support of common schools, and a further tax of 2 mills on the dollar upon all the taxable property in the county, to be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes are collected, which shall be apportioned by the county superintendent among the schools of the county, as provided by law, and which shall constitute the county tuition fund.

OHIO.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State commissioner-State board of examiners-State text-book commissionCounty board of examiners-School districts-Board of education-City and village examiners—City superintendent—Truant officer.

State commissioner.-There shall be elected at the general election for State officers a State commissioner of common schools, who shall hold office for three years, a vacancy to be filled by the governor. Ile shall give bond to the amount of $5,000, with two or more sureties, and shall keep official books and papers at his office at the capital, where he shall be in attendance not less than ten months except when absent on public business. He shall visit annually each judicial district of the State, superintending and encouraging teachers' institutes, conferring with boards of education or other school officers, counseling teachers, visiting schools, and delivering lectures on topics calculated to subserve the interests of popular education; secure the safety and the proper application of State educational funds, and may require all persons having charge of the same to account to him; prescribe suitable forms and regulations for making all reports and conducting all necessary proceedings under the school laws, and transmit them to the local officers with instructions; prepare as many copies of the school laws as are necessary, and distribute them; make an annual report to the general assembly, or when that body is not in session to the governor, and send a copy to the legislature when it convenes. In his report he shall give the condition and amount of all funds and property appropriated to education; number of common schools; number, by sex, attending them, and the branches taught; number of private and select schools in the State, and their attendance, by sex, and the branches taught; number of teachers' institutes, the attendance thereat, number of instructors, and the amount paid to each; estimated cost of the schools, and the accounts of the expenditures of every description; plans for the management and improvement of common schools, and such other information as he may deem of importance. He shall annually require of the president, manager, or principal of every seminary, academy, and private school a report of such facts, arranged on such form as he shall furnish.

State board of examiners.-There shall be a State board of examiners, which shall consist of 5 competent persons, residents of the State, to be appointed by the State commissioner for five years, not more than 3 of whom shall belong to the same political party, one member to retire annually. Each member shall receive $5 per diem of actual service and 6 cents per mile each way from his residence and back. The board is authorized to issue three grades of life certificates.

State text-book commission.-(See Schools-Text-books.)

County board of examiners.-There shall be a county board of examiners, to consist of 3 competent persons, to be appointed for three years by the probate judge. Two members shall have had at least two years' experience as teachers, and shall have been within five years actual teachers in properly recognized schools. They shall all be residents of the county for which they are appointed, and shall not be connected with or interested in any school for the special education or training of persons for teachers, or any other private school, or be employed as instructors in any institute in their own county, nor be an agent of or interested in any book-publishing or book-selling firm, company, or business; and violation of these provisions vacates the office held by the offender. A clerk shall be appointed from the members, who shall keep a record of the proceedings, of the certificates issued, and report to the State commissioner annually. Each board shall fix upon the time and place for holding meetings for the examination of applicants for certificates.

School districts.-The State is divided into school districts, to be styled, respectively, city districts of the first grade of the first class, of the second grade

of first class, of the third grade of the first class; city districts of the first class, city districts of the second class, village districts, special districts, and township districts. Each city having a population of 200,000 or more, including the territory annexed to it for school purposes and excluding that detached from it for school purposes, shall constitute a city district of the first grade of the first class; each city having a population of 90,000 to 200,000 shall constitute a city district of the second grade of the first class; each city having a population of 31,500 to 90,000 shall constitute a city district of the third grade of the first class; and each city having a population of 10,000 to 31,500 shall constitute a city district of the first class; each city of the second class having a population of less than 10,000 shall constitute a school district to be styled a city district of the second class; each village shall constitute a school district to be styled a village district; each organized township, exclusive of any of its territory included in a city, village, or special district, shall constitute a school district to be styled a township district. All other legally constituted districts shall be styled special districts.

Boards of education.-In city districts of the first grade of the first class (Cincinnati) the board of education shall consist of one member from each ward, who shall be an elector and shall hold for two years. But the members of such board shall not as individuals or as local committees exercise supervisory authority over the schools in the several wards or districts, or have the selection or nomination of teachers. The board shall hold regular meetings once every two weeks.

Boards of education in city districts of the second grade of the first class (Cleveland) shall consist of a school council of 7 and a school director, and shall organize by electing one of its members president and a nonmember clerk, whose salary shall not exceed $2,000 per annum. The members shall be elected biennially, one group retiring annually. The council has legislative power and authority in regard to school affairs within its district, but every resolution involving an expenditure of money or the approval of a contract for the payment of money or the purchase, sale, lease, or transfer of property, or levying any tax, or for the change or adoption of any text-book, shall before it takes effect be presented, duly certified by the clerk to the school director, who shall sign it or return it to the council at its next meeting, and on his failure to return it as above directed the measure shall become a law; but he may approve or disapprove any part of a resolution appropriating money if the item has no bearing or connection with any other part of such resolution, and the council may override his objections by a two-thirds vote. The council shall have power to provide for the appointment of all necessary teachers and employees, to prescribe their duties, and fix their compensation.

The board of education in city districts of the third grade of the first class (Toledo) consists of 5 members elected at large on a nonpartisan ticket, the candidates being named by petition, and all the names placed on one ticket arranged alphabetically. The term of the members is five years, one being elected each year. The board is required to appoint a business manager as well as a superintendent. The business manager is ex officio member of the board, with the privilege of speaking but not voting. He is the chief executive officer of the board in all business matters.

In city districts of the second class and in village districts the board of education shall consist of 6 members, except in districts organized under a law providing for only 3 members, unless such districts elect to have 6 members; but the electors of any city district of the second class may vote that the board shall consist of as many members as the city has wards, in which case a member shall biennially be elected in each ward. In other city districts of the second class the members shall be elected to serve for three years, 2 members to retire annually if composed of 6, 1 member to retire annually if composed of 3 members.

In village districts members of the board of education shall be elected for a term of three years, 1 to retire annually, but the district may vote to increase the membership to 6, when 2 shall retire annually.

The board of education of each township district divided into subdistricts shall consist of the township clerk and one director elected for a term of three years from each subdistrict, the township clerk being ex officio clerk of the board, but having no vote except in case of a tie. The directors thus elected shall be divided into three classes, one class to retire annually. The board shall hold regular sessions on the third Monday of April, June, August, October, December, and February, and may hold special meetings. The board

may at any regular session increase or diminish the number or change the boundaries of subdistricts, and the school of a subdistrict can be suspended when the enumeration of school youth falls below 15 or when transportation is furnished the pupils of the same to other schools. When a majority of the electors of a township district vote in favor of centralizing the schools of such district all the subdistricts are abolished and a township board consisting of 5 members is elected at large and the pupils are conveyed to one or not to exceed two central schools.

In each subdistrict in a township there are two subdirectors elected for a term of three years, either a director or subdirector being elected annually for each subdistrict, said director and subdirectors composing a board of subdirectors with the power of recommending teachers to the township board for confirmation, but having no other control of the schools.

The board of education of each special district shall consist of 3 resident members having the qualifications of electors, but the electors may vote that the membership be increased to 6, one-third of the board to retire annually.

When the better accommodation of scholars makes it desirable to form a subdistrict composed of parts of two or more townships, the boards of education of the townships interested may, by mutual agreement at a joint meeting, or by three special commissioners appointed by the probate court, establish the same, the school being under the control of the board of education of the township in which the school is situated.

The boards of education of all districts are bodies politic and corporate, but when a board of education decides to dispose of any property held by it in its corporate capacity, exceeding $300 in value, it shall sell the same at auction after thirty days' or more notice by advertisement in a newspaper and placard. All property vested in any board of education shall be exempt from tax, sale on execution, or other similar writ. Each board shall organize by choosing one of its members president, and, excepting township boards, by choosing also a clerk, who may or may not be a member. Vacancies are to be filled by the board. A majority of the board of education shall constitute a quorum. The board shall make such rules as it may deem expedient for its own government and that of its appointees and the pupils, and shall make and enforce rules for the vaccination of those attending school. The members of boards of education shall not be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract entered into by the boards of which they are members, or receive compensation for services rendered, except as clerk or treasurer.

The board of education of each district shall make a report to the county auditor containing a statement of the receipts and expenditures of the board, the number of schools sustained, the length of time such schools were sustained, the enrollment of pupils, the average monthly enrollment, the average daily attendance, the number of teachers employed and their salaries, the number of schoolhouses and schoolrooms, and such other items as the commissioners of common schools may require, said reports being consolidated by county auditors and forwarded to the State commissioner of common schools.

City and village examiners.-There shall be a board of examiners of 3 or 6 persons for each city district of the first class, to be appointed by the board of education of the district. Two of the persons appointed shall have at least two years' practical experience in teaching and shall otherwise be competent for the position and residents of the district for which they were appointed. Other city districts and village districts having a school enumeration of not less than 700 are also entitled to separate boards of examiners consisting of 3 members. City superintendents.—Each board of education shall have the management and control of the public schools of the district with full power to appoint a superintendent and assistant superintendent of the schools, and a superintendent of buildings, whose salaries may be increased, but shall not be diminished during the term for which the appointment is made. Truant officer.-(See Schools-Attendance.)

2. TEACHERS.

Appointments, qualifications, and duties-Institutes.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties. No person shall be employed as a teacher in a common school who has not obtained from a board of examiners having competent jurisdiction a certificate of good moral character, stating that the holder is qualified to teach orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geog

raphy, English grammar, history of the United States, civil government, physiology and hygiene, and possesses an adequate knowedge of the theory and practice of teaching, and, if required to teach other branches, that the requisite qualifications are possessed; but persons who desire or are expected to teach only special studies, such as music, drawing, painting, penmanship, gymnastics, German, or French, or any one of them, or the primary department in any graded school, may be examined in regard to such study or studies, or their special qualifications to teach in a primary department only.

The State board of examiners may issue three grades of life certificates to such as are found to possess the requisite scholarship and who exhibit satisfactory evidence of good moral character and professional experience and ability. The certificates shall be for different grades of schools, according to branches taught, and shall be valid in schools specified therein. Each applicant for a certificate shall pay to the board of examiners a fee of $5. The boards of county examiners may grant certificates for one, two, and three years, valid in the county wherein they are issued, except in city and village districts that have boards of examiners. The examiners may grant certificates for five years to such applicants as, in addition to the necessary qualifications, have been for three years next preceding their application engaged in teaching, twelve months of which experience shall have been in one place, and such certificate shall be renewable upon the same conditions, but without examination, at the discretion of the examining board. They may also grant certificates for eight years to applicants who hold or have held a five-year certificate and have been engaged in teaching the preceding three years, eighteen months of which experience shall have been in one place; said applicant shall be examined in botany, algebra, natural philosophy, and English literature, and such certificate shall be renewable without examination, at the discretion of the board. The boards of city and village examiners may grant certificates for one, two, three, and five years under conditions similar to those governing the issuing of certificates by county boards. Each board of education shall have full power to appoint teachers, janitors, and other employees and fix their salaries, which may be increased but not diminished during the term for which the appointment is made, but no person shall be appointed for a longer time than that for which a member of the board is elected nor dismissed except for cause.

It shall be the duty of all principals and teachers of all schools, public, private, or parochial, to report to the clerk of the board of education the name, age, and residence of every pupil in attendance at their schools, together with such other facts as the clerk may require to facilitate the enforcement of the compulsory-attendance law. Principals and teachers shall report to the truant officer, the superintendent of schools, or the clerk of the board all cases of truancy or incorrigibility. No clerk of a board of education shall draw an order on the treasurer for the payment of a teacher for services until the teacher files with him such reports as are required by the State commissioner and the board of education. All teachers of common schools within any county in which a county institute is held, except those employed in city districts of the first class, may dismiss their schools for the purpose of attending during the week it is held; and boards of education of city districts of the first class within counties having an institute may, by resolution, permit teachers to attend, but no union or graded school shall be dismissed for such purpose unless a majority of its teachers assent. Teachers may suspend pupils until the meeting of the board.

Institutes. A teachers' institute may be organized in any county by the association of not less than 30 practical teachers of common schools residing therein who shall declare their intention in writing to attend such institute, the purpose of which shall be the improvement of such teachers in their professional qualifications. Each institute shall elect annually by ballot a president. secretary, and an executive committee to manage the affairs of the institute, the president and secretary being ex officio members and officers of the committee. Said committee shall enter into a bond with sufficient surety, of double the amount of the institute fund in the county treasury, conditioned on the proper employment of the money and on reporting to the State commissioner within five days after the adjournment of the institute the number of teachers in attendance, the names of the instructors and lecturers, the amount of money received and disbursed by the committee, and such other information relating to the institute as the commissioner may require. The secretary is required to make the report, and on failure to do so forfeits to the State the sum of $50. When a teachers' institute has not been held for two years in any county, the

State commissioner may cause an institute to be held.

The board of education of each city district of the first class may provide for holding an institute yearly for the improvement of their teachers, and general meetings of the teachers of any such city district held not less than four days in any year, whether consecutive or not, for the purposes of instruction, shall be deemed to constitute a teachers' institute, and shall be sustained out of the institute fund; and if the board of any district does not provide for such institute in any year it shall cause the institute fund to be paid to the treasurer of the county, who shall place it to the credit of the county institute fund; and under such circumstances the teachers in the schools of such district shall be entitled to the advantages of the county institute. An association of teachers of several adjacent counties may organize an institute for the specific purpose of providing for the professional instruction of the teachers of the graded schools in such counties, and the boards of all city, village, and special districts within such counties may contribute from the institute and contingent funds under their control to defray the expenses, and may permit teachers employed by them to attend the institute one week. All other institutes shall continue at least four days.

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance-Character of instruction-Text-books-Buildings.

Attendance. The schools of each district shall be free to all youth between 6 and 21 years of age who are children, wards, or apprentices of actual residents of the district. All parents, guardians, and other persons who have care of children shall instruct them, or cause them to be instructed, in reading, spelling, writing, English grammar, geography, and arithmetic. Every parent, guardian, or other person having charge of any child between the ages of 8 and 14 years shall send such child to a public, private, or parochial school for the full time the school attended is in session, which in no case shall be for less than 24 weeks, and said attendance shall begin within the first week of the school term unless the child is excused from such attendance by the superintendent of the public schools in city or other districts having such superintendent, or by the clerk of the board of education in districts having no superintendent or by the principal of the private or parochial school, upon a satisfactory showing either that the bodily or mental condition of the child does not permit of its attendance at school or that the child is being instructed at home by a person qualified to teach the required branches, but in case of refusal to excuse attendance an appeal may be made to the probate judge of the county upon giving a bond within ten days after such refusal. All children between the ages of 14 and 16 years not engaged in some regular employment shall attend school for the full term of the schools of the district in which they reside that are in session during the school year. For a violation of any of the foregoing provisions a parent or guardian is liable to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $20, and upon failure to pay the same may be imprisoned not less than ten nor more than thirty days.

No child under 14 years of age shall be employed while the public schools are in session unless he present to the person employing him a certificate of his age and that he has successfully completed the studies of reading, spelling, writing, English grammar, geography, and arithmetic, or, if between the ages of 14 and 16 years, that he can read and write legibly the English language. Every person, company, or corporation employing any child under 16 years of age shall exact such certificate as a condition of employment, and shall permit a truant officer to examine same upon request; and anyone employing a minor contrary to these provisions shall be fined from $25 to $50. All minors between 14 and 16 who can not read and write the English language shall attend school for the full time it is in session, or until they can secure a certificate from the superintendent or clerk that they can read and write said language.

Every child between the ages of 8 and 14 years, and every child between the ages of 14 and 16 years unable to read and write the English language or not engaged in some regular employment, who is a habitual truant from school, or who while in attendance at any public, private, or parochial school is incorrigible, vicious, or immoral in conduct, or who habitually wanders about the streets and public places during school hours, having no business or lawful occupation, shall be deemed a juvenile disorderly person and be subject to the provisions of this act for enforced attendance.

To aid in the enforcement of the law in regard to attendance, truant officers