parental neglect or parental example. Remonstrance and persuasion should be exhausted before suspension from school can be justified. Expulsion, which is a penal and final separation from school, is justified only by such insubordination on the part of the pupil as to render it impossible to maintain order and discipline without excluding him. This power should be exercised, only after an earnest effort to avoid a resort to it. Teachers are not without infirmities, and their vocation sometimes aggravates them; and it is the duty of the board to know that there has been no oppressive exercise of authority, which has led to the insubordination that is made the occasion of a punishment so severe.

In case the board neglects to establish rules and regulations as provided for by law, the teacher is not therefore inhibited from managing and governing the school according to his best judgment, nor can any advantage be taken of the fact that his rules have not been consented to by the board. In case of serious insubordination, he should call upon the board to sustain his authority; and when so called upon, the board should be careful not to weaken his authority by criticising publicly his conduct.

By section 57 the duty of the board to prescribe text-books is obligatory. Nothing, at present, so retards the successful progress of our schools in the rural districts, as a want of uniformity in text-books. Sudden and sweeping changes should generally be avoided, and only such be made as are needed to secure the desired uniformity. The board should determine, by resolution, what school books shall be used, and then, after duly recording the same and posting a copy in the school-room, they should see that the books adopted are introduced and used. While the power to select books is left by

law exclusively in the hands of the district board, it is, nevertheless, very proper for them to consult with teachers in regard to the selection. This, as every other power conferred by law upon the district board, must be exercised by the board, meeting and deliberating at the same time and place, and not by one or two forming a determination and obtaining the assent of the absent. The decision of a majority at a meeting properly called, is the decision of the board, but the decision of a majority or even of all three, under other circumstances, is not the decision of the board. It is merely the concurrent opinion of the members of the board, and is no more the decision of the board than the concurrent opinion of the members of the Legislature, arrived at by taking their separate votes at their respective homes, would be an act of the Legislature. The law supposes that a majority may be convinced by a minority and change its determination, and therefore will not allow the majority to act without giving the minority due notice to participate.

(Section 59.) The school district is a corporate body, and as such, has perpetual succession and existence in its corporate name, and the capacity to hold real and personal estate for its corporate purposes. It possesses this power as a legal body, wholly distinct from the individuals which, from time to time, compose it. The district can act as a corporation only through its officers. The power to purchase or lease a site for a school-house, or to build, hire, or purchase a school-house, or to sell any school-house, site, or other property belongs exclusively to the district board. It is often the case that a building committee is appointed by the district to superintend the erection of a school-house. So far as a building committee aid the board by their advice and service in carrying out

the wishes of the people of the district, there can be no objection. But the district board alone has the power to bind the district by a contract, written or verbal, and the district has no power to supersede them by appointing a building committee or any other agents.

The district may, however, through a committee, procure plans and specifications for a school-house, and may select such plan as is deemed suitable, and limit the power of the district board to executing a contract for erecting a house according to the plan and specifications adopted. This is the only way of controlling the district board. It rests with the board to accept or reject the work, unless the people, in district meeting, have appointed or provided for the appointment of other arbiters. This may be done, by directing it to be inserted in the contract with the builder, that the sufficiency of the materials and workmanship under the contract shall be determined by persons named in the resolution. A stringent contract, which in all cases should be in writing, with proper provisions for the adjustment of any questions that may arise under it, will relieve the district board from much personal responsibility and trouble, as well as prevent quarrels and perhaps litigation, which are in any event disastrous. [Appendix A. and B. embody opinions and decisions from Mass., Wis., and Iowa. S. L. Comp.]

(C.)

EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS.

Examiners should remember that the law demands that they inquire, not only into the applicant's literary qualifications, but also determine whether the applicant is "qualified in respect to good moral character and ability to instruct and

govern a school." In the examination of teachers, then, it would be well to conduct a brief oral examination to ascertain the candidate's experience, special training, knowledge of elementary principles, moral character, and adaptness for the work; and afterward to submit written and oral questions, embracing a good number of topics on each of the branches of study required, and that a certain percentage of which must be satisfactorily answered to entitle the candidate to the certificate applied for. It would be well to preserve the manuscript of answers of every candidate, with an indorsement thereon of the class and grade of certificate granted; also, make a publication of the name, class, grade, and average standing of all those to whom certificates have been granted during the year. All questions to be answered by writing should be prepared with great care; they should be definite, involving principles rather than facts, and of sufficient number to test the knowledge of the candidate. Not only should all papers be preserved by the examining officer, and so arranged that a ready reference may be made to them, but a record of all examinations should be kept, for reasons so apparent as not to require notice here.

The law does not authorize the county superintendent, even in case of temporary absence or sickness, to deputize another person to discharge specific duties pertaining to his office; yet, it would be very proper for him to invite township inspectors, or other persons of suitable qualifications, to aid him in his examinations, and thereby awaken a wider and deeper interest in the locality where the work is going on.

(Section 39.) "The district board shall hire such qualified teachers as may be required." The selection of a teacher by the school board should be made with great care, as it is difficult to reject an ordinary teacher after an engagement is made and a contract executed. The prevailing practice has been, in our graded districts, to place the youngest, cheapest, and least experienced teachers in the primary schools. This is wrong, for it is in these schools that the foundation is laid for future scholarship and usefulness. Then, again, the work is more difficult, as it requires ceaseless watchfulness to keep employed and under proper discipline, and at the same time impart just such instruction as is adapted to the development of these young minds. Proficiency in the branches to be taught is but a small part of the qualifications of a good primary teacher. We want more tact, devotion to work, and much experience in these schools.

CHANGE OF TEACHERS.

The frequent change of teachers is a great hinderance to the improvement of our schools, operating with almost unvarying constancy from year to year, especially in the rural districts. It is evident that our school officers are not aware to what an extent these changes retard the progress of education in our schools. The rule should be, "Get good teachers, and then keep them as long as possible." Every teacher commences his labors in a school with which he is unacquainted under very considerable disadvantages, which would not exist if he were not a stranger. Of necessity he must spend some