The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1912-06-06
County School Officials Are
United in Contest to Stop
Truancy at School.
MILES SHOWS STATE STATUTE
Leader of Board in Charge of indus
trial Education Shows Efforts That
Are Being Made to Get Better Re
suits for Children of the State.

A determined effort is being made to
eliminate truancy among the school
boys of Kenosha county and the girls
also, by agents of the school manage
ment including the state factory in
spectors, Superintendent Mary D.
Bradford Of the city schools, and
County Superintendent John ]. Ker-
win Of the rural schools. With a view
of having the people better understand
just what the state laws provide in
regard TO children attending school,
Herbert E. Miles, president Of the
Wisconsin State Board of Industrial
Education has sent out a letter to the
various school officials. In this he
says:
Every normal child is required to
attend regularly the public school, or
other equivalent school, from the
seventh to the fourteenth year. Be
tween fourteen and sixteen years Of
age there is an alternative; every
child shall continue to attend the com
mon school faithfully OF, upon obtain
ing definite permit from the cons
missioner of labor, a truancy officer,
or the judge Of a state, county, or
municipal court, the child may enter
upon a definitely specified useful occu-
patton, working thereat not more than
IS hours per week, including five hours
per week to be spent in the industrial
ted occupation at any time he must re
turn at once to the public school and
the employer must return the permit
for cancellation. There is some feel
ing that this maximum limit should
be 4S hours per week exclusive of the
5 hours spent in school, or So hours
in all. Very successful adjustments
have, however, been worked out in
some cases.
every child in Wisconsin between.
fourteen and sixteen years of age, who,
under a special permit enters upon
some useful employment, must so to
an industrial, commercial continual
ton, or evening school for five hours
each week, the employer continuing
the wages during those hours, the at
tendance upon school being for such
hours, and at such places, as the board
Of education prescribes. The charac-
ter Of the local board is an assurance
to all that the hours will be made as
convenient as circumstances permit.
It is not, however, expected that these
children will work hard all day, and
then when tagged out be sent to school
for further strain and wearisome eff
fort 1t is interesting to note in this
connection the experience Of the New
York Central Railroad in its appren-
ticeship schools. The apprentices
ring in at those schools at seven
O'Clock in the morning two mornings
in the week, leaving for their shop
work at nine O. clock. The school thus
gets the boy when he is freshest and
best able to receive instruction and
profit by It, The company s superin-
tendent declares that the best return
for the wages paid these apprentices
comes from the hours spent in these
schools, so greatly is the efficiency
and general usefulness of the appren-
tees increased by this instruction.
He says that boys who have gotten
well along in the school courses can
take new shop machine, and in a
week i time produce three quarters as
much as the average skilled man, while
boys who have not had this school in
struction will ofen require a mouth s
time on new machine to produce one
half as much as the average mechanic,
and the waste in material, ETC., is, Of
course, espondingly greater. Other
employers make similar statements.
1t may, therefore, be said that Wis
consin has compulsory education up to
sixteen years Of age, in the common
school up to fourteen years, and from
fourteen to sixteen either in the com
mon school or the industrial school.
There is no. escape except for children
engaged in agriculture, who are ex-
empted from the provisions, presum-
ably under the assumption that the
farm is in way a school.
Truancy.
The provisions against truancy are
fairly complete, and growing public
sentiment may be expected to support
their enforcement.N
The new truaney law (section 439a,
etc, published by the Industrial Com
mission, Madison) by specific provi-
sions, requires all truancy officers, and
others in interest, to see to it that
every child No to sixteen vaars ~ ~