Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-01-19
BOARDS OF EDUCATION.

At the meeting of the Ohio Teachers
Association, at Akron, June 29th last,
there was consultation of some of the
Institute Lecturers and other teachers
of the State with the State Commission
er. 1t was agreed to advocate a law to
make the organization of boards of ed
ucation the same in townships as in
towns.
There are 2,136 boards of education
in the Statei of these, 788 are in city,
village and special districts, and 1,34S
are in township districts. There are
about 1000 districts, showing an
average of eight Sub-districts to each
township.
In the 1,34S township districts the
boards of education consist of the clerks
of the sub-districts. In every sub district
director may be elected by the quail
fled voters, on the second Monday of
April, to serve for three years. Within
five days the directors of each sub-dis-
trict meet and appoint one of their num-
Der clerk of the sub district. 1t is the duty
of this clerk to preside at meetings of
the directors and to record their pro-
ceedings; he also takes the enumeration
of youth of school age There is no
election of persons expressly to serve as
members of township board of educa-
ton, but each township board consists
of the township clerk and the directors
who have been appointed clerks of the
sub-districts.
For convenience designate the other
7SS school diitricts of the State as town
districts, though some of them are special
country districts having no town. In
all of these 78S town districts, the mem
bers of the boards of education are
elected directly by the qualified voters.
In the cities and villages they are elect
ed on the first Monday of April In
about twenty of the cities the members
are elec ted by wards, to serve for two
years; in the remaining 768 the members
are elected by general ticket, and serve
for terms of three years.
The powers and duties of the two
kinds of boards of education are the
same in all respects except one; that one
is of the greatest Importance. In every
sub district the power to appoint and
dismiss the teacher is in the hands of
the local directors. The board of edu-
cation of township district is thus de-
prived of power to enforce any regula-
tion that requires the aid of a sub-dis-
trict teacher.
The population of the State is very
evenly divided between the two kinds
of districts, about ,one-half being in
township districts and one-half in town
districts. -....... ...... .r
The proposition now made is that the
members of boards of education in town
ship districts shall be elected by the vo-
tiers of the district, ON the first Monday
of April, and that each township board
shall have the entire and exclusive con.
troll of the schools of the district. Nc
legislation is proposed concerning grad.
ing, or supervision, or course of study OF
books nothing but to adopt one way Of
electing boards of education for town.
ships, the same as in towns.
Within the past fifty years the public
schools of Ohio have made great pro.
gress. A half century ago there was
scarcely a public school in the State
with any regular course of study OF
classification. of pupils. A step forward
to better organization was taken in
1887, when every town was made a sep
arate district. Ten years later special
act provided for system of gra-
ded schools in the towns of Akron and
in Dayton. About the same time high
schools were established in Cincinnati
Columbus, Cleveland, and some other
places. In the course of few years
great progress was made in the cities
and towns in adopting regular courses
of study, grading the schools, and ap-
pointing supeIintendents. The school
law of 1853 still further provided for or
ganizing the schools of the State The
result has been in the highest degree
| good. The schools of Ohio are famous
throughout the whole enlightened world
This was shown by the reports made in
the centennial year 1876, by expert visi-
itors from other nations.
This progress has been principally in
the cities and towns. In every city and
town in Ohio, and nearly every special
school district, the work of education is
done in more systematic manner than
in the township districts. Notice the
differences:
lst. In the town districts, regular
course of study is pursued in every
school. In the township districts, every
board of education has power to deter
mine course of study; and in some of
them it has been ordered by the boards,
but generally it has failed because the
board has no power to enforce the order.
No board can dismiss teacher for neg
lect or even for positive refusal to obey
the regulation, because the power to
discipline teacher is given by law TO
the directors of the sub-district. This
perpetuates the disOrderly way in which
the education of childrOn is conducted
in most schools. Where a good teacher
is continued for time, he may correct
the evil; but, .....r
2nd. As rule, teachers are changed
nearly every year in the SUBJ districts.
They are more permanently employed in
the towns. The number of teachers ne
cessary to supply the sub district schools
of Ohio in 1886, was 1873. The num-
ber of different teachers actually en-
ployed for these schools was 1888
showing less than6, 1000 employed through
the year-a change of teachers in more
than half the country schools in the
State. The number of teachers neces-
sary to supply the town schools in Ohio
in 1886, was 64S1. The number of diff,
ferent teachers actually employed for
those schools was 67O1 showing a
change of only 300 teachers less than
one in thirty. ....-.... ... =.
3rd In the town schools. the nuniIs