Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-04-10
The school Law uuddie.

The school laws of Vermont are IN
comnrehensible muddle. 1t has been
our boast. and it is, probably, true that
ve have as good schools in Vermont as
in any State in the Union. This has al
WAYS been so, under any and all systems,
nv which we have endeavored to manage
schools This will, we trust, always
continue to be so. Ii is not, however,
10 be ascribed to our system, or want OF
system. of school laws. We have a
BOARD of Education and a Secretary
thereof. 1t is.the duty of the Board OF
Education and their Secretary to, iron
time to time, as they shall judge proper,
recommend to the Legislature such alter
atoms, revisions or amendments OF ex-
isting laws, relating to common schools
and Summaries of learning, as in their
Judgment are demanded in order to the
nerfecting of a system of general educa-
lion in the State" Whether upon their
recommendation or not we cannot say,
tho school laws were revised and consol-
idated, some years ago, and we, for
time. had system that an ordinary per
son could understand. Each succeeding
gislature-sometimes on the recon-
mendation Of the Board of Education,
and sometimes, perhaps, not-haVe add
ed TO- taken from, and altered or amend
ed the laws, until they are again IN
muddled condition. The result OF the
action of the board and its secretary has
not been to secure uniformity. Certain
w not in all respects. To illustrate ::
At the last session of the Legislature, an
act was passed providing that "the grand
list to be completed on the fifteenth day
of NAV, for the assessment of town and
highway taxes, shall be elist on which
all school district and village taxes voted
ON the first day of April, or at any time
thereafter within one year, shall be as
sessed." The meaning, object and in
tent of which is, that the taxes voted at
the annual school meeting shall be as
sessed on the grand list of the previous
wear. To make it still palmer. The
taxes voted at the annual school meet
inrs in 1878 are to be assessed on the grand
list of 1872, and not on the list of 1873.
L. Howard Kellogg, of Benson, Sen
ator from this county and the ''fathel
of the BILL" explains, in another column,
why he introduced, and favored the pas
sage of, the bill. Under the state OF
facts, or under the practice, referred tc
by him, the bill would seem to be al
proper and right We know MOTTO how
great an extent such a practice prevails
throughout the State. 1t certainly il
not the rule in Rutland. Our practice
has been, at our annual school meetings,
to raise money to pay the current ex
penses of the year, not of the past year
We believe this to be the true way. Il
seems right and proper that the commit
tee or trustees who have the genera
supervision of schools, the employment
of teachers, etc, for the year, should
also, see to it that the expenses thereof
are paid. This they cannot do, unless
the money is voted before or at the
opening of the school year, and not al
its close. If we can make anything ou
of the laws-and we do not profess OF
pretend to be anything OF
lawyer - this is their intent anC
meaning. The language of the stat
ute is, that tax shall be
raised ''for the support OF schools. The
ordinary practice, if we remember Alright
is to vote tax for ''currept expenses.
Either of these terms, by fair construc
ton of language, refers to TIE futre, mo-
TO the past. The voters and taxpayer
of a school district, certainly, have
right to say how much money shall b.
expended for schools in any one year
subject, of course, to the mandatory
provisions of the law. Can this be dom
if the prudential committee or trustee
have such and so many schools as they
please, and employ as many teachers a
they will, without regard to the expense
We take it, that if the prudential com
mittee or trustees incur expense for thi
purpose-no tax having been voted, o
only to be voted at the end of the yea
lit becomes legal debt and charg
against the district, which can be en-
forced at law. If such be the statute
of the State-and we cannot say such
not the fact-there should be a chang
made. 1t seems to us right and prope
that the amount of money to be expend
ed upon schools, during the year, SHOULD
be determined in advance. Of course
we all understand that this cannot b.
ascertained to an exact nicely. The &C
tual expenses, necessarily incurred, ma,
be less or more, to a certain extent, thai
the estimates, but general approxima
ton to the amount can be ascertained
and school affairs conducted accordingly
We supposed one object Of laws was +
have certain and uniform effect upol
all the people of the State alike. w
may be laboring under a misapprehen
sion, but we thought we had a ''Boar
of Education, and Secretary of tn
Board of Education" whose duty wa
something besides prescribing ''tex
books" We may be all wrong, and tn
people may be wonderfully deceived
but we know that the idea has prevailed
and does, Notwithstanding the expert
ence of the past, still prevail to limite
extent, perhaps, that the object, en'
and aim of establishing a Board o
Education, and its officers, was to pro
duce uniformity, not in text books alone
but in everything connected witt
schools. We do not say-we do no
think-that the board and its secretar,
are, alone, to blame. We presume tina
there is some fault with the Legislature
We know that it too often happens tina
general laws are enacted by the Legisla
ture to meet particular cases As W,
have said, il is the duty of the Board o
Education and its Secretary to recon-
mend legislation. We have examined
the "Reports of the Board of Educa
ton, and the ''Report of the Secretary,
e. f,.I