Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1915-12-13
COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTEND.
ANCE IN THE STATE.

ANCE IN THE STATE.
As the time for the converting Of our
Legislature approaches and various
topics for legislation are being dis
cussed. few subjects are finding more
ardent advocates than that OF com
puslory school attendance. A single
glance at a series of statistics on the
subject. recently compiled, shows that
this matter is worthy Of our most
careful consideration.
The General Assembly Of 1912 enact
ed a law which requires school at
tendance in Baltimore city, makes it
optional in seventeen counties, and ex-
empts six counties from its operation.
The school boards Of nine counties
which come under the optional class
have taken advantage of their oppor-
tunity Hartford being among the nun
Der. While this is q fair showing. the
fact remains that in many counties
throughout the State compulsory at
tendance is not in force, and that our
present law is not adequate to secure
the best results even where it is now
enforced.
Under the law now in force if com
pulsory attedance is adopted, all chill
dreu between the ages of eight and
fourteen years must attend school at
least four months during the year.
The county school board may increase
the period of attendance as has been
done in Hartford. where the time is
fixed al five months This law applies
with equal force to children between
the ages of fourteen and sixteen. I'M
less it is shown mat such children are
regularly employed. ANY person who
has a child under his control and fails
TO comply with the law is subject to
fine of five dollors for each offense
Furthermore. any person who at
tempts to induce a child to unlawfully
absent himself from school, or who
employs such a child, is subject to a
fine OF fifty dollars. Perhaps some
will say what is the necessity Of such a
law in our State where education is so
universal. It is true, we cannot COM
prehend how parents can practice
such false economy as to keep children
ont of school when their services are
of so comparatively small value, but
we must admit such conditions do ex-
ist. Our own State, Maryland, ranks
thirty-second among forty-eight states
in the percentage of illiteracy Of ma
tive whites. ten years of age and over,
ana the rate of decrease is distress
ingly small. 1t is most significant
fact that even without compulsory
attendance laws the rate of decrease
of illiteracy among our colored popu-
lation is greater than the rate of de-
crease among our white population.
An average of the attendance of the
159'7S6 children who enrolled at our
county schools throughout the State
last year shows the attendance to be
t05.003. We have no information as
10 what became of the other 54,7S3.
In addition to this there were thous-
ands of children who never got their
names on the school roll In the six
counties exempted from the optional
law of 1912 from 80 per cent. to AZ per
cent. of the known school children
fail to attend school regularly.
Surely the time for Statewide com
pulsory school attendance is ripe, but
in the meantime we must try to better
local conditions. The period for at
tendance in Hartford has been fiexd at
FIVE months. with December I as the
latest date for enrolment. Although
the school authorities and the Juvenile
Court have tried to get all children in
it is generally recognized that there
are many parents defying the law.
The board has, therefore, decided to
adopt more strenuous policy and
purposes to see that the law is rightly
enforced even though it may be neces-
sary to appoint probation officer to
carry on the work. However, if each
person who knows of children out OF
school will cooperate with the board
and communicate with the nearest
teacher. a great deal of expense and
difficulty viii be saved.-The Aegis
aA IN