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GRADES OF TEACHERS.

Teachers holding first grade certificates....

Teachers holding second grade certificates..

Teachers holding third grade certificates....

Teachers who have taught in the same school more than one year.
Teachers who have attended county institutes..

Teachers who are graduates of the State Normal School..
Teachers who are graduates of any State normal school.

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Districts having suitable accommodation for all pupils............
Districts not having suitable accommodation for all pupils.

Districts whose schools have necessaries..........
Districts whose schools have not these..

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Districts whose schools have passable furniture..
Districts whose schools have poor furniture...

Districts with grounds suitably improved...

Districts with grounds not suitably improved.
Districts whose schools are well ventilated...

Districts whose schools are not well ventilated......
Districts whose schools have good furniture....

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Districts whose schools are well supplied with apparatus....
Districts whose schools are passably supplied with apparatus..

Districts whose schools are poorly supplied with apparatus...
Number of schools for colored children..
Number of children attending these....

Number of visits to schools made by county superintendents....

604

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SCHOOL SYSTEM OF THE STATE.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS.

The constitution of 1849 required the legislature to provide for the election by the people of a superintendent of public instruction for the encouragement of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement; for the creation of a school fund; for a system of common schools by which a school should be kept in each district at least three months in every year; and for the endowment of a State university.

PROVISIONS OF THE SCHOOL LAW.*
OFFICERS.

A State board of education, State superintendent of public instruction, county superintendents, city boards of education and boards of trustees of school districts, with State, county, and city boards of examination, form the official staff of the State school system.

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THESE OFFICERS.

The State board of education consists of the governor, the State superintendent, the principal of the State Normal School, and the school superintendents of San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sonoma, and San Joaquin Counties. The governor is president and the State superintendent secretary of the board. It meets at the call of the secretary, not less than twice each year, and has power to adopt rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the State laws, for its own government and that of the public schools and district school libraries; to prescribe rules for the examination of teachers and a standard of proficiency which will entitle to a State certificate; to prescribe and enforce a course of study for the public schools, with a uniform series of text books, except for the county and city of San Francisco; to adopt a list of books for district school libraries; to grant, or to revoke for cause, a life diploma to a teacher; and to review a case of such revocation on appeal.

* From School Laws of 1870 and 1874, published by department of public instruction.

The State superintendent is elected by the people; holds office for four years; apportions the State school moneys to counties, cities, and school districts; sees to the printing of all school laws and needed forms for officers charged with the administration of them; is trustee, ex officio, of State schools for special training, and visitor of all incorporated literary institutions; must visit the schools in the different counties and inquire into their condition; must make report to the controller, by August 10 of each year, of the number of children of school age; and biennially to the governor, by November 15, preceding a session of the legislature, must report the condition of the State Normal School, of other educational institutions supported by the State, and of the public schools.

The county superintendents are elected by the people for official terms of two years each; are charged with a quarterly distribution of school moneys to each district; must visit each school in their counties at least once in each year, or forfeit $10 for each one not visited; must hold and preside over teachers' institutes and secure the attendance of competent lecturers; must, in counties containing twenty thousand inhabitants or more, devote their whole time to supervision of schools, and if in the receipt of $1,500 salary, must not even turn aside from this to teach; must make full and correct report of all school matters to the State superintendent at fixed times, or have $100 of their salaries withheld for failure. In case of difficulty about the boundaries of school districts, they may fix or change these, endeavoring to harmonize all differ

ences.

City boards of education are charged with a general oversight of the interests of city public schools, such as the management and control of the school property, the purchase of school furniture and apparatus, the renting, repairing, and insuring of school buildings, the purchase of school lots and erection of school-houses on them, the making and receiving conveyances of property sold or purchased by them for their constituents, the employment of teachers and janitors for schools, the suspension or expulsion of pupils for misconduct, the exclusion of children under age, the enforcement of the course of study and the use of the text books prescribed by the State board of education, the furnishing books for children unable to procure them, the examination, by personal visitation, of the management, condition, and wants of each school, and the making of an annual census of school population and report of schools.

Trustees of school districts have essentially the same duties to perform, together with the appointment of district librarians and the enforcement of the rules prescribed for the government of district libraries.

The State board of examiners, consisting of the State superintendent and four professional teachers (holders of State educational diplomas) appointed by him, is authorized to recommend the most highly approved teachers to the State board of education for life diplomas, and to grant to others, according to the measure of their ascertained qualifications, State educational diplomas, valid for six years; State certificates of the first grade, valid for four years; of the second grade, valid for three years; and of the third grade, valid for two years.

County and city boards may issue like grades to the three last mentioned, valid in the counties or cities for which they act-the third grade in the counties to females only. Those of cities may also grant high school certificates, valid for six years.

SCHOOLS.

The State schools are of three grades-first, second, third-and the course of study prescribed is liberal, including, for all grades, instruction in morals and manners, and for the higher grades, in addition to ordinary branches, physiology, natural philosophy, natural history, elements of form, vocal music, and industrial drawing, with provision for a grade still more advanced. The schools are open to all white children between five and seventeen years of age, and to colored or Indian children where no separate provision is made for them. A State normal school exists for the training of teachers for these schools, and a State university, with an agricultural college attached to it. A law making education in these schools compulsory for children between eight and thirteen for two-thirds of the school year, except in certain specifically excepted cases, went into operation July 1, 1874.

SCHOOL FUNDS.

The State school fund, according to the State controller's report to Superintendent Bolander, March 3, 1874, appears to be derived from the proceeds of lands granted the State by the General Government, from interest bearing bonds to the amount of $1,417,500 given by the State for school purposes, and from a property tax of five cents and two mills on each hundred dollars. Amount in 1875, $1,737,500.

From this fund and from county funds $300 to $500 are annually apportioned to each school district for every teacher assigned it, provided that it has maintained a public school for at least six months of the next preceding school year, and provided, too, that the teacher or teachers employed in its schools hold legal certificates of fitness for teaching, in full force and effect.

ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION.

GENERAL REVIEW.

State Superintendent Bolander, in a review of the last two years, says: 66 Since my last report 29,953 children have been added to our school population; 117 new school districts, supporting 322 schools, have been organized; 274 new school-houses have been built and furnished, and old school-houses refurnished, at a cost of $613,746.61; the school expenditures have been increased by $544,885.09; the school property has increased in worth $1,011,262.85; the average school terms have been lengthened 1.33 months, being now 7.47 months, as against 6.14 months in 1873. On the other hand, there is a decrease of .82 per cent. in the enrolment of census children in public schools; a decrease of 5.18 per cent. in the average number of such belonging to public schools; a decrease of 3.93 per cent. in the number in daily attendance at public schools; and an increase of .91 per cent. in the number who do not attend school during the school year. Again, while the total number of children, including those over 17 years of age, who have attended public schools at any time during the school year, is 23,337 more than in 1873, the average number who attend long enough to be properly considered pupils is increased by only 8,242 and the average daily attendance by only 8,566."

Mr. Bolander proceeds to note a great advance in the number of first grade schools; i. e., high schools, grammar schools, and schools in which high school and grammar grade studies are taught, in addition to the lower grade studies; the greater number of teachers holding high grade certificates; better salaries paid to lady teachers; the greater amount of funds spent for school apparatus, one-half of the districts being now supplied, at least partly, with apparatus. He adds that, while the statistics show remarkable progress, there is a very general impression abroad that in the vital part of our school system-the education of our children-there is no progress, and that no progress is possible until a radical change bas been made in the system of education. Mr. Bolander has, therefore, in this biennial report, devoted much space to the discussion of the changes which he deems necessary in the present system of instruction, viz: the internal economy of the schools; the qualifications of teachers; the subjects taught, and the manner of teaching them; the text books required; and the adapting of instruction to the everyday wants of life.-(Biennial report of Hon. H. N. Bolander for 1873-74 and 1874-75, pp. 5, 6.)

PROGRESS.

Up to June 30, 1874, districts whose number of census children fell below a certain figure-20 for some counties, up to as high as 30 for others-did not receive for any oue school year sufficient funds to maintain a three months' school for that year. The last legislature, however, remedied this, and for the first time in the history of the State, every district received, during 1874-75, sufficient funds for at least a six months' school. The progress thereby made in popular education can hardly be overestimated. In 1873 only 43.3 per cent. of all the districts maintained an eight months' school; in 1875 this percentage is raised to 49.53. In 1872 over 464 districts, or 31.74 per cent., did not keep a six months' school; in 1875 the number was diminished to 34, or 2.15 per cent. of all the districts in the State. This unprecedented advance in the popular education of the State is due not only to the munificence of the legislature in more than quadrupling the amount of school money to be raised by State tax, but also to the change made in the manner of apportioning the school fund among the districts. Previous to July, 1874, the larger districts have, at the expense of the smaller ones, enjoyed greater educational facilities than those to which their assessment roll entitled them, while the smaller districts, enjoying but meagre educational facilities, were taxed to support the schools of the larger districts. Mr. Bolander recommended to the last legislature a method for remedying these evils, and this method, in its most important features, was enacted into a law. Five hundred dollars were fixed as the miniinum amount with which a district having a minimum number of census children can be expected to maintain an eight months' school, and Mr. Bolander suggests that the present legislature amend the law so as to apportion $600 instead of $500.— (Report, pp. 19, 20.)

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.

Writing on this subject, the superintendent says he is sorry to see that, notwithstanding the compulsory law, there has been no appreciable abatement in the evils of non-attendance and truancy, and that, while steadily gaining for the public schools the support of those who were at first opposed or indifferent to them, there has still been a failure to impress that large class of people who, through self-interest, carelessness, or ignorance, ignore the claims of their children to the rights and benefits of at least a common school education.-(Report, pp. 32-34.)

TEXT BOOKS.

In a comprehensive discussion on the uses and abuses of text books, Mr. Bolander inveighs against the cramming, parrot drill, multiplicity of studies, and general paucity

and inadequacy of results, for which the public schools are becoming painfully notorious, and which he considers are the products of the improper character or improper use of text books in the schools. He says we have too many text books, and that our common school course is overcrowded with studies; and he contends that spelling, word analysis, grammar, and composition, if well taught without text books, would yield more satisfactory results. He further affirms that text books are not only too numerous, but too bulky; that the text book as now used is made to bolster up poor, inexperienced, and unskilled teachers, and form a substitute for their mental deficiencies, and that this radical defect can only be remedied by saying to every teacher, “Unless you feel competent to teach this school without the aid of a single text book, so far as mere instruction is concerned, you cannot have the school." He contends that the State should furnish each teacher with a manual of instruction, pointing out the course of culture and technical training needed to qualify him for his work, thus compelling teachers to assimilate some method of teaching, and become real teachers, instead of mere school keepers. Mr. Bolander closes his elaborate discussion on text books by inviting attention to the plan of "free text books." He sums up, in the words of Mr. Thomas Tash, of Lewiston, Me., the advantages offered by this system, thus: 1. Books are ready at the proper time. 2. Every child is supplied with all the books, &c., needed. 3. Uniformity in books. 4. Considerable latitude can be allowed in the selection of books without increasing the expense of them. 5. Books are more entirely under the control of the teacher. 6. Books furnished by the town or city are much more carefully used, and better kept than when owned by the children. 7. It leads parents to procure reference books, useful both to themselves and their children. 8. Convenience in making transfers. 9. The free supply of books increases school time. (Report, pp. 36–55.)

HALF-TIME SYSTEM OF SCHOOLS.

This system is argued for on the grounds that it places school facilities within the reach of many children now deprived of them by the absolute necessity of devoting at least a part of each day to labor, and that it doubles the number of pupils instructed, with no addition to the cost. The half-time system has been introduced into the primary schools of Oakland. Eleven classes are taught on it, and the number of pupils taught by one teacher, in these classes, ranges from 90 to 170. Twenty per cent. is added to the salary of the teachers who are required to teach these classes. It is the unanimous opinion of principals and teachers that the half-time pupils progress equally with the full-time pupils. Whether the half-time system can be applied equally well to schools above the primary grade is not so easily determined.— (Report, pp. 72-75.)

THE KINDERGARTEN.

Mr. Bolander thinks the opinion is gradually gaining ground that our common school education would be materially benefited, if not perfected, by the introduction of the Kindergarten system. In response to many inquiries, he publishes, in an appendix_to his report, an illustrated article on the Kindergarten toys and how to use them. He also embodies in his article on the Kindergarten copious extracts from the report of the committee of the National Educational Association on this subject.—(Report pp. 112-119.)

CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS.

SAN FRANCISCO.

Organization.-The official staff of the city system consists of a board of education of 12 members, (of whom one-third are believed to be changed each year,) with a superintendent of schools, a deputy superintendent, a secretary, a clerk, a copyist, and messenger; also under a general school law, affecting all the cities, a city board of examination, consisting of the city and county superintendent, and of 4 teachers, residents of the city and holders of State diplomas, chosen by the board of education. The examining and licensing of teachers belong to this board of examination; the general care of the schools to the board of education; the special supervision of them, under the board, to the city superintendent and his deputy.

Statistics.-Estimated present population of the city, 234,000; numb of children 5 to 17 years old, the school age, 41,029; number enrolled in public schools, 32,175; in private and parochial, 6,094; total enrolment, 38,269; average attendance in public schools, including evening schools, 21,014; percentage of the enrolment in all schools on the number of children of school age 85.9; percentage of the average number belonging to public schools on the whole number of school age, 59.9.

The whole number of teachers employed in the year has been 510; average number, 475. Of the 510, which number appears to be exclusive of principals, 22 have been teachers in high schools, 129 in grammar schools, and 325 in primary schools. Of the remainder, 13 have been teachers of German; 9 of French; 1 of Latin and Greek, and 11 special teachers. Salaries, $500 to $4,000 per annum; superintendent, $4,000; deputy, $3,000.

The total income for the year, including cash on hand June 30, 1874, has been $798,125.75; the total expenditures, $707,445.36. Estimated value of school buildings, sites, furniture, and libraries, $2,367,000.

Average expense of schools per capita, based on average daily attendance and including everything, $31.85.-(Twenty-second annual report by Superintendent James Denman, pp. 3-8, collated with return to Bureau for 1875.)

Disbursements. While the whole number of pupils in attendance at the public schools has increased 1,697 during the year, the current expenses of the department for the same time have been $7,832.03 less than they were last year. Superintendent Denman reports a balance to the credit of the school fund, at the close of the fiscal year, of $90,680.39. This balance will be ample to provide school accommodations which are needed by the department. The total expense of conducting the department during the year is $40,527.14 less than the estimate of the finance committee, an evidence that the public funds have been wisely disbursed. (Report for 1874-75, pp. 9–10.) New buildings erected during the year.-At the close of the last school year the board of education provided accommodations for 4,271 pupils, in 35 different rented buildings, with 80 class rooms, at an annual rental of $18,912. Many of these rooms were in low, dark, and damp basements, or in small and poorly ventilated apartments. To provide suitable accommodations for this large number of pupils in rented rooms, the last legislature authorized the board of supervisors to issue $200,000 of bonds, from the sale of which the city realized $188,250. With this sum new school buildings have been erected. During the term of the present board of education, 112 additional class rooms have been provided, capable of accommodating 6,700 grammar and primary pupils. Notwithstanding the large increase in the attendance on the public schools during the last two years, the board of education has, by wise and economical management, been enabled to defray this extra expense out of the income for current expenses, and to leave a large balance with which to erect other accommodations, including a new seventeen class building for the model school.--(Report, pp. 32, 39.)

Boys' High School.-Commendable progress has been made in this school during the past year. Whole number enrolled, 238; average daily attendance, 177.79. Whole number of teachers, 7. From the senior class, 16 pupils graduated with high honors at the close of the term. Of these, 5 entered the State University. Thirteen also entered the university from the middle class, the course of study of this school having been changed so as to prepare boys for the university in two years, and, in special cases, in one year, where the boys have the mental strength and physical vigor to do the work without endangering their health.—(Report, pp. 39, 40.)

Girls' High and Normal School.-Whole number enroled in this school during the year, 458; average daily attendance, 377.8; teachers employed, 15. Number of graduates, 88, a gain of 34 over the number of last year. Three young ladies of this graduating class have entered the university. Three-fourths of the young ladies of this school desire to become teachers. Mr. Deuman thinks, however, that the theory and practice of teaching are a sealed book to the graduates of this school, and that the instruction imparted in the present course of study does not fit them for teaching the elementary branches of the primary classes, in which are more than 74 per cent. of the pupils of the public schools. But young misses, who are novices in the art of teaching, rob their pupils of much of their precious time during the first years of their experience, in experimenting and learning how to properly discharge the difficult duties of their profession. Hence, Mr. Denman recommends the immediate establishment of a school for the special training of teachers.-(Report, pp. 41, 42.)

Grammar schools.-Whole number of pupils enrolled in the grammar classes during the year, 6,055; average daily attendance, 4,857.2; whole number of teachers employed, 129; average number of pupils to each teacher, 39.4. a gain of 9 cver the number of last year; average daily attendance to each teacher, 37.6, a gain of 8.6 over the number of last year.

Primary schools.-The whole number of pupils enrolled in the primary schools has been 22,158; average daily attendance, 14,928, a large increase over the attendance of last year. These figures show that over 71 per cent. of the pupils of the public schools are mainly dependent upon the primary classes for their instruction. Their importance should, therefore, command the highest regard of teachers and school officers. They are truly the people's colleges, in which the largest portion of the juvenile population receive their education. And yet the superintendent remarks: "It must be painfully apparent to any one visiting our lower grade classes that experience and fitness have been ignored in the selection of many of the instructors in our elementary schools. In many of the classes it will be difficult to distinguish, from the size, appearance, and character, between the teacher and the pupils. Under the plea that none but California girls, educated in our public schools, should be elected to any position, we have discouraged the immigration of the better class of experienced teachers from other sections of the country. This Chinese policy of exclusiveness, which shuts us out from the march of progress of the older institutions of other countries, is dwarfing our system of instruction and rendering us provincial and unprogressive. It is filling our

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