The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-04-19
COUNTY BOARDS
OF EDUCATION
IMPORTANT CHANGE w SCHOOL
MANAGEMENT GOES INTO
EFFECT JULY LIST.
Each County VIII Be Divided Into
Five School Districts.

al counties OF this State convene In
quarterly session on the hrst Monday
in July the most important duty prob
ably ever imposed upon them wiz
have to be discharged. Under the
act Of the recent Legislature the
courts will in all but ten counties of
the State elect County Boards OF Ed
ucation and from and after that time
the whole system of school manage
ment and government will be changed.
That the new system will prove .
most salutary one and will result In
a great Improvement Of Fhe rural
schools no student OF the history Of
public school education WIN for one
moment question.
Ever since the establishment Of the
State common school system in 1879
the school district has been the unit
of government, and the schools have
been managed or probably not infre-
quently mismanaged, by scores Of d.
rectors in each county where four or
five good men could haye performed
the duties for the whole county to a
very much better advantage.
State Superintendent Jones, like
his predecessor, Superintendent Myn-
ders, was an earnest and persistent
advocate of the county system, and he
is naturally much gratified at the
passage of the law The Superinten-
dent does not hesitate to express the
positive conviction that within a very
few years under the new system tnere
will be witnessed marvellous inn
provement in the public schools Of
the State.
There are some interesting legal
questions, however involved in the
change This is always the case
where an established system is up
rooted and a new plan tried Proba-
bly, the, most important question that
has been raised Is that in relation to
teachers contracts. Under the law
the Boards of District Directors will
be abolished on July /, and thereaf- |
ter all of the powers and duties here
tofore exercised by the directors will |
be vested in the County Board Of Ed
ucation.
In many districts, however, the Dis
trict Directors have already entered
into contracts with teachers for the
next school term, beginning after
fully /. The question has been raised,
viii these contracts hold, or will the
County Board of Education elect the
Teachers for the next term? State
Jones will submit the
natter to Attorney General Chas. T.
Gates for an opinion. The Superin-
.endent is, however, OF the opinion
hat these contracts will not bind the
county Board and he gives some sub
,tantial reasons for this opinion.
Under the school law the certi-
icates of every teacher expire on July
!, and until such certificates are re-
lewed the teachers are not qualified
II authorized to teach in the public
chools. Therefore the State Super
ntendent takes the position that for
his reason contracts made before
uly / are not legally binding.
The school act provides that the
county Court of each county shall at
he July term divide each county into
We school districts, each being as
early as practicable of equal area or
umber of people. 1t is provided, how
yer, that the school districts shall be
of whole civil districts. The
ourt shall then from each district
ect one member of the County Board
Education. This Board shall serve
ntil the August election, 1908, when ,
lie voters of the several school dis
lets shall elect a new Board for two
ears, and biennially thereafter the
ounty Board shall be elected.
Where any county has less than Ave u
VII districts, one member shall be
ected from each of the districts and
le remaining members from the A
'unty at large. The County Super
tendent is made the Secretary Of
e County Board. In the event Of NJ
In the County Bohrd the N
.cancy shall be filled by appoint n
emit OF the County Superintendent. "A
lie members Of the Board are To be q
Id not over SO and not less than U
so per day, the salary to be hxed r.
the County Court. They shall not n
paid for more than thirty days in n
y one year. N
The following counties are excepted us
IN the provisions Of the act: Mont. a
merry, Davidson, Lauderdale, Moore, m
nth, Wilson, Warren. Giles, Lewis, hu
tnam and Obion. The counties of at
uderdale and MONTGOMERY already In