Chapter VI.

THE STATE SYSTEM: ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, 1887-1898.

As shown in the last chapter, there was a State superintendent in Delaware from 1875 to 1887. This meant that there had been some growth in the idea of centralization in the State, but it should not be thought that this idea had taken a deep and abiding hold on the people. It is true that there was a State superintendent, but his powers of direction and control were limited. He had authority to visit the schools; he examined teachers and granted certificates; and there his power stopped. He had no authority over the levying of taxes. A small minimum tax for each district was demanded by State-wide law, but all beyond that minimum was still in the hands of the local school district electorate; and as they had done in 1830 they were still doing 50 years after that date-quarreling over the amount of the tax levy, with the poor man, the man who had little or nothing to be taxed and many children to be schooled, not on the side of a larger local tax which his rich neighbor would pay, but generally against such tax. And after the tax levy was finally fixed and the tax collected, neither the State superintendent nor his representatives had any voice in spending the same. This authority was in the hands of the local school committee; all the State could do was done through the veto power of the auditor before whom the accounts were brought once a year for settlement.

Then, too, the superintendent was appointed by the governor, and for one year only, thus making change in personnel or in policy subject to the caprices of political fortune or the personal whim of succeeding governors. It was plainly very difficult for any superintendent in this State to inaugurate and carry to completion any systematic plan of educational development, for his tenure of office was not long enough and his powers were not sufficiently great.

It follows, then, that when the State superintendency was abolished in 1887 and a return made to the older individualistic county system, the change was neither as great nor as serious in the matter of decentralization as might be imagined.1

1 This change did not meet with universal favor. As early as 1891 Gov. Reynolds recommended that the superintendency be restored. See his message for that year.

I. THE STATE SCHOOL LAW OF 1887-LATER LEGISLATION, 1891-1895. Under the law of April 7, 1887, the positions of State superintendent and assistant State superintendent were abolished from and after April 13, 1887, the expiration of the term of the persons then in office. In their place the governor was given power to appoint annually a suitable person to be superintendent of free schools in each county, with a salary of $1,000 per annum. These county superintendents were required to be of good moral character and "well qualified by their mental and scholarly attainments for such office."1

It was the duty of the county superintendent to visit each school within his county at least twice each year. He was to note the condition of each school; the condition of the buildings, grounds, and fixtures; the efficiency of teachers; the conduct and standing of pupils; the methods of instruction and government. He was to advise with teachers, giving them such help and instruction as was deemed necessary, and might suspend any teacher who refused to comply with "reasonable directions" from him. He was to examine all teachers, by oral or written examinations or both. The field covered by the examinations and the grades of the certificates were not changed from the requirements established by the act of 1879. The certificate itself was now issued by the State board and countersigned by the county superintendent, and no teacher might be employed who did not hold this certificate.

The county superintendent was required to make an annual report to the president of the State board and was forbidden to purchase any books used in the public schools at the expense of the State.

The State board of education was made up of the secretary of state, who became its secretary ex officio, the president of Delaware College, who became president of the board, and the three county superintendents. It met once a year, heard appeals, chose textbooks for the schools, issued blanks and forms, and required returns to be made. The president was required to make a biennial report to the governor, beginning with 1889.

The county superintendents were required to hold in each county annually a teachers' institute of at least three days in length, for the maintenance of which $100 was provided annually from the school fund. Both county superintendents and teachers were required to attend these institutes, and teachers were to make quarterly reports on their schools.

In 1895 (ch. 13) this requirement was changed so as to read, "and shall hold a certificate of graduation from a reputable college or an unexpired certificate of the highest grade provided for by the laws of this State, and shall have had at least two years' experience as a teacher in the public schools of this or some other State."

* The manner in which this phase of the work was conducted was a source of irritation. Thus, in House Journal for 1999. pp. 992-3, is the record of a spat on this question. Mr. Shallcross complained over the character of these examinations and charged that the county superintendents gave catch questions. He thought the educational system was retrograding, and thought in a little while it would be back where it was a hundred years ago.

Books and papers of the State superintendent's office were to be turned over to the secretary of state, who was to sell all schoolbooks received and cover the money into the treasury. The county superintendents were to do the same, and these sections, when read in the light of the paragraph forbidding the county superintendents to buy schoolbooks out of public funds, show that the State was now abandoning the plan of supplying schoolbooks at cost, while still holding to the idea of State uniformity.

All acts and parts of acts not in conformity with this act were repealed, but all provisions for suits, etc., were continued in force and finally:

The provisions of this act shall not apply to any school or school districts managed or controlled by an incorporated board of education, unless by special request of said board.1

It will be noticed that the act of 1887, by repealing all acts not in conformity with its own provisions, finally separated the State from the terms of the act of 1829, but in other respects the character of other phases of school legislation was not changed. All authority pertaining to the borrowing of money for school purposes, consolidating, dividing, or changing the boundaries of districts, etc., still went through the legislature. The people were held competent to manage the local money side of education, from levying the tax to spending the sums raised, but they were not thought competent to change school district boundary lines, although an act of 1891 (ch. 67) required a notice of 10 days for transfers of territory from one district to another and for the consolidation of districts."

Hardly had the act of 1887 been put into execution before the usual process of amendment began. It will be recalled that the act of 1887 practically abandoned the scheme of free textbooks. The act of 1891 not only went back to the principle, but made textbooks really free. They were now to be bought by the State, and distributed to the school districts, and by the school commission loaned to the pupils or sold at cost when it was so desired. The colored schools were admitted to a participation in this provision, and their "entire management, control, and supervision" was put into the hands of the county superintendents, as already narrated in an earlier section. Their funds were increased and were to be examined and passed by the auditor just as was done in the case of the white schools, but because of inexperience in matters of finance it was thought best to repeal in 1893 the acts granting charters of incorporation to certain negro schools.3

1 Laws of Delaware, 1887, ch. 67, passed Apr. 7, 1887.

The auditor's report in 1894 (p. v) points out that the transfer of real estate from one school district to another was frequent and unjust; that this legislation was often effected without apparent opposition simply for want of funds to defray expenses of school officials while making such opposition. It was thought that the settlement of such matters should be left with the State board of education. In his message in 1891 Gov. Biggs recommended that no further changes in school districts be allowed except on application by a majority of the school voters in each district.

* Laws of Delaware, 1893, ch. 602, sec. 14.

In 1891 the composition of the State board was itself changed, for the president of Delaware College ceased to be a member, and the governor of the State became its president ex officio, and finally the schools of Wilmington were exempted from the provisions of this act.1

In 1893 came other changes. A general act provided a new basis on which the State money was to be apportioned within the counties. The share of Wilmington was to be predicated on 10,000 school children; in New Castle County each district was to receive $150; and any remainder was divided on the basis of enrollment. In Kent and Sussex the division was to remain as already established by law. The income of the State school fund could be used only for the payment of teachers and at a rate not to exceed $35 per month. The purpose of this section was clearly to encourage local taxation, and the purpose of the section which required unexpended balances to be deducted from the next year's appropriation was without doubt to break up the custom of hoarding balances for the sake of private speculation.

In 1893 the requirements for teachers' certificates were raised. They now include orthography, reading, writing, mental and written arithmetic, geography, physiology, history of the United States, pedagogy, and English grammar; and in addition to the above they included for the highest certificate algebra, geometry, civics, natural philosophy, and rhetoric. The grading was made a little closer, and the professional certificate was made good for four years.

In 1895 and 1897 the acts of most educational significance related to negroes. The most important in 1895 was that "to improve and promote the colored schools." This act made the county treasurers responsible on their bonds for the funds received under the act. The appropriation for negro schools was increased from $9,000 to $12,000 per year, to come out of the school fund. From the same fund there was also appropriated annually $3,000 for textbooks and building purposes. This was to be divided equally between the three counties, and the three county superintendents were to act jointly as a building board, determine where repairs and alterations were to be made, and provide for the erection of new buildings when deemed necessary. The county superintendents were also confirmed in "the entire control and supervision of the colored schools." They were to decide on their location, to make rules for the examination of teachers, and to "appoint only such persons as teachers as are fully qualified in point of character and scholarship to fill the places." They were to make an estimate to their respective county treasurers showing the number and location, length of term, and amount of money required for and applicable to each school,' and were to appor

1 Laws of Delaware, 1891, ch. 66.

This section was repealed by ch. 422, acts of 1897.

tion to each school an equal amount from the State contribution; the monthly allowance to each school was to be equalized as nearly as possible, and the amounts collected in any county in colored taxes were to be expended in that county.1

In 1897 the State granted $100 per year for the establishment, support, and maintenance of the Delaware Colored Teachers' State Institute, to be located in Kent County. With these various acts the work of taking over the colored schools from the independent private organizations by which they had been begun and transferring them to the State administration was practically complete. The systems of colored schools now duplicated at most points the white schools. Two systems independent of and parallel to each other were administered by the county superintendents.

When a summary review is made of the legal side of the school situation between 1887 and 1898, certain contrasts and changes, as compared with the earlier period (1875-1887) become apparent. In these changes (1) the State board of education just about held its own. It gained the additional right to issue the teachers' certificates, but this was little more than mere form, since the county superintendents had the power to pass or not to pass the teachers examined. (2) The county superintendent's office was reestablished, after having been abolished by the act of 1875; the State superintendent's office was abolished; his powers were decentralized and given to the county superintendents. (3) The State system of uniformity in textbooks was maintained, but the State at first did not undertake to purchase and furnish books to all pupils at cost, although they went a step further in 1891 and made them entirely free. (4) Reports were now made biennial instead of annual, so that the published volumes covered the whole intervening period instead of a single year of a two-year period as was apparently the case in the annual reports between 1875 and 1887. (5) The support of the county institutes was made a regular and formal charge on the school fund, and a similar institute for colored teachers was also provided. (6) The colored schools were formally and completely transferred to the State system, but with their own organization independent and separate from that of the whites; the special acts of incorporation being repealed, all colored schools were now treated as a single unit. (7) Nothing was said in these laws in regard to the financial side of the schools. This was still a purely local matter, and he who controlled the sinews of war of necessity controlled the system. So little did the idea of centralization impress the new system that for some years there was no summary of statistics for the whole State; and so little did the ques

1 Laws of Delaware, 1895, ch. 17; amended in minor particulars by laws of 1897, chs. 421 and 422. Ibid., 1897, ch. 423; amended by ch. 70, laws of 1898.