No officer making complaint under any of the provisions of this act, or under the provisions of any ordinance that may be passed in pursuance thereof, shall be required to give surety for costs; and such officer shall in no way become liable for any costs that may accrue on such complaint.

Character of instruction.-The school committee shall prescribe the studies to be pursued in the public schools, and shall include instruction in the injurious effects of stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. Any two or more adjoining school districts may by concurrent vote_establish a school for the older and more advanced children of such districts. Evening schools must be maintained by the towns under the general supervision of the State board. [Instruction must be carried on in English.]

Text-books.-The school committee of every city and town shall purchase, at the expense of such city or town, text-books and other school supplies used in the public schools, and said text-books and supplies shall be loaned to the pupils free of charge, subject to rules and regulations prescribed by the committee.

In towns divided into districts, the district trustees shall provide, at the expense of the district, a suitable bookcase in each schoolroom for the books and supplies furnished by the school committee.

A change may be made in the schoolbooks in the public schools of any town by a vote of two-thirds of the whole committee, provided that no change be made in any text-book in a town oftener than once in three years, unless by the consent of the State board of education.

The sum of $3,000 shall be annually appropriated for the purchase of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other works of reference; maps, globes, and other apparatus, to be distributed to towns or districts making an appropriation for the same purpose, each town to receive not more than $200 if not divided into districts, districts to receive not more than $20, provided they have raised at least double such sums. Buildings.-All schoolhouses shall be located by the town school committee, established by the districts, when the town has not assumed control of schools, and be approved by the town school committee. No one shall maintain a nuisance. as swine in a pen, within 100 feet of the inclosure of a schoolhouse.

FINANCES.

Funds (permanent or special).—Taxation.

Permanent school fund.—The general treasurer, with the advice of the governor, shall have power to regulate the custody and safe-keeping of the fund for the support of public schools, and shall keep the same securely invested in the capital of some safe and responsible bank or banks or in bonds of towns or cities within this State. The money that shall be paid into the State treasury by auctioneers for duties accruing to the use of the State is appropriated annually to the permanent increase of the school fund. All money for the support of public schools appropriated to towns and by them forfeited shall be added to the permanent fund. [The registry and dog taxes are mentioned, and in general see Organization; Town school committee.]

Taxation. The sum of $120,000, to be denominated "teachers' money," shall be annually paid out of the income of the permanent school fund and from other money in the treasury for the support of public schools to be apportioned among the several towns by the commissioner of public schools as follows: The sum of $100 shall be apportioned for each school not to exceed 15 in number in any one town, the remainder to be apportioned in proportion to the number of children from 5 to 15 years of age, inclusive, in the several towns according to the school census then last preceding. No town shall receive any part of this appropriation unless it raise by tax for the support of public schools a sum equal to the amount it may receive from the State treasury, and neglect or refusal to levy this tax by the 1st day of July forfeits the delinquent town's share of the State appropriation. There shall be an annual appropriation for the support and maintenance of evening schools in the several towns under the general supervision of the State board of education, who shall apportion said appropriation among them.

Every town shall establish and maintain, with or without forming districts, a sufficient number of public schools, and towns may at any legal meeting grant and vote such sums of money as they shall judge necessary for the support of schools, purchase of sites for and the erection and repair of schoolhouses, and for the establishment and maintenance of school libraries.

CONNECTICUT.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State board of education.-Secretary of the State board.-Agents of the State board.-Town school visitors.-Acting school visitor or superintendent.-District committee.-Board of education.-Town school committee.-Town high school committee.-Truant officers.

State board of education.-There shall be a State board of education, composed of the governor, lieutenant-governor, its secretary, and four persons to be appointed by the general assembly for four years. Three members shall constitute a quorum at the meetings of the board. The term of one member shall expire every year. Vacancies not filled by the general assembly shall be filled by the governor and lieutenant-governor for the unexpired term of office.

The board shall have general supervision and control of the educational interests of the State; may direct what books shall be used in all its schools, but shall not direct any book to be changed oftener than once in five years; shall prescribe the form of registers to be kept in said schools and the form of blanks and inquiries for the returns to be made by the various school boards and committees; shall keep itself informed as to and ascertain the condition and progress of the public schools in the State, and shall seek to improve the methods and promote the efficiency of teaching therein, by holding, at various convenient places in the State, meetings of teachers and school officers, for the purpose of instructing in the best modes of administering, governing, and teaching public schools, and by such other means as they shall deem appropriate; but the expenses incurred in such meetings shall not exceed the sum of $3,000 in any year. It shall, on or before the Monday after the first Wednesday in January in each year, submit to the governor a report containing a printed abstract of said returns, a detailed statement of the doings of the board, and an account of the condition of the public schools, of the amount and quality of instruction therein, and such other information as will apprise the general assembly of the true condition, progress, and needs of public education. But not more than 6,000 copies of the report shall be printed.

The board shall appoint a secretary and shall have the power to appoint agents to secure the due observance of the laws relating to the instruction of children, and to grant, upon public examination, a certificate to teach.

It shall have power to expend the sums of money necessary to execute the powers conferred upon it, and shall semiannually file with the comptroller a certified account of all State moneys received or disbursed by it. All orders for drawing State money shall be signed by the secretary and countersigned by a committee of the board. It shall maintain and have general superintendence of the normal schools.

Secretary of the State board of education.-The State board of education shall appoint a secretary who shall under its direction and control perform such services in the execution of its duties and powers as the board may prescribe, and who shall be paid such salary as the board may determine. The board may also engage such clerks as are necessary to assist the secretary in performing his duties..

Agents of the State board of education.-The board shall have power to appoint an agent to secure the due observance of the laws relating to the instruction of children, and such agent shall make written report of his work to the secretary semiannually.

The state board of education may appoint agents, under its supervision and control, for terms of not more than one year, who shall enforce the law regarding the employment of children under 13 years of age. These agents shall be paid not to exceed $5 per day for time actually employed and necessary expenses, and their accounts shall be approved by the board and audited by the comptroller. The agents so appointed may be directed by the board to enforce the provisions of the law requiring the attendance of children in school and to perform any duties necessary or proper for the due execution of the duties and powers of the board. School visitors of towns.-There shall be in every town a board of school visitors, composed of three, six, or nine members, as such town may determine, divided into three equal classes. The first class shall hold office until the next annual town meeting, the second class until the second annual town meeting, and the third class until the third annual town meeting following, and until others are elected in their places; provided that when said board is composed of only three members they shall not be so divided into classes, and shall be elected for three years. Should any vacancy occur, the remaining members of the board may fill it till the next annual town meeting, when all vacancies shall be filled in the manner prescribed

in the succeeding section, and the ballots shall distinctly specify the vacancy to be filled.

School visitors shall be chosen by ballot. If the number to be chosen be two, four, six, or eight, no person shall vote for more than half of such number. If the number to be chosen be three, no person shall vote for more than two; if five, not more than three; if seven, not more than four; if nine, not more than five. That number of persons sufficient to fill the board who have the highest number of votes shall be elected. In case of a tie, that person whose name stands first or highest on the greatest number of ballots shall be elected.

Each board of school visitors shall annually choose from themselves a chairman and a secretary. They shall prescribe rules for the management, studies, classification, and discipline of the public schools, and, subject to the control of the State board of education, the text-books to be used; shall, as a board, or by a committee by them appointed, examine all persons desiring to teach in the public schools, and give to those with whose moral character and ability to teach they are satisfied, if found qualified to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and grammar thoroughly, the influence of alcohol and narcotics upon the human system, and the rudiments of geography and history, and, if required by the board, of drawing, a certificate either authorizing the holder to teach in any district in the town so long as desired, without further examination, unless specially ordered, or to teach in any such distriet during the ensuing term only, or to teach only in a district therein named during such term; and if a person is examined in and found qualified to teach other branches besides those required in all cases, such branches shall be named in his certificate. They shall revoke the certificates of such teachers as shall at any time be found incompetent to teach or to manage a school, or fail to conform to the requirements of the board; shall, if the town so direct, employ the teachers for all its public schools, after consulting with the several district committees; shall make proper rules for the arrangement, use, and safe-keeping of the district and high school libraries provided in part by the State, and approve the books selected therefor; shall fill vacancies in district offices, fix sites and approve plans for schoolhouses, and superintend any high or graded public school and evening schools; shall make returns of the number of persons over 4 and under 16 years of age, of the number 4 to 16 attending public or private schools, how many nonattendants were under 5, how many over 5 and under 8, how many over 8 and under 14, and how many over 14 and under 16 years of age. Unless these returns are duly made no money may be obtained by the school visitors from the State treasury. At the close of each term the school visitors shall certify to the selectmen that each school had been kept in all respects according to law, and shall submit a report to the town at its annual meeting, all reports and returns being duly sworn to or affirmed.

Acting school visitor.-The board of school visitors shall annually assign the duty of visiting the schools of the town to one or more of their number. If only one is assigned, he shall be called the acting school visitor or superintendent, who shall visit such schools at least twice during each term, once within four weeks after the opening, and again during the four weeks preceding the close, at which visit the schoolhouse and outbuildings, school register, and library shall be examined, and the studies, discipline, mode of teaching, and general condition of the school investigated. Half a day shall be spent in each school so visited, unless he is otherwise directed by the board. He shall, one week at least before the annual town meeting, submit to the board a full written report of his proceedings, and of the condition of the several schools during the year preceding, with plans and suggestions for their improvement, which will be presented to the town with the board's report.

Boards of education, town committees, and boards of school visitors may appoint a person, not one of their own number, to be acting school visitor or superintendent of schools, who shall have all the powers, perform all the duties, and receive the pay prescribed by law for acting school visitors, and any town at its annual town meeting may fix the compensation of the acting school visitor or superintendent.

Acting school visitors shall receive $2 a day, or pro rata for a fraction of a day, each, for the time actually employed in the performance of their duties, and such further compensation as the town may fix at an annual meeting.

District committee and board of education.-Each town shall have power to form, unite, alter, and dissolve and completely abolish school districts and parts of districts within its limits, but no new district shall be formed having fewer than 40 persons 4 to 16 years of age. In the absence of any special appointment the committee of any school district shall be its ex officio agent. Every district shall be a body corporate, and have power to erect schoolhouses and fur

nish them, to establish schools (if failing to do so the town is empowered to act), to establish and maintain a library, to employ teachers (except when the town directs its school visitors to perform that duty), and pay the wages of the teachers it employs, to levy taxes and borrow money for the forementioned purposes, to make all lawful agreements and regulations for education, and to elect its directors, as follows:

Each school district shall choose, by ballot, at the annual meeting, a committee of not more than three persons, a clerk, who shall be sworn, and a treasurer and collector, who shall hold their respective offices for the period of one year and until others are chosen and qualified; and any resident of the district so chosen, who shall refuse or neglect to perform the duties of the office, shall pay $5 to said district. The members of the district committee shall be residents of the district, but the other offices may be filled by any inhabitants of the town to which said district belongs.

Any school district having by its last enumeration not less than 200 children between 4 and 16 years of age may, at any annual meeting, due notice being inserted in the call therefor, order that its committee shall consist of three persons chosen by ballot, divided into three classes holding office for one, two, and three years, and that annually thereafter one member shall be chosen by ballot, to hold office for three years. Should any vacancy occur, the remaining members of the committee may fill it until the next annual district meeting, when all vacancies shall be filled. Whenever any district has appointed its committee as herein provided, such district may, at any special meeting called for the purpose, vote that it will no longer so appoint its committee, and thereupon the terms of office of all the members of its committee shall end at its next annual meeting, and thereafter its committee shall be appointed according to the provisions of the general law. In all elections of officers of school districts, a majority of the votes cast shall be required to elect, unless otherwise expressly provided.

School societies organized under the act of 1855 which are not coextensive with the towns in which they are situated (i. e., are cities?) shall be and remain school districts of the towns, but without the jurisdiction of its school visitors.

Except that each shall annually choose, on the third Monday of September, instead of a district committee, a board of education consisting of six or nine persons, who shall be chosen by ballot, one-third to be chosen each year, to serve for three years and until others are elected in their places. That number of persons sufficient to fill the board who have the highest number of votes shall be elected. Said board shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties of district committees, and shall also have the general superintendence of the public schools in the district and the management of its property; shall lodge all bonds, leases, notes, and other securities with the treasurer of said district, unless the same have been intrusted to others by the grantors or the general assembly; pay into the treasury of the district all moneys which they may receive for the support of schools; determine the number and qualifications of the scholars to be admitted into each school; supply the requisite number of qualified teachers; ascertain annually during the first two weeks of September the expense of maintaining the schools under their superintendence during the year ending the 31st day of the previous August, and report the same, with the amount of moneys received toward the payment thereof, to the district at a meeting to be held on the third Monday of September in each year; shall at the same time make a full report of their doings and the condition of such schools and all important matters concerning the same, and shall perform all lawful acts required of them by the district or necessary to carry into effect the powers and duties herein defined. In general, shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties granted and imposed on the school visitors of the town.

Town school committee.-Any town may abolish all the school districts and parts of school districts within its limits and assume and maintain control of the public schools therein, subject to such requirements and restrictions as are or may be imposed by the general assembly, and for this purpose every such town shall constitute one school district, having all the powers and duties of a school district, with the exceptions hereinafter stated.

All business relating to public schools in such towns shall be transacted at town meetings.

It shall also be the duty of the selectmen to call a special meeting of the town for the purpose of electing by ballot a school committee of the number determined upon at a special meeting held for that purpose, or, if such town shall at such meeting have failed to fix such number, of the number of six, nine, or twelve, as said selectmen may determine.

If the number of the committee to be elected shall be six or twelve, no per

son shall vote for more than half that number; if the number shall be nine, no person shall vote for more than five; and the six, nine, or twelve persons, as the case may be, receiving at such election the highest number of votes shall be the school committee of said town for the respective terms as hereinafter provided.

The members of such committee so elected shall divide themselves into three equal classes, holding office, respectively, until the second, third, and fourth subsequent annual town elections of said town, at which elections, and every annual election subsequent to the last thereof, two, three, or four members, as the case may be, shall be elected by ballot for a term of three years, in the manner prescribed for the election of school visitors.

The school committee in such town shall have in general the powers and duties of district committees and boards of school visitors (q. v.).

Town high school committee.-Any town may choose, by ballot, a committee of not more than five residents of the town, who shall have all such powers and duties in relation to public high schools as are by law imposed upon district committees in relation to district schools.

Truant officers.-Every town and the mayor and aldermen of every city having truancy regulations shall annually appoint three or more persons, who alone shall be authorized to prosecute for violations thereof. The selectmen of a town may appoint committees of school districts and janitors of school buildings and other persons special truant officers. The police in the cities, and bailiffs, constables, sheriffs, etc., in their jurisdictions shall arrest all boys between 8 and 16 years of age who habitually wander about the streets or public places during school time, and may stop any boy under 16 years of age during such hours and ascertain whether he be a truant from school, and if he be shall send him to such school. [See also under Organization—State board.]

2. TEACHERS.

Appointment and qualifications.-Duties.-Preliminary training.—Meetings. Appointment and qualifications.-See under Organization-School visitors. No person elected to the office of school visitor or town committee shall be employed as teacher within his town.

No teacher of a public school shall be employed by school visitors, boards of education, district committees, town committees, or high school committees until he has received a certificate of approbation, signed by a majority of the board of school visitors, or by all the committee by them appointed; nor shall any teacher be entitled to any wages, so far as the same are paid out of any public money appropriated to schools, unless he can produce such certificate, dated previous to the opening of his school.

The teacher of every public school shall keep and fill out the school register provided by the State, in the manner and form required, and deliver it at the close of each term to the school visitors; and no teacher shall be entitled to receive any pay unless such register shall have been so kept and filled out during the time for which any payment may be made.

The State board of education shall maintain normal schools as seminaries for training teachers in the art of instructing and governing in the public schools of this State, and such sum as the State board of education may in each year deem necessary for their support, not exceeding in any year $80,000, shall be annually paid therefor from the treasury of the State on the order of said board. But the board shall not expend any money for any normal school hereafter established until the town, city, or city school district in which it is located shall have agreed in writing with the board to furnish, and shall have furnished, schools in suitable and sufficient buildings in connection with the training department of the normal school. [The board may establish and maintain "model schools" in which the pupils of the normal schools shall have an opportunity to practice modes of instruction and discipline.]

The number of pupils in each school shall be determined by the State board of education. Said board may make regulations governing the admission of candidates. To all pupils admitted to [any ?] normal school all its privileges, including tuition, shall be gratuitous; no persons, however, shall be entitled to these privileges until they have filed with said board a written declaration that their object in securing admission to such school is to become qualified to teach in public schools, and that they intend to teach in the public schools of this State.

'May be examined by (a) State Board of Education, (b) school visitors, (c) boards of education, and (d) town committee.