THE REVISED SCHOOL LAW.

Early in the session of 1865-66, the State Superintendent submitted a series of amendments to the Senate Committee on Education.

The amendments were so extensive that the committee referred the entire law to the Superintendent for revision. The law, as drafted by me, was submitted to the committee and adopted, with a few slight changes.

I desire to acknowledge the valuable aid of Mr. Leonard, Chairman of the Senate Committee, of Hon. W. J. Shaw of the committee, of Hon. John S. Hager of the Senate, and of Daniel J. Thomas, Esq. of Sacramento, to whom the School Law is largely indebted for its legal clearness and accuracy.

The bill, as submitted by the committee, passed the Senate with a few amendments, as follows:

Section 101, which provided that all schools should be maintained by tax, free for five months, was amended by inserting a clause that in districts having more than 100 children and taxable property assessed at over $200,000, rate bills should be levied only after a five months' school, and in smaller districts to levy rate bills after a three months' school.

Section 102 was amended by the Senate to correspond with Section 101, by inserting the following clause in the fourth line: "As required in the preceding section."

The result was to make an apparent conflict in those sections of the law.

In Section 98, for voting district taxes, the Superintendent and committee were reluctantly forced to adopt a limitation to the tax for building purposes to 35 cents on each hundred dollars, and 15 cents for school purposes, as a compromise to prevent the defeat of the whole bill. This limitation ought to be at once repealed, or placed at a maximum of one dollar on the hundred.

Section 106 was amended by inserting "three" instead of "five" months.

Several other verbal amendments were made, and with these exceptions, the bill passed as originally drafted.

The law has proved satisfactory to the great majority of those most directly interested in education, and is acknowledged by Eastern educa

tors to be a model school law.

The more important improvements effected in the School Law by the first revision in 1863, and the second revision in 1865, may be briefly summed up as follows:

1. Organizing a State Board of Education of nine members.

2. Organizing a Board of State Normal School Trustees of eight members.

3. Authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt rules and regutions and a course of study for public schools.

4. Authorizing the State Board to adopt a uniform State series of

text books.

5. Providing each school with a State School Register.

6. Providing for the binding and preservation of school documents in

the State and county departments of instruction.

7. Providing that the Legislature shall furnish the State Superin

tendent with at least two thousand copies of each biennial report for distribution among school officers and libraries.

8. Requiring the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to visit schools and lecture at least three months each year, and providing for the payment of actual travelling expenses.

9. Establishing County Teachers' Institutes, and providing for the payment of necessary expenses out of the County School Fund.

10. Funding the debt of the State to the School Fund.

11. Enlarging the powers and duties of County Superintendents, in

details too numerous to mention.

12. Payment of County Boards of Examination.

13. Postage and Expressage Fund for County Superintendents.

14. Increasing the salaries of County Superintendents.

15. Authorizing County Superintendents to equalize district boundaries.

16. The election of Trustees for a term of three years instead of one. 17. Requiring the District Clerk to furnish the schools with pens, ink, stationery, and school incidentals, at the expense of the district.

18. The establishment of graded schools.

19. Providing for the legal establishment of separate schools for children other than white children.

20. Limiting the school time of children under eight years of age to four hours a day, exclusive of intermissions.

21. The annual apportionment of the State School Fund, instead of a semi-annual apportionment.

22. Securing a biennial appropriation of $16,000 for the State Normal School.

23. Establishing a system of school libraries by the reservation of ten per cent. of the State School Apportionment.

24. Authorizing a State subscription for an educational journal-two copies for each school district, one for the District Clerk, and one for the school library.

25. Life diplomas for teachers.

26. State educational diplomas, valid for six years, and 1st, 2d, and 3d grade State certificates,

27. Establishing City Boards of Examination.

28. Authorizing the State Board to issue State certificates on county examinations with the State series of questions.

29. Authorizing the State Board to recognize the Normal School diplomas of other States.

30. Establishing County Boards of Examination composed exclusively of professional teachers.

31. Requiring all Boards of Examination, whether State, city, or county, to be composed of professional teachers only who are holders. of State diplomas, or 1st grade city or county certificates.

32. A State tax of eight cents on each hundred dollars of taxable property.

33. Requiring a minimum county school tax of $3 per census child, and increasing the maximum tax to 35 cents on each hundred dollars. 34. Authorizing and requiring School Trustees to levy a district school tax sufficient to keep a free school five months in a year.

35. Changing the school year to correspond with the State fiscal year, July 1st to June 30th.

36. Making a school month, in all contracts with teachers, to consist of twenty school days, or four weeks of five days each.

37. Requiring all teachers to keep a State School Register.

38. Giving teachers, in case of dismissal, the right to appeal to the County Superintendent.

39. Making a biennial appropriation of five hundred dollars for State Teachers' Institute.

40. Providing for the legal collection of rate bills.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

I recommend to the Legislature the following amendments in Section 98, relating to district taxes. Strike out the following: "The maximum rate of tax levied by a district in any one year, for building purposes, shall not exceed thirty-five cents on each hundred dollars, and the maximum rate levied for school purposes by such tax shall not exceed fifteen cents on each hundred dollars for one year."

2. That Section 101 be repealed; thus abolishing rate bills entirely, providing for five months' school free, and leaving parents to voluntarily contribute for the support of school for a longer term if they desire it. 3. Amend Section 102 by striking out the words in the fourth line "as provided in the preceding section."

SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTIONS.

Should the Registry Act not be repealed, some provision should be made for its application to school elections. In my opinion, as the law now stands, the Registry Act does not apply to school elections; but some, whose opinions are entitled to consideration, differ from me. A simple provision that each Board of Trustees should constitute a Board of Registration for each school district, would cover the whole ground.

The school elections throughout the State last June were held under the School Law, without reference to the Registry Act. Their legality has not been tested in Court. In the case of voting district taxes for building schoolhouses, the tax may be resisted on the ground of illegality.

My own views on the subject are expressed in the following circular, which was issued prior to the school elections last June:

The annual district elections for electing School Trustees, will be held on the last Saturday (29th day) of June. The question has been submitted to the Department of Instruction, as to whether the coming. school elections should be conducted in accordance with Sections 35, 36, 38, and 39 of the Revised School Law, or should be governed by the "Registry Act." It is the opinion of the State Superintendent, which opinion is sustained by some of the ablest lawyers in the State, that the school elections are not subject to the provisions of the "Registry Act;" but that they must be held as heretofore, under the simpler provisions of the Revised School Law.

The Registry Act was passed March 19th, 1866; the Revised School Law was passed March 24th, five days after the former Act, and it provides, (Sec. 122) that "all Acts and parts of Acts, whether general or special, so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby repealed.' If therefore, there be any provisions relating to elections in the "Registry Act," inconsistent with the provisions of Sections 35, 36, 38, and 39 of the Revised School Law, the latter Act must be held to govern.

Are any of the provisions of the two Acts "inconsistent," and if so, what are they?

Under the Registry Act, the Board of Supervisors of the county are required to establish "election districts" and "election precincts," and to appoint election officers. These election districts and precincts have been established without any reference to the boundaries of school districts.

Now, in each election "precinct," in many cases, there are four, or five, or more school districts, and the school elections are to be held in those several school districts on the same day; how is it practicable or possible for one Board of election officers to hold four, or five, or more elections on the same day, in four, or five, or more places; or how is it practicable for the citizens of these several school districts to travel five or ten miles, vote at one election precinct and elect four, or five, or more sets of School Trustees? Again, as the boundaries of the general election precincts have not been established with any reference to school district boundaries, which are subject to constant changes to suit the convenience of the people, one portion of a school district will be found in one election precinct, and the other part in another precinct.

It is evident, that whether or not the Registry Act was intended to be applied to school elections, no provision whatever was made for such application.

The Revised School Law (Sec. 35) provides that the "Trustees shall appoint the Inspector and Judges of Election," and that the election in each school district "shall be held at the schoolhouse;" thus making each school district an election precinct for the purposes of school elections.

Can there be any doubt that on these points the Registry Act is inconsistent with the Revised School Law, and that the latter Act governs? The next question which arises is, who are qualified to vote at school elections, and what test shall be applied in challenging? Section third of the Revised School Law reads as follows:

"All elections shall be held by ballot; and the Trustees shall have power to determine the hours during which the ballot-box shall be kept open, having given due notice thereof in the posted notice of election. Every elector legally qualified to vote at any general election, having been a resident of the school district thirty days next previous to the time of such district election, shall be entitled to vote. Any person

offering to vote may be challenged by any legally qualified elector of the district, and the Judge of Election shall thereon administer to the person challenged an oath, in substance as follows: 'You do swear [or affirm] that you are a citizen of the United States; that you are twenty-one years of age, according to the best of your information and belief; that you have resided in this State six months next preceding this election, and in this school district thirty days, and that you have not voted before this day."