committee or not. In many towns the selectmen managed the schools, as they did everything else. After numerous towns had voluntarily appointed school committees, and shown the worth of such supervision, the State in 1826 decided that what was good for these towns was good for all, and so directed that thereafter every town should choose a school committee. There were towns that chafed under this mandatory policy, and the next legislature was beset with petitions to repeal it, but to its credit it stood firm. To-day a petition for such repeal would be looked upon as preposterous. Nay, in colonial and provincial times there were towns in which such things as appointing teachers, fixing their salaries, and making rules for the schools were not delegated to selectmen or special committees at all, but were settled in open town meeting-the most democratic and primitive way of all, the town being a committee of the whole, as it were, for the purpose. It clears the situation for the school committee to understand that henceforth it has the same sort of authority in employing a superintendent of schools as in employing a teacher. It is for the school committee to select the one as the other, to determine what grade of qualifications it shall demand in each, and to fix upon the compensation that, in its judgment, will command the qualifications desired. In the case of the district superintendent, however, this authority of the school committee has to be exercised jointly with other school committees, and within the limitations of the district superintendency law. It is now as much the duty of the town to appropriate money enough to cover the superintendent's salary as the salaries of teachers. Inasmuch as nearly all the towns whose valuation exceeds $2,500,000 already have superintendents, the new law is practically of chief concern to towns under that valuation that have not yet effected the necessary unions. Such unions can be better brought about by school committees than by towns acting in town meeting. Status of towns whose valuation comes between $2,500,000 and $3,500,000.—The law provides that when the valuation of towns in superintendency districts rises above $2,500,000 they may nevertheless remain in such districts and receive State assistance until their valuation reaches $3,500,000. There were 30 towns whose valuation May 1, 1900, came between these limits. The superintendency arrangements of these 30 towns are as follows: 1. Four employ superintendents on full time. 2. Two employ superintendents in conjunction with other towns, none of them receiving aid from the State. 3. Ten are in superintendency districts and are aided by the State. 4. Three that do not receive aid from the State are in districts with towns that do receive aid. 5. Six employ the high school principal as superintendent also. 6. One employs a superintendent on part time. 7. Four are without superintendents. All of the foregoing towns, could they have entered superintendency districts when their valuation was under $2,500,000 each, might have been in them at the present time, with aid from the State. As it is, however, 13 are now in districts, 10 with aid and 3 without, the latter having entered districts after passing the limit of $2,500,000, while 17 are outside. There is no question but that some of the unaided towns stand more in need of help than some of the aided. Some towns employ the high school principal as superintendent also, reasoning that if they unite the two offices in one person they can afford to pay a higher salary, and so command higher qualifications. The reasoning is correct so far as it goes. But if these towns were in superintendency districts, they probably could afford to utilize the principal's superior qualifications in the exclusive service of the high school. The work of the high school, and particularly of the high school that must get along with only two or three teachers, is so cxacting that it is not good policy to add to the principal's duties those of a superintendency. The danger is that one side of his work or the other, more likely both, will suffer, let him be never so able. As to superintendencies that command but a portion of the time of persons engaged in other pursuits, at a compensation but little more than nominal, it may be said, without the slightest reflection upon the holders thereof, who doubtless render a full equivalent or more for their humble pay, that they do not conform to the unwritten standards already set for them in the general practice of the State. Duties of the superintendent.-The statutes do not define the duties of the superintendent; they simply provide that he shall have, under the control and direction of the school committee, the care and supervision of the public schools. Inquiries were recently made to find out the extent, in practice, of the authority granted to superintendents in Massachusetts by the school committees. The following table embodies the results of these inquiries: Table showing the duties performed by superintendents of schools in 233 towns and cities of Massachusetts, and the degree of authority exercised. The popular character of the superintendency movement.-It should be noted that supervision by superintendents of schools has been on trial in Massachusetts for sixty years: that it has developed steadily through these years, until now it applies to all the schools of the State except 4 per cent, and to all the school children except 3 per cent; that this growth has been wholly a voluntary one, the State authorizing but not requiring it; that it was the value of the movement to the larger towns and cities that led the State to encourage it in the small towns by paying half the superintendent's salary; and that the action of the State in making such supervision an integral part of the school system everywhere after July 1, 1902, is simply the incorporation into law of a conviction previously reached almost universally by the people that the number, variety, and magnitude of the public school interests demand a closer, more constant, and more intelligent supervision than school committees, however ably constituted, can be expected to give. Indeed, the more highly people are qualified to serve on school committees, the greater their sense of the importance of such service, but the less the time they can usually give to it; hence the greater their need of the superintendent, and the quicker their recognition of this need. And so they readily accept the principle that the school committee should limit itself to what may be called legislative functions, but assign executive functions to the superintendent. Qualifications of the superintendent.-The mere fact of employing a superintendent does not in itself insure a wise administration of the schools. It is of the utmost consequence that there should be employed a competent superintendent. With inadequate qualifications he can not hope to gain the confidence of the teachers, the committee, and the public, and at the same time serve the schools courageously and well. It comes clearly within the jurisdiction of the State to set a minimum standard of qualifications for superintendents, should it deem it expedient to do so. In the case of district superintendents, half of whose salary is paid by the State, the State is especially concerned that its money should be judiciously expended. It may become its duty in the not distant future to provide, without otherwise impairing a district's freedom of choice, that the candidates from whom the superintendent is to be chosen shall be approved as properly qualified in scholarship, character, experience, and wisdom to discharge the high and diversified duties of the office. As a first step, let certificates of qualification be issued by the State to such persons as are able to show their fitness to serve as district superintendents. Let the plan begin on a voluntary basis, leaving candidates and districts free to use it or not. Let it stand or fall on its merits, after the customary Massachusetts way. If it stands there will be time enough for the consideration of such requirements as developing conditions suggest. It should not be overlooked that the voluntary basis favors the setting of higher standards of superintendency qualifications than the compulsory-an important compensation for certain disadvantages that pertain to any plan that invites rather than demands. Supervision by superintendents as related to supervision by school committecs.— Notwithstanding the occasional failures of superintendents to meet the reasonable expectations of school committees and the public it continues to be an impressive fact--nearly the entire State has voluntarily borne witness to it-that a capable superintendent is a power for good with the schools. The secretary in this connection deems it important to say again what he said a year ago, that "stronger committees, as a rule, are found; they more willingly render unpaid service; better teachers are nominated and employed; better methods prevail; better equipment is secured; a stronger uplifting force is felt throughout the system-where the good superintendent is found and trusted. In all this there is not the slightest reflection upon those men and women who, in places without superintendents, have nevertheless better served the schools than an inferior superintendent could possibly have done. Indeed, it is better, in the argument for expert supervision, to dismiss at once all comparisons of able committees with poor superintendents or of poor committees with able superintendents. Each of these conjunctions of superiority with inferiority is abnormal and undesirable. The right comparison to make is that between good men and women, of general intelligence and ability, who can not be expected as members of school committees to give a large part of their strength and thought and time to the schools, and good men and women, of general intelligence and ability, who have specially trained themselves by study and experience to deal with school questions, particularly with those of an educational character, and who give all their time to this difficult and important work. Ideal supervision in Massachusetts now requires that each of the foregoing kinds shall be supplemented by the other, and that the people everywhere shall press for the highest attainable service on both sides, and press all the harder for it wherever incompetency has brought either kind into disrepute. Shall a school cease to exist because a teacher has failed therein, or a school committee because its members are a discredit to the town, or a superintendency because its incumbent does not adequately fill it? If good teachers, good committee members, and good superintendents are worth having-and that is the verdict of 35 per cent of our people-by all means stand by the permanency and universality of the offices and fight for better holders thereof." Extent of supervision by su erintendents.—After July 1, 1902, all towns and cities are required by law to have superintendents of schools, towns whose valuation is less than $2,500,000 each to form unions for the purpose. The status of the towns relative to such supervision December 31, 1901, was as follows: Number of towns and cities employing superintendents independently. Number of towns in a union superintendency.... Number of unaided towns in district superintendencies - 105 2 7 197 36 6 353 93 97 Ineligible towns without superintendents.-The number of towns without superintendents and ineligible to State assistance in employing them is 6. These towns are Amesbury, Danvers, Ipswich, Leicester, Lancaster, and Nantucket. The movement of towns of this class for the past seven years toward the superintendency plan is shown in the following statement: Eligible towns without superintendents.--Towns whose valuation is less than $2,500,000 each are eligible to State assistance in paying their superintendents. The movement of these towns toward the superintendency plan during the past seven years is brought out in the following statement: Classification of superintendents.-The superintendents of Massachusetts may be classified as follows: 1. Superintendents who give full time to single cities or towns. 2. Superintendents who give full time to groups of two or more towns not aided by the State. 3. Superintendents who give full time to groups of towns aided by the State. 4. Superintendents who give part time to single towns 5. High-school principals who serve also as superintenderts. The following statement summarizes the towns, superintendents, and salaries of each of these classes or groups: The salaries of superintendents, arranged by magnitudes, appear as follows: If we exclude from consideration the superintendents of groups 4, 5, and 6 on the ground that they are also principals of schools, or for other reasons do not give full time to their superintendencies, the average salary of the Massachusetts superintendent stands at $1,969. SCHOOL SUPERVISION. [From report (for 1999) of Clarence A. Brodeur, superintendent of Chicopee (Mass.) schools.] History of supervision.—Our present educational system has been a growth. When at the outset education was seen to be vital to the life of the colony, the direction and management of schools was vested in the towns as corporations. In town meeting assembled citizens chose the schoolmaster, fixed his compensation, determined the conditions of admission to the schools, or chose officers to attend to these matters for them; frequently the selectmen were chosen to attend to these duties. Then, as now, there were people who set no adequate value on their privileges. Foreseeing future peril to the State if the education of the children was neglected, the general court of Massachusetts Bay in 1642 passed an act charging the selectmen of the various towns "to have a vigilant eye over their neighbors, to see 營 that none of them suffer so much barbarism * teach as not to * * * * * *** their children *** to read In 1701 we find the first legislation concerning the qualifications of teachers, when it was enacted that every grammar-school master should be approved by the minister of the town and by those of the two next adjoining towns or any two of them. In 1789 a statute was passed recognizing the duty of school visitation. It declared that "It shall be the duty of the minister or ministers of the gospel and the selectmen to use their influence that the youth * months at least * * * * * do regularly attend schools **, and once in every six visit and inspect the several schools * inquire into the regulations and discipline thereof and * |