METHODS

THE BEST METHODS OF ELECTING SCHOOL BOARDS LEWIS H. JONES, PRESIDENT OF STATE NORMAL COLLEGE, YPSILANTI, MICH. We do not, in this country, have any national system of education. So far as we may be said to have any system, it is a state system. In fact, when we speak of a city system, we mean certain phases of the state system. The appeal for plans for local management must be made to the legislature of the state. The discussion of what should be the best method

of electing school boards must be the discussion of what should go into the state law.

1. Any good school law passed by the general assembly of a state should limit the possible number of board members to five-no less, no more—whether the locality covered by the board is large or small, because, if all are present, they can act in committee of the whole on every subject, and you can always have three out of the five for a quorum.

2. Each should serve five years, necessitating the election of one member every year, and only one.

3. This election should be by the voters of the city at large. For this there are two reasons: first, it does away with the necessity of having any one portion or committee legislate for a part of the district, and places on all the responsibility for all the district; secondly, it induces better men to stand for election, and one hour per week of the service of a good business man is worth more than all the time of a ward politician. The work of the school board thus elected should be taken out of certain relations with politics. I have no sympathy with the thought that schools should be taken out of politics, but I may have with the thought that the saying expresses. I wish to remove the nomination of school boards from the control of the national organizations. No one should be eligible to the school board who has ever held office under the national organization of the great parties. Something should be done to get strong men not connected with national politics to take service in school boards. We could secure these men by separating the election from national politics. These men should be nominated thru petition. In localities with few electors, one hundred names should place a name on the ticket; in larger communities, five hundred names. No citizen should be allowed to sign more than one petition, and the first three names receiving the number of signers required for the nomination should be put on the ticket. The election should be open to the legal voters of the entire municipality.

Lastly, the function of the school board should be limited strictly to legislative work. The board should take action for the raising of revenue to support the schools, for the building of schoolhouses and their equipment, and for the fixing of the salaries of teachers. They should have

the added function of the election of a superintendent of instruction, and the period of his tenure should be fixed by state law at six years. This is better than the life tenure. It frees him from many of the charges that can readily be made when it is understood that he is in a life position and cannot be removed. No man should fear appeal to his board once in six years, if he has done his work faithfully and well. His powers and duties should be specified in the law. He should have charge of the selection, promotion, and discharge of teachers. No appeal from his decision in this matter should be allowed. There should be definite and fixed means allowing the community to displace a superintendent who should commit malfeasance in office. This would simply involve the specification of grounds on which impeachment might be based. A fair trial should be all he would ask, and thus he would be freed in the administration of the office from the annoyances that come to a man who is talked of as a czar. We must give him temporarily all the privileges and duties of a czar. This is what will produce in him conservative action.

The state law should provide for one other officer in the election on the general ticket at the same time as member of the school board. This should be an executive officer, known as "director," "business manager," or something of that kind; and his term should be three years.

These are really the essential elements belonging in any school law, and an early application for such a law should be made directly to the assembly of the state.

There is a local interest in Ohio, because the people of this state must seek from the general assembly a modified enactment of the system for the government of the state. This law should include, not only the city system, but that of villages and rural communities. The supreme court has decided that the present city charters are repugnant to the constitution of the state. This will involve the rural systems, if they are attacked. This is liable to occur at any time. There should be an appeal to the general assembly at its next session.

I believe that, if the principles I have pointed out were made applicable and adapted to the differences among communities, we should find the best methods of electing school boards.

I believe I have pointed out the direction in which all reform movements in the next few years must proceed.

DISCUSSION

SUPERINTENDENT JOHN W. CARR, Anderson, Ind.: In discussing this subject it seems appropriate to ask two questions: (1) What are the characteristics of a good schoolboard member? (2) What is the best method of election in order to secure the services of good men on school boards?

I doubt if two of us would agree on an answer to the first question. I sometimes

think, when listening to a discussion of this topic, that the summation of all school-board virtues consists in the board electing a superintendent - a professional expert, if you please; just such a fellow as I was when first elected superintendent; or am yet, for that matter-and then saying to the newly elected: "Here, Mr. Superintendent, are our schools; take them and run them after your own fashion; nominate, elect, and retain teachers; levy taxes, pass on questions financial and pedagogical; and we will ratify whatever you do. We will even anticipate your wishes, if you will only indicate them, and then take all the kicks and cuffs that come this way. We feel that we fulfilled our entire duty to the schools when we elected you!"

But this is travesty. None of us believe such things, and we only talk this when away from home. We are meek enough in the presence of our boards. We all know that no other part of the school system is more important than the school board. It is the school board that has the power to collect and expend money. It is the board that decides who shall and who shall not superintend and teach in the schools. It is the board that determines the policy of the schools; whether merit and efficiency, or politics, nepotism, and favoritism shall be dominant. It is for the members of the board to decide for themselves whether or not, with the advice and assistance of their own experts, they will control the schools, or surrender their rights and prerogatives to crafty and designing, but irresponsible, men, who seek power for plunder or the gratification of other selfish ambitions. The members of the school board are the trustees, the guardians, of the rights and privileges of little children, and their duties as such cannot be neglected or surrendered without betraying a most sacred trust.

In order to make a good member of the school board, a man must be honest, fearless, discreet, firm, unselfish. He must have business ability, sound judgment, commonsense, and the good of the schools at heart. He must also be able to command the respect of the community. As a member of the board, he should know nothing but the interest of the children, and, so far as his official acts are concerned, their welfare should be paramount to party, family, church, or even self. He should be progressive, willing to build and equip schoolhouses, willing to buy necessary apparatus and school supplies, and especially willing to employ and retain competent teachers. He should have the courage of his convictions-courage to support superintendents and teachers, courage to pay good salaries, courage to withstand the importunities of friends and the threats of enemies, courage to tell the political boss to his teeth to keep hands off, courage to do what he knows to be right and for the best interest of the schools. It is not difficult to find men who know enough to make good school trustees; the chief difficulty is to find men courageous enough to do the right under pressure.

The second question is: What is the best method of election in order to secure the services of such men on school boards, and to retain them when once elected? This question has not and cannot be fully answered. No system can be devised that is so perfect as to insure the election of good men at all times; neither is any system now in use so poor as to prevent good men from being elected occasionally; yet some methods of election are superior to others. I agree with President Jones that the board should be small. He suggests five members. For all towns and small cities I think three preferable. The advantages arising from a small board are obvious. Responsibility is fixed; each member becomes acquainted with his associates, with the superintendent, and with many of the teachers. Meetings can be held in an informal way, which is the best for the transaction of business with care and dispatch. Each member becomes acquainted with all departments of school administration, which is highly advantageous. The superintendent is able to consult with each member of the board without consuming too much of his time and energy. I also agree with Mr. Jones that each member should represent the city, and not a ward or district. Each member would then feel responsible for the schools of the entire city, and not simply for those in the locality in which he resides. His services would not be valued by the amount of improvements and the number of

appointments he is able to secure for his district, but by the efficiency of his services to the whole system.

Many of the evils of the school-board administration are due to two causes — large boards and ward representation. Large boards means administration by committees. This means rivalry, and in many instances jealousy and combinations. If a member gets a new building for his district, each other member thinks he must have an equivalent for his own. It is impossible for a member to serve on all committees; hence he knows but little about some departments of board work, and as a consequence is often indifferent or hostile. But I have serious doubts about the superiority of the mode of election advocated by Mr. Jones. As far as my observations go, the plan does not have much to commend it. But few cities have tried the experiment of choosing members at special election, nominations having been made by petition. When the experiment was tried in Indianapolis a few years ago, it was found that the persons whose names appeared near the head of the ticket ran far in advance of others who had even better qualifications than they. This was due to the fact that many voters did not know the candidates personally, so they voted for the persons whose names were first on the ticket. To my mind this is sufficient to condemn this mode of election.

I am acquainted with no method of electing school boards superior to the Indiana plan. This plan, of course, is not perfect, but it has stood the test of time and is regarded as one of the best parts of the educational system of the state. The law provides that the school board of each city, other than Indianapolis, shall consist of three members, elected by the common council. Each member represents the entire city, and is elected for three years. The law further provides that one member shall be elected each year; so, unless there is a death or resignation, there are always two experienced members. The board has the absolute power to levy taxes, not to exceed a certain per cent., and has great freedom in expenditures for school purposes. Each member must give heavy bond, and no money can be expended without the consent of a majority of the board and the knowledge of all. An itemized report of all receipts, expenditures, and debts must be made to the county auditors annually, which report is open to public inspection. While it is possible for the boards to be dominated by politics, and the individual members to be influenced by unworthy motives, yet, so far as I am aware, there are fewer scandals, less jobbery and corruption, and more efficiency than in boards appointed or elected in any other way. I do not claim that the Indiana system is perfect; yet it has much to commend it.

But neither this nor any other method of election or appointment will always insure the election of honest, capable men. If councils wish to elect competent members of school boards, they usually have no difficulty in finding them. The same is true if the people elect or the mayor appoints. So, in the last analysis, we find that public sentiment is the dominant factor in choosing good or bad members of school boards. If the most influential classes in a city really want good members of school boards, they will find some way to get them. If they are indifferent or do not want such members, bad boards will be the rule.

In molding public sentiment, many factors are to be considered. The public press is important. The pulpit is also a factor. Leading business and professional men exert a powerful influence. The acts of the different members of the board itself are very important. Not only may a system of schools, but the sentiment of an entire community, be changed by the aggressive acts of one honest, fearless school-board member -a man who is broad enough and big enough to perform his whole duty toward the schools. And finally, the efficiency of the superintendent and teachers is most powerful in molding public sentiment. Let the people once have a concrete example of good schools - schools economically administered and free from politics and favoritism of every kind; schools in which superintendent, teachers, and janitors are really efficient and public sentiment will as a rule demand good school boards.

SUPERINTENDENT W. W. CHALMERS, Toledo, O.-I have the pleasure of representing a city organized on the general plan described by President Jones. I want to differ with the last speaker in his statement that good members of school boards are more often secured by election by city councils or appointments by the mayor. Our city is organized on the general plan of just five members, each selected for five years by the city at large, and was so organized before Indianapolis adopted the plan. One of the best men on our board of education today could not have had the position with the approval of the city machine representing both the political parties. He could not have been elected by the city council, nor would he have been appointed by the mayor; yet, when nominated by petition, he received more votes than all of the other three candidates combined. I believe you can always trust the people to select good school-board members, if you keep them informed what the schools are doing. I believe you can keep politics out of the schools better by nomination by petition than by election by the city council, appointment by the mayor, or election by wards. I have had many years of experience with the old plan, and now I have had five years' experience in a city organized upon the plan outlined in Mr. Jones' paper, except that the business manager is elected by the board of education instead of being elected by the people. This plan has been tried long enough to be thoroly tested, and in practical operation it has given to Toledo a school board whose personnel cannot be excelled by any school board in the country.

SUPERINTENDENT C. G. PEARSE, Omaha, Neb.- We have had, I think, a little broadening of the topic set down in the paper. We have touched upon what sort of men to put on school boards, what they should do when elected, and what sort of superintendents they should choose. I listened with much interest to what President Jones and Superintend· ent Chalmers said, but I do not think I can quite agree to all the superintendent said about how to get good members on the board. His remarks might imply that superintendents sometimes have something to do with these selections, and we all know, of course, that superintendents never mix in anything of that sort. We must remember that this is a representative government- - a government by all the people, not by those we think are the best people; and we cannot always have members all of the kind who move in the highest circles of society. We find that legislatures always represent al classes good, bad, and indifferent; and school boards are likely to be the same. I am not sure but that the residents of "Hell's Half Acre" are sometimes entitled to representation. All citizens should be directly interested in the schools, and one of the best ways to have them interested is for them to have some voice in the selection of the men who manage the schools. The educative influence in the community of a general election of school-board members, in which general school policies are discussed, is good.

Elected boards are more independent. Public bodies usually heed their masters. If the school board is selected by the mayor, that board bows to him; if selected by the city council, the board bows to the council; if the board is elected by the people, no one man or twenty men can command the board's obedience. The elected member can say: "I serve the people."

Another important matter is the levy of taxes the determination of how much money shall be raised in taxes to carry on the schools. The people are unwilling to give the power to fix taxes to any body whose members are not elected by the people direct. I fear my friend from Indiana will find, if members of boards are not elected by direct vote of the people, that the next step proposed will be to take away from this appointed board the power to fix the amount needed for school purposes and place that power in the hands of some other elected body. This seldom fails to result disastrously for the schools.

President Jones says after the superintendent is elected let him appoint, promote, and dismiss teachers. That sounds well, and is an easy way to fix it, but I hardly think it is a wholesome power for a superintendent to have, absolutely. Sometimes we make mistakes: it is an advantage for us to have some counsel in these things. You as