Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-25

rn,ttins TO IT. oisixens the proposal of
reducing It's board of eduoation from ~
nembes To Z, and OF having them siert-
cd at 1aas.. In 1918 Detroit submitted
the matter 10 a general slsction, where
II wns parsed by n substantial majority.
In 1917 n now seven-mernber board was
chosen by n nonpsrtfs.n ballot. In the
annual report of tho board uai7-tg
there IL 70 be found an interesting
statanient concerning les work. An
excerpt follows.
The essential dinerenc. beween the
old and new boards IL on Of represen-
tation. The old board was elected by
wards, and the inspectors were tho per-
sona representatives OF minor admin
istratIve districts. The new board rep
reaents the community at large. with
out the partiaan interest that neoen~
rarieiIy inuenosd the larger body.
The small board made fundamental
changes In the rules The division OF
administrative power was abolished,
aand responsibility for the conduct OF
tho entire system wnn placed IN the
hands of the superintendent
The appointment Of all ndmiuistra-
tive Officers as walI an teachers is now
made by the superintendent and APP
proved by the board of education. The
control of the purely educational and
the business functions ere In the hands
Of technically trained experts. There
is no outside interference With the
working Of these officers. Appoint
meut-. reapportionments promotions
a nd disfr1issals hfs based upon system
aticaiiy organized and carefully super
vised records
with those fundamental changes in
policy the old COMMITTEES system under
which the ward elected board worked
has passsa out Of existence. The rsla-
| tion Of TN. present hoard 10 the school
/ system IL like that Of a board ~ direc-
| tors 10 large corporation.
Wilmington And The School Code.
The wilmington schools are organ
| ixed and controlled under acts ~ the
general assembly, which grant 20 the
eity practically complete autonomy in
matters of education. n ia scarcely
| to be wondered at. then, that when ths
| proposai that wilmington should adopt
the school code and submit 20 its pro-
visions. which In many details Of school
sdruiui-sra ton would have transfer
red control from Wilmington n Dover,
The city board Of education. IN whose
hand. the decision r.sted. declined.
| II was pointed out IN the discussion
| atnrna the reasons advanced for not
| saoptins the cod. that IL would place
| the control Of the Wilmington schools
/ in the hands ~ persons residing outside
Of the city. that II would give the State
| board ~ education and the State som
| missioner of efuenti authority ~ reg
| ui.ta the work and management If
| the achooia I'm almost every detail. that
| under the new law If Wilmington failed
| ~ comply vith sii the rules and regula 4
| tlona made hy the state board the lat
tor could penslize the city ny abolish
ing the spt riai district which Whining
| ton wes &c comprise and declare that
the schools and all IF their assets should
hecotue part ~ the system ~ New
| castle County, the county in which
| Wilmington il situated and subject 20
| the authority IF the country board ~
| education. that IN such event the city
board ~ education could be compelled
| tc deed over ~ the New Castle County
board the legal title n all ~ it= prop
| erty. and that under the power grant
81 To- the stat. board under this lew
| "to change alter fir and determine the
| boundaries Of any and all special dis
trict= herein designated. and of anv
end ali special school districts here
after created" the State board might
detach portions of the city and merge
them with adjoining rural districts
II was pointed ont I'm the discussion
also that while some favored the adop-
ton on the ground that II would mean
changing an unwieldy city board ~ ~
elected ~ wards to a board nf ,. elect
ed AT large. yet that no such change in
The size and manner electing the city
hoard would obtain iuasrnuch as section
170 Of article provides that Whining
ton shall not change the manner of
electing the board nor It's size Again
Il was shown that whereas many were
urging the adoption Of the code. be-
cause they thought that under its pro-
visions the fixing Of a tax rate for the
support Of the schools would bs tzker
out ~ the city council and virtually
placed with the board of education
that. on the other hand. accepting ths
tho new law expected Wilmington. and
that In consequence under IL no relief
in this could be obtained
In short. because no advantages wouIC
accrue 20 the school department N
Wilmington. under the new law. and
htat. on the other hand. accepting IN.
code would mean tho surrender OF vii
mington's Independence. home rule. and
local management. the city board de
cidsd that II was uuwise 70 adopt N,
code.
The Code Was Drawn for Rura
Districts.
A careful examination OF the 1911
school code convinces the commission
that IL was drawn with the condition
obtaining in tn rural districts OF Della
, ware and their needs chiefly In mind
IL would seem that the inclusion o
Wilmington might have been an after
thought. for tho provisions inserted Il
the law relating TO Wilmington are Ger
tainiy not we'll considered Whining
ton is the only city Of size In the state
While the educational advantages OF
fered to children who live in the coun
try ought to be. as nearly as possible
equal IN value TO those offered "a
child who chances 70 reside in the city
nevertheless It must be recognized ths
the problem of providing such oppor
tunity, as between the city and tn
county, is vastly dinerent--so different
in fact. that II is impossible that n
same plan OF organization, Of admins
tration, and Of control can be equal,
: effective in both. For this reason, ther
cities in most States axe granted
} much larger measure Of freedom fror
$ control by the State Office in the mat