11. At least once each term he shall report to the board upon the general condition of the teaching and supervisory forces, and especially with reference to those teachers or supervisors whose services are not proving satisfactory.

12. He shall be responsible for the methods of instruction and management used by the teachers and principals, and shall have authority to hold such meetings of teachers and principals as he deems necessary for their instruction and guidance.

13. He shall have power to suspend from school any pupil whose conduct or character is such as to injure the reputation of the school, or whose parents wilfully neglect or refuse to cooperate with the superintendent or teacher in carrying out the regulations of the school, or encourage their children to violate the regulations, and report his action to the board of education.

At present 578 of the 1,350 cities reporting require their superintendents to be college graduates; many others, in the absence of any formal rule of the board, always employ college graduates. The educational qualifications of the superintendent as defined by State law are usually that he shall hold a first-grade or life certificate and have a few years' experience as a teacher. Experience has shown, however, that a superintendent must have other qualifications. In the past the ability to administer schools was acquired by experience alone; to-day there is a demand for men who have had special training in the several phases of school administration.

Much of the business management must fall upon the superintendent, since it is impossible to separate business and educational administration completely. In most schools about half the money expended is for instruction. A business manager may know more than the superintendent about purchasing janitor supplies and repairing buildings economically, but neither he nor any school board member knows what instruction to buy, how much, and in what subjects, how many pupils to be assigned a teacher, how many supervisors to be employed, how many daily recitations a high-school teacher should conduct, and how many hours of work a high-school pupil should carry. It is therefore evident that a superintendent can not be totally oblivious to the financial phase of his work, or he will bring his board to bankruptcy; or, as only so much money is available for the schools in any city, he will not secure the best educational results from the funds expended.

One of the signs of progress in the smaller cities is that many of the superintendents are taking postgraduate courses in methods of teaching and in school administration. The summer school classes in school administration in many of the colleges are made up largely of these men, and some of the most interesting and instructive studies in administrative problems have been made by superintendents in the smaller cities. A few years ago the published reports of the schools of these cities contained nothing but lists of teachers and high-school graduates, with a few tables relating to expenditures; to-day some of these reports present school conditions as scientifically as those issued by many of the larger cities.

LENGTH OF SERVICE.

One of the reasons the schools in the smaller cities have not become more efficient is that superintendents remain in one position for such short periods. During the two years from 1911 to 1913, in cities between 4,000 and 25,000, there were 348 changes, an average of 174, or 13 per cent a year. If statistics were available for towns of between 2,500 and 4,000 population, the percentage would be much greater. A short term is responsible for frequent changes. By referring to Table 1, below, it will be seen that most superintendents are elected for a term of only one year. Few superintendents remain in one city more than ten years.

TABLE 1.-Length of time served by superintendents in certain cities of 4,000 to 25,000 population, 1913-14.

The tendency, however, is undoubtedly toward a longer term. During the two years 1911-1913, in 83 cities the length of term of the superintendents was increased. The new school code of Pennsylvania provides that city superintendents shall be elected for a term of four years. In several of the States, notably New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, many of the superintendents are given indefinite terms.

SALARIES.

Another cause for the many changes is that salaries are low, especially in the group of cities under 10,000, the average for those between 4,000 and 10,000 being $1,889. The following presents the range of salaries paid in cities of this group:

Range in salaries of superintendents in cities of 4,000 to 10,000 population.

Average salary paid superintendents in cities of 4,000 to 10,000 population.

Cities.

51

21

6

62

In the group of cities between 10,000 and 25,000 population, the average salary is $2,437. The following shows the range of salaries paid in these cities:

Salaries of superintendents in cities of 10,000 to 25,000 population.

Average salary of superintendents in cities of between 10,000 and 25,000 population, by

North Atlantic..

North Central.

South Atlantic.
South Central.
Western...

groups of States.

TABLE 2.-Average salary paid to superintendents in the different States.

There is a hopeful increase in superintendents' salaries in the smaller cities. During the two years 1911-1913, the salaries of the superintendents in 569 cities were increased, the minimum increase being $5 and the maximum $2,400. An increase of more than $1,000 was made in several instances in California, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Maine, and Minnesota. During the same period, 87 cities decreased the salaries of their superintendents, the decreases ranging from $10 to $950. Most of these decreases were made when a new superintendent was elected; thus, in one instance, when a superintendent receiving $2,700 a year resigned, a successor was elected at $2,200.

The following table presents the minimum and maximum increase and decrease in the salary of superintendents in cities between 4,000 and 25,000 population, for the two years 1911-1913:

TABLE 3.-Change in superintendents and salaries in cities of 4,000 to 25,000 population

There is a decided tendency in the smaller cities to raise the standard for beginning teachers. Of 1,350 cities reporting, 474 require elementary teachers to be normal-school graduates; 630 require only a high-school education; the remainder fail to specify what qualifications are demanded.

Of the 1,350 cities reporting, 907 require high-school teachers to be college graduates; 709 employ college graduates without experience.