The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-13
EXHAUSTIVE REPORT
 ON EDUCATIONAL WORK
Hill Transmits Biennial Statement to the Governor, Covering Condition of Schools
 and Operation of Department.

| acting on the advice Of the Attorney General, ordered the census to be taken giving the name. age, parent or guardian and address of each child. am pleased to state that am of the opinion that the school I census taken in August of this year is | the most correct school census ever population as shown by the census l taken in 1908 was 707.26s. The census taken In 1904 under the new plan shows 69s,051 children. thus mak- ing decrease of 2s,2is.
 Under the present law, a great many separate districts are not requfr- ed to take the school census in the same year that counties take it, and one or two counties are not required to take the general census at the time that other counties take it. This Is the re- suit of special or local laws. In my opinion 8 general law should be passed requiring all counties and districts to take the census during the same year. The Re-districting Law.
 The last Legislature passed a law which we call the re-districting law. The object of this law was to provide for the formation of school districts with regard to centers of population and natural barriers. Until this law went into effect school districts, with the exception of few which had been created by special legislative enact- ment. had as their boundaries arbitra ry township lines. The re-districting board, under this law, consisted of the county superintendent of each county. a member of the court of County Com missioners or Board of Revenue and the county surveyor. This board was required to re-district the county so as to form school districts in such a man. ner that no child would be more than two and a half miles from a school house. A description of each district was required to be made and a copy of such description kept in the office of the Probate Judge. This work was done in all the counties of the State except Escambia. Mobile and Baldwin. These counties had already been dis | tricted under provisions of special or local laws. A sa rule the work of | the re-districting boards was satisfac- | tory.
 ''The law provided that the qualified electors in each district so laid out should meet at a specified time and elect three trustees who should be | householders and freeholders and resi- | dents of the district for which they were elected. The district board was re- I and a secretary. The various district presidents met at the various court houses at the time specified by the law | and elected a county board of educa- l tion. This county board of education | consists of the superintendent of edu- | cation, who is an ex-ofncio member and | executive officer, and four citizens l selected from the county.
 'The county board ,of education has I l county. They have the power to change district lines. fix salaries, pres | cribe course of study and do what ever they think best for the educa- tional interest of the county. Of | course, there are some specific provis- | lions of the law which cannot be violated. It is my opinion that, as I soon as the new plan is understood, the 1 people will endorse it without question and that 1t will rebound to great benefit to the public schools of the State. Un- der the old plan, there was no one who had direct authority over the common schools of the various counties. This law places the board of education over the schools with specific power to see that their plans are carried out Educational Institutes.
 There is a law on the statute books requiring that teachers institutes be held in every county of the State. The | great majority of the counties hold from three to four institutes a year. These institutes, while they do a great | good, are not meeting the purposes for which they were intended. In most instances, the institutes are held on Fridays and Saturdays during the school year and the teachers are worn out by their school room duties.
 | There should be a change in our institute plans. In my opinion, 1t would be better to have several large | institutes in different parts of the | State composed of the teachers in several counties, and employ for con ducting such institutes, expert institute conductors. These institutes should be allowed to draw their regular pay while attending the institutes. More- over every teacher should be required to attend who has not a valid excuse. This is the plan adopted in number
 of other States, and I am informed, worked successfully.
 "As an aid to these institutes, would suggest that the unexpired balances derived from fees for the ex- animation of teachers every year be used in employing expert con- ductors. The examination law was not intended as reve- Atue nndkeT, dnu lC seems put TiSHt lHdt the fees paid by the teachers for de- fraying expenses of the examination should go back to them in the form of expert instruction.
 'In my investigation of educational work in other States, have found that great benefit has been derived from re- quiring teachers to meet monthly in what is called reading circles. light course of study Of a general nature is prescribed. and the country teachers are required to meet once month for the purpose of discussing the lessons which have been prescribed for the previous month.
 ''The county of Jefferson has coun- ty teachers association which meets once every month and the teachers of this county have received great beneft from the work done. These reading cir cles are not intended to take the place of the institutes referred to above. The department of education Is now pre- pairing a light course of study for a State teachers reading circle. The ex- animation in theory and practice or teaching for January and July. 1905, will be taken from the pedagogical works found in this course of study.