houses; one or more of its number shall visit every public school in the town at least twice during each term, once within two weeks of its opening and once within two weeks of its close, examining the register, schoolhouse, library, studies, books, discipline, modes of teaching and of improving the school. They shall make rules and regulations for the attendance and classification of the pupils, for the introduction and use of text-books and works of reference, and for the instruction, government, and discipline of the public schools, and shall prescribe the studies to be pursued therein, under the direction of the commissioner of public schools, and they may suspend incorrigible children. They may consolidate two or more ungraded schools in order to make a graded school of two or more departments, and they may unite an ungraded school with a graded school. A bonus of $100 is granted for each department of a graded school formed as above, and the same sum is granted for each ungraded school united with a graded school. Authority to provide transportation of pupils in such cases is granted. No town's proportion of the annual State appropriation of $120,000 shall be reduced on account of any such consolidation.

Where a town is not divided into districts, or shall vote to provide schools without reference to such division, the school committee shall manage and regulate such schools and draw orders for the payment of their expenses. Whenever the public schools are maintained by district organization, the committee shall apportion among the districts the town's proportion of the sum of $120,000 received from the State, and in addition at least one-fourth as much more from the town appropriation for the support of public schools; the remainder of the town appropriation and the moneys received from registry and dog taxes, from school funds, and other sources, shall be divided into two equal parts, one to be apportioned to the several districts according to the average attendance at the schools during the preceding year, the other to be apportioned at the discretion of the committee: Provided always, That the total apportionment shall not be less than $180, and the district shall have reported in legal manner and form that one or more schools have been taught by a competent teacher in an approved building, that the "teachers' money" of the preceding year has been wholly used in paying teachers, and that the register has been properly kept and deposited. The committee shall make a report annually to the State commissioner and may reserve not more than $40 to defray the expenses of printing it.

Superintendent of schools.--The school committee of each town shall elect a superintendent of the public schools of the town, to perform such duties and to exercise such powers as the committee shall assign him, and to receive such compensation as the committee may vote.

Any two or more towns the aggregate number of schools in all of which shall not be more than 60, may, by vote of the qualified electors of said several towns, unite for the purpose of the employment of a superintendent of schools.

District school trustees.-Each district shall annually elect a moderator, a clerk, a treasurer, a collector, and either one or three trustees. The trustees shall provide and have the custody of the schoolhouse and other property and shall employ one or more qualified teachers for every 50 scholars in average daily attendance; shall see that the pupils are supplied with books, and shall provide the same at the expense of the district on failure of parent or guardian to furnish them. Whatever compensation is received by the trustees must be paid by tax levied on the district, and may not be taken out of State or town appropriations.

Truant officers.-The school committee of each city or town shall annually appoint and fix the compensation of one or more persons as truant officers, who shall be clothed with the power of special constables, and who shall, under the direction of the school committee, inquire into all cases arising under the provisions of the compulsory-attendance act, and shall alone be authorized, in case of violation of any of the provisions of said act, to make complaint therefor; they shall also serve all legal processes issued in pursuance of said act, but shall not be entitled to receive any fees for such service: Provided, however, That in case of the commitment of any person under the provisions of any section of said act, or for default of payment of any fine and costs imposed thereunder, such officer shall be entitled to the regular fees allowed by law for similar service. (See also Schools-Attendance.)

"All districts abolished January 1, 1904.

2. TEACHERS.

Qualifications and duties-Preliminary training-Institutes.

Appointment and qualifications.-No person shall be employed to teach as principal or assistant in any school supported wholly or in part by public money unless such person shall have a certificate of qualification issued by or under the authority of the State board of education. No school committeeman or trustee may teach in the schools of his own town. The teacher must be of good moral character and aim to implant in the minds of children committed to his care the principles of morality and virtue. He shall keep a register of the scholars, their names, sex, names of parents or guardians, time of entry and withdrawal, daily attendance, and note by date the visits of a school officer. He shall also prepare the return of the district to the school committee of the town.

Preliminary training. The normal school shall be under the management of the board of education and commissioner of public schools as a board of trustees. Tuition is free to State pupils having passed the required examination and given satisfactory assurances of their intention to teach in the State public schools at least one year after leaving the school. Graduates in the regular course shall, on recommendation of the principal, receive a diploma. Pupils having attended regularly one term, but living more than 5 miles distant from the school, may be allowed a sum not exceeding $25 for each quarter year for traveling expenses. The fund for such purpose, however, shall be limited to $4,000.

Institutes. A sum not exceeding $500 shall be annually allowed to defray the necessary expenses and charges for teachers and lecturers and for teachers' institutes; and a sum not exceeding $300 shall be annually allowed, under the direction of the board of education, for publishing and distributing among the several towns educational publications, providing lectures on educational topics, and otherwise promoting the interests of education in the State.

3. SCHOOLS.

Attendance-Character of instruction-Text-books-Buildings.

Attendance.-Schools must be taught for at least six months by a qualified teacher in an approved schoolhouse.

Every child from 7 to 15 years of age, unless he has completed in the public schools the elementary studies taught in the first eight years of school attendance exclusive of kindergarten instruction provided for in the course of study adopted by the school committee of the city or town wherein such child resides, or unless he shall have reached 13 years of age and shall be lawfully employed at labor or at service or engaged in business, shall regularly attend some public day school during all the days and hours that the public schools are in session in the city, town, or district wherein he resides; and every person having under Lis control a child as above described shall cause such child to attend school as required above, and for every neglect of such duty the person having control of such child shall be fined not exceeding $20: Provided, That if the person so charged shall prove that the child has attended for the required period of time an approved private day school or that the physical or mental condition of the child was such as to render his attendance at school inexpedient or impracticable, or that the child is over 12 years of age and has been excused in order to be employed by authority of the school committee upon the written recommendation of the truant officers and of the overseer of the poor, stating that the child's wages are necessary for the support of the family, or that the child was destitute of clothing suitable for attending school and that the person having control of said child was unable to provide suitable clothing, then such attendance shall not be obligatory, nor shall such penalty be incurred. For these purposes the school committee shall approve a private school only when they are satisfied that the period of attendance of the pupils in such school is substantially equal to that required by law of a child attending a public school in the same city or town; that the teaching in such school in all studies except foreign languages and any studies not taught in the public schools is in the English language; that such teaching or instruction is thorough and efficient; and that registers are kept and returns to the school committee and truant officers in relation to the attendance of pupils are made the same as by the public schools.

No child under 13 years of age shall be employed to labor or engage in business, except during the vacations of the public schools of the city or town wherein such child resides, or as provided for above. No one under 15 years of age shall be employed unless he shall present to his employer a certificate made by or under the direction of the school committee of the city or town wherein such child resides, stating the name, place, and date of birth of said child and the name and residence of the person having control of said child. Every person who shall employ any minor child above described who has not complied with the provisions above recited shall for every such offense be fined not exceeding $20.

The truant officers may visit any places or establishments where such minor children as have been described are employed to ascertain whether the provisions of this law are duly complied with, and may, as often as twice in every year, demand from all employers of such children a report containing the names of all children under 14 that are employed by them, such report to give the names, ages, and residences of all such children; and for any refusal to make such reports as are above provided for, or for any refusal to produce the abovementioned certificates, any employer of such children shall be fined not exceeding $10.

Every habitual truant-that is, every child who is required under this law to attend school and who willfully and habitually absents himself therefrom-and every habitual school offender-that is, every child who is required to attend school, but who persistently violates the rules and regulations of the school which he attends or otherwise persistently misbehaves therein, so as to render himself a fit subject for exclusion therefrom, may be complained of by the truant officer and be committed to the Sockanosset School for Boys or to the Oaklawn School for Girls for a period not exceeding his minority: Provided, That any court or magistrate by whom a child has been convicted of such offense may, in his discretion, defer sentence and place such child on probation in the custody and control of a truant or probation officer of the city or town wherein such child resides for such period of time and upon such conditions as said court or magistrate may deem best, and whenever within such period the child violates the conditions of his probation he shall be brought into court and said court or magistrate may, in his discretion, place such child on further probation in the custody and control of the State board of charities and corrections for such period of time and upon such conditions as said court or magistrate may deem best; and whenever within such period the child violates the condition of his further probation, he shall be brought into court and receive sentence for the offense of which he was convicted when he was placed on probation, but the child may at any time demand that sentence be passed upon him, and the court or magistrate, whenever convinced that the child has reformed, may discontinue the complaint without sentence.

Character of instruction.—The school committee shall prescribe the studies to be pursued in the public schools, and shall include instruction in the injurious effects of stimulants and narcotics upon the human system. Evening schools may be maintained by the towns under the general supervision of the State board.

Any town maintaining a high school having a course of study approved by the State board of education shall be entitled to receive annually from the State $20 for each pupil in average attendance for the first 25 pupils and $10 each for the second 25. Any town not maintaining a high school which shall make provision for the free attendance of its children at some approved high school shall receive aid upon the same basis as above.

Text-books. The school committee of every city and town shall purchase, at the expense of such city or town, text-books and other school supplies used in the public schools, and said text-books and supplies shall be loaned to the pupils free of charge, subject to rules and regulations prescribed by the committee.

A change may be made in the schoolbooks in the public schools of any town by a vote of two-thirds of the whole committee, provided that no change be made in any text-book in a town oftener than once in three years, unless by the consent of the State board of education.

The sum of $4.000 shall be annually appropriated for the purchase of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other works of reference, maps, globes, and other apparatus, to be distributed to towns or districts making an appropriation for the same purpose, each town to receive not more than $200 if not divided into districts, districts to receive not more than $20, provided they have raised at least an equal sum.

Buildings. All schoolhouses shall be located by the town school committee and plans approved by them. No one shall maintain a nuisance, as swine in a pen, within 100 feet of the inclosure of a schoolhouse.

4. FINANCES.

Permanent school funds-Taxation.

Permanent school fund.—The general treasurer, with the advice of the governor, shall have power to regulate the custody and safe-keeping of the fund for the support of public schools, and shall keep the same securely invested in the capital of some safe and responsible bank or banks or in bonds of towns or cities within this State. The money that shall be paid into the State treasury by auctioneers for duties accruing to the use of the State is appropriated annually to the permanent increase of the school fund. All money for the support of public schools appropriated to towns and by them forfeited shall be added to the permanent fund. All fines under the compulsory-attendance law and all poll taxes shall be applied to the support of the public schools in the town or city where collected, and all dog taxes, after the payment of damages done by dogs, shall be applied in a similar way unless retained by vote of the town.

Taxation. The sum of $120,000, to be denominated "teachers' money," shall be annually paid, out of the income of the permanent school fund and from other money in the treasury, for the support of the public schools, to be apportioned among the several towns by the commissioner of public schools as follows: The sum of $100 shall be apportioned for each school not to exceed 15 in number in any one town, the remainder to be apportioned in proportion to the number of children from 5 to 15 years of age, inclusive, in the several towns according to the school census then last preceding. No town shall receive any part of this appropriation unless it raise by tax for the support of public schools a sum equal to the amount it may receive from the State treasury, and neglect or refusal to levy this tax by the 1st day of July forfeits the delinquent town's share of the State appropriation. There is an annual appropriation for the State aid to high schools and for the promotion of the consolidation of schools. A further sum is appropriated in aid of skilled supervision, either by single towns or jointly. There shall be an annual appropriation for the support and maintenance of evening schools in the several towns under the general supervision of the State board of education, who shall apportion said appropriation among them.

Every town shall establish and maintain a sufficient number of public schools, and towns may at any legal meeting grant and vote such sums of money as they shall judge necessary for the support of schools, purchase of sites for and the erection and repair of schoolhouses, and for the establishment and maintenance of school libraries.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM.

State superintendent-State board-County superintendent-County board

School districts-Trustees.

State superintendent.-The State superintendent of education shall be elected at each general election, to serve two years; vacancies filled by governor; shall give bond of $5,000, with sureties approved by the governor, and shall receive $1,900 a year as compensation, with not to exceed $300 for traveling expenses and $900 for clerk hire. He shall have general supervision over all the schools of the State supported in whole or in part by public funds; visit every county as often as practicable for the purpose of inspecting the schools, awakening an interest in education, and diffusing as far as possible, by public addresses and personal communication with school officers, teachers, and parents, a knowledge of existing defects and desirable improvements in the same; secure, with the advice of the State board, uniformity of text-books throughout the State; prepare and transmit to the several county superintendents school registers, blank certificates, reports, and other forms and printed instructions necessary for school officers and teachers to make their reports and perform their other lawful duties; cause the school laws to be printed, with rules, regulations, forms, and

instructions, and shall send copies of the same to county superintendents for distribution. He shall make a report through the governor to the general assembly at each regular session, showing: (1) The whole number of pupils registered and enrolled in the common schools of the State during the preceding year (ended June 30), by counties; (2) number of white and colored, respectively, of each sex in attendance; (3) number of free schools in the State; (4) number of pupils studying each of the branches taught; (5) average wages paid to teachers of each sex, and to principals of schools and departments; (6) number of schoolhouses erected during the year, and location, material, and cost of same; (7) number previously erected, material of which constructed, condition and value, and the number with grounds inclosed; (8) counties in which teachers' institutes were held, and the number attending in each county; (9) such other statistical information as he may deem important, with such plans as he may have matured and the State board may have recommended for the improvement of the public school system; such statistics shall include those pertaining to all State institutions of higher learning, which institutions for this purpose shall make a report to the State superintendent by September 1 each year.

State board. The governor, superintendent of education, and seven persons to be appointed by the governor, one from each Congressional district, who shall hold office four years unless sooner removed by the governor, shall constitute the State board of education. The governor shall be chairman and the State superintendent secretary, who shall also be custodian of records, papers, and effects of the board, and shall keep minutes of its proceedings, all of which records, etc., shall be open to inspection by the public. Members appointed by the governor shall receive the same mileage and per diem as members of general assembly, not to exceed twenty days in any year. The board shall constitute an advisory body, with whom the State superintendent shall have the right to consult when in doubt as to his official duty, and shall have power to review on appeal all decisions of county boards. Other powers and duties are: To adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with law for their own government and the government of the public schools; prescribe and enforce rules for the examination of teachers; prescribe standards of proficiency which will entitle persons examined by county boards to certificates as teachers; prescribe and enforce courses of study and uniform series of text-books (which see); grant State teachers' certificates, and revoke same for cause; award scholarships created by the general assembly in State institutions.

County superintendent.-In each county there shall be elected a county superintendent of education, to serve two years; vacancies filled by State board. He shall give $1,000 bond ($5,000 in Saluda County). [Statute specifies salary for each county, ranging from $300 to $1,200 a year], with traveling expenses (not exceeding $100) necessarily incurred in attending meetings called for the purpose of advancing educational interests, and in visiting schools in other counties in order to become familiar with their management and mode of teaching. He shall visit the schools in his county once each year, oftener if praċticable, note the course and method of instruction and branches taught, and give such recommendation in each school as may be necessary so that uniformity in courses and methods may be secured as far as practicable; acquaint himself as far as practicable with the character and condition of each school, noting any deficiencies in government, or classification of pupils, or method of instruction, and make such suggestions in private to the teacher as to him shall appear necessary; note character and condition of schoolhouses and furniture, and make such suggestions to trustees as in his opinion may be needful; aid teachers in all proper efforts to improve themselves in their profession, and for this purpose shall conduct teachers' institutes and encourage the formation of teachers' associations, attending the meetings of such associations and giving advice and instruction regarding their conduct and management. He shall make an annual report to the grand jury, through the judge of the court of general sessions (third term), showing all claims filed, audited, allowed, and ordered paid by him during the year; by July 15 each year he shall report to the county treasurer all school claims, by districts, approved by him for the year preceding; and shall furnish trustees of his county copies of reports made by him to county auditor and treasurer as to persons listed and paying poll tax, and shall aid trustees in making all proper corrections. (See also County board.)

County board.-There shall be a county board of education in each county, composed of three members, one of whom shall be the county superintendent