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and the failure of all the members of the board of directors or controllers to levy a tax to keep the schools in operation or provide schoolhouses, vacates the delinquent member's seat, in the first case, and vacates the seats of every member, in the second. The board elects a president, secretary, and treasurer, and holds a meeting at least once in every three months.

The district board of directors and the municipal board of controllers have the following duties and powers: To establish a sufficient number of schools, to employ teachers, to direct what branches shall be taught and books used, to expel all incorrigible children, to purchase and issue text-books and other necessary supplies and to report the amount expended for such supplies, to grade the schools, to pay expenses of the schools by drafts on the district treasurer, and to report and publish annually a statement of the financial operations of the district in not fewer than ten written or printed handbills, to be posted in the most public places of the district, and also to make a statement to the auditor.

The board of controllers of school districts which are composed of cities or boroughs divided into wards for school purposes, or boroughs not so divided but having a population of 5,000 or more, shall possess the following additional powers and have the following duties: They may establish high schools, and shall admit all under 21 properly prepared to enter upon its course of study, and, in general, shall exercise supervision over it, appointing its teachers and establishing its course of study, purchasing land and erecting buildings, and maintaining it for not fewer than ten months in the year.

Cities of under 100,000 inhabitants are constituted one school district, each ward to elect two members of the board of controllers for four-year terms, one going out biennially.

City, borough, and township superintendents. School directors in any city, borough, or township having a population of over 5,000 may elect one person of literary and scientific acquirements and skill and experience in the art of teaching as city or borough superintendent for the three succeeding school years; and they shall determine his compensation. After the certification of the election of the superintendent to the State superintendent of public schools the schools of the city, borough, or township shall not be subject to the authority of the county superintendent. The municipal superintendent is to perform the duties of the county superintendent and such as may be imposed by his board of directors, to report monthly to the State superintendent, and attend meetings of superintendents called by him.

2. TEACHERS.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties.Preliminary training.Meetings.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties. No district employing a teacher who has not a valid certificate from the county or [local] superintendent shall receive money from the State treasury. ["No teacher shall be employed in teaching any branch of learning other than those enumerated in his or her certificate."] No teacher shall be employed or dismissed except by the vote of the whole number of the directors or controllers of any common-school district. No person shall receive a certificate from a county, city, borough, [or township] superintendent who has not a fair knowledge of orthography, reading, ing, writing.g geography, English grammar, mental and written arithmetic, history of the United States, the theory of teaching, and of the effect of alcoholic drinks, of stimulants and narcotics; but no person using intoxicating drinks as a beverage shall be granted a certificate. The certificate shall state the proficiency of the holder in each branch.

The teacher must report monthly to the local school board the number and sex of pupils in attendance, the books used, and branches taught, or forfeit pay.

Preliminary training. The State is divided at present into 13 normal school districts. When 13 or more citizens shall, as contributors or stockholders, erect and establish a school for the professional training of young men and women as teachers for the public schools of the State, the State students in that school shall be paid 50 cents a week, and if he graduate and sign an agreement to teach for two years in the State, $50 additional shall be paid. The affairs of each school are to be managed by a board of 18 trustees, 12 elected by the contributors and 6 appointed by the State superintendent, and it shall require a three-fourths vote to pass a motion for the sale or purchase of real estate. The governor, superintendent, and attorneygeneral are a commission to distribute the State money to the schools. The trustees report annually to the superintendent, and are always subject to his inspection. To obtain State aid the following requirement must be met: Suitable building, surrounded by an area of 10 acres; a hall to seat 1,000 persons, with class rooms, etc., to accommodate 300 or more students, properly supplied with heating apparatus, adequately lighted and ventilated, and provided with a place for physical exercise in inclement weather, a library, 6 professors or more, one each in orthography, in reading and elocution, in writing, drawing, and bookkeeping, in arithmetic and higher mathematics, in geography and history, in grammar and English history, and in theory and practice of teaching, together with such professors of natural, mental, and moral sciences, languages, and literature as the condition of the school and the number of students may require. The principal shall be a professor of one of the required branches. There shall be a model school of not fewer than 100 children. The principals shall fix the requisites for admission and the course and duration of study. The examination of the graduating class shall be conducted by a board composed of two principals, one of whom shall be the principal of the school whose pupils are under examination, the State or the deputy State and two county or local superintendents of the normal school district being present, and no person shall graduate unless by a vote of 4 out of the 5 members. Graduates are given a certificate of their scholastic qualifications throughout the State, but after two years of teaching a certificate of competency in teaching (teachers' State certificate) shall be given. Actual teachers in good standing, having taught three full annual terms, may also take the examination. Meetings. Annually the county superintendent shall hold an institute, at which all the teachers of the county are required to be present without loss of pay. The duration of the institute is five days, one half day being allowed to come from and another to return home. The county superintendent shall draw from the county treasury for every three days' attendance of a teacher the sum of $1 to defray the expenses of lecturers and instructors. It shall be lawful, however, for the board of directors or controllers which has elected a superintendent and employs not fewer than 75 teachers to hold a separate annual teachers' institute and to draw npon the county treasury in the manner laid down for the county superintendent.

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance.-Character of instruction.-Text-books.Buildings.

Attendance. The board of directors or controllers shall provide a sufficient number of schools for the education of every individual above the age of 6 and under 21 years of age for four to ten months, without regard to race or color.

No minor under 13 years of age shall be employed in cotton, woolen, silk, paper, bagging, or flax factories; any owner or employer of, or in any of said factories, or agent therefor, willfully or knowingly employing any such minor shall pay a fine of $50 for each offense. No minor between the ages of 13 and 16 years shall be employed in such factories longer than nine calendar months in any one year, and not unless he shall have attended school at least three consecutive months within the same year. No boy shall be employed in any mine unless proof be given that he is 12 years old.

Character of instruction. It is the duty of each county superintendent to see that there be taught orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, and physiology in reference to stimulants, as well as such other branches as the board of directors or controllers may require, all to be taught by qualified teachers. Failure of a local board in these respects works forfeiture of State money. District boards have power to grade schools, and boards in cities and boroughs having a population of 5,000 or more, may establish a high school and fix its course of study, appoint its teachers, and maintain it for ten months in the year. • Upon the application of the parents of 20 or more children above 6 years of age, the school board shall open an evening school, giving instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, and such other studies as may be prescribed by the board. The term of such school is to be not fewer than four months of twenty evenings of two hours each, but if the average attendance falls below 15, the school may be closed. In certain cities central boards of education are provided, to establish and maintain schools for the instruction in the mechanic arts and kindred subjects; instruction in such schools may be given in the day or evening, and may include chemistry, mathematics, natural philosophy, and other branches pertaining to the mechanic arts.

Text-books. No series of text-books shall be adopted in any school district unless by affirmative vote of the whole number of the directors or controllers, and their votes shall be recorded by name; nor shall any text-books be changed until three years after their adoption. The board shall purchase text-books and other necessary supplies for the schools as the occasion demands, and such books and supplies shall be furnished free of cost to the pupils, subject to regulations.

Buildings. Suitable buildings and outhouses must be supplied by the board of directors for all children of school age.

4. FINANCES.

Funds (permanent and special). -Taxation.

Funds (permanent and special). -Any person found intoxicated in a public thoroughfare or place shall be fined $2, to be paid to the school district. This fund is distributed to the districts on the basis of resident taxables.

Taxation. There are three kinds of tax for school purposes according to their subjects, each separate and distinct, but all may be due from one person. They are: The rate tax on real and personal property; the rate tax on such trades, occupations, professions, and salaries and emoluments of office as will yield over $1 by the rate on its valuation; a minimum occupation tax of $1 on all resident males' taxables over 21 years of age whose assessed occupation at the rate levied for school purposes will not produce $1. The districts may tax themselves for support of schools in general, up to 13 mills, and may raise a sum for establishing schoolhouses not greater than the sum raised for support of schools in the same year.

DELAWARE.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State board of education.County superintendent of free schools.—District school commissioners.

State board of education. The governor, secretary of state, and the three county superintendents shall constitute a State board of education, which shall meet annually, with the governor as president and the secretary of state as secretary. The board shall hear appeals concerning school matters, shall determine what textbooks are to be used, and shall issue a uniform series of blanks and other records, which it shall distribute. The members of the State board shall receive no compensation. The president shall biennially report to the governor concerning the condition of the public schools and make such suggestions and recommendations in regard thereto as he shall deem proper and advisable, and for his labor in preparing such report he shall be allowed $25 or less.

County superintendent of free schools. The governor shall annually appoint and commission a suitable person to be superintendent for each county of the State. The person so appointed shall be of good moral character and well qualified, both intellectually and morally, for the office, as well as residents of the county at the time of their appointment and incumbency. The superintendent shall give bond in the sum of $5,000 with sureties.

The county superintendent shall have the entire management, control, and supervision of the colored schools, shall decide as to the location of the schools, appoint teachers for them, and pay the expenses of maintaining them.

The superintendent shall visit each school within the county at least twice a year, each visit to be not less than two hours in duration, provided the school is kept open at least eight months each year. He shall note the number of scholars and their conduct and standing, the condition of the buildings and grounds, the method of instruction, and the discipline and government of the school. He shall advise with the teacher and shall have power to suspend or withdraw the certificate of one refusing to comply with the reasonable directions of the superintendent. He shall devote his entire time to his duties. He shall examine teachers, shall report annually to the president of the State board concerning the condition of the public schools, together with such recommendations and suggestions as may seem proper. His compensation shall be $1,000 per annum, from the State treasury.

District school commissioners. All alterations in districts must be made by the levy court, two-thirds concurring, upon application; but two or more school districts in any county may unite for establishing and supplying a free school for their common benefit.

The district meeting shall decide what sum shall be raised for a schoolhouse or a free school.

Each district shall annually elect a school commissioner to serve for three years. The duties of the commissioners are

1. To determine the site, lease or purchase the necessary ground, and build or procure a suitable house for the district, as near the center of the district as possible. When built or procured, it shall not be removed nor another procured without the direction of the school voters at a stated meeting.

2. To keep the schoolhouse in good repair, supply it with necessary furniture and fuel, and bring actions, if necessary, for any injury to it.

3. To provide a school for the district when and as long as their funds will enable them, and to employ teachers. They may make regulations for the government of the school, and by these provide for the expulsion of a scholar for obstinate misbehavior.

4. To receive and collect all money belonging to, appropriated, or resolved to be raised for the district, and to apply the same justly.

5. To appoint collectors for the district, and take security by bond.

6. To do all acts requisite for effecting the premises-the acts of a majority to be as effectual in all cases as if done by them all.

The school committee must also annually, at the stated meeting, exhibit a just account of their receipts and expenditures, and a report of all their proceedingsmay then appoint persons to settle such account and must pay to their successors in office all money due from them. If for ten days they neglect to do this they forfeit and must pay, additionally, at the rate of 5 per cent on the sum due.

For these duties the committee may receive no emolument; but for attendance before the auditor they may, on the settlement of their account, be allowed each $1 per day and 3 cents per mile of necessary traveling.

2. TEACHERS.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties.Institutes.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties. It shall be unlawful to employ any person to teach in the publc schools unless the person employed holds a certificate good in the county where employed.

The county superintendent shall examine, either orally or by printed or written questions, or both, all persons who apply, at such times and places as he may appoint. Every applicant of good character found qualified to teach orthography, reading, writing, mental arithmetic, written arithmetic, geography, history of the United States, English grammar, physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks and narcotics upon the human system, elements of rhetoric, algebra, geometry, and natural philosophy shall be recommended to the State board for a first-grade certificate, good for three years, if issued. A second-grade certificate shall be issued by the superintendent to an applicant who shall have answered 90 per cent of the questions in all the above up to and including temperance physiology, which shall be good for two years. To an applicant attaining an average of at least 60 per cent on the subjects required for a second-grade certificate a third-grade certificate shall be given by the superintendent, good for one year. Parties refused certificates may appeal to the State board.

Every free-school teacher shall report to the commissioners at the end of each quarter the number of pupils attending school during the quarter, designating whether male or female, the number of days each has attended, the books used, and branches taught. Failure to make these reports shall cause the salary of the teacher to be withheld. The reports shall be forwarded to the county superintendent.

Meetings. Each superintendent shall hold a teachers' institute during each year of three days' session. Every teacher of the county must attend. At these institutes each superintendent shall give all the information in his power, such other instructions as he may deem advisable, and shall cause a general interchange of views among teachers as to the wants of the schools.

One hundred dollars shall annually be set apart from the school fund distributed among the counties for the purpose of paying the expenses of the teachers' institutes.

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance.-Character of instruction.Text-books.

Attendance. [There are separate schools for colored persons.]

Character of instruction.- [The studies required in the public schools may be inferred to be those in which teachers are examined for a second-grade certificate.] All public schools receiving aid from the State shall give instruction in physiology and hygiene, with special reference to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and narcotics, instruction to be orally when the pupils can not read. Text-books. That on and after the first Saturday in April, A. D. 1891, the school commissioners or trustees of each school district or districts in the State shall furnish the necessary text-books free for the use of all the pupils enrolled in the free schools of the State in the manner hereinafter provided.

The school commissioners or trustees shall order from the publisher or publishers the books which have been adopted by the State board of education for use in the free schools of the State, at the net contract prices at which the publishers have agreed to supply the same, as follows: There shall be a blank order book prepared by the State treasurer for the use of the school commissioners, which shall contain duplicate order blanks, with a printed list of the books which have been adopted by the State board of education, and the net contract prices at which the publishers agree to furnish the same.

Duplicate orders shall be filled out and signed by at least two of the school com missioners, or in case of united or incorporated districts by the president and secretary of the school board; one of these orders shall be forwarded to the State treasurer, to be forwarded to the publisher or publishers, and the other shall be kept as a stub in the order book, as a voucher.

The State treasurer, on receipt of an order or orders from school commissioners, shall make an entry of the amount of the order or orders against the district or districts in a book kept for that purpose, and shall forward the order or orders at once to the publisher or publishers, requesting them on receipt of the order or orders to ship the books as directed, at the contract prices named, and send duplicate invoices or bills for the same, one to the State treasurer and the other to the district clerk of the school district to which the books are consigned.

The State treasurer shall pay the publisher or publishers out of the school fund of the State for books thus supplied, and charge the amounts so paid to the respective districts ordering said books and deduct the same from the amount to which such district or districts may be entitled under the school laws of the State: Provided, however, That the State treasurer shall pay no bill for at least thirty days from the time it is rendered, in order that he may be notified by the school commissioners of any error or failure on the part of the publisher or publishers to supply the books as ordered and directed, or as billed.

It shall be the duty of the clerk of each school district or districts to distribute the books received, as aforesaid, to the scholars of the district or districts, or their parents, guardians, or other person, as they may desire, upon receipt for the same. The clerk of each district or districts shall be responsible for the safe-keeping of the books furnished him, as aforesaid; and also for prices of books sold, as hereinafter provided, to parents, guardians, scholars, or other persons. Any money or the value of the books which such clerks shall fail to account for according to law may be recovered in the name of the State by the county superintendent before a justice of the peace, as other accounts, when the amount does not exceed the sum of $200. Such clerk shall, at the expiration of his term of office, turn over to his successor in office all books on hand and take a receipt for the same, which shall be his voucher in settlement.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the school commissioners to provide for the safekeeping and care of the books which shall be returned by the pupils at the close of the annual school term to the clerk of the district, or to such other person as the school commissioners shall designate. They shall also keep a separate account of the amount expended for books, and shall report it under a separate item in the annual settlement required by law. The school commissioners may furnish books at cost to pupils who wish to replace books lost or wilfully destroyed, or who may wish to own their books, and shall turn the proceeds of all such sales into the school fund of the district and report the amount at the time of the annual settlement to State auditor.

That the text-books for the colored schools of the State shall be ordered by the county superintendents of the respective counties through the county treasurer of each county. It shall be the duty of the county treasurer, upon the order of the county superintendent, to purchase and furnish text-books to such colored school or schools as the county superintendent shall designate, and the county treasurer shall charge the same to the said school or schools, and deduct the amount thereof from the State appropriation due such school or schools.

The county treasurer shall receive $50 from the State appropriation for colored schools for his services in purchasing text-books for that class of schools.

4. FINANCES.

Funds (permanent or special). -Taxation.

Funds (permanent or special). -The clear income of the school fund of this State is apportioned among the school districts as follows:

1. The dividends on an investment in 5,000 shares of Farmers' Bank stock, made under act of February 21, 1837; the interest on $131,750 of a bond of the State of Delaware to the school fund of the said State, at 6 per cent interest, and the

ED 94-71

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