9,007 67 66 66 12,318 44 For Loans Paid, Services of School Officers, Miscellaneous Purposes, as reported and specified, 79,946 26 Total amount expended in 1871, for all school pur- Total amount expended for all school purposes, in 1872, as reported by the County Superintendents, COMMON SCHOOL FUNDS-PRINCIPAL. $7,480.889 24 The annexed statement shows the several items and amounts which make up the Permanent Principal of the Common School Funds of the State. The first four items are taken from the records of the Auditor; the last two are compiled from the official reports of the County Superintendents. A comparison of the present aggregate amount of the Township Fund, with that reported in 1870, shows an increase of that Fund, in the last two years, of $225,185.68, and the State, total has, of course, been increased by the same amount. SCHOOL FUND PROPER, being three per cent. upon the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands in the State, one-sixth part excepted SURPLUS REVENUE, being a portion of the money received by the State from the General Government, under an act of Congress providing for the distribution of the surplus revenue of the United States, and by act of the Legislature, March 4th, 1837, made a part of the common school fund COLLEGE FUND, being one-sixth part of the three per cent. fund, originally required by act of Congress to be devoted to the establishment and maintenance of a State College or University $613,362 96 335,592 32 156,613 32 SEMINARY FUND, being the proceeds of the sales of the : COUNTY FUNDS, created by act of the Legislature, February 7th, 1835, which provided that the teachers should not receive from the public fund more than half the amount due them for services rendered the preceding year, and that the surplus should constitute the principal of a new fund, to be called the "County School Fund." TOWNSHIP FUNDS, being the net proceeds of the sale of the 16th section in each Congressional township of the State, the same having been donated to the State for common school purposes, by act of Congress, in 1818 TOTAL COMMON SCHOOL FUNDS of the State, September 30, 1872 $59,838 72 348,285 75 4,868,555.01 - $6,382,248.08 TOPICS TO BE CONSIDERED. The subsequent part of this report will be chiefly devoted to the following subjects: 1. A somewhat exhaustive analysis of the provisions of the New School Law, especially those concerning the Elements of Natural Science, and those in relation to County Supervision of Schools. 2. A view of the History, Condition and Progress of our State and County Normal Schools. 3. An inquiry into the Educational Rights of Children; the nature and grounds of those rights; and the Competency, Necessity and Expediency of Legislative Interposition to arrest the growing evils of Absenteeism and Truancy, by Requiring all who have the control of children, to provide for tliem, and see that they obtain, a Good Common School Education. THE NEW SCHOOL LAW. The Twenty-seventh General Assembly made more and greater changes in the school law than had been made by all preceding Legislatures since the free school system of the State was first established. I think it may also be said that no school bill, since the passage of the original act, has been prepared with more thoughtful care, or with a more sincere desire to improve the school system, than that which became a law, April 1, 1872, and went into effect July 1, 1872. If the law contains some provisions which are regretted, it also contains many from which the most excellent results are confidently expected. The errors, if any, were wholly of the judgment-none who know the history of the bill, and the patient labors of the two gentlemen who, respectively, had charge of it in all its course through the House and Senate, will question their earnestness of purpose to do the very best that could be done. It is a pleasure to say this, and it will not be forgotten in whatever may be said in the course of the somewhat careful examination of the law which is now proposed. One fact is worthy of preliminary notice: the changes were not made in a separate amendatory act, as had always previously been done, but incorporated with the respective sections of the old law, thus bringing the whole into one act. The convenience of this will be appreciated. The number of supplementary and amendatory acts had so increased as to make it difficult to keep them all in mind, and give to each its proper modifying effect, while reading the body of the law. Considerable perplexity, and frequent errors of construction resulted. The new law is a codification of the common school legislation of the State, complete and entire in itself. Whoever reads it may give his whole attention to the text before him, assured that no fugitive amendments will be discovered to change or complicate the interpretation. It is proposed, first, to bring together in one view all the changes made in the school system by the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, that their number, nature and extent may be seen; and then to endeavor to ascertain, by analysis and comparison, which of those changes are for the better and which are for the worse, and thus deduce the net results of gain or loss. The subject will be considered under two general heads: Modifications or changes made in the provisions of the old law; and New Provisions. This division is natural, and necessarily exhaustive, and will best serve to show just what has been done, and how-what of the old remains, and what is new. In giving the modifications, the law as it was, and as modified, will both be given, for convenience of comparison. To save time and space, the points will be classified and grouped as much as possible. Vol. II-15 I. MODIFICATIONS. 1. Apportionment of Funds.-Under the old law there were three dif ferent bases of apportionment: the Auditor of State made his apportionment to counties as follows-one-third in proportion to territorial area, and two-thirds in proportion to the number of children under twenty years of age; county superintendents of schools made their apportionment to townships as follows-one-third in proportion to territo rial area, and two-thirds in proportion to the number of children under twenty-one years of age; township trustees apportioned to school districts as follows-one-half in proportion to the number of children under twenty-one, and the other half in proportion to the attendance certified in the schedules of teachers. Under the new law, the auditor, county superintendents and trustees distribute the funds by one uniform rule, namely, in proportion to the number of children under twenty-one years of age. Again, under the old law, white children only were included in the basis of distribution-under the new, all children are included, without regard to race or color. 2. Visitation of Schools.-The old law peremptorily required county superintendents to visit every school in their respective counties at least once in each year; the new law requires such visitation to be made only when so directed by the county board. 3. School Elections.-Under the old law, school trustees were elected on the second Monday of April, annually; under the new law they are elected on the second Saturday of April, except in townships which are territorially identical with the civil towns as established under the township organization laws, in which cases school trustees are elected at town meeting, and in the same manner as other town officers. The election of directors is changed from the first Monday of April to the first Saturday of April. All special elections to fill vacancies in boards of trustees and directors must be held on some Saturday, instead of some Monday, as heretofore. The special requirements of voters on questions of raising money are removed, and any person having the qualifications of a voter at a general election, may vote on all school questions. 4. Tenure and Residence of Township Treasurers.-Township treasurers hold their office for one year instead of two, and are required to be residents of their respective townships, which was not required by the old law. 5. Altering District Boundaries.-Under the old law, trustees could make such changes in districts and district boundaries as they saw fit, provided only that it was done at a stated semi-annual meeting-no petition or vote of the people was necessary, or of any binding force. The new law takes all such discretionary power from boards of trustees, and obliges them to make such changes as a majority of the voters may |