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I 
 
"To ^pcure EfBcienf'r nnH Economy in Onvorntt 
 
 DETROIT BUREAU OF 
 GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH, Inc. 
 
 100 GRISWOLD STREET 
 
 A REPORT Oil TIE 
 ORGANIZATIOi: & ADIiIIMI STRATI ON 
 of the 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION 
 of the 
 CITY OP DETROIT 
 
 Prepared for the 
 
 BOARD OP EDUGATIOt 
 
 by the 
 
 DETROIT ETIRSAU OP GOVER10-ISI>ITAL RESEARCH 
 
 October, 1915. 
 
0;\, 
 
 A REPORT ON THE 
 
 ORGANIZATIOIJ ABD ADLIINISTRiiTION 
 
 of the 
 
 BOARD 01' EDUCATION 
 
 of the 
 
 CITY OP DETROIT 
 
 Prepared for 
 THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
 hy the 
 DETROIT BUREAU OE GOVERM.ffiNTAL RESEARCH 
 100 Glrisv/old Street 
 Octoher,- 1915. 
 

 w; Of D. 
 
 /WAV 14 
 
 /y2o 
 
I*. 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 This report on the Organization and Adminis- 
 tratioii of the Board of Education was prepared 
 by Mr. Arch M. Mandel, who has "been in charge 
 of the entire survey of the Educational Depart^ 
 ment made by the Detroit Bureau of Governmental 
 Research. The report v/as prepared in October, 
 1915. At this time it was apparent that a 
 small school board would take the place of the 
 large board, and it was believed that no real 
 purpose could be served by presenting the report, 
 It is now sent to the members of the nev/ly 
 elected small school board as well as to the 
 present Board of Education in the belief that 
 it may assist in some measure in the problems 
 attending the organization of the small Board 
 of Education. 
 
- A - 
 SUM?vIA.RY OF KECOMIVEMDATIONS 
 It is recommended: 
 
 1. That the Committee System l3e ATjolished . It is suggest- 
 ed that the method of having important "business considered 
 by standing committees he abolished, as committee action 
 results in delay upon business. A large majority of the 
 inspectors are not informed concerning matters v\?hich come 
 before the Board of Education from committees, with the 
 result that the approval of the Board of Education is of 
 
 a perfunctory character, and there is a tendency for the 
 committees to undertake administrative action which Ehoi::lr. 
 be left to the executive officers of the Board, 
 
 2, That Business Activities be Correlated v;ith Iffork of 
 Superintendent , It is suggested that activities closely 
 related to the education of Detroit's children, such as 
 the purchasing of sites, the construction of buildings, 
 the buying of supplies, and employing of clerks, book- 
 keepers and janitors, be more closely correlated with the. 
 duties of the superintendent, w'hether or not some one 
 
 Nperson in charge- of these activities should be entirely 
 subordinate to the superintendent, shoul^d be determined 
 by local conditions, as v/ell as the practice of progress- 
 ive cities. ', 
 
 5, -Tha't New Rules be Adopted . To obtain a satisfactory 
 reorganization of the Board of Education, it is suggested • 
 that new rules be adopted which will remove from the provinc;. 
 
- B - 
 of the Board raem'bers, the performance of administrative 
 duties such as the employing of subordinates to the Super- 
 intendent, the Supervisor of Property, and the Secretary; 
 purchasing of supplies and equipment; care and maintenance 
 of huildings; detail construction of "buildings; purche^sing 
 of sites, etc vi^hich are logically the duties of executive 
 officers appointed hy the Board « 
 
 4o That the Proper Duties of the Board Be Mor e £h£roughl2- 
 Exercised o Vifith the aholition of administrative activitlcr, 
 on the part of the Board, it is suggested that the Board 
 concern itself with more thoroughly carrying out its proper 
 functions,- i.e. legislation relating to such matters as 
 the cha,racter of educa,tion to he furnished, a plan of pur- 
 chasing sites and construction of huildings over a period' o: 
 years, estahlishment of a proper salary schedule to insure 
 high grade teachers, the host methods of keeping abreast 
 of modern educational progress, etc; and of inspectorial 
 duties, relating to the character of service which is being 
 rendered by the executive officers of the Board aaid their 
 employees o By this is meant the results which are obtained 
 in carrying out the plans of the legislative body. 
 5o That Special Committees be Usedo Experience indicates 
 tha^t better results would be secured by the appointment of 
 special committees of the Board of Education to consider 
 problems as they arise, rather tha,n the reference of these 
 "oroblems to standing committees = These standing committees 
 
- c - 
 
 frequently deal with questions in a superficial way since 
 their time is ta,lien up "by a multitude of details, 
 
 6, That a Calendar of Ileetinss Be Prepared o It is su.ggested 
 that the Superintendent, as executive officer of the Board, 
 should have prepared and sent to each memher of the Board, 
 prior to Board meetings, a synopsis of 8,11 husiness v/hich is 
 in order for transaction at the ne::t meetinso Such a pro- 
 cedure will enable the Board members to come prepared to 
 discuss intelligently the problems which they must decide. 
 
 7 . That a Reduction in the Size of School Board Be Con- 
 sidered. In a large School Board, m.ade up of m.enbers 
 elected by wards, there is a teilci.«ncy towards loose 
 organization and the subordination of school interests to 
 personal politics, and the neglect of the larger interests 
 of the city to the advantage of particular wards, for 
 this reason, consideration is urged for the proposed 
 charter amendment providing for a school board of seven 
 members, elected at large, ea,ch member to serve for a 
 term of six years. 
 
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Of the BOARD OF EDUCATION 
 
 of the CITY OF DETROIT 
 
 Plan of the Report 
 
 This report is the first of a npraber of reports 
 heing prepared upon the organization and administration 
 of the Board of Education at the invitation of the Board-. 
 
 The report is based upon facts secured by inter- 
 views vsi th members and officers of the Board, and from 
 official records. The findings and recommendations relate 
 only to the system underlying the organization and adminis- 
 tration of the Board of Education, and any adverse 
 criticism presented is criticism of the system and not of 
 individuals. 
 
 The iBspectors are to be commended for their 
 earnestness and zeal, and for the time given gratuitously 
 to Board and Committee duties. It must be realized that 
 the present Board inherited the system and practices of 
 former boards. 
 
 It has seemed logical to present this report 
 in the following form: 
 
 Page 
 
 1. Introduction 
 
 1. Law creating the School District 4 
 
 2. legal Powers and Duties of the Board 
 
 of Education 4 
 
 3. Functions of a Board of Education 5 
 
- 8 - Page 
 
 4. By-Laws of the Board of Education 8 
 !!♦ Board of Ed-gcation - V/ork of Committees 
 
 1, Number and Kinds of Committees 9 
 
 2, Duties and Functions of Committees 12 
 
 3, How Committees V/ork 13 
 
 4. Character of Discussions 28 
 
 5. Consideration of Annual Budget Estimates 31 
 
 6. Summary of Hov; Committees Wcjrlc 33 
 
 III« Boar^ of Education - Proper 
 
 1. General 36 
 
 2, Meetings of the Board 36 
 3- Sources of the Business of the Board 42 
 4. No Calendar of Meetings 44 
 5» Consideration Given Business 45 
 
 6. Consideration of Annual Budget Estimates 50 
 
 7, Action of Board Perfunctory 51 
 8- Disadvantages of the Ward System 52 
 9. Relation of Mayor to Board 55 
 
 10. Summary of How Board V/orks 56 
 
 IV. Recommendations 
 
 1. Committee System Should he Abolished 58 
 
 2. Business Activities Should be Correlated 58 
 
 With Work of Superintendent 
 
 3. New Rules Should be Adopted 66 
 
 4. Proper Duties of the Board Should be 72 
 More Thoroughly Exercised 
 
.^.-jX'Tr.;. 
 
- 3 - 
 
 Page 
 
 5. Special Committees Should be Used 72 
 
 6. Calendar of Meetings Should be Prepared 75 
 
 7. That a Reduction in the Size of School 76 
 
 Board be Considered 
 
I - B UBODUCT IOK 
 
 1 . Law Creating School District . 
 
 The City of Detroit comprises one school district, the 
 affairs of v/hich are conducted bv 21 school inspectors, 
 elected for a term of four years upon partisan tickets, 
 one inspector from each ward. 
 
 2 , Legal Powers and Duties of the Board of Education . 
 Under the State lav7 the Board of Education has full power, 
 
 1. To regulate the finances of the schools 
 
 a - To transmit to the Common Council an estimate of 
 the amount of money deemed necessary for the 
 fiscal year next ensuing. 
 
 b - To apply for and receive all moneys appropriated 
 for the primary schools. 
 
 c - To make by-laws and ordinances relative to making 
 of all necessary reports and transmitting the 
 same to the proper officers as designated by law 
 so that the city may be entitled to its propor- 
 tion of the primary school fund. 
 
 d - To borrow a sum of money for temporary purposes 
 for maintenance. 
 
 e - To establish a teachers' retirement fund. 
 
 f - To audit and approve all pay-rolls, bills, 
 
 accounts, and claims of every character against 
 the Board. 
 
 2* T o regulate the schools and the course of study . 
 
 a - To regulate the schools 
 
 b - To regulate the books to be used 
 
 c - To determine the powers and duties of teachers 
 
 d - To provide special schools (kindergartens, 
 
 ungradec schools, school for deaf ), and instruct- 
 ion. (Study of dangerous diseases, system of 
 humane education, etc.) 
 
-5- 
 
 3 - To control the employes of the Board. 
 
 a. -To employ teachers and determine their powers 
 and duties. 
 
 t - To appoint a secretary, prescribe his duties 
 and compensation. 
 
 c - To appoint a superintendent and determine his 
 salary. 
 
 d - To appoint necessary officers and prescribe 
 their powers and duties. 
 
 e - To appoint persons to take the census, to 
 
 prescribe their duties and rate of compensation. 
 
 4 - To determine miscellaneous policies . 
 
 a - To submit any measure or question not coming 
 under the general power or authority to a vote. 
 
 b - To make rules relative to visitation of schools. 
 
 c . - To acquire and control land for sites* 
 
 d - To annex new school territory. 
 
 e - To condemn land for school purposes. 
 
 f - To submit every resolution or proceeding whereby 
 any liability or debt may be created, or 
 originating the disposal or expenditure of 
 money to the mayor for approval. 
 
 g - To pass resolutions over mayor's ve.to. 
 
 h - To have authority over anything whatever that 
 may advance the interest of education, the good 
 government and prosperity of the free schools 
 in said city, and the welfare of the public 
 concerning the same. 
 
 1 - To furnish the Superintendent of Public 
 
 Instruction with such information as he may 
 require, 
 
 j - To furnish free text books (by vote). 
 
 ^ " iJ' ^'^nctions of a 3oai'd of 5 ducat Io n . 
 
 In the management of the affairs of the school system, 
 
 there are three distinct functions - the legislative, 
 
-6- 
 
 administrative , and inspectorial. 
 
 Legislative functions are those which deal with the 
 
 formation of general policies to be followedo In this 
 
 instance the Board of Education is responsible for the 
 
 character and quality of education to be fxirnished to all 
 
 persons between the ages of 5 and 20 in the Citj? of 
 
 Detroit. This responsibility makes it incumbent upon the 
 
 Board of Education to decide the following ruestions: 
 
 How much money should be spent upon the schools in 
 any year 
 
 How much should be spent for teachers' salaries, 
 other salaries, supplies, repairs, etc. 
 
 How many school buildings and what kind should be 
 constructed 
 
 What kind of education is best for the children of 
 this city. What subjects should be taught 
 
 V/hat kind of teachers should be employed for the best 
 interests of education in Detroit 
 
 V/hat salaries should be paid in order to obtain 
 service adeouate for the needs of Detroit 
 
 Administrative functions are those which deal with 
 
 carrying out the decisions arrived at by the Board of 
 
 Education on the above ouestions. After the Board has 
 
 decided what subjects are to be taught, the next step 
 
 is to have them taught; after concluding how much to spend 
 
 on educational supplies, the next move is to purchase 
 
 those supplies; after deciding the qualifications of 
 
 teachers, such teachers should be obtained; and when it 
 
 has been resolved how much money to spend and for ¥hat 
 
 to spend it, the next step is to spend it. 
 
-7- 
 These administrative duties, the Board of Education 
 itself can perform or else have them performed by 
 professional persons employed for that purpose. 
 Good practice demands that a body such as the Board of 
 Education limit itself to promulgating policies and to 
 leave administration to trained executives. This matter 
 and the reasons therefor applied particularly to Detroit 
 r;ill be discussed thruout the report. 
 Inspectorial functions are those vhich deal with the 
 appointment of the chief officers of the Board and the 
 inspection of results obtained from the fulfillment of 
 the policies by such officers. With the power to out- 
 line policies goes the right to see that they are carried 
 out and that their purposes are accomplished. In order 
 to do this effectively the Board must receive periodic- 
 ally adequate reports from its officers as to, - 
 
 Financial transactions informing it how the money was 
 spent, what w-^.s obtained for the money spent, and costs 
 of various activities^ 
 
 Educational activities indicating such matters as 
 overage and progress in the schools; sizes of classes; 
 work accomplished in the various branches during a 
 specified period; att.-Rdance records; progress of work 
 in night schools, special schools, etc.' 
 
 Building activities showing progress of construction 
 work, etc. 
 
 Maintenance of buildings telling of repair work done; 
 unit costs of work; amount done by contract and that 
 done by direct labor; general conditions of buildings 
 
 Care of buildings showing unit costs for cleaning 
 them; coal consumption records compared school by 
 school, etc. 
 
-8- 
 
 Consumption of supplies of all kinds; per capita 
 cost of educational supplies compared school by 
 school; cost per room of janitors' and engineers' 
 supplies, school by school 
 
 Besides receiving reports from its employes, some things 
 
 can be learned from actual visits to schools, altho it is 
 
 questionable ho\v much a layman can gain from visiting 
 
 class rooms. 
 
 On the other hand, the Board of Education, as part of 
 
 its inspectorial functions, must submit reports to the 
 
 State educational authorities. 
 
 F rom the above illustrations it can readily be seen that 
 if the Board of Education administers its own policies, 
 its inspectorial duties are rendered worthless because 
 the Board y;ould then be a judge of its ov/n acts. 
 
 4 - By-Ia\^s of the Board of Educatio n. 
 Based upon the powers grantee, it by the State law, the 
 Board of Education adopted by-laws which governed the 
 duties of its committees, and its officers. These duties 
 not only include legislative and inspectorial functions 
 which belong legitimately to the Board itself, but they 
 include administrative functions which should be dele- 
 gated to its employes who are chosen because of their 
 special qualifications. 
 
II - BQAEI) OF EDUCATIOI^ - WOKK OF COMOTTESS 
 
 Number and Kinds of Committees. 
 
 The Board of Education is -divided into eight standing 
 
 committees as follows: 
 
 Teachers and Schools 7 members 
 
 Text Books and Course of Study 7 " 
 
 Real Estate and School Buildings? " 
 
 Supplies and Janitors 7 " 
 
 Judiciary 5 |' 
 
 Finance ■ 5 
 
 Sanitation 5 " 
 
 Rules ' 5 " 
 
 Practically all of the Board's business is transacted 
 by the first four committees on the above list. 
 
 Items of Business Transmitted frofn Committees to 
 Board during six months ending June 30, 1916. 
 
 Text Books and Course of Study 203 
 
 Real Estate and School Buildings 118 
 
 Supplies and Janitors 100 
 
 - Teachers and Schools ^^ . 
 
 Total 49 7 
 
 Judiciary ^ 
 
 Finance 29 
 
 Sanitation None 
 
 Rules No^e 
 
 Total 38 
 
 In all there are 48 committee memberships distributed 
 as fbllors among the 2 inspectors: 
 
-10- 
 
 Present List of Committee Memberships. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Real 
 
 
 
 Teachers 
 
 Text 
 
 Book 
 
 Sstate & 
 
 Supplies 
 
 Total 
 
 & 
 
 & Course 
 
 School 
 
 & 
 
 
 Schools' 
 
 of Study 
 
 Bldgs. 
 
 JanTtors 
 
 
 Mumford, S.C. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Spaulding, J. C, 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Eeinhold.A.H. 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 Gordon, A. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Hunter , J. S. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Scovel.P.J, 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Bahorski , J. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Morgan, A. P» 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Majeske , J,F. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Maj?bee,W,H. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Erueger ,P.G. 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 Sherman ,A.B. 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Helj?. A. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 2 
 
 Condon, G.M, 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Auch,G,W. ,Pres. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Neinas ,F .1. 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 O'Hara.J. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Harms ,V/,T. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Heinrich,E.P. 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Warn eke , J.H. 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Komrofsky ,H. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Jud i c i ary 
 
 Finance Sanitation 
 
 Pules 
 
 Total 
 
 Mumford, S.C. 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Spaulding, J. C. 
 
 , X 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Eeinhold.A.H. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Gordon ,A, 
 
 X 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Hunter , J,S« 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Scovel.F.J. 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 Bahorski ,J, 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Morgan, A. P. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Majeske, J,P, 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Maj'fcee,W.H. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Krueger ,P.G, 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Sherman , A, 3. 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Hely ,A, 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Condon, G,M, 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 Auch,G,W, ,Pre£ 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Neinas, P- C, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 0'Hara,J. 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 1 
 
 Harms ,W,T, 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Heinrich,E,P. 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 Warn. eke, J.H. 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 Fomrofsky, H. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-11- 
 
 For practical purposes only the four comrnittees, Teachers 
 and Schools, Text Books & Course of Study, Real Estate 
 and School Buildings, Supplies and Janitors need be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 Of the twenty -eight memberships on these four committees, 
 t?/elve inspectors have one each and eight inspectors two 
 each. This fact should be borne in.. mind; tv:elve men serve 
 on only one committee of importance, and only eight men 
 serve on as many as two of the committees which transact 
 the great bulk of the Board's business. This circumstance 
 will appear especially significant when the "Board of 
 Education and the Budget" ig discussed. 
 The Committees are so organized that they each have one 
 or more of the divisions of the Board of Education under 
 their supervision. The committees on Teachers and 
 Schools and on Text Books and Course of Study cover the 
 educational phase of the Board's affairs and are the 
 "Superintendent's committees". The Committee on Supplies 
 and Janitors and the Committee on Real Estate and School 
 Buildings are responsible for the construction, mainte- 
 nance and care of buildings and deal mainly with the 
 Supervisor of Property, the Architect and Consulting 
 Engineer. The Finance Comimittee works with the Secretary, 
 T/ho is the financial agent of the Board. The other 
 committees. Judiciary, Rules, and Sanitation are general 
 i;;.nd have no particular departments under their jurisdic- 
 tion. 
 
-12- 
 
 2 - Duties and^ _ Punctlons of Committees. 
 
 The total of the di^tle^ rnd functions of all the, committ- 
 ees comprises the duties and functions of the Board of 
 Education as a v/hole , because vhat the committees resolve 
 the Board passes upon; and the acts of the committees are 
 the acts of the Board of Education, because, as vill be 
 brought out later, the Board adopts unanimously, as a rule, 
 what the committees prop: se. 
 
 Prom attendance at 36 typical committee. meetings , the 
 conclusion was reached definitely and unequivocally, that 
 the committees spend practically all of their time in 
 passing upon measures of administrative routine. The 
 meetings, however, did not include those devoted to con- 
 sideration of the annual estimates. 
 
 To substantiate observations of the committee meetings, 
 an analysis was made of the proceedings of the Board of 
 Education for the six months ending July 1, 1916. This 
 information relative to the committees could be gotten in 
 no other way because minutes of committees are not kept. 
 An exception to this rule is the committee on Real Estate 
 and School Buildings, but here the minutes are not com- 
 plete because action is often taken after adjournment or 
 informally, when the stenographer is not present. 
 Of this analysis the following tabulation is the result; 
 
 Legislative Items - 109 - W^j 
 
 Inspectorial " 44 7^ 
 
 Administrative" 462 755^ 
 Total Items 615 lOOfs 
 
-13- 
 
 The relation of the committees to this condition lies in 
 the fact that 82.70f'^ of the above items v;ere matters pre- 
 sented to the Board by its standing committees, and of the 
 total business transacted bv the Board of Education at its 
 meetings during the past six months 75^ v/ere matters of 
 administrative routine. 
 
 Under the charter, and the school I'ws, the Board of 
 Education has full power of taking the management of the 
 schools to itself, even to the minutest detail, or of 
 delegating the duties of actual management of the schools 
 to paid employes. The by-laws of the Board of Education 
 as constituted at present give to the Board thru its 
 committees, the management of these details. 
 3. How Committees Work . 
 
 Teachers anc'. Schools Committee - Duties . 
 Administrative . 
 
 To have charge, together Fith Superintendent 
 and other professional help, of the examins.- 
 tion of candidates and nomination ^nd assi^^n- 
 ment of teachers. 
 
 To recommend for appointment supervisors, 
 principals, teachers* 
 
 To assign principals and teachers. 
 
 To fill vacancies during term time, subject to 
 approval of the Board at the next regular 
 meeting. 
 
 To determine, with advice of the Superintend- 
 ent, the division of children among the school 
 
 Inspectorial . 
 
 To investiga.te all questions of discipline 
 referred to the Board by the Superintendent, 
 and all char;^-es affecting the character and 
 
-14- 
 
 qualifications of teachers. 
 
 Legislative . 
 
 To fix salaries of educational employes and 
 bath attendants. 
 
 To determine the boundaries of school districts. 
 As is the case vd th all regularly meeting committees, 
 the Committee on Teachers and Schools meets bi-weekly, 
 the meetings lasting usually from half an hour to one 
 hour. In May, the meeting at which all teachers were 
 reappointed required two sessions of about' three hours 
 each. Instances from this and other meetings will illus- 
 trate how the committee works. 
 
 This May meeting referred to is the most important 
 meeting of the year for this committee, and is given over 
 wholly to the reappointment of the educational staff 
 and the fixing of salaries for the following year. The 
 superintendent presents his items of business and the 
 committee, as a rule, passes upon them with automatic 
 concurrence. The teachers and principals were recommend- 
 ed for reappointment en masse, as their salaries are fixed 
 by schedule. Yfhen it came to supervisors, it was decided 
 to open the matter of salaries, a subject which had appar- 
 ently been considered finally closed at last year's meet- 
 ing, at which time these salaries were brought up to ^2400. 
 After much discussion, it was decided that supervisors' 
 salaries remain as they were .because it would not be 
 fitting to increase them in face of a serious cut in the 
 salary appropriations by the Board of Estimates. After 
 
-15- 
 
 this decision had "been reached, it was announced that a 
 supervisor of penmanship had been employed at $2500 per 
 year. Therefore, in order to preclude "dissension in the 
 ranks of supervisors", the salaries of the supervisors, 
 eight in all, were raised $100 per year each. 
 Motions for salary increases for clerks, ranging from $5 
 per month to $100 a year, were entertained and passed 
 without a moment's discussion as to the standard rates 
 paid by other branches of the Board of Education. Sten- 
 ographers in the Superintendent's office are paid as high 
 as s*^100 per month, vhile stenographers in the business 
 offices receive a maximum of $75 per month. The differ- 
 ences in these salaries may be equitable, but the com- 
 mittee in fixing salaries apparently did not give stand- 
 ards of payment a thoiight. It was concerned with spending 
 money appropriated in the teachers' fund and did not 
 concern itself with other funds of the Board of Education. 
 This is a splendid example of lack of coordination among 
 the committees of the Board of Education. Each committee 
 works independently of the other and is concerned with 
 its business only. 
 
 In considering the salary of an efficient clerk, it w:.s 
 moved that the salary be increased $100 a year. Evident- 
 ly, this clerk was very efficient, because discussion of 
 her merits continued and resuljied in a motion for a v200 
 increase by another member. The first motion for the $100 
 increase was withdravrn and bhe second adopted. 
 
-16- 
 
 The granting of these increases was considered bj? the 
 committee as procedure on a "business basis", but it was 
 evident to an observer that the members of the committee 
 were not appropriating the funds of a '^business" corpora- 
 tion of which they were the Board of Directors and in 
 which they had a financial interest. 
 
 A typical example of how committees promote inefficiency 
 in the schools is found in the following instances: 
 
 The Superintendent was asked by the Teachers and 
 Schools Committee to furnish the names of incompe- 
 tent teachers, that they might be dropped. He, very 
 conservatively, chose four teachers who were consid- 
 ered hopelessly incompetent by him and by his assist- 
 ant superintendents, and asked these teachers for 
 their resignations. Three of them acceded to his 
 request, but the fourth, apparently the most incom- 
 petent, and one who had been tried out in school 
 after school under varying conditions, refused. 
 Further, she interviewed members of the committee, 
 with the result that the Superintendent' s recommend- 
 ations were overruled and she was reappointed with 
 the proviso that she be dropped at any time if she 
 now proves incompetent. This action of the committee 
 accomplished two things, - it saddled the system with 
 an incompetent employe and helped demoralize disci- 
 pline because a teacher had "put one over" on the 
 Superintendent, 
 
- 17 - 
 
 Instances where members of this committee recommend 
 persons for appointment or promotion occur at every 
 meeting at v/hich appointments come up. Some of the 
 inspectors seem to have an inexhaustible supply of 
 candidates for all kinds of positions; they follow 
 actual vacancies, possible and probable vacancies, 
 and probable creation of new positions in new schools, 
 with as much care as does the Superintendent^ they, 
 as laymen, speak of "strong" teachers with as much 
 glibness as do the assistant superintendents, and 
 under different circumstances, their zeal and interest 
 would merit commendation. The usual formula used by . 
 an inspector in introducing a protege is "of course, 
 Doctor, you know better, and I do not want to inter- 
 fere, but I should like to see Miss X given tiis 
 position; "or, "Don't you think Miss X is a v'^rong 
 teacher and should be given this position, :f possi- 
 ble?" They actually recommend how transfers should 
 be made in order to have their "strong" teachers 
 promoted. Of course, the "ward" represented enters 
 into the appointment, as the ward is sacred territory 
 to the inspector representing it. (Examples of this 
 will be given later in this report). 
 It is not intended %c aive the impression that all promo- 
 tions and appointments of special teachers are initiated 
 by the inspectors, nor that incompetents are recommended 
 
- 18 - 
 
 for promotion, but it is asserted that more of this is 
 done than should be done in the interests of an effect- 
 ive educational staff, and that the best qualified 
 persons are not always chosen. 
 
 An instance of this occurred in recommending a 
 young man for the position of instructor in physical 
 training. The superintendent had recommended X 
 as the more qualified of the two applicants, but Y 
 was a resident of Detroit, and some of the committee 
 thought he ought to receive the position. A com- 
 promise was effected by appointing both, although' 
 they could have waited six months before appointing 
 the second one. 
 Legally, the committee has the right to recommend appoint- 
 ments, but this power should be taken from them and left 
 entirely to the superintendent. It may be true that 
 under present conditions he does the recommending in the 
 maoority of the cases, but he does so under sufferance 
 and in many instances only by skilful sug^^est Ion and by 
 the help of a few of the better minded members of the 
 committee. He will not appoint or promote un^^ualif led 
 persons even if urged to do so, but he is prevented many 
 times from promoting the one most qualified. 
 At present, an aggressive teacher or principal who ^''ill 
 seek the inspectors' support can gain recognition, trhile 
 an equally or more competent teacher attending to her 
 teaching only may be overlooked. An eligible list for 
 
- 19 - 
 promotions should be created, and not bj' the coramittee. 
 
 Gommittee on Te:r': 3ool-3 j:_2°^rse_of Studv - Duties. 
 
 Administrative - 
 The duties of the Comnittee on Text Books and Course 
 of Study are:. 
 
 To cause the Secretary to advertise for propos- 
 als for supplying text books, apparatus, school 
 stationery^.nd supplies. 
 
 To recommend for adoption, the regular high 
 school text books for such period as the state 
 law may require. 
 
 To consider all matters relative to the appoint- 
 ment of subjects among the several grades, and 
 the methods of instruction in the public schools. 
 
 Legislative. 
 
 To consider, together rith the superintendent 
 and other -nrofessional help deemed necessary, 
 all matters relative to the course of study and 
 the introduction of nen subjects of study. 
 
 So far as could be learned from attendance at its 
 meetings since last May, and from an analysis of the 
 proceedings of the Board for the past year, this 
 committee spends all of its time in recommending 
 purchases of educational supplies. Exceptions were 
 the consideration of the budget estimates for sup- 
 plies, rhlch is a legislative function, and the adopt- 
 ion for trial of a new book on stenography which 
 involved a change in the system of stenography. Two 
 matters of policy which this committee should have 
 passed upon never reached it. One was the establish- 
 ing of a military company in the Northwestern High 
 
-20- 
 
 School, and the other r/as the change of the course of 
 study in the ni^'ht schools, from a four ni,jht a reek 
 academic session to a three night academic and one night 
 recreation and social session. This matter came up 
 incidentally before the Teachers and Schools Committee, 
 but it was not even discussed by the latter. 
 
 Changes in the course of study should not be made 
 without the sanction of the committee on Course of Study 
 as long as there is such committee. 
 
 The Superintendent submits his list of text books 
 and supplementary books for all the schools, and the 
 committee passes upon it without even going thru the 
 titles. 
 
 In going over the requisitions for supplies and the 
 proposals for bids, the committee questions the quantities 
 requested, but all this is administrative detail and 
 should be left to the superintendent , rfho is responsible 
 for the results in the schools. 
 
 Committee on Supplies and Janitors - Duties . 
 
 Administrative . 
 
 The duties of the Committee on Supplies and Janitors 
 
 are : 
 
 To recommend the purchase of necessary furni- 
 ture, fuel, janitors' supplies and miscellane- 
 ous articles. 
 
 To direct the secretary to advertise for 
 proposals for supplying the above for the 
 ensuing year. 
 
-21^ 
 
 To recommend to the Board suitable persons for 
 janitors. 
 
 To recommend for appointment a suitable person 
 to act as inspector and weigher of coal. 
 
 Legislative . 
 
 To make all rules for government of janitors. 
 
 Inspectorial . 
 
 To cause to be made a complete inventory of the 
 movable property not included in the superin- 
 tendent's inventory. 
 
 Probably more than ^ny other oommittep, this one 
 spends its time on administrative detail. It not 
 only appoints janitors and engineers, but supervises 
 the work of these employes; it not only authorizes 
 the purchase of supplies, but actually purchases all 
 the seats by looking at the samples submitted and 
 choosing the one it wants, v;ithout the advice of any 
 officer of the 3iard. 
 
 The power of appointing janitors and engineers 
 vested in this committee, and the methods of appoint- 
 ment, undermines the efficiency of the work in the 
 care of buildings, and leads to enormous rastes of 
 money, because it resolves itself practically into 
 a job creating function for political reasons. By 
 custom, each inspector recommends all the appoint- 
 ments for these jobs in his v/ard. The janitor or 
 engineer is responsible to the inspector for his job 
 and not to his apparent superior, the Supervisor of 
 
Property. The result is a treakinj dovm of discip- 
 line. It happens also that a fev of the inspectors 
 have political ambitions, seven of the twenty-one 
 havinj teen candidates for public office in the recent 
 primaries, a circumstance which at least creates the 
 impression that the possession of such gifts as a 
 fev; jobs for the worthy and willing might be used to 
 personal advantage. 
 
 Typical examples of the manner of de'^ling with 
 the problem may be had at any meeting. The follow- 
 ing ones occurred on May 23, 1916: 
 
 A letter was read from the principal of one of 
 the schools that the janitress in the building 
 was stirring up mischief and was undesirable. 
 It was decided by the committee to allow her to 
 serve out the remainder of the school year , up 
 to the middle of June, because, as the chairman 
 remarked, "It is Inspector X' s appointment and 
 we ought to do as he asks us". 
 
 The case of the janitor in the Wilkins School 
 was brought up. This man, some time ago, had 
 been taken off the pay-roll by the Supervisor, 
 but reinstated by the Committee, and now was 
 again in trouble. It was agreed that he was 
 absolutely hopeless' and should be dismissed, 
 but action was' postponed until the newly 
 appointed inspector for that ward, Mr. Gordon, 
 
-23- 
 would take office, because, "He oujht to have a 
 voice in the matter". Not even a hopeless incom- 
 petent could apparently divert the committee from 
 its adherence to time honored custom. 
 
 At a meeting of June 6th., the committee voted to 
 dispense with the services for the evenint^ sess- 
 ions, of the engineer in the Bishop School, because 
 the heating of the building was discontinued. The 
 Supervisor was not present when this was done. At 
 the same meetirig a letter from an inspector was read 
 recommending a protege for the position as engineer, 
 when the need should arise. 
 
 In buying seats, the committee goes into the base- 
 ment of the Board of Education building, looks at 
 the samples of the desks and decides upon the one 
 wanted. Neither the Superintendent, Supervisor 
 of Property , nor the Medical Inspector is there to 
 advise them, nor is their advice sought in the 
 matter. 
 
 Gommittee on Real Bstate and School Buildings -Duties. 
 Administrative, 
 
 The duties of the Committee on Real Estate and School 
 Buildings are: 
 
 To examine into and report upon the desirability, 
 value, and titles of all lends to be purchased, 
 and of all leases of buildings. 
 
 To have general oversight of the construction 
 and finishing of buildings and of all necessary 
 
- 24 - 
 
 sewers, out-buildings, fences and sidevv-alks. 
 
 To examine into and report upon the necessity and 
 desirability of repair, alterations and improve- 
 ments in buildings or their appurtenances and to 
 have supervision of same. 
 
 To have charge of insuring property. 
 
 Legislative . 
 
 To examine into and to recommend plans and speci- 
 fications of new buildings. 
 
 Inspectorial . 
 
 To make an annual report upon; 
 
 Real Estate orned by the Board, toget?ier v;ith 
 the estimated value in detail. 
 
 The number of school buildings together with 
 the number of rooms and school sittings in 
 each. 
 
 The number of unoccupied lots ovmed by the 
 Board. 
 
 The buildings or rooms leased by the Board, 
 together vith the duration of the leases, 
 names of lessors, and amount of rent. 
 
 Such other information as they deem of valixe 
 to the Board. 
 
 This Committee transacts more business than any 
 of the others and plans the e:<penditure of more money 
 than any other committee - $1,348,835 for the year 
 1915-16, and $2,175,537.50 for 1916-17, It is true that 
 the Committee on Teachers and Schools has under its 
 jurisdiction a much larger appropriation, but the 
 greater part of it is expended under an established 
 schedule for teachers' salaries. 
 
 Hov.'ever, sccording to the by-laws quoted above, 
 most of the work of this committee is admanistrative. , 
 
- 25 - 
 
 The committee follows the reconmendation of the superin- 
 tendent as to the need and location of a building; it "buys 
 the site upon the recommendation of a real estate agent 
 hired by the Board, and as far as observed, such recommend- 
 ations are never questioned; it passes upon major repairs 
 to be made, but has no control of the repair work done, 
 because of the lack of a system of records and reports; 
 and it follows the progress of buildings and calls in the 
 contractors to hear the reasons for delay. All of these 
 details are attended to by a committee of seven laymen 
 meeting once every two weeks, or more often, if necessary. 
 
 Sound business demands that the spending of so 
 large a sum of money should be given close and continuous 
 attention by some one person who can coordinate the loca- 
 tion and purchase of sites and the work of the architect, 
 engineer, and supervisor of property with the education 
 of the children, for which purpose the buildings are being 
 erected and maintained. In attending the meetings of 
 committees, the impression is gained that the end for 
 which meetings are held and money expended is the buying 
 of supplies, hiring janitors and engineers, and erecting 
 or repairing buildings, rather than the education of 
 children. 
 
 Even a superficial study of the transactions 
 of this committee shows - first, that administration of 
 details by seven laymen ^'ho meet at stated periods is a 
 
- E6 - 
 
 failure, and seccrrdly, that a coiJjrdinating head is absolute- 
 ly necessary. The following typical instances illustrate 
 the weaknesses in the present state of affairs; 
 
 The frinciral of the Northwestern High School had 
 the hoods in the chemical laboratory vifired by the 
 Hiram Matks Electrical Company, for which a bill 
 of $62.46 was submitted to the Supervisor of Prop- 
 erty for his approval. He thought it was excessive 
 and refused to pass it, whereupon the Hiram Marks 
 Company sent the .bill to the secretary. The latter 
 took it up with the Real Estate and Building Committ- 
 ee on Jan, 11, 1916, at which time the bill v/as 
 allowed. Extracts from the proceedings of the Board 
 of Education show that on - 
 
 Ian. 13, 1915 - The Committee on Real Estate and 
 Buildings recommends that the Hiram Marks Electric 
 Company be paid the sum of $52.46 for wiring. - 
 carried. 
 
 Jan, 27th., 1915 - The above motion was reconsidered 
 and was referred back to the committee. 
 
 Feb- 10, 1915 - The committee reports that the bill 
 of |52.46 is excessive for the work done and recom- 
 mends that the Hiram Iferks Electric Company be 
 tendered the sum of $45.00 for the work done.- 
 carried. 
 
 The above is an instance where the committee without 
 the advice of the Supervisor of Proprty, who is directly 
 in charge of all repair work, acted upon a matter of which 
 it had no knov/ledge. Furthermore, it should not have rec- 
 ommended payment Without the Supervisor's approval. 
 
 An ap-oropriation of $15,000 Was made for special 
 furniture for the Northeastern High School, ?/hich 
 included chairs for the auditorium and equipment for 
 the lunch room. The principal of this school sent in 
 a requisition for what were apparently his needs and 
 the committee authorized the architect to draw plans 
 for the furniture, the cost of v^rhich was $14,005.88, 
 
- 27 - 
 
 After the contract v-as avfarded, the principal of the 
 school requested auditorium chairs and lunch room equip- 
 ment, items which should have been included in the 
 original requisition. The purchase of the auditorium 
 chairs at $2267.50 necessitated a transfer of money to 
 the fund and now, even with a transfer of funds, there 
 Is no money for equipping the lunch room so that it may 
 be used. 
 
 Had there been somebody to catch that first mistalre of 
 the principal, adjustments could have been made by eliminetin^i 
 the less important furniture so that the lunch room, an 
 important feature of the school, could have been equipped. 
 The principal worked directly with the committee instead of 
 thru the Superintendent, and the committee proved that it 
 was incapable of administrating properly. 
 
 An instance in the purchase of sites will be illuminat- 
 ing: 
 
 On June 6th., 1915, Mr. Barry, the real estate agent 
 of the Board, was instructed to procure options on a 
 225 ft. site, north of Poplar and bet?;een 15th. and 
 16th. Sts. at a cost of about I'eg ,000. 
 
 On June 8th., 1916, Inspector Maybl e of that ward 
 appeared before the committee and suggested a 210 ft. 
 site south of Linden St. between 15th. and 16th. Sts. , 
 a block south of the other, and which could be had at 
 a cheaper price. 
 
 On June 20th., 1916, the newly recommendec" site being 
 satisfactory, Mr. Barry was instructed to get options 
 on it. The cost proved to be $57,850, as against 
 $69,000, the probable cost of the first site chosen by 
 the committee. 
 
 This cheaper site might easily have been overlooked, 
 
 and it would seem that a person on the job continuously for 
 
 the purpose of purchasing would secure most effective results. 
 
- 28 - 
 
 A flagrant violation of ordinarj? business manage- 
 ment is to be found in the folloving case where the comv 
 mittee leased out a block of 13 houses and a stable for 
 $450 per month which formerly brought ^^865 per month. 
 These houses came into the possession of the Board with 
 the acquisition of a site for the Cass High School, a 
 site which will not be used before another year. This 
 was inexcusable, even for short tine periods, with the 
 present demands for houses in Detroit. However, the 
 crowning touch to the transaction was the leasing back 
 by the committee of the property at 166-168 High Street 
 for vl50 per month which formerly leased for approximate- 
 ly $100 per month. Fortunately, this last act was re- 
 considered, after it had passed the committee, and the 
 house was secured for $100 per month, with one useless 
 furnace. It is almost impossible to follow the psychol- 
 ogy of such procedure. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that this committee 
 spends over $2,000,000 a year and has the supervision of 
 buildings and property worth about $15,000,000. 
 
 4 - Character of Discussions . 
 
 Since practically all of the committees' time is 
 taken up with administration, the discussions at the 
 meetings are necessarily limited to consideration of a 
 mass of administrative routine. V/ith meetings lasting 
 from fifteen minutes to two hours, once every two weeks, 
 
-29- 
 
 except in the case of the Real Estate and Buildings 
 Committee, little time is left for careful consideration 
 of broad general policies. 
 
 An observer could not but be impressed by the lack 
 of constructive discussion and the lack of information 
 upon which discussion is based at the committee meetings. 
 ;;?hi3 is not an indictment of the individuals comprising 
 the various committees, but of a system which permits an 
 organization to be administered by laymen who come to- 
 gether periodically, and of a practice by which problems 
 are presented, discussed and decided at these periodic 
 meetings - for the greater part at the same meeting. 
 
 As no information could be obtained from minutes, 
 
 the following instances were noted thru attendance at 
 
 committee meetings: 
 
 May 24 ,1916 : The Committee on Text Books and Course 
 of Study was authorizing the purchase of supplies 
 , ' for the Manual Training Department for the ensuing 
 year. The Supervisor of Manual Training was asked 
 as to the need of the particular quantity specified, 
 and the answer was that there would be an increase 
 in the number of pupils, but no data were presented 
 to the committee to show how large the increase 
 might be; how large it was in the past year; in fact, 
 not a definite figure entered the discussion. The 
 purchase of scissors might be taken as a typical 
 example . 
 
 A member of the committee was asked whether the 
 quantity reqtiested was due to an increase in the 
 number of pupils or to the loss incurred during the 
 year, and the reply was that the probable increase 
 in the number of pupils was the basis of the request, 
 and that the loss was negligible. But how much was 
 due to one cause, and how much was due to the other, 
 what the increase in pupils would be, and v;hat the 
 loss during the year might be, was not given. 
 
-30- 
 
 June 7th., 1916'. The same committee, in authorizing 
 the purchase for lumber, raised the question as to 
 whether this commodity might not be bought in larger 
 quantities at a better price. The order in question 
 was 200 feet, for which only one firm bid. The 
 question raised was a legitimate one, but that Is 
 where the whole matter ended- Wo attempt was made to 
 follow it up. 
 
 The order for five Pathescopes was passed by the 
 committee, but before authorizing it the question 
 was raised as to the necessity of these machines. 
 The Superintendent was obliged to relate, for the 
 third time, the history of the transaction from the 
 beginning. 
 
 June 5th., 1916: The matter of increasing the salary 
 schedule of attendance officers to that paid teachers 
 of ungraded classes came up on this day. The question 
 was discussed pro and con, and the points about which 
 the discussion revolved were whether attendance offi- 
 cers should get as much money as the teachers in un- 
 graded classes, and what were the chances for advance- 
 ment in this fields but the basis points of qualifi- 
 cations necessary for these two grades of positions 
 and comparative duties of these employes were not 
 discussed- Nevertheless, at the end of fifteen 
 minutes discussion, the salary of attendance officers 
 was increased. 
 
 June 20'ch. , 1916: At this meeting, the Committee on 
 Janitors and Supplies discussed the rate of pay for 
 engineers who work four hours over-time, daily, 
 during the summer months, in schools where the Recre- 
 ation Commission conduct playgrounds. The rate of pay 
 last year was $1.50 for these four hours, but this 
 year the engineers demanded more, and the Superin- 
 tendent of Property fixed the sum of sixty cents per 
 hour which should be paid by the Recreation Commiss- 
 ion. This was a^.;^r.ien"clv too high because even some 
 of the members of the committee objected. The dis- 
 cussion centered about the fact that the ertra four 
 hours would make too long a day for the engineers, 
 who begin their work at 7 A.M. and work until 4 P.M. 
 for the Board of Education, and that sixty cents an 
 hour was not too much for this over-time ' Not a 
 question was raised as to the duties of the engineers 
 during the summer months - whether such duties might 
 not permit engineers to shift their hours so that $hey 
 need not wort more than eight hours including the 
 four hours spent in watching the building while the 
 playground session was in progress. 
 
- 31 - 
 
 The attitude of the merahers seemed to "be that they 
 might as uell do the best in their power for the 
 engineers because the Board of Education v/ould 
 not settle the bill, and as one man expressed it, 
 "Let the Recreation CoraiTiission pay for the services 
 if they want them". It might be noted that a settle- 
 ment v;as reached outside of the coiTirnittee, placing 
 the rate of pay at $13. 50 per week. 
 
 It is not uncommon for this committee to spend its 
 time in planning appointments and transfers of 
 janitors and engineers. One meeting this simmer 
 v/ould be called almost a v/rangle over such transfers 
 ■antll all the members of the committee v;ere satisfied 
 that their proteges were properly placed o 
 
 August 23rd: In trying to decide v;hether the moving 
 of the manual training machinei-y from the George 
 School to the Nordstrum High School should be done by 
 contract or by the Board of Education, the Committee 
 on Text Books and Course of Study v;ent so far into 
 the discussion of moving the machinery, that the next 
 step ¥70uld have been actually to move it . Instead 
 of obtaining the advice of the Supervisor of Manual 
 Training 'on the proposed liid by a private firm v;hich 
 was considered too high, the ^o-raraittee sat in the 
 office discussing the details of moving it. 
 
 The above ex:«jnples -serve to illustrate the character 
 
 of discussion which consumes the time of the committees 
 
 v/hen discussion occurs « As a rule, hov/ever, there is 
 
 almost automatic concurrence v/ith the recommendations of 
 
 the Superintendent or the Supervisor of Property or of any 
 
 other employe v;ho brings u-p matters before the coj-rnittees , 
 
 5, - Consideration of Annual Budget EstimateSo 
 
 V/hen the estimates are tu.rned in hv- the dep:-rtment 
 heads, the respective commit teos usually hold special 
 meetings at which the estimates v/hich come under their 
 jurisdiction are discussed. These meetings, according to 
 the Secretary and the Chief Glei-k, are completed at one 
 
-32- 
 
 sitting, the longest of them lasting not more than three 
 hours, at the end of which time the committee is ready to 
 make its recommendation to the Board of Education. 
 
 Changes in the estimates as presented by the depart- 
 ment heads are practically never decreased. They are 
 increased, if changed at all. 
 
 The committees do not receive sufficient information 
 to allow them to pass judgment upon the justifiability of 
 the requests. The members do not even receive copies of 
 the estimates as they are submitted. At the meetings the 
 secretary reads the items of the estimates, and the super- 
 intendent, or the supervisor, or the secretary, as the 
 case may be, is prepared to answer any Questions which may 
 be raised. 
 
 As no members of the Bureau were present at any of 
 these meetings, the facts concerning them were gathered 
 from interviews and from whatever records were available'. 
 The chairman of one committee admitted that he left the 
 "details" to the em^ployees of the board, but also admitted 
 that the information presented was too meagre for a proper 
 understanding of the needs of the schools, and that he;: 
 would demand more information if requests for sums of 
 money were made in his own business. The chairman of 
 another committee, ?/hen shown a copy of the estimates 
 presented his committee, stated that he h'd no recollect- 
 ion of having before this seen the statement. It was read 
 to the committee by the secretary. 
 
■ ' -33- 
 
 It is possible that considerable discussion and 
 
 questioning takes place at the committee meetings, but it 
 
 does not seem probable that such is the case vhen the 
 
 members of the committee do not see the estimates before 
 
 they attend the meetings and then only do they hear the 
 
 total amounts read to them. 
 
 The request for |50,000 for fire escapes seems a 
 good example of the lack of consideration given the 
 estimates. The request for this -.mount originated 
 with the Real Estate & Buildings Committee in this 
 ease. The supervisor, being asked how much fire 
 escapes for the Doty School would cost, estimated the 
 cost at llOOO , and as there were 50 buildings needing 
 fire escapes, it was decided to ask for |50,000. 
 
 Another instance of lack of consideration in the 
 action by the Committee on Teachers and Schools in 
 raising salaries in face of a cut of $195,000 by the 
 Common Council and Board of Estimates in the original 
 request of teachers' salaries. It seems that if the 
 Committee had given the original estimate the con- 
 sideration it deserved, it could not have seen its_ 
 way clear to increase salaries not contemplated orig- 
 inally. 
 
 6 . Summary of How Committees Work. 
 
 In summarizing the work of the committees, the state- 
 ment that practically all the time is being spent on admin- 
 istrative details covers the faults that are to be found in 
 the prevailing system. This is not the fault of the com- 
 mittees, as they are merely taking advantage of the duties 
 prescribed to them in the by-laws of the Board of Education 
 
 With a mass of details placed before them meeting 
 after meeting, it is little wonder that the perspective of 
 the committees is warped and that they are unable "to see 
 
-34- 
 
 the woods because of the trees". All items of business 
 seem on a par and are treated as equally important, and 
 with the same mechanical concurrence. Discussions are ' 
 neither vital nor pertinent. The authorizing of a small 
 purchase may consume more discussion and more time than 
 the purchase of a site for a school. 
 
 Initiation of legislation, a proper function of the 
 committees, is pushed into the background because of atten- 
 tion to details* Individual salary increases will be 
 discussed year after year without any comprehensive plan 
 being consummated to standardize salaries; details of the 
 construction of buildings will be supervised, but no in- 
 tensive study of h07/ to meet Detroit's growing need for 
 schools so as to relieve future congestion will be consid- 
 ered. 
 
 Advantage is not being taken of the inspectorial 
 powers and duties conferred upon the committees by the 
 by-laws. Questions may arise as to the value of education- 
 al research and the benefits to be derived from continuing 
 this department, but it has not been observed during all 
 this discussion that any requests were made by the proper 
 committee as to the accomplishments of this department for 
 the past year. 
 
 In passing upon the annual budget estimates, the 
 most important piece of legislation for the year, the 
 committees do not seek enough information to warrant their 
 recommending the appropriation of hundreds of thousands 
 
-35- 
 
 of dollars. 
 
 Inefficiency is promoted by the present system 
 because: 
 
 1. Committees have the power to appoint employes, 
 and, in the face of political ambition, such 
 patronage may be used indiscriminately. 
 
 2. Transactions are hel«^ up until committees meet, 
 in order to receive authorization to act. 
 
 3. Laymen meeting periodically are not in sufficient- 
 ly close touch with affairs to act with their 
 best judgment upon administrative details. They 
 must either take the advice of an officer of the 
 Board or else r <?t upon their ovn initiative. In 
 one case their consideration is superfluous, and 
 in the other it is likely to be erroneous. 
 
Ill - BOARD OF EDUCATION - PROPER 
 
 1. - General 
 
 It hcs been shov«i thus far, thct 
 
 1, The Bocrd of Education has heen granted full 
 pov/ers by the State law to conduct the affairs 
 of the schools of this City. 
 
 2, The Board of Education has three functions, - 
 legislative, inspectorial and administrative. 
 
 3. The legislative and inspectorial functions 
 belong properly to the Board of Education it- 
 self, while the administrative function belongs 
 to its professional employees o 
 
 4. Under the law, the Board may itself assume 
 all these functions, or delegate them to its em- 
 ployees. By its rules, the Board has assumed, 
 through its Committees, administrative functions. 
 
 In this section of the report, will be discussed the 
 
 relation of the comiiittees' action to the Board of Education 
 
 as a whole, and the effect of the acts of both of these 
 
 bodies on the administration of the schools of Detroit, 
 
 E. - Meetings of the Board 
 
 "Regular meetings of the Board are held on the second 
 and fourth Thursday evenings of each month, except v/hcn 
 legal or special holidays = In such cases the Board desig- 
 nates the night on which the session shall be held." 
 
 During the year ending July first, 1916. the Board ^of 
 Education held twenty-four regular meetings and three 
 special meetings, - an adjourned regular meeting being 
 counted as a special. During this period, the meetings 
 lasted from fifteen minutes to two hours and thirty minute? 
 
37- 
 
 each. The total time for the regular meetings heing 
 eighteen hours and forty minutes, or an average of forty- 
 six minutes per meeting. The average duration of a special 
 meeting was tv/enty-five minutes, one of them lasting for 
 only ten minutes. 
 
 The attendance at meetings is good, there being an 
 average absence of three members for the regular meetings, 
 and six members for special meetings. The follov/ing table 
 shows this matter in detail: 
 
38 
 
 Tabic of 
 
 REGULAR Iv3STIlIGS 0? THE BOARD 
 Shov/ing AbscncG of Mcm'bcrs 
 Df.ring Year Ending 
 June 30, 1916 
 
 
 
 
 
 Time 
 
 1915-16 
 
 Absent 
 
 Called 
 
 Adjourned 
 
 Consujiiod 
 
 July 1 
 
 
 
 12 -.,00 
 
 1:00 
 
 1:00 
 
 July 22 
 
 1 
 
 8:45 
 
 9:30 
 
 0:45 
 
 Augo IE 
 
 3 
 
 5:15 
 
 6:00 
 
 0:45 
 
 Aug, 26 
 
 7 
 
 5:30 
 
 5:50 
 
 0:20 
 
 Sept. 9 
 
 1 
 
 5:10 
 
 7:40 
 
 2 : 30 
 
 Sept. 23 
 
 9 
 
 8:05 
 
 9:15 
 
 1:10 
 
 Octo 14 
 
 1 
 
 8:15 
 
 9:30 
 
 1:15 
 
 Oct. 28 
 
 3 
 
 8:15 
 
 8:40 
 
 0:25 
 
 IJov. 11 
 
 2 
 
 8:20 
 
 8:-35 
 
 0:15 
 
 Nov. 23 
 
 5 
 
 8:15 
 
 8:35 
 
 0:20 
 
 Dec. 9 
 
 
 
 8:10 
 
 9:15 
 
 1:05 
 
 Dec. 23 
 
 3 
 
 8:15 
 
 9:30 
 
 1:15 
 
 Jan, 13 
 
 5 
 
 8:30 
 
 9:10 
 
 0:40 
 
 Jan. 27* 
 
 1 
 
 8:25 
 
 9:15 
 
 0:50 
 
 Pe"b. 10 
 
 1 
 
 8:30 
 
 9:00 
 
 0:30 
 
 Feb, 24 
 
 1 
 
 8:05 
 
 8:30 
 
 0:25 
 
 Mar = 9 
 
 4 
 
 8:05 
 
 8:25 
 
 0:20 
 
 Mar. 23 
 
 3 
 
 8:20 
 
 8:45 
 
 0:25 
 
 Apr. 13 
 
 5 
 
 8:05 
 
 9:00 
 
 0:55 
 
 Apr. 27 
 
 2 
 
 8:10 
 
 9:00 
 
 0:50 
 
 May 11 
 
 2 
 
 8 : 20 
 
 8:50 
 
 0:30 
 
 May 25 
 
 4 
 
 8:30 
 
 9:00 
 
 0:30 
 
 June 8 
 
 5 
 
 5:45 
 
 6:10 
 
 0:25 
 
 June 22 
 
 5 
 
 ' 5:00 
 
 6:15 
 
 1:15 
 
 
 Total Absent 
 
 72 
 
 Time GonsiiniGd 
 
 18:40 
 
 
 Average 
 
 3 
 
 Average 
 
 0:4S 2/S 
 
 
 OTHER 
 
 THAil REGULAR MEETINGS 
 
 Time 
 
 Sp.G.cif't.l 
 
 Absent i 
 
 2fxil?i 
 
 Adjourned 
 
 Consuj'aod 
 
 A-pr« 21 
 
 10 
 
 12:25 
 
 12:35 
 
 0:10 
 
 Apr. 29 
 
 
 
 12;15 
 
 12:40 
 
 0:25 
 
 Adjourned 
 
 
 
 
 
 Idar .. 1 
 
 9 
 
 8:00 
 
 8:40 
 
 0:40 
 
 
 Total Absent 
 
 19 
 
 Time Consumed 
 
 0:75 
 
 
 Average 
 
 6 1/S 
 
 Avei'age 
 
 0:25 
 
 Meetin;-' at which budget reouoBor.''-were considered 
 
- 39 - 
 
 Typical Board Meetirifi-s 
 
 The follov/ing is the order of business of the meetings 
 
 of the Board of E6.uc3tion: 
 
 1. Reading of minutes of the last meeting 
 or meetings. 
 
 S, Special Order, 
 
 3. Unfinished business. 
 
 4. Reading and referring of communications 
 from the President. 
 
 5. Reading and referring of communications 
 from the Secretary. 
 
 6. Reading and referring of communications 
 from the Superintendent and Supervisor, 
 
 7. Reading and referring of all other com- 
 munications directed to the Board or its 
 ofr'ioers. 
 
 8. Reports of Qommittees. 
 
 In accordance with the above procedure, the President 
 conducts the meeting. After the first three items have 
 been passed, the Secretary commences to read communications 
 and resolutions in the order designated above. It is 
 noted that the haste with which items are read ( and per- 
 haps must be read) makes it almost impossible for an 
 audience to understand the nature of the business before 
 the Board, It is possible that continual attendance at 
 the meetings by the Board members, develops their ability 
 to grasp detail?, but it wovild seem that even they would 
 find '''''f iculty in following the contents of communications 
 and resolutions. 
 
- 40 - 
 
 After the reading of each resolution, the president, 
 with mechanical regularity, utters the formula "adopted, 
 if no ohjection" and there oeing no olDJection, as a rule, 
 resolutions adoiot themselves, 
 
 For the year ending June 30th, 1916, out of 1266 items 
 passed by the Board, 1S39 vi/ere passed in this manner, ap- 
 parently v^ithout objection by any member of the Board, 
 
 It is difficult to determine the specific responsi- 
 bility, but the fact remains that the meetings, which 
 last on an average of forty-six minute?., are monotonous 
 and dull. If it is a trial, to one who attends ox his 
 own free will, to sit thru a meeting, what must it be to 
 those v/ho are obligated to attend them regularly. It 
 is not to be expected that men will be interested meeting 
 after meeting in hundreds of details and items authorising 
 purchases and payments of bills, and granting permission 
 to use the school building, or in hearing the lon-^; list 
 of resignations, transfers and appointments o± employees. 
 
 While the dialogue between the president and Secre- 
 tary is being carried on, the Board members, some listen- 
 ing, some talking and others reading, sit there in a 
 listless and uninterested attitude, altho occasionally 
 an inspector, interested in a particular item,, will make 
 a comment which may open a discussion on some subject. 
 
- 41 - 
 An indiscriminate choice of items selected from tlie pro- 
 ceedings during the past year illustrates the character of 
 husiness brought hefore the Board: 
 
 Page 296 t Rehate of tuition fee of ;a»95. Pupil 
 attended school one v»;eelr. Deduct 65^^ 
 
 Page 301: Purchase hand rail and charge to Recreation 
 ComiTiission, v3»00. 
 
 Page 301: :.di ZOi to the price of,, a hook, also change 
 the price of another hook to read $1.50 f.Ooh. 
 Chicago instee-d of f.Oohc Detroit » 
 
 Page 373: Renev/ Suhscription for .Vraerican Journal of 
 Puhlic Health, OS.OO. 
 
 Page 374: Allow additional araotuit for marking gauges, 
 70^. 
 
 Page 476: Purchase program for entertainments of 
 pupils in the grammar and elementary grade, ^6<.50« 
 
 Page 361: Authorizing the Super'/iCOSr' to civUiS© ^^^-^ 
 position of the intercommunicating telephonti in the 
 lunch room of the Worthv/estern High School « This item 
 takes up three inches of fine tjrpe , the width of a 
 nev/spaper column » 
 
 Page 383: Committee on Janitors and Supplies recom- 
 mends that the engineer from the MacMillan High School 
 he transferred to the Nordstrum Junior High School. 
 
 Page 385: By a roll call vote, the above rnotion v.^as 
 reconsidered, and the matter v/as referred hack to the 
 committee v;ith pov/er« 
 
 With page after page of such items to he considered, it 
 is littl9 v\^onder that there is a lack of interest, and that 
 there remains very little time or desire for the considera- 
 tion of fundamental policies. The Superintendent, the 
 Architect, the Engineer, the Supervisor of Pi-operty and 
 Corporation Counsel are all present at the meetings and a.re 
 ahl* to furnish information when an occasion arises. 
 
42 - 
 
 3. Sources of the Business of the Board. 
 
 In the three daj/s, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 
 
 preceding each regular meeting of the Board, the standing 
 committers hold their meetings and transact the business 
 which is taken up at the regular meeting of the Board 
 held on Thursday night. Resolutions adopted by the 
 committees are prepared for ^oresentati on in the offioei' 
 of the secretary and superintendent, the latter actifag 
 as secretary for the Committee on Teachers and Schools. 
 
 In addition to the resulutions of the standing 
 committees, are communications from special comm.ittees, 
 employes of the Board, and petitions from the public. 
 The following table gives the number of items of business 
 and communications presented to the Board for the half 
 year ending July 1st., 1916« 
 
- 43 - 
 Sources of the Board's Business 
 
 Committee Uo. Items 
 
 Judiciarj^ 9 
 
 Teachers and Schools 76 
 
 Text Books and Course of StucLj 203- 
 
 rinance 29 
 
 Real Estate and School Buildings 118 
 
 Supplies and Janitors 100. 
 
 Sanitation 
 
 Rules 
 
 Special 4 
 
 Of the whole 1 
 
 Superintendent 26 
 
 Supervision 2 
 
 Secretary 12 ' 
 
 Consulting Engineers 6 
 
 Consulting Architects 5 
 
 Memhers, - resolutions hy 29 
 
 Petitions from public 17 
 
 Corporation Counsel 3 
 
 President of Board 3 
 
 City Accountant 1 
 
 Public 2 
 
 Mayor 1 
 
 647 
 
 Summary 
 
 76o825j Prom four main standing committees 
 5.88^ Erora four other standing comitittees 
 0,77% From special committees 
 7,88^ Erom employes of the Board 
 
 Superintendent 
 Supervisor 
 Secretary 
 
 Consulting Engineer 
 Consulting Architect 
 
 4o48^ Erom members at meetings 
 0.45% Erom corporation counsel 
 3.53% Petitions from public 
 1,08% Miscellaneous 
 
 26 
 2 
 
 12 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 497 
 
 38 
 
 5 
 
 51 
 
 29 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 
 647 
 
- 44 - 
 
 4. - Mo Calendar of Meetings . 
 
 All resolutions and comrauni cations are presented 
 to the Board of Education through the secretary, who 
 reads them at the meetings of the Board. A calendar 
 showing Vv'hat business will he taken up is not prepared 
 prior to the time of meetings. This defect is a serious 
 one and destroys the value of the Board meetings be- 
 cause - 
 
 1. Of the twenty -eight memberships on the four 
 committees which transacted 76.88 percent of the 
 Board's business during the last six months of the 
 year 1915-16, only eight inspectors have as many 
 as two memberships and twelve inspectors have no 
 more than one. 
 
 2. The average duration of a meeting within the 
 last year was only forty-six minutes. 
 
 3. It is difficult to follow the secretary's 
 reading of the items of business* 
 
 4. Inspectors are likely to be absent from their 
 committee meetings. 
 
 This means that not until the meetings of the Board 
 of Education are opened do the majority of the members 
 know what measures they will be called upon to decide, 
 except those which have been presented by their own 
 committees, - if they happened to be present at the 
 last meeting of the committee. 
 
 Under such conditions it can hardly be said that 
 the Board of Education is a deliberative body, and that, 
 as a whole, it gives its business that consideration, 
 which the affairs of a corporation spending five or more 
 million dollars a year, and being responsible for the 
 
- 45 - 
 
 education of over eighty thousand children, demands. 
 5 . Consideration Given Business. , 
 
 The following tables show the items and character of 
 the buainess which was up before the Board during the 
 past six months: 
 
 Table Showing ItftTri.s and Character of Business 
 Considered by the Board During Six Months 
 Ending June 30, 1916. 
 
 LEGISLATIV3 . 
 
 Educational 
 
 Changing Rules 2 
 
 Formation of military company 2 
 
 Finance 
 
 Transfer of Funds 14 
 
 Borrowing money 1 
 
 Adopting salary schedule 7 
 
 Budget estimates 18 
 
 Payment of janitors in social centers 1 
 
 Deed property to city 1 
 
 Salary increases 2 
 
 Appropriations for special objects 4 
 
 General 
 
 Evening school calendar 1 
 
 Non-vaccination rule 1 
 
 Annexation to school distric* 2 
 Resolutions of condolences, representation 
 
 at conventions, etc. 12 
 
 Adopting form of contract 2 
 
 Addition to schools 1 
 
 Manner of accepting buildings 1 
 
 Changes in plans of construction 8 
 
 Employing extra clerks 2 
 
 Retaining cleaners during summer months 2 
 Placing elementary schools on high school 
 
 basis 2 
 
 Additions and corrections to minutes 13 
 
 Condemnation Proceedings 10 
 
 Total 109 
 
- 46 - 
 
 INSPECTORIAL 
 
 Reports 38 
 
 Investigation of Schools 2 
 
 Appointing engineers and architect S 
 
 Releasing contractors from contract 1 
 
 Elimination of Courtis Tests from 
 Superintendent's reports 1 
 
 Total 44 
 
- 47 - 
 
 ADMINISTRATIVE 
 
 Finance 
 
 Raising salaries according to schedule 8 
 
 Authorizing payment of hills . 69 
 Purchases 211 
 
 Rebate and refund tuition 9 
 
 Allowing additional amounts on purchases 13 
 
 Traveling expenses 5 
 
 Miscellaneous 6 
 
 Educational 
 
 Appointment, assignment, and transfer of 
 
 teachers 25 
 
 Resignations, leave of absence of teachers 12 
 
 Adoption new books 5 
 
 Certificates granted to teachers 2 
 
 Diplomas granted to graduates 2 
 
 Maintenance and Care of Buildings 
 
 Repairs and construction 15 
 Appointment janitors, engineers, caretakers, 
 
 Coal Inspector, etc. ^ 19 
 Leave of absence caretakers , engineers, 
 
 janitors, etc. 4 
 
 Transfer janitors, engineers, etc, 4 
 
 Change position of telephone 1 
 
 Petitions and Requests 
 
 Use of school buildings and grounds by public 14 
 Use of school buildings and grounds by public 7 
 
 Present portraits to schools 3 
 
 Miscellaneous 4 
 
 General 
 
 Exchange typewriters and duplicators 7 
 
 Advertize for bids 7 
 
 Granting lunch room privileges 1 
 
 Renew subscriptions to publications 4 
 
 Miscellaneous 5 
 
 Total- 462 
 
- 48 - 
 
 Out of 615 items, 462, or 75^., were matters relating 
 to administrative detail; 44, or 7^, were of an inspectori- 
 al nature; and 109, or ISfo, dealt with legislation. But 
 of these legislative policies, there vas but one v/h'ch 
 dealt with education; that of forming a military company 
 in one of the high schools. 48 items referred to finance; 
 and 18 related to the Board itself - such as voting condo- 
 lences, passing resolutions of sympathy, appointment of 
 committees, etc. 
 
 The table showing the number of votes indicates that 
 
 the meetings of the Board of Education are merely a mechf. r.- 
 
 ical concurrence with the recommendations of the various 
 
 committees. 
 
 Table Showing Votes on Measures 
 gassed During Year Ending June 30, 1916 . 
 
 Passed unanimously - No roll call - 1239 
 Passed unanimously - with roll call - 10 
 Split vote - with roll call - 17 
 
 Total number items passed 1266 
 
 In the meetin^which were attended since last May, 
 the most fruitful discussion noted occurred at the meet- 
 ing of June 22nd. when the question of the reappointments 
 of Mr, Curtis, the Supervisor of Educational Research, and 
 that of a teacher recommendec" for dismissal by the Super- 
 intendent, were considered. The discussion here lasted 
 forty minutes, at the end of which time both these persons 
 were retained, one on the recommendation of the Superin- 
 tendent, the other against his recommendation. During 
 
5r^J 
 
* 49 - 
 this discussion, the attitude of the Board was summed up hy 
 one of the inspectors v;ho stated that if the Board of 
 Education was not allov/ed to run the schools - i.e., 
 pass judgment upon the fitness of employes - there was 
 no need for a Bocard of Education, and that the members 
 might as ?/ell resign.. This is undoubtedly an erroneous 
 impression of the Board's duties. There is a definite 
 need for a Boa,rd of Educo-tion, hut there is also a defin- 
 ite province for the exercise of its functions. In this 
 instance, it should have supported the Superintendent in 
 his desire to retain only such teachers as m.eet the cuali- 
 fications set by the Board of Educationo 
 
 A notable instance of the lack of consideration given 
 important subjects is illustr-ated by the action of the 
 Board of Education in the matter of building an annex 
 to the Cass Techjnical High School, In its annual budget 
 estimates last January, the Board of Education requested 
 ^450,000 for an addition to the Cass Technical High 
 School. This amiount v/as reduced bj^ the Common Council 
 to ('.250,000, a suiii evidently considered insufficient by 
 the Board of Education, because pla.ns for the new building- 
 were not authorized. In June, the committee on Real Estate 
 and Buildings, after a visit to technical schools in the 
 eastern cities, recommended to the Boa.rd of Education that 
 a building should be constructed of not less than six 
 stories in height, evnd to cost a.bout one million dollars, 
 and that the additional monej?- necessary 
 
-> 50 - 
 
 should be requested in the next j'ear's budget estimates. 
 This action on the part of the corairattee sho?/s plainlj? 
 that the character of the addition to the Cass High School 
 was not given adequate consideration either by the coriraitt- 
 ee or by the Board of Edu-cation, because the original 
 request of $450,000 was apparently deemed sufficient, and 
 it is reasonable to suppose that if this amount had been 
 granted, the Board of i^aueation rould have authorized the 
 construction of the nev; building. It proves also that the 
 Board of Education concurs blindly with the recoFimenda- 
 tions of its committees. 
 
 6. Consideration of Annual Budget Estimates. 
 
 At a meeting of the Committee of the Whole, the Board of 
 Education considers the estimates as recommended by the 
 individual committees. The estimates are read item by 
 item, and if no objection is interpo:;ed , the request is 
 allowed and goes through the Common Council and to the 
 Board of Estimates. 
 
 Earely are the estiF.ates decreased at this meeting. 
 Eight changes were made in the estimates for 1916-17; two 
 were decreases amounting to $5,500, and six were increases 
 totaling $66,700. 
 
 Judgment cannot be passed authoritatively in this 
 report upon the nature of the discussion or the extent 
 of the consideration given the estimates of over 
 $7,000,000 at this meeting; in fact, no stronger j^dg- 
 ment need be passed than to state that tlie meeting in 
 
- 51 - 
 
 question was opened at 8:25 P.M. and was adjourned at 
 9:15 P.M. Within these fiftv minutes the 177 items of 
 the budget were read, 55 items of general routine business 
 including communications, in all enough matter v/as read 
 by the secretary to fill up 24 pages 6 x 9 of printed 
 matter in the proceedings of the Board of Education. 
 
 This apparent lack of consideration of the budget 
 estimates by the Committee of the V/hole becomes more strik- 
 ing when it becoi^es evident that a member of the Board is 
 familiar 7i/ ith only those estimates which were passed upor ■• 
 by the committee upon which he serves, and that unless an 
 inspector attends all committee meetings, or is a member 
 of all committees, he is in the dark as to the merits of 
 the estimates of committees other than his own. An in- 
 spector of the Board does not fulfill his duties properly 
 when he votes upon resolutions , or parts of them, to which 
 he is an utter stranger. 
 
 7. - Action of Board Perfunctory. 
 
 The unanimous concurrence of the committees' recom- 
 mendations makes of the Board of Education merely a 
 "rubber stamp" for the acts of its committees. In fact, it 
 means that there are as many Boards of Education as there 
 are committees.; that a very small group af men determines 
 the policies for the city of Detroit in the matter of the 
 kind of education to bo furnished the children of this 
 city, salaries to be paiG( teachers and other employes, 
 the number and character of the school buildings, and all 
 
-52- 
 
 other matters which are delegated to the individual 
 committees. 
 * Not alone do the respective committees decide the 
 policies Gom.ing under their jurisdiction, but what is more 
 significant is that there are always one or two men on 
 each committee, who, hy their greater activity and aggres- 
 siveness, dominate the affs-irs of the committee, which 
 means, reduced to its lowest terms, that these active 
 individuals decide the policies of the Board of Education 
 in their respective fields. 
 
 This condition Is especially serious in the prepara- 
 tion of the annTial budget estimates. It d'^notes that these 
 individuals, or at best, individual comm.ittees, pass un- 
 questioned by the Board of Education, estimates for hundreds 
 of thousands of dollars. Why the particular amounts were 
 requested is not questioned, and the result is that whether 
 the funds are granted or not, expenditures of large sums 
 of money are "olanned by a small grpup of men. Y/hat bene- 
 fits may come from a large representative body are lost. 
 Under the present system., selecting the personnel 
 of the various committees at the beginning of the year 
 becomes an unduly important power and one that is concen- 
 trated in the hands of one man, the president of the Board. 
 
 i. Disadvantages of the Ward System . 
 
 It is natural to suppose that inspectors being chosen 
 by wards will be especially interested in the district whitf. 
 they represent and will try to please their constituents. 
 
-53- 
 
 As has been noted, the Board of Education seems to be 
 a stepping stone for a political career, and such being 
 the case, it seems logical to assume that inspectors, 
 especially:' those wishing to advance themselves in public 
 life, will be even more anxious to grant favors to per- 
 sons in their wards. These favors are not inconsiderable, 
 because under the rules, the various committees have a 
 right to appoint emploj/es - a right which makes itself 
 manifest during the pre-election months. This fact be- 
 comes more clear when it is knowh that seven members of 
 the Board were candidates for public office in the recent 
 primaries. 
 
 Whether the motive has been political or other?;! se, 
 power of appointmicnt in the case of janitors and engineers 
 has resulted in a much overloaded supplj? of such employes 
 In the schools of Detroit. The sai'ne right of recommend- 
 ing persons for appointment and promotion in the education- 
 al staff results in continual pressure being brought upon 
 the superintendent to appoint proteges of inspectors. 
 
 It has been observed at the meetings of the committee 
 on Teachers and Schools that members of the committee will 
 inform] the superintendent of certain so-called "strong" 
 qualifications of teachers and principals and will ask 
 for the promotion of such persons. 
 
 Inspectors are apparently? not satisfied with merely? 
 appointing emploj^es, but feel it encumbent upon them- 
 selves to supervise their work. The Chairman of the 
 
-54^ 
 
 Committee on Janitors and Supplies stated that if a 
 
 janitor or engineer does not come up to the ranrk in his 
 
 work, the inspector of the ward who appointed him \'='ill 
 
 visit the employe and reprimand him. It is needless to 
 
 say that such state of affairs is detrimental to the 
 
 efficiency of the system, because a janitor feels free 
 
 to follow his own bent so long as the inspector of the 
 
 ward can be made to believe he is doing fair work. The 
 
 janitor's immediate superiors, the principal of the 
 
 school and the Supervisor of Property, are ignored, and 
 
 they are the only ones who can judge whether or not a 
 
 janitor is doing good work. 
 
 The interest shown in their own wards is illus- • 
 
 trated by the two following instances: 
 
 Last May the reappointment of a principal consid- 
 ered absolutely incompetent was being held up. 
 The inspector of the ward in vjhich this principal 
 worked appeared before the Committee on Teachers 
 and Schools and stated that as far as he v;as 
 concerned, the principal in question might be 
 given another trial. In other words, since he, 
 the inspector of the ward, and apparently the 
 ruler of the educational affairs in that ward, is 
 willing to put up with an incompetent princi'oal, 
 that principal might well be given another chance. 
 
 Manual training machinery four years old is being 
 moved from the George School to the Nordstrum High 
 School. During the discussion of the ways and 
 means of moving this machinery, the inspector of 
 the ward in v/hicli the Nordstrum High School is 
 located, vigorously and repeatedly asserted that 
 he would not stand for machinery being moved into 
 the school in his ward until it is entirely over- 
 hauled and cleaned. It is possible that the machin- 
 ery did need overhauling and cle-ning, but, on the 
 other hand, it was entirely probable that it did 
 not. At any rate, one sitting around the table 
 
-55- 
 
 at a committee mcetiav t.'._.s not the most qualified 
 person in the uorld to p.^ss judgment upon the 
 matter. 
 
 The ahove o.re just two instances of irmuiaeraljle ones 
 v/hich arise during the course of the year^ L^ch in- 
 spector is the "patron s..int" ox his i/ard, and he seeivis 
 to try to live up to thj.t position. 
 
 9. - Relation of I.Iayor to Board. 
 
 Every resolution or proceeding of the Board of Educa- 
 tion v/herehy any liability or deht may he created, or 
 originating the disposal or e;;p'enditure of property or 
 money, before it can hec :me effective, must receive the 
 signature of the mayor for approv.~.l<. If he neglects to 
 sign the measure v/ithin five days, it goes into effect 
 autorao-tically, and if he vetog it, the Board may pass 
 it over his veto "by a tv;o-th^.rds vote. 
 
 V/hile this pov;er of the mayor has not been used in 
 recent years so far as can be lo .rned, nevertheless, the 
 charter should be amended sd th:.t his approval need not 
 be required. It delays tl^e activities of the Board of 
 Education and seems to to o. superfluous checl:. 
 
 As a member of the Bo-.rd of Estimates, the Mayor, if 
 he takes full advantage of his pov/er at the time the 
 annual budget is passed, h ,s :-n opportunitj^ to approve or 
 disapprove the plans of the Bo .rd of Education for the 
 ensuing year by studying the progrun which the annu-.l 
 budget estim .tc3 of the Boord represent. 
 
 VJhile it doe;3 no good, the :i..yor's po\;er of veto m.a- be 
 
- 56 - 
 
 a detriment to the cause of education in this city hy 
 tying up the Board of Education vvith City Hall politics^ 
 
 In view of these facts, it is iJeconraended that the 
 school law in this regard he changed. 
 
 10. - Suji-mia-ry of How the Board Works. 
 
 1 - The Board of Education transacts its business 
 through standing coininittees which have under their divided 
 jurisdiction three distinct and independent departi.ientr. , 
 in direct charge of the superintendent, the Supervisor oi 
 Property and the Secretary. In addition t^.; thefje there 
 are the architect and consu-lting engineers, also independ- 
 ent and under the jurisdiction of the committees o 
 
 2 - Administrativo deto-ils of these de'Dartraents are 
 handled h;.^ the respective committees, and all of these 
 details are passed upon hy the Board of Education. 
 
 3 - The Board itself receives its husiness from the 
 committees, officers of the Board, and from the pu-hlic 
 through letters and petitions o 
 
 4 - Uo calendar of the items to he considered is 
 prepared in advance of the Borrd meeting, with the result 
 that inspectors being ignorant of T/hat is to take p.la,Ge , 
 cannot give the matters the necessary deliberation^ They 
 know only of those things which are passed by their own 
 eommiittees <, 
 
 5 - The meeting of the Board is a perfunctory affair 
 Lit v/hich the recommiend^.tions of the comu'nittees arc '^assed 
 
57 - 
 
 without question and almost automatically. This condi- 
 tion, added to the fact that there is no calendar, and 
 that the items are read with unusual rapidity and mon- 
 otony and indistinctness, means that the Board adopts 
 resolutions, the nature of which is a mystery to the 
 majority of the members. This is true also of the 
 annual budget estimate, which totaled over seven mill- 
 ions last year, 
 
 6 - Inspectors are interested in their own wards 
 and are, therefore, aggressive in trying to obtain the 
 best and most for their wards. They also interfere un- 
 necessarily in the detailed administration of the schools 
 in their districts. 
 
1, Conmiittee System Should Be Abolished 
 
 I'i/hether the Board of Education remains a twenty- 
 one member board or becomes a seven member board, the 
 system of standing committees should be abolished,- 
 because - 
 
 a - It is cumbersome. Before anything can be done, 
 the head of the Department must go to his 
 committee and receive authorization for his 
 act. It must be then passed by the Board of 
 Education before action may be taken, 
 
 b- Delay is caused by these circumstances. Com- 
 mittees meet bi-weekly and action miist be 
 deferred until meetings are held. 
 
 c - The majority of the Inspectors are members of 
 only one impo-rtant committee which means that 
 upon practically all matters considered by the 
 Board of Education there is an unififormed 
 majority. 
 
 d - Committees motnally respect each other's author- 
 ity in the respective branches, which results 
 in unquestioned and undiscussed action by the 
 Board of Education, 
 
 e - Presence of a committee system signifies inde- 
 pendent action by a num.ber of un-coordinated 
 ' bodies, each in effect a small Board of Educa- 
 tion, whose actions are rubber stamped by a 
 large Board, 
 
 f - There is a tendency towards the ass-umption of 
 administrative a.uties by the committees. 
 
 2. Business Activities Should Be Correlated with work 
 of Superintendent . 
 
 There are now three distinct departments in the 
 Board of Education, under three executive heads, who, 
 may only by chance, work together with little friction. 
 
 Education of children of the City of Detroit is the 
 
- 59 - 
 
 sole aim of the Board of Education. All other business 
 connected with the Board of Education, - purchasing sites, 
 constructing tuildings, buying supplies, employing 
 clerks, hookkeepers and janitors -- are subordinate 
 to this prime fvinction of furnishing edi^cation, and owe 
 their existence to the fact that all such material 
 adjuncts are necessary in the process of providing 
 education. 
 
 The superintendent of schools is responsible 
 for the educational results of the public schools, and 
 inasmuch as he has this responsibility, he should be 
 provided with all the means and instruments necessary 
 for bringing education and the children of Detroit 
 together. He must not be handicapped by delays in 
 building construction and in delivery of supplies; 
 by having incompetent janitors and engineers in charge 
 of the school plant; or by having teachers, principals 
 and supervisors foisted upon him. 
 
 Such handicaps now accompany the position of 
 Superintendent of Schools in Detroit, under the by-laws 
 and practices of the Board of Education. The 3uperinten<- 
 dont of Schools has under his jurisdiction only the 
 educational activities and employes of the Board; the 
 purchasing and delivering of supplies, and the employes 
 connectec' therewith are under the management of the 
 Secretary; the maintenance and care of buildings are 
 

- so- 
 under the direction of the Supervisor of Property; 
 the appointment of janitors and engineers in the hands 
 of a committee; the power of appointing and promoting 
 teachers and principals belongs to another committee, 
 all of whom are independent of each other and outside 
 of the jurisdiction of the Superintendent of Schools. 
 Responsibility is diffused, and in all such cases there 
 will be a shifting of responsibility resulting in a 
 failure of accomplishment. 
 
 If the superintondont wants an extra room 
 built in a crov/ded school, he applies to the Supervisor 
 of Property, v/ho does the work to fit in with his own 
 plans, the aims of which are to keep buildings in 
 repair. There the Supervisor's responsibility ends. 
 The teaching of the children must, necessarily, be to 
 him a secondary consideration. The maintenance and 
 care of buildings is therefore a "Blind Alley" under 
 the present system, leading no further than to the up- 
 keep of buildings. If the Supervisor of Property ■ should 
 delay in constructing this extra room, the Superintend- 
 ent cannot order him to rearrange his plans and to has- 
 ten his work, but must wait until the proper aommittee 
 meets and register a complaint with it. Should fhe 
 Superintendent want a building completed at a definite 
 time, he must apply to the committee to hasten the 
 /architect and the contractors on the job, and the 
 oohimittee, architect and contractors have their own 
 
^ 61 - 
 
 point of viev/ of the situation. The Superintendent 
 cannot' demand that the architect confer v/ith him concerning 
 the plans of new buildings; he may ask the architect to 
 do so, and the latter may accede to his request, hut the 
 only way to obtain executive action is to appear before 
 the committee, a step v;hich is not only distasteful, but 
 ineffieient to take every time the cause arises. If it is 
 a question of delivering supplies at a certa.in time, the 
 Superintendent must apply to the Secretary, and the latter 
 may or may not be sufficiently interested to see that 
 supplies are delivered at that particular time. 
 
 All of these separate divisions are "blind 
 alleys" which lead to their ov/n particular results v/horo 
 they stop. The education of the children is beyond their 
 pale. 
 
 With these conditions must be pictured in the 
 background a Board of Education, elected by v/ards on a 
 partisan ballot, members of which have political ambitions 
 and political affiliations, and in v/hora is vested the po\/er 
 of appointing employes who perform all the duties mentioned 
 above. 
 
 Tv.'o recent experiences in connection with the 
 Nordstrum School, emphasize the inefficiency caused 
 by decentralized authority, T''.e School, a new one, had no 
 seats and v/as short of text books at its opening this 
 September. The seating company is under contract to delive: 
 and place seats in the school, but owing to some mishap, 
 
- 62 ~ 
 
 the freight car containing the shipment for the NorSstnini 
 School could not he located. It uas up to the seating 
 company to get the seats here when they v;ere v/anted, but 
 it seems that no officer of the Board is responsible for 
 follov/ing up deliveries of seats. The Supervisor of 
 Proporty approves the shipment after it is complGtod and 
 the scats placed, the Superintendent is merely responsible 
 for the plan of seating and the Secretary's responsibility 
 apparently ceases v/ith the sending of the order. So anonp; 
 the throe department heads, the Nordstrum School was scat- 
 less, until one of the assistant superintendents took it 
 upon himself to run down the cars, which he did, 
 
 Not until tviTo weeks after schools were opened 
 did the Nordstrum School receive its text books. Under 
 any circumstances there seems to be no reason why necessa.ry 
 supplies cannot bo delivered to schools before thoy open 
 in September, Purchases are authorized by the Board of 
 Education in the early surxier, and v/hich gives the purchas- 
 ing agent and store-keeper at least two months for deliver- 
 ies. But here a,gain the Superintendent cQuld not o rde r 
 the store-keeper to deliver the books on time. It is not 
 meant to imply here, that the heads of departments and 
 employes, not under the jurisdiction of the Superintendent, 
 do not cooperate v/ith him satisfactorily, but it is assctted 
 that there is always a possibility of friction, delay, and 
 of inefficiency when functions which are constitutionally 
 subordinate arc placed on a par with the main purpose of 
 an organisation. 
 
- 63 - 
 
 COMPARISON OF PK5SEMT AM) PROPOSED PHOGEDURB 
 
 (Purchase of a ne\7 reference book serving as an example) 
 
 A - Principal senc^-s requisition for a reference TDOok to the 
 
 B - Secretary, who forwards it to the 
 
 G - Superintendent, v/ho detcrnines the necessity for the 
 purcha,se and returns it to the 
 
 D - Secretary, uho secures prices and presents the 
 request to the 
 
 E - Gonnittee, which passes upon the necessity for the 
 purchase and recommends the sane to the 
 
 P - Board of Education, which authorized the purchase. 
 
 G - Secretary, after the necessary tine allowed for recon- 
 sideration has passed, places the order. 
 
 Tllvffi GONSmiED 
 
 
 days 
 
 A - B . 
 
 1 
 
 G - D 
 
 1 
 
 E - P 
 
 1 
 
 
 days 
 
 B - C 
 
 
 
 D - E 
 
 1-21 
 
 P - G 
 
 3 
 
 Total tine required - 7 - 27 days 
 
~ 64 - 
 
 PROPOSED PROCEDUEE 
 
 A - A principal sends requisition for a reference book 
 
 to the 
 B - Purcha.sing agent, who gets prices on the article, 
 
 makes out an order, and forv/ards same to the 
 G - Accounting officer, who certifies that there is 
 
 a fund allowed by the Board in their annual budget, 
 
 for the article, and encumbers the fund. The order 
 
 now goes to the 
 D - Superintendent (the executive head of the Board) 
 
 who determines the necessity for the purchase, 
 
 authorizes the same by signing the purchase order. 
 
 The order is nww placed. 
 Time consumed 
 
 
 davs 
 
 A - B 
 
 1 
 
 B - C 
 
 1-5 
 
 C - D 
 
 1 
 
 Total time 3-7 days 
 ADVANTAGES OF THE PROPOSED PROGESURB 
 
 1 - It saves from 4 to 20 days 
 
 2 - It insures the presence of money in the fund with which 
 
 to liquidate the liability if incurred. 
 
- 65 - 
 
 3.- Uew Rules Should Be Adopted 
 
 In order to bring about the proposed reorganization, 
 the rules of the Board should be revised so as to more 
 closely correlate the administrative v/ith the educational 
 functions of the school system, and by vYhich purchasing, 
 accounting, construction, maintenance and care of buildings 
 may better facilitate the real purpose of the school sys- 
 tem, which is education. '.iJhether or not the person in 
 charge of these functions should be subordinate to the 
 superintendent must be determined by local conditions 
 and the practice of progressive cities. 
 
 Further, the new rules should grant the Board of 
 Education legislative and inspectorial functions only, and 
 should delegate all administrative functions to the 
 Chief Executive and his subordinates. This means removing 
 from the Board, among other things, the power to appoint 
 teachers, principals, janitors, engineers and other 
 subordinate employes. 
 
 The present rules are old and have grown by piece- 
 meal additions, as the necessity for new rules manifested 
 itself. It is recommended, therefore, that there be 
 prepared an entirely new manual, comprehensive _ in its 
 scope, and which will meet existing conditions. 
 
_ 66 - 
 
 4 - proper Duties of the Board Should Be More Thoroughly 
 '" fi^ercised. 
 
 The recommendation that all adaninistrative 
 duties be taken from the Beard of Education, raises the 
 question, what is there left for it to do? There re- 
 mains sufficient to be done in legislation, and inspedt- 
 ion to keep a Board of Education more than reasonabl^^ 
 busy - if its functions are performed properly. 
 
 It is true that if at this moment the adminis- 
 trative duties were taken away, the Board would have 
 practically nothing to do at the ne:tt meeting. But this 
 is due to the failure of the Bor^jra to exercise its proper 
 functions. 
 
- 67 - 
 
 Le gislative 
 
 A fGW of the many legislative problems, \'/hich 
 
 if given adequate attention, v/oulcl take up all the time 
 
 that inspectors could give, are: 
 
 1-A revision of the salary schedule ox teachers in 
 order that Detroit may have no difficulty in 
 obtaining properly qualified teachers. 
 
 2-The solution of the problem of congestion in the 
 Detroit schools by working out a comprehensive 
 plan Qf building to cover a period of years, 
 
 S-Standardization of the schools needs, -salaries, 
 supplies, buildings, etc. 
 
 4-Establishing qualifications and method of appointing 
 candidates for positions of janitors, engineers, and 
 all employes not in the educational v/ork. 
 
 5-Whether or not the expense would justify the inclus- 
 ion of s\7iminmng pools, auditoriums and workshops in 
 Elementary schools, 
 
 A suggestion as to how the Board should consider 
 legislation i^ offered in the subject of revising the sal- 
 ary schedule. It is reported that some teachers are 
 paying more for room and board than they are receiving 
 as salary. This legislative problem of the salary sched- 
 ule for teachers should be considered in the follov/ing 
 way: 
 
 Is the sa-lary schedule of teachers in need of adapt- 
 ation to present economic conditions? 
 
 Are the teachers receiving salaries, v;hioh v/ill allow 
 then to maintain the standard of living demanded of 
 then? 
 
 Is the Board having trouble in securing efficient 
 teachers because of the lack of adequate salaries? 
 
- 68 - 
 
 Are efficient teachers being more easily secared Toy 
 other cities? 
 
 \7hat is a just salary rate for teachers? 
 
 What are other cities paying for teachers' services? 
 
 What is the -present salary of teachers compared with 
 wages paid stenographers, clerks, hookkeepers, etc? 
 
 Inspectorial 
 In its business adninistrati on it is the duty of the 
 Board to live v/ithin its income, a,nd a,lso to get a dollar's 
 v/orth of services or materials for everj" one hundred cei-.ts 
 esrpendedo In its educational administration the Board r^rast 
 furnish the best possible odiication to the children, a.nd 
 it is therefore incizrabent upon the Board to inspect the 
 results of its emioloyes- and to devise means for such 
 inspection. The most obvious way to do this is to demand 
 periodic reports from executive and adininistratlve of- 
 ficers. Among the sub jeciP v;hich can be used effectively 
 by the Board are : 
 
 1 - A statement of the amoiints a^ppropriated for 
 
 various purposes at the beginning of the year, 
 and the amount spent for such purposes » 
 
 2 - A comparative statement of the per capita cost 
 
 of instruction by schools. 
 
 3 - A comparative statement of the per capita cost 
 
 of instruction in high schools « 
 
 4 -• Tables showing the progress of paipils by grades 
 
 by schools. 
 
 5 - A comparative statement over a nujiiber of jT-ears , 
 
 of the cost of repairs by schools. 
 
 6 - A statement indica/cing a per capitc, cost of 
 
 educational supplies by schools. 
 
- 69 - 
 
 7, - A statement showing cost of janitorial and 
 
 engineering supplies for each school. 
 
 8, - A comparative statement showing the unit 
 
 cost for cleaning schools » taking the room as 
 a unit, 
 
 9, - A statement showing the unit cost of heating 
 
 schools, also taking the room as a unit. 
 
 The following e:co-mple will serve to illustrate 
 how the Boa.rd might increase the efficient spending of 
 money, by studying carefully, reports submitted by its 
 executive and administrative officers: 
 
 During 1915-15 the cost of fuel varied in the 
 different schools from $17.47 to (a03,53 per 
 classroom unit. The average cost was about f35,40. 
 The following tabic shows the four highest and four 
 lowest schools in the cost of fuel per classroom: 
 
 Table shov/ing cost of fuel per classroom for year ending 
 
 June 50.1916 
 Rank School Cost per rQom 
 
 1 Logan |103,53 
 
 2 Washington 92 
 
 3 Hubbard 57 
 
 28 
 
 86 
 
 4 McMillan 56,67 
 
 100 Parke 22.04 
 
 101 " Columbian 20,77 
 
 102 Gillies 18.13 
 
 103 lIontiGth 17 ♦47 
 
- 70 - 
 
 Of the 103 schools considered, in 42 there are 
 costs above the average, while in the remaining 61 the 
 costs were below the average, '.'(Taile it is only natural 
 that the cost of fuel per room should very in the different 
 shhools, is this largo variation reasonable? I-'i 22^^ of the 
 schools, the cost was above §40. 40 v;hile in 36^ of the 
 schools, the cost v/as beloiT $30.40. What is the cause of 
 the great difference between the costs? Arc engineers in 
 2S!fo of the schools burning coal in an extravagent \7ay, or 
 is the heating apparatus not giving satisfaction? Or arc 
 the schools allowed to become cold in 56% of the schools, 
 or are the engineers unusually efficient, or is the hoatinr^ 
 apparatus excellent? The Logan School, in which the cost 
 per room was S103,53, is heated by stoves. t/ould the cost^ 
 of fuel per room in this school approo-ch the average if 
 steam fans were installed? If this result could bo accomTr 
 plishcd the cost for fuel in this school alone would be 
 reduced $817.56 per year. The Irving School and Office 
 Building are heated by the Central Heating Company. Is 
 this buying of heat cheaper tha.n furnishing heat? In 
 other v/ords, the one q^uestion v/hich should be asked of the 
 executive officer when there is a variance in results is 
 "Why?". 
 
- 71 - 
 
 A IJeetinp; Under JTe\7 Organisation 
 
 Meetings of the Board, iinder siiggested organisa- 
 tion, v/ould not difxer in form from the meetings a,s they 
 are nov/ conducted, but the^y would differ in suhstance 
 and in character because the questions coming up would 
 he of such nature as to deraa.nd delihera/bion and discussion 
 on the part of the Boa.rda There would he no matters of 
 such administrative routine as cited above, v/hich a 
 deliberative bodj;- usually passes automa-ticall3; and mechani- 
 cally » Furthermore, "because of the absence o± details, 
 there would not onlir be more time a,nd energy" for the con- 
 sideration of real problems, but the Boe.rd' woxilo hi'.ve to 
 find real problems to discuss, if it wanted to transact 
 any business.. 
 
 Because of the nature of the subjects which would 
 come before the Board, meetings would be alive and interest- 
 ing and would not be deadened by a monotonous reading of 
 page upon page of enervating minutiae. In the absence of 
 standing committees to which the Board, as a whole, 
 now defers in all matters under their jurisdiction, every 
 inspector present at the meeting v/ould have to give his 
 thought and attention to the matters brought up beca-use 
 they v/ould not have been previously passed upon and recom- 
 mended by any standing committee. 
 
 Under the suggested organisation, the Superintend- 
 ent of instruction as chief executive off icer of the Board 
 
- 72 - 
 
 of Education v^ould bring up the business before the whole 
 Board assembled at the regular meetings. This v;ill mean 
 that all the inspectors will be apprised at the same 
 time of what matters are before them and a general dis- 
 cussion would practically be forced because all new busi- 
 ness will originate on the floor of the meetings of the 
 Board. 
 
 5. -• Special Sommittees Should Be Used. 
 
 Should matters be brought up at the meetings 
 of the Board of Education which require considerable 
 thought and additional information, before they can 
 be properly decided, special committees should be appoints 
 ed to study every phase of the question 'thoroughly, and 
 to present to the Board of Education, at some future time, 
 their findings and recommendations upon questions submitted 
 to them for investigation. 
 
 Instead of having presented in the foim of a 
 resolution merely the conclusions reached by a committee, 
 as is done at the present time, the Board of Education 
 v/ould have submitted to it by the special committee, all 
 of the facts leading up to the recommendations and each 
 inspector would have an opportunity to draw his own con- 
 clusions from the facts rendered in the committee* s re- 
 port. 
 
 If such procedure had been followed before the 
 request was made of the Common Council and the Boe. rd of 
 Estimates for money v;ith ?/hich to erect an addition to the 
 
- 73 - 
 
 Cass Technical High School, the Board of Education would 
 not now be in the position v/here it practically acknow- 
 ledges that it did not know what it watited in the first 
 place, but after giving the matter some thought, it had 
 come to the definite conclusion concerning its desires. 
 This case of the Gass Technical High School has been 
 cited elsewhere in the report, l3ut it may^-be cited again 
 to bring out the point under discussion, 
 
 Without any special investigation, the committ-Q 
 on real estate and buildings recommended to the Board of 
 Education that |450,000 be requested of the Common Coun- 
 cil for the erection of an addition to the Cc-ss Tschmical 
 High School, This recommendation was passed by the 
 Board together v/ith all the other budget estimates, with 
 the usual absence of discussion. After the appropriation 
 of |250,000 had been made by the Common Council and Board 
 of Estimates, a-special committee _was appointed "for the 
 purpose of visiting a number of large cities thruout the 
 country and investigating very carefully, modern technical 
 schools, in order that in the construction of the new 
 technical high school, no vital points that may be of value 
 will be overlooked," 
 
 This committee after taking the trip and visit- 
 ing a number of large technical schools, submitted a report 
 to the Board of Education recommending that the nev/ tech- 
 nical high school should be not less than six stories 
 in height, of which the estimated coat is about one m.illion 
 
- 74 
 
 dollars. It is interesting to note that this special 
 comiiittee included all of the members of the Gonimittee 
 on Real Estate and School Buildings, v/hich had recommended 
 the maximiim of ^450,000 %o tie rsouested from the Cci3-non 
 Goxxncil for the ne7i school. In other \/ords, we have here 
 a perfect exaiaple of standing comiiiittees performing all 
 their vrork in a routine manner without special study of 
 egen the larger problems and of a Board of Education wh"JoT 
 automatically and without question approved the recomriieai-; 
 ation of standing committees without having reasons for 
 ;Jihose recommendations. 
 
 It may be assumed that special committees 
 appointed for the purpose of investigating and reporting 
 upon specific subjects v/ill do so more thoaroughly then 
 standing committees which have gotten into the habit 
 of dealing with problems in a si;perficial v/ay caused by 
 multitudinous details with which their time is taken up. 
 It is probable that a committee appointed on this quest- 
 ion of an addition to the Cass High School, would have 
 studied thoroughly, not only the kind of high school 
 suitable for Detroit but would also have gone into the 
 question of the need for the high school, its effect 
 upon the enrollment of the other high schools in the 
 City, and the advisability of dxanducting costly high 
 schools in every section of the City, in addition to an 
 unusually expensive technical high school, when the prob- 
 lem of congestion in elementary schools is so acute. It 
 
- 75 - 
 
 is further possible that this committee might have 
 touched upon a comprehensive plan of building construct- 
 ion for the future. 
 
 If there were one general criticism which 
 might be levelled at the Board of Education of Detroit, 
 it v/ould be that matters of great import are decided 
 superficially, and there seems to be no comprehensive 
 plan for the development of the school 'system, 
 
 6. - Calendar of Meetings Should Be Prepared 
 
 To assure sound discussion of business which 
 comes up at the meetings of the Board, a calendar giving 
 a synopsis of every item to Ib.e taken up at the meeting 
 should be prepared and sent to the i^iembers of the Board 
 a few days prior to the regular meeting. ]?urther business 
 arising after a calendar had been prepared should be 
 gotten out in the form of a supplementary calendar. In 
 addition to this, all reports about special committees 
 should be subm.itted to the Superintendent, as executive 
 officer, whose business it will be to have such reports 
 printed or multigraphed or typewritten, and a copy of 
 the full report sent to each member of the Board of 
 Education prior to the meeting. In fact all the items 
 of business and reports of committees to be taken up at 
 the meeting could be printed before the meeting and the 
 type held by the printer, until action has been taken 
 by the Board, when the result of such action cotild be 
 included. This would save time in the printing of the 
 
- 76 - 
 
 proceedings v/ithout any cdditioncl e^rjense. 
 
 By follov/ing out the cbove recommendations, 
 every inspector v/ould come to the meetings prepared to 
 discuss intelligently, and ivith a knowledge of facts 
 the problems put up to him for decision. 
 
 7, - Size of School Board Should Be Reduced 
 
 While it is suggested that the aloove re- 
 organisation talre place v/hether the Board of Education 
 remains constituted as at the present, or hecones a seven 
 member Board, elected at large, it is asserted rafter a 
 thoro study of the present situation, the.t the proposed 
 re-organisati-ni can reach its r^azcimum effectiveness more 
 easily under a small school board = 
 
 It is recommended thorof re, that the measure 
 which v/ill be voted upon ^n IJjvembcr 7 th ne3ct , by the 
 ■_)eople of Detroit, enabling the-i t .• reduce the Board 
 of Educatio];! of this City to a bodp of seven jnorabers, 
 elected at large, for a terin of si.c years, be si^pported, 
 for the following reasons: 
 
 Sisadvaiitages of a Large Board 
 
 1 - A board of tv;enty-one r:ion(Dors is cumbersome. 
 
 2 - A large board tends t^ d'-> fhe v.'ork throu.gh standing 
 
 committees, which means inde'_jeiident action by "v;hat 
 proves to be a number of small boards. 
 
 3 - The Board of Education it8#lf becomes a mere "rubber 
 
 stamp". 
 
 4 - Being elected by wards, the inspectors are interested 
 
 in pleasing their ovm constituents. 
 
 5 - There is a- possibility that the influential inspectors 
 
 v;ill get more for their v/a.rds than those inspectors \7hc 
 aare less powerful, thus sacrificing the interest oi 
 some wards for. that of others. 
 
~ 77 - 
 
 6 - Responsibility is diffused in a twenty-one member 
 
 school board. Each inspector feels about five 
 p©r cent responsibility for education in the city 
 as a whole, and one hundred per cent responsibility 
 for education in his vmrd, meaning that he will do 
 everything in his povi^er for his ward, 
 
 7 - Under the ward system, an inspector is likely to be 
 
 interested in the possible "patronage" in the schools 
 in his district, 
 
 8 - Having as his constituents, people of a comparitively 
 
 small district, a candidate for position as inspector 
 under the ward system, must be known locally only, 
 and he may be proportionately of the same limited 
 caliber. 
 
 9 - Under the present plan, half of the Bss rd of Education 
 
 comes up for re-election every tv70 years, which mean:^' 
 that at every such election there is a possibility 
 of having fifty per cent of the men conducting the 
 affairs of the Board, newr and inexperienced. 
 
 Advantages of a Small Board 
 
 1 - A seven member shcool board is sufficiently small to 
 
 work as a whole without confasion and unencumbered 
 by standing commiteees. 
 
 2 - By originating all business at the meeting of the whole 
 
 Board, every member is fully aware of everything the 
 Board of Education is doing, and even more important 
 is the fact that every member must give some thought 
 to all the business, 
 
 3 - Being elected at large, each inspector is one. hundred 
 
 per cent responsibile to the v/hole city for- the educa- 
 tional affairs of Detroit. Responsibility is cen- 
 tralized in these seven men, all of whom are follov/ed 
 i?f^.all their actions, by the whole city, 
 
 4 - Having as their constituents, the electorate of the 
 
 whole city, the candidates for office of inspector 
 must be v/idely known, in which case it is probable 
 that more responsible men than at present will be 
 elected to office. 
 
 5 - Being elected at large, and responsible to the whole 
 
 city, inspectors are less likely to sacrifice the 
 interest of one district for another. 
 
- 78 - 
 
 - Under the proposed law, inspectors v/ill serve a term 
 of six years, and there will always be a majority of 
 experienced men on the Bi:ard as tv/o, two and three 
 nei? inspectors are elected respectively every tviro 
 years. This six year term provided by this new law 
 v?ill fui'nish a Board more thoroughly familiar vi^ith 
 educational problems than is possible now. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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