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REPORT.

OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION,

To the Legislature:

Madison, Wis., Dec. 31st, 1854.

In compliance with the provisions of section 51 of chapter 9 of the Revised Statutes, I herewith submit to the legislature the sixth annual report from the department of Public Instruction; containing an abstract of all the common school reports received from the several clerks of the county boards of supervisors; a statement of the condition of the common schools of the State; estimates and accounts of expenditures of the school moneys; and other matters relating to our free school system, which it is deemed expedient to communicate. Some subjects are considered and commented upon, which, under the provisions of law, are not required, nor, perhaps, proper to be embodied in a report to the legislature; but I have availed myself of the custom established by my predecessors, and sanctioned in other States having a system of public schools and an officer having a supervisory control over them, to make this report a medium of communication with the school officers and people of the State.

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An abstract of all the common school reports received at this ‹ office from the several clerks of the county boards of supervisors for the year 1854 will be found in Appendix A. What few re turns were made upon the subject of select schools and incorpo

rate academies, are obviously so erroneous and incomplete that no definite conclusions can be drawn from them, and accordingly they are not included in the abstract.

The law organizing the free school system of this State took ef fect on the first day of May, 1849, and has, consequently, been in operation less than six years; yet sufficiently long to prove the wisdom of the provision in our constitution relative to common schools, and the truth and justice of the principle therein asserted, that, with the aid of the school fund, the property of the State shall be taxed for the support of schools for the education of all the youth of the State. It is a noble principle to be engrafted in the fundamental law of a State on its admission to sovereignty in the federal union,-having been acknowledged and adopted by a great majority of the electors of the State at the ballot box. This system of free schools is yet in its infancy, but its practical workings, thus far, give every reason to hope that all the benefits to the State, claimed for the system by its originators and supporters, will be more than realized, and that generations which are to succeed us and assume all the duties of moral, social, and political life, will have profited by the action of the present, in their exertions to prepare them for the great struggle of life.

This principle has been affirmed by the General Government by the munificent grants of land it has made to the States, to aid in the support of schools; it has been re-affirmed by our State and people, and there seems, at present, no respectable or considerable opposition to it on the part of our citizens.

But there are objections to some of the more important details, under the present organization of the common schools, and their practical operation; and various amendments have been suggested as necessary to remove these objectionable features; but, as has been truthfully and justly remarked by another, "The ardor of reformation runs into exaggerated representations of the abuses it aims to overthrow, and the errors and omissions in the administration of a system are more easily discovered and promulgated than remedied. It is not difficult to theorize on the subject of educa

tion; every man feels competent to the task of forming systems that work admirably on paper, but the practical difficulty of a subject that requires the co-operation of the whole community, and depends almost entirely on public sentiment, can be appreciated only by those who have experienced them, or who have attentively considered them."

It is not supposed that the present system of common schools is perfect, or that any system that could be devised, would possess that degree of perfection which would command the approbation and cheerful support of all; for any institution that is created solely for the people, will be viewed in just as many different ways, as there are different individual relations to it. While one person will object to the grant of power to district meetings, to determine the school affairs of the district, as a factious and selfish tribunal, another will as decidedly oppose the remedial plan of investing all these powers unconditionally in any set of school officers, as not democratic and likely to be oppressive; while one would abolish the office of town Superintendent because he may exercise partiality in the discharge of his duties, and would recommend a town board consisting of three commissioners in his place, as uniting more wisdom, prudence and justice in the direction of affairs; another would object to the change as increasing town expenditures and not calculated, as shown by experience, to accomplish the object desired. While one would tax property where it is, another would tax it where the owner is; while one would have a poll tax levied in mining and lumbering counties to secure a tax from those whose mineral and lumber have sought a market before the assessor appears, another will plead the constitution, and uniformity of laws. While one thinks school districts should have power to vote taxes whenever they please, at special meetings, another sees no reason why school districts should levy taxes more than once a year, any more than towns, counties, and the state. In fact many parts of the school law are defective, in the eyes of some, and they are ready to supply the defect. It is impossible to legislate to meet all the cases that will arise in conse

quence of the caprice or frailties of men, whether in relation to the school law or any other law; human nature is too fruitful in discovery and invention, to leave any hope that every case that may arise, will find a law upon the Statute book applicable to it.Were this the case we should have little need of lawyers to advocate the rights of individuals, or judges to decide between parties. We have not attained to that degree of legislative skill and human excellence, where legislators can foresee and provide by enactment, for all the petty difficulties that may arise in the future upon points of difference between individuals; and to undertake a task of that character would be alike fruitless and unprofitable.

Complaints are also made that the system is already too complex, and not adapted to the comprehension and wants of many persons whose duty it is to administer it. This complaint generally proceeds from those who have little or no time or inclination to read and understand the law, and consequently have but little light upon which to base a correct opinion. The law seems to be as simple, and to contain as few provisions, and to demand as limited a compliance with forms, as are absolutely necessary to keep up the system and to secure the right of individuals and communities, without vesting in some one officer an amount of power and authority that would be odious to the people.

No mystery whatever surrounds the school law that cannot easily be dispelled by a perusal of it, and there is no object intended to be secured by it that cannot be realized, if the law is administered as it is, with an honest purpose. But if men, prompted by inordinate selfishness, or parsimony, or any evil passion, designedly labor to make the school law the vehicle of their own interest, to the detriment of others, and the cause of education, and exert their ingenuity and energy to thwart the will of the community, they will sometimes succeed in so doing.

Such is the defect of all human laws, and ever will be while man is possessed of passions not subject to the control of judgment and conscience.

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Difficulties do arise in school districts in the administration of the school law, as they do in the administration of all other laws; but it cannot be expected that a law which gathers around it so many important considerations, and which effects, pecuniarily, every tax-payer in the State, and in its objects and results appeals to the affection and patriotism as well as the interests of men, as the sole medium of securing to thousands of the youth of the State a common school education, will, on all occasions and in all the different phases it may assume in its applications to the wants of community, meet with no opposition, no dissentient views. On the contrary, it may be considered surprising that so few difficulties, and so little trouble do occur in the business transactions of 2600 corporations, which is about the number of school districts in the State. The officers composing the district boards are frequently filled by unlettered men, whose aim is to administer the law as it, and not pervert it; but it is sometimes the case that men will be found with no higher ambition than to "keep a neighborhood in a broil by picking flaws" in the proceedings of a district.

This is the misfortune of the district, and not a failure of the law. I would not countenance wrong or an injury to the rights of another, though committed through ignorance; the law was designed for no such purpose; but school district difficulties more frequently arise from the different views entertained by different individuals, not upon the meaning and application of the law, but upon the various subjects pertaining to school matters. This cannot be reached by legislation. One person, actuated by no other than the most disinterested feelings, entertains views diametrically opposed to another who is equally conscientious upon some matter relative to schools, and thereupon arises a contest; perhaps the formation or alteration of a school district is involved. It is not supposed that any system, or any laws that do not suppress the right of free speech and vest absolute power in some one, can reach such cases, nor do I think it desirable to do so. A healthy public sentiment alone can quiet dissentions of this character.

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