Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-04-15
SCHOOL NEWS
THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
LAW.

LAW.
While of course the Legislature is
ultimately responsible for the passage
of the County Board of Education
bill, it does not deserve all the
censure which the people are heaping
upon it, but may, very rightly,
transfer good portion of the blame
to those who have strenuously fought
for many years and in many legisla-
lures for the enactment of the law.
1t is undoubtedly certain that were it
not for the teaching profession of the
state, and more particularly, the state
department of education and the
Wisconsin Teachers Association, there
would not now be any such law.
To indicate something of the
history of this law and the part that
the educators have had in it's enact
ment, few excerpts are here given,
taken from the report of Mr.. c..
E. Patzer, chairman of the legisla-
tive committee of the Wisconsin
Teachers Association, as he made
it to that association at their meet
ing last November. The report in
full is printed in the proceedings of
the association.
"The first suggestion of a county
board of education came in the sum-
mer of 1907 from L. w. Wood, who
was then rural Inspector of this state
In his opinion the county superin-
tendency should be taken out of
politics by means of an appointive
system, and the appointive power
should be vested in board of educa-
ton to be elected by the people.
cat meeting of the State Teach
ers' Association in 1907, the chair
man of the legislative committee in a
report on the country school problem
outlined new plan of supervision of
country school embodying the idea of
county board of education. AS a
result of this report a committee was
appointed to prepare a bill to be in
troducted into the legislature of 1909.
Though this bill was reported out
unanimously by the assembly commit
tee, it received only twenty five
votes. However, the special COM
mittee appointed by this legislature
to study the question further, unanim-
ously recommended, in its report to
the governor, the passage of the bill.
In his message to the legislature
in 1911, Gov. McGovern recommend
ed the county board of education bill
to the Legislature for favorable ac-
ton. In February of that year, a
hearing was given to the legislative
committee of the Wis. Teachers As
ISOLATION by the assembly and senate
in joint session, but the bill was re-
ported out by a divided vote, and
promptly killed in the assembly.
SIN August 1911, State Superin-
tendent Cary appointed a committee
of fifteen, six of whom were not con-
nected with the profession of teach
ing, to investigate the country
schools; this committee strongly
favored the passage of the county
board Of education bill.
Three bills providing for the
county board Of education were in
troduced in the legislature of 1913.
At the first hearing on these bills,
two members of the legislative com
Fpittee of the Teachers Association
and the state superintendent convinc-
ed the assembly of certain weak
points, as A result of which, the as
sembly committee decided to draft an
to one of the bills. For
the greater part Of four weeks this
committee on Education, assisted by
the members of the teachers legisla-
tive committee and others interested
in teaching, worked on the measure
which was reported out on May IA by
unanimous vote of the committee. On
May 18 the bill came up for engross-
ment in the assembly. Heated argu-
ments for and against the measure
followed for an hour or more, the
previous question was moved and
carried thus shutting off debate, the
State Teachers Association, its legis-
lative committee, the legislative COM
mittee of other teachers associations,
the state board of normal school re-
gents, and the superintendent of
public instruction, all favoring the
bill, made it possible to present a
united educational front in the legis-
lature, which bore down all opposi-
ton.
"Allow me at this time to extend
thanks to Theodore Kronshage, presi-
dent of the state board of normal
school regents, whose broadminded-
ness and deep interest in all educa-
tional problems of the state suggest
ed him to urge upon the board to