the studies enumerated in the preceding paragraph (Character of instruction), and may furnish text-books on secondary school subjects.

Buildings.-Towns shall provide and maintain suitable schoolhouses, and the location, construction, and sale of the same shall be under the control of the board of school directors.

Local boards of health shall make, under the direction of the State board, a sanitary survey of each schoolhouse and report the same to the State board. The said local boards shall report at each March meeting to the voters of their towns the sanitary conditions of the schoolhouses. All schoolhouses shall be constructed, in respect to lighting, heating, ventilation, and other sanitary arrangements, according to regulations furnished by the State board of health.

A person who willfully and maliciously injures or defaces a dwelling house or other building shall be fined not more than $20 and be liable to the owner in action at law. A person who carelessly and without malice injures or defaces any part of a building belonging to a town or county or the appurtenances thereof of any kind, including trees and shrubbery, or fastens a horse or other animal to any such appurtenance, or posts bills, etc., whereby any defacement results, shall forfeit $2 to the State.

No barbed-wire fence shall be used to inclose school grounds.

4. FINANCES.

Funds (permanent or special)—Taxation.

United States deposit money.-The treasurer of the State shall receive moneys belonging to the United States to be deposited with this State. Such moneys shall be apportioned to the several towns, organized or unorganized, and to the gores in proportion to the number of inhabitants in each, according to the last State or national census. The town trustees of the public money may loan the same for one year to the town or to private individuals at an annual interest of 6 per cent. When there are no town trustees of public funds the State treasurer acts. The treasurer of each town shall give credit in his account of the school fund for all sums received by him as income from the town share of the deposit money, and this income shall be annually appropriated to the support of schools in the town; but if a town has other school funds the income of which is sufficient to support schools in such town for six months of the year, such town may appropriate the income received from its share of such money to any purpose. Failure to comply with the foregoing provisions makes the town liable to the county in a sum not exceeding double the interest on such moneys, and the grand jury shall inquire into the management and disposition of this fund.

Huntington fund.-The State treasurer shall annually apportion the interest, at 6 per cent, on the amount of the Huntington fund ($211,131.46) to the several towns in proportion to the number of inhabitants.

Town school fund.-The selectmen of a town shall have charge of the real and personal estate in such town appropriated as a fund to the use of schools unless otherwise provided by law or the donor. They shall lease lands and loan moneys on annual or semiannual interest secured by real estate.

State tar.-A tax of 8 cents on the dollar shall be annually assessed on the list of polls and ratable estate of the inhabitants of this State for the support of common schools. The treasurer shall annually apportion to the several towns and cities and unorganized districts the proceeds of such tax, according to the number of legal schools maintained during the preceding school year.

Local tax. The school directors of each town shall annually, in writing, recommend to the selectmen of their town the amount of money necessary for the use of schools, and said selectmen shall annually appropriate for such purpose a sum not exceeding one-half nor less than one-fifth of the grand list of such town, and shall assess a tax annually to defray such appropriations. Any town by special vote may raise a larger sum for school purposes.

a This grand list" of Vermont is made up of the polls and 1 per cent of the assessed value of real and personal property. Eight per cent of this grand list" is taken, as related in the text.

ED 1904 M- -32

VIRGINIA.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State board-State superintendent-County school board-County superintendent-District school board-City school board-City superintendent.

State board. The State board of education shall be a corporation consisting of the governor, attorney-general, superintendent of public instruction, and three experienced educators elected quadrennially by the senate from a list consisting of one from each of the faculties and nominated by the respective boards of visitors or trustees of the State university, the military institute, the polytechnic institute, the State female normal college, the school for the deaf and the blind, and the College of William and Mary (State male normal school), together with two division superintendents (one from a county and one from a city), selected every two years by the six members named above. [The last two members have all the powers of other members except participation in the appointment of public school officers.]

They shall divide the State into appropriate school divisions comprising not less than one county or city each, and appoint (for four years), subject to confirmation by the senate, one superintendent of schools for each division; discipline and remove superintendents; prescribe the duties of the State superintendent; approve employees for the office of the State superintendent and nominated by him. the first clerk to serve as secretary of the board at an extra compensation; make rules for their own government and for the management and conduct of the schools; provide for examining teachers by the appointment of a State board of examiners or by such other plan as may be deemed expedient; select text-books and educational appliances; guard against the multiplying of schools to the detriment of the grade of instruction; approve plans of the State superintendent for the organization and conduct of summer normal schools and audit the accounts of expenses thereof; encourage teachers' meetings; decide appeals from decisions of State superintendent; order a vote in counties or districts on matters so referable by law; invest the capital and surplus income of the literary fund, recover any money belonging thereto, and audit claims to be paid therefrom; approve schemes of the State superintendent for apportioning State school money; determine contingent expenses of the State superintendent's office; appoint board of directors to manage State library; observe operations of school system and regulate matters in administration thereof not provided for; suggest to the general assembly improvements in system, and make report to said assembly, including the report of the State superintendent.

State superintendent.—A superintendent of public instruction, who shall be an experienced educator, shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State every four years. He shall be the chief executive of the public free school system and ex officio president of State board, and shall see that the laws relating thereto are enforced, explain them to public school officers, prepare suitable registers, blank books, and forms for the transacting of the school business, and by circulars and otherwise give instruction to those who have educational duties to perform. He may require special reports from any officer, and may appoint persons (without compensation) to examine the schools of the county in which such person resides. He shall inspect the public schools as often as is consistent with his other duties; decide all appeals from decisions of county superintendents; select the time and place of holding summer normal schools; prescribe the course of instruction therein and select instructors therefor; issue State certificates; preserve all books, apparatus, maps, etc., received by him; prepare a scheme for apportioning the money appropriated by the State for the schools among the several counties and cities on a basis of the number of children from 7 to 20 years; provide a seal, and annually report to the board concerning his official acts, including a plain statistical account of receipts and expenditures, and other duties required of him by law.

County school boards.-The county superintendent of schools, together with the district school trustees in each county, shall constitute a body corporate. It shall hold a regular annual meeting, make and record rules for its own government, may appoint a clerk at $2 a day of actual service, prepare an estimate of the amount of money needed for the public schools and (after careful revision of the estimates of the district boards) separately prepare estimates of the expenses of schools in each school district; make annual settlements of school

funds with county treasurer; manage or examine into the management of all property belonging to the county schools, and report annually to the State superintendent.

County superintendent."-The county superintendent of schools shall be appointed by the State board for four years, at a compensation of $30 for every 1,000 of population for the first 10,000, $20 for every 1,000 in excess of 10,000, up to and including 30,000, and $10 for every 1,000 in excess of 30,000, rejecting in each case fractions less than 500: Provided, The compensation shall not be less than $200 a year, to be paid out of the bulk of the State school funds as distinguished from the appropriations from the same to the several counties. His duties shall be as follows: To explain the school system upon all suitable occasions and promote a desire for education; prepare a scheme for apportioning the State and county school funds among the school districts; examine persons desiring to teach; issue licenses, and promote the efficiency of the teaching force; assist in the organization of the district school trustees at their sessions (without the right to vote); examine all the schools as to their management, course of study, methods, discipline, and text-books, the condition of the schoolhouses, and the records and official papers of the school districts; decide finally all complaints or appeals concerning the acts of persons connected with the school system; administer oaths and take testimony whenever required in cases coming before himself or the State superintendent; keep a record of his official acts; make special reports to the State superintendent when required to do so, obey his instructions, and make an annual report to him, on penalty of forfeiting the last quarter of his annual pay.

District board of school trustees.-School districts shall correspond with the magisterial districts except that towns of 500 or more may elect to form a separate district. Subdistricts may also be formed or abolished.

The judge, Commonwealth's attorney, and school superintendent of each county shall be a board to be known as the school trustee electoral board, which shall have power (except in case of municipal councils which appoint their own boards) to appoint district boards of school trustees of 3 each for terms of three years, 1 retiring annually, each of whom shall be a resident of the school district, and shall continue so during his term or relinquish his place, and no supervisor or county treasurer is qualified. The duties of the board of trustees are as follows: To explain and enforce the school laws; employ and dismiss teachers; suspend or dismiss pupils; decide what children shall, by reason of poverty, be furnished text-books free; see that the school census (persons 7 to 20 years) is taken properly every five years; the district board shall call meetings of the people of the district; prepare and present to the county school board an estimate of the money needed for maintaining the public schools, including buildings and text-books for the children of indigent persons; care for, add to, and manage the school property of the district, and permit the use of an unoccupied public schoolhouse (vacant from lack of funds to maintain it) by a person not employed by the board but who desires to teach; report annually to the county superintendent; visit the schools within the district, and see that they are carried on in accordance with law.

The clerk of the district school board shall every five years take a census of the persons (7 to 20 years) residing in the district, receiving compensation at the rate of $3 for every 100 persons enumerated, and perform other duties as may be required by the board, for which he shall be paid $2 per day of actual service.

City school board.-All the school trustees in a city shall constitute a single corporation, which shall have the same officers, powers, and duties as ordinary boards of district school trustees except as otherwise provided. This board shall have power, subject to the common council, to prescribe the number and boundaries of school districts and the number of trustees (not exceeding three from each district); but until such arrangement is made every city not divided into wards shall be one school district, and cities divided into wards shall have as many districts as there are wards. Each trustee is appointed for three years, 1 in each district retiring annually. The city board may establish high and normal schools.

City superintendent.-In every city of 10,000 or more inhabitants there shall

"After July 1, 1905, the State board will divide the State into school divisions by combining counties, etc. Local superintendents will thereafter be known as division superintendents.

The office of county judge has been abolished-effective February 1, 1904.

be a superintendent of schools, appointed by the board of education of the city and paid by the State, though the amount thus paid may be increased by municipal action. Whenever the population of a county in which a city of less than 10,000 inhabitants is located contains 15,000, exclusive of the population of the city, that city may have a superintendent separate from the county, under the conditions obtaining in the case of cities of 10,000 or more. The city superintendent may teach ex officio when requested by the board, may suspend or dismiss pupils, with appeal to city school board, and shall participate in the sessions of the board, but shall have no vote. (See also County superintendent.)

2. TEACHERS.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties-Preliminary training-MeetingsSummer normals.

Appointment, qualifications, and duties.-No teacher of a free public school shall be employed or paid from public funds unless holding a certificate of qualification in full force from the county or State superintendent. If payment is made for the services of a person unqualified, the payment shall be disallowed, and the officer who sanctioned it shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $50. Written contracts must be made in duplicate before installment.

The county superintendent shall examine persons applying for license to teach in the free public schools, and, if satisfied as to their capacity, acquirements, morals, and general fitness, he shall grant them certificates of limited duration subject to revocation, all under the supervision of the State superintendent. He shall also hold examinations for those desiring to teach in his county for the school year, at such time and place as may be required by a district board. Examinations will be held in orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, physiology, and hygiene, and, for a first or second grade certificate, in the theory and practice of teaching. Applicants to teach school in which the higher branches have been introduced must be examined upon those branches also. The first-grade certificate entitles to teach three years, and may be renewed for two years or shorter period; the second grade is good for two years, and the third grade for one. Holders of first-grade certificates may receive from county superintendents professional certificates good for seven years, and renewable by passing the prescribed examination.

The State superintendent shall issue two grades of State certificates—one valid for seven years (the “professional certificate") and the other for life (the "life diploma"). To obtain either of these the applicant must pass in the subjects required for a first-class county certificate and such other subjects as the State superintendent may demand, and have taught school two years or more, and satisfy the superintendent of his ability to teach and manage a school. The State superintendent issues State normal certificate to graduates of the State normal schools, also issues State certificates to graduates of colleges and universities who have taught in this State three years on first-grade certificates.

Every teacher shall keep a daily register of facts pertaining to his school and be responsible for it until delivered to the clerk of the school district, may suspend pupils until the case is decided by the board, is exempted from working on roads, nor shall the salary received be governed by the daily average attendance, if more than 10.

Preliminary training.-There are four normal schools-one for white men, one for white women, and two for colored persons. The object of the Hampton Normal School, as set forth in the charter, is to "instruct youth in the various common school, academic, and collegiate branches, the best methods of teaching the same, and the best mode of practical industry in its application to agriculture and the mechanic arts." The other school for colored persons is known as the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute, having a normal department, and an industrial department, and such other departments as may be expedient. It is managed by a board of four qualified persons (appointed by the governor) and the State superintendent.

The State female normal school is expressly for the training and education of white women for teachers in the public schools. It is under a board of trustees, of whom the State superintendent is one. The trustees may grant diplomas and certificates of proficiency to its graduates and pupils. Each city and county is entitled to send one pupil and one additional for each repre

sentative in the house of delegates above one. Each pupil is required to give satisfactory evidence of an intention to teach in the schools of the State for at least two years.

The college of William and Mary is authorized to establish, in connection with its collegiate course, a system of normal instruction and training for the purpose of educating and training white men for teaching for the public schools. It is governed by a board of 21 visitors, 10 of whom are appointed by the governor, with the State superintendent an ex officio member, who prescribe rules for the examination of those applying for normal instruction, and require satisfactory assurance from each pupil that it is his intention to teach at least two years in the public schools, and each pupil shall have the privilege of the college course without charge. Each county and city in the State shall be entitled to one pupil, who shall be nominated by the county superintendent, and one additional pupil for each additional representative in the house of delegates.

Fifty young men, between 16 and 25 years of age, residents of the State, are admitted to the Virginia Military Institute as State cadets, board and tuition free of charge, in consideration of which they are required to teach in some school in the State for two years. Bond is required to cover board and tuition until the fulfillment of this obligation.

For the purpose of establishing an intermediate grade of instruction between that of the common school and that of the college, any district school board, with the consent of the county school board, may admit branches necessary to qualify pupils to become teachers.

Meetings.—The State board of education shall have power at its discretion to invite and encourage meetings of teachers at convenient places, and to procure addresses to be made touching the processes of school organization, discipline, and instruction; provided that no public money shall be expended for the purpose, and that no meeting shall be held during the time the schools should be open, nor shall any teacher be paid for attendance or be compelled to attend. Summer normals.-The sum of $2,500 is annually appropriated for the support and maintenance of summer normal schools, to be conducted, under the management of the State board, at such times and places as the State superintendent may select. The purpose of such schools is to familiarize teachers with more advanced methods of teaching and to furnish such additional academic training as will tend to promote the usefulness of the public schools. Summer schools for colored teachers are provided from this appropriation, and the faculty of the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute conduct a summer school four weeks annually for colored teachers.

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance-Character of instruction-Text-books-Buildings.

Attendance.-White and colored children must be taught in different schools. The school age is 7 to 20, but persons 20 to 25 may be admitted on payment of tuition fees. Pupils must be vaccinated. An enrollment of at least 20 pupils, with a reasonable assurance of an average attendance of that number, shall be required to constitute a free public school, but in cases where this would work hardship the county superintendent may allow 15, and in case of a factious spirit on the part of one or a few persons which tends to reduce the attendance below the minimum the school may be kept open.

Character of instruction.-In every public free school shall be taught orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history of the United States and of Virginia, physiology and, hygiene, and the State superintendent may introduce civil government and drawing. (But see below in regard to intermediary instruction.) In schools having not less than 40 pupils, with an average attendance of 30, at least two teachers shall be employed the whole time, one of whom shall be devoted to instruction in elementary branches; and in all localities where the number of children is sufficient preference shall be given to graded schools-schools in which the pupils are taught in different rooms by different teachers, according to advancement in the studies of the oneteacher school. To encourage an intermediate grade of instruction school boards of districts, when the county board has consented, may admit instruction in any branches necessary to qualify pupils for teaching in the public schools or to enter any of the colleges or higher institutions of the State; but a fee may be required, not exceeding $2.50 a month, for each pupil, and schools having but