XVIPUBLIC EDUCATION
The best foundation for a democracy rests on free educational facilities for all the people. An ideal school system is one that reaches out to every child and prepares him for a useful occupation, that is also available for the further development of every member of the State, and that will give every individual the knowledge necessary for him to do his part in government. A self-governing people cannot afford a class too ignorant to vote.
In New York State, school attendance is compulsory for children between the ages of seven and sixteen years. An exception is made of children between fourteen and sixteen, who have completed the first six years of school, and have been to school 130 days since their fourteenth birthday. Such children may be employed if they have a duly signed work certificate. In cities of the firstand second classes, boys between fourteen and sixteen who are employed during the day, who do not hold certain certificates, must attend night school sixteen weeks in the year. Truant officers must be appointed in every city, town, and village to enforce the law. Parents who fail to send their children to school are guilty of a misdemeanor.
The School Districtis the smallest division of the State, and must maintain a free common school at least thirty-six weeks in the year. In 1917, an amendment to the school law was passed which abolished the old school-district system, that dated from 1795, and which makes it possible for the children of the rural districts to have some of the facilities for modern education which have heretofore been confined to larger communities.
In place of the former school trustees for the separate school districts, there is now one board of education for each town, and this board has charge of all the schools in the town. There are 4,000 schools in the State which have less than ten pupils each. The value of taxable property in many of these school districts is very small. The school tax has been the only State tax which has beenassessed in such small units. The needs of each school district had to be met by the taxation of that one district. For all other State expenses the county is the unit of taxation and taxes are assessed equally all over the county, and the apportionment made according to the needs of each district. Under the present law, by treating the town as a unit for school taxes, all property in the town is assessed equally, and the money raised is used for the benefit of all the town.
In this way the rich and poor districts share more equally in school facilities.
The initial expenses of making the change have increased school taxes in some places for the first year, but the change will undoubtedly work to the great benefit of the children of the State, and is along the lines adopted some years ago by most of the other States. Villages of over 1,500 people are outside the provision of the new town law. If the people of two or more school districts wish to combine, they may vote to consolidate and establish a central school.[D]
The Town Board of Educationconsists of from three to five members who are elected for a term of three years each and who appoint their own clerk and treasurer.
They have larger power than was given tothe former school trustee. They have charge of all school property; they determine the kind of schools that are needed; they may establish high schools, vocational, industrial, agricultural, and night schools; they determine the number of teachers to be employed, and their salaries; they may employ medical inspectors and nurses, and may provide transportation for children attending school.
The Annual School Meetingto elect the Board of Education is held the first Tuesday in May.
Qualifications for Voters: At this meeting any one living in the district can vote who is a citizen twenty-one years old, a resident in the district for thirty days, who owns or rents or has under contract of purchase taxable property in the district; or has had a child, either his own or residing with him, in school for at least eight weeks during the year preceding; or who owns personal property exceeding $50 which was assessed on the last assessment roll.
Candidates for the board of education may be nominated on petition of twenty-five voters. Men and women who are duly qualified electors are eligible to the board.
Annual School Budget: The board ofeducation must prepare an itemized budget of the amount necessary to be raised for school purposes, and must publish it in July for public consideration. Additional money may only be raised by a vote of the school district indorsed by the district superintendent. The building of a school, or repairs costing over $5,000, must be submitted to a vote of the school electors.
A board of school directors is elected in each town, consisting of two men, each with a term of five years, but elected in different years.
The Supervisory District: Each county, except those in Greater New York, is divided into from one to eight supervisory districts. (Villages and cities of over 5,000 people are not included, as they make their own provisions. Each of these has a board of education.)
The District Superintendentis the director of a supervisory district. He is chosen by the board of school directors and is engaged for a term of five years and paid $1,200 a year by the State, with an additional allowance of $300 for traveling expenses. The supervisors of the towns in his district may vote to increase his salary, the increase to come out of the taxes raised in the towns in the district.
A man or a woman twenty-one years of age, and a citizen and resident of the State, is eligible for the office, provided he or she has a State teacher’s certificate and can pass an examination in the teaching of agriculture.
The District Superintendent has the general supervision of the schools in his district. He is responsible for the instruction given in them and the discipline that is maintained. He examines candidates for teachers’ positions, under the direction of the State Commissioner of Education.
Union Free School Districtshave been permitted under State law for many years in cities and villages. Some years ago this law was extended to include rural districts, and during the past few years about 500 rural school districts have been discontinued and consolidated with adjoining districts. Many of the discontinued schools had only a handful of pupils, the buildings and equipment were primitive and inadequate, and the small amount of money available made it impossible for the school to offer any advantages. The union of school districts has given better educational facilities to the rural districts. The children have been taken to school by wagons provided for their transportation, and have had the advantages of a larger school,a higher grade of teachers, and better facilities of all kinds for modern education. The new educational law provides still greater development in this direction.
Physical Trainingis compulsory in all schools, public and private, for children over eight years of age for at least twenty minutes a day. The State gives financial aid in the training.
Military training is compulsory for boys between the ages of sixteen and nineteen in public and private secondary schools and colleges. The name “military” is misleading, for the law provides that the development of “correct bearing, mental and physical alertness, disciplined initiative, sense of duty, self-control, and a spirit of co-operation under leadership” is to be given special attention.
School Money: For many years it has been recognized that sufficient educational facilities could not be provided for every part of the State through local taxation.
Besides the money raised by the school districts, the State contributes large sums of money for the support of public schools. Part of this money is the income from certain educational funds belonging to the State which cannot be used for any other purpose, and part is money appropriated by the StateLegislature. This money is distributed by the State Commissioner of Education according to the needs of the school districts.
City schools are subject to the same general supervision of the State Commissioner of Education, but are under the direction of local boards of education, and local superintendents of schools.
Normal Schoolsfor training teachers are maintained by the State out of school funds, and teachers’ meetings are held in the supervisory districts to help and improve teachers.
The University of the State of New York, which is at the head of the entire educational system of the State, is not a university in the ordinary sense of the word. It is a combination of all of the colleges and secondary schools of the State. It is governed by a Board of Regents, twelve men elected by the State Legislature for twelve years each, but whose terms begin in different years, who have large powers of control over all the higher institutions in the State, universities, colleges, technical and professional schools. They have the management of the State Library and Museum. They prepare Regents’ examinations and grant Regents’ certificates, and supervise the granting of degrees.
The president of the University of the State of New York is elected by the Regents. He is also theState Commissioner of Education, and as such is the head of the State Department of Education which supervises the free public schools and normal schools of the State and apportions the State school funds.
The National Commissioner of Educationis at the head of the National Bureau of Education in Washington. The work of this bureau is largely to collect and publish information about educational conditions and progress in the United States.
Agricultural Help: There are four free agricultural schools besides the State College of Agriculture in Ithaca. Much assistance is given by the government to the agricultural needs of the State. Special courses are provided at many colleges for the various departments of agricultural work. Short courses are arranged for those who can only attend a few weeks, and at times in the year when farm work is slack.
Farmers’ Institutesare organized, at which experts discuss the best way of doing the varied work of the farm, especially how to increase production and to make the farm more profitable.
Vocational Training:[5]If the public school is going to prepare young people for their work in the world, some guidance in the selection of an occupation, and some practical training in a trade or profession, must be included in their school work.
The great majority of children leave school at an early age to go to work. Without specialized training they have little chance for advancement, but fill the ranks of untrained labor, to the great loss of the world and their own disadvantage.
State Scholarships: Each of the 150 Assembly districts of the State has five free scholarships valued at $400 each. The scholarships are awarded by the Commissioner of Education and the holder may attend any college in the State, and receive $100 for each of the four years he or she attends.
Domestic Training: The majority of girls, even though they are wage-earners for a time, sooner or later marry, and have children and a household to take care of. In the olden days, when the home was a workshop, girlswere taught cooking at home; they learned to care for babies through taking care of the little ones in the family. Now they often leave school to go to the factory, and only leave the factory when they marry. They have no knowledge of cooking, housekeeping, or the care of children. Unless domestic economy of the most practical kind is taught in the school-room, there is no way they can be prepared for the important business of housekeeper and mother. If every girl were taught to cook and were trained in the proper care of an infant, it would add immeasurably to the sum total of the comfort and health of family life. It would be an advantage to every boy, likewise, if he were taught to use his hands in carpentering or other manual work. Whatever comes in later life, hands that have been trained to be useful are a great asset to any man or woman.
Schools as Community Centers: Education does not stop at any age. Public free lectures, mothers’ meetings, and the use of schools for community recreation are helping to make the school-house 100 per cent. efficient as an educational center. The school plant that is closed when school is not in session is an extravagance which no community can afford.
The demand for the use of the school-house for political meetings, and as polling-places at election-time, is growing. Outside of New York City school-buildings may only be so used by special permission of the voters. Since one of the purposes of education is to train people in citizenship, the use of the school-house as the center of everything that pertains to the people’s part in government seems legitimate.
Health: Compulsory education is futile unless at the same time the health of children is maintained. It is as much the duty of government to watch over the proper development of the body as of the mind, yet more attention is often given to decoration of schoolrooms than to matters of health.
An appallingly large number of children have defective teeth, poor eyes, or obstructed breathing. Neglected teeth mean an undernourished body and are a common source of disease.
Periodic medical examinations are required by State law, and school nurses may be engaged as part of the regular school force. The value of the law depends on the way it is enforced by local school authorities, and this is often far from satisfactory. These provisions are found to repay their cost in theadded strength and productive powers that they give to the community.
Co-operation: The greatest of all needs in connection with our schools is a lively interest in them on the part of women. The woman who cares about the future of her child must be interested in school meetings and the election of school-boards, who should be carefully chosen. Frequent visits to the school in city and country are a help and inspiration to both teachers and parents.
FOOTNOTES:[5]Under a provision of a recent Federal law, a certain sum of money is available for use in any State for the teaching of home economics, industrial training, or for any vocational work, provided that the State appropriates an equal amount for the purpose, which New York State has done.
[5]Under a provision of a recent Federal law, a certain sum of money is available for use in any State for the teaching of home economics, industrial training, or for any vocational work, provided that the State appropriates an equal amount for the purpose, which New York State has done.
[5]Under a provision of a recent Federal law, a certain sum of money is available for use in any State for the teaching of home economics, industrial training, or for any vocational work, provided that the State appropriates an equal amount for the purpose, which New York State has done.