Baxter Springs news., 1919-03-28
Leg
h: N ]. ...L6LAT|VE LAWS
A Budget Of An the Laws At
/. fecting the Schools of
Kansas-Many
Changes


Educational Legislation sufficient to
affect in some wary every part Of the
Kansas, school system was passed BY
the 1919 Legislative.
N. 7. Veatch, assistant state super
intendent of public instrpction yester-
day completed a compilation Of laws
which were passed affecting state edu-
cation. The list Of thirty measures
includes number of routine bills,
with several Of general importance.
The much. advertised law requiring
English as the medium Of instruction
, IN all elementary schools, including
public and private, also requires that
a complete course of instruction In
civil government, United. States his
tory and duties of citizenship be
taught. The state board Of education
is empowered to. enforce compliance.
Must Display the Flag
The flag" law makes it the duty Of
the school authorities Of each public
school to procure. flag and flag staff,
and that the flag be displayed regu-
larly. Each; member ,yof the. school
/ board or school authorities may be ed-
| Judged gpatg of q misdepeGnor tbr
1 VOL stGS ek the flag requiremsatG
HereafteF SeApplss IRE. required to
provide nee 5aesEs i inspection. Dem
lists are tc paid out ofethe school
funds. Certificates of the results Of
inspections, together with suggestions
of requirements for the curing Of any
defects are to be made in duplicate,
one copy going to the child to be taken
to the parents and the other copy
filed. There is a proyiso that no work
other than the inspection shall be per-
formed by the examining dentist with
out the consent Of the parents or
guardians. .-,.
Weil.Balanced Libraries
There will be no more running
wild" on libraries in district schools.
> A new legal requirement confines
works to arithmetic, geography, his
tory, literature, biography, travels,
; science and two monthly school jour
nails, one to meet the demands Of the
primary classes and the other the
more advanced needs. A balanced IA
ton OF books is suggested ,lissl'
i Levy LIMIT Increased ,s:,
Two bills of particular Importance
to cities of the first class were passed.
The first of these increases the limit
for the general school levy from six
! to eight mills. The other requires the
city officials to have careful and
complete audit Of affairs of boards Of
: education made every two years, fol-
lowing the city election. This audit
may be published.
A number Of laws relate to taxation
for schools. These include measures
which will permit the issuing Of addi-
tional bonds for buildings, due to the
high cost of building materials. There
was strong pressure on the legisla-
ture from counties where there is .
county high school to make these
schools local schools and to have q
general division Of high school tax.
Sumner county brought about this
change by. q, special act. The reason
is the, present tendency TO increase the
number of high schools, both in rural
districts and in small towns. -
~ :. Catch, Up With Bills .
Il; Legislation along the same lines as
secured by Interstate tax commission
to relieve communities which have,
Erun behind in their bills because Of
limits on taxation, was secured to aid
.I,,schooE districts. Both township and
school districts are enabled upon spe-
ciai election to issue bonds to pay
floating indebtedness, and to pay for
these bonds by special levy.
The age for entering children in
district schools is raised from ive to
six years. The truancy law is amend
ed so that in small counties, the tru-
ancy officer may be the sheriff, in
stead of a juvenile court officer. The
law regarding certifcation Of teach
ers was amended so as to permit
county supefintendents to retain their
certificates. while holding their Office
/ and not actually teaching.
:%i. Pay Is Increased
Pay for county superintendent IN
many counties is increased; psrticu-
larly in small counties. Special apprO-
priations are made for stste aid in
normal training high school courses,
for agricultural training and for weak
school districts:
The state text book law Is changed
so that one member, instead Of being
nTosideT,f ,,f The akaka hoard Of aoFi-