws of health, and domestic economy." It was also provided that, in communities having a considerable German population, the German language might also be introduced. Nor was this pre- tentious program distributed between elementary and high schools; on the contrary, it was part of the dream that all branches should be taught in every district school. Teachers were to be selected on the basis of their fit- ness to carry out this ambitious scheme. To be sure, two grades of certificates were recognized. The second or lower grade — regarded as a makeshift then, though to-day, half a century later, it is still the prevailing cer- tificate — called for an examination in spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, geography, and history only; the first-grade certificate involved an exam- ination in all the studies mentioned in the law, except THE TEACHERS 67 physiology, vocal music, drawing, laws of health, and domestic economy. There was thus a close correspond- ence between the visionary course of study meant for every district school and the examination required for a first-grade certiticate. Despite the vision, however, the actual instruction in the one-room rural and village schools was practically limited to the so-called three R's, English grammar, geography, and history. Branches like bookkeeping, algebra, and natural philosophy were attempted as a rule only in the academies and in the high schools of the larger towns, and the number of pupils taking them was small. For example, as late as 1900 Howard County reported only 134 pupils in all the schools of the county above the sixth grade; of these 68 were in bookkeeping, 123 in algebra, and 56 in natural philosophy. But the academies and high schools did not confine themselves to the studies prescribed in the law. Latin and higher mathematics including geometry, trigonometry, and sur- veying formed the backbone of their instruction; a little English literature and a smattering of the more exact sciences such as astronomy were also taught. Prospective teachers had therefore under the law to be trained to teach a course of study which as a matter of fact had no existence in either elementary or high schools. Hence examination based on the statutory requirement did not test the qualifications of teachers to give instruc- tion in the subjects actually taught. Those who strove to obtain the first-grade certificate as a basis of teaching 68 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND in elementary schools were compelled to equip them- selves in algebra, natural philosophy, and the like, but not in such elementary school branches as physiology, the laws of health, vocal music, drawing, and domestic economy. Those who strove to obtain a first-grade certificate in order to teach in the high school were even more remote from their needs, for they took no examina- tion in Latin, higher mathematics, English literature, general history, or in any of the sciences other than nat- ural philosophy. In a word, the examination for the standard certificate of the day was a poor basis for select- ing teachers for the elementary schools and of little or no worth in the selection of high school teachers. Incredible as it may seem, these defects, dating back to the year 1872, persist to this very day. Indeed, despite the differentiation made in recent years between elementary schools and high schools, the examination system of 1872 lasted up to 1904 without a single statutory change. At that time, without cutting anything out, there were added to the examination subjects for the second-grade certificate the history of Maryland, the State and Na- tional Constitution, physiology, algebra to quadratics, the theory and practice of teaching, and the laws and the by-laws of the public schools. Young women who teach in the elementary rural schools are thus examined in algebra, which they do not teach, but not in drawing or agriculture which they are expected to teach. Mean- while, candidates for the first-grade certificate are tested in bookkeeping, algebra, and natural philosophy, subjects THE TEACHERS 69 long since dropped from the elementary schools, and in general history and jilane geometry which are distinctly high school stutlics, while they go entirely unexamined in important elementary l)ranchcs. Equally disastrous is the elTect of this arrangement on the high school. For as the first-grade certificate qualifies for a high school post, instruction may be given in Latin, higher mathematics, English literature, or science by a person holding a teach- ing license issued absolutely without reference to them. No serious elTort has yet been made to get rid of the absurdities which we have just pointed out. The state has limited its endeavors to encouraging improvement in ways that, helpful though they be, do not strike at the root of the problem. A succession of laws beginning in 1867 has aimed to encourage and develop the county institute; in 19 14 counties were authorized, in lieu of holding the annual institute, to require not less than a fourth of their teachers to attend a summer school; and in the same year, the payment of higher salaries to teach- ers of superior training or ability was also authorized. Such provisions are wise enough in their way for they tend to improve the existing teaching corps. But much more radical measures must be taken. At the outset a clear division must be made between certificates valid in the elementary school and those valid in the high school. On the side of the elementary school an examination should be devised which will test the fitness not in some, but in all, the branches included in the elementary course of study. On the side of the 70 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND high school there will need to be such a grouping of the principal academic studies that no teacher will be per- mitted to teach a branch unless she has first proven her fitness. In order that uniformity of standard may be se- cured, these examinations should be conducted by the state department, acting through the County Super- intendent. From an eligible list thus formed, teachers should be appointed by the County Superintendent — no longer as now by the county boards and the district trustees. In bringing about this reorganization an important factor will be the normal schools of the state, to the con- sideration of which we now turn. Maryland supports two establishments for the training of white elementary school teachers — the Normal School at Frostburg and the new Normal School at Towson. The Frostburg School, established in 1897, remains without any clear function in the state school system. Provision for it has always been grudging. The present plant comprises a modest building capable of accommo- dating about 175 students with additional quarters for a small practice school. The equipment is poor and alto- gether inadequate for instruction in nature study, physics, chemistry, manual training, domestic science, and the fine arts. The total amount provided annually by the state for all expenses from 1902 to 1914 was $7,000; in 1914 the sum was raised to $10,000. Accordingly, the salaries of the instructors scarcely exceed those in the neighboring high schools, and are in any case too meagre THE TEACHERS 71 to procure a qualified staff. Nevertheless, the school has grown raiiidly, having in igi4 an enrolment of 102 pre- paratory and Oi normal students, a total of 163, mostly drawn from Allegany Count). Including the class of IQ14, 156 students have com{ik'tc(l the course, of whom 131 are now engaged in teaching. The institution destined to be made the central normal school is the Baltimore Normal, established in 1865. The building occuj)icd from the early 70's until the pres- ent autumn was for years one of the best of its kind in the country, and even at the time of its abandonment was not altogether unadapted to its purposes. While thus fairly well housed the funds for its support have never been adequate. Prior to 1914 the regular annual appropria- tion did not exceed $20,000, and it is now only $50,000. For almost forty years the Baltimore Normal was the only school for the training of teachers supported and con- trolled by the state. Its graduates, representing all sections and numbering more than 2,500, are to be found in important positions both wHthin and without the schools. The school has, however, operated on so inade- quate an allowance that at best it has accomplished only a part of what it might have accomplished. Its leader- ship has at times been distinctly inadequate; not infre- quently, lacking funds to employ trained and experienced teachers, the school has appointed to its staff its own re- cent graduates. Inbreeding has thus gone on with its usual bad effects. Our interest is, however, with the future, not with the 72 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND past, of the Baltimore Normal School. The school has just occupied its new quarters at Towson, with dormitory accommodations for two hundred students, classrooms, laboratory, library, and gymnasium facilities for sLx or seven hundred, and ample quarters for an adequate prac- tice school. If the state is to derive full returns from the enormous sum now invested in its plant and equipment, a thoroughgoing reorganization is needed. We make this suggestion in no spirit of fault-finding with those who have hitherto had to conduct the school on a quite insufficient allowance. It may well be that no one could have done better under the circumstances. But the new plant totally changes conditions. Its facil- ities are perhaps not surpassed anywhere; and an ade- quate budget will doubtless be provided. Under these circumstances the head of the school ought to be the most competent that the country affords; and the entire country should be searched in order to find him. Poli- tics, personal interest, and local pride must be eliminated, for upon this selection depends in great part the progress of the public schools of the entire state. In the same way such men and women should be selected as teachers, in charge of the different departments, as will not only be able to develop strong courses of instruction within the school, but also to exert an influence throughout the state. For there is need not only of capable instructors, but of organizers who can work with the teachers in the field, inspiring and directing them in their daily work. The activities of the old school stopped with the close THE TEACHERS 73 of the school year in June. The work of a progressive school that would fully occupy its field, and especially a normal school, is never done. Indeed, the summer sea- son offers a great opportunity to the Baltimore Normal, if it is to rise to the new and larger service before it. Over 75 per cent, of the elementary teachers outside of the city of Baltimore, when judged most liberally, have had less than a standard professional preparation; to add to the initial equipment of these ill-prepared teachers should become one of the primary objects of the institution. To this end there should be a summer session, and the work of the summer session should equal in strength and attractiveness that of the regular school year. Again, the entrance standards of the old school have always been low. For years young people taken from the highest grade of the elementary school were gradu- ated in three years; only since 1904 has the course run four years, divided equally between preparatory and professional work. By resolution of the State Board of Education the admission requirements for 19 15 were fijced at the completion of the second year of high school, but no steps were taken to readjust the old two-year prepara- tory course. While more high school graduates entered in the fall of 1915 than ever before, a great part of the work of the 3chool is still confined, as it always has been, to prepara- tory students. Surely the time is now at hand when the school should cease to build its professional work upon an 74 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND abbreviated high school course. This does not imply that the present work below the professional course should be summarily abandoned. There are, and for some time there will continue to be, sections without high schools in easy reach of ambitious young people. To accommo- date students thus located who desire to become teachers the high school course at the Baltimore Normal should be maintained; but it should be lengthened to full four years, and so strengthened that it will become one of the strong- est in the state, instead of being a mere subterfuge and makeshift. It has been urged that the present is an appropriate time to broaden the activities of the Baltimore Normal so as to include the preparation of secondary teachers. Even if the state were not pledged to another poUcy, it is our opinion that this central school should confine its attention solely to the training of elementary teachers. The number of secondary teachers needed annually is too small for the state to undertake to develop, in com- petition with colleges already in the field, strong courses for regular high school teachers. There are, however, two kinds of high school teacher — viz., teachers of domestic science and of manual training — for the train- ing of whom no other schools in Maryland are at all equipped, and with these the Normal might wisely deal. The suggestion that it should also train supervisors is, in our judgment, without value. The number of new supervisors annually needed is inconsiderable. To pro- vide proper facilities could only be done at excessive cost. THE TEACHERS 7S The state should indeed maintain a high standard in appointing supervisors, but it should expect supervisors to lesort to special institutions for supplementary training. The Towson plant was created on the theory that the training of all the elementary teachers for the white schools might be there concentrated. In 1914 the total en- rolment of both the Baltimore and the Frostburg schools was 224 ; there were loi graduates. To supply all the new elementary teachers needed in the state an enrolment of more than 600 and yearly graduates in excess of 300 are required, or an increase in enrolment and graduates of more than 200 per cent. It is necessary, therefore, to attract students in larger numbers and to hold them until they complete the course. But a difficulty arises. Two-thirds of the teachers of Marj'land work in vil- lages and the open country; 40 per cent, of them have one-room schools. Will the graduates of this stately normal school be willing to teach in rural schools? WUl the practice school at Towson reproduce even approxi- mately the conditions which most of its graduates may have to meet? How can courses and practice opportuni- ties be adjusted to rural needs? American experience is not wholly encouraging in this matter. Central normal schools do not readily represent the rural point of view; and teachers trained in them prefer town and city posts. For this reason many states are endeavoring to train teachers for the rural elementary schools in connection with county high schools; and the legislature of Mary- land passed in 19 14 a permissive law looking to this end. 76 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND For the moment, however, it will probably be wisest to take no steps in this direction until the Towson school has had a fair chance to grapple with the problem.^ There are now 672 colored teachers in the schools out' side of the city of Baltimore. To encourage their fur- ther preparation — less than 40 per cent, of whom can be credited with anything like a satisfactory training — and toprepare approximately 7 5 new colored teachers required annually, the state maintains a single institution, the Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie, opened under the auspices of the State Board of Educa- tion, September, 191 1. The equipment comprises a farm of 18^ acres, an ordi- nary eight-room school building, the attic story of which serves for a girls' dormitory, the first and second floors for classrooms and the principal's office, and the base- ment for kitchen and dining-room. A remodelled barn answers for a dormitory for boys, and there is also an old farmhouse used principally for storage. The present annual appropriation for maintenance is $7,000, and there are accommodations for about 70 students. The course for teachers is three years in length, with an entrance requirement equivalent to the sixth grade of the public school. So many students, however, offered them- selves, whose preparation fell below this standard, that a two-year preparatory course had to be added. The iThis delay will be of advantage for anotJier reason. The General Education Board is just beginning a thorough study of the training of rural teachers in Minnesota and other states. The results will probably be available within a year. THE TEACHERS 77 enrolment in the normal course in 1913-1914 was 43, vvilh one special student, and in the preparatory department, 28, making a total of 72 — an enrolment which taxes the accommotlations to the limit. The management of the school is excellent. The principal and his assistant arc at once competent and "rural-minded." An abandoned farm was part of the school property. As school and students were both needy, principal and students set to work to make the farm supply what they lacked. The result has been gratifying from every point of view. Supplies have been raised, because there was no money with which to buy them; in the process agriculture has been efficiently taught, and rural school teachers of the right type have been trained. Up to date, however, the graduates num- ber only 25, and not all of these have become teachers. The Maryland Normal and Industrial School at Bowie is, to be sure, not the only source of colored teachers: Hampton, Tuskegee, Cheney Normal School, Dover College, and others contribute; some are also obtained from the Washington High School, and from the Balti- more High School and Morgan College. Nevertheless, half of the colored teachers of the state have no certifi- cates other than "postal card certificates" — that is, they are permitted to teach without having passed any exam- ination at all, the county superintendents selecting those most likely to succeed, irrespective of academic and pro- fessional credentials. The only other institution within the state, besides the 78 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND Maryland Normal and Industrial School and the Balti- more High School, that attempts to prepare elementary colored teachers, is the Princess Anne Academy, under the management of the Morgan College Corporation. This school has a good-sized farm and rather ample quar- ters and equipment. While it is essentially a prepara- tory school for Morgan College, yet the employment of Federal funds has made agriculture and agricultural pursuits prominent and given to the school an industrial atmosphere. Special attention has lately been given to the preparation of teachers. Besides regular courses during the year, a summer school with an enrolment of about 40 was conducted in 191 5. The school is located near the colored population centre of the Eastern Shore, readily accessible, and is in position to exert a good influ- ence upon the public schools of that section. This brief statement will show that Maryland's present facilities for training negro teachers are altogether inade- quate, even though we reckon, as an additional factor, the industrial schools supported in 16 counties at an annual cost to the state of $22,500. There is, therefore, every reason why the school at Bowie should be developed and made the centre for the training of colored teachers for at least the Western Shore, if not for the entire state. To do this its facilities will need to be largely increased and the teaching staff developed, so that it will be in position to give instruction to larger numbers of prospec- tive teachers during the year and to offer helpful work during the summer to those now in service. THE TEACHERS 79 But the development of the school at Bowie alone will not be suflScient. Maryland would do well to follow the example of Virginia and other Southern States in the establishment of County Training Schools — schools which, while giving appropriate instruction of a secondary grade, will also provide for a certain amount of teacher training. In this way a gradually improved teaching force, particularly for the rural schools, can be built up. Our position regarding the teachers of Maryland may then be brieily summarized. The profession is without standards, without even the possibility of standards. Some form of central control must be instituted; teachers must be differentiated on the basis of their particular functions; and appointments must be made by the County Superintendent, who, under the new order, will necessarily be a trained officer. Meanwhile, the reorgan- ized normal schools of the state, cooperating with the re- organized county school organization, should prove an important influence in improving teachers now in service. VII. ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE IN THE effort to ascertain how well Maryland edu- cates its children and what measures it must take to improve educational facilities, we have thus far discussed the administrative organization, state and county, and the character and qualifications of the super- vising and teaching bodies. We have criticised the county boards as politically constituted, the county superintendents as lacking in technical training and stability of tenure, the teaching body as ill-prepared and heterogeneous. Exceptions have indeed been gladly noted. A few county boards are non-political; a few county superintendents are competent and secure; some teachers — indeed, not a few — are well-trained, intelligent, and progressive. Nevertheless, these exceptions, impor- tant as they are, do not really leaven the mass. Whether or not the organization which we have thus de- scribed does the best that it is capable of doing depends on two factors to the consideration of which we now turn, viz. : (i) the regularity with which children attend school, and (2) the course of instruction through which they are put. To the former topic the present chapter will be devoted. The legal school age in Maryland is from five to twenty years of age. But children will neither start to school 80 ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE 8i at five nor remain until they are twenty. It would there- fore be absurd to criticise enrolment and attendance on the basis of the statutory requirement. It is however fair to e.xpect children to begin school at si.x; and now that high schools are developing, it is important to ascertain how manv pupils remain up to, say, eighteen. Accordingly, children from six to eighteen years of age are regarded in this chapter as constituting the school population. The number of children in Maryland between 6 and i8 has increased decidedly since 1880. There were 276,229 children of school age in Maryland in 1880; there were 339,467 in 1914. Simultaneously, as might be expected, the number of children enrolled in schools has also in- creased. What is more, the increase in school enrolment has been larger than the increase in school population. Conditions have therefore improved. (Fig. 4.) In 1880 FIG. 4 SCHOOL POPULATION fG-13j& SCHOOL EN]?OLLMENT .238 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914 82 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND only 59 per cent, of the white and colored children be- tween 6 and i8 were in school, whereas in 19 14, 73 per cent, were registered. In a word, in 1880, 41 children out of each 100 that should have been in school were not there, while in 19 14 only 27 out of each 100 were out altogether. (Fig. 5.) Children are, of course, and FIG. s 90 ISO 70 60 50 40 30 2j:i 10 PERCENT OF TOTAL SCHOOL POP'ULAIlONfS-ie) ENRQULEP k ■ Tftftl — — - 72.51. 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914 have always been, enrolled in other than public schools. We have no means of knowing how many attended pri- vate and parochial schools in 1880, nor do we know how many attend private and parochial schools to-day. There can be no doubt, however, that a larger percentage of the school population attended public schools in 19 14 than attended in 1880. Public school enrolment is, however, even now less than three-fourths of the school popula- tion. ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE 83 Up to 1900 the situation is partly explained by the non-enrolment of large numbers of colored children. (Fig. 6.) Since 1900, however, the ditTerence between FIG. 6 fi»tf 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 PER CESr OF WHITE ANP COWREP CHUPREN ((,-ia) ENROLLED (a2 5 > U/'UTTT ■ --r:r _--' A^X^SS^--- ,- - "' 72 (,t 6937. 1680 1390 1900 1010 1914 the enrolment of colored children and the enrolment of white children has become practically negligible. In that year there were enrolled 68 per cent, of the white as against 66 per cent, of the colored children, and 2 to 3 per cent, continues to measure the diiTerence. Were there an up-to-date and complete school census giving the number of children of each age and the number at school, it would be possible to determine accurately the number of children of each age who are not enrolled. Such data are not available, for Maryland does not take a state school census. Hence, there is no telling how enrolment varies with age. The Federal Census, how- 84 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND ever, throws some light on the question. On the basis of its figures for 1 910 it appears that, of children between 6 and 14 years of age, 17 white children out of each 100, and 29 colored children out of each 100 are not enrolled. (Fig. 7.) Of children between 15 and 18 — i. e., the high FIG. 7 PERCENT OF CHILDREN OF rLEMEKTAXf XHOOL AGE(c-t4j IN XHOOL WHITE COLO?fP school age — only 44 per cent, of the white and 61 per cent. of the colored children are in school (Fig. 8) — not, of course, in the high school; for 24 per cent, of the white chil- dren in school between 15 and 18 years old are floundering about between the second and the seventh grades of the elementary school,^ and the same is true of all the colored pupils. These figures may not be absolutely ^This statement is made upon the basis of the per cent, of children between 15 and 18 in these grades in the cities. See Table V. ENROLMENT AND AirEX DANCE 85 correct, but they serve to explain why in the Federal Census of 1910 Maryland ranks thirty-first in point of illiteracy. FIG. 8 PE^COiT OF CHILDRJ^ OT HlCH SCHOOL AGE (i5 -16) W SCHOOL WHITE COLORED An efficient system of public schools not only enrolls children, but holds at least those who are physically and mentally normal until they have finished the elementary, if not the high school, course. The school records of Maryland are so incomplete that it is impossible to de- termine with accuracy the number of grades finished by children before they drop out of school. But enough is known to show that the situation is deplorably bad. Under normal conditions children start to school in their seventh year (i. e.. when they are six years old) ; therefore, if the system is efficient — if, that is, they start to school at six and remain consecutively, there ought to be just 86 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND about as many children in the second class or grade as there were in the first. Now in cities having a population of 2,500 or more, exclusive of Baltimore, there were enrolled in the winter term last year 1,916 children from eight to nine years of age, and only 1,590 children from six to seven years of age.-^ In other words, about 17 per cent, of the children started from one to two years too late. In consequence, many of the late beginners will drop out of school without completing the elementary curriculum; for a late start reduces the number of years spent in school and, as a rule, reduces the number of grades finished. Efforts must therefore be made to get children into school more promptly. Once started, the schools, even though there is no adequate compulsory attendance law, hold the children fairly well until they pass the age of thirteen. The orig- inal enrolment of 1,590 rises three years later to 1,930, gradually decUning until there are 1,598 children in ^TABLE V ACEJ AND GR/J>13 OF CHUDRpi /N Tm ants ACES 1 •0 s 1- z p-t- P 2 l^ i^ * 1^ a S a" ^§1 Total Cr4des I ±_ Tv^ 1E45 683 308 153 43 Ifo b b 1 11 ^T ^■H- a45 (i71 34fc !&(. 89 37 19 3 ._ 2541 III 3J 351 r,?-; 528 356 ISfe 98 44 10 1 2212 IV 34 296 541 V52 191fc 1930 1848 uas 1714 1598 1358 9^8 TOO 408 zat &1 14 ITtSO ENROLMENT AND ATFENDANCE 87 attendance in their fourteenth year. But these figures do not indicate orderly progress through the elementary grades. If children started to school when six years of age. fourteen-year-old children would normally be found in the eighth grade. If they start later than six, they will as a rule be correspondingly retarded. Now in the cities under consideration, fourteen-year-old children (Table VI), instead of being concentrated in the eighth grade, are scattered from the first to the eleventh grades: five were still in the first grade; 19 had finished the first and reached the second; 300 had reached grade seven, and 276, grade eight. About seven-eighths of the chil- dren fourteen years of age — to be precise 1,174 out of 1,358 — were from one to eight grades in arrears; 44 per cent, were working in the sixth and lower grades; only 13 per cent, were normal or ahead of normal.^ 'table VI Gt^DES COHPLEUP BY CHnJ>ZEN 14 TO 15 YtAPJ OF AGE CI^fiDES COMPLETED AliD QKADEi SOW IN -a a c 1 c ■o c 4 c i > > c > .c •a C < 5 c 5 .c ■0 c « X .5 1 1 X o c -a V Ti. V "a. S •B. 1 1 f -0 V 3^ O v3 o % J 6 i 1" o Total No of Chil- dren 5 19 14 «6 IM ?&0 300 ?76 1J9 59 7 1358 tCfor .4 14 32 G,? 15.5 t9.i ?2) 2Q.i 1Q? 2.8 5 99.8 88 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND On this showing, probably 50 per cent, of the white children of the state, not to mention the colored chil- dren, are taking up the duties of life with no more than a fourth or a fifth grade education. Very few, indeed, go much further. For, of the original enrolment we are now considering, the figures show that while 17 per cent, will leave school before they are fourteen, 30 per cent, will leave before reaching fifteen, and 79 per cent, before reaching eighteen. That is, not more than one in five stays long enough to finish the high school, and not to exceed seven out of ten, even if progress were regular, remain long enough to complete the elementary school. This estimate can be confirmed from another direction.^ Out of the 17,650 children in the schools of the cities in the winter term of 1915 (Table VII), only 374, or 2 per cent., were ahead of their grade for their age, as compared ^ TABLE vn OiRDJiEN UmXK. Act. NORMAL AOZ AND OVT8. AGE Number in Each Grade Total in each Grade Percent in Each Grade. Under Aqt Normal Aoe Over Aoe Under Aqe Normal Aqt Over Aqe I 4 1579 2439 4022 .1 39.3 60.6 II 11 354 2176 2541 .4 13.9 85.7 ni 33 331 1828 2212 1.5 15.8 82.7 IV 36 29fc 1707 2039 1.8 U.5 63.7 V 31 246 1549 1826 1.7 13.5 84.8 VI 48 164 1170 1382 3.5 11.6 84.7 VII 40 ITZ 887 1039 3.6 15.7 80.7 VIII 50 164 682 896 5.6 18.3 76.1 tx 41 139 489 669 6.1 20.8 73.1 X 40 105 375 5^0 7.7 20.2 72.1 h 30 64 271 365 7.8 21.9 70.3 XII 10 23 26 59 17. 39. 44, Total 374 3677 13599 1T650 2 2 20.8 77. Modern Klcinentarv School Kttcss in up-to-date urban school ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE 89 to 13.599. or 77 per cent., who were behind their grade.' These figures are, of course, not absolutely accurate; but the possible error- in ihein would not greatly modify our 'Tabic VII is based on Tabic V. In Table V the number to the left of the block represents the chiklren in the prade under a^e, the number in the block those of normal a^c, and the number to the right of the block those over-ape. Over-age in this case is judged from the point of view of enterinc the grade, (i up to 7 being taken as the normal age for begin- ning the first grade, 7 up to 8 for the second grade, and so un. On this basis a child should enter the eighth grade between 13 and up to 14 and complete an eight-grade course l)y 15. The ages of the children are those of their last birthday, and not, as they should be, when over-age is judged from entering the grafle in a system having annual promotion, as of the beginning of the otVicial school year. What dilTercnce in the amount of over-age reported, this difTcr- ence in the time of taking the ages of the children makes, it is impossible to say, but in all probability it is very small, .\gain, the ages of the children are those recorded in the school records by the teachers as given by the children themselves. No documentary evidence of age is re- quired, nor is there any great effort made on the part of the teachers to verify the age given. Finally, there is one point at issue which makes, according as it is settled, a ditlerence of 30 per cent, in the amount of over-age reported. There are those who claim that the elementary school course in Mary- land is an eight-year course, the additional grade being accounted for by the first grade's covering the work ordinarily done in the first and second years. There is nothing in the state course of study to justify this posi- tion. Xor is there anything in the first-grade enrolment of the fourteen cities from which the data were collected, except at .Annapolis, Bruns- wick, Crislheld. Hagerstown, and Cumberland. But a study of the work of the first grade in at least three of these places reveals on the one hand rather more advanced instruction in arithmetic than is ordinarily done in the first grade, but shows on the other that reading is on the whole under grade. Hence even in the cities having an unusual large first-grade enrolment, there is no ground for holding that the first grade represents two years of school work. This error may arise from two factors: (i) Children may blunder slightly in stating their age; (2) there is some confusion, due to the fact that, as the course of study is planned for seven years, it is a question whether the first grade does not represent two years' work. However, even were it assumed that the first grade combines two years' work, 47 per cent, of the chiklren, above considered, would be over-age — a condi- tion scarcely paralleled in any .American city in which the problem of over-age has been in\estigated. 90 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND verdict. The conditions which they reveal are, to say the least, very bad. Over-age — i. e., being older than a normal child in a given class^ should be — is more serious in the upper than in the lower grades. For a young child who has fallen behind may by working hard catch up with his class. If, however, he is in an upper grade, the chances are that, should he fall behind, he will drop out of school, instead of retrieving the lost ground. In Maryland over-age nms straight through the schools. Enormous numbers of children of all grades are behind where they ought to be. (Fig. 9.) Eighty-five children out of every hundred are over-age in the second grade; and 81 out of one hundrecT ■CRAPES I FIG. 9 PERCENT or CHUDRSN DfZACH GRADE OVE^ AG£ I W W T IL w m _1K_ X m 21 TOTAL ^The "normal" child in this sense is the child who is in Grade I whea he is six years old and thereafter advances at the rate of one grade every year. ENROLMENT AND ATI^ENDANCE 91 in the seventh grade. Conditions are practically as bad in the high school, where 76 per cent, are behind in the first year, and 70 per cent, in the fourth year of the course.' As has been already pointed out, over-age ahnost in- evitably results in abbreviating the child's stay in school. This is certainly the case when children are retarded more than a year or two. (Fig. 10.) For children who ought to finish their elementary schooling at fourteen will not remain till they are sixteen or seventeen for that purpose. Now the 3,493 children- who are between one and two years behind their grade would, if they remain in school and advance regularly, be between 15 and 16 when they complete the elementary course. Similarly, the 1,058 who are between three and four years behind their proper grade would be between 17 and 18 on completing the elementary course of study. Of course children do not »See Table VII on page 88. TABLE \7n rm Nt/Hsa. cr yzars pupils ari oyzr ace Levi than Iy«ardnd Zuean and 3tjean and 4 i^carj and Total Oradt on* vjcor less than 2 less than 3 k54than4 mor« Ov«T-A& t.37 5C1 89 18 1845 OroTvi Xotll 3iJ4. 41JO 2409 1147 679 15359 92 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND remain in the lower school to any such ages. If they didj there would now be about 4,000 children 16 years of age or older in the elementary schools of the Maryland towns we have been considering; there are, as a matter of fact, only 165.^ It is thus evident that probably 96 per cent. PERCENT OF OVEItAGE PUPIL5 BEHIND THEIR. GI?APES LESS THAN lYR.. 1&-2YR.S Z^JYI^S. 3£/4Ta>4'rti2LU? HIGH SCHOOL ^ 'I' 'II COMBINEP :^^^M^^^ PEH.CEMT 10 20 30 40 50 to 70 BO 90 100 of the children now behind their grade will drop out be- fore completing the course; in all probability they will lose just about as many grades as they are now in arrears. Our estimate, then, that not to exceed 50 per cent, of the white children enrolled in the schools are getting more than a fifth-grade education is shown to be well within the facts. Several factors combine to account for the extent of over-age in the Maryland schools. Late entrance is one; irregular attendance, another. Children once enrolled iSee Table V, page 86. ENROLMENT AND ATFENDANCE 93 cannot be promoted rr^nilarly unless they attend regu- larly. It has already been i)ointe(l out that the enrol- ment falls short of the school population. Attention must now be directed to the fact that, of the children who are enrolled — children, that is, who propose to attend school, only about half attended on the average in 1880; since then attendance has steadily improved until in 1014 the average daily attendance, in so far as the enrol- ment is concerned, reached 65.3 per cent. (Fig. 11.) Fin. IT PER CE.\T OF ENROLMENl IN AVERAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914 (^( t0 4-'/»\ )i^ This is, to be sure, a great improvement from the stand- point of 1880; but it is still poor; for it means that of every- one hundred children enrolled, 34 are now absent daily. The plant thus seems to be running at only two-thirds capacity. As a matter of fact, it is far from doing even this! For attendance should be calculated on the basis of school population, not of school enrolment — on the basis, that is, of the children who ought to be going to school rather than on the basis of those who are really 94 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND going. Thus considered, the average daily attendance was 31 per cent, in 1880 — less, that is, than one- third of what it should have been; and it was 47.1 per cent, in 19 14 — less than one-half of what it should have been. The plant is working, therefore, not two-thirds capacity — assuming that there are accommodations for all children between 6 and 18 — but less than one-half capacity. (Fig. 12.) Hence the schools are not doing half their job, FIG. 12 PZnCENT or SCHOOL POPULATION (&-16) JNAVEK^GE DAILY ATTENPANCE 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914. .^ ~^ ^^ 1^1 ^ 40 ^ ^42 9lN / ^ even when quantity alone is considered. In these statements no distinction is made between white and colored children. One might suppose that a high average attendance among white children is brought down by a low average attendance on the part of colored children. This is, however, not the case. Colored chil- dren do indeed attend school less regularly than white, but the difference is not sufficient to account for the bad showing. In 19 14 the attendance of colored children averaged 59 per cent, against 67 per cent, for whites: that ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE 95 is, 33 white children out of every hundred were missing as against 41 colored. (Fig. 13.) lool 60 M 40 20 FIG. 13 PERCENT OF WHITE (^ COLCKED SCHOOL ENROLL- MENT IN AVEJiAGE DAILY ATTENDANCE "WHITE ^^^ Jii — - 42 ' — ' ..Qouoft?:^— - — ■''' 1880 1890 19 00 1910 1914 Conditions do. however, vary greatly in the various counties. Whether children attend school regularly or not depends on several factors — on the attitude of parents, on the merits of the schools, on the condition of roads, etc. Obviously, sections differ in these respects. (Fig. 14.) Baltimore County, with a relatively superior school system and good physical conditions, leads the white schools of the state with an average daily attendance of 73 per cent.; St. Mary's brings up the rear with 55 per cent. Even were the white schools of these two counties of equal eflkiency. Baltimore County gives its children a better education with only 27 out of each one hundred 96 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND absent daily than St. Mary's gives with 45 absent daily. Similar differences are to be observed in the attendance 100 j^ 90 80 70 CO 50 40 30 20 to FIG. 14 Per cent of Enrolment in Average Daily Attendance by Connties COLORED 1^ i ti s = is. ., _s 0) ;3 o St r- *^ •a fc ^ s u B •an o o « ^ -i? a < b tJ ^ 5 *J o CIh O c/5 c/5 R ^ H ^ ^ ^ m of colored children. For example, the average number of colored children in attendance in 19 14 in Worcester County was 40 per cent, of the enrolment, whereas 55 per cent, attended in Wicomico. The tabulated records of the county superintendents are so lacking in details that a more intensive study of attendance cannot be made. There is no way of telling ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE 97 from the reports whether children attend city schools more regularly or less regularly than rural schools; whether they attend the one-room school more regularly or less regularly than the two- or three-room school. For the purpose of furnishing an illustration of what should and can be always done in this matter, a special investi- gation was made in Queen Anne and Howard counties, the former located in the central part of the Eastern Shore, the latter in the central section of the Western Shore.^ In these counties attendance was poorest in the colored schools and best in the city schools (EUicott City and Centerville). (Fig. 15.) The great difficulty Fir.. I ' PEJ^CXNT OF ATnta)ANCE IN HOWARD MfD QCJEKN ANN£ COUNTIES ONE ROOM MORE THAN ONZ ROOM ^ __ COLORED r>,,o», „,, .Arc- cr-Y R,URAL VILLAGE. C^^ \^^ \^ [^ 'Data were collected upon the number of days each child enrolled was in school during the Winter Term of 1915. In presenting these data, attendance is computed u[K)n the basis of the number of days the schools were open during the term in question and uix)n the number of days of actual attendance. Ordinarily, attendance is computed upon the basis of the davs in school after a child once enrolls, no account thus being taken of the days lost or the absence due to entering a week or two after the opening of the term. 98 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND of getting to and from school accounts in part only for the lower attendance in the case of the one-room rural and village school as compared with the city schools. No small part of the difference is doubtless due to lack of interest in education on the part of parents. This lack is clearly revealed when the difference of age is taken into account. For at every age, city children attend more regularly than country children. (Fig. i6.) Now, the FIG. 1 6 vacjarr of abjence bk Aozi w kukm. and city schools FOR HOWARD ATfD QJUZEH ANKE COUNTIES OhfE upon RJJSM. CITY SCHOOLS raPOKr 10 20 30 40 50 (.0 70 80 90 100 90 60 70 (O 50 40 30 20 10 O 3^H :^ country boy has no pressing work on the farm in winter. Differences in physical conditions do not, therefore, clearly explain why 86 per cent, of the city children of 13 attend school as against 63 per cent, of country children; or why 88 per cent, of the city children of 14 attend as against 56 per cent, of country children. The attitude of parents and the quality of the instruction are factors ENROLMENT AND ATFENDANCE 99 of great importance, especially in the absence of cfTective machinery for i)rin^ing al)oul attendance. Even more striking are the dilTerences in the attendance of the children of high school age. In one-room rural schools, pupils 15 years of age and over comprise only 9 per cent, of the total enrolment; and this g per cent, attended school only 50 per cent, of the time. In city schools, on the other hand, this same age-group makes up 26 per cent, of the total enrolment and they make an attendance record of 91 per cent. The failure of the one-room rural school not only to attract but to hold children 15 or more years ot age thus unquestionably indicates both a lack of supporting sentiment on the part of parents, and, quite as clearly, the inability of the one-room rural school to provide work suited to the ability and the interests of children of high school age. Whatever the causes of the poor attendance, that 14 per cent, of the children enrolled in the schools of the cities should be absent every day is bad enough ; but that as many as 36 per cent, of those in one-room rural schools should be continuously absent is fatal to effective work. What can be e.\pected in the way of instruction when in one-room rural schools 31 per cent, of the children, in the village schools 19 per cent., and in the city schools 8 per cent., are absent on the average more than half the time? The significance of these facts in terms of the amount of instruction received is illustrated by condi- tions in a fifth grade containing 6 pupils in the Sandy loo PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND Mountain School of Carroll County. During the first loo days of the past school year, the number of spelling lessons received by each pupil was as follows: One pupil received the full loo lessons — for he was never absent — ■ the second received 98, the third 94, the fourth 81, the fifth 69, the sixth 57, for he was absent almost half of the time. If the work to be properly done required 100 lessons, a pupil receiving only 57 lessons has at best covered but slightly more than half of the work of the grade. The effect of absence would be less disastrous if it were continuous at some one period; that is, one prolonged absence is infinitely preferable to recurrence of brief peri- ods of absence. Yet recurrence is the rule. The child comes to school for a few days and then stays away a few days; and thus throughout the year. A single case will illustrate. Pupil "A" in School No. 2, District 7, Carroll County, was present the first four days of the first week of the term. Then an absence of five days occurred, followed by five days in school and eight days out. A single day covered the next period of attendance; then five days of absence; next two days at school and two at home, and so on to the end of the term. Absence destroys the morale and wastes the time not only of the absentee but of the entire school. A teacher, seeking to keep the absentees up with the class, gives them special attention when they do attend, and in this way neglects the pupils regularly at school. Or, despair- ENROLMENT AND AITENDANCE loi ing of keeping the absentees up to grade she inakes oi them a separate group, thus adding to the already exces- sive number of classes. Effective work is impossible under such conditions. The friends of public education in Maryland have not been unaware of the situation which we have described. The State Board of Education, the county superintend- ents, and bodies of citizens have repeatedly urged the passage of a compulsory school attendance law. At a recent session of the legislature their hopes seemed about to be realized. When, however, the proposed bill came from the legislature most of its effective features had been eliminated. Worse still, compulsory measures were made optional with the county school boards, Howard, Kent, Anne Arundel, Worcester, St. Mary's, and Somerset counties being even denied the privilege of exercising an option. Wretched as is this makeshift, the law has had a perceptible effect, as is e\idenced by the increase of attendance between 1910 and 1914-^ Mary- land is, however, for all practical purposes still without an attendance law worthy of the name. In consequence, her public schools are now reaching less than three- fourths of the white children of school age (6-18), while probably half of her white children are taking up the duties of parenthood and of citizenship with a fifth-grade education or less. More money may be spent upon schoolhouses, better prepared and higher priced teachers 'See Figs. 12 and 13. I02 PXJT,UC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND may be employed, and adequate professional control and supervision may be provided, but unless the children of school age are gotten into the schools and kept there regularly, the results achieved must continue to be unsat- isfactory. VIII. INSTRUCTION OI'^ ALL the ditTiculties connectcxl with judging an educational system, perhaps the most serious is the dilTiculty of reaching and justifying a judg- ment as to the quality of instruction. Within any given system, no matter what the conditions in respect to the training of teachers, their appointment, or their super- vision, great variations, arising from differences of ability and industry, will inevitably occur. Under the most unfavorable circumstances effective teaching will some- times be found. It would therefore be unfair to 'brand all the teaching in Maryland as poor, simply because general conditions make for poor teaching. Again, the investigator's unaided judgment is not in- variably sound. It ought to, be possible to prove teach- ing good or bad by objective tests; and indeed a promis- ing movement in this direction is well under way. Aside, however, from other obstacles, the technique of testing is perhaps hardly as yet well enough established to warrant a state-wide application. Besides the defects of teaching to which we shall call attention are too obvi- ous, too widespread to require elaborate demonstration. In the course of our study of public education in Mary- land, elementary schools were visited in every county 104 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND of the state; altogether more than 450 elementary teach- ers were observed in giving about 900 lessons, every grade and every subject being included. As schools were vis- ited at random, it may be considered that the general situation was adequately sampled. The points in refer- ence to which instruction was observed were, as will appear in the course of this chapter, simple, fundamental, and untechnical. In the first place, we tried to ascertain whether the instruction was such as to promise children a competent mastery of the necessary tools of knowledge • — reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic ; whether good judgment or poor judgment was used in determining the amount and character of the material studied in these sub- jects. Were children reading well-selected pieces? Were they learning to spell usable or useless words? Were they doing sensible or absurd arithmetical problems? In addition to the fundamental studies the course of study in Maryland includes a considerable variety of subjects — geography, history, literature, science, etc. — subjects that have not only instrumental but inspira- tional value. They assist a child to find his place in the world and society; they increase the range of his interests and acti\'ities. Such subjects may be mechanically taught, so as to do little good, or they may be inspiringly taught, so as to stir the child more or less deeply. Where- ever we went, we endeavored to gauge the child's reaction — to determine, that is, whether the instruction was genu- ine or merely routine. Closely allied is another point of view. We spoke just INSTRUCTION 105 now of helping the child to find his pkicc in the world. The schools used to do their teaching regardless of chil- dren's experiences and environment. Nowadays there is general agreement that the child's experiences and sur- roundings furnish the teacher with material to be used, and suggest to him important ends to strive toward. With- out pretending to offer in this connection a complete theor>' of education, we venture to think that instruc- tion may fairly be viewed from the standpoint of the child's experiences, immediate surroundings, and probable needs. Finally, the child's progress is to be considered. The very term "course of study" suggests orderly develop- ment. The Maryland elementary school course, occupy- ing seven years, promises systematic progress through a variety of studies. Does the instruction realize the promise? Do children move from point to point without needless friction and waste? Or is the classroom work more or less of treadmill character? These, then, are the questions informally asked re- garding the work of the Maryland teachers. Do children learn to master the fundamental subjects? Are their interests stimulated? Are the materials well chosen? Are local needs heeded? Are time and energy conserved? The questions are obviously not exhaustive, but, as will appear, they amply serve our present purpose. A casual visitor whose good fortune led him into selected schools in almost any county might answer these questions in the affirmative. In almost every io6 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND county of the state some teachers are doing excellent work. Their schoolrooms are bright and attractive; their pupils alert and happy; their methods intelligent and effective; the course of study is adapted to individual and to community needs. The teacher's ability, train- ing, and ambition triumph over whatever adverse condi- tions may exist. None the less, the system does not tend to produce these results; they come about in spite of the system. In the main, therefore, while gladly recognizing the existence of exceptions, we are constrained to answer negatively the questions above asked. Children do not, for the most part, learn to master their tools; their interests are far from sufficiently stimulated; local needs get, as a rule, scant attention; time and energy are freely wasted. In the first place, the general attitude of most teachers is unsound. They regard it as their main business, after keeping order, to impart to children a prescribed body of facts or information — so much spelling, so much arith- metic, so much geography. The facts are all there in the text-books, and the teachers proceed on the assumption that one fact is as good as another. Whatever is printed on the page is taught without discrimination. Imagine, then, a teacher giving a sixth-grade class of rural children a spelling lesson made up of such words as monsieur, connoisseur, sobriquet, sang froid, and so on. A third- grade geography lesson upon the Middle Atlantic States illustrates the same point. "Name the Middle Atlantic States," directs the teacher, and the pupils answer either INSTRUCTION 107 individually or in concert. "What is the capital of Maryland?" "Of v/hut is Washington the capital?" "Who knows what Washington is on?" "What is the capital of Virginia?" So on for the remaining states of this division. Not a single question was put by the teacher calculated to arouse interest, to compel thought, or to bring out the meaning of what had been memorized. Nor did the teacher make a single comment herself. Thus, in subject after subject, children are expected to acquire facts through memorizing printed pages. Mean- while, strange though it seem, not half the 400 teachers visited felt that they themselves must know these facts. For the majority, while conducting the recitation, were compelled to keep their eyes glued on the text in order to ask the questions; not infrequently the whole perform- ance stopped, so as to enable the teacher to read ahead to the next question. Sometimes the teacher was com- pelled to look at the book to see whether the answers given were correct. Not only must the child " recite " the facts just learned, he must, of course, "retain" them. Hence they must be thoroughly beaten in and tixed permanently in memory. Thus endless reviews and ever-recurrent drills are ac- counted for. In some schools as much as hai of the school year is devoted to "reviews"; not uncommonly it was stated that pupils had covered the same books three or four times. A certain amount of re\'iew is, of course, needed to bring out the relations between differ- ent subjects and dilTerent parts of the same subject; io8 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND so also a certain amount of properly conducted drill, in order to gain accuracy and facility in conducting funda- mental operations. But reviewing and drilling as carried on in most Maryland schools is a cruel and wasteful procedure calculated to kill interest and to destroy the child's capacity for constructive thinking. A volume of this kind is not the place for a full expo- sition of modern ideas on teaching method. It may, however, not be amiss to point out that a "recitation," instead of the mechanical process above described, should be a cooperative and constructive enterprise, in which children work out a problem, each doing his part accord- ing to his ability and special assignment. It may take dramatic form — one child being the "big bear," another the "mother bear," still another the "little bear," and one "Silver Locks"; or one group of pupils may solve and explain to the class a given set of examples, while another group is engaged with other problems; or in the study of such topics as Tomato Raising on the Eastern Shore, the Manufacture and Distribution of Fertilizer, Sanitary Conditions in the School District, one pupil may look up illustrative material such as pictures, while another arranges experiments, and still another brings before the class a review of what they have already learned. Thus in a hundred ways the recitation may be made a period of working together in the achievement of a common end, quickening the interest of the children, giving them opportunity to think, and engendering a social spirit. And, be it repeated, here and there INSTRUCTION 109 throughout the state one really encounters classroom work of this description. The prol)lem of discipline hinges largely on the quality of instruction. Cienerally speaking, there exists in Mary- land a cordial relation between pupils and teachers; the children seem anxious to do what is required. Still they would not be human if they did not involuntarily revolt against a system of education which consigns active boys and girls, for long periods of time, to uncomfortable desks to pore over text-books, only to be called up and questioned upon what they have just absorbed. Under such conditions it is not surprising that the more vigor- ous and active find secret ways of amusement, while the majority sit passive, doing worse than nothing a consid- erable part of the time. There is a tendency, nowadays, to account for inefTec- tive teaching of the fundamental branches on the ground that teachers and children are so distracted by ''recent fads" that there is neither time nor energy left for the ''essentials." Whether or not this apology is an>^here valid, it is not for us to say; at least, it has no application to Maryland. The state course of study does indeed require that certain modern subjects should be taught; but its injunctions are not usually followed. Manual training and domestic science, for example, are found as a rule only in cities, though Baltimore and Wicomico counties encourage their use in rural districts, too. Mu- sic is usually limited to the singing of songs in connection v,iih morning exercises; little attention is, as a rule, paid no PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND to drawing. In many cities and in quite all villages and rural sections, the only branches taught are reading, writing, spelling, language and grammar, arithmetic, geography, history, and physiology. To the three R's Maryland children now devote fully three-quarters of their school time. In some counties arithmetic con- sumes almost half of the entire school day; not exceeding one-quarter of the day goes to geography, history, physi- ology, and to whatever there may be in the way of music, drawing, and the like. Under these conditions there is certainly no ground in Maryland for thinking that the *'fads" have usurped the place of the "important" studies. Meanwhile, the time that might well be devoted to the so-called "fads" is worse than wasted. Too untrained to make use of alternative occupations — weaving, bas- ketry, literature, art, industry, or dornestic science — the teacher is hard put to it to keep the class constantly occu- pied with book and seat work. Hence Kttle children are required to copy the alphabet over and over, or to write again and again the numerals from one to a hundred, or, on occasions, up to two or three thousand. Older chil- dren, having acquired some ability to write, are set to copying page after page of their readers, or to solving on paper long lists of problems placed on the blackboard. Thus to kill time, the first-grade pupils divide 7,649,634 by 7, and third-grade pupils divide 35,897,678,926 by 2,076. A favorite task, especially for older children, is to require them to write a corrected mistake 50 or 100 times! INSTRUCTION in Of course formal reiterative work of this kind quickly degenerates into a purely mechanical repetition, during which the child's mind goes "wool-gathering," though the hands keep working away. C'hildren may be kept "busy" through such assignments, but they will never be "taught." This is illustrated by the well-known story of the boy who having spelt "gone" "gorn" was required to write 500 times, "I have gone home." He completed the distasteful task by writing: "I am done and I have gorn home." When the methods described fail, as fail they must, the untrained teacher naturally leaps to the conclusion that "more time" is needed. Accordingly, large assign- ments and enormous tasks are given out for home work. In consequence, children going home from school are to be seen almost everywhere with bundles of books por- tending night study. If school conditions were good, there would be no occasion for night work on the part of growing children. But even as conditions now are, in the majority of schools, no useful end is served by it. The children had better spend their after-school time at play, helping about the farm or the home, reading or asleep. "Home work" merely lengthens the hours of mechanical school drudgery. Nor is the value of the in- struction any greater, even if some children can be tempted by prizes and privileges, to make greater efforts to master it. What we have said above as to the general character of instruction may be briefly illustrated by separate sub- 112 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND jects. The most important of the common school studies is reading; and reading is important because — and only because — it is a key to meanings, to ideas, to information, etc. A child should therefore be taught not only to pro- nounce printed words, but to gather and to express the meaning of what he reads; for which purpose he should be trained to read not only aloud, but, as the children say, "to himself." The children in the Maryland schools, like, we are in candor compelled to add, the children in most other schools, get little exercise in the art of reading beyond the mechanical utterance of printed words and sentences. Little or nothing is done in the reading les- son to arouse the imagination; reading is rarely used to cultivate facility in oral expression. Lacking, then, an adequate motive, reading in the lower grades is apt to degenerate into mere mumbling, and in the upper grades to drop out almost altogether. Only here and there does one find a teacher who realizes the possibilities of the subject. Spelling is in substantially the same situation. In the elementary schools children should, for obvious reasons, learn to spell the words they themselves ordinarily use, the words they ordinarily hear, the words used in the other branches which they study, and, finally, words that are in common daily use. These words children must and can know both how to spell and how to use. The Maryland schools have reached no such conclusions as these on the subject of spelling. To them, as already pointed out, a word is a word, and it is just as important INSTRUCTION 113 to Icurn one word as another. Accordingly, long and in- discriminate lists are given out, and from the fourth grade uj"), (.liildren endeaxor unsuccessfully to become letter perfect in the ac(iuisilii)n of from 20 to 50 words a day. Arithmetic, like spelling, is a tool needed for the transaction of the ordinary affairs of life. It ought, therefore, to be studied in connection with its uses; it is, moreover, a waste of time to study any more of it than can be used. Dry measure is thus not a table to be memorized from a book, but an instrument needed ia order to buy potatoes, apples, peaches, and the like from the neighboring store. Occasionally — it would perhaps be more nearly accurate to say "rarely" — one sees arith- metic taught in Maryland from this standpoint. The teacher, in these instances, centres arithmetic almost entirely upon farming and its problems, leading the children to see that arithmetic is the basis of intelligent farm management. Incidentally, arithmetic managed in this way affords the teacher opportunity to give valu- able lessons upon soils, crops, and soil exhaustion, and to study the ingredients of different fertilizers in relation to the needs of the locality. The child learns to "figure, " and much besides. For the most part, however, arithmetic is taught in the schools of Maryland without reference to its uses; under which conditions one thing is just as important as an- other. Cube root and the mensuration of cubes, pyra- mids, and truncated cones receive as much attention as 114 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND home and farm accounting. Instruction, then, degen- erates into memorizing formal tables and rules and the solution of printed problems. This formal work, al- ready occupying from a fourth to a half of the time of the children at school, is also carried off to the home, where by lamplight long lists of printed problems are copied and solved by way of preparation for the next day, when the same problems are re-copied and re-solved. Not infrequently children have copied and solved, re-copied and re-solved these problems so many times that they can repeat whole pages of them from memory. While some good teaching was observed in the field of geography, the greater part of the teachers do not realize that the prime source of geographic materials is the immediate environment of the school : the mountains and hills, the rivers and valleys, the effect of climate and change of season upon vegetable Ufe, animal Ufe, and local industrial and commercial activities. Instead, they follow a printed text. Hence, children recite haltingly about tidal-rivers and their significance, without knowing that the brook just across from the schoolhouse is a tidal-river; or they answer questions about the Appala- chian Mountains, even giving the names and location of the minor ranges, without realizing that the mountains seen from the schoolhouse window are the ones they are talking about. Again, in physiology, pupils recite about bacteria, first aid, and various ailments. Meanwhile, they breathe an atmosphere filled wjth the dust just raised by an old-fashioned broom, use not infrequently INSTRUCTION T15 a common dipper, anci resort to filthy and unsanitary outhouses. All the problems of instruction arc complicated in the one- room school. Before good instruction can be gen- erally expected in such schools the state must plan a simple course of study, with alternating classes, so that the number of classes may be reduced. This course of study should not be copied from city schools, but must be adapted to the education of country children under rural conditions. It may also be found necessary to limit to less than seven the grades of work to be covered in the one-room schools. At all events, classes above the seventh grade formed for the convenience of two or three advanced pupils must be abandoned. Twenty-five to thirty-five daily recitations — the average in the one- room rural school — are more than can be well handled. If eight or ten more ''classes" are added for the benefit of two or three advanced pupils, the teacher's energies are so scattered that no one gets proper attention in any- thing. Provision must be made for these older pupils in consolidated schools. On the one hand, therefore, the one-room school must be simplified and better organized; on the other, wherever possible, one-room schools should be consoli- dated so that a larger body of pupils may be properly graded, and better equipment, better teachers, and better accommodations provided for them. There is not a county in Maryland in which the number of one-room schools could not thus be greatly reduced. Something ii6 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND has indeed already been accomplished in this direction. In Prince George County the Baden Agricultural High School, organized in 191 1, took the place of two one-room schools and now draws the older pupils from eight others. The enrolment for the entire region has increased, and the attendance, particularly of the older children, improved. A better school spirit has developed, and the community is inordinately proud of its consolidated school. Similar results have also been achieved at the Sparks Agricul- tural High School, Baltimore County. Howard, Mont- gomery, Caroline, and a few others also furnish examples. But consolidation is not yet an active state policy. Instruction in the colored schools is, as one would expect, distinctly inferior to that in the white schools. There is, however, a movement well under way which is contributing to improvement. Through the aid of the state at least one central industrial school has been established in each of sixteen counties. In these central schools industrial instruction is confined in the main to the older children, comprising for girls sewing and cook- ing, and for the boys woodwork. The girls make some of their own clothes and cook, while the boys make from wood simple household articles and furniture. The in- struction is exceedingly practical, usually of good quality, gi\ing girls a training in home duties and boys some skill with tools and an appreciation of manual labor. Under the direction of the colored supervisor indus- trial instruction is being gradually introduced into the rural and village schools of counties possessing a central •^^ e'on-olitlaU ik -fei^ iiii'ii \.i II ilr.iwii li\ oxi'ii INSTRUCTION 117 school of the t}i)c just described. In the lower grades children do paper-cutting and basketry; the girls have simple sewing, and the boys whittling. In the upper grades the girls learn plain sewing and dressmaking and, in a few schools, some cooking. While the boys in the one-room schools are handicapped for lack of a shop and tools, they are, nevertheless, doing some woodwork, making articles for the home and doing repairs about the schoolhouse; in one case they have drained the school grounds, repaired the sidewalk and fence, and painted the school building. Instruction in the high schools is but little better than that in the elementary schools and is in general character- ized by the same defects.^ For, like the elementary school teacher, the high school teacher lacks proper pro- fessional training; and, like the elementary school, the high school, despite its recent development, is hampered by tradition. The public high schools of Maryland have grown rapidly since 1905. The first list of accredited high schools, carrying out acceptably the course of study prescribed by the state, made up in 1905, included only 28 schools with an enrolment of 2,049 ^children ^^^ ^^ teachers. Since then an entire year has been added to the course and the state standards have become some- what more exacting; nevertheless, there were in 1914, 65 'High schools were visited in c\'cry county of the state haWnp them. In addition to conferences with principals and teachers, classwork was carefully observed in fifty schools. ii8 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND accredited high schools enrolling 5,500 pupils and em- ploying 221 teachers. Not a few of these schools are the outgrowths of old academies. In this transition from the academy to the public high school the aims and methods of the academy were un- fortunately very largely carried over. The old acad- emy, though it rendered a worthy service in its day, was a "select" school, privately controlled, which prepared for college and gave to those not going farther a "cul- tural" education. Handicapped by this tradition, too many of the new high schools promote " cultural" educa- tion and preparation for college. Latin and mathemat- ics continue to dominate the curriculum. There is, of course, no reason why children who desire to study Latin should be prevented from doing so. But in Maryland they are practically compelled to study Latin, though, legally, the subject is not compulsory. In the main, it is so poorly taught, that, aside from the waste of time and energy, most students must be contracting from it habits of thought and expression that are a real handicap. Hardly better is the plight of mathematics. The state requirements are not unusual, including algebra through quadratics and plane geometry. But few high schools are content with this; the majority offer, besides, ad- vanced algebra, solid geometry, and trigonometry. Whether all high school pupils, both boys and girls, should be required to study algebra and geometry, is sufficiently doubtful; indeed an increasingly influential body of educators would answer in the negative. But INSTRUCTION iig as to advanced algebra, solid geometry, and trigonometry there is no doubt whatsoever. To constrain students in numbers to take these subjects is simply unpardonable. They have long since been dropped from the high school course of many of our largest cities and they should be eliminated in Mar>dand, too. The curriculum in com- mon use should be so formulated that the majority of high school pupils will no longer be forced to devote to these two studies from two-fifths to a half of their entire school time, to the neglect of every other line of legiti- mate secondary instruction. The remainder of the curriculum need not detain us long. Something like one-half of the school day is avail- able for all other subjects — English, history, civics, science, etc. The instruction in English is extremely meagre, consisting, as a rule, largely of grammar, rhetoric, and the learning of unimportant data in connection with the study of selected pieces — a futile and depressing expenditure of energy; English history occupies a place in the first year, while American history is reviewed in the fourth; the study of civics is a memory grind not calcu- lated to give the student any insight into community activities and needs, or to develop a sense of civic pride and social responsibility. The instruction in science is also unsatisfactory. Out- side of general science in the first year, little is ordinarily attempted, only the stronger schools regularly ofTering courses in biology', physics, and chemistry. Few schools have regular science teachers; as a rule, the subject is I20 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND taught by teachers whose interest lies elsewhere. Ac- cordingly, it happens that classes complete the work in general science and even in biology without making an excursion or performing an experiment. Even in labora- tory sciences like chemistry and physics pupils are seldom required to keep orderly notebooks. The majority of the high schools lack adequate scientific equipment; the "laboratory" may be set up in a hall alcove or in a base- ment room. Naturally enough, there is in most high schools little interest in science on the part of either teachers or pupils. From what point of view should the curricula of these schools be developed? In the rural sections of Mary- land the centre of interest is in farming, stock-raising, fruit-growing, dairying, poultry-culture, and the like. Through these and kindred activities country people make their living; in them the country children of to- morrow will find employment. A country high school must^ indeed — like a city high school — teach literature, history, and civics. But, in addition, on the boy's side, the curriculum should stress applied science, industry, and agriculture; while, on the girl's side, it should em- phasize domestic art and such studies as equip women to become intelligent home makers. The rural high school needs little commerce with ancient languages and col- lege entrance requirements. The mass of students who do not go to conventional colleges must not be sacrificed for the few who do. Again, the prosperity of the small city — and all of the INSTRUCTION 121 cities of ALiryUind. with one exception, are small — de- pends upon business and productive industry. The on- coming generation will, for the most part, be engaged in retail trade and in manufacture. Judging from what goes on in most of the city high schools, one would infer that their students are all going to college with the ulti- mate expectation of leading either a professional life or a life of leisure. There is scarcely anything in the instruc- tion to suggest that the home town oflers fields of activity worthy of ambitious young people. The small city high schools must perhaps prepare for college, but their pri- mary aim should be to give young people an education which, while contributing to personal enjoyment and re- finement, prepares at the same time for the conditions of life that they will meet. By so doing, the high school will do most for ninety-five out of every hundred stu- dents in attendance. Fortunately, a beginning in the right direction has al- ready been made. A few of the first-group high schools and something less than one-half the second-group high schools pay some attention to agriculture and rural life. Two decidedly successful examples of this endeavor are the rural high schools already mentioned at Sparks and Baden. The remainder of the second-group schools, to say nothing of the first-group, still continue to furnish countr>' children with a citylied education which closes their eyes to the opportunities of countr\' life, and tends powerfully to drive them toward the towns. In contrast, the efforts of the state in the direction of 122 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND commercial courses have met with unusual success. There are now in all first-group high schools, save one, and in 17 of the second-group, business departments offering two years of instruction in commercial branches; their total enrolment in 1914 was 692 pupils. Two factors account for this development : first, the desire of young people foi a "useful" education; second, the desire to escape the grind of Latin and mathematics. For these commercial departments there is a legitimate place in most first- group schools. It is, however, questionable whether many second-group schools, rural as they are in their environment, should ofifer elaborate commercial courses. Up to the present time there has been little demand for a two-year commercial course in these second-group schools, most of the commercial departments in them being maintained at relatively heavy expense for the accommodation of from 5 to 10 pupils. In the second place, commercial training once more turns country-bred boys and girls away from the farm to become job seekers in the cities. There is, besides, in both first- and second-group high schools a marked tendency to increase out of all propor- tions the amount of work demanded in the commercial courses. The state course of study wisely requires com- mercial students to devote a fourth to a half of their time to general high school work. But in a number of both first- and second-group high schools, the prescribed hours of instruction in the commercial branches now absorb almost the entire time of the student, to the neglect of studies INSTRUCTION 123 which contribute to general intelligence and breadth of view. Owing to its inadequate staff, the State Depart- ment of Education has not been in position to know in detail what the high schools are doing. If the department is reorganized, it will be enabled to keep in touch with the situation, and it should have the power in its discretion to disapprove the establishment of special departments. In the distribution of state aid to secondary schools, consistent encouragement has been given to manual training and domestic science. As a result, these branches are more widely taught in Maryland than in most states. While there is still much to be de- sired, children do at least get an opportunity to acquire practical information and to gain skill in the making of real things; moreover, they obtain a certain amount of relief from the routine of conventional academic study. The situation in the four-year state-aided high school is, therefore, not altogether unpromising. Meanwhile, aside from the regular high schools, there are many one- or two-room schools that attempt one or more years of high school instruction. Further, a few schools — such, for example, as that of Damascus, ^lontgomery County, and some old academies such as that at Vienna, Dorchester County,* specially legislated into high school status, •This school has lately come under the control of the County Board of Education; but when the transfer was made, the academy trustees, while obligating the County Board to continue the so-called high school department, retained the right to appoint the principal. Though ob- viously illegal, this arrangement is by no means uncommon even in state-aided high schools — it is found, for example, in the high school of Bel .^ir, Harford County. It should be absolutely prohibited. 124 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND attempt high school work with a single teacher. The state ought to realize that high school work of this kind is simply counterfeit. Only through school consolida- tion and the transportation of pupils can genuine high school opportunities be brought within reach of all the children of Maryland. The amount of instruction that may be offered in one-, two-, and three-room schools should therefore be strictly limited, and the State Department of Education must be so equipped that the law can be en- forced. A single paragraph may summarize our estimate of teaching in the public schools of Maryland. We have found the State Department ineffective, largely because it lacks the necessary staff; we have found the county organization ineffective because of politics, the absence of trained ofl&cials, and the low standards of teacher training. How could teaching be generally good under these conditions? Maryland gets precisely the kind and quality of teaching which our previous study would lead us to expect. It will improve teaching when it improves the conditions responsible for it — not before, and in no other way. TX. FINANCE FOR the results which we have just described, what does Maryland pay? The education furnished is mostly poor: is it also cheap? Or does the state pay high for what it gets? These and some related questions will be answered in the course of the present chapter. An increasing amount of money is being annually raised in Maryland for public education. The total amount raised in the entire state, including the city of Baltimore, was in 1870 in round terms a million dollars; in 1914, five millions. (Fig. 17.) These amounts cover FIG. 17 INCH^SE IN FUNDS PKpVWEP fOU THZ SCHOOLS / ^ -^ $ 1,553,000 ______ ■^ 1870 1890 1900 1910 1914 126 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND all the money received during the current year, irrespec- tive of whether it went into new buildings, repairs, teach- ers' salaries, text-books, or school supplies,^ Does this mean that the state is paying more per in- dividual child? In 1870 there were practically 30o,ocx) children of school age^ in the state; in 19 10 there were something over 400,000; the exact increase was 41 per cent. (Fig. 18.) Hence, while school population has increased 41 per cent., the total school fund has in- creased 277 per cent. Per child of school age (Fig. 19) the amount available has therefore risen from $4.59 in 1870 to $12.26 in 1914, an increase of 167 per cent.^ ^It would be instructive to compare the financial support of the schools in Maryland with that of other states, but it is almost impossible to se- cure reliable data for such comparisons. Indeed it was only with great difficulty that data on the financial support of the schools of Maryland have been brought together. It was impossible to use the reported ex- penditures as found in the annual reports of the State Board of Education, because these include payments of current loans, and because of the differences, especially some years back, between the reported expenditures by the several county boards and their receipts as reported by the State Controller. These are samples of the difficulties encountered in com- piling accurate financial data for Maryland. Similar revision would have to be made of the published reports of other states, if comparisons are to be trustworthy. One general statement may, however, be made: Maryland is one of the states which make very large state contribu- tions for local educational purposes. ^In Chapter VII (Enrolment and Attendance) we used as a basis children between 6 and 18 years of age, though the law regards all persons between 5 and 20 as of school age. A defect in the Federal Census com- pels us in the present chapter to use the number of persons between 5 and 20 years old in computing per capita cost and expenditure. The incon- sistency is not, however, of any practical importance. For the outcome of this chapter would not be different, even if we had used 6 to 18 as the basis of computation. The amount available declined in 1880, but has risen steadily ever since. FINANCE 127 nc. 1 8 fNCKZAJE IN SCHOOL POPULATION fCHIU^liJS ^ZO) ♦ 13^ )J 294351 J870 t910 191* Meanwhile, the taxable wealth of the state has also in- creased. Has the increased liberality of the state simply kept pace with its increasing wealth, or is Maryland really making relatively larger sacrifices for public educa- tion? no. 19 U:CRXA^l IN SCHOOL FUNP^ M.UED PER CHILD OF SCHOOL ACL ^ 10" 8" 4" 2- 1870 leao 1830 (300 1310 1914 / 1 ! 1 / ^ ^ .4,59^^ 128 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND The taxable wealth of the state rose from 423 millions in 1870 to a billion in 1914. (Fig. 20.) Back of each school child in 1870 there was taxable property valued at FIG. 20 INCREASE m TAXABLE WEALTH iflZiPKJiS ^ ^ l.u<»,u ^ Y * 413.854,918 _ -^^^ 18TO 1880 1890 1910 191* $1,440; back of each child in 1914 there was taxable property valued at $2,460. (Fig. 21.) Every hundred dollars of taxable property contributed thirty-two cents FIG. 21 TAXABLE WEALTH BACK CTT EACH CHILD [5-ZO) £000 1500 1000 500 2460 iSTO 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914. to education in 1870; every hundred dollars of taxable property contributed fifty cents to education in FINANCE 129 1914. (Fig. 22.) There are, then, more children to be educated in Maryland than there were; there is more wealth to be drawn upon; and every dollar of wealth pays almost twice as much as it paid in 1870. Education is, however, not merely a question of how much is spent; much depends on the different purposes served by a given expenditure. Fully to understand the {i: 50 INCKEASE IN TAX LEVY-EQUrVAL£NT FOX. PUBLIC SCHOOLS 40 20 "S 10 ^ 31.9 ^^^ ^-^^ ~~~^ ^^ 497 C! .1870 laao 1890 1900 1910 1914 public school system of Maryland during the period we are considering, that is, from 1870 to 1914, we ought to know the amount of money devoted to each of several important items — to erecting new buildings, to repairing old ones, to maintaining the plant, to administration, supervision, teachers' salaries, text-books, supplies, etc. A proper system of school accounting would supply such information; unfortunately, the older systems, among them the system still employed in Maryland, do not. For this reason, one of the improvements needed in the State Department is the introduction of an up-to-date I30 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND system of school accounts. In lieu, therefore, of detailed knowledge which would enable us to make a critical and comparative study of expenditure and results, we must content ourselves with the consideration and comparison of total amounts spent from year to year. We have thus far spoken in terms of the entire school population; i. e., all persons between 5 and 20 years of age. It is, of course, obvious that this means the nominal rather than the actual school population, for children below 6 or above 18 should be practically eliminated from consideration. As a matter of fact, in 1870, only 38 children out of each 100 between 5 and 20 years of age attended school, and in 1914 only 59. (Fig. 23.) Our 100% 50 40 FIG. 2.? PI(0F0!RT10N OF THE XHOOL POPULATtOil lUJigaXD IN SCHOOl ^fl — — 38.11, 70 181 W 18 30 19 00 191 LO 19 V^ computation of per capita expenditure on the basis of the legal school population, therefore, throws little light on the actual per capita expenditure; for the expenditure on each child of legal school age who really attends school is FL\ANXE 131 much larger than the uniDunt of money raised per child of the school population. We saw a moment ago that the amount raised per child of school population in 1870 was $4.50; the amount really expended per pupil enrolled in tiiat year was Si 2.06. (Fig. 24.) The amount raised per pupil of school age in 1914 was Si 2.26; the amount FIC. 2a TOTAL EXP€NDtTXJH£ PER PVPIL tNR.OLL£I> 12" / 12" ^^^ ^^^ .^^^-^ 1670 1890 1910 1914 really spent for each pupil in 19 14 was $20.80. That is, between 1870 and 19 14 the actual expenditure for each pupil in school attendance increased from Si 2. 06 to S20.80 — an increase of 72 per cent.^ So far, then, taking the state as a whole, it is only fair 'Pipurc 24 shows a drop between 1S70 and iSgo. This decrease was due to the relatively small increase during these three decades in the total amount raised for the schools (Fig. 17), to the relatively rapid increase, durini; the same period, in the school population (Fig. 18), and to the increase in the proportion of the school population taking advan- tage of the o[)[)ortunities afforded by the schools (Fig. 23). The rapid increase in p<.-r-i)Ui)il expenditure since iSgo, the amount almost doubling, is due more especially to the increased funds provided for the .sunpor' o^ the schools. 132 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND to say that Maryland, as a state, has, since 1870, not only provided a larger total sum for public education, but that it has provided a larger sum per pupil. The state had thus a better right to expect good schools in 1914 with a per-pupil expenditure of $20.80 than in 1890 with a per-pupil cost of S9.08, or in 1870 with a per-pupil cost of $12.06. Can the same be said of the counties, taken separately? The wealth of Maryland is unequally distributed. The increase in school funds has not, therefore, been entirely uniform. Between 1890 and 1900 (Fig. 25) the FIG. 25 IhTCREASE IN PES. PUPIL EXPENDTTUSE BY COUNTIES a < S « S - < < ca bo oj B 2 M U I* s O .3 ^ a. FINANXE 133 increase in expenditure per pupil enrolled was nowhere considerable; in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties there was a decline. From 1900 to 19 14, however, every county in the state, without exception, increased its per capita expenditures, some of them very largely. The lowest percentage of increase — that of Charles County — was about 50 per cent. ; the highest Dorchester County, 160 per cent. Of the 23 counties of the state, 13 more than doubled their per-pupil outlay between 1900 and 1914,^ with the result that existing disparities were still further emphasized. Thus, in 1890, with per-pupil ex- penditure varying in the counties from $4.92 to Si 1.97, there was less disparity in respect to educational ad- vantages than in 1914, when $9.17 was spent upon each pupil in Charles County and S28.81 upon each pupil in Baltimore County. (Fig. 25.) These enormous differ- ences are, of course, pregnant with consequences to the individual child. As we have seen, public education in Maryland, as in other states, is paid for by both state and county. From 1870 up to the present time the counties of Maryland and the city of Baltimore have raised annually about 6G ^xt cent, of the money expended for education; the state has contributed about 33 per cent. (Fig. 26.) While the relative proportion of all school expenditures borne by the state has not materially changed, the total amount dis- tributed to the counties has risen from $458,000 in 1870 to '.\lleKanv. Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil. Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Montgomery, Queen .\nne, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester. 134 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND lOOtf 50 riG. 26 PKpPOICnON OF SCHOOl EXPENDJTURZS BORUE BY THE JTATE ■ t^X^ "~^ 32,6 1 I870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914 $1,675,000 in 19 14, representing an increase both in the amount provided by the state per child of the school popu- lation and per pupil of the school enrolment. (Fig. 27.) The funds distributed by the state are derived from several sources. Far the largest factor is the state school tax, which, ranging from 10 cents on each $100 in 1870 to 17 cents in 1915, is levied against all the taxable prop- riG. 27 AKOUirroePER-PUPILEXFENPIWKE CONTRIBUTED BY THE STATE / ^^^--^ ^^ w /A xss \Xi w. 4.0£ 1870 1880 1890 190O 1910 191* PZM. CBUM or scHoat rofmAimi i-to FINANCE I3S erty of the state and produced, in 1914, Si. 654,000. Out of this fund are paid in tin- first instance the expenses of the State Department of Ktlucation, the maintenance of the three State Normal Schools, Teachers' Retirement allowances,' the income on the Surplus Revenue Fund, the special aid to high schools and colored industrial schools, and the Free Text-book Fund. After meeting these charges, there remained in 19 14 $1,305,000 which was divided between the counties and the city of Balti- more on the basis of the population between 5 and 20 years of age. Almost every state in the Union has at one time or another apportioned its general school fund on the basis of school population, as Maryland still does. But the method is in process of abandonment throughout the country, and for obvious reasons. Education is, we have said, a state function. The state supports it liberally because the state desires that all children should enjoy substantial educational advantages. If the matter were left to counties and districts, the disparities in educa- 'Provision was made, in 1902, for a straight-out annual pension of $200 to be paid all teachers, irrespective of financial ability, who, having reached the age of sixty, had taught in the schools of the state twenty-live years, and were disqualified for further service. Within three years it became e\-ident that the financial burden involved was more than the state could atTord. The law was accordingly amended to provide that pensions should be paid to those only who were " without other means of comforubie sup[K)rt." On this basis, the sum required increased to $38,000 in 1Q14, the total number of teachers drawing jiensions being 161. The law has been administered with great care, but the entire question of teachers' pensions needs to be re-studied. The present provision, while relieving certain individuals, cannot be regarded as a final solution. There is good reason to believe that no non-conUibutor>' pension system on a large scale is either wise or feasible. 136 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND tional opportunity would be intolerable. The state*s contribution must therefore be employed to equalize conditions. Do what the commonwealth will, this highly desirable object cannot be fully attained; that is, however, only the stronger reason for doing the best possible. Apportionment on the basis of population aggravates inequalities instead of mitigating them. Certain coun- ties are able to provide good schools quite apart from state aid. Unquestionably, they should not for that reason be altogether passed over; but they cannot fairly complain if the adoption of a more intelligent basis of distribution somewhat reduces their share. Again, the rural counties being more thinly settled, a single teacher instructs fewer children in the country than in the city. The cost of instruction is therefore higher in the rural districts; apportionment on the basis of school population alone is therefore unfair to those sections that are most in need of help. Finally, the Federal Census on the basis of which the apportionment is made is actually correct only for the year in which it is taken; a considerable error may occur during all the other years of the decade. For example, according to the Federal Census, Baltimore County had, in igio, 39,306 children between the ages of 5 and 20; the distribution of the state school tax was, however, made in 1 910 on the basis of her having 26,290 children, meaning a loss to the county in a single year of approxi- mately $24,000. Contrariwise, while the census of 1910 gave Queen Anne 5,924 children between 5 and 20, the FINANCE 137 county was credited in the division of the state school tax in that year with 6,068 children, thereby receiv-ing from the state S3. 500 more than the actual number of children at the time entitled her to. Such inequalities in the dis- tribution of the state school tax are unavoidable so long as the Federal Census is relied upon to provide the basis of di>tribution. The counties need funds mainly to pay the salaries of the teachers; a "fair" distribution would there- fore tend to make it equally feasible for all counties to employ at decent salaries the number of teachers really required. That is, if distribution on the basis of school population worked equitably, the counties would receive approximately equal amounts per teacher. As a matter of fact, the amounts received per teacher vary from S277 in Baltimore City to S147 per teacherin Cecil County. No two counties receive the same sum. (Fig. 28.) Dis- tribution on the basis of school population is therefore distinctly unfair. A more equitable basis is sorely needed. A second fund, known as the Common Free School Fund, is composed of three items. The first item con- sisted of an investment of S2 78.000 derived from taxes upon state bank stock, collected in the first instance in 1816. and yielding in 1914 an income of S6,ooo. The original intention was to distribute annually to the coun- ties in equal shares the entire amount of taxes collected. It, however, so happened that for years certain counties had no schools upon which they could properly spend 138 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND their money. Their unexpended share was accordingly left with the State Treasurer and held for them as a permanent investment. The amounts now so held vary from $21,400 in the name of Frederick County, to $4,300 for St. Mary's. Baltimore City, Allegany, Charles, Cal- riG. 28 AMOWTT Z?fCErvrZ> TEH TEACHER. J^JOW STATE SCHOOL TAX E, n, ^ S •— ^ _ c a :i a a iand set apart for the benefit of the schools. Un- fortunately, as in so many other states, the original amount was spent; the state, however, obligated itself to provide an annual income equal to 5 per cent, interest. Until 1910 this income amounting to $34,069 was de- rived from indirect taxes and paid from the General I40 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND Treasury; since then it has been deducted from the money raised from the state school tax, and for this reason, the Surplus Revenue Fund may be said to be virtually lost to the schools. A somewhat compHcated plan was devised for the dis- tribution of this income. In the first place, the sum of $2,000 was set aside for the indigent blind. The re- mainder was then-divided into two equal parts, one part being distributed to the counties and Baltimore City on the basis of white population, the other divided equally among the counties and the city of Baltimore. Once more sound principles are ignored. Of the two methods of distribution employed, the former is unfair to counties with a large colored population, the latter does nothing to equalize educational facilities. Next in importance is the so-called "Academic" Fund, not, as its name would appear to indicate, a productive investment, but merely a regular annual appropriation made from the General Treasury for the encouragement of secondary education. These appropriations began in 1798 when donations were first made to -quasi-private county academies; by 183 1 itjiad become t"he fixed poHcy of the state to appropriate $1,200 a year to each county, irrespective of size and needs. Where county academies independent of the public school authorities were main- tained, the appropriation went to the trustees of these academies; if there were more than one, the appropriation was divided. If there was no academy "with its separate board of trustees, the appropriation went to the public FINANCE 141 school authorities. In 1914 $26,150 was distributed by the state in this way. In the distributii)n of the academic fund every princi- ple of sound educational finance is violated. Originally —at least subsequently to 183 1— the counties were to share alike, itself an unsound method of procedure. Somewhat later an unequal distribution was brought about; but the inequalities were not dictated or suggested bv sound principle. Wicomico, for example, with an enrolment of 5,888, received, in 19 14, $2,400, whereas Carroll, with an enrolment of 6,697, secured only $200. But such inequalities are, after all. preferable to outright abuse as evidenced in the following examples: Washington Academy, located in Somerset County, some three miles from Princess Anne, was erected by private subscription in 1777. From 1798 until the pres- ent time an annual donation has been made from the "Academic Fund" to the trustees of this school, varying from $600 to $8c!p. For three-quarters of a century Washington Academy was the centre of higher education in Somerset, but the doors of the building were closed about 1864 and never again opened for educational pur- poses. For a half century thereafter bats found a friendly shelter in the attic and vagrants in its lower rooms. Still, during the entire half centur>' of its non-existence, the Trustees of Washington Academy received the annual appropriation from the state, the accumulated amount of which, or as much of it as was recovered, including the interest, amounted by 1904 to over $12,000. With 142 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND $12,000 in hand the academy trustees erected in 1904 in Princess Anne, upon a lot purchased with state funds in 1844, a modern school building. The building was deeded to the County School Board, but the lot is held by the academy trustees, and this building is to-day the public school of Princess Anne. Thus from funds do- nated by the state for the encouragement of secondary education, but which were not so currently used and hence should have been cut off, a public school building is erected and presented to Princess Anne. Moreover, by reason of the fact that this appropriation is still made to the Trustees of Washington Academy and applied to the maintenance of the present school, the state is making, through indirection, an annual present of $600 to Princess Anne. An even more flagrant abuse of state funds is to be found in connection with Pa.tapsco Academy, Shipley Station, Anne Arundel County. This institution, es- tablished in 1837, had dwindled by 1908 to the pro- portions of a one-room school. Though the building and the grounds occupied for more than twenty years were the property of an individual, and the board of trustees had disappeared altogether, this insignificant private school continued to receive $400 a year from the treasury of the state of Maryland. In 1908 conditions seemed favorable to the abandonment of this "Academy" and to erection in the neighborhood of a much-needed public school supported and controljed by the County Board of Educarion. Such was not to be. A bill passed ths FINANCE 143 General Assembly confiding the future of the "Academy" to a committee named in the law. An appropriation of $1,200 was provided to purchase in the name of the state the ancient home of the Academy, and in 1910 an addi- tional S500 was supplietl from the General Treasury for repairs and improvements. Two hundred fifty dollars for each of the years 1910 and 191 1 were added to provide "courses of lectures on agriculture and its kindred sub- jects and for hall rent and other expenses." Thus an academy at best conducted for years as a private day school, and having in 1914 a total enrolment of 39 pupils with none above the fifth grade, was rehabilitated at state expense to serve as a private school. Other instances of abuse may be readily cited. Eight hundred dollars are annually paid by the state of Mary- land to Frederick County College, which is no longer in existence, the buildings being rented to Hood College. At Cumberland and at Rockville similar appropriations are used to bolster up obsolete institutions, in immediate proximity to high schools of the first rank capable of taking better care of all the academy students without additional cost; at Vienna, Bel Air, Millington, etc., money from the Academic Fund is employed to bring about private control of public high schools. It is unnec- essary to go further. The Academic Fund is in many instances wasted or worse than wasted. When the school finances of the state are reorganized, this money can be put to far more productive use. There remain to be considered certain special appro- 144 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND priations made by the General Assembly for the benefit of local schools. Regardless of the amount of money involved in these special appropriations, the principle — or lack of principle — makes them highly significant. Laws carrying special appropriations were passed, for example, in behalf of the Anne Arundel County Academy in 1900, of Greensboro, Caroline County, in 1904, of Federalsburg, Caroline County, and of Aberdeen in Har- ford County in 1906, of Patapsco Academy, Anne Arun- del County, in 1908. There is no justification for the bestowal by the legis- lature of school favors. State educational funds should be and can be distributed on the basis of principle; capricious departures from the rules, whatever they be, tend to log-rolling and other forms of demoralization. Garrett County is a case in point. In 1902 a special annual appropriation of $4,000 was deducted from the State School Fund for the benefit of Garrett County on the ground that the resources of the county were not sufficient to enable her to keep her schools open the minimum term of seven and one-half months required by law at that time. When first granted the appropria- tion was endorsed by the State Board of Education; but in the meantime Garrett has grown in wealth, so that it stands to-day the fourteenth county of the state in the amount of wealth back of each child of the school popula- tion. At least eight counties are its inferiors in this respect. Nevertheless, the county continues to receive this special appropriation. To tell the truth, the county has beeii FINANCE 143 injured by this special favor, for it has been successively exempted from most of the progressive school legislation of recent years: the compulsory school attendance law, the minimum salary law, the nine months' school term, and the like. Ciarrrtt C\)unt>' is, howcwr, not the only recipient of such aj)pro[)riations. I"'ivc thousand dollars were appro- priated in i()i2 to buy land for the Ritlglcy Agricultural High School of Caroline County, and a like sum was con- tributed from the State Treasury toward the erection of a public school building at Federalsburg. The same General Assembly gave Caroline, Queen Anne, and Tal- bot counties, together, $4,000 to be used in building what is known as the Tri-County High School. Talbot County again in 1914 received $7,500, in part payment of the cost of erecting a school building at Sudlersville. All such special appropriations must be strongly con- demned. The case is not helped by the pretext that the schools were to do special work in agriculture, for the state, as is well known, already gives a bonus for the teaching of agriculture in high schools; the schools spe- cially favored never contemplated more than is being dons in the Boys' High School at Frederick, the Baden Agri- cultural High School of Prince George County, and the Sparks Agricultural High School of Baltimore County — schools built and supported entirely at county expense. The fact is that the counties wanted schools which could not be provided at local expense without consid- erable sacrifice. Special appropriations had already 146 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND been made for other localities. Why not for these? Political conditions were especially favorable; the local political leaders were enlisted in the enterprise, and the result is a matter of history. The general question of state aid to local schools must be surveyed from another angle. Let us assume that "favors" are discontinued; upon what terms should the state government render its assistance? Two general policies are in common use. Under the one, the state insists that local authorities, before they receive their full apportionment, comply with certain state require- ments with respect to the conduct and management of the schools. Under the second, the state makes its contributions without imposing any particular conditions. Maryland occupies a middle ground. The bulk of the funds distributed by the state of Maryland to the several counties, and especially of those raised by direct taxation, is intended for the support of the elementary schools. To receive their full apportion- ment, local authorities are required to keep the schools open at least nine months during the calendar year, and to pay white teachers at least three hundred dollars a year.^ 'It follows that the minimum school year is nine months. Nine coun- ties have a school year of ten months: Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Harford, Howard, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot. However, the colored schools do not continue so long nor is the term so uniform. They are open ten months in Baltimore, Harford, and Kent; nine months in Allegany, Carroll, Cecil, and Washington; seven to eight months in Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Montgomery, Prince George, and Queen Anne; six to seven months in Caroline, Howard, Talbot, and Worcester; five to six months in Dorchester, St. Mary's, Somerset, and Wicomico, and only four months in Anne Arundel. FINANCE 147 Besides, the money provided for free text-books and sup- plies must be employed exclusively for these purposes. There arc no other limitations; the state makes no stipu- lation as to the kintl of sufx'rintendent that shall be em- ployed, or his salary, or the qu:dity and the amount of supervision that shall be provided, or the kind of school- houses that shall be built. Nor is there any requirement imposed upon the counties with respect to the amount of money that shall be raised locally to secure the entire state apportionment. The state follows a different policy in allotting funds to the high schools. Specific conditions must be met if the local authorities are to receive the full aid of the state: a certain number of children must be in attendance, a given number of teachers must be employed, specified salaries paid, and courses of study of a given length and character offered. Under the stimulus of these requirements and the financial assistance conditioned on complying with them, the high schools made more progress within the last five years than during the two preceding decades. Counties must also meet certain requirements in order to secure the special assistance ofifered by the state in support of colored industrial schools. Mar)'land is therefore not passive in the distribution of funds for the support of local schools, but she is by no means as active as some other states or as she herself might well be. The ver>' purpose of levying and dis- tributing a school tax is defeated unless its expenditure 148 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND is wisely and efficiently directed. It becomes the state, therefore, to insist upon two points: that every locality should put forth proper effort in its own behalf; and that all school funds should be spent under effective supervision. Maryland has not done this in the past ; she is not doing it now. Thousands upon thousands of dol- lars have been poured into some of the poorer counties without }delding a fair educational return. This waste will continue until the state takes full advantage of the opportunity afforded by the state subsidy to bring about better local support and administration. A new era of progress will open, especially to the elementary schools, when the state lays down specific requirements with respect to the amount of taxes to be raised locally, the kind of schoolhouses to be erected, the preparation of the teachers to be employed, and the qualifications of the superintendent and the supervisors to be engaged, as pre-conditions to receiving state aid, and when, further, the state so organizes the State Department that proper guarantees can be exacted. In various ways now described the state of Maryland contributed in 1914 $1,675,201 to public education; meanwhile the total sum spent was $5,102,448. The difference — that is, $3,427,247 — -was raised by the coun- ties and the city of Baltimore by taxes levied on all prop- erty. The amount thus raised has everywhere increased, in some counties remarkably. While the increase in Talbot County between 1900 and 1914 was only 6.7 per cent.j there was an increase of over 100 per cent, in seven- FINANCE 149 teen counties, and in Somerset the rise was as much as 470 per cent. (Fig. 29.) These increases mean larger, even if not everywhere wholly adequate, expenditure in behalf of the individual child. (Fig. 30.) Somerset County produced in 1890 31 cents per child, of the school population (5-20) in 1914, $2. 57; St. Mar>''s contributed 37 cents in 1890 and FIG. 29 P£R,C£^rr OF INCREASE IN THE COUNTY TAXE5 1900-1914- t ^ ^ .. c ■ U 2 2i „ ^ ^ E 6 < i: z S1.S7 in 1914; while the amount raised locally in Balti- more County rose from S3. 24 to Si 2.55 in the same period. (Fig- 3I-) The sums just mentioned as raised by county taxation form a widely vanning part of the total expenditure on each child. In Charles County, for example, the total ISO PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND FIG. 30 mCHpASE m AMOUNT K/^JEP FRPtC COUNTY TAXES P£R CMllI>(5-Zo) 1.55 & < Si c 5 < E a s ^^ .5 .En — S S3 u O re .^ is "3 >. 0; B C < b 4-) 1 8 S u C re 2 1 £ E 8 ■s & t^ 13 re ^ -a n FIG. 31 AHOUNT AVAILKBIE TER-CiaLDCS-ZO )lNi9U PAXJ CONTRIBUTED ST THE STATE AND BY THE COUNTY FINANCE 151 expenditure per child of the school population (5-20) in 19 14 was S5.34; of this the state contributed $3.90; the county $1.44, or 27 per cent. Calvert spent per child $5.87, but only Si. 85 or 31 per cent, was county money. In contrast, there was avidlable in Baltimore County $16.45, of which county ta-xes produced $12.55 or 76 per cent. (Fig. 32.) lC»lLr FIG. 32 PER.CXST OF TOTAL AMOUNT AVAILABLE FEZ CHUJ>(5-Zo) RAISED BY THE COUNTIEi Jblf. ZJil 75l. w i: ~ o s r: n n o js - •-» U U U O & t u B •OX) o ea ^ ♦- I I £| >" T" »> "t U.OSIW.^i&.O'tfi 03 ih il •5 £ H ^: P= These (lilTercnces are only partly due to the unequal fmancial resources of the various counties. A county's ability to support schools is best indicated by the amount of taxable wealth back of each child. So viewed, Balti- more County has, in 19 14, S3 .840 back of each child; St. Mary's, S710. Baltimore County would at the same 152 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND tax rate thus raise five or six times as much per child as St. Mary's. (Fig. 33.) Fully as important is the relative willingness of the several counties to tax themselves for education. The county school tax rate is an excellent index of educa- tional interest. FIG. 33 TAXABLE WEAJJH BACK OF £ACH CmLI>(5'20) 3000 2000 < < m 52 .y « "p -p t! .S 53 _ ^ „ _ OOOOUQfaO I c 6 o E ^ ^ 13 Between 1890 and 1914 the tax rate went up in every county in the state — that is, every county in Maryland cared more about education in 1914 than in 1890. But just as the counties did not care equally in 1890, so they did not care equally in 1914. The range of disparity is Just as great now as it was twenty-five years ago. (Fig. 34.) At the former date Somerset was at the bottom of the list with a rate of 7.4 cents, Allegany at the top with 28.1 cents. In 1914 Charles is lowest, with a rate of 17.2 cents, and Garrett leads with a rate of 45.3 cents. FINANCE 153 WTiether a high tax rate means relative liberality and a low tax rate relative niggardliness is, however, another no. 34 COUSTY 5CH00L TAX RATE matter. The counties are not, strictly speaking, directly comparable with one another, because no uniform prin- ciple of assessing valuation prevails throughout the state. Hence, one county which makes a high assessment and levies a moderate school tax may be doing more liberally by its schools than another which makes a low assess- ment and levies an apparently generous school tax. We have already urged that the state should, in order to equalize opportunity, do most for those counties that are least able to help themselves. But such inability cannot be at once inferred from a low assessed valuation. Little 154 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND can be done to bring about readjustment until assess- ments are equalized throughout the state. Meanwhile, as far as tax rate goes and ignoring assessment, eleven counties^ appear to be making even greater financial sacrifice for their schools than Baltimore County; but the very counties that receive from the state the largest pro- portion of money spent on local schools, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's, are the counties that have the lowest school tax. While there is, therefore, some reason for encourage- ment in the increasing local support of the schools, the fact cannot be ignored that the three counties receiving from the state from 60 to 70 per cent, of all the money locally available for education are the very counties that are doing the least for themselves; nor can it be over- looked that rich counties like Carroll, Howard, and Tal- bot are apparently content to rely upon the state for 40 to 50 per cent, of their school expenditures. The moral is plain: the state cannot afford to dispense its school funds without requiring a minimum school levy on the part of the several counties. Even so, the situation will continue to be more or less chaotic, unless and until property is assessed upon an equitable and uniform basis. For no absolutely fair distribution of the state fund can be made unless the minimum rate upon which the state should insist is levied upon an assessed valuation that really means the same thing in every county. ^Allegany, Carolme, Cecil, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Kent Prince George, Queen Anne, Wicomico, and Worcester. X. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STATE ORGANIZATION THE defects in Maryland education to which we have now drawn attention arise partly from inferior organization due to poor laws, partly from inferior personnel, as a result of low educational ideals. Let us admit at the outset that unless the people of Maryland effectually demand that their educational officers should be chosen on the ground of fitness, and that political influence be eliminated, the mere rewriting of the statutes will not work any miracles. The rewriting of the statutes is, however, desirable, because statutes can be so drauTi as to assist the people of the state in making their will prevail. On this assumption, what alteration should be made in the statutes dealing with the State Department of Education? The State Board must be reconstituted, so as to remove it as far as possible from poUtics and so as to make it independent of the educational agents and institutions with which it may find itself called on to deal. We have already called attention to the conditions which consti- tute the political menace. At least two of the six ap>- pointive members of the Board must be regarded as representatives of the party defeated in the last general 156 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND election; worse still, these appointments must be made "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate." Again, the Governor is an ex-officio member of the Board and as a rule its presiding officer. To remove the State Board as far as possible from politics, its members should be appointed without regard to parties for long terms — say seven years — confirmation by the Senate should be dispensed with, and the Governor should be deprived of membership. The Board should, we have further stipulated, be in- dependent of its own agents and of institutions with which it deals. For this reason, the State Superintend- ent, while privileged to attend its meetings and to par- ticipate in its deliberations, should not be a member of the State Board which he serves as secretary and executive officer. Persons connected with educational institutions likely to be at any time affected by actions of the State Board should be ineligible for appointment. For this suggestion there is also the additional reason that a State Board of Education should be essentially a lay body, whose members are chosen because of their interest in education and their knowledge of the temper and aspirations of the people. A body so constituted will not, of course, originate educational policies, decide technical educational questions, or supervise the schools. Theirs, as we have pointed out, is the privilege of repre- senting the people, through bringing the experience of the layman and the layman's point of view to bear upon the policies proposed by their professional agents. It is, STATE ORGANIZATION 157 in short, the function of a State Board of Education, not to administer the schools, hut to govern under the law. to legislate within its powers, and to pass judgment u\wn the efficiency of its paid otlicers. The functions of the Board thus reorganized should be more clearly formulated. The school laws of Maryland, like those of all states, are the product of frequent and fragmentary legislation, drawn by different persons at different times. They are therefore lacking in consist- ency. A power allotted to the Board in one instance is in the next given to the State Superintendent; and vice versa. Thus inspection and supervision duties are at times assigned to the Board, while legislative responsi- bilities are imposed upon the State Superintendent. For example, the State Board is authorized, as we have said, to grant life certificates; the State Superintendent to grant certificates to graduates of institutions outside of Maryland. The Board is empowered to approve the qualifications of regular high school teachers; the State Superintendent, of special high school teachers. The Board is required to pass upon the establishment of col- ored industrial schools, while the State Superintendent certifies to the controller the right of particular schools to receive state aid after they are established. The principle on which powers and duties should be allotted to the State Board and to the State Superin- tendent respectively is simple enough. Matters relating to government and legislation belong to the Board; ever}-thing ha\ang to do with the execution of the will of 158 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND the Board, that is, with inspection, supervision, and administration belongs to the State Superintendent. To illustrate: a lay board cannot be expected to know enough about the technique of professional preparation to pass upon the qualification of regular high school teachers. It is, however, entirely within the Board's scope to determine, with the assistance of the State Super- intendent, what these qualifications should be. But the responsibility of actually applying the standards set up is clearly a professional task, belonging to the State Superintendent. A thoroughgoing revision of both the school laws and the by-laws in strict uniformity with this principle would localize responsibility, facilitate the work of the State Superintendent, and free the Board from the necessity of taking up technical details. The resulting relation would be analogous to that existing between a board of directors and the manager of a business corporation. Like the board of directors, the State Board would establish controlling policies; then, like the business manager, the State Superintendent would be responsible for the con- duct of the schools in conformity with these policies. To complete the needed reorganization, the State Board of Education should appoint its own executive officer. A public service body cannot be fairly held responsible for a chief officer not of its own choosing. Besides, the appointment of the State Superintendent by the State Board of Education would remove the state superintendency one step farther from politics. STATE ORGANIZATION 159 Finally, the State Board of Education should be em- powered, within the limits of its annual appropriation, to fix the salary of the State Superintendent of Schools as well as all the subordinates selected on his recommenda- tion and working under him. The Board supervises the expenditure of millions: can it not be trusted to regulate the pay of its own ofhcers and clerks? In certain important respects, the powers of the Board need to be increased, in order that the purposes of exist- ing laws may be carried out. For example, the State Board is already authorized to remove county super- intendents for cause and to institute legal proceedings to that end. There is need of a means of enforcement which can be applied more quickly and with less public agita- tion. Again, certain counties — Calvert, for example — do not pay salary enough to secure the full-time superin- tendent required by law; others — Dorchester, among them — employed non-certificated persons to teach, in defiance of law ; Anne Arundel engages teachers who have not had the sLx weeks' professional training required by the law of 1914. All these statutes are violated with impunity. They are in fact hardly more than counsels tendered by the state to the local authorities to be heeded or not, as the local authorities see fit. ^Meanwhile, the state pours its liberal contribution into the county treas- ury, regardless of whether the law is enforced or broken. Unquestionably, the State Board should be authorized in such cases to withhold the state appropriation until the laws are complied with. i6o PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND We have repeatedly noted the absence of a uniform method of certificating teachers. There are, indeed, more standards than there are counties, since the State Board, the State Superintendent, and the county superintendents all participate. The State Board should be invested with full powers over the examination and certification of teachers, including county superintendents, supervisors, principals, and attendance officers. Conditions favor this uniform standard, for under the law, the same sala- ries are paid in most counties. Under this arrangement the examinations of elementary teachers would be held as now at stated intervals at the county seats of the respec- tive counties. The questions would be prepared and the answers read by the State Superintendent and his assist- ants, while the county superintendents would merely conduct the examinations and certify to the character of the applicants. The great mass of teachers would there- fore be in no way inconvenienced by the centralization of authority. A final suggestion deals with school buildings. Mar)^- land possesses a few school buildings as good as any to be found in the entire country. But whether a new building is well planned or not is now a matter of accident. The results have been pointed out in preceding chapters. To introduce system, where chance now rules, the State Board should receive the authority to prescribe regula- tions governing the building of schoolhouses and the State Superintendent, as its executive officer, should be required, after examining plans and specifications, to STATE ORGANIZATION i6i give written approval before buikling contracts become valid. In this, as in other respects, the State Board must act through its executive officer, the State Superintendent. But the resources at the disposal of the Superintendent, inadequate at jiresent, need tt) be extended as well as specialized, if the office is to be made efficient. With his single assistant, the State Superintendent cannot now inspect and direct the high schools as the law expects; nor can he advise with local authorities in reference to • their local problems — the school levy, new buildings, school statistics, the county course of study, the colored industrial schools, or the condition of public sentiment. At the very least, the Superintendent's staff must be Increased to include an assistant superintendent, to be in charge of the correspondence, publications, records, reports, educational statistics, and the audit of the ac- counts of the county school boards; a supervisor of high schools, charged with the supervision of state-aided high schools and the work of all other schools above the seventh grade; a supervisor of rural schools, who shall give his entire energies to helping teachers, superintend- ents, and interested communities work out a program of rural education adapted to the individual and collective needs of a state that is overwhelmingly rural in its popu- lation, industries, and interests; and a white supervisor of colored schools. The Superintendent should have a reasonable allowance for travelling and for clerical aid. The total annual cost of the office of the State Superin- i62 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND tendent will be thus increased from $7,700 to perhaps $20,000 a year. The increase is large, not because the proposed program is elaborate, but because the former basis was utterly inadequate. The expense of conducting the state department must be regarded as an overhead charge incurred for the purpose of getting better results from the state's present school expenditure. Is it not economy to spend $20,000 in order that $1,500,000 raised by the state may be wisely rather than ineflSciently used and that $3,500,000 raised locally may be more effec- tively expended? Moreover, the increased cost of the state department does not mean increased taxation or increased appropriations; for it is paid for, not by the state treasury, but by the school fund, and it is wisdom to make sure of an effective central administration if the counties do get a few hundred dollars less apiece. Even so, there need be no fear that the state department will be unduly strong. The counties retain their proper power and authority; the state department is simply enabled to cooperate with them intelligently, and the state fund is, as it should be, the lever, by means of which the counties can be brought into line. XL IMPROVEMENTS IX THE COUNTY ORGANIZATION A STRENGTHENED State Department of Educa- tion must, as we have just said, be accompanied by a strengthened county educational organiza- tion. To this end three steps musi be taken: the county school boards must be placed on an educational, instead of a political, basis; they must be made reasonably inde- pendent on the fmancial side ; and they must be provided with an adequate professional staff. The county boards should represent local interest in education. Can such boards be constituted without regard to political considerations if appointments con- tinue to be made by the Governor? Certainly, politics will creep in, unless public sentiment is vigilant, intelli- gent, and determined. The present law should be so modified as to concentrate responsibility in the Governor, who should not be permitted to share his responsibility with the Senate. The Governor will thus be in position to make his educational appointments without deferring to political influences. Otherwise, with a change of admin- istration. Democrats will succeed Republicans, and vice versa, irrespective of past services or efliciency. County school boards in the next place must be given 163 1 64 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND a reasonable degree of financial freedom. Financial independence is needed not only to complete the libera- tion of the boards from county politics, but to put them in position to do their duty by the schools. There is not a county in the state, as previously pointed out, in which the schools have not suffered from unjustifiable lack of funds. So acute did the needs in five counties become— and among these are the largest and financially the strongest — Baltimore, Allegany, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George, that, as we have remarked, recourse was had to the General Assembly for legislation compel- ling financial action on the part of the county commis- sioners. If the largest and richest counties cannot wring from the county commissioners ample funds for the schools, boards of education in smaller and less wealthy counties must surely find themselves in an impossible position. It was never intended, if we read the law aright, that the county commissioners should really control school finances. They were expected simply to protect the tax- payer against waste, as is proved by the fact that the commissioners are required to levy the taxes, demanded by the County Board of Education, up to a certain limit. Beyond this limit, the county commissioners enjoy dis- cretion obviously meant to enable them to check extrava- gance, not to block progress. Unfortunately, the present mandatory rate that must be levied on the re- quest of the county educational authorities is entirely inadequate; so inadequate, that funds are insufficient COUNTY ORGANIZATION 165 even when additional levies from i to 28 cents on $100 are raised. The remedy must be sought in the first place in raising the mandatory limit. Just where the limit should be placed is not easy to determine. No county now raises more money than it ought. Hence the mandatory limit up to which county commissioners must act on the request of the school boards should approximate the highest rates now levied. Four counties now levy in excess of 40 cents on the $100: Garrett, 45 cents; Worcester, 44; Queen Anne and Alle- gany, 43. In view of the needs of the schools even in these counties, a mandatory maximum rate of 50 cents on the Si 00 for the state would not be excessive. It does not follow that this ma.ximum will be requested unless it is needed or can be afforded. School boards are just as amenable to local considerations as other bodies. They are not likely to go faster than local sentiment ap- proves or local resources allow. Even then, a levy of 50 cents on Si 00 will not pay for new buildings: no feasible current levy could or should. A school building that has a life of twenty-five years or more should be paid for by the successive generations who use it — that is. by a bond issue. At present a bond issue for school building requires legislative action and therefore often involves log-rolling and politics. The state should have a general law jx'rmitting counties to issue bonds for the erection of buildings up to a fixed f>er cent, of the assessable property of the county, and also empowering them to hold a special election if this i66 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND amount is to be exceeded. Five per cent, is the usual maximum, but in Louisiana it is lo per cent., and in Vir- ginia, i8 per cent. If the suggestions just made should be written into the law, it would be possible for the counties to do their duty by the schools. Even then the counties might, of course, be recalcitrant. The remedy is easy. Maryland now distributes an unusually large sum in aid of education without requiring from the counties an adequate "quid pro quo." In consequence, the counties that receive most do least. As a pre-condition to receiving any part of the state's largess at all, every county should be re- quired first to make a fixed local minimum school levy. This minimum local levy ought not to be lower than the present average local levy for all the counties taken to- gether — viz., 34 cents on the $ioo. Even a minimum local levy of 34 cents would materially affect only eight counties. These are, however, the very counties that should be affected — rich counties like Carroll, Howard, Talbot, and Washington, because they are relying too much on the state ; and poor counties like Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's, because they are doing too little for themselves. Let us assume that in the ways above mentioned local education is more effectively financed. Does it follow that more money will make better schools? Not necessarily. The present organization in most counties cannot really use to good purpose much larger sums than are now spent. If the supply of money is COUNTY ORGANIZATION 167 to be increased, steps must be taken to ensure its wise expenditure. The counties — we need hardly repeat that there are exceptions -neeil more competent educational leader- ship. No one should be eligible to a county superintend- ency unless he possesses definite professional qualifica- tions and teaching experience. The County Superintend- ent should be a college graduate who has had at least five years of actual experience in the elementary schools, and not less than one year of professional work in an approved university specializing in educational administration and supervision. His appointment should require the writ- ten approval of the State Superintendent. His tenure should be at least four and preferably six years; he should be chosen in the middle, not at the beginning, of the Governor's term of office; his salary should not be per- mitted to fall below a given minimum, and the state should pay from the school fund one-half of any salary up to a certain sum. Progressive counties, like Alle- gany and Baltimore, will gladly pay more than the max- imum in which the state would share, in order to retain in their service able and experienced leaders. A County Superintendent who is thus qualified should bear full responsibility for the conduct of the schools in conformity with the state laws. He should have author- ity over the courses of study, the choice of text-books and school supplies, the grading of the schools, the examina- tion and })romotic)n of pupils, and over the employment and the placing of teachers in the schools. Of especial i68 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND importance in Maryland is the point mentioned last. Politics and personal interest will not be eliminated from the schools of Maryland while County School Board members continue to be influential in the appointment of assistant teachers, and district trustees select the princi- pal teacher in their respective schools. Teachers and principals should be appointed by the County Board on nomination by the County Superintendent. The power of local trustees should be limited to filing written charges with the County Board, while the dismissal in each case should be made only on the recommendation of the Superintendent with the approval of the Board. Local pride and interest must indeed be cultivated; but it is believed that both are best conserved by whatever measures make for school efficiency. All but four counties in Maryland now suffer woefully from lack of supervision, though county school boards possess the power to provide the needed professional help, having been authorized in 1904, under limitations, to employ assistant superintendents and, in 19 10, to en- gage a supervisor. Thus far five counties have chosen assistant superintendents, three of whom do the work of clerks, and only four have full-time supervisors. The employment of supervisors should cease to be permissive. Every county employing 100 teachers or more should be required to have at least one supervisor, and counties should be permitted to have as many more as may be locally t hought desirable.* The state should guard 'Two small counties each having less than 100 teachers should be al- lowed to join in employing a supervisor. COUNTY ORGANIZATION 169 against incomp>etent supervision by prescribing minimum qualifications — viz., gnuluation from a standard normal school, three years of experience as a teacher in the elementary schools, and at least one year of special prep- aration beyond the normal in a reputable university. A salary commensurate with the importance of the serv'ice should be fixed by the state, half of it to be paid out of the school fund. As an additional safe- guard the appointment of supervisors should he invalid until approved in writing by the State Superintendent. Into schools improved as the schools of Mar^dand would be improved by such steps as have been above recom- mended, the children of the state must be regularly and continuously brought. School enrolment must be syn- on\Tnous with school population; school attendance must approximate school enrolment. To this end the state requires a genuine — not an optional — compulsory' attend- ance law, atTecting all children between eight and fourteen years of age. But compulsory' education does not en- force itself. Hence the employment of at least one attendance officer whose qualifications are certified to and whose appointment is approved by the State Super- intendent should be made mandator}' upon the counties. To secure properly qualified persons for this important work, the state, sharing equally in the pa>'ment with the counties, should guarantee a minimum annual salar}'. Finally, in order that competent educational officials may do the work awaiting them, decent quarters and a fair amount of office help are necessary. The state should lyo PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND therefore require county boards of education to provide satisfactory office facilities, to employ adequate clerical assistance — never less than one stenographic and sta- tistical clerk — and to bear the expenses necessary to the performance of official duties. In case of failure, the State Board of Education should be authorized to with- hold the funds of the state. The suggestions made in the present and the preceding chapters are not counsels of perfection. They represent what, if it will, Maryland can easily do to improve its educational organization and to provide this improved organization with requisite facilities. Our suggestions need not go further. We need add nothing to what we have already said on such subjects as teacher training, courses of study, sanitation, etc. These are, to be sure, the really important problems; but they are problems which can be solved only by the educational leaders and the teachers of the state. Given qualified leaders work- ing under the fairly favorable conditions which our sug- gestions aim to procure, everything else that the school'* of Maryland lack will come in its proper season. XII. FINANCIAL READJUSTMENTS THE changes proposed in the State Department of Education and in the county school organiza- tion furnish additional reasons for adopting a new policy in the use and distribution of state school funds. Mar>'land has, as was pointed out, several different school funds, real or "so-called." These funds estab- lished at widely different times, and under radically different conditions, are all distributed in different ways. To derive the greatest benefit from the present liberal support Mar\'land as a state is giving to public education, some of these ''so-called" school funds should be abol- ished and the others combined into a single fund to be known as the General State School Fund. This policy involves the abolition of the Academic Fund and the Bank Stock Fund, and the discontinuance of special appropriations. In the case of special appro- priations, why should the entire state be taxed in order that a single academy may be singled out for a special gift, or in order that a particular town may be presented with a school building on exceptionally favorable terms? Again, the Academic Fund now bolsters up decrepit academies in the ver\' shadow of the new and vigorous 171 172 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND state-aided high schools. Its abolition will save $26,000, and education will gain, not lose. The Bank Stock Fund, as has been pointed out, is held by the state in the name of nineteen counties. The entire amount, $278,000, should be paid over to the counties to be used in their discretion — perhaps for buildings. The road would thus be cleared for a single fund to be distributed on a scientific basis. Into this single or General State School Fund all the remaining items should be brought — (a) the return from the War Loan of 1812, now amounting to $229,000, the only productive school fund of the state, and (b) the Sur- plus Revenue Fund, the principal of which was spent, the state obligating itself, however, to provide forever an annual income of $34,069. The identity and the conti- nuity of the War Loan of 181 2 and of the Surplus Revenue Fund^ should, of course, be preserved. The consolida- tion of these funds would simplify the work of account- ing, and facilitate an equitable distribution of the state's contribution to the counties. From this General State School Fund should come, in the first place, such sums as are needed for the reorgan- ized state and county organizations and for such lines of educational activity as the state desires to develop. The ^The constitutional requirements could probably be met if legal pro\'i- sion were made for raising the income on the Surplus Revenue Fund as a part of the state school tax, to be distributed according to the provisions controlling the distribution of the General State School Fund. Were this done, the Surplus Revenue Fund could be dropped from the current accounts. FINANCIAL READJUSTMENTS 173 preceding; chapters havo ck-alt so fully with these points that furthiT discussion is needless. To only one j)oint need special attention he called. Maryland adopted in i8q6 the i)olicy of furnishing free te.xt-hooks; since which daLe it has apportioned to the counties and the city of Baltimore Si 50.000 annually, amounting in 1914 to 61 cents per child enrolled. This is a wise policy, though somewhat too narrowly conceived. The materials of instruction comprise more than text-books, and often a good teacher can do quite as well without text-books as without maps, illustrative matter, handwork and drawing materials, supplemen- tary readers, reference books, and the like. The law indeed provides that, after text-books have been pur- chased, any surplus remaining may be expended upon maps of Maryland and supplementary readers; in most counties, however, there is and can be no surplus. The sum originally provided was even at the time in- sufficient, and since then the enrolment has increased 26,000, of whom 2,800 are high school pupils. In the very first year of the apportionment the counties spent on school supplies 8 cents per child and Baltimore City 36 cents in excess of the amount received from the state; and in 19 14 the average per child for the counties was 20 cents and for Baltimore City 65 cents. This excess expenditure, naturally enough, is largely confined to a few of the prosperous counties, the majority spending no more than is received from the state. The average County Board of Education could scarcely be ex- 174 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND pected to spend more. As a consequence, the supply of reference books and supplementary readers is, as a rule, woefully inadequate, and books aje often dog-eared and unsanitary. In a number of counties there are few if any maps and no illustrative material at all; in more than half the counties objectionable slates are in use; in not to exceed three counties are handwork and drawing materials freely supplied. To furnish free text-books, including supplementary readers, reference books, school supplies, handwork, and drawing materials, in adequate quantities, the present apportionment of $150,000 should be materially in- creased.^ So long as the materials of instruction supplied are as meagre as they now are in many of the counties, to expect teachers to do good work is like asking them *'to make bricks without straw." Deductions from the state school fund for special pur- poses have been made before now; hence, no new princi- ple is established by the foregoing recommendations. Nor will they, if heeded, seriously reduce the amoimt available for distribution. Indeed, in consequence of the recent increase of the school tax to 17 cents, the total next year would probably not fall much below the sum of $1,353,000, the amount distributed in 1914. In any event, the sum, whatever it is, will be more effective in connection with an improved organization than would a larger sum, without it, and it should be distributed, in ^The average per-pupil cost in typical cities of from five to ten thousand is, for elementary pupils, $2.12, and for high school pupils, S4.90. FINANCIAL READJUSTMENTS 175 view of the special aid provided for high schools, so as to equalize elementary school advantages. In thus (lislributing the general school fund, three factors ought to be considered: (a) the school population between six and fourteen years of age, (b) school attend- ance, (c) the comparative wealth of the counties. For practical purposes, however, only the first two factor? can at this moment be taken into consideration; for the counties do not at present assess property uniformlv.* and until they do, it would be unjust to take from those that estimate their wealth justly in order to give to those that make an unfairly low return of their property. On the existing basis counties with a high rate of assessment would indeed be twice penalized: they would pay an un- due part of the state tax and they would receive a re- duced amount from the state. Hence the adoption 01 a thoroughly sound and equitable method of distributing state school funds will need to be delayed until such time as the method of assessment becomes uniform. Meanwhile, every county should be required to make a minimum levy, and no part of the state apportionment should be paid to a county that fails to comply with this requirement. It goes vvithout saying that any county is free to raise more than the minimum fixed by law. There is no reason, however, why the precise portion of the general school fund due the several counties should not immediately be determined on the basis of the actual 'Report of Commission for the Revision of the Taxation System, pp. 13-^5- 176 PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MARYLAND school population between the ages of six and fourteen, and the aggregate school attendance. Children between six and fourteen represent the work to be done in the elementary schools; the aggregate days of attendance represent the part accomplished. If the state's aid is based on the school population between six and fourteen the state assists each county according to its elementary school burden ; if it is modified according as these children come to school or not, the state makes of its aid— as it should — a powerful lever in the carrying out of a general policy. The adoption of this suggestion would not materially affect the amounts now received by the counties and the city of Baltimore, but it would stimu- late effort to get children in school and to keep them jeguiar in attendance. APPENDIX New Education Laws* .\N ACT to repeal sections 9, 14, 15, 15J as amended by chapter 592 of the Acts of 1914, K>, 30, S3, 3t>. 37. 3^, 39 as amended by ch. 532 of the Acts of 1912,40, 41, 60A as amended by ch. 759 of the Acts of 1914, 61, 79, 80, 81,90, 91, 134, 141, 146, 147 and 1 74 of Article 77 of Bagby's Annotated Code of Public Civil Laws of Mar>land, entitled " Public PMucation " and Section 4 of ch. 173 of the Acts of 191 2, sub-title "School Attendance"; to repeal and reenact with amendments sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 2^, 24, 25 as amended by ch. 480 of the Acts of 1914, 26, 27, 28 as amended by ch. ^^3 of the Acts of 1912, 29, 31, 32, and sections 34, 34A, 34B, and 34C as amended by ch. 461 of the Acts of 1914. 35, 4-, 43. as amended by ch. 4S0 of the Acts of 1914, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, S3 as amended by ch. 85 of the Acts of 1914, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 as amended by ch. 138 of the Acts of 191 2, 60, 62 as amended by ch. 736 of the Acts of 1914, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 82 as amended by ch. 124 of the Acts of 1914, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 as amended by ch. S49 of the Acts of 1914, 125, 126 as amended by ch. 651 of the Acts of 1914, 126A as amended by ch. 82 of the Acts of 1914, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 143, 144, 145 and 173 of said article 77 of Bagby's Annotated Code of Public Civil Laws of Mar>land, entitled "Public Education" and section 1-127 and sec. 2-i24.\ of ch. 173 of the Acts of 191 2, sub-title "School Attendance" to be known hereafter as sections 156 and 162 respectively of said article 77; and to add forty-four new sections to said article 77 of Bagby's Annotated Code of Public Civil Laws of Mar>land entitled "Public Education," same to be designated and numbered as follows: 12A, 12B, laC, 12D, 12E and 12F, the same to follow 12 of said article 77; 17A, 'These laws take effect June i, 1916. 177 178 APPENDIX 17B, 17C, 17D, and 17E, the same to follow 17 of said article 77; 19A and 19B, the same to follow 19 of said article 77; 20A and 20B, the same to follow 20 of said article 77; 21A, 21B, 21C, and 21D, the same to follow 21 of said article 77; 25A, 25B, 2sC, 25D, 25E, 25F, 25G, 25H, 25I, 25J, 25K, 25L and 25M, the same to follow 25 of said article 77, 31A and 3iB, the same to follow 31 of said article 77, 72A, 72B, 72C, 72D, 72E, 72F, 72G, 72H, 72I and 72J, the same to follow 72 of said article 77; the same being designed to harmonize existing laws relating to Public Education; to provide for and distribute in a more systematic and equitable manner public school funds; and to provide for a more thorough and efi&cient system of administration and supervision of public education in the State of Maryland. Section i . Beit enacted by the General A ssemUy of Maryland, That sec- tions 9, 14, 15, 15^ as amended by chapter 592 of the Acts of 1914, 16, 30, iiy 36, 37, 38, 39 as amended by ch. 532 of the Acts of 1912, 40, 41, 60A as amended by ch. 759 of the Acts of 1914, 61, 79, 80, 81, 90, 91, 134, 141, 146, 147 and 174 of article 77 of Bagby's Annotated Code of Public Civil Laws of Maryland entitled "Public Education" and Section 4 of ch. 173 of the Acts of 191 2, sub-title "School Attendance," be and the same are hereby repealed; that sections, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 as amended by ch. 480 of the Acts of 1914, 26, 27, 28 as amended by ch. ^liS of the Acts of 191 2, 29, 31, 32, and Sections 34, 34A, 34B and 34C as amended by ch. 461 of the Acts of 1914, 35, 42, 43 as amended by ch. 480 of the Acts of 1914, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53 as amended by ch. 85 of the Acts of 1914, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 as amended by ch. 138 of the Acts of 191 2, 60, 62 as amended by ch. 736 of the Acts of 1914, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 82 as amended by ch. 124 of the Acts of 1914, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88 as amended by ch. 849 of the Acts of 1914, 125, 126 as amended by ch. 651 of the Acts of 1914, 126A as amended by ch. 82 of the Acts of 1914, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, ^Z5, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 143, 144, 14s and 173 of said article 77 of Bagby's Annotated Code of Public Civil Laws of Maryland entitled "Public Education" and section 1-127 and section 2-1 24A of ch. 173 of the Acts of 1912, sub-title "School Attendance," to be known hereafter as sees. 156 and 162 respectively, be and the same are hereby repealed and reenacted with amendments; and that forty-four new sections be and they are hereby added to said Article 77 of Bagby's Annotated Code of APPENDIX 179 Public Civil I^ws of Maryland, entitled "Public Education," the same to be designated and numbered as follows: liA, 12B, 12C, 12I), i2K,and 12F, the same to follow 12 of said Article 77; 17A, 17B, 17C, 17I) and 17E, the same to follow 17 of said article 77; 19A and 19H, the same to follow 19 of said Article 77; 20A and 20B, the same to follow 20 of said .\rticle 77; 21A, 21B, 21C, and 21D, the same to follow 21 of said Article 77; 25A, 25B, 25C, 25D, 25E, 25F, 25G, 25H, 25!, 25J, 25K, 25L and 25M, the same to follow 25 of said Article 77; 31 A and 31B, the same to follow 31 of said Article 77; 72A, 72B, 72C, 72U, 72E, 72F, 72G, 72H, 72I and 72J, the same to follow 72 of said Article 77. Chapter i. Control and Supcri'ision. 2. Educational matters afTecting the State and the general care and super\'ision of public education shall be entrusted to a State Department of Education, at the head of which shall be a State Board of Education. 3. Exiucational matters affecting a County shall be under the control of a County Board of Education. 4. Eklucational matters affecting a school district shall be under the care of a District Board of School Trustees. Ch.\pter 2. Formation of Boards. 5 . The State Board of Education shall be composed of seven members, who shall be appointed from the citizens of the State by the Governor for a term of seven years, from the first Monday in May next succeeding their appointment, and they shall hold ofEce until their successors qualify. Provided that the terms of ofTice of persons who are members of the Board, at the time of the passage of this Act, shall not be affected by its provisions; and provided further, in order that the length of term of the first seven regular appointments under this section shall be so designated by the Governor that there shall thereafter be one regular vacancy and one regular appointment each year, the Governor shall appoint in the first instance only three members, one of whom he shall designate to hold ofljce for a term of seven years, one for a term of six years, and one for a term of i8o APPENDIX five years, from the first Monday in May, 1918; before the first Monday in May, 1920, he shall appoint two members for a term of six and seven years, respectively, from the first Monday in May, 1920; and before the first Monday in May, 1922, he shall appoint two members to serve six and seven years, respectively, from the first Monday in May, 1922. Thereafter the term of each member appointed to the Board shall be seven years. The members of the Board shall be appointed solely be- cause of their character and fitness, but no person shall be appointed to the Board who is in any way subject to its authority, and the Governor and the State Superintendent of Schools shall not be members of this board after the first Monday of May, 19 18. The Governor may remove any member of the Board appointed under the provisions of this section for immorality, misconduct in office, incompetency, or wilful neglect of duty, giving to him a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity of being publicly heard in person or by counsel, in his own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. If any member shall be removed the Gov- ernor shall file in the office of the Secretary of State a complete statement of all charges made against such member, and his findings thereon, to- gether with a complete record of the proceedings. Vacancies on the Board for any cause, shall be filled by the Governor, for the unexpired term, and until a successor shall qualify. Any member of the Board shall be eligible for reappointment unless otherwise disqualified by the pro- visions of this section. 6. County Boards of Education shall be composed in the Counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dorchester, Washington and Montgomery of six members, and in each of the other counties of three members, who shall be appointed from the citizens of the county by the Governor for a term of six years from the first Monday of May next succeeding their appointment, and they shall hold oQice until their successors qualify. Provided that the terms of office of persons who are members of the County Boards at the time when this act shall take effect shall not be affected by its provisions; and provided further in order that the length , of the first six regular appointments under this section in the Counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dorchester, Washington and Montgomery, and the first three regular appointments in the other counties shall be so designated by the Governor that there shall thereafter be one regular vacancy and one regular appointment each year in the counties of Balt^• APPENDIX i8i more, Carroll, Trederick, Dorchester, Washington and Montgomery, and one regular vacancy and one regular ap|K)intment every two years in each of the other counties, the (Governor shall a[)[)<)int in the first instance only two membiers in the Counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Irederick, Dorchester, Washington and Montgonierj', one of whom he shall desig- nate to hold olVice for the term of six years, and the other for the term of 6ve years, from the first Monday in May, 1918; and in each of the other counties he shall apjwint in the first instance only one member to hold office for the term of six years, from the first Monday in May, 1918; be- fore the first Monday in May, 1920, he shall ap{x)int two members in the Counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dorchester, Washington and Montgomcr>' for a term of five and six years, respectively, and one mem- ber in each of the other counties for a term of six years, from the first Monday in May, 1920. And before the first Monday in May, 1922, he shall ap[X)int two members in the Counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Freder- ick, Dorchester, Washington and Montgomer>-, for a term of five and six years respectively, and one member in each of the other counties for a term of six years, from the first Monday in May, 1922. Thereafter, the term of each member appointed to the Boards from each county shall be sLx years. The members of the Boards shall be appointed solely because of their character and fitness, but no person shall be appointed to a Board who is in any way subject to its authority. The State Superintendent of schools, by and with the approval of the Governor, may remove any member of a board ap(X)inted under the provisions of this section for im- morality, misconduct in ofiice, incompetency or wilful neglect of duty, giving to him a copy of the charges against him, and an opportunity of being publicly heard in person or by counsel, in his own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. If any member of a county board shall be removed, the state suf)erintendent of schools shall file in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court for the county for which the member was ap- pointed, if the member so requests, a complete statement of all charges made against such member, and his findings thereon, together with a complete record of the proceedings. Vacancies on any of the county boards for any cause shall be filled by the (Governor for the unexpired term, and until a successor shall qualify. Any member of a county board shall be eligible for reappointment, unless othenvise disqualified by the pro\isions of this section. i82 APPENDIX 7. District boards of school trustees shall each be composed of three members, appointed from the residents of the school district by the county boards of education on or before the third Tuesday in May, for a term of three years from the third Saturday in May next succeeding their appointment, and they shall hold office until their successors qualify. Provided that in the first instance the county boards of education shall each appoint one member for the term of one year, one member for the term of two years and one member for the term of three years, from the third Saturday in May, 191 7. Thereafter the term of each member ap- pointed to the boards shall be three years. The members of the boards shall be appointed solely because of their character and fitness. A county board of education may remove any member of a district board of trustees of the same county for immorality, misconduct in office, in- competency or wilful neglect of duty, giving to him a copy of the charges against him, and an opportunity of being publicly heard, in person, or by counsel, in his own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. Va- cancies on the boards shall be filled by the county boards of education for the unexpired term and until a successor shall qualify. Any member of a board appointed under the provisions of this section shall be eligible for reappointment unless otherwise disqualified by the provisions of this section. If the county board of education shall find it impossible in any school district to secure the required number of competent persons who will serve as members of the district board of school trustees, the duties of the board for the particular school district shall devolve upon the county board of education. Chapter 3. The State Board of Education 8. The state board of education shall hold its annual meeting each year at the office of the State Department of Education, on the last Wednesday in May. At this meeting the board shall each year elect one of its members to serve as president, and one to serve as vice-president. Other regular meetings shall be held on the last Wednesday of August, November and February, and such special meetings may be held as the duties and business of the board may require. 10. The members of the state board of education shall receive no APPENDIX 183 salar>', but their actual traveling and other necessary expenses incurred in attending the mcctinjjs and transactinR the business of the Iward shall be paid. The state su[X'rintendent of schools shall be the chief executive, the secretar>- and the treasurer of the state board of education. He shall attend all meetings of the board and of its committees, except when his own tenure, salar\" or the administration of his office arc under considera- tion, and shall have the right to advise on any question under considera- tion, but shall have no right to vote. 11. The state board of education shall, to the best of their ability, cause the provisions of this article to be carried into cfTect. They shall determine the educational policies of the State; they shall enact by-laws for the administration of the public school system, which when enacted and published shall have the force of law. For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this article, and the enacted and published by-laws of the Board, the state board of education shall, if necessar>', institute legal proceedings. 12. The state board of education shall exercise, through the state superintendent of schools and his professional assistants, general control and supervision over the public schools and educational interests of the State; they shall consult with and advise, through their executive ofiBcer and his professional assistants, county boards of education, boards of district school trustees, county superintendents, supervisors, attendance officers, principals, teachers, and interested citizens, and shall seek in ever>' way to direct and develop public sentiment in support of public education. i2.\. The state board of education shall prescribe, with and on the advice of the state superintendent of schools, rules and regulations for the hygienic, sanitar>- and protective construction of school buildings and outhouses. 12B. The state board of education shall prescribe, with and on the ad\-ice of the state superintendent of schools, rules and regulations for grading and standardizing all public schools. They may limit, on the basis of the equipment and number of teachers employed, the years and grades of instruction offered in any public school. They shall prescribe the minimum requirements for issuing all certificates, diplomas, and academic, collegiate, professional or university degrees. No public school shall be officially titled a "high school" without the consent and i84 APPENDIX approval of the state board of education; nor shall any public or private educational institution issue any certificate, diploma or academic, col- legiate, professional or university degree without having first obtained the assent of the state board of education and approval of said board of the conditions of entrance, scholarship, and residence upon which said certificate, diploma or degree is issued. 12C. The state board of education shall prescribe, with and on the advice of the state superintendent of schools, courses of study for the public elementary schools, the public high schools, and the state normal schools, which shall be printed in such quantities as to provide each pub- lic school oflacial and teacher with a copy, and sufficient for general dis- tribution among the private schools and interested citizens of the State. 1 2D. The state board of education shall prescribe, with and on the advice of the state superintendent of schools, rules and regulations, also the subjects and the standards, subject to the provisions of sections 53, 54 and 55 of this article, for the certification of all the teachers of the State, and for the acceptance of the diplomas of the normal schools, colleges and universities of Maryland, as well as of other states. 12E. The members of the state board of education and the state superintendent of schools shall be the trustees of the State normal schools, and shall have power to maintain and shall exercise general control over these schools. 12F. The state board of education shall prescribe, with and on the advice of the state superintendent of schools, the rules and regulations for taking a biennial school census of all children within the State between six and eighteen years of age, inclusive; also the forms and blanks to be employed in taking such census and in compiling the reports thereon. i;^. The state board of education shall prescribe, with and on the advice of the state superintendent of schools, a uniform series of forms or blanks for the use of county boards of education, school officials, and teachers, and shall require all financial accounts, including the annual budget and all educational records, to be kept and all reports to be made according to these forms or blanks. 17. The state board of education shall require, with and on the advice of the state superintendent of schools, all private educational associa- tions, corporations, or institutions to report annually, on or before the APPENDIX 1S5 thirty-first day of August, as to enrollment and courses of study on such forms as the state Ixjard of education may provide. 17A. The state board of education shall conduct, with and on the advice of the state sujK'rintendcnt of schools, invcstij;ations relating to the educational needs of the State and the means of improving educa- tional conditions; they may employ additional exixrrt assistance for such investigations if needed, and appoint special agents for special investiga- tions of special work. 17B. The state board of education shall transmit biennially to the Governor, certitied to by the state superintendent of schools, an annual state public school budget as determined by existing laws, including the appropriation for the state department of education, the maintenance of the state normal schools, the retired teachers' pensions, state-aid to approved high schools, state-aid to approved colored industrial schools, the part pa\'ment of the salaries of county superintendents of schools, and of one super\-isor and one attendance officer in each of the counties and the superintendent, one super\-isor and one attendance officer in the City of Baltimore, the free te.xt book fund, materials of instruction and school supplies, and such other appropriations for special educational puqxjses as may from time to time be made by the General Assembly, and an esti- mate of the amount that will remain, after all deductions for special purposes and activities, for apportionment to the counties and the city of Baltimore. It shall also be the duty of the state board of education, on and with the advice of the state superintendent of schools, to prepare, from time to time, as it may be deemed wise, bills, and to recommend the same to the Governor and the General Assembly, providing for changes in the appropriation for special educational purpxjses and activities and in the total amount raised and contributed by the State for the en- couragement and support of public education. 1 7C. The state board of education shall submit each year on or before the first day of Januar>-, to the Governor an annual report covering all operations of the State department of education and the supjwrt, con- ditions, progress and needs of education throughout the State. Such annual report shall be printed in sufficient quantities for general dis- tribution throughout the State. 17D. It shall be the duty of the state board of education to consider the educational needs of the State, and on and with the advice of the i86 APPENDIX state superintendent of schools, to recommend to the Governor and to the General Assembly, such additional legislation, or changes in existing legislation, as may be deemed desirable. Such recommendations shall be in the form of prepared bills and shall be laid before the Governor and the General Assembly. The state board of education and the state super- intendent of schools shall be given a hearing on the same by the com- mittees of the Senate and the House of Delegates, to which such bills are referred, if this is requested. 17E. The state board of education shall perform such other duties as are assigned to them elsewhere in this article, or may be assigned to them from time to time by the General Assembly. Chapter 3A. The State Superintendent of Schools. 18. The state superintendent of schools shall be appointed by the state board of education for a term of four years and said board shall fix his salary and pay same from the appropriation for the expenses and maintenance of the State Department of Education. He shall be an experienced and competent educator; he shall be a graduate of a stand- ard college, or the equivalent, have had not less than two years of special academic and professional graduate preparation in a standard university, or the equivalent, and not less than seven years experience in teaching and administration. Provided, that these qualifications shall not apply to the present incumbent of the ofiice, nor shall they affect his eligibility for reappointment. He may be removed by the Board for immorality, mis- conduct in office, insubordination, incompetency, or wilful neglect of duty, upon making known to him, in writing, the charges against him, and upon giving him an opportunity of being heard in person or by counsel, in his own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. In case of vacancy due to any cause, the state board of education shall fill the vacancy, and the appointment shall be for the unexpired term, and until a successor shall qualify. 19. The state superintendent of schools shall explain the true intent and meaning of the school laws and of the enacted and published by-laws of the state board of education. He shall decide, without expense to the parties concerned, all controversies and disputes, involving the proper APPENDIX 187 administration of the public school system, and his decision shall be final. He shall have authority to administer oaths and to examine under oath, in any part of the State, witnesses in any matter pertaining to the public schools, and to cause the examination to be reduced to writing. Any person, who, having been sworn or afTirmcd by him to tell the truth, and who wilfully gives false testimony, shall be guilty of perjury. i9.-\. The state superintendent of schools shall enforce all the provisions of this article and of the enacted and published by-laws of the state board of education. He is em{X)wcrcd to cause the State Comptroller, through written notification, to withhold, in case of violation of any of the pro- visions of this article or of the by-laws enacted and published by the state board of education, any part or all of any appropriation made by the General .\ssembly to any educational institution, or to withhold any part or all of any pa>'ment or apportionment from the general State school fund to county school boards. 19B. The state superintendent of schools shall execute the educational policies of the state board of education. He shall call and conduct con- ferences of county school boards, district school trustees, county super- intendents, supervisors, attendance officers and teachers, on matters re- lated to the condition, needs and improvement of the schools. He shall prepare and publish such pamphlets as will stimulate public interest, pro- mote the work of education, and foster in teachers professional insight and efficiency. He shall receive and examine all the rep>orts required under the rules and regulations of the state board of education, and in person or through his assistants, shall examine the ex{>enditures, business methods, and accounts of county school boards and advise them on the same. 20. The state suf>erintendent of schools shall, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board of education, pass upon all proposals for the purchase of grounds, school sites or buildings, or for the sale of the same, and also upon all plans and specifications for the remodeling of old school buildings or the construction of new school buildings costing three hundred dollars ($300) or more. In case the construction is to be done by the county board itself, it shall be illegal for the county board to pro- ceed until the plans and specifications shall have been approved in wTiting by the state superintendent of schoob; in case the construction is to be i88 APPENDIX done by contract, the contract shall be invalid without the written ap- proval of the state superintendent of schools. 2oA. The state superintendent of schools shall certificate, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board of education and the pro- visions of sections 53, 54 and 55 of this article, all teachers in the public schools of the State. 20B. The state superintendent of schools shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, and submit for approval and adoption by the state board of education, courses of study for the different grades and kinds of elemen- tar>' schools, high schools and normal schools, and also college courses for teachers. 21. The state superintendent of schools, acting under the rules and regulations of the state board of education, shall be responsible for the administration of the state department of education, and shall have gen- eral super\'ision of all the professional and clerical assistants of the de- partment. He shall nominate to the state board of education all the professional and clerical assistants of the department and may recom- mend their dismissal for immorality, misconduct in office, insubordi- nation, incompetency or wilful neglect of duty. But the qualification of all appointments, their tenure and compensation, except as may herein- after be provided, shall be determined by the state board of education. 2 1 A. The state department of education shall hereafter be provided with the following professional assistants. Such professional assistants as are employed at the time this section shall take effect shall be eligible for reappointment to the positions which they now hold : (i) An assistant state superintendent of schools, who shall represent the state superintendent of schools in his absence; shall have charge of the office of the department, the correspondence, publications, records, rep>orts, and educational and financial statistics; shall audit the accounts of the county boards of education, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the state superintendent of schools. (2) A supervisor of high schools, who shall have supervision of state, aided high schools, shall aid the instructors in all other schools above the seventh grade, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the state superintendent of schools. (3) A supervisor of rural schools, who shall devote his energies to helping teachers, superintendents and interested citizen^ to formulate a APPENDIX 1S9 program of rural education acia|)tc(l to the specific and general needs of the State, and who shall perform such other duties as may l>c assigned to him by the state superintendent of schools. (4) A white sup>crvisor of colored schools, who shall have supervision of all colored schools, and shall [K-rform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the state sui)crintendent of schools. (s) And such other clerical and [)rofessional assistants and agents as may be authorized by the state lx)ard of education within the limits of the appropriation for the State department of education. 21 B. The state su[)erintendent of schools, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board of education, shall direct the taking of a biennial school census of all the children in the State between the ages of 6 and 18 years inclusive, to be taken first in the year 1918, and every two years thereafter, and he may cause the whole or any part of the school census of the city of Baltimore or of any county to be retaken at any time, if in his judgment, the whole or any part of such census has not been properly or correctly taken. 21C. The state superintendent of schools shall prepare or cause to be prepared the annual report of the state board of education and shall sub- mit the same to the board for its approval and adoption; he shall also pre- pare or cause to be prepared, all other reports which are or may be re- quired of this board. 21D. The state superintendent of schools shall perform such other duties as are assigned to him elsewhere in this article, or may be assigned to him from time to time by the state board of education. Chapter 4. County Board of Education. 22. The county board of education shall hold an annual meeting each year on the second Tuesday in May, or as near as possible thereto in May. At this meeting the board shall elect one of its members to ser\-e as president and one to ser\'e as vice-president. Other regular meetings shall be held at least once in each school term, and such special meetings may be held as the duties and business of the board may require. The members of the county Ixiards of education shall recei\c no salan*-, but each member shall receive the sura of one hundred dollars annually for I90 APPENDIX traveling and other expenses incident to attending the meetings and transacting the business of the board within the county. 23. The county board of education are hereby declared to be a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the board of education of county, and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and shall be capable to sue and to be sued, to use and to have a common seal, and the same at their pleasure to alter or break, and to exercise all the powers and privileges hereby granted to or vested in them. 24. All the property, estate, effects, money, funds, claims and state donations heretofore vested by law in the public school authorities of any county, for the benefit of public, primary, free or high schools, are trans- ferred to and vested in the county boards of education, and their suc- cessors in office. The county boards of education are authorized, em- powered, directed and required to maintain a uniform and effective sys- tem of public schools throughout their respective counties. Real and personal estate granted, conveyed, devised or bequeathed for the use of any particular county or school district shall be held in trust by the county board of education for the benefit of such county or school district, and such grants and bequests shall be exempt from all State and county taxes. Moneys invested in trust for the benefit of the public schools of any county or city shall be exempt from State, county or local tax. 25. The county superintendent of schools shall be the executive officer, the secretary and treasurer of the county board of education. He shall attend all meetings of the board and of its committees, except when his own tenure, salary, or the administration of his office are under con- sideration, and shall have the right to advise on any question under con- sideration, but shall have no right to vote. 25A. The county board of education shall to the best of its ability cause the provisions of this article, the by-laws, and the policies of the state board of education to be carried into effect. Subject to this article, and to the by-laws, and the policies of the state board of education, the county board of education shall determine, with and on the advice of the county superintendent, the educational policies of the county and shall prescribe rules and regulations for the conduct and management of the schools. 256. The county board of education shall exercise, through its execu- tive officers, the county superintendent, and his professional assistants, APPENDIX 191 control and supcr\ision over the public school system of the county. The board shall consult and advise, through its executive ofiiccr and his professional assistants, with the Ijoards of district trustees, principals, teachers and interested citizens, and shall sock in ever>' way to promote the interests of the schools under their jurisdiction. 25C. The county board of education shall divide the county into ap- propriate school districts, shall keep full records of the Ixiundaries thereof and shall locate and maintain schools, as needed, within each district. They are authorized and empowered with the approval of the state sup)er- intendent of schools, to purchase grounds, school sites or buildings, or to sell the same; to rent, repair, improve and construct school buildings, or approve contracts for so doing, when the plans conform to the rules and regulations of the state board of education, and are approved by the state superintendent of schools, as provided for in section 20 of this article. They shall employ an architect or architects on the recommendation of the county superintendent of schools to assist in the preparation of plans and specifications for remodelling old buildings and for constructing new buildings. They may sell, with the approval of the state superintendent of schools, school grounds, school sites and school buildings when no longer needed for educational purposes. 25 D. The county board of education may receive donations of school grounds or school sites, or of houses already built suitably located and adapted to school purposes, but in no case shall any site be built upon, or any house be occupied, until a good and suflkient title has been obtained for the same in the corporate name of the Board. 25E. When lands shall be required for the site of a schoolhouse, or fc enlarging a schoolhouse lot, or for playgrounds or other school purposes, and the county board of education shall for any cause be unable to con- tract with the owner or owners thereof upon what they deem to be a fair valuation thereof, the county board of education may institute proceed- ings for the acquisition of such lands, in accordance with Chapter 463 of the .Vets of 1914; but no lot so taken or enlarged shall exceed, in the whole, five acres, including the land occupied by the school building. 25F. Schools on or near the dividing line of two counties shall be free to the children of each county; and the county board of education of the respective counties shall have power to provide jointly for the mainten- ance of said schools. 192 APPENDIX 25G. The county boards of education in every county of the State shall provide sanitary, hygienic, suitable and convenient water-closets or outhouses for each of the schools under their official jurisdiction, not less than two for each school or building, when both sexes are in attend- ance, in their respective school districts, with separate means of access for each; and unless placed at a remote distance, one from the other, the approaches or walks thereto shall be separated by a substantial close- fence, not less than seven feet high; and it shall be the duty of the said boards to make provision for keeping the said water-closets or outhouses in a clean, comfortable, sanitary and hygienic condition. Neglect or failure on the part of any county board of education to comply with the provisions of this section shall constitute cause for the removal of its members, as provided in section 6 of this article. 25H. The county board of education shall consolidate schools wher- ever in their judgment it is practicable, and arrange, when possible with- out charge to the county, and shall pay, when necessary, for the trans- portation of pupils to and from such consolidated schools. 25I. The county board of education shall purchase and distribute, on the written recommendation of the county supermtendent, text-books, supplementary readers, materials of instruction, stationery and school supplies, school furniture, equipment and apparatus needed by the schools under their jurisdiction. 25J. The county board of education shall appoint, on the written recommendation of the county superintendent, all principals and assis- tant teachers, and fix their salaries, subject to the provisions of Chapter 8 of this article. The county board may suspend or dismiss without appeal any teacher so appointed, on the written recommendation of the county superintendent, for immorality, misconduct in office, insubordination, in- competency, or wilful neglect of duty, provided that the charges be stated in writing, and that the teacher be given an opportunity to be heard by the board upon not less than ten days' notice; provided further that in all cases when the board is not unanimous in its decision to suspend or dismiss, the right of appeal shall lie to the state superintendent of schools. 2sK. The county board of education, subject to the provisions of this article, the by-laws, courses of study and policies of the state board of education, shall prescribe, on the written recommendation of the county superintendent, courses of study for the schools under their jurisdiction APPENDIX 193 and a printed copy of these courses of study shall be supplied to every teacher and to every interested citizen of the county. .'5 1,. The county board of education, subject to the provisions of this article, and the by-laws of the slate board of education, shall, on the written recommendation of the county su[H;rintendent, grade and standardize all the schools under their jurisdiction. 2^yi. The county board of eilucation shall, subject to the direction of the state suix-rintendent of schools and to the rules and regulations of the state board of education, cause to be taken, under the direction of the county superintendent, a biennial school census of the children of the county between the ages of six and eighteen years inclusive, to be taken first in the year 1918, and every two years thereafter; and the county superintendent shall cause, upon the direction, at any time, of the state superintendent of schools, the whole or any part of any school census of his county to be retaken. 26. The county board of education, each year, beginning with the year 1916, shall prepare, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board of education and on and with the advice of the county superin- tendent, an itemized and detailed school budget, showing the amount of money needed for permanent improvements and repairs, and for current repairs, furniture for old buildings, maintenance and support of the schools during the succeeding school year, also the estimated total amount that will be received from the state, which shall be used for paying teachers' salaries and purchasing te.xt-books, materials of instruction and school supplies; and finally the amount that will be needed to be raised by local taxation. This annual school budget shall be submitted in writing, not less than twenty days before the usual dale for levying county ta.xes, to the board of county commissioners; at the same time a copy of this annual budget shall also be submitted to the board of county com- missioners and to the state superintendent of schools. The board of county commissioners are hereby authorized, empowered, directed and required to levy and collect such tax upon the assessable property of the county as will produce the amount requested to be raised by local taxa- tion in the annual budget of the county board of education. The amount requested in the annual budget of the county board of education for cur- rent repairs, furniture in old buildings, maintenance and support of the schools, for the succeeding school year, and to be raised by local taxation 194 APPENDIX shall not hereafter in any year be less than a minimum tax, levied and col- lected, of 34 cents on each one hundred dollars ($icx5) of the assessable property in the county. Provided that if in any county the tax levied and collected for the school year ending July thirty-first, 1916, for current repairs, furniture in old buUdings, maintenance and support of the schools, was less than 34 cents on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessable property in the county, such county shall only be required to increase its total tax rate for the schools annually by 2 cents on each one hundred dollars ($100) of the assessable property in the county, until the tax levied and collected for current repairs, furniture in old buildings, maintenance and support of the schools in any one school year, shall equal a minimum tax levied and collected of 34 cents on each one hundred dollars ($100) of the assessable property of the county. Provided, fur- ther, that the total amount requested for any one school year by the county board of education for permanent improvements and repairs, current repairs, furniture in old buildings, maintenance and support of the schools shall not exceed a tax levied and collected of 40 cents on each one hundred dollars ($100) of the assessable property in the county, unless the board of county commissioners shall approve and sanction such additional tax. Provided also that if the total amount requested for any one school year by the county board of education to be raised by local taxation exceeds a tax, levied and collected of 40 cents on each one hun- dred dollars ($100) of the assessable property, in the county and such ad- ditional tax is not approved and sanctioned by the board of county com- missioners, the county commissioners shall indicate in writing what item or items of the annual budget of the county board of education have been denied in whole or in part, and the reason for the denial in whole or in part of the respective items. Taxes so levied and collected shall be separately indicated on tax bills and tax receipts, and shall be known as the County School Tax. Taxes so levied shall be collected as other taxes and shall be paid monthly to the treasurer of the county board of education in as nearly equal amounts as possible, beginning on or before the tenth of October of each year and continuing up to and including June; provided that taxes levied and collected for permanent improve- ments and repairs or special purposes may be required to be paid oftener, upon the order of the president and secretary of the county board of education to the board of county commissioners. All taxes received by APPENDIX 195 the county board of education shall be expended by them in accordance with the items of their annual budget. Any sum of money which may have been sixrcialiy lesied and collected on any election or schoolhousc district for the educational purposes connected with such district shall be collected for and applied to the purjwse so intended originally and shall be used for no other purpose; and if said funds have been used other^\ise, they shall be returned and applied as aforesaid. 27. ICach county board of education shall hereafter provide for at least an annual audit of its business and fmantial transactions and of the accounts of its treasurer by an accountant or accountants, approved by the state su[K-rintendent of schools, and the results of this audit shall be made public by the county board of education. 28. Each county board of education and the Board of School Com- missioners of the city of Baltimore shall make all the reports required by the state board of education, and the state superintendent of schools, at such times, upon such items, and in such form and on such blanks as may be prescribed by the sUte board of education and the state superinten- dent of schools. 2Q. Each county board of education shall cause to be prepared and published annually, in the month of November, in sufScient quantities for distribution among the citizens of the county, an annual report addressed to the people of the county, covering the condition, current accomplishments and needs for the improvement of the schools, also a statement of the business and financial transactions of the board. Chapter 4.\. The County Superintendait of Schools 72. The county board of education of each county shall appoint during the month of May a superintendent of schools for a term of four years, from the first day of .\ugust ne.xt succeeding his appointment, and he shall hold office until his successor qualifies. No person shall be eligible for appointment to the office of county superintendent of schools who does not hold from the state superintendent of schools a certificate in administration and supervision as provided for in section 55 of this article, nor shall the appointment of any person by the county board of education to the position of county superintendent of schools be valid without the 196 APPENDIX written approval of the State Superintendent of Schools. Provided that all county superintendents of schools holding office at the time when this act shall take effect, shall continue to serve to the end of the term for which they were originally appointed, and until their successors qualify, unless removed, as hereinafter provided, and shall also be eligible for re- appointment; and provided, further, that all county superintendents of schools shall be paid, beginning with the school year 1Q16-1917, on the basis of the salaries hereinafter specified. The salary of the county superintendent of schools shall not be diminished during his term of office. The county superintendent of schools shall devote his entire time to public school business and shall receive such compensation as the county board of education shall direct, provided that no county superin- tendent of schools appointed to office under the provisions of this section, or continuing in office under the provisions of this section, shall be paid an annual salary of less than eighteen hundred ($1,800) dollars, and the State of Maryland shall, as hereinafter provided, pay out of the General State School Fund to the treasurer of the county board of education, one- half of the annual salary of the county superintendent of schools, up to and including an annual salary of three thousand ($3,000) dollars. County boards of education may, in their discretion, pay to a county superinten- dent an annual salary in excess of three thousand ($3,000) dollars, but the State shall not share in the part payment of said excess. The State superintendent of schools may remove any county superintendent of schools appointed under the provisions of this section or continuing in office under the provisions of this section, for immorality, misconduct in office, insubordination, incompetency, or wilful neglect of duty, upon making known to him, in writing, the charges against him, and upon giving to him an opportunity of being heard, in person or by counsel, in his own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. In case of vacancy due to any cause, the county board of education shall fill the vacancy and the appointment shall be for a full term of four years, and until a succes- sor shall qualify. , 7 2 A. The county superintendent of schools, as the executive officer of the county board of education, shall see that the laws relating to the schools, the enacted and published by-laws and the policies of the State board of education and the rules and regulations and the policies of the county board of education are carried into effect. APPENDIX 197 72B. The county sui)crintcndcnt of schools shall explain the true in- tent and meaning of the school laws, and of the by-laws of the State board of education, subject to the approval in writing of the state suj)crintcndent of schools; he shall decide, without expense to the parties concerned, all controversies and disi)ules involving the rules and regulations of the county board of education and the pro|)er administration of the public school system in the county, and his decision shall Ix- final, except that an appeal may be had to the State suj)crintendcnt of schools if taken in writing within thirty days. The county superintendent of schools shall have authority to administer oaths and to examine under oath, in any part of the county, witnesses in any matter pertaining to the public schools of the county, and to cause the examination to be reduced to writing. Any person, who, having been sworn or affirmed by him to tell the truth, and who wilfully gives false testimony, shall be guilty of perjury. 72C. The county superintendent of schools shall recommend for condemnation school buildings which are unsanitary and unfit for use; he shall recommend all repairs, the purchase of grounds, school sites and buildings, or the sale of the same, and shall prepare or cause to be pre- pared all plans and specifications for the remodelling of old buildings, and the construction of new buildings, subject to the provisions of section 20 of this article; and he shall recommend, in his discretion, to the county board of education, an architect or architects to assist in the preparation of the plans and specifications for remodelling old buildings or the con- struction of new buildings, and shall supervise such remodelling and con- struction. He shall approve in writing all contracts of whatever kind entered into by the county board of education, and no contract entered into by the county board of education shall be valid without the written approval of the county su[)erintendent of schools. 72D. The county superintendent of schools shall be the representative of the state superintendent of schools in all state examinations for teachers" certificates conducted within the county, and shall perform such duties in connection therewith as may be required by the state superin- tendent of schools. He may issue, without charge, provisional certifi- cates to teachers, subject to the provisions of Chapter 8 of this article. 72E. The county sujxirintendent of schools shall nominate, for ap- pointment by the county board of education, all principals and all iqS appendix , assistant teachers, shall assign them to their positions in the schools, transfer them as the needs of the schools require, recommend them for promotion, suspend them for cause and recommend them for dismissal. 72F. The county superintendent of schools shall organize and attend county and local institutes for teachers and citizens, shall organize and direct the work of reading centers of the county, advise teachers as to their further study and professional reading, and assist parents and citizens to acquire a knowledge of the aims and work of the schools. 72G. The county superintendent shall visit the schools, observe the management and instruction and give suggestions for the improvement of the same. He shall advise with principals and teachers, counsel district trustees, and shall labor in every way to awaken public interest and to improve educational conditions within the county. 72H. The county superintendent of schools shall grade and standard- ize, subject to the rules and regulations of the state board of education, all the public schools of the county, and shall recommend the same for ap- proval to the county board of education. 72I. The county superintendent of schools shall prepare courses of study, subject to the rules and regulations and the courses of study of the state board of education, for the public schools of the county, and shall recommend the same for adoption by the county board of education. 72J. The county superintendent of schools shall prepare lists of such text-books, supplementary readers, materials of instruction, stationery and school supplies, school furniture, equipment and apparatus, as are needed by the schools, and shall recommend the purchase and distri- bution of the same by the county board of education. 73. The county superintendent of schools, acting under the rules and regulations of the county board of education, shall be responsible for the administration of the ofhce of the county superintendent of schools. He shall nominate, for appointment by the county board of education, all the professional, clerical, statistical and stenographic assistants of the office; he shall recommend their removal for immorality, misconduct in office, incompetency, insubordination or wilful neglect of duty, and he shall see that all regular appointees of the county board of education devote their entire time to their duties. But the qualifications of all appointments, their tenure and compensation, except as may hereinafter be provided, shall be determined by the county board of education. The office of the APPENDIX 199 county superintendent of schools shall, beginning with the school year, 1916-1917, be provided as follows with professional, clerical, statistical and stenographic assistants; provided that all pirofessional, clerical, statistical and stenographic assistants holding oflice at the time of the enactment of this section shall continue ti) serve to the end of the terms fi)r which they were originally ap|)ointed, and until their successors qualify, unless removed as herein provided; and provided further that they shall be paid, beginning with the school year 1910-1917, on the basis of the salaries herein specified : (i) In each county employing not less than one hundred (100) teachers, there shall be appointed at least one primary grade supervisor, who shall receive such compensation as the county board of education shall direct; provided that no person shall be eligible for appointment as a supervisor who docs not hold from the superintendent of public education a certificate in supervision as provided for in section 55 of this article; nor shall the appxjintment of any person by a county board of education as a supervisor be valid without the written approval of the state super- intendent of schools. And provided further, that no supervisor, ap- pointed under the provisions of this section or continued in office under the prousions of this section, shall be paid an annual salar\- of less than twelve hundred (Si, 200) dollars, and the State of Maryland shall pay, as hereinafter provided, out of the General State School Fund to the treasurer of the county school board, one-half of the annual salar>' of one priraar>- grade supervisor up to and including an annual salary of two thousand (S2.000) dollars. County boards of education are free to employ as many additional supervisors as in their judgment are necessar>', but the State shall not share in the pajmient of their salaries. Provided that in counties employing less than one hundred (100) teachers, the county board of education may employ at least one primary grade super\isor, subject to and under the foregoing conditions. Provided further, that two counties, each employing less than one hundred (100) teachers may join, with the approval of the state superintendent of schools in the emplovTnent of at least one primary* grade supervisor, sub- ject to and under the foregoing conditions. (2) There shall be appointed in each county at least one attendance officer, whose duty it shall be to compel the regular attendance of children at school. Such person shall receive such compensation as the county 200 APPENDIX board of education shall direct; provided that the appointment of any person as an attendance officer shall be invalid without the written ap- proval of the state superintendent of schools. And provided further, that no attendance officer, appointed under the provisions of this section or continued in office under the provisions of this section, shall be paid an annual salary of less than six hundred ($600) dollars, and the State of Maryland shall pay, as hereinafter provided, out of the General State School Fund to the treasurer of the county board of education, one-half of the annual salary of one attendance officer, up to and including an annual salary of twelve hundred ($1,200) dollars. County boards of education are free to employ as many additional attendance officers as in their judgment are necessary, subject to the approval of the state super- intendent of schools, but the State shall not share in the payment of their salaries. (3) There shall be employed in each county at least one statistical and stenographic clerk, (4) And such other clerical, statistical and stenographic assistants, and such other professional assistants, assistant superintendents, super- visors, attendance officers, medical inspectors and school nurses as the county board of education shall authorize; provided that no professional assistant shall be appointed who does not hold the appropriate certificate issued by the state superintendent of schools, and the appointment of no professional assistant shall be valid without the written approval of the state superintendent of schools. 74. The county board of education shall provide the office of the county superintendent of schools with ample, convenient and comfort- able quarters, and with adequate clerical equipment; ajid the county superintendent of schools and his professional assistants shall be provided with such means of transportation as are necessary for the effective and efficient performance of their official duties. They shall be reimbursed for all actual and necessary traveling and other expenses and disburse- ments incurred or made by them in the performance of their official duties, and no part of the traveling or personal expenses of the county superintendent and his professional assistants incurred in the perform- ance of their official duties shall be included in, or counted as a part of, their annual salary. 75. The county superintendent of schools shall direct the taking of tht; APPENDIX 2 0I biennial school census providcii for in sections 21 B and 25M of this article. 76. The county superintendent of schools shall take the initiative in the preparation and presentation of the annual school bud^,'ct,and shall in every way seek to secure adequate funds from the local authorities for the sup()ort and development of the public schools of the county. 77. The county superintendent of schools, acting as the executive otYicer of the county board of education, shall conduct all correspondence, receive all reports from the board of district trustees, principals, and teachers, and shall see that all reports are properly made and submitted. He shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, and submit to the county board of education for adoption, all reports required of that board by the state board of education or the state superintendent of schools, and he shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, and submit for approval, to the county board of education, the annual report addressed to the people of the county, provided for in section 2q of this article. 78. The county superintendent of schools, as secretary and treasurer of the county board of education, shall give bond to the State of Mar>'- land in such penal sum as the board shall determine. Said bond shall have the security of any guaranty, deposit, trust or other similar com- pany duly authorized under the laws of Mar>-land to act in such capacity. The cost or fee for such security shall be paid by the county board of education, and said bond, when executed, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of the county. The bond shall provide that the secre- tary and treasurer will faithfully perform the duties of the office and pay o%-er and apply all moneys that shall come to his hand or care as treasurer to such persons and in such manner as said board may, under the pro- \isions of this article, direct, and that he will keep a full account of all moneys received and paid by him, and all matters relating to the duties of his office and preserve the same, and all vouchers relating thereto, and deliver up all books and vouchers relating to his office to his successor. Chapter V. The District Board of School Trustees. 31. Every district board of school trustees shall hold an annual meet- ing each year on the third Saturday in May, or as soon thereafter in May, 202 APPENDIX as possible. At this meeting the Board shall each year appoint one of its members as Chairman, and shall give notice of such appointment to the secretary of the county board of education. Other regular meetings shall be held at least once each school term, and such special meetings shall be held as the duties and business of the board shall require. The principal teacher of the district school shall be the secretary, and shall attend all meetings of the board; shall have the right to speak upon all questions, but no right to vote; shall prepare for adoption all reports re- quired by the county board of education; shall keep all records and ac- counts; shall keep the minutes of the meetings of the board in a record book provided by the county board of education, and shall conduct the correspondence of the board. 3 1 A. The board of district school trustees shall have the care of the buildings and land connected therewith intended for school purposes, also the school apparatus and other school property. They shall attend to all incidental repairs and charge the cost among the incidental ex- penses of the school, to be paid out of the taxes levied upon the assessable property of the county as provided for in section 26 of this article. Pro- vided that when repairs are to be paid out of county school taxes, the amount to be so expended shall be approved by the county superinten- dent of schools and authorized by the county board of education, before the repairs are made. 31B. The district board of school trustees shall visit the schools, ad- vise the teachers on questions of discipline, and shall seek in every way to develop public sentiment in support of the schools. In case of dis- satisfaction, they may file, with the county board of education, written charges requesting the removal of the principal teacher. 32. The district board of school trustees shall see that the water closets or outhouses connected with the school are kept clean, comfort- able and in a sanitary and hygienic condition. 34. No school house shall be used for any other purpose than public school purposes and school district meetings unless by consent of the county board of education; provided, however, whenever an application is made to the district board of school trustees, signed by twenty-five citizens in the school district where the said school is situated, requesting the use of the school building for a non-partisan gathering of citizens for the presentation and discussion of public questions or for other civic, APPENDIX 203 social or recreational activities, the said school authorities shall allow the free use of such school buildinR or grounds of same for the purposes enumerated above; provided, however, said meetings shall l)c held during those hours when the school buildings are not being used for their priuci- pal purpose. 34.\. When the citizens of any community arc organized into a non- partisan, non-sectarian, non-exclusive association for the presentation and discussion of public questions, such organizations, upon request to the county board or the trustees of any school, may, in the discretion of the said authorities, have the free use of any school building in this State, for weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly gatherings, or at such times as the citizens' organization shall request or designate; provided, however, said meetings shall be held during those hours when the school buildings are not being used for their principal puqwsc. 34B. The trustees of any schools, or the county board of education may provide for the free and gratuitous use of school houses for such other civic, social and recreational activities, as in their opinion do not interfere with the principal use of the said school buildings or properties. 34C. The person or persons making application for the use of a school house for a public meeting, shall be responsible for all damage to the property occurring at such meeting, ordinary wear and tear excepted, and upon failure of the f>er5on or persons to respond in damages for any such injury to the property, the county Ixiard of education or the dis- trict board of school trustees in charge of the school house, may refuse all future applications for the wider use of the prop)erty until such injury is repaired, without expense to the board in charge of the property. It shall be the duty of the person or persons making application for the use of a school house for a public meeting place, to place the said school house after said meeting in as clean a condition as it was before said meeting, and any failure upon the part of said person or f)ersons, to whom per- mission has been granted to hold a meeting, to place said school house after said meeting in as clean a condition as it was when said school house was turned over to said person or persons for said meeting, will warrant said school authorities in refusing to allow any further use of said school house to the same parties. 35. No new school house district shall be formed containing less than fifty children between the ages of 6 and 14 years; nor shall any new school 204 APPENDIX house district be formed if any one of the old districts affected has, after the formation of the new school house district, less than fifty children be- tween the ages of 6 and 14 years, except in such unusual instances as may be approved by the state superintendent of schools. Chapter 7. Schools. 42. The schools under the jurisdiction of the county board of educa- tion shall be numbered, No. i, 2, 3 and so forth, of their respective election districts. 43. Elementary schools shall be kept open for not less than one hundred and eighty (180) actual school days and for ten months in each year, if possible, and shall be free to all white youths, between six and twenty years of age. 44. In every elementary school there shall be taught good behavior, reading, spelling, penmanship, arithmetic, oral and written English, geography, history of the United States and of Maryland, community civics, hygiene and sanitation, and such other branches as the State Board of Education may from time to time prescribe. 47. Whenever a school numbers more than forty children in average attendance, an assistant may be employed by the county board of educa- tion, in their discretion; and for every additional forty children, one teacher may be appointed. 48. Whenever the average daily attendance in any school for any two consecutive terms is less than 1 2 pupils the said school may be closed by the county board of education, and transportation provided, in the discretion of the board, for the pupils. 49. There shall be held in each school, once a year, a public exhibition of school work, of which due notice shall be given, that parents and others interested in education may attend. 50. Schools shall be kept open each weekday, except Saturday and holidays, for six hours. 52. The school year shall be divided into four terms, which shall be designated fall term, winter term, spring term, and summer term; and the time of beginning and closing each term shall be regulated by the county board of education; provided that the financial reports of the schools of APPENDIX 205 the State shall Ix- made up and rendered to the thirty-first day of July, inclusive, of each and every year; and provided, further, that there shall be no change in or encroachment uiKin the holidays and vacation set forth and established in the following parat^raph: The months of July and August shall be vacation throughout the whole State, and the following days shall be holidays, viz: Thanksgiving Day, and the day after; from Christmas Kve to the first day of Januar>-, in- clusive; and from the Friday before Kaster to the Monday after Kaster, inclusive. On Washington's Hirthday the schools shall devote a portion of the day to exercises bearing on the life and services of "The Father of (Xir Country." Mar>-land Day, .\rbor Day and Memorial Day shall be observed at such a time and in such manner as the state board of educa- tion may direct. Chapter 8. Teachers' Certificates, Salaries and Pensions. 53. No person shall be employed as county supxirintendent, assistant superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher unless such person shall hold a certificate issued by the superintendent of public education and for the grade required for the position, but any county of the State may re- quire as a condition of emplo>Tnent a higher standard for a certificate of a similar kind and grade than is required by the State. Provided that all teachers' certificates and diplomas in force at the time this section goes into effect shall continue in force for the full time for which they were issued or are valid, and shall remain valid for the grade and position for which issued. Provided, that no renewal or extension of such certificates shall be granted under this section by the State superintendent of schools, nor shall the renewal or extension of any certificate by a county superiH- tendent expiring between the time this section goes into effect and Sep- tember the thirtieth, 1916, be for more than one year. Provided also that no certificate issued by a county superintendent of schools between the time this section goes into effect and September thirtieth, 1916, shall be valid for more than one year. Provided further that no certificate heretofore issued shall be valid after this section goes into effect, for ap- pointment to the position of county superintendent, assistant superin- tendent, supervisor, high school principal or elementary school principal 2o6 APPENDIX in elementary schools having three or more teachers, including the prin- cipal, except in case of persons holding the foregoing positions at the time this section goes into effect, and then valid only for the particular position they are then holding and in tlie particular county. 54. The examination and certification of teachers, after September thirtieth, 1916, shall be a state function, and all examinations for teachers' certificates shall be on uniform questions prepared and sent out by the state superintendent of schools, either in person or through his assistants. All examination papers shall be forwarded to, read and graded by the state superintendent of schools, either in person or by his assis- tants. The county superintendent shall render such assistance in con- ducting examinations as may be required by the superintendent of public education. All details connected with examinations for teachers' certificates, the renewal of the same, the granting of such on certificates or diplomas, and the conditions under which certificates, diplomas and degrees of institutions of the State of Maryland and of other states will be recognized, not provided for in this article, shall be determined, sub- ject to the rules and regulations of the state board of education, by the state superintendent of schools. He shall issue a bulletin containing full information of the time and place, the number and kinds of examinations, the rules and regulations controlling examinations, and the issuance of certificates on credentials or diplomas. 55. The certificates hereafter to be granted shall be: (i) A certificate in administration and supervision, valid throughout the State for three years, renewable on evidence of successful experience and professional spirit and required of all county superintendents, may be issued to persons who are graduates of a standard college or university, or who have had the equivalent in scholastic preparation; who have com- pleted in addition one graduate year's work in education at a recognized university, including public school administration, supervision and method of teaching, or who have had the equivalent in scholastic prep- aration, and who have had two years' experience as a teacher. (2) A certificate in elementary school supervision, valid throughout the State for three years, renewable on evidence of successful experience, and required of assistant superintendents and supervisors, may be granted to persons who are graduates of a two years' standard normal school, or who have had the equivalent in scholastic preparation; who APPENDIX ao7 have completed in addition two full academic years' work at a standard coUeRe or university, not less than a one-half of which has been in aca- demic branches related to the elementary school and the remaining one-half in advanced elementary school methods and sufxrrvision, or who have had the equivalent in scholastic pircparation, and who have had four years of teachinR cxj)crience in elementary schools. Such a certifi- cate may also be (granted to persons who are praduates of a four years* course of a standard college or university, who have comi)letcd one full year's work at a rccoj;nized college or university in education incluecialty. Such a certificate may also be granted to persons having an equivalent academic and pro- fessional preparation on examination of equivalent standard, provided that this sub-section shall not go into effect until September first, 1919. (7) An elementary school principal's certificate, valid throughout the State for three years, renewable on evidence of successful experience and professional spirit and required in all elementary schools having three or more teachers, including the principal, may be granted to persons who have had a four years' high school course or the equivalent; who have completed a two years' standard normal school course, or the equivalent, who have had in addition not less than a full half-year's work at a recog- APPENDIX 209 nizcil collcKf or university in cU'mcnlary school methods, supervision and administration, anti who have had three years of teachinK ex[K'rience in the elementary schools. Such a certificate may also he ^^ranted to |)er- sons of equivalent academic and [jrofessional pre[)aralion on examination of equivalent standard. (8) An elementary school teacher's certificate of the first grade, valid for three years in the elementary schools of the State, and renewable on evidence of successful e.xperience and professional spirit, may be issued to persons who are graduates of a four years' high school or the ecjuiva- lent, and who have coni|)leted a two year course in a standard normal school or the equivalent. Such a certificate may also be granted to per- sons of equivalent academic and professional prei)aration on examination of equivalent standard. (0) An elementary school teacher's certificate of the second grade, valid for two years in the elementary schools of the state, may be issued to graduates of standard high schools having a four years' course, or the equivalent, on examination in reading, spelling, jjcnmanship, arithmetic, oral and written Knglish, geography, history of the United States and of Mar\-land, community civics, hygiene and sanitation, music, drawing, handwork, the theory and practice of teaching, and such other subjects as may be required by the state board of education. Provided that no ap- plicant shall be granted such a certificate who has not completed at least six weeks of professional preparation in a standard institution, nor shall such certificate be issued to any person under eighteen years of age. Pro\'ided further that this certificate may be renewed for a period of two years on evidence of successful experience and completion of not less than six weeks of additional academic and [irofessional preparation in a stand- ard institution. This certificate may be renewed for a second time for a period of three years, next succeeding or otherwise, on evidence of suc- cessful exjK'rience and completion of not less than sLx additional weeks of academic and professional preparation in a standard institution, and so on for an indefinite number of three-year jjcriods, successive or otherwise; but this certificate may not be issued a second time to the same person on examination. (10) An elementary school teacher's certificate of the third grade, valid for two years in the elementar>- schools of the state, may be issued to persons having had less than a standard high school course, on exami- 2IO APPENDIX nation in reading, spelling, penmanship, arithmetic, oral and written English, geography, history of the United States and Maryland, com- munity civics, hygiene and sanitation, the theory and practice of teach- ing, and such other subjects as may be required by the state board of education. Provided that no applicant shall be granted such a certificate who has not completed at least six weeks of professional preparation in a standard institution, nor shall such certificate be issued to any person under eighteen years of age. Provided that this certificate may be re- newed for one year on presentation of evidence of successful experience and completion of not less than six weeks of additional academic and pro- fessional preparation in a standard institution. Provided further that this certificate may be renewed for a second time for a period of three years, next succeeding or otherwise, on evidence of successful experience and completion of an additional six weeks of academic and professional preparation in a standard institution, and so on for an indefinite number of three year periods, successive or otherwise; but this certificate may not be issued a second time to the same person on examination. (ii) County superintendents of schools may, with the approval of the state superintendent of schools, in cases of emergency, issue provisional certificate of the different kinds and grades, but a provisional certificate shall be valid only until the next state examination, and a pro- visional certificate may not be renewed unless such renewal is approved by the state superintendent of schools. 56. Any county board of education may, on the recommendation of the county superintendent, suspend any teacher, principal, supervisor, or assistant superintendent for immorality, dishonesty, intemperance, insubordination, incompetency, or wilful neglect of duty, and may rec- ommend to the state superintendent of schools the revocation of the cer- tificate of such person, stating in writing the grounds for such recom- mendations, and giving an opportunity, upon not less than ten days' notice, to be heard in defense, in person or by counsel, and the state super- intendent of schools may order such investigations as he may deem necessary. If he approves the recommendation, the teacher's certificate shall be revoked and the teacher shall be dropped from the service. 57. The state superintendent of schools shall keep a full and complete record of the academic preparation, the professional training and teaching experience of each applicant to whom a certificate is issued. He shall APPENDIX 211 keep a complete record of the credentials, certificates or diplomas upon which certificates may have been issued or renewed, and shall keep on file for at least six months all written examination pajicrs. He shall keep a complete record and file of all certificates issued and of all certificates in force. He shall make known to county suj)erintendents the names of teachers holding certificates who are unem[)loyed, but seeking; fxisitions, and no provisional certificate may be issued by a county sujKrintendent when it is possible to employ (K-rsons holding regularly issued certifi- cates; nor shall jjersons be employed holding third grade certificates, when it is possible to employ persons holding second grade certificates, nor shall persons be employed holding second grade certificates when it is possible to employ f)ersons holding first grade certificates. 58. Teachers' certificates shall be of two classes: first class and second class. All teachers' certificates issued by the state superintendent of schools shall, when issued, be of the second class, and shall be subject to classification by the county superintendent. The certificates of all the teachers employed shall be classified by the county superintendent, not less than once in two years. In determining the class of the certificate of a particular teacher, the following points are to be considered: (a) Scholarship; (b) executive ability; (c) personality, and (d) teaching power. The county superintendent may add such other requirements as are appro%ed by the superintendent of public education. The county superintendent shall keep a record of the kind, grade and class of certifi- cate held by each teacher employed in the county, and on or before the first day of October each year, he shall submit to the county board of education a list of all the teachers employed, together with the kind, grade and class of their certificates, and a copy of this report shall be trans- mitted to the state superintendent of schools. 59. The salaries of teachers shall hereafter be paid monthly, during the school year on or before the tenth day of the calendar month succeeding that for which the salary is due. No teacher shall be en- titled to receive paj-ment for services unless all the current records of the school have been kept with care and accuracy, and unless all reports re- quired by the county superintendent of schools have been properly made and submitted. 60. No white teacher regularly employed in a public school of the State of Maryland shall receive a salary of less than three hundred dollars 212 APPENDIX ($300) per school year. Provided, that no white teacher regularly em- ployed in a public school of the State of Maryland, holding a third grade certificate of the first class and who has taught in the public schools of the State of Maryland for a period of eight years, shall receive a salary of less than three hundred and fifty dollars ($350) per school year. No white teacher regularly employed in a public school of the State of Maryland, holding a second grade certificate and having taught for a period of three years in the public schools of the State of Maryland, shall receive a salary of less than three hundred and fifty dollars ($350) per school year. Provided, if such a teacher holds a second grade certificate of the first class and has taught in the public schools of the State of Mary- land for a period of five years, such teacher shall receive a salary of not less than four hundred dollars ($400) per school year. Provided, further, if such a teacher hold a second grade certificate of the first class and has taught in the public schools of the State of Maryland, for a period of eight years, such teacher shall receive a salary of not less than four hundred and fifty dollars ($450) per school year. No white teacher regularly employed in a public school of the State of Maryland holding a first grade certificate, shall receive a salary of less than four hundred dollars (S400) per school year. Provided, if such a teacher holds a first grade certificate of the first class and has taught in the public schools of the State of Maryland for a period of three years, such teacher shall receive a salary of not less than four hundred and fifty dollars ($450) per school year. Provided, further, if such a teacher holds a first grade certificate of the first class and has taught in the public schools of Maryland for a period of five years, such teacher shall receive a salary of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) per school year. And provided, further, if such a teacher holds a first grade certificate of the first class and has taught in the public schools of the State of Maryland for a period of eight years, such a teacher shall receive a salary of not less than five hundred and fifty dollars ($550) per school year. The boards of county commissioners of each county shall levy sufficient funds to meet the scale of salaries provided for in this section; and the salary of no teacher regularly employed at the time this section goes into effect shall be diminished by reason of any of its provisions, but every teacher shall be entitled to any increase in salary that may herein be granted, from the time this section goes into effect. APPENDIX 213 62. WTienevcr any person in this State has taught in any of the public or normal schools thereof twenty-five years, and has reached the age of sixty years, and his or her record as such teacher has Ix-en without re- proach, and by reason of physical or mental disability or infirmity is un- able to teach longer, and who, moreover, is without the means of com- fortable support, such person may lay his or her case before the state superintendent of schools, supported by the recommendation of the county board of education of the county in which such jK-rson has last taught, and the state supicrintendent of schools shall proceed to consider the same, and if the facts are found as alx)vc stated such person shall be placed on a list, to be known as the "Teachers' Retired List," and every person so placed on this list shall be entitled to receive a pension from the State of two hundred dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly by the Treasurer of the State Board of Education, so long as such pensioner is without other means of comfortable support, and the state superinten- dent of schools may in extraordinary cases waive the age limit as herein designated. Provided, however, the applicant has all the other quali- fications as herein sjjecified. The treasurer of the state board of educa- tion shall, on or before the last day of September, December, March and June of each year, certify to the Comptroller the sum of money necessar>- for the pa\-ment of said pensions for the current quarter as pro- Nided by this section, and the Comptroller, shall, on or before the first day of the months of January, March, June and October, issue his warrant on the Treasurer of the State in favor of the Treasurer of the State Board of Education for the amount so certified. On receipt of the warrant of the Comptroller, the Treasurer of the State of Maryland shall immedi- ately pay the amount due on said dates to the Treasurer of the State Board of Education. Chapter 9. Pupils. 63. -\I1 white youths between the ages of six and twenty-one years shall be admitted into such public schools of the State, the studies of which they may be able to pursue; provided, that whenever there are grade schools, the principal and the county superintendent shall deter- mine to which school pupils shall be admitted. 64. The district board of school trustees shall have power to suspend 214 APPENDIX and expel pupils for cause; provided, that an appeal shall lie to the county superintendent, whose decision shall be final. 65. Children living remote from the school of the district in which they reside may attend school in an adjoining district, with the consent of the county superintendent of schools. Chapter 10. Text Books and School Supplies 68. The board of public school commissioners of Baltimore City and each county board of education shall adopt and purchase, subject to the provisions of this article, text books, supplementary readers, materials of instruction, stationery, and school supplies for use in the public schools of said city and of the several counties of the State. When so purchased, the necessary text books, supplementary readers, materials of instruc- tion, stationery, and school supplies shall be furnished free of cost for use in the public schools of the State, provided that no regular text books or series of text books shall be changed more often than once in three years. It shall be the duty of the board of school commissioners of Baltimore City and of the county boards of education of the several counties to furnish text books in ample and sufficient quantities to the several grades in the public schools; thereafter supplementary readers, materials of instruction, stationery and school supplies shall be furnished in adequate quantities to the several grades in the public schools, pro- vided that parents or pupils may purchase their text-books, stationery and school supplies, if they desire to do so. The said respective boards shall adopt means for the purchase of text-books, supplementary readers, materials of instruction, stationery and school supplies by competitive bidding, and at the lowest possible price consistent with quality, and each of said boards shall furnish annually to the state superintendents of schools the title, the name of the publisher, and the net price of each text book and supplementary reader purchased under the provisions of this article. 69. The said several boards shall authorize the delivery, subject to the provisions of this article, of text-books, supplementary readers, ma- terials of instruction, stationery and school supplies, and shall provide for the issuing, safekeeping and care of the same under such rules and regulations as they may severally adopt. APPENDIX 215 70. The said several Ixiards shall keep a separate account of all money received from the State for the purchase of text books, sup|)lcmfntary readers, materials of instruction, stationery and school supplies and of all money expx^nded for such purposes. They shall rc|)ort the same annually to the state superintendent of schools and in their annual re|x)rt ad- dressed to the people required by law. No money received from the State for the purcha.se of text liooks, supplementary readers, materials of in- struction, stationery and school su[)[)lics shall ever be used for any other purpose or sjxint in any other way than provided for in the two preceding sections. 71. The entire sum appropriated by the General Assembly for the purchase of text books, supplementary readers, material of instruction, stationery and school supplies, shall be annually apportioned on or be- fore the last day of September by the Comptroller to the board of public school commissioners of the City of Baltimore and to the county boards of education of each of the several counties according to and on the basis of the average enrollment in the public schools of the City of Baltimore, and of each of the several counties during the preceding school year as certified to by the state superintendent of schools, and the Comptroller shall on or before the first day of October draw his warrant on the Treas- urer of the State of Maryland for the respective amounts due to the board of public school commissioners of Baltimore City and the treasurer of the county board of education of the several counties. On the receipt of the warrant of the Comptroller, the Treasurer of the State of Maryland shall immediately pay the respective amounts due to the board of public school commissioners of the City of Baltimore and the treasurer of the county board of education of the several counties. The board of public school commissioners of the City of Baltimore and the county boards of educa- tion are free to spend more for text books, supplemenLiry readers, materials of instruction, stationery and school supplies than the amount received from the State for such purpose. Chapter 12. The Slate Normal Schools. 82. The state board of education and the state superintendent of schools shall be the board of trustees of each of the normal schools main- 2i6 APPENDIX tained and supported by the State: the state normal school at Towson, the state normal school at Frostburg and the state normal school at Bowie. 83. The board of trustees shall exercise general supervision of the expenditure of all money appropriated by the General Assembly for the erection of buildings or additions, for repairs, up-keep, maintenance and support of these schools, and shall have control and supervision of their management and work. The board of trustees shall authorize all de- partments of instruction and all positions, and shall &x the salaries and tenure of all teachers, and all assistants of whatever kind; they may dis- iniss any teacher or any assistant for immorality, dishonesty, miscon- duct in ofl&ce, incompetency, insubordination and wilful neglect of duty, but no teacher or professional assistant may be dismissed without being given a copy of the charges against him and an opportunity of being heard, in person or by counsel, in his own defense, upon not less than ten days' notice. The board of trustees shall authorize the course or the courses of study to be offered, including courses for observation and practice in teaching. They shall prescribe the entrance requirements, subject to the provisions of this article, to the different departments and courses of study; shall determine the number of students to be admitted from the city of Baltimore, and each of the several counties, provided that students of both sexes shall be admitted; they shall regulate the length of the regular sessions, provided that it shall not be less than nine months; they shall provide and arrange for summer sessions, and shall formulate rules and regulations for the conduct and management of these schools. 84. The board shall elect a principal for each of the state normal schools, provided that no principal shall be elected to a white normal school who is not a graduate of a standard college, or the equivalent, who has not had in addition not less than two years of special academic and professional preparation in a standard university, and five years of teach- ing experience, two of which have been in the training of teachers. Pro- vided that nothing in this section shall affect the terms of the present in- cumbents or their eligibility for reappointment. The principal shall be the head of his respective school and shall be responsible for the discipline and successful conduct of his school and for the administration and super- vision of all its departments. The principal shall nominate for appoint- ment by the board of trustees, and may recommend for dismissal by said APPENDIX 217 board, all heads of dcjxirtmcnL;, all teachers, and all assistants of whatever kind. He shall submit to the board of trustees, for adoption, courses of study and [)lans of work and shall in every way take the initiative in working; out the [xjlicics of his school and in promoting its development and efficiency. He shall each year make an annual report to the state sujx^rintendent of schools, including a copy of the annual re- port of the treasurer of the state board of education, of the receipts and disbursements of his school, a statement of the academic preparation of each student admitted during the year, of the state and condition of the school, of its achievements during the year, of its present and future needs, and of his recommendations for the support and advancement of his school. 85. There shall be maintained at each white state normal school a two year course or courses of study designed for the preparation of teachers for the elementary- schools, and to which only graduates of a standard four year high school course, or the equivalent, may be admitted. There may be maintained, in addition, advanced specialized industrial and practical courses in manual training, in domestic art and science and in the applied arts for the preparation of teachers in these special branches. 86. There may also be maintained, at each white state normal school a four year preparatory course of a standard high school grade for the accommodation of such students as desire to teach but who are not pro- vided with local high school advantages; but no pupil may be admitted to this four year course of a high school grade who has not completed the work of the public elementar>' schools. 87. Students regularly admitted to the state normal schools from the city of Baltimore and the several counties, who shall obligate themselves to teach in the State of Mar>-land, shall have free tuition and shall be furnished the use of text books free of charge. Other students may be admitted to these schools, in the discretion of the board of trustees, who possess the prescribed qualifications for admission, on pay-ment of a fixed and uniform fee as determined by the board of trustees. 88. The several and resj^ective sums hereafter appropriated by the General .Assembly for the erection of buildings, or additions, repairs, up- keep, maintenance and support of each of the state normal schools shall, unless other\s-ise specified and pro\-ided, be paid in equal instalments on the first day of January, March, June and October to the treasurer of the 2i8 APPENDIX state board of education. On or before said dates, the Comptroller shall draw his warrant on the treasurer of the State of Maryland for the re- spective amounts due on said dates to the treasurer of the state board of education. On receipt of the warrant of the Comptroller, the Treasurer of the State of Maryland shall immediately pay the amount due on said dates to the treasurer of the state board of education, and the same shall be paid to and applied by the board of trustees of the state normal schools to the payment of teachers' salaries, clerical and other assistance, for the purchase of apparatus, school furniture, text books, library and reference books, stationery, light, fuel and for other necessary expenses in main- taining and supporting the respective state normal schools, and when special appropriations are made for the erection of buildings or additions or unusual repairs the same shall be used for the special purpose. The treasurer of the state board of education shall make, on or before January the first of each year, to the Governor, a report of the receipts and dis- bursements of each of the state normal schools. Chapter 17. High Schools. 125. The county board of education of any county shall have author- ity to establish high schools, subject to the approval of the state superin- tendent of schools, in their respective counties, when, in their judgment, it is advisable to do so. All high schools so established and those now in operation shall be under the direct control of the several county boards of education, subject to the provisions of this article; provided that when in- struction below that of the high school grades is given in the same build- ing, or on the same premises, such grade work may also be under the direct control of the county board of education, and the principal of the high school shall also be principal of the elementary school. 126. For the encouragement of secondary education in Marjdand, the State shall extend aid to such groups of high schools in such amounts and in such manner as hereinafter designated and described. All high schools of the counties of the State of Maryland receiving state aid shall be ar- ranged by the state superintendent of schools in two groups, to be de- signated first group and second group, according to the number of pupils enrolled, teachers employed, and years of instruction given. High APPENDIX 219 Schools of the first group shall fulfill the followinR minimum requirements: (a) They shall have an enrollment of not less than eighty pupils, and an averapc daily attendance of not less than seventy pupils; (h) they shall employ not less than four teachers for the re^^ular hij^h school work, ex- clusive of instructors of special subjects named under (e); (c) they shall provide a four years' course of instruction of not less than one hundred and eighty actual school days in each year, the same to conform to the standard required by the state board of education; (d) the annual salary of the principal shall be not less than twelve hundred dollars ($1,200) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of less than three years' experience as principal of an approved high school; not less than thirteen hundred dollars (Si. 300) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of three j'ears' expjerience as principal of an approved high school; not less than fourteen hundred dollars ($1 ,400) for a person, holding a first class certifi- cate, of five years' experience as principal of an approved high school; and not less than fifteen hundred dollars ($1,500) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of eight years' experience as principal of an af>- proved high school. The annual salary of each assistant teacher regu- larly employed shall be not less than five hundred dollars ($500) for a person of not less than three years' experience as teacher in an approved high school; not less than six hundred dollars ($600) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of three years' experience as teacher in an approved high school; not less than seven hundred dollars (S700) for a person, hold- ing a first class certificate, of five years' experience as a teacher in an ap- proved high school; and not less than eight hundred dollars (SSoo) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of eight years' experience as teacher in an approved high school. Experience prior to the year 1910 shall not be considered in determining the salary of the principal and assistant teachers; (e) provision shall be made for manual or industrial training and domestic science courses, and also for a commercial or an agricultural course, as may be determined by the county board of educa- tion, on the approval of the state superintendent of schools; and on the recommendation of said State Superintendent of Schools a course in agri- culture may be substituted for manual or industrial training; (f) no person shall be employed as principal or assistant teacher not holding the ap- propriate certificate as provided for in Chapter 8 of this article. High Schoob of the second group shall fulfill the following minimum require- 220 APPENDIX ments: (a) they shall have an enrollment of not less than thirty-five pupils, and an average daily attendance of thirty pupils; (b) they shall employ not less than two teachers for the regular high school work, ex- clusive of instructors of special subjects named under (e) ; (c) they shall provide a three years' course of instruction of not less than one hundred and eighty actual school days in each year, the same to conform to the standard required by the State Board of Education; (d) the annual salary of the principal shall be not less than one thousand dollars ($i,ooo) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of less than three years' experience as principal of an approved high school; not less than eleven hundred dollars ($i,ioo) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of three years' experience as principal of an approved high school; not less than twelve hundred dollars ($1,200) for a person, holding a first class certifi- cate, of five years' experience as principal of an approved high school; and not less than thirteen hundred dollars ($1,300) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of eight years' experience as principal of an approved high school; and the annual salarj^ of each assistant teacher regularly employed shall be not less than five hundred dollars ($500) for a person of less than three years' experience as teacher in an approved high school; not less than six hundred dollars ($600) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of three years' experience as teacher in an approved high school; not less than seven hundred dollars ($700) for a person, holding a first class certificate, of five years' experience as a teacher in an approved high school; and not less than eight hundred dollars ($800) for a person holding a first class certificate, of eight years' experience as teacher in an approved high school. Experience prior to the year 19 10 shall not be considered in determining the salary of the principal and assistant teachers; (e) provision shall be made for manual or industrial training and domestic science courses, and also for an agricultural course, as may be determined by the county board of education, on the approval of the state superintendent of schools; (f) no person shall be employed as principal or assistant teacher not holding the appropriate certificate as provided for, in Chapter 8 of this Article. The course of instruction in schools of the second group may be extended to four years by the county board of edu- cation on the approval of the state superintendent of schools, by the em- ployment of such additional teacher or teachers, as may be required by the state superintendent of schools; provided, that the salary of such ad- APPENDIX 221 ditional teacher or teachers shall be paid wholly by the county board of education; and in the schools of the second group, where the course of in- struction has been so extended to a four-year course, the graduates shall receive the same recognition as graduates of schools of tiie lirst group. No promotions of high school pupils from one grade to another, or grad- uation, shall l)e made without the api)roval of the princii)al and the county suix'rintendent. 126A. To encourage the idea that no person should enter upon the duties of teaching without si)ecial training for the work, the county board of education of any county, with the approval of the state sujierintcn- dent of schools, may inaugurate in one approved high school of the first group, a two years' teachers' training course for students having com- pleted successfully the tenth year grade, and who wish to prepare them- selves for teaching. The state board of education shall prescribe the course and all necessary regulations to make the work of the course eflective. 127. It shall be the duty of the state superintendent of schools, or an assistant designated by him, to make an annual inspection of all high schools receiving state aid, and also such other schools as make applica- tion, through their respective county superintendents, to receive said state aid. The state superintendent of-schools shall, on or before the last day of September of each year, prepare a list of high schools, designating the group to which each belongs, the amount of said state aid to which each is entitled, and to whom the same shall be paid. The preparation of this list shall be based on information obtained through inspection, super- vision, wTitten reports of the principal or county superintendent, or other reliable sources. He shall certify this list to the Comptroller of the treasury, on or before the last day of September of each year, and the Comptroller of the treasury' shall issue his warrant upon the treasurer of the State in equal quarterly instalments in each and every year at the time when the General State School P'und is now, or may hereafter be distributed, payable to the order of the treasurers of the respective county boards of education, or the board of commissioners of the public schools of Baltimore City, for such sum or sums as they arc entitled to receive under the provisions of this article, and shown by the certified list of high schools as aforesaid. Provided that any high school receiving state aid, under the provisions of this article, shall forfeit its right to receive state 222 APPENDIX aid under the provisions of any other act or resolution of the General Assembly of the State of Maryland. Provided, further, that not more than one high school shall be granted state aid under the provisions of this article in the same village, town or city, unless each additional high school has an average daily attendance in excess of two hundred pupils; provided that this provision shall not affect the right of schools on the approved list at the date of the passage of this act to receive state aid. 1 28. Each county high school in the first group shall receive state aid on the basis of the cost of instruction, and in the following manner: The sum of six hundred (600) dollars on account of the principal, and the sum of three hundred (300) dollars on account of each of the first three assis- tants employed for regular high school work; the sum of four hundred (400) dollars on account of each of two special teachers, who shall spend not less than two-fifths of their time in the school; and the sum of one hundred (100) dollars on account of each additional regular high school teacher, provided the total amount does not exceed the sum of twenty- five hundred (2500) dollars. In this Chapter the term "special teacher" shall be construed to mean a teacher of commercial, manual or industrial training, domestic science or agricultural branches. Each county high school in the second group shall receive state aid on the basis of the cost of instruction, and in the following manner: The sum of six hundred (600) dollars on account of the principal; the sum of four hundred (400) dollars on account of one assistant teacher employed for regular high school work; and the sum of four hundred (400) dollars on account of one instructor of special subjects; provided that the amount that may be received by a high school of Baltimore city shall be equal to the maximum amount received on account of anv high school in the counties of the State. 129. All certificates or diplomas issued to students having completed a course of study in a county high school shall show the group to which said high school belongs, the course taken by the student, and the num- ber of years of instruction given; and the graduates of any approved high school providing a four years' course shall be admitted without examina- tion to the freshman class of any college of Maryland receiving financial aid from the State; provided said graduate pursued the academic course in the high schools. 130. The state board of education, subject to the provisions of this APPENDIX 223 article, shall prepare the course of study to be used by the several groups of high schools described in this article, and shall have authority to make any by-laws for their government not at variance with the provisions of this article. Ch.\pter 18. Schools for Colored Children. 131. It shall be the duty of the county board of education to establish one or more public schools in each election district for all colored youths, between six and twenty years of age, to which admission shall be free, and which shall be kept open not less than one hundred and forty (140) actual school days or seven months in each school year; provided, that the colored population of any such district shall, in the judgment of the county board of education, warrant the establishment of such a school cr schools. 132. Each colored school shall be under the direction of a district board of school trustees, to be apix)inted by the county board of educa- tion subject to the provisions of section 7 of this article, and schools for colored children shall be subject to all the provisions of this article. Chapter 19. Source and DistribiUion of Income 133. All money appropriated, subsequent to the enactment of this section, by the General Assembly of the State of Maryland and the re- ceipts from any state public school tax levied by the General Assem.bly, to aid in support of public schools, shall constitute what shall be known as the General State School Fund. The comptroller shall charge against and pay as hereinbefore or hereinafter provided from the General State School Fund, the annual appropriation made by the General Assembly for the sui> port of the sUte department of education, including the expenses of the state board of education, and the support and expenses of the ofBce of the state superintendent of schools; the annual appropriation for the main- tenance and support of the state normal school at Towscn; of the state normal school No. 2. at Frostburg, and of the state normal school No. 3 at Bowie; the annual appropriation for retired teachers' pensions; the annual apgropriation for state aid to approved high schools: the annual 224 APPENDIX appropriation for state aid to approved colored industrial schools; the annual appropriation for part paj'ment by the State of the salaries of county superintendents and of the superintendent of schools of Baltimore City, and of one supervisor, and of one attendance officer in each of the several counties and the City of Baltimore; the annual appropriation for the purchase of text books, materials of instruction and school supplies. But no special appropriation to any county; to any academy, or to any college or university may be paid from the General State School Fund. 136. Such appropriations as are made by the General Assembly for the payment of the expenses of the state board of education and for the support and expenses of the office of the state superintendent of schools shall be paid each year in equal instalments on the first day of January, March, June and October, to the treasurer of the state board of education. On or before said dates the Comptroller shall draw his war- rant on the Treasurer of the State of Maryland for the respective amounts due on said dates to the Treasurer of the State Board of Education. On the receipt of the warrant of the Comptroller the Treasurer of the State of ISIaryland shall immediately pay the amount due on said dates to the Treasurer of the State Board of Education. 137. The state superintendent of schools shall certify to the Comp- troller, on or before the last day of December, Februar>', May and Sep- tember, the amounts due on said dates to the board of public school commissioners of the City of Baltimore and to the county board of edu- cation of the several counties, on account of the part pa>'ment by the State of the salary of county superintendents, and superintendent of schools of Baltimore City, and one supervisor and one attendance officer in the City of Baltimore and in each of the several counties. The Com.p- troUer shall on or before the first day of January, March, June and Octo- ber draw his warrant on the treasurer of the State of Maryland for the respective amounts due the City of Baltimore and the treasurer of the county boards of education of the several counties. On the receipt of the warrant of the Comptroller, the Treasurer of the State of Maryland, shall immediately pay the respective amounts due the City of Baltimore and the treasurer of the county boards of education of the several counties. 138. After all deductions are made from the General State School Fund as provided for in section 133 of this article, the Comptroller shall apportion on or before the last day of September, the remainder of the APPENDIX 225 General State School Fund of each year to the several counties and the City of Baltimore, as follows: Two-thirds shall he app;ale days of school attendance during the preceding school year as certified to by the state suiK'rintendent of schools, pro\ ided that the attendance of i)Uj)ils in a state aided high school shall not be counted in ap[)ortioning the General State School Fund. 139. On or before the first day of January, March, June and October, in each year, the treasurer of the state, upon the warrant of the Comj)- troller, shall pay in the proportion required by section 138 of this article, after deductions are made as provided in section 133 of this article, what remains from the amount received to the credit of the General State School Fund to the treasurer of the county boards of education of the several counties and to the city of Baltimore. He shall cquali2e, as far r.? may \^c possible, the sums to be paid on each of said daj-s, and shall notify the state superintendent of schools of said apportionment. Provided, that the comptroller shall withhold from any county or from the City of Baltimore any instalment from the General State School Fund on notifi- cation from the state superintendent of schools tliat said county or City of Baltimore is not complying with the provisions of this article. Chapter 20. Colored Industrial Scliools. 142. It shall be the duty of the county l)oard of education in each county of the State, when in their judgment there is need thereof, to provide a suitable building or room, or rooms, connected with one of the colored schools of said county, for the establishment of a central colored industrial school, and to provide for the maintenance of such central colored industrial school where instruction shall be given daily in do- mestic science and in such industrial arts as may be determined by the county board of education. One-half of the appropriation hereinafter provided shall be used for the maintenance nf such industrial school. 226 APPENDIX 143. \\^ienever any such colored industrial school is opened in any county the secretary of the county board of education shall report the fact to the state superintendent of schools, and he, or an assistant desig- nated by him, shall visit the said school and shall give, if in his judgment it is warranted, a certificate of approval of the conditions and the plan upon which said industrial school is conducted, to the secretary of the county board of education. The state superintendent of schools shall submit annually to the Comptroller of the treasury of the State on or be- fore the last day of September, a complete list of such schools as are en- titled to receive the special appropriation for industrial education. 144. The Comptroller, upon receiving the certificate of approval from the state superintendent of schools, is hereby authorized and directed to issue his warrant, on the first day of October, each year, upon the treas- urer of the State for the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, payable to the order of the treasurer of the county board of education that has in- augurated such a colored industrial school, in equal quarterly instal- ments, at the time when the General State School Fund is distributed, as provided for in this article. One-half of said appropriation shall be used for the support of one colored industrial school in the county, and one- half shall be used by the couiity board of education of the county where said colored industrial school is located for the employment of a capable and trained colored supervisor of colored schools, who shall be required to \d3it, under the direction of the county superintendent, all the colored schools of the county as often as the county superintendent may direct, and shall cause instruction of an industrial character to be made a daily part of the work of every colored school. The management and control of such an industrial school and the employment of a supervisor shall, subject to the provisions of this article, be in the hands of the county board of education of the county where such school is located. 145. No appropriation for the full amount of fifteen hundred dollars, authorized by the preceding section for the support of one central colored industrial school and for the employment of a colored school supervisor in such county where the colored industrial school may be located, shall be paid as authorized after the first annual appropriation, unless said colored industrial school shall have had for the preceding year an average attendance of thirty pupils and as many as ten colored schools iii the county where such industrial school is located. If in any county where APPENDIX 227 there arc less than ten colored schools, a colored industrial school shall he established, the state superintendent of schools, in his discretion, may recommend the ixiyment of a part of said appropriation, not to exceed one-half the amount, or seven hundred and fifty dollars; and when such recommendation is made to the comptroller, he is authorized and directed to issue his warrant uiK)n the treasurer of the State for said amount, pay- able to the order of the treasurer of the county board of education. Chapter 21. Sclwol Atkruiance. 156. The board of school commissioners of Baltimore city shall ap- point, and may remove at pleasure, one chief attendance ofl'icer, male or female; and in addition they may appoint and may remove at pleasure, such numljer of attendance oflkers, male or female, not exceeding eigh- teen, as they may deem proffer. The compensation of such officers shall be fixed and paid by the mayor and city council of Baltimore. The county board of education of each of the several counties shall appoint, with the approval of the county suijerintendent, and may remove at pleasure, with the approval of the county superintendent, at least one attendance ofi&cer, male or female, who shall give his or her entire time to the duties of the office; and such additional attendance officers may be appointed as the county board of education may deem necessary. 162. Every child, residing in any county of the State being seven years of age, and under thirteen years of age, shall attend some public school during the entire period of each year that the public schools of the county are in session; unless it can be shown to the county superintendent of schools that such a child is elsewhere receiving regular and thorough in- struction during such period in the studies usually taught in the public schools of the county to children of the same age; provided, that the su- perintendent or principal of any school, or persons duly authorized by such superintendent, may e.xcuse cases of necessary and legal absence among such enrolled pupils, and provided, further, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to children whose mental or physical condition is such as to render the instruction above described inexj^edient or im- practicable. Every person having under his control a child seven years 228 APPENDIX of age and under thirteen years of age, shall cause such child to attend school or receive instruction as required by this section. Every child, residing in any county of the State, being thirteen years of age or fourteen years of age, shall attend some public school not less than one hundred days, as nearly consecutive as possible, beginning not later than November first, during the period of each year that the public schools of the county are in session, and such child shall attend some public school the entire period of each year that the public schools of the county are in session, if not regularly and lawfully employed to labor at home or elsewhere, unless it can be shown to the county superintendent of schools that such a child is elsewhere receiving regular and thorough in- struction for such period in the studies usually taught in the public schools of the county to children of these ages; provided, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to children whose mental and physical condition is such as to render the instruction above described inexpedient or impracticable. Every person ha\ing under his control a child thirteen years of age or fourteen years of age, shall cause such child to attend school or receive instruction as required by this section. Every child residing in any county of the State, being fifteen years of age or sixteen years of age, who has not completed the work of the public elementary school, shall attend some public school not less than one hundred days, as nearly consecutive as possible, beginning not later than November first, during the period of each year the public schools of the county are in session; and such child shall attend some public school the entire period of each year the public schools of the county are in session, if not regularly and lawfully employed to labor at home or elsev/here, un- less it can be shown to the county superintendent of schools that such child is elsewhere receiving regular and thorough instruction for said period in the studies usually taught in the public schools of the county to children of these ages; provided, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to children whose mental and physical condition is such as to render the instruction above described inexpedient or impracticable. Every person having under his control a child fifteen years of age, or six- teen years of age, shall cause such child to attend school or receive in- struction as required by this section. Any person who has a child under his control and who fails to comply APPENDIX 229 with any of the provisions of this section, sluill Ik- ^'iiilly of a misdimianor, and shall Ix; lined not exceeding five dollars for eadi olTense. 173. Wherever the words "su|)erintendent of public eland that joint resolution No. 34 of the legislative session of 1831, joint resolution 23 o APPENDIX No. I of the legislative session of 1832, joint resolution No. 52 of the legislative session of 181 1, joint resolution No. 84 of the legislative session of 1834, joint resolution No. 72 of the legislative session of 1835, joint resolution No. 35 of the legislative session of 1839, Chapter 107 of the acts of 1798, Chapter 204 of the acts of 1835, Chapter 35 of the acts of 1840, Chapter 281 of the acts of 1846, Chapter 105 of the acts of 1854, Chapter 268 of the acts of 1856, Chapters 201 and 310 of the acts of 1858, Chapter 128 of the acts of 1864, Chapter 160 of the acts of 1865, Chapters 183 and 434 of the acts of 1868, Chapters 88, 78, 242, and 419 of the acts of 1870, Chapter 176 of the acts of 1874, Chapter 339 of the acts of 1878, Chapter 429, of the acts of 1882, Chapters 279, 299 and 481 of the acts of 1890, and Chapter 430 of the acts of 1906; be, and the same are hereby repealed in so far as they provide appropriations from the Treasury of the State of Maryland. Section 2. Be it further enacted that this Act shall take effect on June I, 1916. A BILL Entitled an act to repeal Chapter 33 of the Acts of 1839 which re- quires the Treasurer of the State of Maryland to substitute annually the sum of $34,069.36 for the interest on the "Surplus Revenue" received from the Federal Government, and apportion same among the counties and the City of Baltimore for the public schools. Section i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland that Chapter 33 of the Acts of 1839 be and the same is hereby repealed. Section 2. Be it further enacted that this act shall take effect Augusi I, 1916. THE COUNTRY LITE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. •■ he U«aa« stamped wow, or ThisbooUU^aue^o^-^t^owM*.-^^^^^ Renewals aod«chaJ_j^^ ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ALL BOOKS^B^^^^^EOJHH^,---- iRT91977 VB 34825 54Z007 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY