The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-03-17
FOR HOCKEY BOYS
How the New State Truant Law
Operates.
Provides for Officers to Enforce
the Provisions.
FEWER EXAMINATIONS.
The One Usually Held in April
Abolished.
Supt. DayhOff Talks About the
Changes.
FEWER EXAMINATIONS.

The new teachers certificate law.
which created the professional grade,
does away with the April teachers ex-
aminations, so that teachers who have
been depending upon securing certifi-
Gates this spring will have to postpone
taking the examination until summer.
There was no use in giving an April
examination said Superintendent Day
hoff today. and it worked against the
summer Institutes. Teachers would take
the April examination and if they Sc
cured a certificate they would not at
tend the institute and get the training
out of it which they probably needed.
For this reason the April examination
was abolished. The law goes into effect
upon publication in the official state pa
per- so there will be no examination the
coming month";
Superintendent DayhoR will publish
in the near future a pamphlet explain
ing the new educational law en-
acted by the recent legislature especial
ly the truancy law. which Superintend-
ent Dayhoff regards as a very import
ant piece of legislation. About $4,000
copies of the pamphlet viii be distrib-
uted throughout the state. 1t will con-
tain the truancy and professional GER
tifcate laws in full, as well as a synop-
sis of all other educational laws, and
VIII try to answer all sorts of questions
about them. It is aimed to publish an
edltlOn Sunclent to place one IN the
hands of each school officer in the state
so as to thoroughly familiarize them
with the new laws.
The truancy law win not really he
come effective until the schools opef.
next September. It goes into effect On
its publication in the statute book, but
the schools viii practically be over By
that time until next fan.
The truancY law as ii finally passed
provides that the boards of education III
cities with more than 10000 population
and all county superintendent may ap-
point truant officers. In counties the
county may be divided into from one to
i've districts as may be necessary. and
each shall have a truant officer. These
truant officers are to receive two dol
lars a day for the time actually ems
ployed, and their bills have to be ap.
proved by the board Of education il,
cities and by the county commissioners
outside Of cities It is made the duty
of teachers to notify the county super
mtende1t each month of children who
are habitualIy truants or who are alb
sent from school when they should be in
school This does not include children
VINO are kept out few days now ana
then to help their parents. but children
4 Who run the streets when they should
4 be in school. Such cases are reported to
1 the trusnt officer who looks them up
J
children themselves are incorrigible
1 they are dealt with according to the
( laws already on the statute books. II
their parents persist in keeping them
out OF school without good and sufI1-
i Client cause, the parents NAV be fined
from IS to SIS in a justice court
belleVe this is a very beneficial
law, said Superintendent Dayhoff to-
gay 1t VIII get after a class of chill
dren from which our criminal class Is
recruited believe it is cheaper 10 the
state 10 save a child from becoming a
criminal than to take care of him and
punish him after he has become 4 Grim
lnaL This law viii more than paw for
itself in a few years in the saving Of the
expense of criminal prosecutions. be
sides saving to society children who will
grow up into good citizens instead of
llie0 criminals. When I was in Cincin-
matt some time ago talked with Com
missioner Bonebral1e OF the Ohio Schools
on the operation of the truancy law
there. He said it is very popular, so
much so that if a man were to run for
office on the platform of repeating the
truancy law he would not be in the race
at all.
L want our people to Thoroughly un-
derstand the law before it goes into eff
feet, and for that reason I will get out
these pamphlets explaining it."
Other educational legislation just en-
acted is the law allowing manual train
ing in district schools: the law creating
the manual training school at Pittsburg
as an auxiliary of the State Normal;
the law allowing county superintend-
ents to indorse first grade certificates
from any other county in the state. or
second and third grade certificates from
adjoining counties; the law taking
away the power of the annual school
meetings to decide whether the teacher
shall be male or female: and the law
providing for refunding the bonded in
| debtedness of merged school districts.
All of these will be explained in the
pamphlet.