USA > Indiana > Vigo County > History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922, Vol II > Part 26
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Still later a field was found in Sullivan county, which in 1915 had 503 wells and produced 547,500 barrels; the Princeton field in the same year pro- ducing only 136,570 barrels from 266 wells. The whole state in 1915 produced 1,047,778 barrels from 3,983 wells. In almost every case gas has been found in the same vicinity with oil. The oil and gas era thus extend from about 1885 to 1915. During this time scarcely a neighborhood in the state but has been bored for oil or gas. While the cash value of the combined product has, perhaps, exceeded $200,- 000,000, it is doubtful if all the money obtained would pay for all the labor expended. It seems to have been a worse case of wasting natural resources than the exploitation of the early forests.
CHAPTER XXXI
STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM
§ 165 GENERAL FEATURES
As pointed out in the chapter on common schools, some of the district schools of that era attained great excellence. A combination of a good teacher and a public spirited community was not hampered by any outside influence. On the other hand the poor schools failed to receive any encouragement from county or state authorities. The making of these almost inde- pendent schools into a system, with some approach, at least, to uniform excellence, was the work of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Again it should be suggested that this change in purpose was not made at once. There was no sharp "about-face" in the development of the schools but only a ten- dency, perhaps at the time not widely regarded. All of the elements of the system had been suggested long before 1873, and considerable progress had been made in many of them. Here, as in other phases of the development of the schools of Indiana, the chief problem, and the one most often overlooked, was the formation of a foundation in public opinion. En- thusiastic educators have built up great hopes only to see them fail of realization for lack of popular appreciation and support.
Reading the reports of the state superintendent from 1854 to 1873 will convince one that these leaders had in mind a state system, and, moreover, saw pretty clearly what was necessary for its realization.
INDIANA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL-TERRE HAUTE
917
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Concerning public opinion, which was fairly well established by 1870, the requirements fell into five broad classes : First, a state school fund, raised by state taxation and administered by state authority ; second, uniform state-controlled administration; third, state supervision; fourth, professional prepar- ation; fifth and last, a state curriculum. An attempt will be made to set forth in order the progress made along these lines.
§ 166 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
In a previous chapter the origin and nature of most of the funds connected with the school system have been discussed. Very little progress has been made for a half century along this line. Neither Indiana university, Purdue, nor the State Normal school, though integral parts of the state school sys- tem, can be said to be under the financial control of any officer or board connected with the system. Their funds, almost entirely, are provided directly by the General Assembly and expended by boards of trustees independent of the state board of education. The law of 1873 does give the state board the power to appoint three of its members to visit the State Normal each term and report to its board of trustees, but the recommendations, if any, are subject to the will of the trustees.
The relation between the state board and the city schools is equally indirect. The cities, towns, and townships draw their proportions of the common school fund without any direct action of the state board. The state superintendent distributes this fund, but if the local officers have done their duties as to enumeration, he has no discretion in the matter. However, a recent statute required each township school to continue in session at least six months, pro- vided the highest legal local levy will sustain it. If
918
HISTORY OF INDIANA
this fail, then the state will supply the required funds. Likewise in commissioning high schools the state board may require the local corporations to maintain a certain minimum term in order to hold the commission.
By far the greatest step toward uniform state regulation was the Teachers' Wage law, March 2, 1907, which virtually made every teacher an em- ployee of the state. In connection with this, and also greatly strengthening the state's authority, are the various statutes, discussed later, reclaiming for the state the sole power of licensing teachers. While the state still lacks direct compulsory power over the finances of the local school officers, the tendency is clearly in the direction of centralization.
§ 167 ADMINISTRATION
The law of 1873, which as nearly as any one event indicates the beginning of the state system, dealt very largely with administration.1 There was very little in the law that could be called original. Its merit lay in its organization. After making some minor changes concerning the state board the law took up the county superintendency.2 County ad- ministration had always been a weak point. By the
1 There are two statutes, Laws of Indiana, 1873, chaps. XXV and XXVI.
2 The constitution of the state board has been changed some- what in recent years. In 1865 it was made up of the governor, state superintendent, presidents of Indiana university and the State Normal school and the superintendents of the three largest cities .- Laws of Indiana, 1865, p. 33. In 1875 the president of Purdue was added .- Laws of Indiana, 1875, p. 130. In 1899 three new members were added, one of whom has usually been a college president, one a county superintendent, and one a private citizen, representing the lahoring men .- Laws of Indiana, 1899, p. 466. In 1913 three more men "of known sympathy with vocational educa- tion" were added .- Laws of Indiana, 1913, ch. 24, Sec. 7.
919
ADMINISTRATION
law of 1837 three commissioners were appointed by the circuit court to examine teachers. These com- missioners were of no service to the schools, since they acted singly and if one refused it was usually easy to get a license from another. This office was abolished in 1849 for those counties which accepted the law. In 1852 the duty of licensing teachers was entrusted to the state superintendent and his depu- ties. Only a few of these deputies had been appoint- ed when the friends of local government again se- cured the upper hand and made the county commis- sioners the licensing body. One state superintendent after another, from 1856 to 1873, asked for a county school officer with power to administer and super- vise. In 1861 the county examiner was provided for, but on account of the salary and the character of the appointees, the duties were performed rather per- functorily.3 The new officer, the county superintend- ent, was primarily a professional supervisor of the teachers. However, he was made the long-sought medium between the state and the district schools. He held public teachers' examinations, controlled county and township teachers' institutes, tried all cases of his county coming under the school laws, took the enumeration, made statistical reports to the state superintendent, and executed all the orders of the state board. He also audited the accounts for all the offices handling school funds and presided over meetings of county boards of education. While there was no radical change here, every one felt that the law tightened the grip of the state on the school system. The increased prestige of the county super- intendent did not pass unchallenged.
The law of 1873 had provided that the township trustees elect the county superintendent. Under
3 Laws of Indiana, 1861, p. 78.
920
HISTORY OF INDIANA
guise of economy, the friends of local autonomy, or perhaps county politics did it, by a law of 1875 placed his election in the hands of the board of county com- missioners.4 The board was given power to fix the number of days service the county superintendent should render, which number should not exceed one- half the number of schools plus twenty office days. This law, of course, made a mere executive agent out of him and, though under the law, he must have had two years' experience as a teacher, it would have kept first rate men from the office. Fortunately, the supreme court overthrew this on a technicality. In 1899 the length of term was made four years, with a thirty-six months' license as the educational qualifi- cation.
The auditing work of the county superintendent was timely. The reports for 1874 shows a saving to the school fund of $52,472 collected from delinquent debtors to the school fund and from fines not turned over by justices.5
The law of 1873 created a county board of educa- tion, in imitation of the state board, but its powers of administration were not large, nor clearly defined. It was composed of the townships, city, and town trus- tees under the presidency of the county superintend- ent, who was a voting member. It exercised a gen- eral supervision, of an advisory nature, over build- ings, furniture, text books and other matters of com- mon interest. It had no compulsory power and has not exerted much influence directly.
No change in township and district management worth while was made. The old district organization
4 Laws of Indiana, 1875, p. 131. This change in manner of election was recommended by State Superintendent A. C. Hopkins' Report, 1874, p. 19.
5 Superintendent's Report, 1874, p. 29.
921
SUPERVISION
under the director was retained to meet annually and renew the neighborhood feud, to annoy the trustee and disrupt the school. It has taken these old sores in our school system a century to heal and many of the scars still remain. The towns and cities were taken from the jurisdiction of the township trustees and placed under trustees of their own, a mistake now slowly being corrected. The administrative sys- tem sketched in 1873 has come down to the present in all its essentials.6
§ 168 SUPERVISION
In many respects competent supervision has been the last and most difficult essential of the school sys- tem to obtain. More abortive attempts have been made along this line than along any other. The dif- ficulty arose from several sources. It was an expert service. The expert needs long and patient prepara- tion, a thing that did not appeal to the practical In- dianians. Expert service has never been appreciated highly in the west. Pestalozzi would have been un- able to hold the position of county superintendent because he would have been out of "touch" with the people, and besides, the county superintendent, the most professional officer in the system of 1873, had to be a resident elector of the county.
In 1843 the state treasurer was made ex-officio superintendent of common schools. The only thing
6 This phase of our school system is discussed by W. A. Rawles, Centralizing Tendencies in the Administration of Indiana, 26, seq .; R. G. Boone, History of Education in Indiana, ch. XVIII ; James H. Smart, The Schools of Indiana (1876), 197, seq .; The Indiana School Journal, and the Biennial Reports of the State Superintendents. In. many cases supervision and administration are combined in the same officer. However, it seems best to regard the city superintendent as a supervisor and the township trustee as an administrator.
922
HISTORY OF INDIANA
in the statute that suggests supervision is the title of the office. In 1852 the new constitution created the present office of state superintendent of public in- struction but the office is distinctly administrative.6ª
The first officer chosen directly and specifically for supervisory work was the county school exam- iner provided for in the law of 1865.7 The new offi- cers, where possible to secure capable men, soon made their influence felt. In many counties editors, physicians or lawyers were employed who did only the clerical work required. The salary of three dol- lars per day was not such as to attract capable men.8 By 1870 it was clear to all that the county examiner was living up to his title and not to his official duties. He had been expected to visit each school one or more times so that he might advise the trustees, use judg- ment in licensing, and give good counsel to the teach- ers. By 1870 visiting had practically ceased. It was this condition that led to the law of 1873, creating the county superintendency. The latter officer and his duties have been noticed. It is sufficient to add that comparatively little, until quite recently, has been accomplished in county supervision. County superintendents have found that by reason of bad roads, bad weather, frequent changes of teachers, local prejudices, and a multitude of other duties, it
6ª Laws of Indiana, 1865, ch. 1: "The superintendent shall be charged with the administration of the system of public instruc- tion, and a general superintendence of the business relating to the common schools of the state, and of the school funds and school revenues set apart and appropriated for their support."
7 Laws of Indiana, 1865, ch. I, sec. 39: "They shall visit the schools of their respective counties as often as they may deem it necessary, during each term, for the purpose of increasing their usefulness, and elevating, as far as practicable, the poorer schools to the standard of the best; advising and securing, as far as practicable, uniformity in their organization and management."
8 State Superintendent's Report, XIV, 25.
923
SUPERVISION
was almost impossible to organize county schools in- to a system such as supervision implies. The same observation is far more applicable to the township trustee. Originally intended as a supervising school officer, he has developed into anything but a profes- sional schoolman.
Supervision has progressed most in the city schools. The city superintendents have come to be the most professional schoolmen in the state. Two reasons for this stand out prominently. The city schools have furnished a large body of teachers and pupils in close proximity and the city superintendent has not been hampered by legal and political restric- tions as has the corresponding county officer.
The law of 1865 made each civil city or town a legal school corporation, placed it under control of a board of trustees elected by the common council or town board, and empowered it to establish graded schools.9 This grant of power has remained and on its ample foundation our city schools system has been built with little further aid or hindrance from the General Assembly. The general value of school gradation and systematic organization had in 1865
9 Laws of Indiana, 1865, ch. I, secs. 4 and 10: "Each civil township, and each incorporated town or city in the several counties of the state is hereby declared a distinct municipal corporation for school purposes, and the trustees of such township and the trustees provided for in the next section of this act, shall, for their township, town, or city, be school trustees, and perform the duties of clerk and treasurer for school purposes. They may also establish graded schools, or such modifications of them as may be practicable, and provide for admission into the higher departments of the graded schools, from the primary schools of their townships, such pupils as are sufficiently advanced for such admission." These same provisions had been in the early school law of 1852 and 1855, though "graded schools" in these laws were not what we now understand by that term .- Boone, Educa- tion in Indiana, 281.
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HISTORY OF INDIANA
been conceded for twenty years by the leading educa- tors of the state. A hasty glance through the reports of the state superintendents will show how often it was discussed, not only in their reports but in profes- sional meetings. Two obstacles presented them- selves. A large majority of the patrons had been educated in the district, ungraded schools and to their minds such schools represented the last word in education. This prejudice remained a force to deal with for a generation or more, from 1850 to 1880. The other obstacle was financial, lack of funds to construct proper buildings and hire capable super- intendents. The opposition to the former soon dis- appeared but it was difficult to persuade trustees to pay as much for one man who did not teach as for four active teachers.
The city superintendent is the result of fifty years of development. In 1871 Indianapolis was given a special system of schools in which there was specific authority given to the school board "to employ and pay teachers and appoint superintendents. "10 This school board of six members, elected by popular vote, was also authorized to borrow $200,000 for building purposes. In 1873 this same general power was ex- tended to all cities and towns.11 It must not be in- ferred from these statutes that real city superintend- ents had not existed previously. At Rockport in 1856 O. H. Smith taught the high school and supervised, of course without statutory sanction, the grades. At Salem, in 1857, H. D. Wilson had a corps of four or five teachers whom he supervised, though the schools
10 Laws of Indiana, 1871, ch. XV, sec. 5.
11 Laws of Indiana, 1873, ch. XXIV, secs. 12, 13: "The school trustees of incorporated towns and cities shall have power to employ a superintendent for their schools, whose salary shall be paid from the special school revenue, and to prescribe his duties, and to direct in the discharge of the same."
925
SUPERVISION
were not graded. Between 1855 and 1870 most every town or city of the state had an acknowledged "head" to its schools who in fact controlled them. These men, whatever they might be called, usually taught full time. George B. Stone, who organized the schools of Indianapolis, taught two classes only, giving the balance of his time to supervision. South Bend, in 1875, employed D. A. Ewing to supervise the elementary school and Benjamin Wilcox to supervise the high school. At Vevay and Spencer in 1870 the boards employed the county examiner to supervise but since the experiment was not repeated it would seem to have been unsatisfactory. The evi- dence is clear that during the first twenty years the city or town superintendent was merely the head teacher. At Evansville in 1858 and at New Albany in 1870 one of the trustees acted as supervisor. Both men, H. Q. Wheeler of Evansville and Dr. E. New- land of New Albany, were superior, public-spirited officials, but there was no salary attached. The sup- erintendents gradually realized the value of expert supervision, or more accurately, were able to con- vince the people of its value, and consequently gave more and more of their time to this work. D. Eckley Hunter, at Shelbyville, in 1867, gave all his time to supervision. By 1880 school boards generally began to recognize that the proper sphere of the superin- tendent was not teaching but supervising. The recog- nition of this was due largely to the work of James H. Smart at Fort Wayne, W. H. Wiley at Terre Haute, A. M. Gow at Evansville, A. C. Shortridge at Indianapolis, James Baldwin at Huntington and a few other pioneer city superintendents. Even the best of these continued to be business managers of their schools.
There remains little to be said of the city superin- tendents. Since about 1880 their general usefulness
926
HISTORY OF INDIANA
has become recognized and their field of operations definitely marked out. Taken as a whole they consti- tute the only body of persons connected with school work that can be called professional. Their business is education. The law has not specified for them a term of office, qualification, salary nor duties. They vary greatly in ability, but the competition of the school boards has kept the standard high and rising. Fortunately neither the law nor public opinion re- quires, as is the case with county superintendents, that the city superintendent be a resident of the city, county, or state where he serves.
Besides the city superintendent there have come to be in late years special supervisors in the larger cities. The best example of this work is that of Ne- braska Cropsey of Indianapolis, who for many years supervised the grade schools of that city. Under her direction they became famous throughout the coun- try. Most every city now employs specialists in music, art, physical training and in other subjects lately added to the curriculum.
The state board of education has gradually as- sumed some duties of supervision. Beginning with 1867 the board tried to link the high schools and the state university together so that graduates of the former might enter the latter without examination. In June, 1869, at a meeting of the state board in Bloomington this question alone was discussed. The matter finally came before the university board of trustees, July 18, 1873, by whom it was ordered that graduates of certain high schools, approved by the state board of education, be admitted to the univer- sity. On the evidence of blanks filled out by their superintendents, fifteen high schools were granted commissions. Six more were added in 1874.18 From
18 State Superintendent's Report, XXII, 108.
927
SUPERVISION
this simple beginning and by this method the state board has gradually acquired complete domination of the high school. In 1875 similar commissions were issued for Purdue. These commissions, at first issued annually, were soon issued to run until re- voked for cause. By 1890 there were 107 commis- sioned high schools. October 22, 1888, the state board took another step in tightening its authority over the high schools by requiring that one of its members visit each school and make a detailed report in writ- ing before a commission could be issued. For purposes of visiting, the state was parceled out by congres- sional districts to the various members of the board.14
Only one more step remained in this direction and that was taken under the law of March 10, 1913, which authorized the state superintendent to appoint
School and Superintendent Aurora-E. S. Clark. Elkhart-John K. Waltz. Evansville-A. M. Gow. Franklin-E. W. Thompson. Goshen-D. D. Turke. Greencastle-George W. Lee. Greensburg-C. W. Harvey. Kokomo-Sheridan Cox.
School and Superintendent New Albany-H. D. Jacobs. Bloomington-W. R. Houghton. Vincennes-T. J. Charlton. Terre Haute-W. H. Wiley. South Bend-D. A. Ewing. Shelbyville-W. A. Bates. Seymour-John W. Caldwell. Rushville-David Graham. Logansport-George C. Shepard. Plymouth-R. A. Chase. Mt. Vernon-A. J. Snoke. Muncie-H. S. McRea.
Princeton-D. Eckley Hunter.
See, also, Report, XXXVIII, 51: "During the term of Supt. Milton B. Hopkins, July, 1873, the following resolution was adopted by the board of trustees of Indiana University :
'"In order to bring the university into closer connection with the high schools of the state, we recommend the following plan : A certificate from certain high schools of a satisfactory examina- tion sustained in the preparatory course will entitle the bearer to admission to the freshman class.'"
14 State Superintendent's Report, XXXVIII, 51. A course of study was prescribed for the high schools which will be discussed later.
928
HISTORY OF INDIANA
a high school inspector with all the supervisory pow- ers formerly vested in the state board. In 1907 the high school course was defined by law, the subjects to be taught being fixed, and the provisions being made equally applicable to the non-commissioned high schools. December 17, 1912, the state board went so far as to state the minimum length of a recitation in a high school. May 6, 1915, the state board ordered the township trustees to employ in his high schools only such teachers as were approved by the county superintendent. Thus step by step the state has asserted its authority over the high schools until lit- tle actual power is left to any local authority.15 A part of this power has been gradually transferred to the county superintendent, under the direction of the state board, until that officer is rapidly approaching what he was originally intended to be, an agent of the state board for professional supervision.
§ 169 PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION
Under this head are included directly or indirect- ly all the activities of the state board in educational matters. When the teachers shall have become pro- fessional all the elaborate system of licensing, now
15 These later laws and state board regulations are enumerated in State Superintendent's Report, XXVIII, 570, seq. See also State Superintendent's Report, XXI, p. 10: "By an act of the General Assembly of 1865, It is made the duty of the state board of education to take cognizance of such questions as may arise in the practical administration of the school system, not otherwise provided for, and duly consider, discuss and determine the same. Growing out of this somewhat indefinite delegation of authority in school matters is a system of annual inspection of high schools and the issuance of high school commissions. Indeed, the system has been in vogue so long and the authority of the board so generally recognized that the citizens of the state and local school boards accept the advice and requirements of the state board of education as mandatory."
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