The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-01-24
SCHOOL LAWS
TO BE CHANGED
MATTER TO CONE UP AT MEET
ING OF COPPER COUNTRY
suPeRlNTENDENTs'
ROUND TABLE.

At the next meeting Of the Copper
Country Superintendents' Round Ia
Bile. TO be held at Houghton. February
| IL, at 9; 80 o'clock, superintendent j.
A. Doelle viii read n letter from Luth-
er L. Wright. superintendent Of pub
lie instruction of Michigan. in which
a number of amendments TO the gener-
n school laws governing primary dis
tricts are proposed. superintendent
Doelle wrote TO Mr.. Wright some time
ago asking for this information. a
number of bills are To be introduced at
the state legislature this year, any Of
which. if passed. will result In i'm
portant changes in the copper coun-
Try schools.
The most important of these bills.
in the opinion of MIR. Wright, is the
textbook bill/for compulsory free text
books, state wide. If this is passed il
will mean much to copper country
people. the buying of text books being
one of the largest items to be reck-
oned with in giving the children an
education.
The letter which will he read is as
follows:
THE department. has in mind a
number OF amendments to the general
school laws governing primary dis
tricts. Not many of these will apply
to the township unit districts of the
upper peninsula, with the exception of
the free tuition law which we propose
to amend, making it more specific in
its provisions. Nearly all of these
amendments are the growth of
the district officers meetings which
have been held throughout the state.
There is matter which | wish yous
fellows up there would discuss and
that is a law which would put all of
the township unit districts of the up
per peninsula under the provisions of
the general township unit law which
was passed in 1909 A member of the
attorney generals department has told
me that he thinks the law passed i'm
1909. repealed Act. 176 of 1891, or the
upper peninsula act, and that the
court would so decide if the case ever
came to them. l wish you would find
out and tell me what you fellows think
of such an enactment.
There will be great variety of
text books bills introduced and | think
SO far as l am able to judge, they
stand in about this order of prefer
ence: First compulsory free text
books; state wide; second, county uni
formity; third, state wide uniformity.
Then, as YOU know, there will be
bill to define powers and duties Of
superintendent in city districts,
school board bill. aimed particularly
at the larger cities, which will provide
for board of seven members elected
at large.
Then there are the minimum sal
airy bill (Which, i'm my opinion, stands
very little show a permissive pension
plan, and a bill to give county COM
missioners a clerk.
cot course, the great question is the
better distribution of the primary
money. We are urging from this Of
fee the passage of a constitutional
amendment which, If approved by the
people, would he about as follows:
When n district has on hand enough
money To pay it's teachers for two
years in advance it shall have no more
primary money until its surplus is re-
duced to the point above indicated,
the whole sum of primary money TO
be divided up among the districts that
use it,"
Yours very truly,
l., l.. Wright