The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-03-23

he sued, has perpetual succession, can
use common seal, and has vested in
1t and its successors, property rights
and estates, moneys and effects; yet,
with all the responsibility imposed upon
it, it is only body of intermediate
authority, probably little above the
board of district school trustees, but
far below and secondary to the State
board. Indeed, in one provision Of the
law that we notice, between the upper
and neither milstones, the county board
becomes perfect nonentity. We refer
to the fifth section of the seventh chap
ter of the act which provides that
whenever the number of children at
"tending school in any school district
" is greater than one hundred, then the
board of County Commissioners MAY,
"wITH THE CONSENT OF THE BOARD OF
"DIsTRICT SCHOOL TRUSTEES, establish
schools of different grades etc
Akin to this is the power invested in
the State Board to fix the salaries of
county examiners appointed by the
county boards. 1t must be apparent
that so far as the exercise of this i'm
portant function is concerned, the State
Board must be dependent largely upon
that of the county The condition of
the schools, the qualification of the eX-
aminer, and the intimate local knowl-
edge of the wants of each county COM
prising the districts, is dervable from
the later. In all these respects the
State board is dependent on those of
the county. Clearly then they are the
best Judges of the rate of compensa-
ton due the examiners. Besides, if the
responsibility of the appointment of the
examiners be vested in the county
boards, and with it the implied author
itv of removal, in case of dereliction or
neglect of official dutv,-but which is
vested in the State board,-the right
to fix remuneration is coincidental with
it.
Again: The duty imposed by the
bill upon the State board of contracting
with publishers for all the school books
to be used throughout the State is open
to serious objection. School books have
been, and still are, prolific source of
complaint. The competition between
rival publishing firms has already re-
duced the standard of quality of schools,
both literary and material, to its mini
mum point. 1t is an undeniable tru-
ism in trade, to which the hook-publish-
ing branch is no exception, that in pro-
portion as YOU increase the scope of a
contract as to quantity, you increase
the risk of competition as to quality of
the article furnished. Let the State
board issue its proposals for contracts,
upon the basis of a supply for the use
of all the schools of the State, and the
cupidity of the dealer will suggest
means to indemnify himself against pos
sible losses contingent upon too low a
competitive price for goods to be furn-
ished in such attractive quantities.
The larger the contract, the easier the
means to realize remunerative profits.
We hold, that the county boards can
execute contracts for books and sta
tionery upon better terms, upon the
basis of limited supplies for county
uses, than can the State board for COM
paratively unlimited ones But we
have already exceeded the intended
limit of this notice. Summed up in a
few words, we do not think that, that
educational system is the best that sub
ordinates to high central authority, be
it State board or individual State super
intendent, the representative and res
ponsible local authority. The nearer
you bring the officer to the source of
authority-the people-the closer you
fix his official responsibility, and the
better is the public service secured
Applying this undeniable principle to
the public schools, the more perfect your
county organization the better your svs-
TEN. Besides, viewed from the stand
point Of justice and right to the coun-
ties, the relative amounts appropriated
by the State and county would seem to
sustain this idea in Cecil county at least.
The school tax levied in this county
realizes for school uses about So 600.
while the State apportionmant reaches
only Sl4, 900 In other States, noticea-
bly, in Pennsylvania and Delaware, the
township and district systems prevail
There the whole subject of local educa-
ton is relegated to the people of the
districts or townships. While not pre-
pared to advocate system as purely
Independent locally as those now in
vogue in those States, vet we believe
that the most efficient system of public
education is that which confers an au-
thority upon the county boards, in all
educational matters, commensurate
with the work and responsibility i'm
posed upon them, and makes them
directly responsible to the people, for
the performance Of the public trust.
While this Bill makes the county
boards accountable for all disbursements
to the State board, to whom must it in
turn account? Too frequently, only
to itself
VENTILATION