director, committee, superintendent, or teacher, who shall refuse, fail, or neglect to comply with the requirements of this act, or shall neglect, refuse, or fail to make proper provisions for the instruction required, and in the manner specified by the first section of this act, for all pupils in each and every school under his or her jurisdiction, shall be removed from office, and the vacancy filled as in other cases.

Rents of school lands.-The law requiring rents of school lands to be applied to the increase of the permanent school fund has been repealed.

For other information relating to education in Colorado consult the Index.

CONNECTICUT.

[From Report of Board of Education for 1886-87—Charles D. Hine, Secretary.]

ENUMERATION AND ATTENDANCE.

Of the 153,260 children enumerated as between four and sixteen years of age, 126,426 were reported as having attended school. This attendance may have been for one day or a few days only. It includes those who attended private as well as public schools, but does not include any over sixteen years of age.

Of the whole number enumerated, 26,834 are reported as having attended no school. Of these non-attendants, 10,203 were reported to be under five, and 8,891 were between five and eight years of age. Thus 19,094 were either too young to attend or were below the compulsory limit; 5,556 were reported to be over fourteen and had passed the compulsory limit.

We have left 2,184 non-attendants between eight and fourteen, the limit of compulsory attendance. This is larger than last year by 268.

Causes of falling off in attendance.-In 1879, 86 out of every 100 children enumerated were enrolled in public schools, and 53 out of every 100 enumerated were in regular attendance. In 1887, 82 and 49 out of every 100 were enrolled and in attendance respectively. The fact which deserves attention is that a decreasing proportion of the persons enumerated attend school.

Among the causes of this falling off are:

1. The large towns exclude all children under five, and everywhere there is little disposition to send very young children.

2. The limit of sixty days has become in many places the standard, and instead of long periods of attendance there have been long periods of work with intervals of school. The law prohibiting employment of children under thirteen would naturally increase the number in attendance; but so many advanced with a bound from eleven or twelve to fourteen that in few schools has any increase from this cause been noted. The difculties encountered in ascertaining the ages of children, whether by reference to town or school records, are very great. Without doubt many children under thirteen are today escaping the provisions of the law relating to employment and attendance through false statements of parents.

Effect of private schoots upon attendance.-The average attendance in all the schools was 853 less than last year.

This contraction is in part explained by the opening in several large towns of private schools. This special cause can not long operate, because the number which can be withdrawn from public to private schools is limited, and the limit will soon be reached. Moreover, private schools can not exist in competition with public schools as long as the latter maintain a clear superiority. This superiority has thus far been easily maintained, and no considerable number of people can be enticed or compelled to diminish the privileges of their children. So long as the best education is found in public schools these schools will attract the great body of children.

Connecticut leads in the matter of compulsory attendance.-The law which requires all children under thirteen years of age to attend 120 days in each year places this State in the lead in respect of compulsory attendance. In districts where school is open not longer than six months in the year comformity to the law will permit no absence not guarded by the recognized legal excuses.

The law now regards each week's absence a distinct offence on the part of the parent, who may be proceeded against at once, and also permits the State board of education more actively to engage in enforcing attendance.

EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN.

The record of active work by the agents for the enforcement of the Child-Labor Act of 1886 is summarized for the year as follows:

Few cases of violation of the law have been discovered. These cases range all the way from pure accident to careless and illegal negligence.

The law is plain and simple and easy of administration. None of the evils which were apprehended from its passage have resulted. Business has not been affected; no appreciable number of families have left the State; idleness has not increased; vagabondage is not prevalent, and cases of hardships have not been numerous.

There is no evidence that attendance at school has sensibly increased in consequence of the discharge of 1,173 children from employment. The rapacity of parents has impelled them to false statements concerning the ages of their children. The reports indicave extensive, deliberate, and unqualified lying for the sole purpose of securing the money which their children can earn. It is difficult and generally impossible to fix this falsi cation by evidence admissible in court. The result is that children are employed who ought not to be employed, and are out of school when they ought to be in school. Employés have generally yielded cheerful obedience to the law, assisted in its execution, and approved its form and principle. The exceptions are so few that they are conspicuous. Deliberate and intentional evasion and deception have been found in one case only.

TEACHERS.

Sex of teachers.—The secretary gives a tabular summary of the statistics of teachers since 1966, from which the following conclusions are drawn:

In the winter of 165, 31 in every 100, and in summer, 5 in every 100 teachers were men; in 1887, in winter 13, and in summer 11, in every 100 we re men. The number of teachers increased about one-third.

In the same period the number of female teachers employed in winter increased 1,111, while the number of male teachers decreased 122. The number of male teachers employed in summer is larger by 230, and the number of female teachers in summer by 771. The number of male teachers in summer shows accurately the number of male teachers continuously employed. It is evident that, so far as permanent situations are concerned, men are not giving place to women; while more and more districts that formerly alternated in winter and summer employ women for the whole year. Moreover, women have entirely superseded men in primary and most grammar schools, leaving open to men only a small number of grammar schools, an insignificant number of high school positions, and substantially all the positions requiring supervisory duties. In ungraded schools few men are employed, either in summer or winter.

Nember continuously employed.-The number continuously employed has more than doubled, and the number of beginners shows a steady decrease.

Wages of teachers.-The wages of men show fluctuations from year to year, being affected by the addition or subtraction of two or three large salaries to the small aggregate. The average wages of women have increased, but not very rapidly or largely. There are still about 900 female teachers whose salaries are $30 a month or less, and of these 700 receive $25 or less. This sum is received for six to nine months' service, in most cases for not more than eight months. In fine, 900 teachers receive less than $240 per year, and out of this all expenses must be paid. It will be profitable to those who accept poor teachers and regard poor schools as a necessity to consider the effect of such meagre salaries. There is no encouragement for preparation nor for continuance in the business. There is no chance for a decent living, nor any stimulus, except that of duty, to thoroughness or improvement.

SCHOOLS.

Number of days of session.-There has been a steady advance in the number of days bols are in session. The average for the State is now 180 days, or 9 months in the year. In many towns schools are open 10 months or 40 weeks, and a majority of the children of the State can attend for this longer period. In too many districts there are ba 120 days or 6 months in the school year, and children can not and do not make a steady progress.

SCHOOL-HOUSES AND SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

School ac ominodations.-The number of school-houses built since 1865 is 618, which is more than one-third of the whole number now standing.

While the number of school-houses reported is the same for 1867 as for 1888, there Live in 20 years been great changes. New buildings are constantly demanded and erected in cities and large towns, while in declining towns school-houses have been en1relv abandoned.

Oiten two or more contiguous districts have united and occupy one school-house inad of the two or more formerly required.

The number of sittings is greater than the number of scholars who enter the public bools. It can not be said, however, that there are ample accommodations for all children. There are towns and districts where little children are wasting their time,

because too many are crowded into one room. Not more than 40 children can be seated and instructed in one room, if due regard is paid to health and efficient teaching. Especially do young children form bad habits and fail in the special work of early years, if they can not receive adequate attention.

School libraries.-In the last few years the interest in libraries and books for schools has greatly increased. The number of school libraries has increased in 4 years from 219 to 322. The number of districts drawing money, from 195 to 287, and the amount drawu, from $3,025 to $5,000, the limit of the State appropriation.

There were more applications at the close of the last fiscal year than could be paid out of the appropriation for the year.

These libraries have every where been of advantage to the schools. They have stimulated the scholars and aided the teachers. There is need of legislation which will make the benefits received from this library money permanent. There are many districts which have in years past drawn this money from the State and to-day have not a remnant of a book or of any apparatus. There are well-known cases of misappropriation, while the cases of neglect and loss because of changing offices are very numerous.

The gratifying advance shown in the matters of buildings and libraries is not universal. There are still poor school-houses and 300 districts which have never drawn library money. The following statement, verified by personal inspection, describes a school-house in a district which will neither repair nor build: "The appearance of the inside of the room is bad. The floor is dirty, the desks cut and unpainted, some of the seats broken so that they are hardly 6 inches wide, most of the plastering is off the walls and ceiling, and the windows are loose and dirty. The outhouse was in an awful condition. * * The door was off its hinges, and the building faced the road."

PERMANENT SCHOOL FUNDS.

The town deposit fund-An illustration of the result of unconditional gratuities to education. The amount of fund as reported for 1887 was $753,326.87:

In the amount ($528,593.88) reported as invested in town securities is included a large sum upon which towns do not make any pretence of paying interest; other considerable sums which the town officers never heard of; other sums invested in town farms, public buildings, etc. The reports from officers charged with the care and legal application of this fund unmistakably indicate that not a dollar' thus invested in any sense promotes education in the common schools, as the condition of the trust requires. It follows that this large trust fund given upon plain conditions has been to the extent of these town orders and bonds entirely estranged, if not illegally diverted, from its original purpose.

Of the notes secured by mortgage, a large part not accurately ascertained are worthless. A few towns hold some unproductive real estate taken on foreclosure.

In fine, five-sevenths of this fund devoted by the State and received in trust by the towns, if not dead, is in a profound and very unhealthy sleep.

The interest is not a substantial sum of money which can be devoted to schools, but a fiction, legal or illegal, which appears on the books or not, as the town desires.

Local funds.-The amount of interest on local funds is reported to be $7,723.20. While no investigation has been made, it is probable that these funds have been absorbed and have practically disappeared in the same manner as the town deposit fund, that this showing of interest is merely a method of book-keeping, and that there accrues therefrom no real addition to the amount appropriated to public schools.

TEMPERANCE INSTRUCTION.

Text book on physiology.-The-text book of physiology and hygiene, with whose preparation the board of education was charged in 1886, was, after numerous and somewhat troublesome delays, issued in September last.

It was at first intended that the book should consist of two parts, one for the teacher and the other for the scholar. This was, for the present at least, abandoned, and the work was issued in a duodecimo cloth cover of 53 pages, with a series of charts for each school using the book.

A considerable sum, perhaps $20,000, is held by town officers, awaiting investment. This, when invested, would be really productive.

In reference to the purpose of the book, one view regards the law as mainly requiring the teaching of "the effects of alcoholic liquors, stimulants, and narcotics on the human system." If this is correct, there should only be enough physiology and hygiene in the book to furnish a peg on which to hang such teaching. Precisely this idea obtains in some quarters and finds public expression. Another view regards the law as requiring primarily the teaching of physiology and hygiene, but with the effects of alcoholic liquors, etc., more fully dwelt on than in the usual text-books for the teaching of that study. This view was entertained by the board in the belief that it was correct and that it expressed the intention of the General Assembly, which during its deliberations on the subject struck the word "evil" from the bill, which originally provided for teaching concerning "the evil effects of stimulants and narcotics." It was the purpose of the board to follow faithfully the law in the preparation of the book (which duty was far from the desires of the members of the board) and to the best ability to set forth only the truth.

The call for books has been voluntary on the part of school officers. Thus far the board has not prescribed its book to the exclusion of any other. It is a noteworthy and gratifying fact that without such prescription the books have gone into all the towns and independent districts except six. This general distribution of the book is due largely to the fact that it costs nothing; but it is presumed that if the book were a bad one it would not be accepted.

It is too early to pronounce a confident opinion upon the experiment. Some like the book and some do not. So far as can be learned, and the investigation has been impartial, those who like it are more than those who do not. It is not in purpose, nor in methods suggested, an ordinary text-book, but many who are interested in good teaching approve its plan.

TOWN MANAGEMENT.

A bill was introduced at the last session of the General Assembly providing for the control by every town of the schools within its limits.

ARBOR DAY.

In 1886 the State Legislature passed an act directing the Governor to designate annually an Arbor Day to be observed in the schools, and for economic tree planting. April 29, 1887, was so designated. Returns have been received from 412 out of 1,424 school districts in the State, showing that on that day 3,432 trees and 727 shrubs were planted.

NEW LEGISLATION.

Child labor.-The agents appointed by the State board of education under the act of 186 (which forbids the employment of children under 13 years of age) are authorized to enforce the provisions of the law as they may be directed by the State board.

Right of women to hold office.-No person shall be deemed ineligible to serve as a member of any board of education, school visitor, or school committee by reason of sex. Compulsory attendance.-Children under 13 years of age who have attended school 24 weeks of the preceding 12 months, and children between 13 and 14 who have attended school 12 weeks within the preceding 12 months, and children over 14 years of age shall not be required to attend school during all the school year, provided they are lawfally employed to labor at home or elsewhere.

Any parent who fails to have his children attend school regularly during the entire school year, except when they are excused as above, and except when the child is destitute of suitable clothing, or is mentally or physically unfit to receive instruction, shall be subject to a penalty of $5 for each week's failure.

Attendance at private schools shall not be regarded as compliance with the provisions of the law requiring attendance at school unless the person in charge of such school shall make reports to the State board of education similar in form to those required from the public schools.1

For other information concerning education in Connecticut consult the Index.

DAKOTA.

[From Report of Superintendent E. A. Dye, 1886-87.]

"Dakota has passed the time of phenomenal growth, as shown in a more numerous population and increasing number of school-houses and an enlarged taxation for the support of the schools. She must now be content with a slower growth than has characterized

It has been difficult for many years to obtain full statistics of private schools, and the method adopted in this statute, while perhaps displeasing to many, is yet one brought about by necessity, In order that the authorities may get more accurate notions as to the amount of schooling which is big given to the children of the State."-(Hartford School Report, 1886-87, p. 31.)

Years.

her progress in the decade closing with 1885, as shown in these tangible results; but though slower in these directions, it does not argue that there is not a substantial and certain growth in the educational affairs of the Territory. The statistics herewith reported present a very healthful growth, but the most important results of school work can not be tabulated nor presented in statistics. As the excitements that usually attend rapid settlements and material development in a measure subside, men are disposed to attend more and more to the immaterial affairs of life. We already have ample evidence of this change in the rapidly multiplying private and sectarian schools; in the anxiety which men manifest to secure the establishment of these schools near to their homes, and in an awakening interest in the real progress and work of the school. The past year has been fruitful in new schools, and we may safely assert that education has shared fully in the general prosperity, and in the steady development of the Territory it has more than held its own. The people of Dakota generally have a lively, if not an enthusiastic, interest in the schools and education. They are demanding better schools and are liberally voting taxes upon themselves for the purpose of providing and supporting them. The children are kept more continuously and regularly at school, the best teachers are being sought and employed, and the length of terms is gradually increasing. In many of the counties it is with the greatest difficulty that a teacher without a special training for her work can find employment. Normal schools are increasing in number and efficiency. The demand for more numerous opportunities to obtain a professional training for the work of teaching was met by the last Legislature in an act authorizing the appointment of certain schools to give a normal training at the expense of the Territory. The creation of the Territorial board of education, by increasing the number of persons in the educational department, has made that department more prompt and efficient, and enables it to perform all of its duties and to have more time to unify and systematize the educational work. The county supervision is becoming very efficient. The increase of school interests has, in the first place, made it necessary to secure capable men for the office of county superintendent, and the increasing wealth of the people has, in the second place, made it possible to secure them. There are numerous instances where men of eminent ability and of extended experience in the school work of our Eastern States are now superintendents of some of our counties. School men are being sought for these positions and are generally chosen."

"The foregoing table shows somewhat of the remarkable growth make by Dakota and her school system during the twelve years beginning with 1-75 and ending with 1887. Not only do these figures show a vast increase in the school population, and a consequent increase in the number enrolled, but it shows that in proportion to the whole number a larger per cent. of the children are enrolled in the schools, and further that those enrolled are attending more regularly than in the forepart of the period covered by these statistics. In 1875 only 53 per cent. of the children of school age were enrolled in the schools and the same per cent. in 1879. In 1883 the per cent. had increased to 62, while the report of 1887 shows that 79 per cent. of the school population attended school for the whole or part of the year. During the year 1879 only 25 per cent. of the school population were in regular attendance at school. The per cent. of the population attending regularly in 1883 increased to 37, while in 1887 we make the magnificent showing of 53 per cent. attending every day for the whole term of 112 days. In this respect Dakota leads nearly all of the States.

"The whole number of teachers has increased from 208 in 1875 to 4,921 in 1587, but the average wages for the same period show a slight decrease for the male teachers, while the wages of the female teachers have increased from $25 in 1×75 to $30,33 in 1887.

"The school population multiplied thirteen times during the period from 1875, and at the same time the number of schools multiplied twenty times. In 1875 there was one school