On the first Monday in January in each and every year next after the taking of the census of the State by Federal or State authority, the auditor of public accounts shall ascertain the number of children in each county under 21 years of age, and shall thereupon make a dividend to each county of the sum of the tax and the interest due on the school fund proper and surplus revenue in proportion to the number of children in each county under 21 years of age, and issue his warrant to the superintendent of each county.

All bonds, notes, mortgages, moneys, and effects heretofore accrued or which may hereafter accrue from the sale of the sixteenth section of the common school lands of any township or county, or from the sale of real estate or other property taken on any judgment, or for any debt due to the principal of any township or county fund, and all other funds of every description which have been or may hereafter be carried to and made a part of the principal of any township or county fund by any law, shall forever constitute the principal of the township or county fund, and no part thereof shall ever be distributed or expended for any purpose whatever, but shall be loaned and held to use, rent, or profit, as provided by law. But the interest, rents, issues, and profits arising and accruing from the principal of the township or county fund shall be distributed by the county superintendent on a basis of the number of children under 21 years, if the several townships and parts of townships have kept school in accordance with the law.

All fines, penalties, and forfeitures imposed or incurred in any of the courts of record or before any justice of the peace of the State, except fines, forfeitures, and penalties incurred or imposed in incorporated towns or cities for the violation of the by-laws or ordinances thereof, shall be, when collected, paid to the county superintendent of schools, who shall annually distribute such fines, penalties, or forfeitures in the same manner as the common school funds of the State are distributed.

Taration. For the purpose of establishing and supporting free schools for not fewer than six nor more than nine months in each year and defraying all the expenses of every description of the same, the directors of each district and the authorities of each village or city are authorized to levy a tax annually upon the taxable property of the district, village, or city, not to exceed 24 per cent for educational and 2 per cent for building purposes. [Note the 2-mill State tax forming a part of the common school fund.] All money raised by taxation for school purposes or received from the State common school fund or other sources for school purposes shall be held by the township treasurer as a special fund for school purposes, subject to the order of the board of education upon warrants signed by the president and secretary thereof.

For the purpose of building schoolhouses or purchasing school sites or repairing and improving the same the directors of any school district, when authorized by a majority of the voters at an election called for the purpose, may borrow money, issuing bonds signed by not fewer than two members of the board of directors, in sums of not less than $100, at a rate not exceeding 7 per cent per annum, provided that the sum borrowed in any one year shall not exceed 5 per cent, including existing indebtedness, of the taxable property of the district.

INDIANA.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State board of education (and text-book commissioners)-State superintendents-County board-County superintendent-Township, town, and city trustees, director, and superintendent—Advisory board-City boards-Truant officers.

State board of education.-(See Teachers-Appointment, qualifications, etc.; also Schools-Text-books.)

State superintendent.-There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State at a general election a State superintendent of public instruction, who shall hold his office for two years. His salary shall be $3,000, $1,000 for office expenses, and $600 for traveling expenses annually. He shall be charged with the administration of the system and a general superintendence of the business relating to the common schools, and of the funds and revenues set apart for their support. He shall be provided with a suitable office at the seat of govern

ment, where the records of his office shall be kept, and at which he shall give a reasonable attendance to the business and duties of the position. He shall render an opinion, in writing, to any school officer asking the same, touching the construction of the school law. He may employ one deputy, salary $1,500; one clerk at $1,200, and one stenographer at $720. He shall make a biennial report to the governor, indicating in general terms the enumeration of the children of the State for common school purposes, the additions to the permanent school fund and the amount of school revenue collected during the year, and the amounts apportioned and distributed to the schools. At each regular session of the general assembly he shall make a brief exhibit of his labors, the results of his experience and observation as to the operation of said system, and suggest the remedy for observed imperfections; of the amount of the permanent school funds and their placement, revenue given by them and arising from other sources, and the estimated value of all other property; of the condition of affairs, with the condition at previous periods, and of such matters as he thinks of interest to the general assembly.

He shall visit each county in the State at least once during his term of office, and examine the auditor's books and records relative to the school funds and revenues, with a view to their security, meet with such officers as may attend his appointment, counseling with teachers and lecturing upon educational topics. To enable him to defray his traveling expenses he shall be allowed $600 annually. He may require county auditors, superintendents, treasurers, district trustees, clerks, and treasurers to furnish copies of all reports made by them and such other information as he may desire. He may prepare and transmit the forms used in making reports, and shall publish the school laws.

County board.-The county superintendent, the trustees of the townships, and the chairman of the school trustees of each town and city of the county shall constitute the county board of education, which shall meet semiannually at the office of the county superintendent. The board shall consider the general wants

and needs of the schools and school property of which they have charge and all matters relating to the purchase of schoolbooks, furniture, maps, etc. The change of text-books, except in cities, and the care and management of township libraries shall be determined by the board, and each township shall conform as nearly as practicable to its action.

County superintendent.—The township trustees of the several townships of each county shall meet at the office of the county auditor every four years and appoint a county superintendent, who shall be a citizen of such county, shall execute a bond in the amount of $5,000, and shall be removable for cause. He shall examine at least once a month from January to August, inclusive, all applicants for license to teach, and shall license successful competitors, which licenses he may for cause revoke. He shall have general superintendence of the schools of the county; attend each township institute at least once in each year, conducting its exercises; visit each school of the county at least once each year; encourage teachers' institutes and associations, and labor in every practical way to elevate the character of instruction and the condition of the schools; decide questions arising under the school laws, but either party may appeal to the State superintendent. He shall be the intermediary between the State superintendent and the local school authorities (cities having a superintendent may be removed from his jurisdiction, however), and in general shall carry out the orders of the State superintendent. He shall, in case of failure of any trustees to do it, cause an enumeration of the children in any township, town, or city; shall make an annual report to the State superintendent of the enumeration of the children of the county, with the same particular discrimination required of the trustees; shall annually furnish the statistical information which the trustees are required to report to them in such form as may be prescribed by the State superintendent, together with such additional information, embodied in a written report, relative to the conditions of the schools. schoolhouses, and the general progress of education in the county as the State superintendent may require. Failure to make the report of enumeration of children by June 15 causes the county to lose $25 in the next apportionment of school revenue, and failure to make the other reports required causes the county to lose $10; both forfeits to be collected from the delinquent superintendent in proceedings before a justice of the peace. He shall cast the apportionment of school revenues from the lists of enumerations and reports of transfers of the several townships, towns, and cities, and report it to the county auditor. He shall receive $4 per diem for every day actually employed in discharge of his duties, but the board of commissioners may determine the nuinber of days, though they shall not be

fewer than the whole number of schools under the jurisdiction of the superintendent.

Township school trustees and city and town school boards.-Each civil township and each incorporated town or city in the several counties of the State shall be a district municipal corporation for school purposes by the name and style of the civil township, town, or city corporation, respectively, and the trustees of the township and the school board of each city and town shall be school trustees and perform the duties of clerk and treasurer for school purposes. In cities and towns the common council shall annually elect a school trustee for a term of three years. These three trustees shall constitute the school board of the city or town, and shall elect one of their number president, one secretary, and one as treasurer, the last executing a bond, with two securities not members of the board, in a sum double the amount annually coming into his hands; the other officers shall give bond in any sum not less than one-third of the treasurer's.

The school trustees of every township, incorporated town, or city, shall receive the special school revenue belonging thereto, and the revenue for tuition which may be apportioned to the township, town, or city by the State for tuition for the common schools, and shall pay out the same for the purpose for which such revenues were collected and appropriated, reporting annually the particulars to the county commissioners. They shall have charge of the educational affairs of their respective townships, towns, and cities; shall employ teachers, establish and conveniently locate a sufficient number of schools for the education of the children of school age, and build or otherwise provide suitable houses, furniture, apparatus, and other articles and educational appliances necessary for the thorough organization and efficient management of the schools; may establish graded schools, or such modifications of them as may be practicable; shall have the care and management of all property except the Congressional township school lands. They may in cities and incorporated towns employ a superintendent for their schools and prescribe his duties. They shall annually make a report to the county superintendent containing the statistical information furnished by the teachers, and embody in tabular form the following additional items: The number of districts, schools taught and their grade, teachers by sex, average compensation of each grade, balance of tuition revenue on hand at the commencement of the current year, amount received during the year from the county treasurer and the amount expended for tuition, balance on hand, length of time school was taught in days, schoolhouses erected during the year, the cost of the same, the number and kind before erected, and the estimated value thereof and of all other school property, number of volumes in the library and the number taken out during the year and the annual increase, the assessment on each $100 of taxable property and on each poll of special tax for schoolhouse erection, and the amount of such levy, balance of special school revenue on hand at the commencement of the current year, amount received during the year from the county treasurer, the amount expended during the year and balance on hand, the number of acres of unsold school lands, their value and income given, together with such other information as may be required by the county or State superintendent. Failure to make the reports required subject the township, town, or city to a loss of $25 and the trustee in fault shall be liable for all damages arising from his neglect to the locality concerned. (For election and duty of director, see Schools-Buildings.)

Advisory board.-At the time of electing township trustees the voters of the several townships shall elect an advisory board, consisting of three resident freeholders and qualified voters of the township. Their term of office shall be four years. If a vacancy occurs in said board it shall be filled by the remaining members of the board for the unexpired term. They shall meet annually on the first Tuesday of September, at a convenient place in the township. Two members shall constitute a quorum. At such meeting the board shall consider the various estimates of township expenditures proposed by the township trustee, and shall have power to concur in such estimates, or in any part thereof, or to reject any proposed item, in whole or in part. And the advisory board, at the first annual meeting, may apportion the payment of any existing indebtedness other than to the county or for current expenses for a named term not exceeding five years. When they shall have determined upon the estimates and amounts for which taxes should be levied upon the property and polls within said township for the ensuing year, they shall then determine and fix the rates of taxation upon such property and polls as to the estimated purposes severally. The rates so determined by such board they shall then certify to the county

auditor, who shall place the same upon the tax duplicate, and the same shall be collected and enforced as prescribed by law. The rates so prescribed shall be deemed a levy and lien upon the property of such township from and after the first day in April of such year, and such levy shall be deemed an appropriation for the specific purposes for which such estimates are fixed.

City board of school commissioners.—In all cities of 30,000 or more inhabitants there shall be elected by each school district one school commissioner for a term of three years. The board of school commissioners thus formed shall district the city, levy taxes for the support of schools and libraries in addition to those elsewhere authorized, examine applicants for teachers' places, purchase sites, construct buildings, purchase supplies, pay teachers, appoint superintendents, disburse the sums required for the support of schools and libraries, regulate the grading, course of instruction, and government in the schools of the city, and issue bonds in anticipation of the revenue to obtain money, not exceeding in the aggregate $100,000, for building purposes. All parts of the general school laws not inconsistent with the provision for cities of 30,000 and over hold good for them. The members of the board of school commissioners serve without compensation.

Truant officers.—(See Schools--Attendance.)

2. TEACHERS.

Appointment and duties-Certificates—Preliminary training—Institutes—

Salaries.

Appointment and duties.—The trustees of townships, towns, and cities shall employ teachers, but no teacher shall be employed unless holding a license to teach issued by the proper State or county authority and in force at the date of employment; but if the license expire during a term, the teacher may complete that term. A trustee shall not employ a teacher whom the other two trustees have decided at any regular meeting they do not wish to employ. Teachers may be dismissed for cause.

The teacher shall make a complete report to the proper trustee at the end of the term and until such report has been made the trustee shall not pay more than 75 per cent of the teacher's salary.

Certificates.-The State board of education shall consist of the governor, State superintendent, the presidents of the State university, Purdue University, and the State normal school, the superintendents of common schools of the three largest cities in the State, and three citizens of prominence actively engaged in educational work in Indiana, appointed by the governor, at least one of whom shall be a county superintendent. The board may grant certificates of qualifications to such teachers as may, after a thorough and critical examination, be found to possess eminent scholarship and professional ability and shall furnish satisfactory evidence of good moral character. The certificates the board grants shall be valid during life, and good in any locality for any school. The applicant shall, on making application, pay a fee of $5.

The county superintendent shall examine all applicants for license as teachers for the common schools of the State by a series of written or printed questions, requiring answers in writing, but questions may also be put and answered orally; and if from the ratio of correct answers and other evidences disclosed by the examination the applicant is found to possess a knowledge sufficient to enable him to successfully teach orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, English grammar, physiology, the science of education, literature, and the history of the United States, the county superintendent shall license the applicant for the period of six, twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six months, according to the ratio of correct answers and other evidences of qualification given upon said examination, the standard of which shall be fixed by the county superintendent. In examining persons to teach in graded schools in cities and towns the county superintendent may take into consideration the special fitness of such applicants for the services required of them, noting on the license the kind of work they are specially qualified for. Before being licensed every applicant must produce satisfactory evidence of good moral character. The license for six months, however, shall be regarded as a trial license, and not more than one of the kind shall be granted to an applicant in the same county. Any person who shall receive two thirty-six month licenses in succession may receive at the expiration of the latter a license for eight years after such an examination as maz

be prescribed by the State board of education; but such license shall issue only on approval of the State board of education, and shall be styled a professional license, entitling the holder to teach in any school.

Applicants may, if they so elect, have their manuscripts sent to the State superintendent for examination for a license which shall be valid anywhere within the State; in which case each applicant shall pay to the county superintendent a fee of $1, which shall by him be transmitted to the State superintendent, who shall use such funds in employing qualified persons to grade the manuscripts. In forwarding such manuscripts the county superintendents shall indicate thereon the grade of the applicant's schoolroom success, which shall be given equal weight with his academic standing as shown by said manuscripts in determining his general average.

Preliminary training.--There shall be established and maintained a normal school, the object of which shall be the preparation of teachers for teaching in the common schools of Indiana, which shall be governed by a board of 4 trustees appointed by the governor and approved by the senate. The board shall prescribe the course of study for the normal school, elect the instructors, and fix their salaries, and determine the conditions of admission; but applicants must be 16 years of age if women and 18 if men, of good health, of undoubted moral character, and each shall file a pledge that he or she will, as far as practicable, teach in the common schools of Indiana a period equal to twice the time spent as a pupil in the normal school. Tuition shall be free. The trustees shall make a biennial report to the legislature in years that it meets, and in other years to the governor. The board is authorized to grant certificates of proficiency to such teachers as shall complete any of the prescribed courses of study and whose moral character and disciplinary relations to the school have been satisfactory. After the lapse of two years after graduation, and on satisfactory evidence of professional ability, they shall be entitled to diplomas appropriate to professional degrees entitling them to teach in any school.

Institutes. At least one Saturday in each month during which the public schools may be open shall be devoted to township institutes or model schools for the improvement of the teachers. The township trustee shall specify in a written contract with each teacher that such teacher shall attend the full session of each institute or forfeit one day's wages for every day's absence therefrom unless the absence is caused by sickness.

In order to the encouragement of teachers' institutes, the county auditors of the several counties of this State shall, whenever the county superintendent of such county shall file with said auditor his official statement, showing that there has been held for five days a teachers' institute in said county, with an average attendance of 25 teachers, or persons preparing to become such, draw his warrant on the county treasurer in favor of said county superintendent for $35; and in case there should be an average attendance of 40 teachers, or persons preparing to become such, then the said county auditor shall draw his warrant for $50; and in case there should be an average attendance of 75 teachers, or persons preparing to become such, then he shall draw his warrant for $100, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of said institute.

Salaries. The daily wages of teachers for teaching in the public schools of the State shall not be less in the case of beginning teachers than an amount determined by multiplying 21 cents by the scholarship given said teacher on his highest grade of license at the time of contracting; and after the first school term of any teacher said teacher's daily wages shall not be less than an amount determined by multiplying 24 cents by the general average of scholarship and success given the teacher on his highest grade of license at the time of contracting; and after three years of teaching said wages shall not be less than 2 cents multiplied by the general average of scholarship and success given the teacher on his highest grade of license at the time of contracting: Provided, That 2 per cent shall be added to a teacher's general average of scholarship and success for attending the county institute the full number of days, and that said 2 per cent shall be added to the average scholarship of beginning teachers. All teachers now or hereafter exempt from examination shall be paid not less than 2 cents multiplied by the general average of scholarship and success given said teachers, the grade of scholarship to be that given at the teacher's last examination, and the grade of success that of the teacher's term last preceding the date of contracting. The State superintendent of public instruction is authorized to bring action against any school officer violating any of the provisions of this law, the penalty being a fine not to exceed $100.