XLVI

EDUCATION

Education a Function of Government. The school as a social institution is almost as important as the family. Indeed, the school is simply an extension of the family. Parents, instead of educating their children themselves, place them under the care of teachers to whom they transfer during school hours the parental authority. In all enlightened countries governments have found it wise either to supervise more or less closely or to control the education of youth. So generally is this true that we are justified in calling education a function of government. No government, however, assumes complete control in matters of education; no just government denies to the parent the right to educate the child in the home, but it is a proper function of government to require that the child receive a certain minimum of instruction somewhere, either in the home or in the school.

Education and Democracy. In a democracy the very life of the State is dependent upon the intelligence of the masses. Since an ignorant electorate is the most dangerous of foes, school-houses in America are as important as a means of defense as are armies and navies. The truth that the safety of a nation is to be sought in the virtue and intelligence of its citizens has been recognized by statesmen at every stage of development of American institutions, although practical measures for the general diffusion of knowledge have often been unduly postponed.

The growth of the public-school system in the United States has been coincident with the growth of democracy. During the colonial period, in several of the colonies encouragement and aid were given to public schools, but the masses of children were not reached. It was not till the people began to come forward as the real masters of government that provision was made for the education of all the children of a community. As democracy grew stronger public schools became more numerous, and at last it became the policy of every State to furnish free of charge an elementary education to every child within its borders. The movement for the education of the masses has met with astonishing success. There are to-day in the public schools of this land more than sixteen millions of children preparing for the duties of citizenship under the guidance of nearly half a million of teachers at an annual expense of more than a quarter of a billion of dollars.

Public Education Controlled by the State. Nothing is said in the Constitution about education. The States reserved to themselves the management of their schools. In the constitution of each State provision is made for a publicschool system. This provision is usually made in the broadest terms. The constitution of Massachusetts, which was adopted in 1780, and which is the oldest written constitution in the world now in force, declares that "wisdom and knowledge as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties, and as these depend upon the opportunities and advantages of education, it shall be the duty of the legislature and magistrates in all future periods of this commonwealth to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences and all the seminaries of them; especially the University at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns." Upon this broad constitutional foundation a magnificent and elaborate public-school system has been slowly reared. The more

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recent constitutions are occasionally somewhat specific in reference to education, yet as a rule their language is broad and general, like that of the constitution of Massachusetts. It is a settled policy to leave the details of education to the legislature.

Education a Local Affair. As it has been the custom of constitutions to leave the details of educational policy to the legislature, so it has been the custom of the legislature to leave the details of school management to the local government. The legislature usually passes a general school law which provides for the election or appointment of certain school officers, and states in general terms the powers and duties of these officers. The State law may further specify the manner in which text-books shall be furnished to pupils, the branches which shall be taught, the limits of the tax which may be levied for school purposes, the ages between which children may attend school, and the qualifications of teachers. Further than this the legislatures usually do not choose to go in their control of the schools; they are content to leave many things to be attended to by the local authority.

In most of the States school management is a separate and distinct branch of public service. School officers are independent of other public officers, school elections are held on special days, school taxes are levied and collected distinct from other taxes. This is not always the case, but, speaking generally, school government is decentralized and local. Each community is permitted to manage its schools in pretty much its own way.

The School District. The school systems of no two States are precisely alike, and even within the same State there are sometimes several plans of school government in operation. Everywhere, however, there is a unit of school government which we may conveniently designate as the school district. This district may be a small rural area,

within which there is but one school-house and one teacher; it may be a township with several schools; it may be a city with numerous schools. In each district there is a governing body known by different names in different States, but most frequently called the school board.

The local board usually has large powers of control. It appoints teachers, locates and erects school buildings, makes rules for the guidance of teachers and pupils, selects the text-books, and sometimes prescribes a course of study. In many States the officers of the district fix the rate of taxation which is levied for school purposes. In the exercise of these important functions they are limited and restrained at certain points by State law, but very frequently these limitations and restraints do not bear heavily upon them.

School Supervision. In the county there is usually a supervising school official known as the County Superintendent. The duties of this officer have been stated (p. 200). A large town or city frequently has its own superintendent of schools, and when this is the case the supervision of the county superintendent does not extend to the schools of the town or city. The State Superintendent, who is in a sense a supervising officer, and the State Board of Education, which has a few supervising powers, have received notice heretofore (p. 173).

Under the regulations of a few States, school supervision means a control that is quite close and complete; often, however, the superintendent has only a shadow of authority. The superintendent of a single district, as of a city, frequently exercises real power, but a superintendent of a large area consisting of a number of districts, or embracing perhaps an entire State, seldom can do more than suggest or advise. The spirit of local self-government, which is so strong when manifesting itself in school matters, makes it difficult for a superintendent from the outside to 'In New York and Michigan the officer is called a commissioner.

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manage affairs within the district. Indeed, it is only in a few States that the law gives substantial authority to any officer outside the district.

The Support of the Public Schools. The local features of school government extend to the matter of taxation for their support. Nearly three fourths of the vast sum expended upon public education in the United States is raised by local taxation. This means that the people of a community vote to take from their own pockets money for the support of the schools of the community. This fact alone would explain the affection in which the public schools are held. The people feel that the schools are their own because they contribute directly to their support.

Public school revenues which are not raised by local taxation are derived from various sources. One important source is the State school tax, so frequently levied.1 The operation of this tax is as follows: The legislature levies a tax on all property of a certain class within the State, and when this has been collected it is distributed to the counties or districts throughout the State according to a certain rule, usually according to the number of children of a school age. Under the workings of the State school tax, money is collected from all parts of the State, each locality contributing according to its ability; the money is then diffused over the entire State, each locality receiving according to its needs. In this way the wealthier communities help the poorer ones.

In most of the States an important school revenue consists of interest derived from permanent State funds which have been acquired by the sale of public lands. In the original States the revenue derived in this way is not large, but in the admitted States the public lands have been the life-giving principle of the public-school

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1In several States the legislature appropriates a lump sum and distributes this to the several school districts. Pennsylvania distributes annually $7,500,000 in this way.