2 Indefinite.

3 Governor appoints 5 members, university board of regents 1, normal school regents 1, vocational educa

tion board 1.

4 Governor's appointees.

5 With approval of governor.

Composition of State boards of education.-State boards of education are made up in the following ways: Ex officio membership, composed of State officials, usually including the governor and chief State school officer, and of other members selected from among other State officials, as the attorney general, secretary of state, State treasurer; ex officio education officers, as presidents of higher institutions, including universities, colleges, and normal schools (in some

cases the law provides that these boards include one representative who is a city superintendent, one who is a county superintendent, or similar regulation); membership confined to persons not engaged in educational work; members may or may not be engaged in educational work; and various combinations of the above. (See Table 2.)

Methods of appointment.-In 33 States some or all of the members of State board are appointed or elected. In 28 of these the power of appointment is vested in the governor, subject in some cases to approval by the State senate. In 3 the State legislature makes the selection, in 1 State the board is elected by popular vote, and in 1 appointment is left to the State chief school officer. In the other States appointment is made in part by the governor, in part by certain educational boards, and in 1 State in part by the senate.

The tendency in the selection of members of State boards of education seems to be toward appointment by the governor. Two methods of selection, (1) appointment by the governor and (2) election by the people, receive the approval of authorities on school administration. The first method, appointment by the governor, has these merits: (1) It centralizes full responsibility for all the departments of public service, including the management of schools, in the executive head of the State. This tends to unity and economy in administration. (2) It is believed that this method protects the board from undue political influence. Selection is often restricted to an eligible list or limited in some other manner. The advisability of the governor being a member of the board he appoints is doubtful.

Election by the people is favored by many authorities on school administration because: (1) It centers responsibility definitely on a group of persons elected specifically for one purpose, namely, that of having general charge of schools. (2) It represents more nearly a direct expression by the people of their wishes in the management of school affairs than does appointment. (3) It follows our custom of making those intrusted with legislative functions directly responsible to the people. (Administrative authorities are generally agreed that the chief functions of a State board of education are legislative rather than executive.)

Size of board, term of office, mode of retiring members.-The present tendency is toward a State board of education composed of from five to nine members, each of whom holds office for a term of from five to seven years. The time of retirement is so arranged that a majority of the board remains constant; that is, one member retires each year, or two or three each alternate year. The smallest boards, as now constituted, are those which are composed of ex officio members. The term of office of members of ex officio boards

is fixed by law and ranges from two to four years. The members usually retire simultaneously. This may be regarded as representing a passing type. In 25 of the 42 States having State boards of education the number constituting a board ranges from 7 to 13 members. Boards of this size, with continuity of service provided, are generally considered as satisfactory in size for working efficiency. Neither too large nor too small a board is desirable.

Powers and duties of a well-organized State board of education.-— According to authorities on school administration, the State board of education, like the city board, should be a lay board representing the larger educational policies of the public, delegating the professional side of education and the administration of its general policies to its appointed executive official, the State superintendent of public instruction or commissioner of education, and to the heads of the several higher educational institutions, if any, under its supervision. The board should be composed of from five to nine members appointed by the governor by and with the consent of the senate, the term of office to be five to seven years, one member to retire each year, or two in each biennial period, thus perpetuating the board's policies and giving it stability and a degree of permanency. Vacancies should be filled by the governor. The appointment should be for absolute worth and without regard to residence, occupation, party affiliation, or similar considerations. The members should serve without remuneration except for a reasonable per diem and actual traveling and other necessary expenses. The maximum number of days for which such per diem may be paid should be fixed by law.

The general powers of the State board should include the following, keeping in mind that the State board is a legislative body, the State superintendent of public instruction or the commissioner of education acting as its executive officer:

1. To know the educational needs of the State and to determine its educational policies so far as authority is conferred upon it to do so by the constitution or by acts of the legislature.

2. To have general oversight and control of the public-school system of the State as may be determined by law, and of other schools in so far as charged by specific legislation.

3. To select the chief State school officer, who becomes its executive head; to determine his powers and duties; and the function of the State department of education under his direction.

4. To adopt the necessary regulations and set up standards for education in the State relative to compulsory education, school build

In some of the States the proposed State boards of education may be organized to. have control of all the schools, including the higher institutions. This would particularly be true of States which see fit to enlarge the powers of the board now in control of higher education to include also the general oversight of the elementary and secondary schools.

ings, school equipment, courses of study, qualifications of teachers, physical education, medical inspection of children, school records and reports, etc.

5. To have general control over such educational institutions as the State schools for the deaf and blind, industrial reform schools for boys and girls, and educational work in State reformatories and penitentiaries, and State hospitals.

6. To have general regulatory control of or to establish cooperative relations with all teacher-training institutions conducted by the State.

7. To act as a board of control for the State library and historical collections.

The following quotation from "Supplemental Report of the Organization and Administration of School District No. 1 in the City and County of Denver," by Ellwood P. Cubberley, professor of education, Leland Stanford Junior University, expresses principles equally applicable to a definition of functions of State, county, or local district (city) boards of education:

A board for school control for a city school district should be distinctively a business board, closely analogous to a board of directors for a business corporation.

The direction of the educational affairs of any large city has to-day become so important and so technical, and now involves such a degree of expert knowledge and nicety of adjustment if the best results are to be obtained, that no board of laymen, however worthy or willing, is any longer competent to handle the details of the work of school organization and administration. These should be turned over to competent officers, and the board should confine its attention to the larger features of the administrative problem.

These larger features relate, first and most important, to the selection, from time to time, of the executive officer or officers upon whom the board is to depend for advice, and for the execution of its policies; to the determination, after listening to the recommendations and the advice of its executive officers, of the educational and business policies for the school system.

Proper city school organization and management call for a clear separation of the work of school control into legislative, executive, and inspectional functions. All sound theory and the results of both business and educational administrative experience call for a clear separation of legislative and executive functions. It is the prime business of the board of school control to hear reports, to listen to the advice of its executive officers, and then to legislate; it is the prime business of the executive officers to execute the legislation enacted and to report the results to the board; and it is the function of the board in turn to judge the results of its policies and the work of its executive officers by inspecting the results obtained.

The State departments of education have, as a rule, developed more or less independently, paralleling the several State boards

See U. S. Bu. of Educ. Bulletins, 1920, No. 46, and 1924, No. 5.

of education, with functions centered in the administration of the elementary and secondary schools of the State. The executive head of this board-the State superintendent of public instruction or commissioner of education-was formerly a political official in nearly all the States. Greater efficiency in school administration now demands a change. The superintendent or commissioner is beginning to be recognized as the chief educational officer in the State, whose task it is to organize and direct the educational forces within the State. The office requires the largest ability. It is indeed hard to conceive of a more important office or a more difficult position to fill well. At all times it calls for tact, initiative, and executive ability.

THE CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICER

Provision is made for the office in two ways: (1) By constitution and (2) by statute. Thirty-three States provide for the office in their constitutions, by giving instructions therein for the legislatures to create and sustain it. Among these States the constitutional mandates for the establishment and maintenance of the office vary some in detail, but in general they are very similar. The remaining 15 States, on the other hand, do not mention the office in their constitutions; these have statutory provision for it. The kind of provision which each State makes may be seen from the map here given.

The prevailing method of selecting the chief school officer or State superintendent is by popular vote. In six States these officers are appointed by the governor, in eight by the State board of education.* The last of these methods is in line with accepted principles of school administration and has the most to commend it.

The chief State school officer should be selected by the State board of education from the country at large because of professional preparation and administrative ability, and if possible because of success in other positions requiring similar ability and involving similar duties. Many able and efficient chief school officers have come into office by popular election or by gubernatorial appointment. Both methods have some advantages, but neither is as sure and reliable as appointment by a nonpartisan board. No other method of selection is rational, if this officer is to be responsible to the board. The term of office should have no reference to the change of officers connected with the partisan government of the State. It should be indefinite or for a period of years, long enough to make possible the consistent development of administrative policies.

4 See Table 3.

U. S. Bu. of Educ. Bulletins, 1920, No. 46, and 1924, No. 5, should be consulted for further information on this subject.

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