The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-12-13
DEPARTMENT NOTES.
WEDNESDAY.
CoMpTRoLLER's DEPARTMENT.

WEDNESDAY.
CoMPTRoLLER'S DEPARTMENT..
The comptroller having some time
ago purchased lot of BeXar county
bonds, declined to purchase a lot of
them held in New York, as the board
Of education are disposed to distribute
the balance of the school fluid among
other counties. SO that as many coun.
ties rs practicable may have tie ben
eft of the fund.
He warranted upon the treasury
for S0O12, payment on account for
work and material on the new uni
Yersity.
Laredo city offered $4,000 city i'm
provement bonds for registry, but
the city has to furnish copy of the or
dinance under which they We're is
sued, for the comptroller to decide
upon registering them.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY.
The contractor, as elsewhere no.
tlced, received another payment yes
terday on account of work on the new
university building.
Miss Bessie Belle Hoxie, of Austin,
matriculated yesterday, making POI
| SNONA>~~O0 ASONANtA lhAo SCOSlOu.
THE TERRELL ASYLUM.
There was u meeting of the ASYLUM
board yesterday to consider some diff
ferences between Building Supervisor
McLaurin and Contractor Mcdonald
as to how payments for the work
should be made. The board decided
th2t the contractor should be paid for
All acceptable material as furnished,
receiving as a present margin Is per
cent besides what it will cost to use
the material in the construction of the
building.
BOARD OF EDUCATION.
The board, as required by law, has
presented its report to the governor,
showing the condition of the free
schools of the state for the year 1928.
Accompanying the report is submit
| ted for the consideration of the legis-
| lature an able communication from
Hon. b. 81. Baker, secretary of the
board. While some of the members
dissent from some of the recommen-
dations therein, it is deemed proper,
they say. 20 publish the same, as COM
ing from one who has given the sub
| jects treated much care and thought.
We give some points Of the report.
The reports are not complete, being
received from only 125 counties and
cities. Public funds were apportioned
to 175 counties including the morgan
lied counties of Crosby, Dickens, Ed
wards, Fisher. Hardeman, King, Knox,
! Wichita and Zavalla and to forty-five
cities and towns.
Errors in the present school laws
| and in the system itself have &C.
casioned much difficulty in the ad-
ministration of the public schools.
Changes are considered necessary to
conform the law to the amended con-
| StitutiOn.
1. County judges have not in every
instance distributed all the available
state and county funds at their dis
pOsal.
2. Many communities organize an
nually and have the fund to which
they are entitled set aside for them in
the county treasures, and then fail to
maintain schools, thereby locking up
in the county treasures many thous-
ands of dollars, from which no practi-
cable benefit is derived by any one.
| 3. Teachers, as rule, cannot be in
duced to make term reports to the
county judges, and of course complete
statistics cannot be sent by the county
judges to this department.
4. County judges, mayors, superin-
tendendents of city schools, county
and city treasurers, in many instances,
fail or refuse to report to this depart
ment at all.
5. The scholastic census is often
badly taken. In many instances chill
| dror1 Nf cchn1ocfiO nunrInnlYn6
and children not of sch elastic age are
enrolled.
6. The community lists have often
been improperly revised. Some coun.
ty judges have revised them by the
assessors rolls, while some have not
revised them at all. The result has
been that children of scholastic age,
overlooked by the assessors, have not
received the benefit of the school fund,
and children not Of scholastic age by
being put on the community lists,
have enjoyed a fund never intended
for then.
Z. The amount of pay to which an
assistant teacher is entitled is matter
of infinite doubt
The report favors the subdivision
of counties into convenient "schcol
districts" the qualified property tax
paying voters OF such districts be per-
mitted to vote such local taxes as they
may deem best, not to exceed the limit
fixed by amendment to the constitu-
ton. Each district to elect three
school trustees, to locate schools, de-
termine when to open them, employ
teachers and manage the schools gen.
orally, subject to rulings from this de-
partment on questions referred to it
on appeal. Teachers should have pro-
per certificates of competency, accOr-
ding to grades Of the schools. A
course of study should be prescribed
for the schools of the several grades.
County treasurers should be continued
as treasurers of the school fund.
District school superintendent are
suggested, instead of requiring the
services of county judges. the fees
paid the judges and assessors being
saved towards the salaries of the SUI
perintendents. Supervision, Mr..
Baker regards as the greatest need of
our schools, and the plan which he
suggests more in detail than Is here
given, is what he considers the best
to secure this
I would respectfully recommend
that superintendent OF public IN
struction" or commissioner of educa-
ton" be provided for. If it is deemed
best not to provide for the election of
such officer, it would be vastly better
that the present board of education be
directed by law to appoint one. He
should supervise, manage, direct and
control the public schools of the state,
and might do so under the supervision
of the board of education. The gov
ernor, comptroller and secretary OF
state cannot give the necessary time
from their own offices to manage the
growing school interests of Texas.
Constant, careful and onerous labor
is required for that purpose
in this department. The secre-
tary of the board of education is
virtually the superintendent, but he
Is without the necessary power and
cannot exercise the necessary infu-
ence to make the management eff
cient. The name itself adds dignity
to the department, and he who over
looks the expenditure of a million
and half dollars of the public
money should be in law, as he is in
fact, the head of the department. The
+ c,1nariDtQndGnt c0mmISSl OnpI