a To 16 if unemployed. b To 16 if unable to read and write English. eTo 15 if unemployed. 12 years, in mines, factories, and | Children under 14 may not be emworkshops (constitution of State). 13 years, in factories, manufactur- 12 years, in factories, manufactur- 10 years after May 1, 1903; 11 after 14 years, in workshops, mills, fac- 12 years, in mills, factories, manu- ployed in any manner during No child under 14 may be employed No child under 14 may be employed Children under 13 may not be em- cations. d Not applicable to children over 13 who can read and write and are regularly employed in useful service. e Not applicable to children over 13 who are lawfully employed. Statutory provisions relating to compulsory attendance and child labor-Continued. 14 years, in mines (constitution of State); girls may not work in mines. 10 years, in manufacturing or mechanical establishments. 14 years, in mines (boys); girls may not work in mines. 12 years, in mines, factories, workshops, manufactories, or establishments where goods or wares are manufactured. 12 years, in any occupation for wages; 14 years, in factories, workshops, bowling alleys, bar rooms, beer gardens, mines. 14 years, in mines (constitution of 12 years, in the underground work- a To 16, if not regularly and usefully employed at home or elsewhere. b Penalty only for child 7 to 16, or one living idly and loitering about public places. Educational restrictions on child labor. No child under 15 may be employed Children under 15 may not be em- Children 12 to 14 may not be employed in any occupation for wages, except during school vacations, by specified written permit, in stores, offices, hotels, mercantile establishments, laundries, telegraph, telephone, or public messenger service, where they reside. CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS AND TRANSPORTATION OF PUPILS. [For further information on this subject see the Annual Report of this Office for 1894-95, Vol. II, pp. 1169-1482; 1895-96, II, 1353-1358: 1898-99, I, 526-529; 1899-1900, II, 2581-2581; 1900-1901, I, 161–213, and II, 2396-2402. The June, 1903, number of the Western Journal of Education (San Francisco) is devoted especially to the consolidation of school districts and the transportation of pupils. A useful and general compilation of information on the subject is given in the Iowa Seh. Rep., 1900-1901, pp. 30-97. See also Indiana Rep., 1901-2, pp. 725–763; N. C. Rep., 1901-2, pp. xviii-xxvi and 365-373; Minn. Rep., 1901-2, pp. 271-290; Mich. Rep., 1901, pp. 6-34; Conn. Rep., 1902, pp. 186-190; Kans. Rep., 1901-2, pp. 33-48; The Review of Reviews, Dec., 1902, pp. 702-710.] The practice of consolidating two or more small schools and transporting the more distant pupils of the discontinued schools to the central (usually graded) school at the public expense has been resorted to, either under specific provisions or under the general authority of the law, in the following States: California,a Colorado,a Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. Notable movements toward the consolidation of schools, but without the feature of transportation, have been recently inaugurated in North Carolina and Missouri. Some progress in the same direction has also been made in Louisiana. a The following tables give the available statistics on the subject. It will be seen that Maine expends the largest proportion of its school money for transportation, about 3 per cent of the total. In Connecticut the proportion expended for transportation is minute (about one-tenth that of Maine). School year. Per cent of total expenditure used for transportation. Maine. Vermont. Massachusetts. Connecticut. New Jersey. Expended Per Expended Per Expended Per Expended Per Expended Per for trans- cent of for trans- cent of for trans- cent of for trans- cent of for trans- cent of portation. total. portation. total. portation. total. portation. total. portation. total. In Vermont, the average annual cost per pupil for the 8 years tabulated has been $13.27, which, with a school term of 155 days, makes the expense of transportation about 82 cents a day for each pupil. In Connecticut, with a school term of 189 days, the daily cost for 4 years has been about 73 cents. These are averages. In individual cases the cost varies greatly, according to the particular circumstances in each case. While this movement of consolidation has spread to all parts of the country, it is only in a few localities in any State that the system has been adopted, and in fewer still that it has become a settled policy. Generally it is in the experimental stage. The practical working of systems of centralized schools, wherever they have been established, is being watched with more than ordinary interest by school officials in nearly all sections of the Union, as furnishing a possible solution of the problem of improved rural schools. There is a natural reluctance on their part to enter upon any far-reaching changes whose wisdom has not been practically demonstrated by examples and object lessons in their immediate neighborhood and under similar conditions-topographical, climatic, racial, economical, administrative, etc. "I think most of the boards," writes Supt. E. H. Wood, of Jerauld County, S. Dak., "would be glad to have the plan tried in an adjoining county. They do not care to be educated by facts and figures from abroad and are loath to experiment." At to the contagious influence of a concrete example near by, Mr. C. G. Williams, trustee of a consolidated district in Ohio, says: As further evidence that centralization is here to stay, attention should be called to the fact that while Gustavus was the first township in this county to adopt this system, since we have adopted it every township adjoining us has adopted it and at the present time has in operation similar schools. Those who are nearest us seem to be most favorably impressed with its benefits. In this, as in considering any other innovation, school authorities are justified in exercising a prudent conservatism. Not all examples are as successful as that of Gustavus Township. The following account, for instance, is a statement of the experience of the consolidated school of Broadlawn, N. Dak. (N. Dak. Rep. 1901-2, pp. 300-301): During the winter of 1901-2 an eight months' term was held, with partial success. Four routes, from 8 to 10 miles long, were established. The vehicles used for transporting the children were furnished by the district. Many complained about their children taking cold on the way to and from school, for it required from one and one-half to two hours to make the trip. Smallpox and scarlet fever also interfered with the working of the school. One hundred and five pupils were enrolled, with an average attendance of 48 for the entire term. The irregular attendance caused poor work to be done. Transportation charges and teachers' wages amounted to $250 per month, not counting incidentals. The school is in its experimental stage, but I think it will be a success in time. Broadlawn district will open four rural school during the winter months. schools this fall, and the consolidated It should be said, however, that few such cases of indifferent success have come to the notice of the Bureau; when they occur they are probably often due to defects in the details of management, arising from inexperience, or else to local or exceptional conditions. The possibilities of consolidation in the way of furnishing better and cheaper schools have been fully demonstrated, and such being the case its general adoption would seem to be only a question of time. PRESENT STATUS. CALIFORNIA. Two or more school districts in the same county shall be formed into a union school district when so voted at elections held in each of the districts, which must be called by the county superintendent for that purpose on petition of the majority of heads of families in each district. Joint union school districts may be formed of school districts not in the same county. Methods of procedure for determining the location of the union school or schools are minutely prescribed, also composition and powers of boards of trustees. Course of study to be not less than eight years. The board of trustees of a union district may contract for the transportation to and from school of such pupils as may seem to be in need of such transportation and pay therefor out of any funds available for the purpose; but such contract must first be approved by the county superintendent. (Stats. 1903, ch. 252, sec. 1674 of Code.) On May 2 an election was held in San Diego County to vote on the proposition to unite the districts of Merle, Hope, and Encinitas into a union school district. The election was carried, and this becomes the first union under the new law. The future of this union will be watched with interest. (Western Jour. Ed., June, 1903.) COLORADO. Two or more contiguous school districts may be consolidated by a majority vote of each district at meetings called upon petition of a stated number of legal voters. (Act approved Feb. 17, 1903.) A district school board, when authorized by a majority vote at a school meeting, is required to "furnish transportation to and from school to all pupils living more than two miles from the school building; and may, at their discretion, provide for the transportation of any and all pupils residing nearer than two miles from the central building." The school board, however, may board the pupils near the school if cheaper than transporting them. In either case they may pay the expense out of the common school fund, and must levy a tax for the purpose when authorized by a vote of the district. Or a district board, when authorized as before, must suspend the district school and make arrangements with another district for the instruction of all the pupils, and provide for their transportation, meeting the expense of tuition and transportation as before. (Act approved Feb. 16, 1903.) CONNECTICUT. A law of 1889 provided for the discontinuance of small schools and in certain cases their union with schools of adjoining districts. In 1893 free transportation of pupils was authorized. In 1897-98 the number of schools closed was 84; pupils transported, 849; cost, $11,416. In 1900-1901 there were 780 children transported, at a cost of $12,838. The following very instructive table, from the Connecticut School Report of 1900-1901, gives many suggestive details regarding this subject. Remarks. 228.00 The plan was satisfactory to parents and beneficial to schools. 6 scholars formerly attending at Mount Hope district in Mansfield a No cost. |