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182. School Boards.1 Rural school districts and those consisting of incorporated towns using sixth class and special charters are governed by boards of school trustees.2 Each board consists of three members, one elected each year for a term of three years. Union district boards consist in each case of one member elected from each of the districts comprising the union, except when the union consists of two districts, in which case each one elects three members. The larger cities - those using the fifth class, and most of those using freeholders' charters-have boards of education. The board consists of five members in a city of the fifth class. In cities governed by freeholders' charters, the number of members, their term of office, the manner in which they are chosen, are matters determined in each case by the city charter. Their number ranges from five to eleven, and their term of office from two to five years. In most cases they are elected, but in three cities San Francisco, San José, and Alameda — they are appointed by the mayors. Boards of school trustees and city boards of education have practically the same powers and duties, the most important of which are as follows:

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1. They have in charge the general business management of the schools. That is, they construct school buildings and keep them in repair, purchase supplies, and have general control of school property and school finances.

1 Political Code, § 1611 seq.

* Except Santa Clara, whose special charter provides for a board of education. The school election in these towns is held on the first Friday in April. The municipal election is held at a different time.

3 A few freeholders' charters - for example, those of Monterey, Napa, Santa Rosa, and Woodland — make no provision for the selection of school directors. They are, therefore, elected in these cities, or in the school districts in which they are located, according to state law.

4 City boards of education have greater powers in certain particulars. See § 81.

2. They conduct school district elections either for voting taxes or school bonds, or for electing members of school boards, except in cities where school elections are held in connection with municipal elections.

3. They employ teachers, janitors, and other necessary employees and determine their salaries.

4. They make rules for the management of the schools. Teachers, parents, and pupils must obey these rules. They have power to dismiss teachers, or to suspend or expel pupils, for cause.

183. Teachers. Statistics for the year 1912 show that 12,986 teachers were employed in the public elementary and high schools of California at that time and 262 teachers in public kindergartens. Almost all of our teachers are specially trained for their work, as most grammar grade teachers are graduates of the state normal schools, and most high school teachers are university graduates.

184. Pupils. In 1912, 404,365 boys and girls attended the public elementary and high schools of California, and 9708 attended the public kindergartens. The pupils are the most important part of the school system. In fact, the entire system exists for them. Our taxpayers know that an educated man or woman has a much better chance in the world than one who is uneducated.

Education means ability to do something well. The men who occupy prominent positions in business, politics, literature, or in any of the professions, as well as those who are making the greatest success on the farm, are educated men. The women who are doing the most good in the world are educated women. It is of course true that school is not the only place in which one can receive an education.

Many persons acquire ability through experience, but the same persons would in all probability have acquired a higher degree of efficiency if they had had a thorough training in school while young. Our lawmakers know that if a boy or girl misses the advantages which our schools have to give, he or she is preparing to enter upon life's work badly handicapped; and they have written in the laws of California that every child in the state between the ages of eight and fifteen, who is healthy in mind and body, must attend school unless excused, for reasons mentioned in the law, by the school board of the district in which he or she lives. This law is not as strictly enforced as it should be, and in most parts of the state the responsibility of seeing that children go to school rests with their parents.

185. High Schools. Any incorporated city or town, or any school district which had during the preceding school year an average daily attendance at school of one hundred pupils, becomes a high school district if a majority of the votes cast at an election called to determine the question are favorable.

Such an election must be called by the county superintendent on petition of a majority of the voters or a majority of the heads of families living in the town or district. The law provides a method whereby a union high school district may be formed from any number of adjacent school districts in the same county; 2 and also a method whereby a joint union high school district may be formed from adjacent districts partly in one county and partly in another.3

Each high school district is governed by a high school board. In every case where the district coincides with an incorporated city or town, or with a single school district,

the common school board acts as the high school board. The board of a union or joint union high school district consists of five members, elected by the district at large, for three years, one or two members being elected each year.

Each high school district may maintain one or more high schools; or any county may maintain one or more county high schools on the approval of the voters at an election called to determine the question.

In 1912 there were 229 high school districts in the state. Twenty of these were county districts organized for the purpose of maintaining county high schools. High schools are supported mostly by local taxes, but the state each year contributes to their support to the extent of $15 for each pupil on the basis of average daily attendance.

186. The County Superintendent of Schools.1 - A county superintendent, as stated in Chapter V, is elected in each county, by the voters at large, for four years. His most important duties are as follows:

1. To superintend the schools of his county; that is, to see that all the schools are conducted according to law, that they use the proper textbooks, that teachers and school trustees do their duty, that school money is not wasted, etc.

2. To apportion the money raised by the county for school purposes, as well as the money received from the state, among the various school districts of the county.

3. To authorize the expenditure of school money. The money belonging to each school district in the county is kept in the county treasury. The trustees of a district pay expenses by drawing warrants on the superintendent. Every warrant must state the purpose for which the money is to be spent. When a warrant is presented to the superintendent, he must satisfy himself that the money may be

1 Political Code, § 1543 seq.

lawfully spent for the purpose stated. He then draws an order on the auditor, who in turn draws on the treasurer.

4. To visit every school in his county at least once a year.

5. To approve plans for new school buildings outside of incorporated cities. No board of trustees of a rural district may put up a building without such approval.

6. To make an annual report to the superintendent of public instruction concerning the schools of his county. 7. To fill vacancies, until the next election, in any board of school trustees.

8. To call and preside over teachers' institutes.

187. The County Board of Education.1- Each county board of education consists of the county superintendent, who is its secretary, and four other members appointed. each for two years by the board of supervisors. Two members are appointed each year. Their most important duties are as follows:

1. To grant teachers' certificates as follows:

a. High school certificates, on credentials authorized by law or by the state board.

b. Grammar grade certificates, on proper credentials or on examination.

c. Special high school or grammar grade certificates, authorizing the holders to teach certain subjects, on examination.

d. Kindergarten-primary certificates, on credentials. Diplomas from the kindergarten department of any California state normal school, or from any other institution approved by the state board, are proper credentials.

1 Political Code, § 1768 seg.