USA > Indiana > A history of education in Indiana > Part 25
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The principal of such school is made by some counties the principal also of his township-a sort of assistant to the County Superintendent-another result of the evolution of the country graded-school system that has done much to unify and give significance to the work of the district schools.
295
THE PRESENT SYSTEM.
5. Miscellaneous Conditions.
Aside from what has been said, certain other lines of improvement of rural schools should be mentioned. Indeed, their consideration can be little more than a mere mention, since the statistics of these schools have seldom been taken or kept separately from those for the cities.
(1) The average length of the school term for the State (both city and country) has increased from 87 days in 1868 to 120 days in 1875 ; and to an average of 131 days for the 15 years since 1876. Inasmuch as the school term for cities has shown no marked variation for these years, the improve- ment in the district schools in this respect is apparent. Still, this average has never reached seven months, and for the district schools alone not six months perhaps. Besides, the requirement of the Constitution that the system of schools provided by the State shall be "general and uni- form " seems scarcely to be recognized when one finds that the average length of the school year varied in 1887-'88 from 86 days in Du Bois County to 200 days in Vander- burgh County, or that in a given county the terms for ad- joining townships may differ by nearly four months.
(2) The school properties, including houses and appli- ances, have been greatly improved. More than one third of the houses are now stone or brick, many of them in the country being neatly built, well heated and lighted, com- fortable structures, the 9,300 houses in rural districts repre- senting an investment of $7,830,000, or fifty per cent of the whole property valuation of schools.
(3) The change in local administration of school affairs has been greater, and productive of greater good than is generally understood. For twenty years the selection of teachers was nominally in the hands of the trustee, but practically was made by the patrons. Since 1873 the au- thority is with the trustee only, a gain in every way. The schools of a township are taken together to constitute one system, whose teachers are employed and assigned to places
296
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
by, and report to, the trustee. As a result, favoritism has relatively less influence in the selection of teachers ; better teachers are employed ; each is brought into more direct competition with his colaborers, through common courses, common reports, common institute and other professional requirements, and under the more uniform conditions; the tenure of office has been lengthened, the continuous service being substituted slowly for the transient and migratory ; and consolidation of districts and the centralization of forces generally. Concerning this last point it appears that while in twenty years the country school population has increased twenty-three per cent, the number of districts has increased but nine and half per cent.
This lessening the number of districts does not always or generally mean the crowding of schools; but the massing of forces, the division of labor, the economy of skill through union schools, and wise supervision. The more compact population of the city makes all this work easier; and be- cause of the multiplicity of laws and conventionalities, pre- scription, common control, and uniform administration are pushed and accepted with greater facility than among the smaller and scattered settlements.
But to the rural school, economy of instrument and time and effort are just as needful and fruitful of good as in the town. Small schools and mixed classes, and irregular at- tendance and unequal terms, and chance courses, are no less disintegrating because they chance to be the part of a coun- try life.
297
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM (Continued).
6. City School Systems.
BESIDES the ungraded schools of the country, the district graded schools, the township graded and the higher ele- mentary schools, and the joint graded schools, the State system comprises schools in incorporated cities and towns.
The law, however, recognizes three, and only three, kinds, or ranks, or orders of school corporations. These are (1) the township, (2) the incorporated town, and (3) the city. Each is entitled to receive and expend its school moneys independ- ently of any other school corporation. The first is directly managed as to school affairs by the township trustee; the second and third each by three trustees, constituting a man- aging board. While there were schools in cities prior to the present law, they were no part of the public system ; and after the passage of the new law, and its most generous provisions, the development of schools in cities for many years was local and individual. Prior to 1875 less than twenty towns had a high-school history; a dozen, perhaps, had sent out graduates. The schools of Indiana cities as public schools have grown up since the war. By a yet vigorous generation of school men the pioneer work in organizing and grading city schools has been chiefly done.
The first administrations were intermittent. Legislation halted. The Supreme Court decisions were adverse, civil war intervened, and high taxes discouraged, while danger threatened. Public opinion was sometimes unfriendly. In 1857 the trustees in Fort Wayne, defeated in their efforts to raise a special tax, mortgaged their own private property to erect a needed building. Indianapolis schools were entirely closed from 1858 to 1862, and the high school two years longer. Terre Haute reopened in 1860, after five years of intermission. In New Albany the public schools were
298
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
closed for the year 1855, and again from 1857 to 1860, be- cause of the action of the courts, and for two years during the civil war. Muncie had but sixty months of school in the fifteen years from 1853 to 1867, and Greencastle even less.
Until recent years tuition and subscription schools eked out the short terms in the smaller cities and towns; and their seven to nine months have frequently been scarcely less private than public. Indeed it still remains true that the short public terms of the villages are lengthened by the addition of two or three months of private school, under the same teachers and with the same course, but maintained at the financial risk of the principal or through local enter- prise, the school being encouraged by having the free use of the house and the privilege of placing pupils through the public examination.
The only superintendents to be found in the cities prior to 1865 were, in Indianapolis, besides Silas Bowen and George B. Stone, who began the work, Prof. George W. Hoss; in Fort Wayne, Rev. George A. Irwin and S. S. Green; James H. Moore, Joseph Snow, and John M. Olcott in Terre Haute; Charles R. Barnes, James G. May, and George P. Brown in New Albany; and D. E. Hunter in Princeton. Most of the schools began their organization later.
The beginnings of supervision here, as elsewhere, were partial and uncertain. The first superintendent of New Albany schools, enrolling 2,000 pupils, was also principal of the high school. In Evansville, from 1862 to 1865, the mayor was ex officio the head of the schools also. Until 1874 Logansport, with 1,700 pupils enrolled, had no other supervision than that afforded by the township trustee. In that year J. K. Waltz was elected. And the first superin- tendent of the Jeffersonville schools was H. B. Parsons, appointed in 1871. For seven years, from 1874 to 1881, the city had no superintendent. In Indianapolis, moreover, when Prof. Hoss was made superintendent (1862), there had been no such officer for five years, though the schools en-
299
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
rolled 3,000 pupils and employed thirty or more teachers. Mr. Hoss was at the same time also a full professor in the Northwestern Christian (now Butler) University, giving half of his time only to the city, at a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars. The year following he was continued as superintendent of schools, in this the largest city of the State, at less than twenty-five dollars a month, to give one fourth of his time to the schools. This was less than thirty years ago.
Although separated here, for discussion, the city school is essentially a part of the common-school system.
It participates in the same revenues, both common-school and congressional-township. It receives its apportionment of the State tax for school purposes. The school trustees, in all the corporations alike, levy the special building tax. The same distinction is made between civil and school corpora- tions in the city or the town as in the township. Enumera- tions are taken and reports made by cities under the same conditions and through the same channels as by townships. Cities are subject to the same law of transfer and the same minimum requirement in branches to be taught. Teachers in city schools must be certificated as are all other teachers by the County Superintendent upon essentially the same con- ditions. So far as the law is concerned, also, each corpora- tion has the right of any other to extend its school course, and employ every pedagogic art of gradation and organiza- tion to the end of a complete education. Touching these matters the system is uniform.
But there are also differences in administration, rights peculiar to the cities, seeming advantages. They have, or may have, their own school inspectors; and teachers, while examined and licensed for public service by the County Su- perintendent, are not required to attend either the county or township institutes; moreover, all reports of teachers are made to the local authorities-the superintendent or the city school board. Cities also, by the trustees or their representa- tive, make their own rules and regulations, construct their
300
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
own courses, and select their own books .* The local-tuition tax is levied by the civil trustees in towns and the common councils of cities; not, as in townships, by the school trust- ees. School meetings have no place in cities, and altogether there is more of centralization in their school control than in the township.
The great inequality in city and suburban civil and in- dustrial conditions finds expression in no less unequal devel- opments in educational affairs. The denser population and the concentration of wealth in cities make the maintenance and continuation of schools an easier task. Terms may easily be longer; salaries more equitable; teachers can afford better preparation for their work, because of which and other reasons their tenure of employment is strengthened; supervision becomes closer, gradation more perfect; and, from the more accurate classification which is possible, both the management and the instruction may be the more nearly fitted to the age and attainment of the child. With all the improvements in the district school in the last fifteen years the school term in the city is yet fifty per cent longer, the teacher's tenure of service three times as great, and salaries about as five to eight against the rural teacher.
By act of March 3, 1871 special provision was made for organizing and maintaining schools in cities of 30,000 or more inhabitants. The schools of Indianapolis only as yet are administered under this law. The city is set off into school districts, whose number and boundaries may be changed at the pleasure of the Board of School Commis sioners, of whom there is required to be one for each dis- trict, chosen by popular vote of the electors of that district, for a term of three years. This board further levies all the taxes for school and library purposes, certificates its teachers (generally by a committee), directs the formation
* This applies since 1889 only to those beyond the elementary texts, now uniformly required by the "Text-book Law," of cities as well as townships.
301
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
of a course of study and its employment in the schools, es- tablishes and enforces the general regulations of the system, and, in general, has the care of the schools that is conferred by the common law upon city school trustees.
Except for high schools, characterized elsewhere, no at- tempt has been made among cities to introduce a uniform course of study. Nevertheless, the distribution of work, the nomenclature of the system, and the conditions of promotion are far less diverse than twenty years ago. The uniformity is incidental rather than mechanical, and belongs to the growth of the system.
7. The Common School Curriculum.
It has already been pointed out that during the first gen- eration of Indiana's statehood but few subjects were taught in the public or in any schools indeed, though in the later years texts had greatly multiplied. Penmanship, spelling, reading, arithmetic, grammar, and geography were all taught, but simply, thoroughly, and without collaterals. Reading did not mean literature, grammar neither included nor presup- posed language, and arithmetic omitted all but the most prac- tical. Geography was the one information subject. Neither in the law of 1852 nor 1853 is any mention made of the branches to be taught. The Superintendent's commentary upon the provisions of the latter year explained them as au- thorizing " the teaching of any branches of science, litera- ture, and art which public interest and public opinion may require."
By the license law of 1855 were first enumerated the sub- jects which have since been known as the common or legal branches-orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geog- raphy, and English grammar; and even these were named as the subjects upon which teachers should be examined rather than as specifying what should be taught in the schools. After requiring that the common school should be taught in the English language, the revised law of 1855 further provided that "schools may teach other languages
302
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
in addition to the English as a branch of education." This, in general, meant only German.
In the law of 1865 the provisions were changed so as to read : "The common schools of the State shall be taught in the English language, and the trustees shall provide to have taught in them orthography, reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, English grammar, and good behavior, and such other branches of learning as the advancement of the pupil may require and the trustees from time to time direct." Here it is interesting to note the subjects are first named as con- stituting the common-school course, at least the minimum requirement ; good behavior is added to the other six ; the teaching of other languages * authorized; and, in the phrase " such other branches of learning as the advancement of the pupils may require," the first formal concession to the de- mand for higher courses.
This was still further supplemented by an act of the Legislature, at its special session, May 5, 1869, requiring also physiology and history of the United States ; and amending the provision concerning German by inserting the clause, "that whenever the parents or guardians of twenty-five or more children in attendance at any school in a township, town, or city shall so demand, it shall be the duty of the school trustee or trustees of said township, town, or city to procure efficient teachers, and introduce the Ger- man language as a branch of study into such schools; and the tuition in said schools shall be without charge."
This, substantially, remains the law to the present.
8. The Organization of High Schools.
By the State Superintendent's official report for 1874 there were in the State 149 cities and incorporated towns,
* " The German, Latin, and other languages may be taught in the common schools, provided the schools be taught in the English language, and all text-books be printed in English, save those necessary to instruction in other languages."-Superintendent Hoss, Opinions, 1867, p. 52.
303
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
78 of which reported high schools enrolling over 5,000 pupils and 168 teachers. Not all of these, it should be said, were devoted to secondary instruction alone, nor were they all parts of graded city systems .. But crude as even the best of them were, they represent a new and worthy addition to the State's common school. Such an organization in any community meant a laudable effort to meet a hopeful de- mand for larger educational privileges.
The following table is inserted as showing, from the most trustworthy available records, the places and times of the first movement for high schools in Indiana:
Organization of High Schools.
NAME.
Date.
Popula- tion then.
NAME.
Date.
Popula- tion then.
Evansville
1850
3,500
New Castle
1870
2,500
New Albany
1853
7,000
Noblesville
1870
3,000
Madison. .
1855
8,000
Seymour
1870
4,000
Fort Wayne
1857
20,000
Valparaiso.
1870
3,800
Columbus
1859
4,000
Winchester
1870
2,200
Princeton
1860
Cambridge City . .
1871
2,200
Shelbyville
1862
2,500
Goshen.
1871
5,000
Terre Haute
1863
22,000
Vincennes
1871
8,500
Aurora.
1863
3,500
Kokomo
1872
3,000
Logansport
1863
Bloomington.
1872
3,000
Franklin .
1864
3,000
North Vernon
1872
2,500
Indianapolis
1864
70,000
Anderson
1873
4,000
Lafayette.
1864
15,000
Crawfordsville.
1873
5,000
Richmond
1864
12,000
Delphi
1873
2,500
Vevay.
1864
Dublin.
1873
1,500
La Porte
1866
7,500
Elkhart
1873
7,500
Michigan City
1867
5,500
Huntington.
1873
4,200
Muncie
1867
Plymouth
1873
3,500
Greencastle
1868
4,500
Rising Sun
1873
2,500
Wabash
1869
2,500
La Grange.
1874
1,800
Greensburg
1869
4,500
Lebanon
1875
2,500
Union City
1869
3,000
Ligonier.
1875
2,100
Jeffersonville
1869
Kendallville
1876
3,000
Edinburg.
1870
2,000
Frankfort.
1876
2,500
South Bend.
1870
· ...
304
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
9. Relation of the High School to the University.
Ever since the adoption of the first State Constitution the State system of education has been held, both in law and in fact, to include all grades of instruction, "ascending in regular gradation from the township school to the State University." For while the university was not mentioned in the new Constitution, but three days after the passage of the common-school law of 1852 (June 17th) it was enacted that "the institution established by an act to establish a college in the State of Indiana, approved January 28, 1828, is hereby recognized as the University of the State." This admission of the university as a part of the State's endowed agencies for general and public education was only in theory, how- ever, for it was fifteen years after the inception of the system before any positive efforts appear to co-ordinate the schools into related administrations.
At a meeting of the State board in April, 1867, after affirming the State University to be the head of our com- mon-school system, and recognizing the importance of a more intimate relation between it and the lower grades, the board officially requested the members of the university faculty "to attend and labor in the various teachers' insti- tutes and associations throughout the State, so far as their other duties will permit." And two years later, and for successive meetings, the needs of city schools were discussed, superintendents of schools were recommended in cities, con- ferences were had with the university faculty, and a com- mittee appointed to consider the requirements and condition involved in making and administering high-school courses. School officials were asked, and began to report high-school statistics separately. In June, 1869, the meeting of the board was held at Bloomington, and the "harmonizing of the high-school courses of study to that of the university," or " the relation of the State University to the common schools," was made a special topic of discussion. As a result of the conference, a joint meeting was arranged of committees of
305
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
the Indiana Collegiate Association, the Association of City Superintendents, and the State board, to further consider how all these interests might be harmonized. Every year the question was discussed, but no year brought its answer. The colleges were disposed to be exacting ; the high schools were not strong; not all teachers were qualified for the task; public sentiment in localities was jealous of the colleges; and schools in cities were yet loosely organized-because of all which progress was slow.
There was progress, however. At the regular meeting of the Board of Education, April 9, 1873, Dr. Nutt, chairman of the committee on high-school courses, formally proposed that "the authorities of the State University be recom- mended to admit to the Freshmen and Sophomore classes, without further examination, applicants who present certifi- cates from superintendents of public schools that said ap- plicants have completed satisfactorily the required studies." It is doubtful whether the doctor personally approved of the plan fully; certainly the board was not ready to adopt so sweeping a privilege; but referred the matter to the uni- versity, whose Board of Trustees voted July 18th to recog- nize certificates from certain high schools-the schools to be named by the Board of Education. It was also ordered by the Board of Trustees that "the minimum standard of ad- mission to the Freshman class " should thereafter be "a creditable examination in orthography, reading, geography, grammar, arithmetic, United States history, composition, word analysis, four books of geometry, algebra to the gen- eral theory of equations, Latin grammar, Latin prose com- position, Cæsar's commentaries (two books), Virgil (two books), or an amount of Latin that shall be equivalent thereto."
Blanks were immediately sent out to city schools asking for information concerning high schools: when founded, length of course, number enrolled, members of senior class, number and qualification of teachers, etc .; and six months later, upon the information received, commissions were
306
UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1851-'91.
. ordered to be issued to the following fifteen schools as the first fruits of six years of discussion :
First Commissioned High Schools.
1. Aurora. Superintendent E. S. Clark.
2. Elkhart
66 J. K. Waltz.
3. Franklin
E. W. Thompson.
4. Greencastle.
G. W. Lee.
5. Greensburg C. W. Harvey.
6. Logansport 66
G. C. Shepherd.
7. Muncie.
66
H. S. McRae.
8. New Albany
66 H. B. Jacobs.
9. Plymouth
R. A Chase.
10. Princeton
66
D. E. Hunter.
11. Rushville. David Graham.
12. Shelbyville W. A. Boles.
13. South Bend
D. A. Ewing.
14. Terre Haute
66
W. H. Wiley.
15. Vincennes.
66
T. J. Charlton.
The following year commissions were granted to the su- perintendents of Evansville, Bloomington, Goshen, Mount Vernon, Kokomo, and Seymour.
In the annual report for 1874-'75 Dr. Nutt was led to say that while less than half of the commissioned high schools had sent students to the university, the effect upon the schools of the State was believed to be beneficial. The standard of scholarship had been elevated, even the non- commissioned schools striving to reach the grade which would entitle them to the honor. In 1875 similar commis- sions were offered to high schools in favor of Purdue Uni- versity. Two years afterward commissions which had pre- viously been issued and reissued annually were ordered to be made out in favor of the superintendent, to be revoked only for cause, the administration and curriculum remain- ing unchanged. By 1882 these commissioned schools num- bered thirty-four; in 1884, thirty-eight; in 1886, eighty-three; in 1888, one hundred; in 1890, one hundred and seven.
October 22, 1888, it was ordered that thereafter "no high- school commission be granted, except upon a favorable report
307
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
in writing to be made to the State Board of Education by some member of the State board who shall visit the high school in question as a committee of the State board for that purpose. That all high schools now in commission be visited by committees of the board as soon as may be, and that the present list be modified by the reports of such visitors." A commission may be refused or withdrawn upon evidence that the actual requirements of any high school are below this minimum standard, or that, for any reason, instruction is inadequately performed. The university engages to admit all students who present proper certificates, but holds itself under no obligation to retain any one who fails to show him- self qualified to continue the work. The Freshman year is regarded as a period of probation.
Various attempts have been made to secure an agreement upon and the adoption of a uniform course of study for the high schools of the State, similar to the plan for the rural schools. But only indirect good has so far been accom- plished. Nevertheless, the courses throughout city high schools are far more uniform than formerly, and partly as a legitimate result of the attempt of a quarter of a centu- ry to adjust the relations of secondary schools to the uni- versity.
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