Henderson daily dispatch., 1942-08-17
Proposed School
Amendment To Be
Debated by Leaders
Continued from Page Onc)


ing To counties To erect SciIoulhnu,C.
II also was charged with power I.
make all nccdiul rules an / rcgu!a-
'nhS IN relation To- free pull.
schools and the educational fund %.
Inc state. which rules might be al.
tered or repealed by the general = .
Scmbly.
That constitution was adpp,cd q:
years before Ayc0ck started m,
State ON the road toward rcalil,n,
{ educational opportunities. and NOR,
/ Than GO years before the Stat" -,uJ
over full! support of the public .rhur
system.
. AS popular mtcrcS, IN public c,iv-
cation progressed. the State = sruuc,
an even larger place i'm the scLno
program. Transition has been lam.
/ I'm oush tho stages al COUNT CENTRAL
limited State aid. Stat" rcauIo,,n,
/ Of text books and teacher uI;,li,,
cations, uniform teacher .;II;,rir.
consolidation Of schools. free Trans.
portation. text book rental. and I,
/ hally full State .uppurt with fro.
elementary text books.
Legislature after legislature g., ~,
, boards. commission aud bI,rrarI
I specifying duties and power, mi,
/ there had grown up such a connie .
! system that teacher. patron. anf
! pupils wo~ Sod 10 know win.
was responsible for certain ;chn,
| functions. There was the State bn,,,
OF equalization which cmCrpcd INF,
me present school commission Thor.
| was projected - commission for -
lccllng text books and another tn,
buying ana renting them. There cam.
mo DclnG ScparHt" boards for sIi
| perVISihG vocational training ana
business schools.
FINALLY. the point WAS rc,cbc,
Whcrr the constitutional board q
education had little left TO do cxccp,
10 grant loans "ut of the lI;ornr,
iuhd, after tho local government
commission has approved them. I,
adopt text h"okS-aftcr tho tcx,
book commission had selected them
and I" certify tcaChcr>-aftcr tho,
had moi legislative qualifications.
This condition is and was rnsa,
iSiac,nry To- friends of public cd,Ica.
lion. The problem is what TO d,
about il. and the question before Tho
electorate ON November ; is Whcthc,
the proposed amendment will re
llcvc II. The desired objective is I,
'SiADlISh system Of public Schoo
administration that will be Simpl
and efficient.
The obvious effect of the amend
hchl VIII be 10 'cnnStitutionalzc' tn.
present Sch"nl commission. The ncN
board OF education will have thrc,
. cN-oillcio membership licutcnau
governor. the treasurer and the I'll
pcIlntcndcnt of public instruction
with one member from each con
! grcS;lonal district 10 be named b
me governor. That is the compos:
llon 81 the state school CommiSSIr:
now. The amendment, however. re-
/ qlhrcS mai minority of the an
. p0n'Ivc members shall be persons
OF training and experience in bust
ness and finance. who shall moi u,
connected with the teaching profcs
sion az any educational administl.a-
lion IN the state" The appointments
also must be confirmed by the Gen
Gral Assembly in joint Scs ion. Ap-
| pOin;mcntS will be staggered. mem.
bcrS from odd numbered districts an
! pointed first for two years. anc
: from even numbered districts ion
| four years. with all SubScqucnt ap-
/ pointmcntS Tor iour-ycar terms.
The board will be required 10 an,
point a comptroller. subject to ap-
| pr"v1l al the governor as "dirccior
/ ni the budget. who shall have ST.
! pcrNiSlun and management of it's fiS-
cal affairs. The State superintendent
of schools will he CX-officio .ccrc-
lary and shall have general super
vision "f tho public schools"
The board l. empowered Ia "dI-
vide the state into u convenient mum
hcr of school districts: to regulate
The grade. salary and qualification.
nf school teacher: Ia provide for the
selection and adoption of text books.
10 app"rtlnn and CqrIalizc the public
school funds oi the State: ami rCu.
Cra,~ tn supervise and administer
the public school system Of the State
and made all nccdliIl rules and &c.
EulaiIrU. IN relation thereto"
These powers arc those now cN
CrCiSCd Ivy tho multiplicity of board
and the avoWCd aim was CnncCntra
lion Ut them into ono group. thu.
fixing responsibility and simplifying
operation. Il was tho hope of Spnn.
SnlS maj CilbIl nnlcnt al contra
board would end confusion. 4 con
siderable number nG school folk have
raised tho question ut whether tho
language al the amendment is sui
iicicnily clear Ia avoid continued
misunderstanding and confusion.
One sentence says that tho
state superintendent shall have gen
cral supervision of the public
schools" Another SAYS that thC
comptroller ".nnll have supervision
and management Of fiscal affairs
Again. the board itself shall gen
orally supervise and administer the
public school yStcu and make al
rccdrul rlIiCS aud regulations"
RcfcTCnc" in Inc "dIrCCiOr Of tb'
budget" also oCCI IONS concern II
some quarters. Tho budget commits.
mi.ion. headed by tho governor. i.