v^^ ^^ ^^^ 0°^.^^ ° ^v'^ .# ^ C^ .' *1 (O \^^^ O '^tP '^^.<<^ ^-^^ .^" -^ ■^ =%^o^ " SIB - ^^^ * -co ■^ .V' .^ .". *^ ..V" ^ .^^ ^ %> ^ - - ^/.O* "^^0^ ^0^ " ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES •The THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO THE ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES SAMUEL TRAf^'lD'UTTON, A.M. PROFESSOR OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION IN TEACHERS COLLEGE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, AND SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COLLEGE SCHOOLS AUTHOR OF " SOCIAL PHASES OF EDUCATION," " SCHOOL MANAGEMENT," ETC, AND DAVID SNEDDEN, Ph.D. ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AUTHOR OF " SCHOOL REPORTS AND SCHOOL EFFICIENCY," ETC. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, Ph.D., LL.D. PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1908 AU rights reserved u. ItiRffARY of OONGSESSl I Iwu Ciooies hecBivcsj SEP, 2ii).)yua q Copyright, 1908, By the macmillan company. Set up and electrotyped. Published September, igo8. WarbJooD 33te88 J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. ^ ^ % INTRODUCTION The careful and scholarly study of the administration of education in the United States by my colleagues, Professors Button and Snedden, is a valuable and timely contribution to the literature of education. In a democratic State, it is of first importance that the relation of the State to the organs and agencies of culture and enhghtenment be clearly defined and well understood. The wise and truly representative organization and administration of education is only a little less important than the organization and conduct of the edu- cational process itself. To understand fully the position and progress of education in the United States, a clear distinction must be drawn between the activities of the State, the American people viewed as an organized unit, and those of the Government, the specific agencies and powers created by the State, through the Constitution, to accomplish certain definite purposes, which, taken together, are the ends or aims of government. Whatever is done by the State or in the State's interest, whether it be carried out by a governmental agency or not, is public; whatever is done by the Government is presumably public, and certainly tax-supported. Much of the educa- tional activity of the United States is truly public but in no wise governmental. For example, the United States pos- sesses no university maintained by the National Government, but it possesses a half-dozen national universities. Important educational undertakings of various kinds are carried on in the sphere or domain of liberty side by side with those which are carried on in the sphere or domain of government. The true test, in the American system, of a public institution or activity is the purpose which it serves, and not the form of its control or the source of its financial support. That is pubhc which springs from the public and serves the pub- vi Introduction lie; that is governmental which springs from the Govern- ment and is administered by the Government. In other words, the sphere of public activity is larger than that of governmental activity. By far the largest part, and an increasingly large part, of the educational activity of the United States is govern- mental. It is this governmental educational activity with which the present volume deals. It brings together, in con- siderable part for the first time, a large mass of carefully ordered material bearing upon the evolution and present condition of educational administration, and it presents, in a form valuable either for study or for reference, the present state of educational administration in the United States, so far as that administration is governmental in form. Few things in American history are more impressive than the devotion of the American people to education, and their sincere belief in its efficacy as an agency of moral and intel- lectual regeneration. This devotion and this belief are at times almost heroic and at times almost pathetic. The sac- rifices made both by communities and by individuals on behalf of education in the United States are literally incal- culable. To enter the teaching profession as a life career is, in a vast majority of cases, consciously to devote one's self to a missionary undertaking without hope of adequate material reward. This spirit of sacrifice, public and private, gives to American education much of its finest quality, and has thus far kept it elevated above and out of the mire of a bhnd materialism. The idealism of the American people is reflected in their educational systems and institutions. To study those systems and institutions in detail is to come to a closer and fuller knowledge of the life and deeper characteristics of the American people. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER Columbia University June 24, 1908 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory i II. Factors favoring the Advance of Education/ . 12 III. The National Government and Education . . 25 IV. The State and Education 41 V. American States and Educational Administration 54 VI. Local Units of Educational Administration . . 73 VII. Problems growing out of State and Local Ad- ministration OF Education g6 VIII. City School Systems 120 IX. The Administration of City School Systems . . 137 X. The Financing of Public Education . . . . 144 XI. The Schoolhouse: Its Construction and Adapta- tion 172 XII. The Schoolhouse {Continued) 187 XIII. Text-books and Supplies 208 XIV. The Superintendent of Public Instruction . . 230 XV. The Teaching Staff 241 XVI. The Improvement of Teachers in Service . . 276 XVII. The Supervision of Kindergartens and Elementary Schools 300 XVIII. The Elementary Course of Study .... 314 XIX. Grading and Promotion . . . . . . 341 XX. The Administration of High Schools . . . 356 XXI. The Administration of Normal Schools . . . 386 XXII. The Administration of Vocational Education . 404 XXIII. The Administration of Physical Education - . . 426 XXIV. The Administration of Correctional Education . 445 XXV. Administration of Education for Defective and Subnormal Children . . . . ^ . 468 vii viii Contents CHAPTER PAGE XXVI. Administration of Evening and Continuation Schools 480 XXVII. Compulsory Education and Child Labor Legis- lation 492 ^^ XXVIII. School Discipline and Government . . • Sn XXIX. Educational Statistics: Finance .... 521 XXX. Educational Statistics: School Records and Re- ports 535 XXXI. The Widening Sphere of Public Education . . 559 ^ XXXII. The School and Society 582 Index 597 ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES THE ADMINISTRATION OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS CHAPTER I Public education has played so vital a part in the advance- ment of the people in the United States that its history can- not be segregated from the story of our national progress. While a wilderness was being conquered and hostile forces were being overcome, while a greater and freer nation than the world has ever seen was being established, while the peo- ple were keeping pace with the most rapid industrial and commercial development which history has yet recorded, the ideal of free education has been a beacon light to all who de- sired that the nation be high minded and true hearted as well as rich and powerful. As sunshine and shower enrich and gladden everything which the soil produces, so the moral and intellectual life of the people of this new empire has been re- fined, quickened, and uplifted by universal education. The past century has seen the people's schools relating themselves to every movement for human betterment and happiness. Never losing sight of the beautiful, the good, and the true, the schools have sought to give to human life health, joy, effi- ciency, and social completeness. Educational Inheritances. — To state what school adminis- tration is, what it has done, and what it ought to accomplish in the future, is by no means an easy task, and whoever at- tempts it deserves a considerable degree of consideration and indulgence. There is required a fair amount of perspective and proportion. As every new achievement in education is written upon the background of the past, so the historical 2 Educational Administration element cannot be omitted in estimating and weighing the most practical phases of modern educational work. The new education is not new except as it summons to its aid those theories and beliefs which, many times expressed, have never been given an opportunity to prove their validity. The only conceit in which educational leaders of to-day may safely in- dulge is that of studious endeavor to use the great opportu- nities which they have inherited. The ground has been cleared by those who have gone before, the hardest battles have been fought, and days of prosperity and peace permit the freest possible use of money and talent. Thought and opinion flash across the continent, producing the same social mind and giving increasing unity of purpose in the whole field of education and philanthropy. If in the chapters to follow much importance is given to types of administrative effort and achievement, it is because it is only in this way that the materials can be brought within the compass of a single volume. The Prominence of Education in American Life. — The American people have ever looked upon education as some- thing very necessary to their prosperity and welfare. The English colonists brought with them the idea that edu- cation and religion are two inseparable factors. They left the Mother-land at a time when grammar schools and Latin schools were being rapidly multiplied, so that increasing numbers of youth were given the advantage of that train- ing which led to the university. Under the impulse of this movement for higher education, and feeling the necessity of educating ministers in order that the rehgious welfare of the colonies might be guarded, our fathers at once proceeded to establish similar schools. The Dutch settlers of New York also entertained like views, and we find them making early and definite efforts to provide proper instruction for their children. Beginnings. — To the modern student of education these early provisions for schools seem narrow and insufficient. Not only was the curriculum mediaeval in character, but the whole conception was undemocratic. The Latin and gram- Introductory 3 mar schools were for the wealthy and higher class of citizens, and the dame schools were for the poorer or working class. But the former, however narrow and illiberal they were, be- came the forerunners of the academies and high schools of the nation, while the latter were the germ of the common or elementary free schools which are now so important a part of our educational system. In certain sections of the United States the caste spirit has persisted, and private schools have always held a place of considerable importance. Back of all these early educational endeavors were the faith and heroism of people who had sacrificed much and were fully committed to the great task of establishing a commonwealth on this continent. This faith and this hero- ism have never failed. Through many years of stress and struggle, while war had to be waged with hostile Indians, and when the resources of the people were nearly exhausted in the battle for independence, the torch of education was not suffered to go out or to become greatly dimmed. The schoolhouse and the church stood together. The clergyman and the schoolmaster labored side by side, the one usually the intellectual leader in the community and recognized as the official guide and defender of the schools, and the other the true exponent of the spirit and intelligence of the times. In the schoolhouses of New England was born the de- mocracy which at length became invincible, and education was ever regarded as its chief corner-stone. Expansion. — As new states were formed, they promptly took up the work of supporting and controlling the schools. When by a union of the states the nation came into being, the policy of state control was not seriously questioned. The national government, being founded and guided by states- men who regarded education as of supreme importance, has always maintained a paternal attitude. Grants of money and land, and numerous other provisions of the national Congress have aided the states and have favored the rapid growth of educational agencies. The acquisition of our vast national domain, and the onward march of the conquering forces of civilization have been attended by a rapid and wonderful 4 Educational Administration development of educational plant and equipment. There has been also a remarkable growth of new and pressing de- mands on behalf of industry, politics, science, art, domestic improvement, health, and human culture in its several forms. The promptitude and efficiency with which these various and extended demands have been met have excited the admiration of other nations. As we attempt to indicate the larger phases of this progress and show how great are the material, social, and political interests involved, no one will question that the administration of schools is a subject worthy a place in the university curriculum and deserving the at- tention of practical men and women who are called to serve the public in the educational field, either in a legislative or executive capacity. Variety of Form and Complexity of Function. — There is an unusual variety of form and complexity of function in American education, which makes its organization interesting if not simple. Many unsolved or half-solved problems call for continued, patient, and studious treatment. The fact that few things are absolutely settled compels open-mindedness and high professional enterprise. In the first place, there is a variety of control proceeding from the several political units which make up our system of government. The foreign observer finds it difficult to see an orderly plan when the district, the town, the city, the county, the state, and the nation all have a part, and an important part, to play in school support and oversight. Some of these units are of varying importance in different parts of the country. The method of administration is frequently subjected to change as new statutes and new charter provisions are enacted. There is also diversity of type caused by difference in people, physical conditions, productiveness, and industrial success. The schools of a prosperous city are bound to be different from those in a sparsely settled and unproductive section. They have generally been much superior. The modern problem is not how to make them alike, but how to render them equally good. Notwithstanding the disparity in condition, in resource, and environment, there has been a Introductory 5 growing uniformity in motive and spirit, so that one visiting schools successively, in widely separated sections of the country, is surprised to find marked similarity in the school work. Rapid Progress in Recent Years. — The unprogressive na- ture of early ideals and the fact that schools continued for nearly one hundred and fifty years pursuing the same narrow curriculum call for no extended explanation here. Every- thing during that period was slow and backward, and a stream cannot rise higher than its source. It is only during the last century that the field of education has been broadened and enriched, and it may be truly said that the really notable reforms have been gained during the last half century. The reasons for the retarded movement at the beginning and the accelerated progress made in the last decades should always be kept in mind. Where the church has dominated the schools, there has been no quick and adequate response to the world's demands, political, industrial, social. More- over, the fact that the colonists were poor and were widely scattered over wild, undeveloped country did not favor rapid advancement. The growth of towns and cities under the industrial revo- lution of the last century, with the attendant manifold appli- cations of science and invention to labor-saving machinery, called for a more extensive provision for education, and at the same time increased the resources which contributed to its support. The conservatism and the vis inertice which had restrained progress could not stand before the onward trend of modern scientific ideas. Local pride, with the ability to gratify its desires, is a potent element in educational prog- ress. Ideals suffer Little Change. — Another fact to be remem- bered is that substantially the same ideals have influenced the minds of educational leaders during our entire history, but these ideals, by reason of changed conditions and en- larged vision, have grown and extended until they seem to be entirely new. For example, the religious motive still holds sway, but in a very different way from what it did a 6 Educational Administration century ago. No longer is the Bible a text-book nor is the catechism a required study. On the other hand, wherever the Bible is read in public schools, no comment is permitted, and the inculcation of special religious views is eschewed. Yet there never was a time when moral character was more earnestly sought, or when righteousness in a large sense was more distinctly made the end and aim of teaching. The emphasis is placed upon life and conduct, and it must be admitted that in our schools and colleges there is more of moral earnestness. The general attitude of educational lead- ers and ethical teachers toward religious training of the young is a significant instance of the change which has affected disciplinary measures in the home and school. The purpose is the same in kind as that held by our fathers, but in its application there has been constant adjustment to the newer and modern view of what real goodness is. The civic ideal in education was not wanting in 'early days and it has never been overlooked. As the government, in adapting itself to new circumstances, has become more com- plex and paternal, so the duties and responsibilities of the citizen have been enjoined by all thoughtful teachers. The practical and economic ideals have also persisted. That the education of boys and girls must give efficiency, and that instruction must be directed to increasing the eco- nomic welfare of the community, has always held some place in the educational scheme ; but never has there been una- nimity as to what extent practical demands should be heeded. The great diversity of plan and differentiation of educational means seen to-day represents one stage in the working out of this problem and the demand for vocational improvement is another. The Work of Prophets, Leaders, and Philanthropists. — A constant factor in the development and growth of American education and the improvement of administration has been the active labors of men and women who were in a certain sense prophets and who were able to communicate their ideals and their aspirations to others. All the great move- ments recorded in history have been inspired by personality. Introductory 7 Nearly all that the world has accomplished could be written in the form of biography. The mere mention of such names as " Alexander the Great," " Martin Luther," " Napoleon Bonaparte," " The Earl of Shaftesbury," immediately bring to mind the many and great events with which their lives were associated and in which they had a commanding part. Going back to the early years of the nineteenth cen- tury, we begin to find the names of men who saw possibilities in public education which had not been apprehended before. One of these was Denison Olmstead, who, on taking his Mas- ter's degree at Yale College, urged that the state should establish a training seminary for young schoolmasters and developed his plan quite fully, although there was no imme- diate result. This man who afterward became Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in Yale College was a real prophet. The Rev. Samuel R. Hall in 1823, in connec- tion with his work as a missionary in Concord, Vermont, put into practical operation the plan of normal instruction. He published a book which was widely circulated, and which must have been influential in awakening an interest in the professional side of education. Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet in 1825 published a pamphlet urging that in every state schools for the training of teachers should be established.^ His plan included an experimental school. Probably the name most worthy of credit for the educational revival in Massachusetts is that of James G. Carter.^ He wrote with a trenchant pen upon the neglected condition of the common schools, due, as he thought, to the fact that the attractions of a business career prevented many young men from becoming teachers. Having taken up this work of arousing popular in- terest in education, he continued to write and work, making many suggestions for the broadening and deepening of the school curriculum and on methods of organization. He was interested in the reforms of Pestalozzi and certain English writers. His views attracted wide attention and called forth much discussion in the reviews and periodicals of the time. 1 Barnard, Normal Schools, p. 9. 2 Barnard, A fjierican Journal of Education, Vol. X, p. 212. 8 Educational AdTninistration He continued his efforts until in 1837 the first State Board of Education was organized in Massachusetts, of which he was a member. So active had he been in all steps looking toward educational reform, that it was supposed that he would be the first secretary of the board. Horace Mann,i who was elected to this position, was undoubtedly better qualified to do the work required than any other man of his time. He had been suc- cessful as a lawyer, and in leaving his profession to enter the educational field he had to make considerable sacrifices. This is not the place to record his great labors for education which immediately affected Massachusetts and eventually the whole country. Indeed, his reports were widely read in other coun- tries, and must have exerted considerable influence there. He is a most significant type of that class of persons who first in their own states and eventually in a wider area have given an impetus to free education by their zeal and prophetic vision. The work of Henry Barnard in Connecticut and Rhode Island and as the first United States Commissioner of Educa- tion should be mentioned in the same class with Horace Mann. We may name also John Swett, of California, John D. Philbrick, of Boston, William H. Ruffner, of Virginia, and William T. Harris, whose work as Superintendent of Schools in St. Louis set a remarkably high standard for city school administration and whose services as United States Com- missioner of Education enlarged the usefulness of the Bureau of Education. As a type of those who, although not actively engaged in educational work, yet from time to time propose plans for radical reform, Charles Francis Adams may be mentioned. Of all those whose work and teachings have affected elementary schools in America, Francis W. Parker is easily at the head. The work of President Eliot in dis- closing the weak points in every department of American teaching will long be held in the highest appreciation. The names of many women could be given to illustrate the value of personality in leadership. Mary Lyon and Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer are good examples of this class. Stephen Girard, George Peabody, Samuel Slater, and Peter ^ Hinsdale, Horace Mann and the Common School Revival, Chaps. 4-9. Introductory 9 Cooper made their impress on American education by gen- erous benefactions. Andrew Carnegie, by his gift of ^15,000,000, providing retiring allowances for teachers in one hundred non-denomi- national institutions in the United States and Canada, has set in clear relief the principle that a system of education is not complete without some provision for the retirement of those teachers whose usefulness is largely diminished by sickness or old age. Gifts by the same gentleman for free pubhc libraries bear an equally close relation to popular education. The Carnegie Institute, as a capstone of our university system, places at the service of the teachers of the country such means for study and research as have never been available before. John D. Rockefeller, in addition to numerous other bene- factions, has given 1^35,000,000 to be expended by the general education board in aid of higher institutions in all parts of the United States. Whatever is done for the higher schools and colleges has a direct influence upon all lower schools, as it leads to the more complete and thorough train- ing of teachers. General S. C. Armstrong was a pioneer in what may justly be called "the higher education of the negro race." He and his able successor. Dr. H. B. Frissell, have evolved a type of industrial training which combines all the elements required in lifting backward peoples to a plane of intelli- gence, self-respect, and thrift. The Hampton School sends its graduates to all parts of the South, and is an object lesson to those seeking light upon the problem of how to educate toward vocational efficiency and not away from it. Dr. Booker T. Washington is at once the product and the best exponent of this idea. The administration of both the Hampton and Tuskegee schools is replete with lessons for all practical educators. The few names mentioned may be regarded as types of a large number of men and women, living and dead, who have enthusiastically devoted money and talent to the advance- ment of free education. A single page of this or any other lo Educational Administration volume on the administration of schools cannot properly be written without acknowledging the debt which is due them. School administration is not merely a description of ma- chinery, it is primarily a study of human evolution and the progress of communities toward a more highly civilized life. In its modern conception it knows no barriers and no restric- tions. It invokes the aid of the past and the present; it draws upon the great treasure-houses of culture ; it summons to its service men and women of generous hearts and conse- crated faith ; its emoluments are growing and its satisfactions are greater year by year. What its problems are and how they may best be solved, it is our purpose to point out in the following pages. REFERENCES Note. — The following abbreviations are used throughout the reference lists: Ed. Rev. (Educational Review); Sch. Rev. (School Review); Ed. (Education) ; N. E. A., or Proc. N. E. A. (Addresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association) ; C. R., or Rep. of Com. of Ed. (Annual Reports of the Department of the Interior, Commissioner of Education) ; An. Am. Acad. (Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science) ; etc. These reference lists are never intended to be exhaustive, nor do they always include the best material in the field, if that be accessible with dif- ficulty ; they are designed for the aid of the student who has access to ordinary college and normal school libraries. Many of the articles included are semi-popular, but exhibit definite phases of opinion which it is believed the student should take into account. Butler, N. M. Education in the United States. — Bryce, J. American Commonwealth. — Draper, A. S. National Systems of Education. N. Y. State Ed. Dept. Addresses and Papers, 1907: 109. — Boone, R. Educa- tion in the United States. — Dexter, E. G. History of Education in the United States, New York, 1904. — Martin, G. H. Evolution of the Massachusetts School System, New York, 1901. — Wright, C. D. In- dustrial Evolution of the United States. — Addams, J. Democracy and Social Ethics. — Macy, J. Twentieth Century Democracy, Pol. Sci. Quar. 13: 514. — Monroe, P. History of Education, New York, 1905. — Russell, J. E. The Trend in American Education, Ed. Rev. 32: 28. — Winship, A. E. Great American Educators. — Hinsdale, B. A. Horace Mann and the Educational Revival. — Hovey, A. Barnas Sears. — Mann, Mrs. M. P. Life of Horace Mann. — Adler, F. Democratic Ideal in Education, Century, 1889: 927. — Munger, T. T. Education and Social Progress, Century, Introductory 1 1 1887 : 268. — Butler, N. M. The Progress of Educational Administration, Ed. Rev. 1906: 515. — Hadley, A. T. Methods and Principles of the Nine- teenth Century, Ed. Rev. 1904 : 325. — Thwing, C. F. Gifts to Education, Outlook, 1902:222. — Butler, N. M. Some Fundamental Principles of American Education, Ed. Rev. 1902: 187. — Scudder, V. D. Democracy and Education, Atl. Mo. 1901 : 816. — Thviring,C. F. Education in the West, Harper, 1892 : 715. — Hyde, W. D. Organization of Education, Ed. Rev. 1892 : 209. — Cable, G. W. Education for the Common People, Cosmop. 1893:63. — Dabney, C. W., Jr. Advance of Education in the South, Cosmop. 1892 : 531. — Carroll, C. F. Forces in Education, Ed. 1895 : 193. — Shavif, W. B. Education in the United States, Ed. Rev. 1 892 : 47. — Green- ough, J. J. Basis of our Educational System, Atl. Mo. 1894: 528. — Hen- derson, C. H. Aims of Modern Education, Pop. Sci. Mo. 1896:485.— Anderson, J. M. The Old and the New in Education, Ed. Rev. 1892 : 164. — Boone, R. G., Education in the United States. — Parker, Francis Way- land. C. R. 1902 : 231. CHAPTER II Factors favoring the Advance of Education To a population of about 85,000,000 it is predicted that we shall add during the next twenty years 20,000,000 or over, giving a total of 105,000,000. The wealth of the United States in 1900 was $88,517,- 306,775; in 1904, $107,104,192,410; 1^18,586,885,635 equals the increase in four years. The report of the Commissioner of Education for 1906 gives the following figures concerning expenditures for the year 1905-6 : — Total disbursements by the United States government (estimated) Estimated expenditure by the states Estimated expenditure by minor civil divisions Total public expenditure Public expenditure for common schools Expenditure for private elementary and secondary schools (partly estimated) ...... Expenditure for universities, colleges, and technological schools Expenditure for normal schools Expenditure for professional schools (partly estimated) Expenditure for schools for the defective classes Expenditure for reform schools Expenditure for commercial schools (estimated) Total expenditure for education Enrolled in public elementary schools Enrolled in public secondary schools . Enrolled in public universities and colleges Enrolled in public professional schools Enrolled in public normal schools Total Enrolled in special schools (public) Enrolled in special schools (private) 1747,234,578 130,000,000 610,000,000 $1487,234,578 $307,765,659 21,370,309 44,783,326 6,748,924 3,000,000 7,639,503 5,381,189 3,000,000 )8,9io 15,919,278 741,950 51,335 11,572 59,429 16,783,564 456,271 302,395 Factors favoring the Advance of Education 1 3 These figures above quoted give some idea of the dimen- sions of the problem of education, taking the United States as a whole. They show how great the nation has become, and how energetically the people have pushed forward all those means which make for popular intelligence. At the same time figures are but a skeleton of the truth. In order to gain a just conception of the content of our subject, we must review briefly the last century and see how various forces have operated to hasten the settlement of the whole country ; what ideals, social inheritance, and political aims have been dominant — in short, what factors have proven favorable to the advance of education and the more impor- tant steps which have marked that advance toward the present interesting situation. The Increase of Wealth through the Extension of Agricul- ture and Industry. — While the settlers and pioneers of the nation were practically all engaged in tilling the soil, and hence were widely scattered, or were carrying on such domes-, tic industries as their poverty and the requirements of food, clothing, and shelter compelled them to provide, there was no problem of school administration in the modern sense. A highly developed social order was not possible, and the treat- ment of schools was individualistic, thus partaking of the character of the people themselves. Until the War of the Rev- olution and for some time afterwards, the towns and villages took no sharp departure from the primitive methods of the eighteenth century. War had prostrated industry and trade, money was scarce, and the times were hard. School reforms in Germany and the teachings of Pestalozzi were generally unknown or had made no special impression. The new industry came long before the new education; in fact, it was because of prosperity and increasing wealth that it became possible to secure great educational changes. Much head- way had been made in England in the eighteenth century in applying labor-saving machinery to textile manufactures, when at length, in spite of drastic laws and most strenuous efforts on the part of the English government to prevent the bringing of the designs for textile machinery to America, Samuel 14 Educational Administration Slater came over, bearing in his retentive memory the neces- sary plans. He constructed the first loom for the spinning of cotton at Pawtucket/ making the machinery principally with his own hands, in 1790, which becomes a very impor- tant date in the calendar of American progress. In 1794 Eli Whitney invented the cotton-gin. In 18 14 Mr, Francis C. Lowell erected at Waltham a factory containing a full set of machinery for weaving and spinning.^ This introduction of the factory system in America was the beginning of an industrial development in the New World such as has never been equalled. New Means of Transportation. — Parallel with the rapid growth of labor-saving machinery applied to all departments of labor went new and more rapid means of transportation through the railroad and the steamboat. The first railroad train propelled by steam made its initial journey in 1832, and the first steamboat began to run in 1808. Here, indeed, were the beginnings of an industrial revolution which was to transform the continent, making every part of it easy of access so that new territories could be quickly populated and new states organized. As the productive lands of the West were thus opened to settlers, agriculture began her impres- sive progress from ocean to ocean. While vast areas were clothed with corn and wheat, towns and cities were springing up along the streams, on the Great Lakes, and wherever on the railroads the conditions favored the growth of market towns or county seats. A comparison of the state of the country in the middle of the eighteenth century with that in the middle of the nineteenth century would reveal a mighty change. The tide of immigration had set in. Manufacturing villages were seen everywhere in New England and were be- ginning to exist in the Middle states. Boston, New York, Phil- adelphia, and Baltimore showed the effects of the new indus- trial and commercial impetus in greatly increased population. Many new and secondary cities were springing up at advantageous points, like St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati. 1 Wright, Industrial Evolution of the United States, p. 126. 2 Wright, p. 131. Factors favoring the Advance of Education 1 5 With remarkable celerity machinery was invented for the manufacture of all kinds of useful articles formerly made by hand, such as furniture, household utensils, farm implements, carriages, as well as all kinds of textiles, clothing, and small wares. Good taste and artistic finish were often wanting, and the quality of manufactured goods was very far behind that of those made by hand ; but the spirit of invention, enterprise, and money-making animated the entire people. What we have long called the " American spirit " made itself felt alike on the plains of the West, in the productive planta- tions of the South, and on the mountains of the Pacific coast where the search for the precious metals drew eager hordes of men who had to bear all kinds of hardship, but out of whose ranks came some of the great commercial leaders and builders of the continent. Persistence of the Educational Ideal. — But the absorption of the American people in their great struggles with nature and the ever increasing opportunities of successful enterprise did not dim their desire to educate the youth of the land for their duties as men and citizens. The blood which had been shed to free the nation had sealed the pledge that it should be an intelligent, self-governing nation. Since the day of the Declaration of Independence, free schools had become assured. They were not to exist for the personal advance- ment of the few, but were to be the birthright of every boy and girl born on American soil. Industry and commerce could not prosper, the professions would languish, and the ideals of a God-fearing people would fail if schools were not multiplied and organized and ever and ever made more . effective. ^ State Education. — It came gradually to be seen that the state rather than the church was competent to insist upon a modicum of training for every child, irrespective of religious creed, and that public funds could not wisely be applied to support other than non-sectarian schools. This beneficent and far-sighted provision, however it may have been chal- lenged by some, is seen by a vast majority of patriotic citizens to be a chief corner-stone of our educational system. May 1 6 Educational Administration we not say, therefore, that those influences and forces which established freedom, peopled a continent, and brought peace, prosperity, and wealth, were at the same time preparing the ground for an educational system which is to be more ver- satile, more highly differentiated, and better adapted to indi- vidual and social needs than any other in the world ? The Growth of State Action. — But the rapid and successful accomplishment of problems in pioneering settlement and in- dustry was only one element in the constructive movement for good schools. The organization of new states with the renewed opportunity of utilizing the experience of other and older states and of making the best possible laws for schools is perhaps the most fortunate of all circumstances. Even in the constitutions of states there has been historical progres- sion. Massachusetts sounded the note of religious faith in the intrinsic importance of education. The same sentiment is seldom wanting in the constitutions of the newer states, but there are added also more advanced conceptions of the civic, social, and practical value of common schools. The general aloofness of the national government in the control of schools has tended to enhance and magnify the respon- sibility of the states. Each of the forty-six states or common- wealths which comprise the Union has solved its own problems and worked out its own educational destiny. In earlier days there were vast differences in the amount and the quality of the provision made for schools, as regards both the intelligence and expertness of their administration ; but in recent decades the whole tendency has been toward common ideals, the same statutory requirements and similar methods, so that as far as spirit and intention are concerned the national motto, " E pluribus unum," is applicable to American free education. The National Education Association, the publica- tions of the national bureau, educational literature, the free and swift communication between the different sections of the country, and the influence of colleges and universities have all tended to create a good degree of unity. It is true that in length of school year, compulsory attendance, methods of taxation and distribution of funds, certification of teachers Factoids favoring the Advance of Educatio7i 1 7 and other minor matters, there are still wide variations in actual practice ; but each year sees some advance in nearly every state toward those standards which are regarded as ideal. Patriotic Ardor for Free Schools. — Such European observers as De Tocqueville and James Bryce have taken notice of the quick response made by the citizens of the United States to the responsibilities of self-government. Even the immigrant, who has known quite different governmental conditions, is soon moved by the ardor of a new-born patriotism. He likes the country, the flag, the higher wages, and rejoices especially in the free schools where his children may learn those arts and acquire that knowledge which shall set them in the high- way to self-support, prosperity, and, perchance, honor and preferment. Every candidate for office, every orator and legislator, is impelled to commit himself to the advocacy of a generous provision for public schools. The reactionary and the conservative are seldom triumphant in the long run. If rank extravagance is committed, it receives its proper rebuke; but few communities are willing to stand still very long and see the procession moving on in the distance. Again, in a democratic government like ours, free schools appeal fervently to all who work with their hands. Here is one channel through which the unused increment of wealth flows back to the toiler who has helped to produce that wealth. No other institution tends to soothe and allay the suspicion felt by the wage-earner toward capital as does the fact that his children's schools provide what he could not pay for, and for these great benefits capital is heavily taxed. In no other country is there so definite a purpose to make the public schools good enough for both rich and poor, and it becomes increasingly difficult for private schools to supply those newer forms of training now considered essential to complete education. Many of those who send their children to private institutions or to church schools do so for other reasons than because they esteem them as more excellent than the public schools. It is often the case, however, that persons of wealth and position, even though they do not 1 8 Educational Admi7tistration patronize the public schools, are their friends and champions and are willing to serve on boards of education. The sen- timent for universal education has a compelling power which sways legislatures and city councils. The youth of to-day are the statesmen of to-morrow, and each phalanx of new voters brings to the suffrage larger and more generous views concerning the lengths to which people may be taxed to meet the ever growing modern demands. New Methods of Administration. — The science of admin- istration, whether of business affairs or of government, has advanced rapidly of late, and the human element in execu- tive control is at a high valuation. In the midst of vast aggregations of machinery and complicated devices for the speedy and skilful accomplishment of labor, the trained, directive intelligence stands forth as, after all, the most impressive product of modern times. However stupendous the undertaking, one mind is supreme. In the bank, the factory, the railroad, and the industrial corporation, one head, who by natural ability and superior training is competent, directs the entire enterprise. In him is con- centrated all needed authority and responsibility. To his lieutenants, chosen with equal care, is delegated a certain set of duties. They become so many additional hands and feet of their chief, and thus extend the scope of his power and effectiveness. It is fortunate that the centralization of executive power, so necessary to honesty and efficient management, should have been widely demonstrated in the business world before states, cities, or school systems had anything like the volume of business which they are called upon to perform to-day. It is easier for private concerns or business corporations to choose direct and economical methods of administration than for those who are placed in power by a political party and have many debts to pay and many interests to serve. It is not so much that politicians are dishonest as it is that they follow a habit and a tradition of serving self and their friends first and the public last. At all events the struggle for free government and the proper placing of responsibility is well under way. As great Factors favori7tg the Advance of. Edtication 19 school systems are being developed, it is most fortunate that there are plenty of object lessons of centralized and sound government both in the field of industry and com- merce and in the states and municipal governments of Europe. It is true also that in national, state, and city con- duct of affairs a signal change for the better has been wrought. A far larger number of officers are appointive than formerly. Functions once undertaken by town boards, city councils, or large commissions are now performed by a single officer. A good example of this practice is seen in the commissioners of police, streets, docks, and health in New York City. In such cases the responsibility can be definitely located. The officer cannot shirk it. The power of removal lodged in the mayor enables the public to look to him for redress if good service is not rendered. The plea of great cities for absolute home rule is an exploded theory. So identical are their interests, social, political, and financial, with those of the state in which they are located that the people may properly ask the legislature for such charter provisions and such statutes as tend to make the government of the city contribute to the welfare of the entire state. Many American cities are passing through a transition period, and are adopting those changes in administration which will not only prevent dishonesty and the misuse of public funds, but will give their citizens the blessings of health, security, economy, and comfort. Such distressing instances of malfeasance and moral turpitude as have been seen recently in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and San Francisco ought never to occur again, if states, by the powers which they possess, pattern the charters of every city after those models which have proven their efficacy both at home and abroad. This new movement, so well advanced, for simplified and efficient administration of affairs of a private as well as a public nature, is influencing school systems, whether large or small. The value of centralized control and expert direction is sure to be seen and accepted as a safe and sane principle. Growth of the Civil Service. — But there is another principle 20 Ed'cicational Administration of government almost equally fundamental which has already revolutionized political control, and is well intrenched in the field of educational administration, and that is the practice and extension of the v':ivil service. Under its rules a man or a woman is appointed for merit only, is secure in his or her position and cannot be deprived of it except for cause duly shown. A brief history of this movement is pertinent to this discussion, for the civil service is bound to become a universal feature in educational control. The adoption of this idea means permanency of tenure for every American teacher, and this is the first cardinal ingredient of professional pride and ambition. Teaching is largely a spiritual work. Its best fruits are often unseen at the time. It requires freedom from anxiety, concentrated interest, and consecration. These quali- ties cannot be present if the teacher is subject to the caprices of politics or the machinations of those who may have taken offence. As long as one does his work honestly and well, he should have the courage and confidence which spring from security and permanency. The teacher in France and Ger- many is given professional status in many ways, but the fact that he has a life tenure is doubtless the most cherished feature of his position. We do not hesitate to say that expert adminis- tration and civil service regulations for teachers are destined to be prime factors in the working out and perfecting of our educational scheme. The Influence of European Education. — There can be no doubt that education in the United States owes a considerable debt to Europe for what it has accomplished. Some, at least, of the founders of the republic were university men, and brought with them from their several countries ideas which were of value here. The Puritans transplanted the best forms of English education of their time ; many of them were college men. The Quakers, the Dutch, the Huguenots, the Scotch-Irish, and the Moravians also brought with them high educational traditions, and immediately put them into effect. The early English academies were transplanted to this country after the Revolution, partly through the influence of Franklin, George Whitefield, and Mary Lyon. The English. Factors favoring the Advance of Education 2 3 methods of instruction. So in Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Holland one finds many evidences of careful organiza- tion and a high degree of pedagogical skill. In spirit these schools are a little more like those in the United States, and the visitor might almost imagine that he were in New York, Chicago, or Milwaukee. In these small systems there is more mobility and a freer adaptation of means to end than in either France or Germany. It is evident that each nation has an ideal which has developed through successive eras of educational progress, and which is expressive of what the nation as represented by its government desires to accomplish for its citizens. The American Ideal. — Without any extended discussion of this point it is safe to say that in the United States, more than in the countries mentioned, there is a rapid adjustment to new conditions, whether caused by growth in population, increased wealth, or new and more scientific insights.^ The ideal to which the whole nation is committed is " the education of all the people for service and for citizenship." There is no ulterior purpose in this, as, for example, that youth may be trained to serve the state, either as soldiers or merchants or craftsmen. The nation desires more than anything else men and women who can take their part bravely and wisely, and who can help to build a society fit to possess and enjoy the blessings of freedom and self-government. Nowhere are there such opportunities for individual growth and advance- ment ; nowhere is the higher education so freely and univer- sally bestowed ; nowhere have the people so direct a voice in determining what public education shall be and with what generosity of expenditure it shall be administered. As will be seen in the pages to follow, there is in American educa- tion a large admixture of human sympathy and philanthropy. In rapid succession, various phases of educational endeavor which have been instituted by social reformers have been taken on by school systems and the expense therefor pro- vided from the public exchequer. The most powerful dy- namic in American educational progress is the sense of 1 Draper, " National Systems of Education," Encyclopcedia Americana. 24 Educational Administration national and state pride and the firm belief that popular education is the best investment a nation can make for her moral greatness and the welfare of her people. REFERENCES Coman, K. The Industrial History of the United States. — Clark and Giddings. The Modern Distributive Process. — Ware, F. Educational Foundations of Trade and Industry. — Taylor, G. R. Industrial Education and National Prosperity, Char, and the Com. XIX: 1579. — Wells, H. G. Recent Economic Changes. — Mulhall, M. G. Industries and Wealth of Nations. — Strong, J. Social Progress (1904). — Wright. C. D. Practical Sociology. — Brooks, J. G. The Social Unrest. — Wright, C. D. Some Ethical Phases of the Labor Question. — Turner, F. J. Contributions of the West to American Democracy, Atl. Mo. 91 : 83 (1903). — Adams, B. America's Economic Supremacy. — Mayo, A. D. The American Common School System in New England from 1790 to 1840, C. R. 1895:1551. — Butler, N. M. Education and Democracy. — Rose, W. The Educational Movement in the South, C. R. 1903 : 359. — Mayo, A. D. Education in the Northwest during the First Half Century of the Republic, C. R. 1895 : 1513. — Butler, N. M. The Meaning of Education. CHAPTER III The National Government and Education The national government has not undertaken to control or to directly provide for the support of public instruction. The Constitution of the United States confers upon Congress no direct power over the public schools. As all powers not del- egated to Congress are reserved to the states or to the peo- ple, the care of public education has been assumed definitely and positively by the several states. At the same time, it is wrong to assume, as is sometimes done, that the national gov- ernment has neglected education and has done but little in aid of the support of schools and higher institutions. From the very beginning Congress has legislated generously in aid of both elementary and higher education, and the several depart- ments of the government have been increasingly active in the diffusion of useful knowledge among the people and in offer- ing at Washington the most ample and complete facilities for study and research in every department of scientific inquiry tending to help educational institutions in their work and to advance the economic interests of the country as a whole. Attempts to found a National University. — Strictly speak- ing, the United States has no national university, but the strenuous efforts made by George Washington and numerous other statesmen of his and later times to persuade Congress to establish and support such a great national institution con- stitutes one of the most illuminating chapters in our educa- tional history. No one can be familiar with the record of Washington's devoted labors in behalf of this measure with- out conceiving a new admiration for the man and for his sa- gacious appreciation of the educational needs of the country in his time. With the eye of the prophet he saw the remark- 25 26 EdMcatio7ial Administration able possibilities of the country and the place which it was to take among the nations of the earth. He saw the strug- gling colleges of that time with their meagre curricula and limited equipment. He realized that in a land of such prom- ise there should be leaders equipped with the best training to be found in a true university. Realizing that only a few were likely to go abroad for study in the universities of Europe, he urged that the nation provide as rapidly as possible at the na- tional capital for advanced study. He never lost sight of this conviction. His addresses and letters seldom omitted refer- ence to it. He selected the site for a university in the city of Washington, and finally in his will left a bequest of $25,000 in the form of valuable securities as a beginning of an endow- ment. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison also were equally earnest and enthusiastic in their advocacy of this measure. So great was the popular interest in it that as early as 1795 subscriptions to the amount of $30,000 were received. Practically every Congress since that time has given some consideration to the proposition for a na- tional university. Several of the learned societies of the country have favored it, notably the National Education As- sociation. This association in 1869 appointed a permanent committee, and the subject was agitated vigorously from that time until 1901. It is hard to explain why a measure so pop- ular in character and so warmly seconded by leading men in all departments of public life should not at length have won the assent of Congress. In the meantime, several universities have sprung into existence. To Johns Hopkins, more than to any other institution, is due the credit for setting the example of what a true university in America should be. Moreover, the discussion for more than a hundred years of the university project has been a powerful influence in determining the future educational policy of the nation. The City of Washington as an Educational Centre. — The steps taken to organize the George Washington Memorial Association and the founding of the Carnegie Institute are events too recent to need extended comment. There can be no doubt that the founder of the Carnegie Institute was led The National Government and Education 27 to make his generous gift largely because the great national need had been so often and so earnestly expressed. Doubt- less many people were disappointed that he did not directly endow a national university. But with his usual far-sighted- ness he determined to do nothing to disturb the growth and influence of existing institutions. On the other hand, the Carnegie Institute, working in cooperation with all the uni- versities in the land, with all the learned societies, and with the departmental bureaus and libraries in Washington, fills a place in our educational system which no university could have filled. Indirectly its beneficent influence will be felt by every college and high school teacher in the land. Facilities for Study in Washington. — In 1892 a resolution was approved by Congress whereby facilities for research and investigation in all libraries, bureaus, literary and scientific collections were made accessible to scientific investigators, and students in the District of Columbia. On March 3, 1901, a still better and more definite provision was made by an act which read as follows : — " That facilities for study and research in the government departments, the Library of Congress, the National Museum, the Zoological Park, the Bureau of Ethnology, the Fish Commission, the Botanic Gardens, and similar institutions hereafter established shall be afforded to scientific inves- tigators and to duly qualified individual students and graduates of institu- tions of learning in the several states and territories, as well as in the District of Columbia, under such rules and restrictions as the heads of the departments and bureaus mentioned may prescribe." Some reference will be made later to the vast educa- tional significance of the work carried on by the government. In closing this brief statement regarding a national university, it may be affirmed that Congress was never truly hostile to the idea. The same regard for the value of encouraging local initiative and action and the fear that existing institutions might be overshadowed were a university organized and sup- ported by the national government, were the principal reasons for the conservatism which prevailed. Acts of Congress in Aid of Popular Education. — The admin- istration of schools in every state in the Union has been more 28 Educational Administration or less affected by gifts of land from the national government. The old English custom of supporting schools by such gifts was well understood by the early colonists, for in 1677 the general court of Connecticut voted six hundred acres of land to each of four counties for the support of grammar schools. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia laid claim to all the land extending from the western boundary of those states to the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. It became evident at length that these lands must be nationalized, and these states ceded them to Congress. As the time came for the organization of new states, Congress was led to adopt that generous policy which gave an immense impetus to the move- ment for popular education. In 1785 an ordinance was adopted which defined the method of laying out townships and subdividing them into lots of 640 acres each, these lots to be numbered from one to thirty-six. This ordinance closed with the significant words : — " There shall be reserved the lot number sixteen of every township for the maintenance of public schools within the said township." In 1787 this purpose of the national government to aid common schools was made more definite and effective by an ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of Ohio, which was introduced by the following famous preamble : — " Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- tion shall be forever encouraged." This ordinance provided, as did the one of the previous year, that lot number sixteen in each township or fractional part of the township was to be given perpetually for schools ; that lot number twenty-nine in each township or fractional part of the township should be given for the purpose of religion ; that not more than two complete townships were to be given for the purpose of a university. Thus the ordinances of 1785 and of 1787 were parts of one and the same provision, and the policy The National Government and Education 29 herein expressed became permanent and universal. All states west of the Alleghany Mountains have been beneficiaries under this legislation except West Virginia, Kentucky, Ten- nessee, and Texas.i The question whether these lands, donated for the support of schools, should be under national or state control was settled in 1803 by an act which vested in the legislature of Michigan all lands granted to that state. While some states have attempted to redistribute these lands in some other manner than that specified by Congress, all such attempts have failed. As certain portions of states and certain fractional townships were left unprovided for because these tracts of land had thus been disposed of, an act was passed in 1826 providing that all townships or fractional townships for which no land had hitherto been granted, should be endowed in accordance with the legislation cited above. Not only did this legislation provide a handsome endowment for common schools, but provision was also made for state universities and others. Thus in 1841, in lieu of the grants of swamp lands made to certain states in 1850, specific quantities of land were given to other states for the support of their higher institutions. The assignment made to ^ South Dakota is here given as typical of the way in which the nation treated several other states : — '' For the school of mines, forty thousand acres ; for the reform school, forty thousand acres ; for the deaf and dumb asylum, forty thousand acres ; for the agricultural college, forty thousand acres ; for the university, forty thousand acres ; for state normal schools, eighty thousand acres ; for public buildings at the capital of said state, fifty thousand acres ; and for such other educational and charitable purposes as the legislature of said state may determine, one hundred and seventy thousand acres ; in all, five hundred thousand acres." This line of beneficent legislation was not allowed to pass without protest from some states which were not included, as, for example, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Vermont ; but the matter soon dropped, and a larger patriotism seems to have 1 C. R. 1892-1893; 1270. 2 c. R. 1892-1893; 1273. 30 Educational Adininistration moulded the public opinion of the nation in favor of what Congress had done. In 1803 the provisions of the ordinance of 1787 were ex- tended to the states of the Mississippi territory ; so that not only common schools, but the state universities of this section have been effectively aided. Thus it has come to pass that since the year 1800 each state admitted to the Union, with the exception of Maine, Texas, and West Virginia, has received two or more townships for the purpose of founding a univer- sity. Distribution of Surplus Revenue. — Another piece of legis- lation of educational importance occurred in 1836 when Congress distributed the surplus funds in the national treasury to the several states according to the number of representa- tives which they had in Congress. While freedom was per- mitted in the use of these funds, three-fourths, at least, of the states voted to assign the larger part of their quota to educa- tion. The entire amount thus paid to twenty-seven states was upwards of twenty-eight millions of dollars. Grants of Land and Money for Colleges of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. — In 1862 Congress passed a bill granting to each state 30,000 acres of land for each senator and represent- ative in Congress for the maintenance of agricultural schools. President Lincoln signed this important measure on July 2, 1862. With the incentive offered by this act of Congress, each state has been able to maintain a higher institution which, in some measure at least, has answered to the condi- tions enjoined. The states have added largely to the funds which came from the sale of public lands. Private citizens and municipalities have contributed to these endowments, thus making a chain of institutions which have already accom- plished much, and which are likely to contribute largely to our national growth. In 1903 there were reported to be forty- nine agricultural and mechanical land-grant colleges endowed by Congress. Courses in agriculture are given in each state and territory, though in some cases the instruction is given at the agricultural stations. The total number of students re- ported at the same time was 50,799, of which 6080 were en- The National Government and Edtication 31 rolled in institutions for colored students. The amounts of invested funds derived from the sale of lands granted under the act of 1862 is $11,213,593. The total amount of the property belonging to these institutions is upward of $72,000,000, which is good evidence that the states have re- sponded generously in supporting and increasing the gifts of the nation. This is not the place to enlarge upon the many beneficent features of these land-grant institutions, or to point out the growing necessity in this country for the kind of education which they are intended to give. Agricul- ture would soon suffer were not science brought to bear to improve its methods and to restore the soils ; and among a people which is becoming more and more industrial in charac- ter, what has been done for technical education may properly be regarded as a small beginning toward the larger provision which will be necessary if we are to compete successfully with other nations. Congress now appropriates $25,000 annually to each of these institutions and $15,000 to the agricultural stations of each state and territory as well. Here it is proper to add that the agricultural department at Wash- ington, being, as it is, in close affihation with the stations in several states, and with the institutions where agricultural in- struction is given, performs for the whole country somewhat the office of a central university. Its reports, which have been distributed freely, are full of instruction to farmers and its monthly bulletins enable those interested to quickly and easily obtain the latest information on all the problems of agriculture and stock-raising. The recent interest in the pro- priety of teaching agriculture in state normal schools to teachers who go out to the rural schools, thus providing that children and youth throughout the land may receive training in scientific farming and horticulture, only tends to magnify the importance of what the national government has done in endowing these land-grant institutions and supporting a de- partment whose activities touch so vitally the well-being not only of the agricultural class, who are the producers, but the entire people, who are the consumers. While the gifts to education already mentioned are the 2,2 EdMcoJional Admmistration most important made by the national government, many other smaller appropriations have been made, several of them specific in character, some to states and others to institutions. In 1850 Congress granted to the several states certain swamp lands after having been redeemed.^ Many of the states de- voted these lands to the cause of education. The total amount thus patented to the states to 1876 amounted to 47,802,271 acres. Some states, as, for instance, California, appropriated their share to state universities ; others added the proceeds to their general school funds. Several supplementary acts have since granted to certain states additional amounts of saline land. Congress has also appropriated both lands and money to Georgetown College, Columbian University, and Howard University, institutions located in the District of Columbia. Bureau of Education. — From 1864 to 1866 the need of a national Bureau of Education was agitated in the meetings of the National Educational Association, and in that year a bill, drawn up by Dr. Emerson E. White, was presented by General Garfield. On June 8 the bill was rejected by a close nega- tive vote, but on June 19 was passed and on March 2 received the President's approval. It should be noted that this act provided for a " Department of Education." In the follow- ing year this department was reduced to the rank of a bureau. The revised statutes provided that the function of the bureau should be "to collect statistics and facts showing the condition and progress of education in the several states and territo- ries, and to diffuse such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the United States in the es- tablishing and maintenance of efficient school systems and other- wise promote the cause of education throughout the country." The first commissioner was Henry Barnard,^ and acting within the rather limited scope of the statutes above cited, he set a standard for the work of the bureau which has since been consistently sustained. 1 Blackmar, History of Federal and State Aid Education, p. 53. 2C. R. 1892-1893: 1288. The National Government ajtd Education 33 The Reports of the Commissioner. — The reports published from year to year have been a veritable mine of knowledge concerning all important educational movements in this coun- try and abroad. Not only have they dealt with the ordinary statistical and administrative phases of educational progress, but special problems like the care and treatment of the defective and delinquent classes, the education of backward pupils, in- dustrial and trade education, the restriction of child labor, and all those newer forms of public educational work which have been developed in recent years. Each commissioner in suc- cession has found some new ways of making these reports valuable to teachers and school officers. Dr. William T. Harris gave to the reports of the bureau such a high char- acter for the comprehensive grasp of world education that they have come to be as highly valued in Europe as in this country. Education a National Concern. — It has been a matter of sincere regret to many that the United States has not given to education a place in the councils of the nation equal to war or commerce. It is also to be regretted that the bureau has not had direct control of the schools for all the backward peoples, especially those who have become the wards of the nation since the Spanish War. Dr. Draper, Commissioner of Edu- cation of the state of New York, has forcibly pointed to the fact that in the control of education in the territories, in the District of Columbia, in the management of schools for the Indians, in military and naval academies, and in the administration of schools in the newly acquired colonies, the Bureau of Education has been practically ignored, and more than that, the appropriations for the support of the work which it has undertaken are so meagre as to cause a sense of shame and humiliation to all true friends of education. ^ The work of raising the Bureau of Education to its proper dignity and equipping it to control and care for all the educa- tional agencies which the government undertakes, awaits the commanding effort of some great leader who not only appre- ^ " Federal Educational Plan Needed," Andrew S. Draper, The Outlook, Octo- ber 5, 1907. D 34 EdMcatio7tal Admi7iistration ciates the crying evil of the present situation, but has the heart and the courage to take up the battle and win the victory. The efforts of the present commissioner to make the bu- reau more practically effective deserve the fullest appreci- ation and support. Education of the Indian. — The Indian problem has ever been one of perplexing difficulty, alike baffling to statesmen and painful to all kind-hearted and humane people. To have within our borders many tribes of wild and malevolent sav- ages could not but require some earnest and conscientious action. Missionaries went among them trying to establish schools early in the last century. In 1819 the United States made its first appropriation of $1000, and until 1894 a large part of the educational work was carried on by denomina- tional schools which received appropriations from Congress. In that year Congress voted to withhold support from all sec- tarian institutions, and undertook, through the Indian com- missioner and the superintendent of Indian schools, to superintend all expenditures made for this purpose. The education of the Indian has required special knowledge of Indian character, traditions, and habits of life, and it has taken many years to adapt means to end for the most effective results. Much credit is due to Captain Pratt and General Arm- strong for what they were able to do at a period when the subject was far less understood than at present. The Carlisle and Hampton schools have been powerful agents in illustrat- ing what Indian education should be. The last report of the Commissioner of Education names twenty states and territo- ries in which there are conducted a variety of schools adapted to every need of the Indian. Among these are fifty-nine schools which are especially engaged in industrial education. Education in Alaska. — For the past twenty-two years the schools of Alaska have been under the management of the same general agent. Dr. Sheldon Jackson. His report for the year ending in June, 1905, records that outside of incor- porated towns there were fifty-one pubUc schools with sixty-two teachers and an enrolment of over three thousand pupils. The National Government and Education 35 An act of Congress was passed in January, 1905, one section of which reads as follows : — " That the schools specified and provided for in this act shall be devoted to the education of white children and children of mixed blood who lead a civilized life. The education of the Eskimos and Indians in the district of Alaska shall remain under the direction and control of the Secretary of the Interior, and schools for and among the Eskimos and Indians of Alaska shall be provided for by an annual appropriation, and the Eskimos and Indian children of Alaska shall have the same right to be admitted to any Indian boarding-school as the Indian children in the states or territories of the United States." In accordance with this act Congress appropriated ^50,000 for the education of the natives in Alaska during the year ending in June, 1906. The average of government grants has been about ^30,000 per year since 1884. Mention should also be made of a novel form of educa- tional work which has been undertaken in Alaska ; namely, the introduction of domestic reindeer as a means of saving the inhabitants from starvation, and of furnishing them a means not only of sustenance but of a more stable and civil- ized life. Congress made the first appropriation of ^6000 for this purpose in 1893. Dr. Jackson, who first suggested the idea of introducing reindeer and of giving instruction to the natives in the arts of herding, harnessing, driving, and so forth, has been in charge of this interesting experiment. The total number of reindeer in 1905 was 10,241. The total amount appropriated by Congress for this purpose was 1^207,500. This instance of congressional interest and ac- tivity has not only proven to be most beneficent in its educa- tive effects upon the people of Alaska, but is a suggestive example of the varied kinds of educational work which are now undertaken. Education in Porto Rico. — On the i8th of October, 1898, the island of Porto Rico fell under the military rule of the United States and continued so until May i, 1900. During this period and up to the present time, each year has witnessed rapid progress in the development of a complete system of education well adapted to the Porto Ricans. In 36 Educational Administration 1903 and 1904 there were 61,000 pupils enrolled in more than 1000 different schools. The work has been facilitated by importing American teachers and by sending the native teachers to the United States for instruction. Schools are entirely free ; school buildings have been improved ; an effective system of supervision has been in operation. As an object lesson in the rapid improvement of an educational sit- uation and in the wise adaptation of a system to a people differing greatly from ourselves, there is much to learn by those who are engaged in school administration under quite different circumstances. Education in the Philippines. — In 1901 the insular gov- ernment in the Philippine Islands expended for education ^233,411. In each succeeding year more than ^1,000,000 has been expended. The number of children between the ages of 6 and 14 years is estimated at 1,200,000. The pur- pose is as rapidly as possible to provide primary education for the entire number. There are 700 American teachers for the 729 municipalities, and 3125 Filipino teachers who have been trained at first by the American teachers individu- ally and afterwards in normal institutions. Nearly all the instruction is in English, In 35 provinces secondary schools have been organized. In 1903 the Philippine commission arranged to have 100 students sent to the United States at the expense of the insular government. They were dis- tributed in various institutions throughout the country. The several superintendents who have administered educa- tional affairs in the PhiHppines have endeavored to adapt school work to a people quite different from ourselves. While in this country the effort has been to modify material- istic tendencies of life, in the PhiHppines the demand is felt for an effort in the opposite direction. The racial charac- teristics and the climate have produced conditions which require a stimulus toward practical activity. Here, as everywhere, civilization begins with intelligent industry and self-support. Hence, training in science and the elements of industry are Hkely to be important features in the educa- tional work. The National Government and Education 37 The Military Academy. — The first steps toward the estab- lishment of a mihtary school were taken in i ^^6, but nothing was accomplished until 1783, when Alexander Hamilton was made chairman of a committee to prepare a plan for the peace arrangement of the army. Washington at this time recommended that a military school should be located at West Point. In 1802 the beginnings of the school were made, and the government made yearly appropriations for its support. The Academy, with ten cadets present, was formally opened on July 4th of the same year. It has been developed and maintained progressively by Congress until by acts of 1900, 1902, and 1903 the corps of cadets consists of one from each congressional district, one from each territory, one from the District of Columbia, one from Porto Rico, two from each state at large, and forty from the United States at large, — all to be appointed by the President. The maxi- mum number of cadets is 522. The total number of grad- uates from 1802 to 1907 is 4641. The pay of the cadet is i^soo per year and one ration per day. The total is ^609.50, to commence upon admission to the Academy. The necessary travelling expenses of candi- dates are also credited. All cadets are examined physically in June of each year, and those found physically disqualified to continue in the course or, in the case of the first class, for commission to the army are discharged. The United States Naval Academy. — When George Ban- croft became Secretary of the Navy, he found four small naval schools, and he set about establishing in the place of them one strong naval academy. This institution, as well as the military academy, has made honorable records in train- ing men for the army and navy, and is evidence that the United States government is not incapable of carrying on educational work. During the Civil War the Academy was conducted at Newport, Rhode Island. In the summer of 1865 it was brought back to Annapolis, where it has since remained. In 1873 the term of the academic course was changed from four to six years. Various acts of Congress have tended to strengthen the Academy in all its departments, and to im- 38 Educatio7ial Ad'ininistration prove its administration and make it more effective in train- ing men for naval work. The graduates of West Point, particularly, many of whom have resigned after graduation, have entered every known branch of scientific and engineering enterprise, and have undertaken the most difficult problems in the line of engi- neering and construction that have arisen in this country. The fact that the construction of the Panama Canal is now being successfully carried forward by the army is a sufficient tribute to the technical ability of its officers. However much the importance of being prepared for war may be minimized in view of the expectation of international peace in the near future, the nation has greatly aided the development of national resources by providing superior training for a select body of men. National Institutions doing Educational Work, — Not only has the national government undertaken these specific forms of educational work which we have enumerated, but under its fostering care there have grown up in the city of Washington a large number of bureaus, museums, and li- braries which together constitute an important asset in the educational machinery of the nation. He who administers education in any community whatever finds it easy to become absorbed in the purely mechanical and executive functions of his office. Everything must be reduced to system, and rules and regulations must be enforced, but he has an opportunity of doing much more than this ; namely, to make available to school officers, teachers, and the people generally those great sources of power and inspiration which are within reach. The institutions which the government supports at Washing- ton are like great fountains pouring forth streams of influ- ence and knowledge to every part of the country. It is only necessary that they be utilized in such a manner as shall be most profitable to the teachers of the land. The Congressional Library is destined to be the greatest of our American libraries. The lists of references which are prepared by the division of bibliography, and which are freely distributed to those who desire them, include such The National Government and Education 39 topics as " The Government Ownership of Railroads," " Federal Control of Commerce and Corporations," " The Negro Question," " Old Age and Civil Service Pensions," and many others. The Smithsonian Institution, with its various museums and bureaus, has been a marvel of educational activity. No nobler gift was ever made to a nation than that of James Smithson, an Englishman who never visited this country, but a scientist of rare accomplishments. The following sig- nificant provision in his will testifies to his breadth and far- sightedness : — " I bequeath the whole of my property to the United States of America to found at Washington under the name of the Smithsonian Institution an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The entire legacy amounted to ^650,000, which has been increased by careful management to 1^911,000. The first secretary. Professor Joseph Henry, defined the object of the institution as follows : — 1. " To increase knowledge and original investigation and study either in science or literature. 2. " To diffuse knowledge not only through the United States but everywhere, especially by promoting an interchange of thought among those prominent in learning in all nations." The National Museum, which is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, is a comprehensive collection of all objects neces- sary for the instruction of people, and its benefits are extended freely to visitors from all parts of the United States. In connection with the institutions already mentioned and the departments of the government there are at least twenty-eight libraries in Washington which together consti- tute one of the most complete collections in the world, all of which are available to investigators and students. When one contemplates the provisions already made at the national capital for students in every department and those of the Carnegie Institute with its liberal endowment, it is easy to see that whether we have a national university or not, Wash- ington is destined to become an educational centre, and it 40 Educational Administration will also be agreed that while Congress does not undertake to control schools, aid has been generously given to all forms of educational effort not otherwise provided for by the states. REFERENCES Harris, W. T. The General Government and Public Education, N. E. A., 1890 : 481-489. — Draper, A. S. The General Government and Public Education, N. E. A., igo6: 201-208. — Walcott, C. D. The Re- lations of the National Government to Higher Education and Research, the Univ. Record (Chicago), June 28, 1901 : 40-49. — Fouillee, A. J. E. Ed- ucation from a National Standpoint. — White, E. E. Relations of Na- tional and State Governments to Advanced Education, Am. Soc. Sci. Assn. Jour., 7 : 299. — Blackmar, F. W. History of Federal and State Aid to Higher Education in the United States. — Boone, R. G. Education in the United States. — Congressional Grants for Colleges, C. R. 1893: 1268. — General Laws relating to Agricultural and Mechanical Land-grant Colleges, C. R. 1903 : 39. — Germann, G. B. National Legislation concern- ing Education. — Mayo, A. D. National Aid to Education, Am. Soc. Sci. Assn. Jour. (1882), 17:3. — Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, C. R. 1903: 1627. — Shiras, A. National Bureau of Education (a pamphlet), — Publications of the Bureau of Education, C. R. 1895:1821. — Educa- tion in the Philippines, Hawaii, and Cuba, C. R. 1903 : 2385. — Atkinson, F. W. On the American Teacher in the Philippines, Ed. Rev. 25 : 235. — Education in the Philippines, C. R. 1902:2219. — Atkinson, F. W. D. The Present Educational Movement in the Philippine Islands, C. R. 1901 : 1317. — Holman,H. English National Education. — Sharpless, L Relation of the State to Education in England and America, Annals of the Am. Acad, of Pol. Sci. 3 :669. — Lexis, W. (tr. by Tamson, G. T.). A Gen- eral View of the History and Organization of Public Education in the German Empire. — Goodrich, C. F. Education in the American Navy, N. E. A. 1904:121. — Robinson, C. M. The Improvement of Towns and Cities. — The Smithsonian Institution, An. Rep. of the Sm. Inst, for 1906, p. 97. — Education in the Philippines, C. R. 1905 : XXXVII. — Federal Aid to Colleges of Agriculture, C. R. 1903:1179. — Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point, June, 1907. — Annual Register of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. 1906-1907. — Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, C. R. 1905 : 657. — Education in Alaska, C. R. 1903 :LIX; 1903:2333; 1903: 2385; 1904: 1091 : 1905 : XXXIV. — Benefactions to Education, C. R. 1904:2359. — The Carnegie Institution, C. R. 1904:2325. — Barnard, Henry, and the Bureau of Education, C. R. 1902 ; 887. CHAPTER IV The State and Education V Education a State Function. — In modern culture nations, the state, in its progressive evolution, has gradually assumed a wide range of functions which could be best carried on through the political organization. Among these are defence, the maintenance of internal order, and the regulation of foreign commerce. In recent years it has become common for the state to assume industrial functions, like the building of railroads and canals where it was impracticable for private effort to accomplish these successfully. Similarly it has gradually extended its participation in the control and sup- port of various forms of education. Long after educational development had attained considerable proportions, it was still intrusted by society largely to the church, to philan- thropic effort, and to private venture. Even in primitive forms of state organization, however, it was not uncommon for the political authority to promote some limited forms of education, especially those which were allied with military or diplomatic success ; certain forms of professional and higher education also early received state encouragement. But the rise of the modern nations has seen the rapid transfer of the control and support of various forms of education from the voluntary organizations hitherto active to public agencies. Just as the state long ago took over the function of public defence and the maintenance of internal order, so it has also found it expedient and socially profitable to take over and to develop in full measure a wide range of educational activities. I. MOTIVES FOR STATE PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION The two fundamental social motives found to underlie the progressive assumption of educational activities by the state are : the natural desire of society through government to se- 41 42 Educational Administration cure the safety of the social group ; and to procure the wel- fare and happiness of the individuals composing the state. Social Security in the earlier forms of state organization {i.e. the more autocratic) requires leaders. Society can be compared to any army of which the rank and file may be ignorant, but leaders must be trained. The state, exercising its obligations of public defence, administration of justice, regulation of commerce and industry, and promotion of science and culture, finds that the primitive educational in- stitutions are not sufficient, unaided, to develop the knowledge and skill required in these fields. For this reason govern- ments begin by subsidizing the higher forms of education and developing new types of schools to supply needs not met by previously existing institutions. Under this concep- tion of social need the education of the masses of men and of women may be ignored or left to the imperfect ministra- tions of voluntary agencies. Much of the early education in the American colonies as well as that of the European coun- tries previous to the democratic movements partook of this character. Effects of Democracy. — The security of the state means something more when the influence of democratic ideas in government becomes prominent. If, through his vote, each man is capable of becoming a considerable factor in the political activity of the state, it becomes axiomatic that the voter must be educated to understand at least something of government and his relation to it. " We must educate our rulers," was the remark of an English nobleman after the great extension of suffrage in 1868, and it was shortly after that event that England took her first large step towards state support and control of popular education. To the nine- teenth century, especially, belongs the rise of widespread education of all people supported extensively by the state, and the connection of this with modern democratic tendencies is close and obvious. Among the chief arguments for com- pulsory school attendance, free text-books, free tuition, and free school supplies, and for financial assistance to the weaker portions of commonwealths in meeting the obligations of The State and Education 43 education, that is most common -which insists that unless a level of general intelligence can be maintained, the safety of the state will be endangered. Free Education is also closely associated with the idea that in a democracy opportunity must be provided for the development of natural capacity wherever found. Even more than autocratic governments, democracies need leader- ship, and leaders must be found in all ranks of the people. For a time philanthropic effort, expressed in scholarships and other forms of aid, is supposed by social leaders to be sufficient to provide opportunities for higher training to all who are proved worthy of them. But gradually education is made as little expensive as possible, to the end that social security may be furthered through the fullest development of ability wherever discovered. Modern states may be found to be in all stages of transition in this respect. University and secondary education still lay a heavy financial burden on the German student ; in England, though fees are still charged, moderately for secondary, and heavily for higher, education, a bewildering variety of scholarships and bursaries make the way easy for the more capable student ; and in America secondary education has become free of cost, while in some of the states even college and professional education are practically so. International Industrial Competition. — Within recent years there has developed a new motive for state activity in educa- tion based on the obligation of governments to promote public security. International competition no longer takes only the form of war; industrial rivalries also are possible, since the modern state which depends largely on manufacturing must win its way in the markets of the world. Other things being equal, that state which, in manufacturing and commerce, can enlist the largest number of trained producers and able leaders will win and force its competitor into poverty. It has become a matter of widespread belief in recent years that Germany and France, as well as some of the smaller states of Europe, owe their advance largely to their well- developed systems of industrial education ; and consequently 44 Educational Administration England and America, in both of which this has hardly yet been recognized as a proper field for state action, have be- come greatly interested. Active efforts to induce govern- mental agencies to aid and develop industrial education of various types are well under way, and in Great Britain, es- pecially, it is felt that the national security may be greatly endangered by permitting other nations, through their wide spread support of vocational education, to overwhelm indus- trial England in the international struggle for markets. Prohibition of Anti-social Education. — The security of society not only demands positive education, but it also imposes the obligation of repressing or prohibiting forms of education which might be deemed socially destruc- tive. In modern democratic societies it has become cus- tomary to allow considerable freedom of teaching, in the same way that freedom of speech and of the press is allowed ; but historically, and even at the present time in many countries, the state recognizes as one of its ob- ligations such regulation of education as will prevent the development of influences deemed detrimental to society and its institutions. Promotion of Social Welfare. — The second principal justi- fication for state participation in the control and support of education is found in the gradually developing function of society, through the agency of government, of fostering the well- being of individuals in directions other than defence and the administration of justice. For centuries civihzed states have nourished the arts and Hterature ; they have carried on indus- trial enterprises of greater or less moment ; they have pro- moted scientific investigation and exploration ; they have cared for the sick and the dependent ; and similarly they have contributed some efforts towards organized education. Museums, art galleries, expositions, theatres, and libraries are educational institutions which provide for the well-being of individuals in ways that would not be possible for private initiative. In modern times this participation of the state tends enormously to increase, probably owing to the com- plexity of economic and social conditions which make action The State and Education 45 on a large social scale almost inevitable. It is becoming more widely an accepted principle that in those fields of social action in which private or philanthropic effort are insuffi- cient, and which state action can reach, public support and control are justifiable. Under both monarchical and demo- cratic governments may we look for a widening of state activity in the direction of providing more abundantly the resources which make for widespread individual well-being.^ Projected Efficiency. — Actually, though unconsciously, as Kidd has shown,^ all progressive societies tend to take into ac- count the well-being of future generations. From this point, too, of " projected efficiency " education administered by the state is simply contributory to general functions of the social order. The growing philanthropic spirit of modern society finds one of its expressions in a widespread altruism which be- comes a basis of social action, and which most naturally finds its development along educational lines. Here opens a possi- ble way to paternalism. This, like any other help from without, may prove destructive of individual initiative, but the central principle of state action in promoting individual welfare is to find those channels of activity wherein public action will, on the whole, promote rather than diminish individual responsi- bility and capacity. ^ 2. FORMS OF STATE PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION State Control. — While the motives for state action in edu- cation are practically the same in all modern nations, the forms of government action do not follow similar lines. The participation of governmental agencies in most forms of social activity may be considered from three standpoints. Govern- 1 " The end of the state is thus seen to be the present welfare and future pro- tection of all citizens considered as an integral portion of humanity. . . . (This) is something tangible and capable of approximate realization. It is not limited to one factor in human life, such as the production of wealth, or the distribution of justice, or the enforcement of contracts, or the protection of property. It includes everything that makes the citizens of the state men and their life worth living." — McKechnie, The State and the Individual, p. 86. ^ Principles of Western Civilization. 46 Educational Administratioit ment may regulate without supporting, or it may support without regulating, or it may in greater or less degree com- bine these functions. Control of the state over education is attained by examinations of those who shall be permitted to teach, by designation of the content of education, and by tests imposed upon those educated before they may pass into their respective callings. In Germany and England the regulation along these and other lines is detailed and exacting, while in the typical American state much is left to local and individual option. Partial state support follows after regulation and control of education in monarchies, and frequently precedes it in more democratic nations. The state may simply impose upon the community the obhgation to support education by local taxation, as was the case in early Massachusetts ; or it may itself contribute out of national or other public funds a large share of such cost, like the English parliamentary grants to education. For a long time after the inauguration of public schools the parent was still placed under obligation to pay fees, but in all civilized countries within the last two decades charges for elementary education have disappeared. The contribution of the state, either through its local or its central governmental agencies, tends to increase as education becomes more free to its patrons and more expensive to administer, until, as in the United States, the expenditure for this pur- pose comes to be one-fifth of the total outlay of national, state, and local governments. Limits of State Support. — The reasons for the state support of education are to be found in the relative incapac- ity and unwillingness of individuals to meet the burden. Under education publicly controlled and privately supported, it is found that some are able to pay the costs, while others are not. But social security, as well as the future well-being of the children under consideration, demands that all should have some measure of educational opportunity. To make discriminations by giving aid to parents too poor to pay for education has proven socially obnoxious ; consequently each civilized nation has reached the point where at least a The State and Education 47 measure of education is now open without cost to all. Just how far it will prove socially expedient to make higher and special forms of education free to the individual and entirely supported by public revenue, is yet an unsettled question. Students of social evolution note a constantly increasing dis- position for the state to extend its functions as regards de- fence, the preservation of order, the prevention of ill health, the fostering of industry, and other lines of activity ; and the tendency seems equally to be in the direction of bringing more extensive developments of education under public support and direction, to the end that social efficiency may be promoted thereby. It must be noted, on the other hand, that many profess to find in the extension of state support of education a menace to individual initiative.^ Direction. — With state support of education, regulation and control take on a new aspect, since social economy demands that public money be wisely expended. Inspection becomes a large and important function of educational ad- ministration, and is tending in modern times to become a profession. The state now combines management and support, and its control of education is complete. In this respect we find England still in a condition of transition, for it has not yet attained complete management, though striving toward it. Imposition of Education. — Finally, when the state has organized education and when it supports it sufficiently, it takes the last step in providing for its own security and the ^ " The state, too, must of course have regard to the other national (or edu- cating) institutions — the Individual, the Family, the Economic Order — which it enfolds and protects, and apart from vv'hose vigorous life it cannot itself live; it must exercise a benignant care over the rights of every person, every family, every occupation, and trade, to that precious condition of Rational Freedom, the chance and time to earn a self-support. And while in this care it may judge the course prudent and just, as well as convenient for its executive needs, to support all grades of schools to such an extent as will secure their highest efficiency, there is another side of its problem — the preeminently moral side — which its own nature and the aim of its educational action alike forbid it to ignore ; it must beware of lessening the sense of personal, of family, or of corporate re- sponsibility for self-support and self-production of character." — Prof. G. H. HOWISON, Ed. Rev. 5 : 432. 48 Educational Administration welfare of its members by imposing instruction upon all people alike, to the end that not only the willing majority but the unwilling minority also shall be compelled to receive its advantages. Few modern culture states are wanting in compulsory education laws, though their enforcement is very unequal. In the German states not only is attendance com- pulsory during the ordinary school period to the age of four- teen, but there is a further compulsory period reaching in some cases to the age of seventeen or eighteen during which attendance at evening school is obligatory. In a few American states, in addition to the usual requirement of school attendance until the age of fourteen, provision is made for two years' further compulsory schooling in the case of those who have not completed a definite part of the ele- mentary course of study. The right of the state to compel parents to educate their children, and even to deprive them of the custody of such children in case they neglect their obligations in this respect has been disputed in all countries, but has universally been conceded in law.^ This state inter- ference takes several forms ; it may simply compel the child to attend school to a certain age ; or it may compel him to attend until he has reached a certain stage of educational efficiency ; or it may prohibit his entrance into industry until a fixed age ; or, finally, it may obhge him, as in several German states, as a condition of entering into or remaining in certain kinds of apprenticeship, to attend prescribed forms of continuation school. 3. LIMITS OF STATE PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION Limits in Taxing Powers. — While the right and obligation of the modern state to control education, to carry it on at 1 " The end of the state, then, is the end of society and the individual — the best life as determined by the fundamental logic of the will. The means at its disposal, qua state, always partake of the nature of force, though this does not exclude their having other aspects as well. Taxation may have the most reason- able and even the most popular purpose, yet the generality and justice of its incidence, and the certainty of its productiveness, can only be secured by com- pulsion." — BOSANQUET, Philosophical Theory of the State, p. 186. The State and Education 49 public expense, and to enforce the educational rights and obligations of all children is generally conceded in theory and practice, there remains still the utmost disagreement as to the proper limits to be set to such activity. It has been pointed out, for example, that in some states secondary education has been made free, in others it is still to some extent a charge upon the parent. In some states the lower forms of voca- tional training are made free, but the higher forms, in the shape of technical education, are still a heavy tax upon the in- dividual. In some American states, the public is taxed for the support of college and certain forms of professional training to the extent of making these practically free to the stu- dent, while in others the cost of higher education is prohibi- tive to the poorer student unless he can procure aid in the form of a scholarship. Under some conditions those who are training as teachers not only receive an education at pub- lic expense, but even a sort of salary or stipend while being so educated. Elsewhere such education can only be obtained at the expense of the individual himself. The demand for new and varied forms of education in applied art and industry continually raises the question as to how far the state should be taxed, and there are never wanting those who insist that it already exceeds its legitimate functions in this field. Limits in Control. — In the matter of control of education there is considerable uncertainty. Shall the state exercise over- sight and control over private forms of education? In Eng- land and America practically no public control is exerted over schools which do not derive revenues from the state. Their quality may be good or bad, they may be well or ill adminis- tered; the decision is left to their patrons. An exception must be made in the case of institutions dealing with neg- lected and dependent childhood, which, in both countries, have long been under some sort of governmental inspection. In continental countries, on the other hand, there is considerable oversight of private institutions. What are the proper limits of state action in this matter? There is also considerable dispute as to how far the state should in justice go in the matter of compelling children against their own and their 50 Educational Administration parents' will to attend school. The principle is conceded, but it is questioned whether the state should have the right, for example, to insist on attendance to sixteen, or to require the attendance of apprentices at evening schools to the age of seventeen or eighteen. Social Expediency the Basic Principle. — It is evident that, after all, the activity of the state in these matters can hardly be described as a right, but that the entire question is one of social expediency. The highest social expediency is at all times the right of the state, and if it can be shown of any proposed governmental action that it will in the long run pro- duce the maximum of social good, the obligation of the state to take such a step is estabHshed. Now, it is impossible to determine in the abstract as to whether any given line of state action is expedient from a social point of view; the question must be settled with reference to the particular cases and con- ditions under consideration. Free public education, for ex- ample, from the social point of view, has several results. In the first place, it insures a larger amount of education to a larger number of people, which is apparently a social good ; in some cases, because it is free, it reduces the disposition of parents toward self-help, which is an evil; it permits the carry- ing on of education on a large scale, which is partly good and partly evil ; it taxes people and property that are not directly or visibly benefited by the education given, which is some- times regarded as an evil. The pupil himself, receiving his education and perhaps even his books with no effort to him- self, may be, in some cases, sensibly pauperized thereby, which, of course, is a social evil. Now in the last analysis it can be seen that whether the state is justified or not in undertaking control, support, or enforcement of certain forms of education depends upon the final social resultant of factors like the above. Each one is changeable with evolving social life, hence the impossibihty of fixed standards. For example, it is undoubt- edly a fact that under some social conditions the giving of free education may lead to the same kind of demoralization of parental effort as would the giving of free bread or clothes. On the other hand, every one engaged in the administration The State and Education 51 of what is called " scientific charity " knows that there are conditions under which the giving of free bread or clothes not only does not pauperize, but actually lifts from and prevents pauperization. So, similarly, it is an undoubted fact that under many conditions the giving of free education does not pauperize, but in the long run conspicuously opposes any nas- cent tendencies toward pauperization by increasing self-respect and capacity for self-support. Limits in Social Wealth. — On the other hand, whether we shall regard the taxing of the entire community for the sup- port of education as socially desirable depends to a consider- able extent on the condition of that community with respect to available financial surplus. A tax, for example, to support secondary education might be entirely expedient from the social standpoint in a community with considerable surplus, and quite unjustifiable in a poorer one, other conditions remaining the same. The urgency of need may in one com- munity render it highly advisable to maintain free normal school instruction, whilst under other conditions that form of professional education could be partly supported by the students who might seek it. The effect upon the pupil him- self, too, varies with the circumstances ; whether free univer- sity education will or will not contribute the largest number of men and women with the maximum of personal initiative when they shall have obtained such education may depend very much on the conditions under which it is given, and the social rank of those affected. In one case it might diminish initiative, causing the graduate to linger about, waiting for the state to do something for him ; on the other hand, it might simply have the effect of causing the youth to realize that when the state had so fully and satisfactorily discharged its functions towards him, it would now become his turn to make use of the knowledge so gained to contribute his share toward the upbuilding of the state. Many factors, it will be seen, enter into the determination of this matter of social expediency. In our present very imper- fect knowledge of the principles of social economy, it is difficult to forecast the probable result of any course of action ; con- 52 Educational Administration sequently the subject becomes one for partisanship. There can be no doubt, however, that society will eventually have to settle many questions of this character by the adoption of a deliberate policy of experimentation. All countries, for example, are confronted by the problem of industrial educa- tion under state support. Granting the ultimate feasibility of such education, it still remains a question as to how far the state may provide it without sapping the sources of self- support and individual initiative. Would the boy trained at state expense become a sufficiently better workman, morally as well as vocationally, to more than pay society for the outlay thus made } Certainly in time it will be within the disposition and power of the state to put such matters to experimental test. Once these schools are established, their social effect can be measured, and judgments formed accord- ingly. In the meantime it must be obvious that the nearest approach we can make to principles of social expediency will be only in the nature of roughest approximations. The method employed at present in civilized states in determining the limits of educational control and support conformable to highest social expediency is one of trial and error. Persist- ently a verbal battle is waged between the forces of opposing ideas. Vested interests, inherited theories of the sphere of governmental influence, inertia, and the ambitious tendencies of idealism are all enlisted. The result is that changes have taken place, sometimes rapidly, more often slowly, until the modern states have reached their present condition, which is, as has been noted, one of large participation. The nineteenth century practically gave the world free, publicly controlled and supported education. Undoubtedly the twentieth cen- tury will see more scientific attempts to define its limitations, as these are related to the social development of the time, and as serving to bring about the higher social expediency. The State and Education 53 REFERENCES Addams, Jane. Democracy and Social Ethics, Chap. VI. New York, 1902. — Bosanquet,B. ThePhilosophical Theory of the State. London, 1899. — Craik, Henry. The State in its Relation to Education. London, 1884. — Dunning, W. A. A History of Political Theories. New York, 1902. — Eliot, C.W. Function of Education in a Democratic Society. In English Education Department. Special Reports, 1902 : Vol. II, pp. 3-61. — Fouillde, Alfred. Education from a National Standpoint. New York, 1892. — Green, T. H. Principles of Political Obligation. London, 1895. — McKechnie, Wm. S. The State and the Individual, Chap. III. Glasgow, 1896. — Pollock, F. Introduction to the Study of the Science of Politics. London, 1890. — Ritchie, D. G. Principles of State Interference. — Spencer, Herbert. Social Statics (Sec. National Education). New York, 1896. — Willoughby, W. W. The Nature of the State. New York, 1896.— Wilson, Woodrow. The State. Boston, 1889. CHAPTER V American States and Educational Administration Nation and State. — In discussing education as developed in modern states, it has been frequently necessary to make reference to the largest national divisions as the controlling agencies, since in countries like Great Britain and France the nation is the unit of legislative control and support. On the other hand, in Germany and the United States the nation exercises little or no direct control, and does not contribute much in the way of direct support. The German federated states, such as Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Wiirttemberg, and the rest, are independent in the matter of the control and support of education, except in a few particulars. So in the United States the union is formed of federated states which have surrendered but a portion of their sov- ereignty to the national government. Each state delegated certain powers, such as external defence and the regulation of commerce, but it retained numerous others, among which are all of those pertaining to education. Within each state government resides entirely the authority and responsibility for dealing with education in all its forms. Whether the public shall be taxed for free schools, whether the state or its smaller divisions shall manage such schools, whether the state shall permit or inspect private educational enterprise, whether the state shall impose conditions of compulsory education, — all these matters rest in the last analysis back on the government of the individual state itself.^ The national government may, indeed, establish and sup- port schools within any state, or it may offer contributions ^ The principal restriction on state freedom in these matters is found in possible interpretations of that clause in the Constitution which restrains states from passing laws impairing the obligations of contracts. 54 American State Administration 55 in aid of such education ; but its legal position seems to be that of an outside or private party contracting with the state, for it may not levy upon state property for the sup- port of such schools, nor may it attempt to guide the state- approved machinery in their administration.^ The fundamental organization of the government of each state is found in its constitution. Barring certain stipulations regarding the use of lands conferred on the states by the national government, the latter imposes no restrictions on state freedom in educational matters. The state constitution provides, sometimes in most general terms and sometimes quite specifically, for the means of legislation, execution of laws, and administration of justice, under which divisions fall the various elements in the machinery of education. To a great extent actual educational administration is left to the various divisions of the state, though an increasing number of functions are devolving upon the legislature, the State Board, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. I. STATE CONSTITUTIONS Beginnings of State Education. — Historically, the main ideas regarding public education had become organized con- siderably prior to the formation of the Union. Early in the seventeenth century educational legislation was already for- ^ " The Constitution of the United States contains no reference to the duty of providing the means of education. That great document is silent upon the sub- ject of first public concern, although the fathers of the Constitution were neither indifferent nor uninformed about it. The Constitution of every state, since the recent adoption by Delaware, contains abundant reference to the subject. The United States gives land, and has done so with generous and discriminating hand; the United States Bureau of Education gathers data and makes known its deduc- tions, and has rendered this service with marked thoroughness and accuracy; and the United States commissioner gives direction and inspiration to the educa- tional thought of the country — the present commissioner with a wisdom and efficiency which ministers to the pride of every citizen and places every lover of his country under obligations to him ; but the United States is powerless to control and does not assume to manage the educational institutions of the people ; the states have full power to do so." — A. S. Draper, " Functions of the State touching Education," Ed. Rev. 15 : 107. 56 Educational Administration raulated in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Before the end of that century Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland had established the beginnings of state systems of education. Roughly speaking, school legislation sprang from school con- ditions already existing and needs already partly met, rather than the reverse. As the newer territories settled up, schools under philanthropic or private effort were very early founded, or each community established them cooperatively for a time until the legislature could provide uniform laws governing the same. The history of the beginnings of American edu- cation in all the states shows that local cooperative effort paved the way, laying the foundation which made state legis- lation necessary. Though Pennsylvania had a body of edu- cational laws prior to the formation of her first provisional constitution, in 1776, we find that instrument providing : "A school or schools shall be established in each county by the legislature for the correct instruction of youth, with such salaries paid to the master by the public as may enable them to instruct youth at low prices, and all useful learning shall be duly encouraged an4 promoted in one or more universities." The earlier state constitutions only infrequently contain mention of education, but this was not because of any lack of recognition of the position of the state government in respect to schools and educational facilities. Rather was it tacitly assumed that state legislatures in carrying out their general powers of protecting the commonwealths and pro- moting the welfare of individuals would find that a provision of education offered a serviceable means to these ends. An exception is Pennsylvania, whose early provisional constitu- tion was noted above. The constitution of 1790 con- tained the following : " The legislature shall, as soon as con- veniently may be, provide for the establishment of schools throughout the state in such a manner that the poor may be taught gratis." A second section reads: "The arts and sciences shall be promoted in one or more seminaries of learning." The oft-quoted clauses in the act of the federal government incorporating the Northwest Territory indicate what seems to have been a prevalent attitude when the early American State Administration 57 constitutions were formed, — that is, education was necessary and should be encouraged through public support and direc- tion, but the legislatures were competent to deal with details. " Religion, morahty, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Recent Constitutions. — • But if the earlier state constitutions gave but scant recognition to education, the same can hardly be said to be true of those of the present time. In the later constitutions there has been manifest a desire to have therein a more logically complete statement of the fundamental powers of state government than was found in the earlier ones, and this tendency seems to be growing in the Southern and Western states. Provisions which guarantee free public schools, the permanent existence of the school funds, espe- cially those granted by the national government, a state system of supervision or administration, and which prohibit sectarianism in the schools or the use of public money for sec- tarian purposes, are found in almost all the state constitu- tions. These can be best illustrated by reference to specific examples. The constitution of Connecticut contains only two brief passages referring to education : one confirms the charter of Yale College, the other guarantees the perpetual character of the school fund, " the interest on which shall be inviolably appropriated to the support and encouragement of the public or common schools throughout the state." A similarly brief provision in the constitution of New Jersey guarantees the integrity of the school fund, but as part of that provision, the following clause gives constitutional recognition to the neces- sity for a complete system of education : *' The legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in this state between the ages of five and eighteen years." A brief article in the constitution adopted in 1873 by the state of Pennsylvania contains provisions mak- ing mandatory the establishment of a system of schools, the appropriation of at least a million dollars per year, and also 58 Educational Administration the following with reference to sectarian support : " No money raised for the support of the public schools of the commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the sup- port of any sectarian school." In addition to a long passage relative to state funds, the constitution of Indiana imposes upon the state the obligation of providing " for a general and uniform system of common schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all." This instrument also provides for a state superintendent of public instruction, to be elected by the voters, " and whose duties and compensa- tion shall be prescribed by law." The constitution of the state of Ohio is another example of one containing very brief and general provisions, since the organization of the entire system of public schools seems to rest on this clause : " Re- ligion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assem- bly to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomina- tion in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruc- tion." Detailed Provisions in Constitutions. — Citations from the constitutions of some other states would show that, while recognizing their sovereign rights and obligations in the mat- ter of establishing and maintaining systems of education, they prefer to leave the details of such organizations to the legis- latures. But in numerous others there is an obvious tendency to incorporate detailed provisions which restrict and direct the legislative bodies, or which establish certain definite principles that are deemed to be of importance. A few examples, while not in any full sense describing this tendency, will exhibit its main features. The educational section of the constitution of Pennsylvania, as noted before, is very brief, but contains this special pro- vision, " Women twenty-one years and upward shall be eli- gible to any office of control or management under the school laws of this state." Illinois prohibits any county or local unit from incurring indebtedness exceeding five per cent of total as- sessed valuation. North Dakota prescribes the qualifications American State Administration 59 and salary of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and in- dicates in detail certain types of state institutions and the place at which they are to be located : " A school of forestry, or such other institution as the legislature may determine, to be located at," etc. The California constitution imposes on each district the requirement of maintaining six months' school each year, and, in prescribing the details of a state text-book system, determines the composition of the State Board of Edu- cation. Florida provides in her constitution the details of the organization of the State Board of Education, and fixes a special rate of taxation for the state of one mill and for the counties of not less than three nor more than seven mills. In Louisiana the constitution fixes a state rate of one and one- half mills for a state school fund; in addition to which it contains provisions exempting all types of educational in- stitutions from taxation, requiring the separate establishment of schools for the two races, permitting the regular teaching of French where that does not interfere with the teaching of English, and providing for inheritance taxes. It is obvious, of course, that many of these constitutional provisions have reference to local conditions, but they illustrate a tendency in American commonwealths to fix certain matters beyond the control of legislatures. An examination of the constitutions of a few other states chosen at random is of interest in this connection. Utah provides constitutionally that "in cities of the first and second class the public school system shall be controlled by the board of education of such cities, separate and apart from the counties in which such cities are located." And " neither the legislature nor the State Board of Education shall have power to prescribe text-books to be used in the common schools," and also, "the metric system shall be taught in the common schools of the state." The constitu- tion of Michigan requires that " a school shall be maintained in each school district at least three months in each year. Any school district neglecting to maintain such school shall be deprived, for the ensuing school year, of its proportion of the income of the primary school fund," etc. It also pre- 6o Educational Administration scribes number, term of office, etc., of the State Board of Re- gents. Special provisions are : " Institutions for the benefit of those inhabitants who are deaf, dumb, blind, or insane shall always be fostered and supported;" "The legislature shall encourage the promotion of intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement;" "The legislature shall provide for the establishment of at least one library in each township and city." In the constitution of West Virginia it is stipu- lated that " county authorities shall never assess taxes, in any one year, the aggregate of which shall exceed ninety-five cents per hundred dollars' valuation, except for the support of free schools," unless such taxes are voted by a three-fifths majority ; and that no person connected with the schools shall be interested in the sale of books. The constitution of Virginia specifies in considerable detail the functions of the State Board of Education. It also per- mits the General Assembly to provide for the compulsory education of children between the ages of eight and twelve years, " except such as are weak in body or mind," etc. Fur- thermore, " provision shall be made to supply children attend- ing the public schools with the necessary text-books in cases where parents or guardians are unable to furnish them." Also, " white and colored children shall not be taught in the same school." In the state of Montana it is provided that " women shall be eligible to hold the office of County Super- intendent of Schools or any other school district office, and shall have the right to vote at any school district election." The development of these special constitutional provisions indicates the growth of a tendency to make the Constitutional Convention, with its referendum to popular suffrage, a kind of fundamental legislative body, which tends to take more and more direct cognizance of the authority of the state in educational and other matters of public concern. That changes in and additions to the constitution represent the results of movements that have been agitating the population for years is well known. The effect of mistaken provisions will be felt in practice, and a movement usually will be in- augurated for amendment to the constitution. In California, American State Administration' 6i for example, the constitution adopted in 1879 contained a pro- vision expressly denying to high schools any use of state moneys, and for a time this seriously handicapped the devel- opment of secondary education in that state. But year by year the unwisdom of that provision became more manifest, until, some twenty years after the making of the constitution, the objectionable paragraph was removed, and a state system of secondary education was made possible. 2. THE LEGISLATURE Subject to restrictions and specifications in the state con- stitution, the power of the legislature in educational matters is hardly limited, except by the interests and will of the people.! The range of subjects relating to public schools and other agencies of instruction with reference to which laws are constantly being passed is wide and growing. Among these subjects are : the organization of suitable local territories for school administration — counties, divisions, townships, districts, etc. ; providing means of raising money for school purposes ; fixing the qualifications of teachers and creating bodies to provide the necessary tests ; passing laws regulating the conditions of the employment, tenure, compensation, pen- sions, and training of teachers ; providing institutes and other agencies for the continued training of teachers ; provision for medical inspection and the better physical care of school children ; the selection and even publication of text-books ; organization of higher institutions of learning. Permissive Legislation. — Owing to the fact that education has been to a very great extent indigenous in America in each state and locality (" Spontaneity is the keynote of American education," President Butler has said), a great deal of legisla- ^ The Constitution of the United States, however, contains provisions which, as interpreted by the courts, do actually limit the state. The celebrated Dart- mouth College case indicated that the state could not interfere with old founda- tions, as can Parliament in England, which has more than once revised the conditions of old bequests in the interests of public policy. There is also con- siderable doubt as to how far the states may go in regulating private education. 62 Educational Administration tion has been at the outset permissive in character. A com- munity is authorized to do that which it has wanted or is willing to do, but it is left to other communities to do as they see fit. They are permitted to vote money for new buildings, to establish evening schools, manual training schools, play- grounds, to have medical inspection, to add to the course of study, to have supervision of schools, etc. This represents a distinct stage in government of a popular character, for it means that a reform not yet well enough understood to be generally accepted may be experimentally adopted by one or more communities until its extension seems feasible. In 1840, for example, it is reported that the city of Springfield, Massa- chusetts, tried the experiment (without any law governing the case) of having a superintendent of schools; in 1854 the first general law authorizing the employment of superintendents by town and city school committees was passed by the Massa- chusetts legislature. Gradually the cities took advantage of the law, but the smaller districts were too poor. So in 1870 a new law permitted two or more towns to unite for the pur- pose of employing a superintendent. Very few towns took advantage of this permission until a new law was secured in 1893 which gave state aid to towns which had skilled super- vision. Finally the State Board recommended that it be made compulsory on all communities to have expert supervision of schools, and recent legislation gave effect to this recommen- dation. Mandatory Legislation. — The last stage, then, is reached when action becomes mandatory. After long experience with permissive legislation the time arrives when the principle is so generally accepted that a majority of the persons or com- munities may be counted on to support it, after which the necessity of a general diffusion of the good results of educa- tion renders it desirable to make the enforcement of the law universal. The law regarding education promulgated in Massachusetts as early as 1647 is of this character, for it re- quires each town of fifty householders to maintain a school for the teaching of reading and writing. Laws making it mandatory upon the state or the local community to raise a American State Administration 63 certain minimum amount for education ; fixing the salaries of school officials or minimum salaries for teachers ; making it mandatory upon local boards to procure approval of building plans ; fixing the essentials of the course of study, and pre- scribing even the details of the teaching as seen in certain legislative requirements regarding instruction in hygiene ; compelling teachers to attend institutes ; prohibiting corporal punishment ; and the recent law of Massachusetts obliging all cities to have systematic medical inspection, — all of these are of this final and compulsory character. They represent the gradual crystallization of public opinion to the point where the proposed action is deemed to be conducive to the general well-being of the state. Preliminaries of Legislation. — A third general fact to be noted with regard to educational legislation has reference to the agencies which pave the way for it. A large, if not the largest, function of most superintendents of public instruction is to supply the legislature with accurate information and carefully prepared recommendations as to desirable legislation. Many of the boards of education, conspicuously that of Massachusetts, also perform this function. The annual or biennial report of the State Board or superintendent becomes itself a message to the legislature. In addition to these official agencies, recent years have witnessed a considerable development of influence emanating from the teaching force through its organized bodies. Various state associations of educators now take up proposed changes in the laws or pro- posed new laws long before they are introduced in the legis- lature, discuss them, and make recommendations accordingly. Consequently legislation consists to a certain extent in simply recording conclusions which have already been reached among those who are best informed as to educational needs. 3. THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Variable Character of State Boards. — Both in composition and in function the State Board of Education admits of little general description. Frequently it is an ex-officio body com- 64 Educational Administration posed of state officers or of designated members of educa- tional institutions. Not infrequently it has a portion of its membership appointed by the Governor from lay citizens. Its functions variously include custody of state funds, general over- sight of education, the government of certain state institutions, the election of a state superintendent, selection and even pub- lication of text-books, examination and certification of teach- ers, and formulation of rules for the immediate management of schools. There can be no doubt that with the progressive centralization of educational administration and the multi- plication of educational activities the State Board is constantly coming to assume new responsibilities. Recent legislation tends to create new functions to be discharged by this body, and there is manifest a desire to increase its efficiency. A few illustrations will exhibit present tendencies. In the state constitutions we sometimes find provisions made for a state board, though more frequently the subject receives no men- tion. In West Virginia the constitution establishes the " Board of the School Fund " to invest and manage the permanent school fund of the state. This is a purely ex- officio body composed of the Governor, Superintendent of Schools, Auditor, and Treasurer. The law in addition pro- vides for another state board for the purpose of issuing teachers' certificates, — four persons appointed from various congressional districts by the Superintendent of Schools. The constitution of Nebraska also establishes a special state board to care for state funds and lands. In Michigan we find a unique provision for a state board of three members elected by popular vote for six years, who " shall have general supervision of the state normal school, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law." The new constitution of South Carolina provides for a board of seven to be appointed by the Governor, " who shall have the regulation of the exami- nation of teachers applying for certificates of qualification and such other duties as may be determined by law." The con- stitution of Virginia provides : " The general supervision of the school system shall be vested in a state board of edu- cation composed of the Governor, Attorney-general, Super- American State Administratioji 65 intendent of Public Instruction, and three experienced educators to be elected quadrennially by the Senate, from a list of specified eligibles " (nominated from the staffs of various educational institutions). The constitutional powers of this body include such important matters as the partition of the state into appropriate school divisions, appointment of division superintendents, management of school fund, formu- lation of rules for the government of schools, " which, when published, shall have the force and effect of law, subject to the authority of the General Assembly to revise, repeal, or amend the same," and the selection of text-books. In other states the organization of this branch of the edu- cational executive is shown in the statutes. The advisory capacity of a few state boards is illustrated in the case of Georgia, the main function of whose ex-officio boards seems to be to act as an advisory body to the State School Com- missioner; "and shall also be in the nature of a court to which appeals may be made from any decision of the State School Commissioner upon any question touching the con- struction or administration of the school laws." Indiana has a composite board made up of the presidents of certain large educational institutions, superintendents of three largest cities, and three other persons, which board has extensive functions with regard to text-books and the certification of teachers. In California the State Board is composed, in addition to the Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, of the presidents of the state normal schools and the State University, and the head of the pedagogical depart- ment of the university. This board, originally possessing only moderately important functions in advising the State Superintendent and in providing regulations and standards governing the certification of teachers, has, since the state has taken charge of the publication of text-books, had very important duties in this connection put upon it. Connecticut has a board of seven members, partly ex officio, partly elected by the General Assembly, which controls the use of text-books in the schools of the state, organizes teachers' meetings, en- forces laws regarding compulsory attendance of children at 66 Educational Administrafion schools and their employment, has some powers in the matter of enforcing health conditions for children, and under special circumstances appoints local superintendents of schools. In addition, it has extensive powers of oversight through its secretary. The Massachusetts board, appointed by the Gov- ernor, each member serving eight years, has for many years exerted a powerful influence in the educational affairs of that state. It has little direct power and authority, but very extensive powers of publicity and recommendation. The history of its activities through its state agents is a matter of common information. It is interesting to note that just recently this board has taken on new functions, viz. : acting as a sort of central employment bureau for teach- ers, thus illustrating the tendency mentioned before of giving to the State Board functions that are necessary and cannot be conveniently placed elsewhere. Another interesting board in its composition and functions is that of New Jersey. Its members are appointed by the Governor from the various congressional districts. It man- ages the various state educational institutions, including the two normal schools, appoints county superintendents of schools, and, among other lesser functions, decides appeals from the decision of the State Superintendent. A similarly appointed board for the state of Montana, along with the usual list of duties, " has general control and supervision of the State University and the state educational institutions," and " appoints experienced teachers to act as instructors in the county institutes." The State Board of North Carolina, its members holding office ex officio, has corporate powers and controls the colored normal schools, is a State Text- book Commission, elects the directors of certain state in- stitutions, and is the agent of the state in making loans from the literary fund to aid districts in the erection of school buildings. The state of Washington has in effect two state boards, the State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education. The first consists of four educators appointed by the Governor, and exercises supervision over the ele- American State Administration 67 mentary schools through outlines of courses of study, cer- tification of teachers, and the determination of conditions of entrance to and graduation from the various types of schools. The Board of Higher Education is composed of the four members of the State Board together with the Presi- dents of the State University, State College, normal schools. This board fixes courses for the normal schools and prepara- tory requirements for the colleges, inspects high schools, and " shall arrange such courses and adopt and enforce such regulations as will place the state institution in harmonious relation with the common schools and with each other, and unify the work of the public school system." We have to note finally the composition and functions of the newly constituted Board of Regents of the state of New York, which serves as the Board of Education of a state with a highly centralized system of school administration. The recently reconstituted board has eleven members, elected for eleven years by the legislature and has power (after the present term of the Commissioner of Education shall have expired) to elect the Commissioner of Education to hold office at its pleasure. The powers of this board, direct and indirect, through its control of the office of Commissioner of Education, are very extensive, especially in the supervision of elementary and secondary education. In conclusion it may be noted that, as we traverse the several American states, we find numerous features of educa- tional administration in reference to which there is very con- siderable uniformity, and of which it is fairly safe to, make generalizations ; and others which show no settled character and which vary indefinitely among the states. To the latter class belong the state boards of education. It is evident that these yet form no integral factor in American education. In size, manner of composition, functions, and influence they vary indefinitely and widely. There is much uncertainty regarding their future, but it will subsequently be shown that with the progressive development of administration the im- portance of some body of this nature will greatly increase. 68 Educational Administration 4. THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION Origins. — The growing complexity of the state organiza- tion of education produced during the first half of the nine- teenth century the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. It seems to have been developed before 1830 by New York, Vermont, and Maryland; between 1830 and 1850 by Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Subsequently to 1850 all of the states except Delaware have made provision for it as a branch of the executive depart- ment of the state. Election. — In a large majority of states the Superinten- dent of Public Instruction is elected in the same way and for the same term as the Governor. Under these conditions of popular election it is exceptional to find any expert qualifica- tions required, the voters being left to determine what con- stitutes fitness for the office. Exceptions to this rule are found in Virginia, which requires by law that the man elected " shall be an experienced educator " ; North Dakota, which requires that he " shall have attained the age of twenty-five years and be a holder of a state certificate of the highest grade ;" Utah and Montana, which both require that he shall have attained the age of thirty and be either a graduate of a high-grade college or holder of the highest grade cer- tificate issued in the state ; and Wisconsin, where " no person shall be eligible to the office who shall not have taught or supervised teaching in the state of Wisconsin for a period of not less than five years." Appointment. — The office is filled through appointment from the General Assembly or legislature in Virginia, Ver- mont, Rhode Island, and New York (though in this state after the expiration of the term of the first Commissioner of Education in 1910, the office will be filled by the Regents). In New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Maine and one or two others, the Governor appoints. In Connecticut and Massachusetts the Board of American State Administration 69 Education makes the appointment, and this will also be the case in New York after the expiration of the term of the first incumbent in the office of State Commissioner. The law rarely undertakes to designate the special qualifications of the man who shall be appointed ; an exception is Tennessee, which requires the Governor to nominate a man who " shall be a person of literary and scientific attainments, and of skill and experience in the art of teaching." The Functions of the State Superintendent of Public In- struction are variable in different states, yet there is much more of uniformity in this regard than is found in the case of the State Board. Being a salaried officer, usually with deputies and office staff, a considerable body of duties are regularly assigned to him by law. These may be classified as follows : {a) Statistical. In most of the states the county superintendents or local officials are required to make system- ' atic reports to the State Superintendent regarding the main facts of expenditure of school money, attendance at schools, and the terms of school maintained. These and other facts capable of statistical treatment are assembled by the State Superintendent and held for the use of the legislative body and the officials of the state. On the basis of the informa- tion thus collected the Superintendent is also able to make recommendations for legislation. {J?) Advisory and judicial. In many of the states the Superintendent acts as a court of final appeal in controversies affecting school trustees or county superintendents. " He shall render an opinion in writing to any school officer asking the same, touching the administration or construction of the school law." {c) Super- visory. Under the general terms of the law it is common to find the Superintendent charged with general supervision and oversight of the schools of the state. In practice there can be little direct supervision exercised by the office in the state of average size, but the possibilities of indirect super- vision are very great. An energetic superintendent with the large amount of information which is almost necessarily at his command, able to visit counties and confer with officials interested or charged with educational duties, and at times to JO Educational Administration address popular meetings, can bring about decided changes in the school system. It was along this line that Horace Mann produced much of the good that he accomplished for the schools of Massachusetts. In other states where the Superintendent has given special attention to some one phase of administration, the results have been apparent. In Ne- braska and Maine extensive campaigns for better school buildings have been carried on; in Wisconsin for better industrial and agricultural education ; in North Carolina for more generous local support of schools ; and in Indiana for the improvement of the professional qualifications of the teachers. In a few states the Superintendent is able to impose penalties upon communities failing to provide suitable school facilities. The state appropriation, for example, may be withheld from the negligent county or district. The actual enforcement of this penalty is however of rare occurrence, {d) Administra- tive. Frequently the Superintendent is authorized to distrib- ute state moneys to the counties or districts, although in other states this is the function of the County Auditor. In a few states he shares in the work of certificating teachers and in administering the state scheme of text-books. In some, as an ex-officio member of the boards of trustees of various state educational and charitable institutions, he has powers of direct management. Finally, in a number of states the Superintendent is directly authorized to hold, or require to be held, teachers' institutes. Special Functions of an administrative nature devolve upon the Superintendent in several states. In New Jersey he fills vacancies in the office of County Superintendent, subject to the approval of the President of the Board of Education, and in Pennsylvania he may remove county superintendents who are derelict in their duties. In Pennsylvania he is also given special powers of enforcing the truancy laws. In North Dakota he prepares the course of study for the state, and in Florida, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Montana he prepares questions for the teachers' examinations. In Maryland he is given special authority to indorse the diplomas of normal schools from other states, thus constituting them valid certifi- Awiericait State Administration 71 cates for local use. In several Western states the State Superintendent may biennially convoke a meeting of county superintendents for the purpose of obtaining recommend- ations as to legislation, and in South Carolina he may simi- larly assemble the institutes' instructors, of the various counties. Centralizing Processes. ■ — • Generally speaking, it is and has been characteristic of the American state to provide compar- atively little machinery for state administration of education. The tendency has been to devolve large administrative re- sponsibilities upon the local authorities. But a considerable centralization of management has been made necessary, and the machinery for this, at first sight, has gradually increased in complexity. With the evolution, too, during the last half century, of a personal head for the state school system, there has been an increasing tendency to look to this administra- tive officer for guidance. The demand is strong that at the centre of the state machinery of school administration there shall be a true educational expert. This, many of the state superintendents have been, but it has been rather in spite of the system which selects them than because of it. In the earlier days of education, popular election or nomination by the legislature was not so unsuitable a method of selection, since what was largely wanted was a man of good ordinary civic capacity ; but with the rapid growth of important func- tions attaching to the office, the good citizen no longer suffices for the place. There is needed an expert educator of train- ing and experience, who shall have a continuous term of office, so that he may bring to bear in the administration of education the accumulated results of experience. Whether or not the future is to witness a general centralization of direct administrative functions in state government, and, in case that takes place, whether or not new boards and executive offices will be created for special purposes, in any case the supremely important functions attaching to the Superin- tendent's office will be counsel and publicity. Already the biennial reports of the state superintendents are educational documents of importance ; already the disposition of state ']2 Educatio7tal Administration legislators and local administrators to look to the Superin- tendent for expert guidance has become a fixed tradition in educational administration ; and, from the work of the educa- tional expert who has, here and there, filled the Superintend- ent's office, it is evident that only the beginnings have been made in developing to the full this source of educational power. REFERENCES Clews, Elsie. Educational Legislation and Administration of the Colonial Government. New York, 1899. — Draper, A. S. Educa- tional Legislation in the United States in 1904, Ed. Rev. 29 : 387. — Draper, A. S. Organization and Administration (of Public Education), in Butler, Education in the United States. Albany, 1900. — Easton, Warren. Best System of State School Supervision, U. S. Bur. of Ed., Circ. of Inf. 1887 : no. 3, p. 156. — Elliot, E. C. State School Systems. A Summary of Legislation, Bui. U. S. Bur. of Ed. 1906: no. 3. — Fairlie, J. A. The CentraUzation of Administration in New York State. New York, 1898. — Fellow, H. C. A Study of School Supervision. Topeka, 1896. — Henderson, C. R. Social Elements. New York, 1900. — MacDonald, Wm. Government of Maine, its History and Administration. New York, 1902. — Parsons, J. B. Tendencies in School Legislation in 1903, Ed. Rev. 28 : 19. — Pickard, J. L. School Supervision. New York, 1890. — Prince, John T. School Admin- istration. Chaps. II, III. Syracuse, 1906. — Schaeffer, N. C. Powers and Duties of State Superintendents, Proc. N. E. A. 1895 : 350. — Webster, W. C. Recent Centralizing Tendencies in State Educational Administration, Col. Univ. Press. New York, 1897. — Woodburn, Jas. A. The American Republic and its Government. Chap. VII. New York, 1903. — Provisions concerning Education in State Constitutions, U. S. Com. of Ed. Report for 1 892-1 893 : 13 12. — State School Organization (for all states), Appendix B, Proc. N. E. A. for 1880. CHAPTER VI Local Units of Educational Administration Administrative Areas. — That the state is the legislative unit, but only slightly the administrative area in American education, has been shown in the previous chapter. Four kinds of local divisions of territory for educational purposes are, found : the county, the township or consolidated district, the city, and the school district proper. Some form of county administration is found in all the states except those of New England. Urban and Non-urban Areas. — In all the states the tendency has been for the cities to assume more and more of inde- pendent control of educational administration. Not only is this true in the relations of municipalities to the containing counties; by special legislation, charter privileges, and other permissive authorization, the cities have tended to become somewhat independent of state control and administration. The possession of greater wealth, of progressive citizens, and facilities for complex organization have enabled them to become autonomous to a considerable degree. Hence the other forms of territorial organization — district, township, county — are primarily concerned with the administration of non-urban education. Within these, excluding cities which have developed their own types of centralized organization, we see steady tendencies toward centralization.^ Differentiation between County and District. — In the dis- tribution of administrative functions between county and dis- trict or township we find great variety in the states of the _ Union. The county is of most importance in the South and ^The newly adopted constit^ution of Utah expressly exempts cities of the second and third class from the operations of county governments in school affairs. 73 74 Educational Administration West and of least in the New England states, where no county officials appear. The reasons for this, to a large extent, lie in the fact that American institutions have taken on their char- acter from the necessities of frontier life. The conditions of the settlement of early New England developed the towns, while the plantation conditions of the South tended to foster the county as the unit of local administration. In the sparsely settled West the counties were created early in the history of the states, and the organization of local school districts, made necessary by the great distances, proceeded under the direc- tion of the county, the latter usually retaining those general features of administration which it seemed best not to sur- render to the local districts. In the newer states the general tendency is to have the county assume responsibility for the certification of teachers, the establishment of a course of study, the selection of text-books, the auditing of accounts, the custody of funds, the collection of taxes, and the general supervision of administration. To the minor area, usually the district, is left the employment of teachers, erecting of buildings, oversight of instruction, and the disciplining of pupils. Special Influences. — While general causes like those de- scribed above have usually been responsible for the existing distribution of administrative functions between county and minor areas, special influences have also at times been opera- tive. For example, a widespread fear of the effect of the negro vote has been undoubtedly at the bottom of the distinct centralizing tendencies found in the Southern states since the period of the Civil War. In the formation of the systems of public education the states undertook to protect localities from excessive taxation by themselves raising the necessary funds and prescribing maximums of taxation beyond which the local government could not go. Large responsibilities were, for the same reasons, also conferred upon state and county authorities as against those of the minor divisions. On the other hand, distrust of the state government because of the intrusion of corrupt politics has at times been an active force in securing greater local administrative authority. In Local Units of Educational Administration 75 some instances a state system of preparing questions for teachers' examinations has been given up because questions were sold. The utter inefficiency of district administration has at times been the cause of active steps toward centraliza- tion, as was the case in Massachusetts under the publicity made possible through Horace Mann ; while at present in some Western and Southern states educators desire the substitution of a town or county organization for the same reason. I. THE COUNTY AS A UNIT OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION Area of County. — All American states are divided into counties which are not unlike those of England in size, but usually much less populous. The average English county has an area of about looo square miles, and, outside of its large cities which are separately organized, has a population of 300,000. In America the county has an average area of 1050 square miles ; but the median area is 650 square miles. Nearly two-thirds range between 300 and 900 square miles, and the most common size is from 400 to 650 square miles. As a unit of school administration it can easily be seen that the county is convenient for some purposes, and quite un- suitable for others. Close and constructive supervision of in- struction in the county is quite impossible, owing to distances, even if, from the standpoint of population, it were practicable. Population of County. — For a time the growth of popula- tion of the state is accompanied by a further division of large counties into small, but later this process stops, and they are permitted to increase the number of inhabitants indeiinitely. The census of 1900 shows that the average population of American counties was about 26,646, but this high average is made up partly by some very thickly settled counties in Eastern states. The median population was in the neighbor- hood of 18,000, and the facts are still more accurately shown by the statement that more than half range between 10,000 and 30,000. In the North Atlantic states over half have more than 50,000, while in the Southern states more than half have over 5000 and less than 20,000 population. Since the above 76 Educational Administration averages include urban as well as non-urban inhabitants, it is evident that the size of the population groups which come directly under county school administration will be even smaller, on the whole. Roughly, the schools are concerned with a number of children representing from one-fifth to one sixth of all the people. In a county of 20,000 inhabitants the schools would contain from 3000 to 4000 children. Since the number of teachers in rural schools is considerably greater in proportion to the number of children than in city schools, it is evident that a county of 20,000 people would, as a rule, contain considerably over 100 teachers, many of whom, in the rural districts, would have no supervision except such as is ex- ercised by boards of trustees and by county superintendents. Other Divisions. — For purposes of supervision a few states have formed administrative areas larger than the county. Virginia has constituted the division with its Superintendent, who partakes partly of the functions of the State, and partly of County, Superintendent. Nevada has abolished county superintendencies, and established large supervisory districts composed of several counties. In New York the supervisory district is smaller than the county, being the legislative as- sembly district, while in Wisconsin it is possible to divide the larger counties for purposes of school administration into two divisions, each with a superintendent. 2. THE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD Centralized Management of educational work within the county is relatively rare except in the South Atlantic division and in two Gulf states. But county boards of education are common, frequently to supplement the work of the County Superintendent of Schools, and to perform certain general and advisory functions. Since such matters as the prepara- tion of courses of study and the conduct of examinations for certificates can be best carried on by committees rather than by individuals, it is natural that these duties should fall to the boards of education. Functions of County Boards. — In some of the Southern Local Units of Educational Administration jj states the County Board becomes the chief authority in the management of schools. In Maryland, for example, "the Board of County School Commissioners shall have the general supervision and control of all the schools of their respective counties ; " " shall locate, build, and furnish schoolhouses ; " " shall adopt, purchase, change, when deemed expedient, and distribute text-books, and furnish the same free of cost ; " "appoint principals of all high schools," and with advice of principal " appoint all assistant teachers," " consolidate schools " and " pay necessary costs of transporting pupils," etc. Among their other duties this board appoints district trustees who, naturally, have few duties except those per- taining to general oversight of schools, and custody of public property. Florida furnishes another example of large centralization. The County Board of Public Instruction shall acquire and hold property, locate and maintain schools, appoint a super- visor for each school, employ teachers, prescribe courses of study, and even select candidates for admission to the state colleges and seminaries. The County Superintendent is simply its executive agent. The board is elected by popular vote, which is very unusual. In Virginia the County Board is composed of the Division Superintendent of Schools and the trustees of the various districts. The powers of this large body pertain mainly to the administration of property used for education, and to the ap- portionment of funds. In Missouri we have an example of a small county board which consists of the Commissioner of Education and two additional appointed members whose duties are mainly con- cerned with the issuance of teachers' certificates and promotion of teachers' meetings. But it is also possible for counties in this state to adopt another form of school administration in which all the functions above noted, and others, will be centred in one superintendent who has full supervision of all non-urban schools. An interesting example of a county school board designed to combine lay and professional administration is found in Indiana, V y8 Educatio7ial Administration where it is composed of the County Superintendent of Schools, and the chairmen of the school trustees of each town and city in the county. Its functions extend to general oversight of school property, changes of text-books, purchases of furni- ture, etc. In California the County Board of Education tends to become a professional body under the requirement of the law that a majority of its members must be experienced teachers holding valid certificates. In addition to adopting text-books, formulating courses of study, and examining can- didates for teachers' certificates, it acts as an advisory body to the County Superintendent, and even aids indirectly in supervising schools. The office is important because the most influential teachers and principals in the county accept membership. Unsettled Character of County Boards. — No uniformity of practice yet exists among the various states in regard to the functions, size, term of office, method of selection, and quali- fications of the County Board. Often created to perform some special function, it has been made the recipient of others as these developed through legislation. In a measure they are losing as well as gaining in authority; for as matters like the adoption of text-books, examination of teachers, and conduct of institutes pass under state control, the county loses in authority. Rarely has the board proven equal to the task of supervision; if composed of teachers, these are already engaged, and can attend board meetings only at leisure times; if composed of laymen, they are not qualified to inspect schools. The board may assist the County Superintendent in conducting examinations, and it may greatly help him in maintaining educational standards. Until some of the problems discussed in the next chapter shall have been settled, it is safe to say that the place and functions of the county boards will remain unsettled and fluent. The probability is that in proportion as expert qualifications are demanded in the Superintendent, the County Board will tend to become an unsalaried body, partly, at least, composed of laymen chosen by popular vote, who will ap- / Local Units of Educational Administration 79 point the Superintendent and have the power of veto and approval of policies recommended by him. Its functions would then proportionately increase as the county replaced the town and district in administrative authority. It would also organize the supervisory work of the county, under the oversight of the Superintendent. In several of the states where the district system is not giving satisfaction, state superintendents greatly favor the development of a county system of management. There are too many school officials, and too much variability in effi- ciency. The district management is wasteful, and trustees have no capacity for selecting the best teachers. Especially in those Southern states which have retained the district system is there protest, partly because, owing to the neces- sity of separate schools for the races, there exist numberless poor, small, ineffectively managed districts. The Superin- tendent of North Dakota finds the district objectionable, and has favored the township, but has recently come to the conclusion that the county unit would be better. " The county, as a unit of school organization, with a county board of educa- tion elected by the people and controlling the educational affairs of the county, especially as to the rural schools, would be a long step in advance, so far as the results upon educa- tional progress are concerned. The board would elect as its professional adviser a county superintendent of schools who would direct, subject to the approval of the county board of education, the strictly educational affairs of the county. That portion of the work which pertains to the levying of taxes, issuing of bonds, building and repairing of schoolhouses, would be under control of this board." At present he com- plains there are as many standards as there are districts. He thinks economy would result. This board as proposed would : (i) be responsible to the people; (2) give a uniform standard ; (3) result through state and county superintendents in a uniform standard for the state ; (4) eliminate local quar- rels and much friction ; (5) and result in a wiser and ultimately more economical expenditure of money. 8o Educational Adfninistration 3. THE COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS Importance of County Administration. — During the last half century in the older states (except those of New Eng- land) and since their foundation in the newer, the most im- portant educational office for the county has been that of County Superintendent. Often an elective office, there is, nevertheless, a tendency to require that a certificated and experienced educator shall fill it, and in the course of time, just as in the case of the office of City Superintendent of Schools, important duties tend to be attached to it. As the county becomes the centre for the certification of teachers, selection of text-books, formulation of courses of study, audit and oversight of the managerial work of local boards of trus- tees, the after-training of teachers, supervision of instruction, and other functions that by their nature invite centraliza- tion, these functions tend to devolve upon the County Superintendent. Popular Election. — Generally speaking, county superin- tendents throughout the Northern and Western states are popularly elected for terms of from two to four years. An educational requirement may be imposed, varying from " he shall be a person of literary and scientific attainments, and, when practicable, of skill and experience in the art of teach- ing," ^ and " he shall be a person of good moral habits, literary acquirement, and skill and experience in the art of teaching " ; to the more specific one that " no person shall be ehgible who does not hold at least a first grade county certificate issued in this state and in force at the time of his election," ^ or he " must hold a professional certificate, first or second grade, or state certificate, or be a graduate of an accredited college or normal school, and must have taught at least eighteen months." ^ The net effect of these restric- tions, coupled with the fact that the salary paid fails to at- tract the ablest teachers, is that the County Superintendent is usually an average member of the teaching profession of his county. Occasionally the method of popular election 1 Tennessee. ^ Nebraska. ^ Kansas. Local Units of Educational Administration 8i brings to the front a personality of more than usual force, in which case the schools may experience a decided uplift. Appointment. — In some of the Southern states where the County Board of Education is responsible for the direct man- agement of the schools, the Superintendent is elected by this board and acts as its agent. This is the case in Maryland, North Carolina, and Louisiana. In Pennsylvania " The school directors of the several counties shall meet in conven- tion at the seat of justice of the proper county on the first Monday of June next, and on the first Tuesday of May in each year thereafter, and select by viva voce vote by a majority of the whole number of directors present one person of literary and scientific acquirements, and of skill and experi- ence in the art of teaching, as county superintendent for the three succeeding school years." In Indiana, also, the township trustees elect the County Superintendent, the qualifications being that he shall be a resident of the county, and hold a higher grade teacher's certificate. In New Jersey the State Board appoints for three years " a suitable person " who must hold a state teacher's certificate. In Delaware the Governor appoints the County Superintendent for a term of two years. The professional requirements are twenty months' experience and other cre- dentials. Under the old law the Superintendent in Ohio counties was appointed by the judges, but his functions have, under the new statute, been absorbed by the local superintendents of districts. The County Court appoints in Tennessee and Arkansas.^' ^ 1 In 1904 the Legislative Committee of the Minnesota Educational Associa- tion recommended a change in the law whereby there should be created a county board of four, elected from each commissioner's district, continuous in character, holding office for four years and paid actual expenses. This board should elect the County Superintendent, who must hold the highest certificate for two years. The board should also have power to condemn school buildings and to approve all plans for new ones. The Superintendent should be paid a higher salary than now, based on number of districts. 2 The State Superintendent of North Dakota discusses the problem of getting the most effective service for this post, and concludes that popular election will not do. "The best method would be a county educational board of five or seven members to whom shall be given, among other powers, that of electing the G 82 Educational Administration Functions. — County superintendents of schools perform a variety of functions, administrative, supervisory, and judicial. Since district boards of trustees or directors are frequently uninformed, the Superintendent finds it necessary to educate them to their duties and to harmonize differences. In execut- ing the state law with regard to the distribution of monies his work is purely formal, and in some states these functions are transferred to the auditor and treasurer of the county. Not infrequently he conducts examinations of pupils for the pur- pose of preserving the standard of common education through- out the county. In California, in connection with the County Board, he is required by law to examine all graduates from the elementary schools. In Nebraska he examines applicants for admission to the state normals. In connection with the unsold public lands belonging to the schools he has, in a few cases, powers of oversight. Recommendations regarding the changes of districts boundaries often emanate from him, though seldom has he final authority to make such changes. The following statement of the functions of the County Super- intendent in Kansas is fuller than usual, but indicates fairly the conditions which usually prevail. " It shall be the duty of the County Superintendent of Public Instruction to visit each school at least once each term of six months, correcting any deficiency that may exist in the government of the school, the classification of the pupils, or the methods of instruction in the several branches taught ; to make such suggestions in private to the teachers as he shall deem proper and necessary to the welfare of the school ; to note the character and condi- County Superintendent. Such a board, chosen at the school election in June, would undoubtedly select a county superintendent on the basis of qualification. The selection of city superintendent and principal by small boards of education is concluded to be the proper way to insure consideration of the qualities which should govern the choice of the head of any school system. It is true that such a method is not in accord with our state constitution, nevertheless a constitution can be amended. "Another method which would undoubtedly be an improvement over our present is the selection of the County Superintendent by a convention of school officers assembled for such a purpose. This, too, is contrary to the constitutional provision. The only way now open is to have the election at the same time as the annual June election of school officers, with a provision prohibiting any party nomination or designation." Local Units of Educational Administration 83 tion of the schoolhouse, furniture, apparatus, and grounds, and make a report in writing to the district board, making suggestions that in his opinion shall improve the same ; to examine the accounts and record books of the district officers, and see that they are kept as required by law ; to encourage the formation of associations of teachers and educators for mutual improvement, and, as far as possible, to attend the meetings of such associations, and participate in the exercises of the same ; to attend the normal held in his county, using his influence to secure the attendance of teachers ; to make daily a personal inspection of the work of the institute in session and keep a record of the same in his office, and do such work in connection with the exercises of the institute as he may deem necessary ; to hold a public meeting in each school district of his county at least once a year, for the purpose of discussing school questions and elevating the standard of education ; to keep his office open at the county seat, Saturday of each week, and in counties in which a superintendent receives a salary of more than $600 per annum, he shall keep his office open when not necessarily absent attending to his official duties. He shall keep a complete record of his official acts ; a record of the name, age, and post- office address of each candidate for a teacher's certificate, with the number of weeks said candidate has attended a normal school or institute, the number of weeks he has taught, his standing in each study, and the date of issue and expiration of each certificate granted. He shall keep a regis- ter of the teachers employed in his county, giving name of teacher, number of the district in which he is employed, dates of opening and closing term, salary per month, grade of certificate, and date of Superintendent's visit. He shall keep a record of the semiannual apportionments of the state and county school funds, and such other statistical records as shall be required in making reports to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He shall make out and transmit to the State Superintendent, on the last Mon- day of March, June, September, and December of each year, a report, show- ing the number of school visits made, with the average length of time spent in such visits. . . . He shall apportion the state school fund within his county. . . . He shall, on or before the 15th of October of each year, make out and transmit in writing to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a report bearing date October i, containing a statement of the number of school districts or parts of districts in the county, and the num- ber of children and their sex, resident in each, over the age of five and under the age of twenty-one years ; a statement of the number of district schools in the county, the length of time a school has been taught in each, the number of scholars attending the same, their sex, the branches taught and the text-books used, the number of teachers employed in the same, and their sex ; a statement of the number of private or select schools in the county, so far as the same can be ascertained, and the number of teachers employed in the same, their sex, and the branches taught ; a statement of the number of graded schools in the county, the length of time school has been taught in each, and the number of scholars attending the 84 Educational Administration same, their sex, and the branches taught, the number of teachers employed in the same, and their sex ; a statement of the condition of the normal school, where such school has been established, the number of students attending the same, their sex, and the number of teachers employed in the same, and their sex ; a statement of the county normal institute ; a statement of the number of academies and colleges in the county, and the number of stu- dents attending the same, and their sex, the number of teachers employed in each, and their sex ; a statement of the amount of money received in each district or parts of districts, and what portion of the same, if any, has been appropriated to the support of graded schools ; a statement of the amount of money raised in each district by tax and paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public money paid therefor ; the amount of money raised by tax or otherwise for the purpose of purchasing school site, for building, hiring, purchasing, repairing, furnishing, or insuring such schoolhouse, or for any other purpose allowed by law, in the district or parts of districts." Compensation. — The salary of the County Superintendent is usually fixed by law, and the statutes often contain sched- ules of payment according to the size of the county or its population. If the county has many schools, the Superintend- ent is prohibited from taking up other employment. In some cases he is paid a certain percentage of the amount of money he apportions to the schools. In Illinois up to 1905 it was provided: — " County Superintendents shall receive in full for all services rendered by them, commissions as follows : three per cent commission upon the amount of sales of school lands, etc. ; two per cent commission upon all sums dis- tributed, paid, or loaned by them for the support of schools. For other duties required by law to be performed by them, four dollars per day for the actual number of days spent by them in the performance of such duties . . . and one dollar a day for expenses in visitation. " But the assembly of 1905 changed this, and prepared a schedule of salaries ranging from ^1250 to ^7500. In New Jersey, where the county superintendents are appointed by the State Board, the compensation was formerly 12 1 cents for each name on the school census ; in 1900 it was fixed at ^7 per teacher employed, but it should not go below j^iooo nor above $1300. In 1902 these numbers were fixed at $8, $1300, and $2000 respectively. In 1905 the law fixed a uniformed salary of ^2000 and expenses, paid by the state. Local Units of Educational Administration 85 Quite commonly the County Superintendent gives only part time to administrative functions, and is paid accordingly. This position is very unsatisfactory, and is one that progressive states have largely modified. Place in Administration. — The county superintendency, like that of the city, has come to be a characteristic feature of American public education. It is doubtful if the office declines in importance ; rather with the tendencies toward centrali- zation it will grow in dignity, qualifications, and compen- sation. Rural supervision will probably be organized under the leadership of the Superintendent. The method of selec- tion must change in many cases before a real advance can come ; popular election will not suffice as a means of choos- ing experts. In time special training will be required, and the post will offer a career to ambitious young men and women entering on educational work. Even with the consoHdation of districts and the assumption by the state of some phases of administration, the educational possibilities of the county superintendency will increase. 4. MINOR AREAS OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION Types of Local Area. — Just as we find the importance of the county to vary in respect to educational administration from New England, where its functions are negligible, to some of the Southern states, where it becomes the area of chief im- portance, with the Central and Western states representing intermediate types — so we find large differences with regard to the character and functions of the minor administrative areas. Three kinds of local organization are distinguishable, though these are not always distinct in form. They are the incor- porated city or town, the township, and the district. Democratic Character. — The importance of the local school area arises from the fact that under the American ideals of large local powers of self-government, such matters as the provision of school buildings and other facilities, the employ- ment of teachers, the supervision of education, and the en- 86 Educational Administration forcement of educational standards are all left to the local authorities, frequently with only a minimum of direction exercised by law, and by state and county supervision. Fre- quently, of all local territorial units — road, sanitary, and magisterial districts, or election precincts — the school district is the only one charged with large responsibilities in the way of raising and expending money. Except in some of the Southern states, the town or district organized for school purposes is the only surviving form of government which necessitates the annual meeting of citizens. Whether or not this annual meet- ing is still of importance — and the facts show that it is losing its influence — it remains true that the representatives of the people there elected are, of all officials, those nearest to their constituents in responsibility and representative character. In most of the states the town and district as areas of school administration are still thoroughly democratic, and as such tend to show in relief both the merits and weaknesses of gov- ernment more or less directly by the people. In passing it may be noted that it is in connection with elections for school officials that we have the widest development of the suffrage. In a large number of states women are permitted to vote and to hold office in local school administration. The democratic district meetings, found in about half the states, elect school officers, determine amounts of money to be raised, locate school sites, and sometimes decide other questions of school manage- ment. Generally speaking, they call out less attendance than formerly, and the tendency is for the voters to simply elect officials for local management, who call special meetings for purposes of selecting school sites, voting taxes, and other im- portant matters. District i^*. Township. — As between the district and town- ship form of organization, leaving out of consideration the New England town, which absorbs functions ordinarily found in county government, the tendency would seem to be in the direction of favoring the larger division. In many of the states recent laws permit consolidation, and these consolidated districts, with provision for the transportation of pupils, tend to emphasize the development of central schools and the abo- Local Units of Educational Administration 87 lition of the small local schools with irregular and uncertain attendance. The township organization practically means the larger area from which abler school officials can be selected, and within which the burden of taxation can be somewhat more equitably distributed. In some states provision is made for supervision of township schools which would be imprac- ticable under the form of the isolated district. Typical Districts. — The organization, powers, administrative machinery, and tendencies of the minor units of educational administration can best be shown by examples from typical states. The district system as found in Western states is typified by that of Oregon. Every county of the state is di- vided by a district boundary board into districts of three classes : the first being areas with 1000 or more children of school age, the second with from 200 to 1000 school children, and the third having less than 200. In districts of the first class the governing board shall be five members and a clerk, and in the other two classes the board consists of three members and a clerk, — all elected by ballot; at which election any man or woman owning property and being a resident citizen is entitled to vote. The law pro- vides for an annual meeting of electors. The district school board must conform to certain formalities in meeting, and has its powers indicated by law. It may exclude refractory pupils from school, provide fuel and suppHes, engage teachers (who must be certificated elsewhere), admit pupils from other dis- tricts, buy books for indigent pupils (when directed by vote of the district), and audit all claims against the school. In districts of the second and third class the board must use the course of study prepared by the state. Acting under direc- tion of a meeting of school electors, the board may change the site of the school, establish kindergartens (except in third class districts), permit the schoolhouse to be used for other than school purposes, contract debt (not to exceed five per cent of assessed valuation of district), call an election for the issuance of bonds, provide for the transportation of pupils, and, finally, suspend a district if the school attendance does not justify its continued existence. Districts of the first class 88 Educational Administration may have a board of examiners and may choose text-books additional to those designated by the State Text-book Commis- sion. They are authorized to have a superintendent of schools, and to frame their own course of study — powers, of course, that go with city school administration everywhere. New York Types. — In New York state, besides cities having a population of 5000 and upward, there are recognized three types of school districts : common, union free, and common school districts with more than 300 school children. In the common school district an annual meeting of electors is held on a prescribed evening of each year, at which men and women who own property or have children of school age may vote. This meeting elects school trustees, designates school sites, and may vote a variety of taxes for buying school sites, build- ing, or renting of schoolhouses, purchase of supplies, purchase of school library, payment of teachers' salaries, and transporta- tion of pupils. The trustees elected at this meeting must en- force a tax for teachers' salaries if the meeting itself fails to do it. The district may decide whether it will have a board of three trustees or one trustee, in addition to district clerk and treasurer. The district board has the usual power of employing teachers, caring for and insuring school property, etc., but must accept the course of study from the school com- missioner, and is subject to the district meeting in the selection of text-books. The control of the County School Commissioner over the common school district is considerable, as he may alter boundaries, condemn building, and determine suitability of instruction. The union free school district of New York state has larger powers than the common school district. It may em- brace several schools, may establish schools for secondary education, has considerable powers of local taxation, includ- ing the right to decide as to whether free text-books shall be provided, and through its board of education, which may vary in size from three to nine, it can fix for its own schools a course of study, can select text-books, and, in districts hav- ing more than 5000 population, employ a superintendent who shall be partly paid by state funds. Local Uizits of Educational Administration 89 Town System. — Massachusetts provides an example of the town system working in its pure type. Under the town is now no separate district, and over it the state exercises partial ad- ministrative authority in educational matters. Large powers of raising taxes, establishing special kinds of schools, as second- ary and industrial, selecting text-books, formulating courses of study, electing teachers and fixing their terms of office, elect- ing superintendents, examining teachers, providing for the consolidation"- of schools and the transportation of pupils, and numerous others belong to the town. Limiting the town school committee are the state laws which impose obligations of raising money sufficient for the support of public educa- tion, establishing certain types of schools, arranging either within the town or in a group of towns for the employment of an expert superintendent, and of securing medical inspec- tion of schools. Over the town committees is also the State Board, but with comparatively little power besides that of recommendation, except in cases where the law is manifestly being left unfulfilled. Other New England states show also extensive develop- ment of the town basis of organization. The towns of New Hampshire are called school districts, but resemble the Massachusetts town in extent and administrative functions. School districts, as the division of the town, have been abol- ished in Maine, with certain exceptions. In Connecticut we find a combination of town and district system, ** Each town shall have power to form, unite, alter, and dissolve school districts and parts of school districts within its limits ; and two or more towns may form school districts of adjoining portions of their respective towns." Special provision is made for consolidation, however. " Any town may abolish all the school districts, within its limits, and assume main control of the schools therein . . . and for this purpose every such town shall constitute one school district." Where the organized district is found, it elects a school committee of three, who exercise ordinary powers of trustees, subject to inspection by the school visitors of the town. In the event of the district's failing to fulfil its obligations, it becomes the 90 Educational AdTninistration duty of the school visitors of the town to perform them, even to the extent of electing teachers. The board of school visi- tors must approve plans of building, make course of study, prescribe text-books, examine teachers, form supervision dis- tricts, and generally supervise the schools. It is evident that the relation of the town to the district in Connecticut is not unlike the relation of the county to the district in some Southern and Western states. Dual System. — A system combining township and district is found in Iowa. There the county, as the larger unit for school administration, is divided into township and indepen- dent districts, and the school township is divided into sub- districts. Provision is made for annual meetings of electors in both school township and subdistrict. Each subdistrict elects one director, and these directors form the school board for the township, and have large responsibilities in local school administration. The board employs teachers, organ- izes schools, selects text-books, subject to the direction of the annual meeting. But the director of the subdistrict may be authorized by the school township board to employ teachers for his subdistrict, make contracts for fuel and sup- plies, and he must also enforce the compulsory education law. Large permissive powers are given to the school town- ship board in the matter of establishing secondary and other higher schools and in providing for supervision. Indiana presents also an interesting example of combina- tion of town and district system. There is a well-organized form of county administration, but the largest responsibility for local school management resides in the single trustee of the township (this does not apply to municipalities) who has general charge of the various schools. But each township is also divided into districts, in each of which the voters elect a director who acts as medium of communication between the district and the township trustee. The director has general charge of the schoolhouse, and exercises some supervision over the school, but his powers are few and limited. He may in several directions make recommendations to the town- ship trustee, but his direct authority is small On the other Local Units of Educational Administration 91 hand, the power of the township trustee is great, almost autocratic. He fixes the course of study. The township trustees of the entire county constitute the County Board of Education who elect the County Superintendent and select text-books for use in the county, subject to the restrictions of the existing state list, and they also have considerable powers in the appropriation of funds. In Ohio, outside of the cities, the government of the schools is in the hands of the township board, which has the power to form, change, or abolish subdistricts. Here, again, we find each subdistrict entitled to elect a director who has, however, little authority. On the other hand, boards of edu- cation for townships, villages, and cities have large authority, partly owing to the fact that in Ohio the county administra- tion of education is slight. There is a county board of exami- ners, but no county superintendent of schools ; consequently the control and inspection of schools falls mostly on local boards. The selection of text-books (within minor restric- tions imposed by state law), fixing of courses of study, estab- lishing special schools, and provision of expert supervision are powers all devolved upon the town, village, and city boards. Growing Prominence of District. — The school district in the process of gaining rather than losing is to be found not only in the Western but also in certain Southern states. In Alabama prior to 1903 the county was divided into town- ships, in each of which there were three trustees to organize schools, elect teachers, and apportion money among the vari- ous schools, white and colored. But in 1903 a law was passed providing for the abolition of school townships and the substitution therefor of school districts to be formed by a county districting board in such a manner that a school might be located within two and one-half miles of each child of school age, provided no district should be formed with less than fifteen school children. Provision is made for the elec- tion of three district trustees holding office for four years, who have considerable powers in the way of electing teachers and supervising schools, subject to the approval of the County Board of Education, which in smaller districts still 92 Edticational Administration holds the title to school property and exercises full supervi- sory control. An interesting provision of the law, however, provides means whereby certain districts may become quite independent of the County Board. " Whenever there shall have been established in any school district a system of graded schools free to the children of school age within such district, for a period of not less than eight months in each year, the electors of such district may increase the number of district trustees to five, and assume entire control of the public schools therein ; provided, the trustees of such districts shall make all reports required by law to the County Board of Education." In Florida the powers of the County Board of Public In- struction are almost complete with regard to schools, and the ordinary district is a very inconspicuous form of organization. The County Board holds all school property, locates schools, elects teachers, and appoints at the request of patrons a local supervisor of schools who is naturally a layman serving with- out pay. But the law now provides for the formation of " special tax districts," wherein the electors have indicated their willingness to subject themselves to a special tax for two years for the provision of additional school facilities. In such special tax district a board of three trustees is elected, who assume the functions hitherto exercised by the supervisor, and who shall nominate teachers, subject to the approval of the County Board. In other Southern states the district and County systems prevail, with varying distribution of powers. In Mississippi are two types of district, — ordinary and separate, in the for- mer of which the County Superintendent is clothed with the power to appoint teachers if the trustees fail to act. In Georgia "The county boards of education, whenever, in their opinion, the good of the schools demand it, may at their discretion appoint three intelligent, upright citizens of each subdistrict (the only form of school district) of their respective counties to act as school trustees for their subdistricts. ... It shall be the duty of these school trustees to supervise the school operations of their subdistricts, to visit the schools, and to make such recommendations to the county boards ... as may seem to them best." Local Ufiits of Educational Administration 93 Variability of Local Units. — The above represent in a rough way types of local organization. But it must be re- membered that each state is evolving its own system and each has its peculiarities. From the above discussion it is appar- ent that certain large qualities of organization have been es- tablished in sections of the nation, so that we can speak of the town system of New England, the strong county and weak district system of the South, the balanced county and district system of the West, and the combination of county, town, and district systems of the Central states. The school system of Texas in the early days was organ- ized on the so-called " community " plan. Under this system a teacher or other interested party could get on a petition the names of a number of children, who could attend the school, and the names of their parents, and send this to the county authorities, who proceeded to appoint three trustees for the year and make necessary state appropriations. At the end of the year the school dissolved. At one time almost the entire state was under this fluent organization, but now only a few counties retain it, and these secure the teachers with lowest certificates. Local taxes for school purposes are im- possible under the community system. The influence of imitation from state to state, exercised by educators who have moved from one part of the country to another, and by legislators studying various systems with a view to more effective legislation, has been prominent ; but equally so has been the influence of local conditions of geog- raphy, industry, and educational ideals. The agricultural character of the South and distrust of purely local suffrage has often developed a system of strong county control ; the wide areas of the Western states and the irregular distribu- tion of population makes the township impracticable, and contributes to strengthen district management with regard to affairs exclusively local, but also strengthens county and state control and administration in such matters as admit of general action. The process of settling the agricultural Central states developed the district, but the need of more businesslike man- agement and of central schools is tending undoubtedly to 94 Educational Administration strengthen the township at the expense of the district. On the other hand, the district as conceived in some sections of the sparsely settled South may resemble in extent and popu- lation the township of the more thickly settled Central states. Consolidation. — An important movement in recent years has been in the direction of consolidation. The larger district formed by uniting several small ones differs from the town- ship in that but one school may remain under charge of the Board of Education. In other words, the consolidated district is simply the single school district made large. It always in- volves the transportation of pupils from remote parts at public expense, either by car or wagon. In the agricultural areas of the United States and Canada the subject of transportation and consolidation has received much attention in recent years. It has been demonstrated that better school facilities can be provided in a central school at less expense, even with cost of transportation added. The union of several small schools permits the enlargement of classes and the employment of several teach- ers. Instruction can be effectively graded, and adjuncts, such as manual training, domestic art, and school library, can be developed. The safety and health of children are better se- cured through transportation to a distance than in the case of the shorter walks to isolated schools. Better teachers can be procured, owing to the relief from isolation. If the larger district is governed by a small board, more progressive and intelligent men can be procured from the larger area. Expert supervision is also facilitated by the centralizing of the small school. As a movement affecting the thickly settled agricultural areas, consolidation offers a considerable solution of the prob- lem of rural education. But naturally it is practicable only in certain sections of the country. In the mountainous areas of the South and West, where settlements cluster in small valleys, separated by wide unsettled regions, transportation is impracticable, and it will be necessary to make the most of the small school of many grades taught by a single teacher. Local Units of Educational Administration 95 REFERENCES Dexter, E. G. History of Education in the United States. New York, 1904. — Draper, A. S. Educational Organization and Administration, in Butler, Education in the United States. — Draper, A. S. The Supervision of Country Schools. Syracuse, 1904. — Evans, L. B. The County Unit in Educational Organization, Ed. Rev. 11:369. — Fairlie, J. A. Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages. New York, 1906. — Fellow, Henry C. A Study of School Supervision and Maintenance. Topeka, 1896. — Harris, W. T. Elementary Education, in Butler, Education in the United States. Albany, 1900. — Holcomb, J. W. The County Super- intendent, Proc. N. E. A. 1885 : 162. — McDonald, J. A. The Independent District System. N. E. A. 1891 : 211. — McElroy, E. B. County Super- intendents, their Relations and Duties to Teachers, Proc. N. E. A. 1886:337. — Martin, George H. Evolution of the Massachusetts PubHc School System. New York, 1894. — Prince, J. T. School Administration. Syracuse, 1906. The Social Unit in the Public School Systems of the United States, C.R. 1895 : 1457-1469. Comparative Cost of Township and District Systems, Rep. of the N. E. A. Com. of Twelve, 133. Discus- sion of Current Educational Questions, Township System, C. R. 1891 : 1076-1079. Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science : — Bemis, E. W. Local Government in Michigan and the Northwest. Bemis, E. W. Local Government in the South and Southwest. Gould, E. R. L. Local Government in Pennsylvania. Macy, Jesse. Institutional Beginnings of a Western State. Ramage, B. J. Local Government and Free Schools in South Carolina. Shaw, Albert. Local Government in Illinois. CHAPTER VII Problems growing out of State and Local Adminis- tration OF Education Because the educational administration of the various American states is largely indigenous, it still retains a tenta- tive and experimental character. In almost none do we find general agreement on questions of local and state organiza- tion, or on distribution and development of functions. Every- where are numerous active tendencies, and many questions are felt to be quite unsettled ; but these are receiving the attention of a variety of students. In all the states is found an almost constant division of opinion among those represent- ing certain large social or political principles. The inertia of conservatism is resisting progressive or radical tendencies. Advocates of measures apparently productive of immediate efficiency are challenged by those who are unwilling to sacrifice certain traditional principles of American govern- ment, like those of local control by popular meeting, popular election of administrative officials, and freedom from detailed prescriptive legislation. Administrative Problems. — Again, because of the local and popular character of school control, and because of the great difficulty of carrying on experimental work in this field, administrative practice tends to lag far behind the best of educational theory. Students and experts are able to point out the weaknesses of current forms of administration many years before it can be hoped that improvement will be possible. To a very considerable extent, also, progress in educational administration is dependent upon developments in other fields of political and social activity. There are large problems of taxation connected with the support of public schools, but these must wait the solution of general problems of taxation by the state. It makes a great dif- 96 Administrative Problems 97 ference in educational management whether officials shall be appointed or elected ; whether they shall hold office for long or short terms ; and whether boards shall be large or small. But these questions affect many other departments of ad- ministration besides that of schools ; and progress in the educational field must wait on far-reaching changes in public opinion with regard to the general principles underlying these special forms of political practice. Among the problems of active interest in most states in the matter of educational administration are especially these : id) the centralization of administrative functions ; ib) the determination of the most effective areas of local administra- tion, according to type of education under consideration ; ic) the most effective distributions of functions between lay and ex-officio administrators, on the one hand, and experts, on the other ; id) supervision of instruction in non-urban areas ; {e) and the development of new agencies of control for new types of educational activity. Problems of finance also enter here, but will be considered in a subsequent chapter. I. CENTRALIZATION Centralization in educational and other forms of admin- istration means roughly the removal of authority and re- sponsibility from local and popular sources to those more centralized and remote. In the affairs of education this centralization takes numerous easily recognizable forms. There is first the tendency to fix in state constitutions the details of direction and prohibition, so that these are removed from the control of the legislative bodies. In some states, especially those of the South and West, particular offices are created by the constitution, and in a few cases even term and salary are designated. Special types of schools, organization of state and county machinery of education, and specific designation of uses of funds, — these and similar matters tend to find their way into the constitution, and, as this is usually changed or mended with difficulty, popular control of such matters is made remote and ineffective. 98 Educational Administration Control through State Legislation. — On a much larger scale is the tendency to have state legislation fix boundaries, sometimes very close, on the action of administrators. Laws determining the maximum and minimum amounts that may be raised by tax levies, the qualifications of officers to be elected or appointed, minimum or other salaries that may be paid to teachers and other members of staffs, details of course of study, the amount of money that may be spent on institutes, the terms for which teachers may be elected, the powers of boards to remove teachers, and many others illus- trate this tendency, which is by no means a new one even in American state administration. Transfer of Powers. — Another phase of the centralizing tendency is found in the transfer from local to county or state bodies of certain administrative powers. The with- drawal from district and township boards of the authority to examine teachers, to select text-books, to provide a course of study, to graduate pupils, to select school supplies, and to determine types of school buildings, illustrate this tendency, since in each case these powers are transferred to official bodies very much less accessible to the people. The use of the literary fund in loans for building purposes has given the state of Virginia some control of the plans for building, and the state superintendent recommends that this control be in- creased. The same tendency is exhibited in another form in the establishment of larger units of administration. When the township replaces the district in the exercise of all or many functions of administration, and the county grows in authority at the expense of the township, the annual town or district meeting becomes of less and less importance and administrative officials become less immediately responsible to the citizens who have given them office. Appointment instead of Election. — Centralization of ad- ministration is also brought about through the development of , appointive instead of elective office. In most states members of state boards are appointed, but state superintend- ents and county superintendents less frequently so. Boards for special fields of administration in connection with certi- Administrative Problems 99 fication of teacher, selection of text-books, control of teachers' institutes, and government of special types of educational institution are frequently appointed. In some states the County Superintendent has considerable powers of nominat- ing trustees either directly or in case of default of local elec- tion. Because of expert training increasingly required in offices like that of County Superintendent of Schools, there is usually a persistent demand that the office should generally be an appointive one, as it already is in several states. Size of Boards. — Still another centralizing tendency is found to affect the size of boards. In cities the movement to reduce the number of lay officials has been extensive and effective. Within the state boards commissions are desig- nated for special purposes. This is in effect a reduction in the size of the board. The example of Indiana, with one trustee for the township and one director for each school, is an extreme case of centralization. Decentralization. — It has been noted ^ that up to the time of the Civil War there had been strong decentralizing ten- dencies in local government. Especially was this so in the direction of increasing the number of elective instead of ap- pointive offices. The basis of the suffrage had also been steadily extended. But the inclusion of the negro vote in the South provoked strong centralizing tendencies there after the Civil War ; while in nearly all other states the develop- ment of state supervision has had a centralizing effect. At the present time it seems to be true that centralization of educational administration is making considerable progress in all the states, when its various aspects are considered, and that everywhere there are strong forces making for further removal of authority from local communities and popular assemblages. Reasons for Centralization. — The motives for centralization in educational administration are various, sometimes spring- ing from the needs of immediate localities, sometimes express- ing the wider civic sense of the state. In most movements of this kind may be detected an increasing appreciation of the 1 Fairlie, Local Government, p. 46. lOO Educational Administration general responsibility of the public for the educational effi- ciency of the state and its members. Parents may not neglect the education of their children, but neither may local groups of people. Hence legislation imposing requirements looking to maintaining schools of a prescribed degree of efficiency ; hence minimum salary laws designed to prevent communities from demoralizing the teaching profession by giving it over to incompetents ; hence the development of various types of inspection. In the states where large sums of money are given to the support of education by the state, it becomes in- evitable that a considerable degree of inspection and control should be exercised by pubHc authorities. Administrative Efficiency. — Underlying all centralizing measures, however, is the general tendency to seek by this means efficiency of management. Local and popular super- vision have proven effective within certain limits, but as the demands of education increase, as the teaching art becomes more complex, and as the scope of educational effort widens, there result numerous demands for effectiveness which can- not, it is believed, be obtained through the old channels of large local responsibility. It is expected that centralized action will result in increased efficiency along these lines : — a. Unification. — The first is in the direction of unification. State or county uniformity in text-books, in courses of study, in standards of school supplies, and in types of schools pre- vents large waste. Children moved from district to district under a system of district independence in these matters find schools so unlike that readjustment becomes difficult and wasteful. Teachers who shift from one county to another find it necessary, at considerable expense, to submit to reex- amination. The cost price of supplies and texts must neces- sarily be greater where retailers are obliged to keep varied kinds with chances against selling all of any one. The cen- tral administration of secondary schools, industrial schools, and other types of special educational institution has un- doubtedly resulted in preventing duplication of effort and the founding of institutions too small and weak to ever have more than a precarious existence. In other directions the Administrative Problems i o i production of uniformity in and of itself may be shown to be, at least temporarily, effective in the sense of producing greater economy. b. Expert Service. — The second source of effectiveness in centralized administration is the introduction of expert ser- vice and trained leadership. The examination of teachers by district trustees obviously did not involve a careful discrimina- tion as to their educational qualifications. Similarly, exami- nation by a county superintendent, popularly elected, while more effective than the former, still left much to be desired. So there results the gradual tendency to transfer this authority to county or state boards where provision can be made for the introduction of expert service. In the selection of text-books and supplies there is extensive opportunity for the introduction of experience and training. The discrimi- nation of the best in these lines is a matter for the expert, but he can only be made available in large areas. Hence the tendency to transfer the selection to county or, in many states, to state commissions or boards. Again, the framing of a course of study for modern educational conditions would appear to involve a large amount of professional skill, which can best be commanded in the centres of large areas. So we find states providing a detailed course of study for all but city schools. In some we find the course of study for secondary schools prescribed by law or fixed by a state com- mittee or, in effect, by a State University. Another feature of school administration making peculiar demands on expert service is the conduct of institutes. Left to the township or other local division, there can be little guarantee that these will succeed. But centralized under county or, better, state management, it becomes possible to develop a trained staff of officials to conduct them and thus to reahze the maxi- mum of efficiency. A considerable degree of centraliza- tion in financial administration of schools has come about through the necessity of having state boards assume charge of the investment of public funds derived from the sale of lands, rather than to leave this to relatively ineffi- cient local authorities. In city school administration there I02 Educational Administration has been a tendency in recent years to transfer to the super- intendent of schools, a carefully chosen expert, the impor- tant function of selecting and assigning teachers, a recogni- tion of the fact that popularly elected bodies of laymen may not, except within low limits, be able to bring to this matter the necessary experience and knowledge of local conditions. In the erection of school buildings there is an extensive opportunity for the appUcation of scientific principles which can only be made by a man with special training, and it is the hope of those interested in the matter that, through giv- ing county or state authorities a certain amount of jurisdiction, the services of the expert can finally be made indispensable. A similar condition is found with regard to medical inspection of schools and school children ; until some central authority is created, it will be impossible to have widespread efficiency along this line. " It is true that important modifications of local government are now taking place throughout the nation. The concentration of wealth and population in our larger cities, the long-continued depression of agriculture, and the consequent abandonment of farming by large numbers of country- bred youth, are bringing about certain readjustments of functions between state and township administration. It is easy for the state to raise money, increasingly difficult for the rural town. Consequently we see a disposition to throw upon the state governments a part of the burden of maintaining the roads and bridges, of supporting schools, and of caring for the insane and other defective persons. With this transfer of financial responsibility goes, of course, a transfer of administrative regulation. And even in the cities the abuses of popular power have, in some instances, led to a transfer of authority from municipal to state governments ; as for example, in cities like Boston, which no longer elect their mayors, or appoint their police commissioners, but accept them at the hand of the Governor of the Commonwealth." ^ Aggrandizing Tendencies. — Another cause of centraliza- tion is found in the desire and tendency of official bodies to enlarge and perpetuate their functions, especially when they are opposed to popular or ex-officio bodies without expert leadership. In this way the power of state inspectors, county superintendents, city superintendents, text-book commissions, ^ Giddings, Democracy and Empire, p. 299. Adininistrative Problems 103 state institute conductors, state examining boards, and legis- latures tend to grow. Laws regulating the performance of duties by local bodies are often called forth by the negligence or incompetence of a few such bodies, but the resulting law is general in its effects. The power of county superintend- ents, and especially of state superintendents, in deciding appeals and controverted questions is also great. When new educational issues are before the people on matters that have not yet crystallized into legislation, the potential au- thority of a strong personality in an executive position is not small. Sometimes this building up of autocratic powers in expert boards and offices may prove a distinct abuse and social menace ; but, on the whole, owing to the responsive- ness of the legislature to well-defined public sentiment, it is usually possible to check unfavorable tendencies. The exceptional case is found where vested financial interests are at stake. Here, as may be illustrated in some cases of state text-book systems, the influences that can be brought to bear to check any movement in the legislature against intrenched official bodies may prove too strong for public opinion.^ Reasons against Centralization. — The opposition to cen- tralization of administration has, at bottom, likewise several motives. Not only have all centralizing measures had to fight their way during the last half century, but at times distinct steps toward decentralization have been in evidence, 1 Another form of centralization is found in state management of certain types of education, universities, normal schools, industrial schools, etc. But it is also note- worthy that in states like New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and others where state aid is given to secondary schools, conditions are imposed which partake of the nature of partial control. Still more significant is the extension of this form of control in Wisconsin and Minnesota, where state graded schools are found, receiving a grant from the state on condition of maintaining specified standards. In his report for 1906 the State Superintendent of North Dakota proposes that the state should give aid to rural schools, but only to those {a) having an eight months' term, {b) a certificated teacher of the first class, (