DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION SECRETARY'S MINUTES FIRST SESSION.-WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1903 The department was called to order in the Normal Art School at 9:30 A. M. by President Harlan P. French, Albany, N. Y. After the secretary had reported the names of school boards which expressed their willingness to attend, the chair introduced Calvin W. Edwards, president of the board of education, Albany, N. Y., who read a paper on "School Boards: Number of Members, Terms of Service, Mode of Selection." Grafton D. Cushing, president of the school committee of Boston, opened the discussion. He was followed by W. W. Chalmers, Toledo, O.; Calvin M. Woodward, St. Louis, Mo.; E. A. Donelan, St. Joseph, Mo.; and J. E. Armstrong, Chicago, Ill. B. F. Hunsicker, president of the board of education of Reading, Pa., then read a paper on "School Boards - Their Functions: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial." Discussion followed by Superintendent Thomas M. Balliet, Springfield, Mass.; Albert Gehring, Cleveland, O.; Mr. Freeman, Washington, D. C.; and Mr. Armstrong, Chicago, Ill. The chair then appointed the following committees: The department convened at 9: 30 A. M., President French in the chair. The president called for the report of the special committee appointed last year on School Savings Banks. Dr. E. A. Donelan, chairman of the committee, reported the following: Resolved, That the penny savings bank system should be established in our schools. Your committee to whom the foregoing resolution was referred, having had the same under consideration, would respectfully recommend its adoption for the following reasons: Many children form habits of spending their change, or money received, for articles that are not only injurious to health, but lead to extravagant habits. Economy and frugality should be inculcated in children while young, that they may not become spendthrifts, and come to want in after-years. In youth good habits must be fixed. Adopted. The discussion preceding the adoption was participated in by Mrs. Josephine Ahnefeldt Goss, Grand Rapids, Mich., and J. H. Thiry, Long Island City, N. Y., the "father of the school savings bank system in the United States." Hon. Charles Holden, member of the board of education of Grand Rapids, Mich., then read a paper on "New Departures in School Administration." 897 "Consolidation of Rural Schools" was the subject of papers read by Hon. William K. Fowler, state superintendent of public instruction of Nebraska, and John T. Prince, agent for Massachusetts state board of education. Alfred Bayliss, state superintendent of public instruction of Illinois, and Lewis D. Bonebrake, state school commissioner of Ohio, participated in the discussion. B. F. Hunsicker, of the Committee on Resolutions, then submitted the following report: WHEREAS, This year's meeting of the Department of School Administration has revealed a strong interest in the subject of school-board organization, and more particularly as to the mode and manner of selection, number of members, and representation; be it Resolved, That the president be, and he is hereby, instructed to appoint a committee of five, representing various sections of the country, who shall gather and formulate the necessary statistics and present the same with their conclusions at next year's meetings; and be it further Resolved, That said conclusions shall embody, as far as possible, definite recommendations as to the question of large or small school boards, ward or representation at large, long or short terms, appointive or elective systems, etc. Adopted. (Signed) MISS SARAH J. WILMARTH. The Committee on Nominations reported the following list of officers to serve the ensuing year: For President-B. F. Hunsicker, Reading, Pa. For Vice-President-Grafton D. Cushing, Boston, Mass. For Secretary-William George Bruce, Milwaukee, Wis. For Executive Committee-Harlan P, French, Albany, N. Y.; Albert Gehring, Cleveland, O.; Israel H. Peres, Memphis, Tenn.; Charles Holden, Grand Rapids, Mich. A. E. Donelan then introduced the following resolution: WHEREAS, Manual training schools or industrial education, is approved by our best educators; Resolved, That in order to secure greater results and give all classes an opportunity to share in its advantages, children in the seventh and eighth grades should spend an hour each day in educating the hand in some practical art that will serve them in after life. The resolution was referred to the Executive Committee, with recommendation that a report be submitted next year. The president-elect of the department, Hon. B. F. Hunsicker, of Reading, Pa., was then introduced to the meeting. After a brief address, he declared the department adjourned. WILLIAM GEORGE BRUCE, Secretary. PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS SCHOOL BOARDS. NUMBER OF MEMBERS, TERMS OF SERVICE, AND MODE OF SELECTION I CALVIN W. EDWARDS, PRESIDENT OF BOARD OF EDUCATION, ALBANY, N. Y. Some boards are large, and others are larger. Some are elected by wards and some at large. In some cities they are elected at the same time with other city officials, while in others special elections are held for the members of their boards of education. In some places only those who are voters can vote for members of the board; in others, all taxpayers can vote for them; while in still others the fair sex can exercise the voting prerogative, provided they are taxpayers or have children in the schools. A law of Georgia provides that in the city of Savannah nine men shall constitute the board of education, and that "they are created a body politic and corporate, with perpetual succession of members, for the purpose aforesaid," etc. In other words, if one of the members should die or resign, the remaining members of the board elect his successor. Some boards are appointed by the mayor; others, by the common council; still others, by the judges; and in one case at least the governor of the state appoints a portion of the board. Usually boards of education are considered city officials, but in New York state the highest court has decided that they are state officials. There are probably other methods than those already quoted for the creating or constituting of boards of education, but enough have been cited to show that there is great diversity in this direction, as there also appears to be in the number of members considered necessary to administer the school affairs of a municipality. NUMBER OF MEMBERS It is not necessary to go into details to show the varying size of boards in different cities, but, so far as I know, the smallest boards consist of three members. I have no means of knowing which city now has the largest membership in its board, but I was amused to learn that "one New England town had originally two hundred school trustees—one for the direction and supervision of each school-teacher in the public-school system." I also learn that in 1875 the membership of the Boston School Committee was 116. This great diversity in the manner of constituting school boards, and the difference in the number of their members, which have existed for many years, show clearly that the American people have been simply experimenting in this direction in order to discover, if possible, the best system. It has remained for Albany, however-which was the first city in the world to establish a telephone system, the first to establish electric street lighting, the first to run electric cars, and the first in many other things-to take the lead also in this and establish the ideal system—a small board, a long term of service, with members selected by the mayor. I am not prepared to say that a board consisting of three members is large enough properly to care for the interests of the schools in such cities as Boston, New York, and Chicago; but I do contend that in cities of less than 250,000 three members will accomplish more for the good of the schools, and work with less friction, than a larger board, and that limiting the number of members in the large cities to the smallest number possible will materially increase the usefulness of such boards. Speaking now of the cities of the second class, I shall be met with the objection that it would be impossible for a board of three members to attend to all the manifold details connected with the government of the schools, repairs to buildings, building new schools, transferring of teachers and pupils, and so forth, unless they gave up all other business and devoted their whole time to it. That would be a valid objection, under the laws governing a large majority of the school boards of this country, but my answer to that objection would be: Change the laws and relieve the boards from all these details by putting them where they belong, under the charge of the paid officials of the board or city. I can perhaps better illustrate my idea on this phase of the subject by stating some of the provisions of the law under which the present board of three members was appointed at Albany, N. Y.; and my point may be made clearer by showing the practical working rather than by quoting the text of the law. Under the old law, all transfers of teachers and pupils from one school to another were passed upon either by the whole board or by a committee. Under the new law, the matter of transfers is placed in the hands of the superintendent of schools, who is a paid officer of the board. Under the old law, the matter of repairs of school buildings and the erection of new schoolhouses came entirely under the charge of the board, and it was obliged to get out plans and specifications, advertise for bids, let contracts, and supervise the work generally. Under the present law, in the case of repairs, ordinary or general, the superintendent of buildings-another paid officer of the board-examines what is to be done and makes his report, giving estimated cost of such repairs as are necessary. In the case of extensive repairs of any kind, the board visits the schools to examine as to the necessity of such repairs, and, when satisfied that the repairs should be made, simply passes a resolution to that effect and sends a letter to the city engineer asking him to see that the work is done. The city engineer, who is a paid city official, draws the plans and specifications, advertises for bids, lets the contracts, and supervises the work. When the work is completed, he reports the same to the board, and, if the work is satisfactory, the president of the board approves the bill and the incident is closed. The appointment of teachers is equally free from detail. The board has the appointment of all the teachers in the high school, and the principals of all grammar and primary schools; but for the assistant teachers a merit list is made up once a year by the superintendent from reports of the training-school principal and teachers, and from the state department. This merit list is submitted to the board and, when approved, remains unchanged for a year, and whenever there is a vacancy, the person at the head of the list is chosen; and the rule to take the name from the head of the list is absolute. The transferring of these details to others does not in any sense |