The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-06
GETTING THE CHILD
 TO SCHOOL
In Some States, Children Are Hired From Parents
 For Education

| Stringent child labor laws; the pay
 ment of a child's transportation, or | even of his board and lodging; and | the practice of hiring a child away | from his parents in order to send him | to school, are some of the more re-
 markable measures adopted during the
 year just ended by a number of ] States which are endeavoring to get I every single child of school age into l school. These measures are oescrib- | ed by J. c. Boykin, Editor of the Uni 1 ted States Bureau of Educat ton, in a l report issued for free distribution by | the Bureau.
 | In Michigan, if poverty compels a | child to go to work before completing | his common school edGdction, the dis l trict board of education may pay the parents as much as the circumstances | require up to three dollars a week, in
 order that they may place their child | in school. In addition, the child may | be furnished with textbooks free. In many States, very often weak i schools over a considerable area are l consolidated into one strong school. i CTS to bring in the children. MT. Eoy-
 kin discusses this as follows: A variation from the usual provi- | sions for transportation is found in
 the Minnesota law granting aid to l consolidated districts. The school | board of such a district is authorized ] to pay a reasonable amount for board ! and lodging in lieu of transportat ton 1 of pupils living at distance from | the schoolhouse. Another unusual de- veIopment is the South Dakota law, | which provides that when transporta- l tion is not furnished the school dis trict shall pay to the parents or guar | dianS of pupils living at a distance | from the nearest schoolhouse. as much as cents a day of actual school at l tendance.
 ''These two enactments are exam pIes of the unexpected results that sometimes follow new lines of legisla- | tion. In one case public funds not only furnish free tuition with all that
 it implies, but also pay part of the board and lodging of the pupil; in the other case the parent is paid in
 cash for. sending his child to school for there is no requirement that he | shall transport the child. In neither ter.
 "Other laws upon the general sub ect of transportation were enacted
 during the year in California. where pupils may be transported at the cost of the county to county high schools; in Kansas where any district board may provide transpcrtat I for pu- pills living more than L. miles from school; in Missouri, where the limit of distance is only one-half mile; in New Hampshire. where school dis- tricts were authorized to purchase necessary vehicles; in Pennsylvania,
 where it is provided that no pupil of
 
 quired to walk more than a mile and | a half to a consolidated school and in Iowa."
 Increased educational requirements. and a shortening of the hours of labor for the purpose of allowing the worker greater opportunities for seIf-improve-
 ment, characterize the child-labor l legislation passed during 1911 as another phase of the campaign to raise the general level of education in this country. In this connection. MT.
 Comprehensive laws of great im- portance relating to child labor were passed during 1911 in Colorado,
 Indiana, Michigan. Missouri; New l and Wisconsin. All these States pre- viously had laws that were more less
 effective, but in no case did the old | law compare with the new in com pleteness or in difiniteness. The new measure of New Hampshire is especi- ally comprehensive and well drawn; that of Colorado is nearly as complete and those of Tennessee. Texas. Utah and Missouri are notable in that they greatly broaden the field of legal regu- ] lation, for in those States the previous 1 tion.
 '"The most advanced laws prohibit | employment before the age of Is un- l less the child has completed the eieh Il | elementary grade, but that standard
 is still considered too high in most | of the States. Ability to read up- |
 all the education that is required in | New Hampshire and Colorado for
 cI !dren between IA and 16, and that | is as far as the requirements of the I ma tority of States go.
 'The Michigan law mentioned above | amends previous acts, but it's scope
 is such that 1t is entitled to be class
 ed as an important general law. One | mention, namely, that of limited va
 cation permits. for which all educa- | tionaI qualifications are waived, though all other requirements of the
 law must be enforced. As the name | indicates, they are issued only during | the summer vacation. Ano' her par | agraph provides for age certificates for | persons over 16 years of age. l '"The hours of employment of chill i dren are reeulated by law in a con
 stantly increasing number of States.
 The osborne law in New Jersey pro | hihits the employment of any oh Id under Is in a mercantile e es' abliSh-
 ment for more than 5S hours per week,
 or between p. m. and ' a. m., except
 during the Christmas season. Other
 recent laws fix maximum weekly | working hours as follows: Colorado, | Missouri and Wisconsin, for persons
 under Is, AS hours; New York and In- | diana, under Is. 54 hours: New Hamp-
 shire, boys under Is and girls under | IS, 5S hours; North Carolina, under | 1S 50 hours. In California, persons un- | der IS are prohib from working
 r'Ar law applied only to persons under 16"
 l The Board of Education of the city | of Van Vert, Ohio, has a fund of
 s25, 900, the interest which is used
 to buy books and clothes for poor ch'I- | dren who attend the public schoo's.
 The money is loaned at six per cent ! and produces S1,5OO a year. The ex- l penditure Of th's money is directed by | a truant officer.
 l