lected, and distributed therein to each school district according to scholastic population. A tax of 14 mills on $1 shall be annually assessed upon all property subject to taxation for the support of the public schools, which shall be collected as other taxes are, and paid over to the county trustee in the county where côllected, and distributed therein to each school district according to scholastic population. In case there is an insufficient sum to maintain the school for five months, it is the duty of the county court to levy an additional tax sufficient for that purpose, or to submit the proposition to a vote of the people, and they may levy a tax to prolong the school beyond the five months, the tax to be levied on all property, polls, and privileges liable to taxation, but shall not exceed the entire State tax. All school money coming into the hands of the State or county treasurer shall be kept separate and apart from any State or county funds in their hands. All unexpended sums for school purposes in the district treasury shall not be returned to county trustee for redistribution, but shall be credited to such district and added to its share of the next apportionment. Cities and incorporated towns in which have been established higher graded schools are authorized to supplement the school fund derived from State and county taxes by an additional municipal tax or levy for their support, provided the town or municipality does not exceed its lawful limit of taxation in making such additional levy, TEXAS. 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM. State board-State superintendent-State board of examiners-County superintendent-County board of examiners-School district committee-City board of examiners. State board. The governor, secretary of state, and comptroller shall constitute a State board of education, of which the State superintendent shall be secretary. The board shall make an apportionment of the available school fund among the several counties of the State and the cities and towns having separate school organizations, according to the population of each. Appeals from the rulings of the State superintendent shall be to this board. It is the duty of the board to invest the permanent school fund in accordance with law. State board of examiners.--The State superintendent may appoint a State board of examiners, consisting of three or more competent teachers, to serve at his pleasure. State superintendent.—There shall be elected at each general election for State and county officers a State superintendent of public instruction, who shall hold his office for two years and receive a salary of $2,500, and may employ such clerical assistance as may be allowed by the State board. He shall be charged with the administration of the school law and a general superintendency of the business relating to the public schools of the State, shall hear all appeals from the decisions of subordinate school officers, prescribe and furnish suitable forms for records and reports, issue circulars of instruction to school officers, and examine and approve all accounts of whatsoever kind against the school fund. County board of examiners.-There shall be a county board of examiners of three members, appointed by the county superintendent, or by the county judge if there be no superintendent, each of whom must hold a first or higher grade certificate of the county. They serve during the pleasure of the county superintendent. County superintendent.-The commissioners' court of any county may provide for the election of a county superintendent of public schools, who shall hold for two years, be a person of educational attainments, good moral character and executive ability, a qualified voter of said county, and the holder of a first-grade teacher's certificate. He shall have the immediate supervision of all matters pertaining to public education, shall confer with teachers, deliver lectures, hold institutes, approve all vouchers drawn against the school fund, examine contracts made by trustees with teachers and, if proper, approve them, distribute blank books and forms, and appoint the county board of examiners and census trustees. In counties having a school population of 2,000 and not exceeding EDUCATION REPORT, 1904. 3,000 the county superintendent shall receive $800 per annum, in counties of 3,000 to 4,000 he shall receive $900, in counties of 4,000 to 5,000 he shall receive $1,000, in counties of 5,000 or more he shall receive $1,200. In counties having no county superintendent the county judge shall act, and shall receive such salary as ex officio county superintendent as may be provided by the commissioners' court, not to exceed $600 per annum. District school trustees.-It is the duty of the county commissioners' court to subdivide their county into school districts as convenient as possible for the attendance of the children at the school or schools to be established therein. The voters of the district shall elect three trustees, whose terms of office shall be for two years, one trustee to be elected one year and two the next. They shall determine the number of schools and their location, and when they shall be opened and when closed, contract with teachers, and manage and supervise the schools. They shall approve all teachers' vouchers and all other claims against the school fund of their district, and shall have the power to admit pupils over and under scholastic age. A town or village having 200 inhabitants or over may incorporate as an inde pendent district for free school purposes only, and may include within its bounds territory not exceeding an area of 25 square miles. For such incorporated town or village there shall be elected 7 trustees, for terms of two years, 3 retiring one year and 4 the next, who shall in general be vested with all powers, rights and duties in regard to establishing and maintaining free schools, including the power of taxation, as is vested in a council or board of aldermen of incorporated cities and towns. The trustees have authority to levy a special tax not exceeding one-fourth of 1 per cent per annum for bond or building purposes, and an additional special tax not exceeding one-half of 1 per cent for maintenance and support of the free schools: Provided, No such tax be levied or no bonds be issued until an election shall have been held for the purpose of determining the question. Cities and towns in the State are authorized to assume exclusive control of all the public schools within their limits and to govern them in any way not inconsistent with law; to elect, or the council may appoint, the board of trustees, consisting of 7 members to serve for two years, 3 members retiring one year and 4 the next. No compensation is allowed them. City boards of examiners.-A city or town which has 500 scholastic population or more, and has become an independent school district, and which levies a local tax for educational purposes, or maintains a system of free schools for nine months in each year, and which has employed a superintendent of city schools, may have a city board of examiners. Said board of examiners shall in all cases consist of the superintendent of the city schools, together with two other persons appointed by him, who shall be teachers, and the superintendent shall not be subject to examination. 2. TEACHERS. Appointment, qualifications, and duties-Preliminary training-Institutes. Appointment, qualifications, and duties.--Any teacher desiring to teach in any city, town, or district in the State shall, before contracting with any board of trustees or school board, exhibit a teacher's certificate. Anyone who teaches in any public school of this State without a valid certificate shall not be paid from the free-school funds, and forgery of a certificate shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for a term of not less than two nor more than seven years. Applicants for examination must apply to the county superintendent, stating class of certificate desired, and by him are sent to the board of county examiners, the applicants having been satisfactory to the county superintendent and having each deposited $2 as an examination fee. The applicants must speak the English language fluently, and be of good moral character. Certificates granted are of three kinds: A county certificate, valid only within the county; a city certificate, valid only within the city; a State certificate, valid anywhere within the State. County certificates shall be of four classesfirst, second, and third grades, and permanent—and are issued by the county superintendents on recommendation of the county boards of examiners, who shall hold an examination on the first Friday and following Saturday in the months of May, September, and December. The questions are furnished by the State superintendent, and the rules and regulations are prescribed by him and the county superintendent. An applicant for a third-grade certificate shall be examined in spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, geography, Texas history, physiology and hygiene with special reference to narcotics, and school management and methods of teaching, and must, in order to obtain a certificate, average not less than 70 nor make less than 50 on any subject. An applicant for a second-grade certificate shall be examined on the nine subjects mentioned, and in addition United States history, elementary principles of civil government, English composition, and physical geography. The second-grade certificate is good for three years, and the applicant must make an average of 75 on all and not less than 50 on any one subject; but if he make 85 instead of 75, the certificate is good for five years. An applicant for the first-grade certificate shall be examined in the subjects prescribed for the second grade, and also in physics, algebra, elements of geometry, and general history. The first-grade certificate is valid for four or six years, upon the same conditions as a certificate of the second grade. An applicant for a permanent certificate shall be examined on the subjects required for a first-grade certificate, and in addition on the history of education, general history, psychology, English and American literature, chemistry, solid geometry, plane trigonometry, and elementary double-entry bookkeeping. The general average required to pass for a permanent certificate is 85 and not less than 50 in any subject. The certificate lapses if the holder withdraws three continuous years from teaching. On application of a candidate for a first or second grade State or a permanent certificate, the county superintendent shall forward the papers to the State superintendent, who shall lay them before the State board of examiners, together with the fee of $1 furnished by the candidate, and if they find the papers rightly graded they shall recommend that the candidate be given a new certificate in lieu of his county certificate, which shall entitle him to teach in any county. City boards of examiners may issue certificates of two kinds, a temporary and a permanent certificate, and of three classes for each kind: Primary, intermediate, and high school teachers' certificates. A temporary certificate is good for four years, and a permanent certificate during good behavior. (The force of the normal school certificate is given below.) It shall be the duty of every teacher to use the English language exclusively in the free public schools, though any other language may be taught as a branch of study; to attend summer normals and county institutes as far as possible; to keep daily registers in which the names, ages, and studies of the pupils and their attendance shall be recorded, and such other matters as may be prescribed by the State superintendent; to make monthly reports upon such subjects as may be designated by the State or county superintendent, which are to be approved by the trustees. They shall also make such reports at the end of the term as may be prescribed by the State superintendent, and until made their last month's salary shall not be paid. Preliminary training.--Normal instruction for white persons shall be given in the Sam Houston Normal Institute, the North Texas State Normal College, and the Southwest Texas Normal School, and for colored persons in the Prairie View Normal School. Each of the white schools under the supervision of the State board of education offers 2 scholarships for every member of the legislature, 6 to the lieutenant-governor, 9 to each of the three members of the State board of education and to the State superintendent, for persons 16 years of age or over who sign a written statement that it is their intention to teach at least one year after leaving the school; the normal school for colored persons, 1 scholarship for each member of the legislature, which school is under the immediate authority of the board of directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Diplomas given by the University of Texas to students completing the degree course in pedagogy or some other course shall have the force of permanent State certificates. Those showing completion of the special professional course shall have the force of first-grade State certificates; those showing completion of the course in elementary pedagogy shall have the force of State certificates of the first grade for a period of two years. Any teacher of three years' standing in Texas who holds a degree from a university or college of the first class, to be determined by the State board of examiners, may receive a permanent State certificate. Those holding a diploma from a Texas State normal school, or from the Peabody Normal School, may teach in the public schools as being entitled to a permanent State certificate without examination. Normal institutes.-The State superintendent shall prescribe regulations for holding summer normal institutes and prescribe rules for granting summer EDUCATION REPORT, 1904. normal certificates, which shall be State certificates good for four or six years, 3. SCHOOLS. Attendance-Character of instruction-Buildings. Attendance. The children of the white and colored races shall be taught in separate schools, and in no case shall any school consisting partly of white and partly of colored or mixed blood receive any aid from the public school fund. All children over 7 years of age and under 17 at the beginning of any scholastic year shall be entitled to the benefit of the public free schools. Character of instruction.-There shall be taught in the public schools orthography, reading in English, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, modern geography, composition, physiology and hygiene, including the effects of alcoholic stimulants and narcotics on the human system, mental arithmetic, Texas history, United States history, civil government, and other branches, as may be agreed upon by the trustees or directed by the State superintendent. Suitable instruction shall be given the primary grades once each week regarding kindness to animals and the protection of birds and their nests and eggs. Buildings. The law limits the use of the State and county available school fund for the payment of teachers' and superintendents' salaries, fees for scholastic census, and commission to the county treasurer for receiving and disbursing the school funds, provided that when the State available school fund in any city or county is sufficient to maintain the schools in any year for at least eight months and leave a surplus, such surplus may be expended for purchasing appliances and supplies, payment of insurance premiums, janitors, and other employees, for buying school sites, buying, building, repairing, and renting schoolhouses, and for other purposes necessary in the conduct of the public schools. The people of any common school district may, upon proper petition to the commissioners' court, vote upon themselves a special tax not to exceed in any year 20 cents on the $100 valuation of taxable property for the building of schoolhouses or for supplementing the school fund apportioned to said district. Tuition fees of pupils not entitled to free tuition, and funds from other local sources may also be used for building or maintenance purposes. Property belonging to a school district can not be sold without an order from the commissioners' court. 4. FINANCES. Funds (permanent and special)—Taxation. Funds (permanent and special).—All funds, lands, and other property heretofore set apart and appropriated for the support of the public schools, all the alternate sections of lands reserved by the State out of grants heretofore made, or that hereafter may be made to railroads or other corporations of any nature whatsoever, one-half of the public domain of the State, and all sums of money that may come to the State from the sale of any portion of the same, shall constitute a perpetual public school fund. The interest arising from the fund and the State taxes shall be the available school fund. The available school fund shall be distributed to the several counties according to the scholastic population. Taxation.-One-fourth of the revenue derived from the State occupation taxes and a poll tax of $1 on every male inhabitant 21 to 60 years of age shall be set apart annually for the benefit of public free schools; and in addition thereto there shall be levied and collected an annual ad valorem State tax of such an amount, not to exceed 20 cents on the $100, as with the available school-fund income will be sufficient to maintain and support the public free schools for a period of not less than six months in each year; and the legislature may authorize the school districts to raise an additional ad valorem tax, to be levied and collected within such districts, for the further maintenance of the public schools in the erection of school buildings therein: Provided, That two-thirds of the taxpayers shall vote such tax, not to exceed in any one year 20 cents on the $100; but this limitation does not apply to incorporated cities or towns constituting separate or independent school districts. 1 VERMONT, a 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM. State superintendent—Eraminer of teachers-School directors-Town superintendent-Truant officers. State superintendent.—The general assembly shall elect at each biennial session a superintendent of education, who shall have general supervision of the public schools of the State, and shall devote his whole time to the duties of his office, which, in case of vacancy, shall be filled by the governor. His annual salary shall be $2,000, with traveling expenses not to exceed $600. His office shall be at the statehouse, and he may employ clerical assistance at an annual compensation of $800. He is allowed $400 a year for publishing educational circulars, besides necessary disbursements for postage, expressage, printing, stationery, etc. He shall hold at least one but not more than two teachers' institutes or summer schools in each county during each biennial term, each such institute to continue not longer than four days, and each such teachers' summer school not longer than ten days. He may direct the examiner of teachers of a county to conduct the institute. In addition to the occasion of holding an institute, he shall visit annually each county and as many towns as possible, deliver lectures upon educational subjects, confer with and advise school officers and teachers. He shall prepare all questions for the examination of teachers, direct such examinations, and fix the standards of same; issue courses of study, circulars of educational information and prepare school registers, statistical blanks, etc. He shall file quarterly a sworn itemized statement of his expenses, and present to the general assembly on the first day of each biennial session a report covering the two years last past, containing an account of his official doings, the condition of the schools, the expenditure of school money, and suggestions. Not more than 3,000 copies of such report shall be printed, 5 copies of which shall be sent to each examiner of teachers, and 1 copy each to members of the general assembly, town and district clerks, and principals of graded union and high schools. Eraminer of teachers.-At each biennial session of the legislature, or as soon as possible thereafter, the State superintendent and the governor shall appoint one resident of each county as examiner of teachers, who shall, under the direction of the State superintendent, make all necessary arrangements for holding teachers' institutes, assist in such institutes and also at summer schools, take measures to secure the attendance of teachers, and furnish statistical information. He shall hold public examinations of applicants for teachers' certificates, at such times and places as shall best accommodate the teachers of the county, and shall keep a complete record of the same. He shall receive $4 a day while actually employed in official duty, together with not to exceed $2 a day to cover necessary expenses, besides postage and stationery, and shall file an itemized and sworn statement of same every six months. He shall make a biennial report to the State superintendent, who, with the governor, may remove him for unfitness and fill any vacancy arising in the office. School directors.-Three citizens of each town shall constitute a board of school directors, one of whom shall be elected at each annual meeting of the town for a term of three years; vacancies shall be filled temporarily by the selectmen. The compensation of school directors shall be fixed annually by the town. School directors shall have the care of the town's school property and the management of its school; may purchase or sell sites and erect buildings, determining their number and location; shall keep schoolhouses suitably repaired and insured; employ teachers and fix their compensation by a majority vote; examine and allow claims arising therefrom, and draw orders upon the town treasurer for the payment of same; shall have authority to designate the schools which shall be attended by the various pupils, may provide for the instruction of advanced pupils, and make regulations not inconsistent with law for carrying the powers granted them into effect. They shall report fully to the annual town meeting. Town superintendent.—The board of school directors shall, on or before the 1st day of April of each year, appoint a town superintendent of schools, whose "The special provisions relating to incorporated school districts and school districts In unorganized towns and gores are not included in this digest. |