THE EDUCATION BILL OF 1906 FOR ENGLAND AND WALES

AS IT PAST THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

By ANNA TOLMAN SMITH.

ORIGIN AND GENERAL PURPOSE OF THE BILL.

The new education bill for England and Wales was introduced into the House of Commons April 9, 1906, by the Hon. Augustine Birrell, minister of education.a It reached committee stage early in June, in which stage, under closure, its consideration was completed within the limit of twenty-three appointed days. It was reported to the House with amendments July 27, and past at the third reading by a majority of 192 in a total vote of 546.

The measure was thus completed in the lower house in time to reach the second reading in the House of Lords before Parliament rose (August 4), which insures for it their earliest consideration in the autumn session.

When the Conservative ministry resigned in December last and a Liberal ministry was formed, it was understood that education would be their first concern; the election which followed placed the matter beyond doubt; it gave the Liberals a majority of 61 in the House of Commons over all possible combinations, and a combined Liberal and Labor majority of 145. The electoral campaign had been fought out mainly over the educational question—that is, the question of popular control of schools supported by local taxes. In this respect the policy of the new bill was practically settled before Parliament assembled. In the Commons, the controversy between Liberals and Conservatives over the main question has been mingled with the conflicting demands of Nationalists, who in this matter stand for the Roman Catholic ideal, and those of the Labor party, whose call is for secular schools. After four months of exhaustive discussion the bill has emerged from the House, changed indeed from its original form, but intact as regards its main purposes.

By the provisions of the bill the dual system of board and voluntary schools established by the law of 1870 and strengthened by the law of 1902 is abolished.

After the 1st of January, 1908, every school supported by public taxes is to be under the control of the local authorities. Religious tests for teachers required heretofore in voluntary schools are abolished.

So far as the public provision of religious teaching is concerned, the simple Scripture lesson, the famous "Cowper-Temple” teaching allowed by the law of 1870 in board schools, is to be the universal system.

Special arrangements for denominational teaching in the voluntary schools transferred to the local authorities are made under the head of "facilities;" but this teaching is not to be given at public expense, nor during the recognized school hours, nor by the regular teachers, excepting in special cases coming under the "extended facilities clause." The latter clause with its corollary, the “contracting-out" scheme by which, under certain conditions, a denominational school may go back to the old basis established by the law of 1870—that is, may share in the Government grant as a private school-these complicate the measure without, however, the sacrifice of its vital principle.

As regards the local administration of schools the bill proposes important modifications in the system established by the law of 1902. In every aspect, therefore, the measure is

a The official title of the head of the Government board of education is "President of the board of education," but as Mr. Birrell is a member of the cabinet he is generally referred to as minister of education.

seen to be the outcome of historic conditions apart from which it is unintelligible. Hence, as preliminary to the presentation of the full text of the bill, it is proposed to consider here, first, the main particulars of the origin and growth of the existing school system in England (pp. 8-14); secondly, the main clauses of the bill in the light of the parliamentary discussions (pp. 14-31).

The full text of the bill follows on pages 31-40.

HISTORIC ANTECEDENTS.

ORIGIN OF THE DENOMINATIONAL OR VOLUNTARY SCHOOL SYSTEM.

Prior to 1870 the only schools for the poor in England were schools established by private bequests or by philanthropic and ecclesiastical efforts. Early in the nineteenth century two societies, the British and Foreign School Society, which required Bible teaching without sectarian doctrine in its schools,a and the National Society, auxiliary to the Church of England, entered systematically upon the work. They roused public interest in the cause, established schools, elementary and normal, and secured large sums for their support by annual subscriptions. The passage of the reform bill of 1832, which greatly extended the franchise in England, awakened a new sense of peril from the ignorance of the masses, and in the following year (1833) a Parliamentary grant of £20,000 ($100,000) was made in aid of elementary education. It was allotted to the two societies named, to be applied by them to the building of schoolhouses. The sense of responsibility in the matter grew apace. Leading statesmen, in particular Lord Brougham and Lord John Russell, took up the cause. The grant was annually renewed, increased in amount, and its applications extended. In 1839 a committee of the privy council was formed for the administration of the grant, and other religious denominations (Roman Catholic and Wesleyan) were soon after admitted to its benefits. Thus in 1870 there was already in existence a system of denominational schools, or, as they were termed, "voluntary" schools, aided by the state, but without compulsory existence or public control.

THE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ACT, 1870.

Like the grant of 1833, the first education law for England and Wales, the Forster law of 1870, followed a reform law (1867) giving new extensions to the franchise. To the everincreasing danger from ignorance there was added at this time the pressure of competition with nations more keenly alive to the industrial relations of science and art.

The revelations made by Mr. Forster in the speech presenting his bill roused the Government from its apathy. "More or less imperfectly," he said, "1,500,000 children are educated in the schools that we help. * * * Of those between six and ten we have helped about 700,000 more or less, but we have left unhelped 1,000,000; while of those between ten and twelve, we have helped 250,000 and left unhelped at least 500,000." In the great manufacturing centers hundreds of children of school age, the citizens and artizans of the future, ran wild in the streets. In Liverpool it was estimated that 20,000 out of 80,000 had no schooling; in Manchester 16,000 out of 65,000. In London the condition was appalling. "Where state help has been most wanted," said Mr. Forster, "state help has been least given."

To complete the voluntary system, "to fill up the gap," was the professed purpose of the Forster bill. Two principles ran thru its clauses, namely—

Legal enactment that there shall be efficient schools everywhere throughout the Kingdom. Compulsory provision of such schools if and where needed, but not unless proved to be needed.c

a In the Cowper-Temple clause of the education law of 1870 was embodied substantially the following regulation of this society: "No catechism or particular religious tenets shall be taught in the schools." Cited from 17th Report of the Society (1822), p. 51.

b A verbatim report with indexes of the debate in Parliament during the progress of the elementary education bill, 1870, p. 6.

c Debate in Parliament, p. 8.

To this end there was set up side by side with the voluntary schools the machinery of a public school system. In every parish and borough the election of school boards was authorized, and to these bodies were imparted all the powers necessary for carrying on elementary schools, including that of borrowing money on the security of the school fund for building schoolhouses and of claiming rates (local property taxes) to make up any deficiency in their income from other sources. The election of school boards was left optional with the ratepayers, excepting that in any district where school provision was inadequate if the ratepayers failed to act, Government was to order the election. Thus at a critical moment in the national life the mandate of the state and the forces of municipal activity were turned to the service of education.

In the debate over this famous measure the question of religious instruction loomed large. As regards the board schools it was disposed of by the well-known Cowper-Temple clause forbidding them to teach any "religious catechism or religious formulary which is distinctive of any particular denomination." (Education act, 1870, sec. 14 (2).) The status of the voluntary schools in this respect remained intact, but they were bound by a "conscience clause" to permit the withdrawal from religious instruction of all children whose parents should so request. (Education act, 1870, sec. 7 (1-23).) As, however, the teachers in these schools were subject to religious tests the denominational spirit was all-pervasive.

It was admitted by both parties in 1870 that denominational schools under private control had no claim on the local taxes. On the other hand, the Government grant was allotted on the same basis to all schools. The amount in each case was determined by compliance with specified conditions as to buildings and teaching staff and "the results" of the teaching of elementary branches as reported by Government inspectors. It was further proportioned to the amount raised from local sources. These comprised, for voluntary schools, income from subscriptions, endowments, and fees; for board schools, local taxes and fees. The Government grant, which reached in 1870 the sum of £562,000 ($2,810,000), it was anticipated would eventually furnish 50 per cent of the school income. This proportion has, in fact, been greatly exceeded.

The Forster act of 1870, which carried the impetus of Gladstone's support, forms the groundwork of all subsequent school legislation in England. The limits of Government action in the matter have been extended from time to time, in particular by the laws of 1876 and 1880 establishing compulsory school attendance, and the law of 1891 providing an additional grant for schools remitting fees, following thus the lead of the chief school boards, which had already made elementary instruction free. Until 1897, however, when a special aid grant was allowed for voluntary schools, there was no departure from the underlying principles of the original law.

PROGRESS OF BOARD SCHOOLS.

The impressive fact in the history of the dual school system created by the Forster Act is the phenomenal growth of the board schools. In 1873 they enrolled less than 8 per cent of the school children; in 1883 the proportion had risen to 32.7 per cent; and in 1902, the year school boards were abolished, to 47.9 per cent. Moreover, the elected boards were readily responsive to public needs; they appealed to civic pride; they represented municipal interests. In the great manufacturing and commercial centers of the country they developed higher grade schools of modern type and evening schools for the benefit of the artizan classes. Cities were transformed by their influence. "I remember," said Mr. Birrell in the speech on presenting his bill, "what my own native town-city it has become in my absence-was like before 1870. At least a quarter of its children were running idle, ragged, uneducated about its streets. The schools of the poor were nowhere to be seen. You could almost count on your fingers the lovers of education in that great place. Now the public elementary schools of Liverpool are among the best in the world. It has a training college connected with the Roman Catholics which attracts visitors from all parts of Europe, and it has a university, young indeed, but active and well endowed. Most of all

these things began with the school board; and they have made Liverpool, once a neglected city, a center, and a great center, of educational spirit and influence. What is true of Liverpool is true of dozens of other great places."a

THE STRAIN ON VOLUNTARY SCHOOLS.

It was impossible for "voluntary schools" to keep pace with this progress, which not only increased the annual expenditure for the schools, but required also costly buildings and equipment. In 1896 the school boards were spending on an average $13 for the instruction of a pupil; voluntary schools spent only $9, a difference of $4 per pupil. In the cities the difference ran up to $7 and $9 per capita. It was the difference between the steady resource of a public tax and the uncertain action of private benevolence, and, according to Sir John Gorst, former chief of the education department, was "almost entirely represented by a lower payment of the teaching staff."

Complaints of the intolerable strain upon the voluntary schools won the attention of Parliament, and in 1897 a law was passed providing an extra grant at the rate of 5s. per capita of attendance for schools of this class. The law also authorized the federation of voluntary schools and the allotment of the grant at the discretion of the governing bodies of the federation.

The slight departure in 1897 from the basis of the original school law was followed by a series of events which greatly disturbed progressive school boards. The withdrawal of the grants from the science and art department for elementary schools (1900); the Cockerton judgment to the effect that school boards could not apply the income from local taxes for instruction in subjects other than elementary,b and the minute of the board of education (April 6, 1900) fixing 15 years as the upper age limit for pupils in higher elementary schools, had already disorganized the higher grade schools when the election of 1901 brought into power a ministry distinctly committed to the preservation of denominational schools.

THE NEW CENTRAL AUTHORITY.

Reference should here be made to the law of 1899 creating a new central authority, the board of education. To this body were committed educational functions hitherto performed by the following agencies: The committee of council on education, one division of which administered the grant for elementary schools and another division the grant for science and art schools; the charity commissioners, as related to the reorganization of educational trusts and endowments; and the board of agriculture. The new law did not limit the duties of the board to elementary education; it provided for “ a consultative committee to be constituted by an order in council, consisting of persons qualified to represent the views of universities and other bodies interested in education for the purpose of framing, with the approval of the board of education, regulations for a register of teachers" and of "advising the board of education on any matter referred to them by the board." The law also authorized the board "to inspect any school supplying secondary education and desiring to be inspected." Thus the weight of Government was thrown in favor of unity and system thruout the work of public education.

THE LAW OF 1902.

The purpose of the law of 1902, as stated by Mr. Balfour in his speech on presenting the measure to the House of Commons, was "to fulfil the pledge given in the King's speech that a bill should be introduced dealing not with secondary education or with primary education in their isolation, but with both in one measure and with a view to their better coordination."

In the interest of unity and coordination the school boards created by the law of 1870

a Parliamentary Debates, 4th series, vol. 155, p. 1019.

b Rex. v. Cockerton, L. R. [1901] 1 Q. B., p. 726.
c Board of education act, 1899 (62 and 63, Vict. C., 33).

were swept out of existence, and the voluntary schools were placed upon the local taxes but without control by public authorities.

In view of the protests from both Conservatives and Liberals against such a precedent, a slight modification was made by which the local education authorities were allowed to appoint two out of six managers of voluntary schools, and at the last moment the KenyonSlaney clause was carried which placed the religious instruction under the control of these managers. (Part III, sec. 6, 2.)a

The effects of the endeavor to put sectarian schools upon the taxes, in particular the remarkable movement of passive resistance which it excited, and the united opposition of the Welsh councils, with the coercive efforts of the Government that followed, c have obscured the more important provisions of the law of 1902. These provisions relate to the local administration of schools and can not be understood without reference to conditions that made reform in this respect a matter of urgent necessity.

For elementary schools the units of local administration, as determined by the law of 1870, were towns, or, as they are technically termed, municipal boroughs, and civil parishes outside the towns.

In London, which was dealt with separately, the school districts already existing for purposes of the poor school laws were taken, and failing these, the vestries.

The choice was not ideal, but it was the best possible at the time. "We take," said Mr. Forster, "present known divisions and declare them to be school districts." These "known divisions," which seem so clear in the language of the law, were intermingled with other areas of overlapping boundaries subject to separate elections, distinct tax levies and governing powers, forming a complicated system which "it would require," Mr. Thring once said, "the genius of a local Moltke to reform."

Since 1870, however, great change has been wrought in local government in England. City administration has been unified thru the powers intrusted to elected councils (municipal corporations act of 1882), and the whole of England and Wales has been mapped out into 60 administrative counties and 61 county boroughs, having each more than 50,000 inhabitants, making, with the county of London (Greater London), 122 new administrative areas for local self-government. Each area is governed by a county council, elected like the municipal councils, by popular ballot. But these measures, which simplified local administration as a whole, further complicated that of the schools. The councils, municipal and county, were intrusted with public funds for technical education and were empowered also to levy a tax (not exceeding a penny in the pound) for the same purpose.d Hence in the cities and towns there was friction and waste of resources between school boards and the education committees of the councils. Everywhere reform was demanded, larger areas for the administration of rural schools, a paramount authority for cities and towns.

The Balfour bill supplied both these desiderata by making the councils of counties and county boroughs the education authorities in their respective areas (clause 1). But immediately, to allay the excitement in the great cities caused by the overthrow of the school boards, boroughs having more than 20,000 inhabitants and urban districts having more than 10,000 were given independent control of their schools. The fear also that higher grade schools would be discontinued was lessened by an amendment to clause 2 dealing with that subject. As originally drawn a local education authority was authorized to supply education other than elementary. The amendment made the action compulsory, and specified particularly the duty of making provision for training teachers and for coordinating all forms of education. e

a For text of Part III, see pp. 42-43.

The national extent of the movement is illustrated by the following facts reported at the Free Church Conference, Birmingham, March, 1906, by the secretary of the "national passive resistance committee:" "Up to that time 70,880 summonses had been issued against passive resisters; 2,645 sales had taken place, and there were 548 leagues, more or less, in active opposition to the education act; 176 passive resisters had gone to prison, and they were willing to go on doing so until the act was repealed." (School Government Chronicle, March 24, 1906, p. 276.)

c Education, local authority default act, 1904.

d Technical instruction acts, 1889, 1891; Local taxation (customs and excise) act, 1890.