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Preliminary training.- [The State supports two institutions for the education of teachers, one for men as a department of South Carolina University and the other for women, called the Winthrop Training School for Teachers.]

Meetings.-[Authority is given to have two kinds of institutes, State and county.]

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance.-Character of instruction.Text-books.

Attendance.-White and colored persons are taught in separate schools. It is not lawful for anyone under 6 or over 18 to attend any free public school.

Character of instruction. -The subjects taught in the free schools are, as far as practicable, orthography, rea reading, g, writing, arithmetic, geography, English grammar, history of the United States and of South Carolina, the principles of the Constitution and the laws of the United States and of South Carolina, morals and good behavior. For the purpose of establishing and maintaining graded or other public schools in any city, incorporated town, or village, such corporation is declared to be a separate school district.

Text-books.-Owing to the racial and other conditions the State board of examiners adopted the following: The list of text-books shall be elective. From the list the county board of examiners shall adopt a series which may be emended before the expiration of thirty days in case of complaint. The books once selected are not to be changed for a period of five years. Any teacher using nonselected books forfeits pay for the period during which they are used, and a teacher may refuse to teach a child who has not the proper books.

4. FINANCES.

Funds (permanent and special).-Taxation.

Funds (permanent and special). -The proceeds of all lands given by the United States for educational purposes or gifts from individuals and appropriations by the State for such purposes and all escheats shall be invested and preserved as a State school fund, and the revenue shall be appropriated for the purposes of free public schools. (See also heading Organization of system; State superintendent.

Taxation.-[The Constitution of 1895 provides for a poll tax of $1. Whenever this tax does not give an amount equal to $3 for each child enrolled in the public schools of a county, a State tax shall be levied and distributed to such counties. But after 1898 a tax shall be levied by the general assembly to keep the schools open for the period to be named by that body. County boards of commissioners shall levy an annual tax of 3 mills for school purposes. A school district may levy tax if authorized by general assembly.]

GEORGIA.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State board of education.-State school commissioner. County board of education. County school commissioner.School trustees.City board of education.

State board of education. The governor, the attorney-general, secretary of state, the comptroller-general, and the State school commissioner shall constitute the State board of education, of which the governor shall be president. The board may receive and hold in trust for the State all property granted, shall have a suitable seal, and shall constitute an advisory board with which the State commissioner may consult in cases of doubt, or a body to which appeals from the decision of the State commissioner may be carried through the county superintendent. But upon any question involving the construction of the school laws the concurrence of a majority of the whole board shall be necessary in order to give validity to the decision. It shall be the duty of the board in 1893 and every ten years thereafter to have estimated the population of school age based on the last United States

census.

State school commissioner. -The State school commissioner shall be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. He shall have a suitable office at the seat of government, at which shall be kept the books and papers of his office. He shall be charged with the administration of the school laws and a general superintendence of the business relating to the common schools of the State, and from time to time shall transmit to the proper local officers such blanks and instructions as the law or occasion may require. He shall visit as often as possible the several counties of the State for the purpose of inspection and of counseling school officers or the people. He shall make an annual report to the general assembly, in which he shall present the condition and amount of all funds and property appropriated to the purpose of public education, the number of common and public schools of the various grades, and the number of pupils attending them, by sex, color, and the branches pursued, the average cost a pupil, the plans for the management, extension, and improvement

of the common schools, the number of children of school age in the State (with as much accuracy as possible), also the numState (with ber of private schools and colleges, their attendance by sex, and branches pursued, and the average cost per scholar of tuition in private schools and colleges. He shall organize a teachers' institute in each county, and shall be empowered to require local officers to furnish reports.

He shall receive $2,000 annually for his services and all his necessary traveling expenses, postage, and the like. He shall be entitled to employ one clerk at a salary not to exceed $1,200. All the expenses of his office shall be paid out of the State school fund after being audited by the State board.

County board of education.-Each county shall constitute one school district, which shall be under a county board of education. The grand jury of each county (except in counties where the election of the county board of education is otherwise provided for) shall, from time to time, select from the citizens of their county five freeholders, who shall constitute the county board of education, three of whom shall be elected for two years and two for four years, and thereafter for terms of four years, but no one interested in the sale of schoolbooks shall be eligible to election as a member of any board of education or as county school commissioner. The board shall elect one of their number president and the county school commissioner shall serve as secretary.

The board shall meet four times during the year at the county court-house. Its members shall be exempt from road, jury, and militia duty, but shall not receive other compensation. It shall employ teachers, divide the county into subdistricts, purchase, lease, or rent school sites, build, repair, or rent schoolhouses, purchase maps, globes, and school furniture, etc., and sell schoolhouse sites. It shall provide as far as practicable the same facilities for both races in respect to attainments and length of term time, hear all local controversies in regard to the construction of school law, with an appeal to the State school commissioner, name the text-books to be used, and may establish evening and manual-labor schools. In 1888 and every ten years thereafter the board is required to have enumerated the population 6 to 18. (See City boards of education.)

County commissioner of education.-Each county board of education shall, from the citizens of its county, select a county commissioner of education, who shall be ex officio county superintendent of the common schools for four years. Before election the applicants for the position shall be examined by the president of the county board of education or by some one appointed by him or the board, upon written or printed questions which shall be furnished to the board by the State school commissioner, the examination to be upon the subjects taught in the common schools, the science and theory of common-school teaching and government, and upon such other subjects as the State school commissioner may deem proper. The board shall then elect the applicant standing the highest, taking into consideration the moral character, business qualifications, and general availability of each applicant. The appointee shall be required to give bond and take the oath of office, and may be removed for cause.

The county commissioner shall examine all applicants for licenses to teach in their respective counties, giving previous public notice of the day upon which the examinations are to occur. He may invite such persons as he may think proper to assist in these examinations, shall grade the papers, and revoke licenses for cause. He shall be the medium of communication between the State school commissioner and the subordinate school officers, and he shall visit each school in his county at least once during the school term (or oftener if ordered by the board) without notice to the teachers for the purpose of inspecting its management and the modes of instruction and of giving such advice and making such suggestions tending to elevate its character and efficiency. He shall be the agent of the county board in procuring such school furniture, apparatus, and educational requisites as they may order to be purchased, and shall see that none but the prescribed text-books are used. He shall audit all accounts of teachers and others before an application is made to the county board for an order for payment. His compensation shall be fixed by the county board at not more than $3 a day for each day of service fixed by the board, to be paid out of the educational fund furnished to the county. He shall make a report of the school operations of the preceding year to the grand jury, and place his books before them for examination, and the jury shall take proper notice of the matters thus brought to their attention.

Subdistrict school trustees. The county board shall establish in each subdistrict one or more schools for white and one or more for colored children, as near the center as may be in case of one school. If the county board deem it necessary they may appoint three intelligent, upright citizens of each subdistrict as school trustees, to serve three years, one retiring annually. The trustees shall supervise the school operations of their subdistricts, visit the schools, make such recommendations to the county boards as may appear best; and recommend persons for teachers' places, which it shall be the duty of the county boards to choose. The trustees shall report annually to the county board, or oftener if required.

City board of education. -City and county boards shall have enumerated the children of 6 to 18 years of age through one or more competent and reliable persons, who shall go from house to house making a thorough canvass by sex and race. The persons so employed shall be known as enumerators of the school census, and shall take and report any additional statistics required by the State school commissioner. They shall receive $2 per diem or less. (Local systems are created by special laws, in some cases ratified by the vote of the people.)

2. TEACHERS.

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

Appointment, qualifications, and duties. The county board of education is empowered to employ teachers, and the contracts shall be in writing and signed in duplicate by the teacher and by the county school commissioners; but it shall be the right of subdistrict school trustees to recommend the persons to be appointed, provided they be duly licensed and are the choice of the community to be served.

The county commissioners shall examine all applicants for licenses to teach, giving previous public notice of the day upon which the examinations are to take place, and shall invite such persons as they think proper to assist. Applicants shall be examined upon orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, and the science and practice of teaching in common schools. The examinations shall be held throughout the State on a day day or days to be fixed by the State school commissioner, and by questions prepared and sent out by him to the county school commissioners, the answers to which shall be graded according to rules also prescribed by the State commissioner. No special examination shall be ordered except in great emergencies, in which case the county school commissioner or some competent person under his authority shall prepare the questions, but the licenses granted on such examination shall be valid only until the next examination and only in the county of issue. The county board shall have power, if they deem best, to employ teachers at a salary.

After thorough examination of the papers submitted by applicants for licenses as teachers upon the examination conducted the county school commissioner shall issue to the applicants certificates and grant licenses of three grades. A license of the first grade shall continue in force for three years, a license of the second grade for two years, and a license of the third grade for one year, in the county of issue, but good in another when indorsed by its county commissioner. All applicants must submit written testimonials of good character. If any applicant shall have shown unusual intelligence in his examination the county commissioner shall forward such papers to the State school commissioner, together with his certificate as to the good moral and professional character of the applicant, and if satisfactory to the State commissioner he shall issue a permanent teacher's license to the applicant, which shall be good in any county, and may be revoked only by the State commissioner. The county commissioner may revoke licenses issued by himself.

It shall be the duty of the teachers to file with the county commissioner at the expiration of each term of school a report of the whole number of scholars admitted to the school during the term, by sex, color, and name, the average attendance, the branches taught, and the number of pupils engaged in each branch, and such other statistics as may be required. Until such report shall have been filed and sworn to it shall not be lawful for the county commissioner to audit the account of said teacher for services rendered.

Preliminary training. There shall be established in connection with the State university a Štate normal school for the education and training of teachers for the common schools of this State. The school shall be under a commission composed of the State school commissioner and the chancellor of the university and three citizens of Georgia experienced in teaching, to be appointed by the governor, one for two, one for four, and one for six years, but the school shall be under the management of its board of trustees, which, in connection with the commission, shall prescribe such special features and departments as they may think the progress and advancement of the times require. They shall also have authority to make the necessary rules and regulations for the government of the school, and fix the number of its officers. Tuition shall be free to all white male students resident of Georgia; to nonresidents it shall be $150 per annum, but all free students shall obligate themselves in writing to teach within the next five years after their leaving the school for a period equal to that of their attendance upon its course. Certificates of proficiency may be granted by the faculty stating stating in general terms what branches of education the holder is prepared to teach, which shall entitle to teach in the common schools without further examination according to the grade specified in the certificate. Diplomas may be issued to graduates under conditions prescribed by the board of trustees.

Meetings. It shall be the duty of the State commissioner to organize a teachers' institute in each county for the assembling and instruction of the common-school teachers. The institute shall hold an annual session of one week's duration during June, July, or August, or in some other month, as the commissioner shall deem best. The commissioner may combine the annual sessions of any number of institutes, shall prepare a programme of exercises with a syllabus of each subject named in the programme for each day's session, shall require county superintendents to cooperate at their regular per diem, shall require teachers and those having licenses to attend them, and shall cause the proper county school commissioner to fine absentees. But there shall be separate institutes for white and for colored teachers. He shall employ an expert, named by the county school authorities, at a salary of $25 for the week, to give instruction in the institute, and shall pay teachers whose schools have to be closed on account of their attendance at the institute, their regular salary.

3. SCHOOLS.

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

Attendance.-Admission to all common schools of the State shall be gratuitous to all children between the ages of 6 and 18 years residing in the subdistricts in which the schools are located; but white children and colored children shall not attend the same school, and no teacher receiving or teaching white and colored children in the same school shall be paid from the common school fund. School must be maintained at least three months, or the county forfeits its proportion of the State school fund.

Character of instruction.- There shall be a thorough system of common schools for education in the elementary branches of an English education only, as nearly uniform as practicable. The county board may establish a suitable number of evening schools for the instruction of such youths over 12 years of age as are prevented from attending day schools. The board may also organize in each county one or more manual labor schools on such a plan as shall be self-sustaining, provided the plan be submitted to and approved by the State board of education.

Text-books. The county board of education shall prescribe from time to time what text-books and books of reference shall be used in the common schools of the county, provided that the Bible shall not be excluded and that books once fixed upon shall not be changed for five years save by a three-fourths vote of all the board. But no books of a sectarian or sectional character shall be introduced. No teacher shall receive pay for a pupil using other than the text-books prescribed.

Buildings. The county board shall have power to purchase, lease, or rent school sites, to build, repair, or rent schoolhouses, to purchase maps, globes, etc., and to make all other arrangements of this kind necessary to the efficient operation of the school under their care, and the board is invested with the title, care, and custody of all schoolhouses, sites, school libraries, apparatus, or other property belonging to subdistricts.

4. FINANCES.

Funds (permanent or special).-Taxation.

Funds. The poll tax, special tax on shows and exhibitions, all taxes on the sale of spirituous and malt liquors, dividends upon the stock of the State in the Bank of the State of Georgia, Bank of Augusta, Georgia Railroad and Banking Com

serv

pany, and such other means or moneys as now belong by law to the common-school fund, one-half of the proceeds of the rental of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, or one-half its annual net earnings, as ascertained by subtracting the annual cost of running and keeping up the road from the annual gross receipts under any change of policy which the State may adopt hereafter in reference to it, all endowments, devises, evises, gifts, and bequests made or hereafter to be made to the State or State board of education, the proceeds of any commutation tax for military ice, all taxes which may be assessed on such domestic animals as from their nature and habits are destructive to other property, all money received by the State agricultural department for the inspections of oils and fertilizers in excess of what may be deemed necessary to defray the expenses of that department, the net amount arising from the hire of convicts of this State after all expenses that are now or may hereafter be made a charge upon the proceeds arising from that source shall have been deducted, money arising from the lease of oyster lands [and the income], any educational fund now belonging to the State (except the endowment of and debt due to the University of Georgia) shall be a part of the commonschool fund of the State; and when received and receipted for, from whatever source received, it shall be the duty of the legal receiving officer to keep the same separate and distinct from other funds. The fund shall be used for educational purposes and none other, and shall not be invested in bonds of the State or in other stock, except when investment is necessary to carry out the conditions of an endowment, devise, gift, or bequest. The manner of distributing the fund is given below.

Taxation.-Beginning with the taxes for the year 1894, all moneys belonging to the common-school fund of the State, including poll tax and specific taxes, shall be paid direct into the State treasury in like manner as other State taxes are paid, and said common-school fund shall be used for none other than common-school purposes, as provided by law: Provided, however, That when the poll tax from any county is received into the treasury said poll tax shall be placed on the books of the treasurer to the credit of the county from which it comes, and shall form a part of the apportioned fund belonging exclusively to that county, in accordance with the general plan hereinafter set out. On the 31st day of March, the 30th day of June, the 30th day of September, and the 31st day of December annually, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the treasurer of the State shall place to the credit of each county in the State, on his books, its proportionate part of the commonschool fund in the treasury on each of said dates, such proportionate part to be determined by the State school commissioner, the comptroller-general, and the treasurer, and to be based upon the proportion which the school population in each county bears to the school population in the State, as shown by the last school census: Provided, however, That the salaries of the State school commissioner and his clerk or clerks, and the expenses of his office, and any other items properly chargeable under the law to the general school fund, shall be deducted out of the said fund before making the aforesaid apportionment to the counties.

On the 30th day ay of April, the 31st day day of July, the 31st day of October, and the 31st day of January of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, the county school commissioner of each county shall, under the approval of the county board of education, transmit to the State school commissioner an itemized statement of the various sums due and unpaid by the board of education on said several dates, whether the same be for teachers' salaries, for pay of the county school commissioner, or for any other item of expense properly chargeable under the law to the county board of education; and when said itemized statements have been approved by the State school commissioner and presented to the governor, the governor shall issue his warrants upon the treasurer for all the funds standing to the credit of each several county upon the books of the treasurer, or for such part thereof as may be needed to liquidate the indebtedness of the county board of education of such county, as shown by each itemized statement aforesaid. And the State treasurer shall, upon presentation of the warrants aforesaid, draw his checks for the amounts of said warrants in favor of the county school commissioners of the several counties, and the State school commissioner shall immediately transmit said checks to the several county school commissioners, who shall promptly disburse the money so received in payment of the sums set out in the itemized statement aforesaid; and if the money is not sufficient to pay said sums in full, then it shall be prorated among the various items. And the county boards of education are hereby authorized to make their contracts in such manner that the amounts payable to teachers shall become due on the last day of each quarter for services rendered during that quarter.

In order to make the apportionment herein provided, and in order to make quarterly payments to the teachers in the common schools of the State, the treasurer

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