The administration of county high schools in the South

Front matter

X I M \

COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS

IN THE SOUTH

CHAPTER I. Page

Administrative Units in Civil Affairs 7

The Town 8

The County 8

The Township 9

The City 9

The State 10

The Unit of School Administration in New England 10

The Educational Unit of the Middle West and Northwest 12

The Community an Educational Unit 13

Where the Township Unit Exists 16

Conclusions IV

CHAPTER n.

THE COUNTY, A UNIT OP EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, WITH

ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS 19

Prevalence of the County Unit 19

Alabama County High Schools 21

Arkansas County High Schools 22

Florida County High Schools 22

Georgia County High Schools 22

Louisiana County High Schools 23

Maryland County High Schools 23

Kentucky County High Schools 24

Mississippi County High Schools 24

North Carolina County High Schools : 25

South Carolina County Control 25

Tennessee County High Schools 25

Virginia County High Schools 26

Texas County High Schools 26

County High Schools in Other States 27

Chapter III. The County High School, Its Maintenance 29

Types of County High Schools in the South 29

Maintenance of Kentucky County High Schools 31

Maintenance of Mississippi County High Schools 33

Maintenance of North Carolina Farm Life High Schools 33

Maintenance of Alabama County High Schools 34

Maintenance of Florida County High Schools 36

Maintenance of Louisiana Parish High Schools 36

Maintenance of Tennessee County High Schools 37

Maintenance of Georgia County High Schools 38

Maintenance of South Carolina County High Schools 39

Maintenance of Virginia County High Schools 39

Summary of Maintenance 40

Chapter IV. Distribution Of County High Schools 42

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Kentucky County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of North Carolina County

High Schools 4S

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Mississippi County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Alabama County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Louisiana County High

Distribution, Administration, and Shipervision of Florida County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Tennessee County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Georgia County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of South Carolina County

High Schools 5T

4 Table of Contents.

Page

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Maryland County High

Distribution, Administration, and Supervision of Texas , County High

Summary of Administration and Supervision 63

Chapter V. Some County High Schools' ' 66

Vanceboro Farm-Life High School, North Carolina 69

Jefferson County High School, Alabama 75

Hinds County, Mississippi, Agricultural High School 79

MlUington High School, Shelby County, Tenn 82

Chapter VI. Physical Equipment Of County High Schools 86

Physical Equipment Alabama County High Schools 87

Phjrsical Equipment Mississippi County High Schools 89

Physical Equipment North Carolina County High Schools 90

Physical Equipment Kentucky County High Schools 92

Physical Equipment Florida County High Schools 95

Physical Equipment Lousiana County High Schools 96

Physical Equipment Tennessee County High Schools 98

Physical Equipment in Other States in County High S'chools 99

Conclusions Regarding Physical Equipment 100

Chapter VII. Student Population In County High Schools 102

Distribution of Students Mississippi County High Schools 103

Distribution of Students North Carolina County High Schools 105

Distribution of Students Kentucky County High Schools 106

Distribution of Students Alabama County High Schools 107

Distribution of Students Tennessee County High Schools 109

Distribution of Students Florida County High Schools 110

Distribution of Students Louisiana Parish High S'chools , . . . Ill

Conclusions Based on Distribution of Students 113

Chapter VIII. The Teaching Force In Certain Groups Of County High

Qualifications of Teachers in Mississippi County High Schools 116

Qualifications of Teai3hers in North Carolina County High Schools IIT

Qualifications of Teachers in Alabama County High Schools 118

Qualifications of Teachers in Kentucky County High Schools 120

Qualifications of Teachers in Flordia County High S'chools 120

Qualifications of Louisiana Parish High School Teachers 121

Qualifications of Georgia County High School Teachers 122

Qualifications of County High School Teachers in South Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Maryland 123

Conclusions Concerning Qualifications of Teachers 124

Chapter IX. Programs Of Studies 131

Program of Studies Alabama County High Schools 132

Program of Studies Mississippi Agricultural High Schools 133

Program of Studies North Carolina Panns-Life County High Schools 135

Prograin of Studies Kentucky County High Schools 135

Program of Studies Florida County High Schools 137

Program of Studies Tennessee County High Schools 139

Program of Studies Maryland County High Schools 139

Program of Studies South Carolina County High Schools 140

Conclusions Based on Programs of Study 141

Chapter X. Conclusions' Based On The Study Of The County As A Unit Of

ADMINISTRATION IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IN THE SOUTH 144

Conclusions Relative to Units of Administration 144

Conclusions Relative to Distribution of County High Schools 146

Conclusions Relative to Physical Equipinent of County High Schools 146

Conclusions Relative to Student Population of County High Schools 147

Conclusions Relative to Teachers of County High Schools 148

Conclusions Relative to Programs of Study of County High Schools 148

General Conclusion 150

Bibliography • 152

V PREFACE

This study of the administration of county high schools in the South was undertaken primarily with the hope of determining, so far as the facts found seem to warrant it, a conclusion, founded on something more than a personal opinion, as to whether the county, as a unit of secondary administration, should be advocated for high schools throughout the United States. The increasing prominence of the county, as a unit of supervision ; the recognition the county has been receiving in recent legislation, as a unit of school administration ; and the increase in the number of county high schools which have been organized during the last decade, were the further reasons for the study being made at this time.

Secondary sources are the bases for the study. Since they are in print and are carefully referred to in the dissertation wherever used, it was felt that, owing to the character of this particular study, greater accuracy could be secured by depending on them than on sources sought otherwise. In some cases it was necessary to supplement these sources by letters and by specific questions relating to the particular case addressed to high-school inspectors and to professors of secondary education in state universities. Where such data are used, the fact is always indicated in the citations of authority.

The method of study used was to take the important phases of high-school administration, which are chapter topics, and under these to collect and present the facts. The interpretation of these facts is then attempted, and this is followed by such conclusions as their interpretations seem to warrant. The answer to the question which the thesis presents is then sought from these conclusions. In the presentation of the facts, detailed data are not presented, since they are in print and can always be referred to by going to the source indicated. Only summaries which contain the phases of the distribution of the facts pertinent to the fundamental question involved are presented. The reader who wishes more detailed data than are presented can always find them in the sources indicated, and readers who do not wish to be burdened with them do not need either to wade through or pick their way around tables of such materials. Further, it is thought unsound to reprint secondary sources.

In such a study an occasional error is bound to creep in. Every effort has been made to keep them out and to pre-

6 Preface

sent an accurate array of facts as to what county high schools have done as a basis for the theses concerning them which are presented in the last chapter. In addition to contributing these conclusions, which may be useful in determining the unit of administration best adapted to secondary education, it is hoped that the study has emphasized the value of the method already described in reaching these conclusions.

Chapter One

the introduction

The Administrative Units of Secondary Education

The Prohahle Origin of the Administrative Units of Secondary Education

One of the first questions to arise in studying the administrative units of secondary education is: Do these units seemingly grow out of the units employed in civil administration? A fairly satisfying answer can be obtained to this question by studying the correspondence existing between the administrative units employed in civil affairs and the ones employed in the administering of secondary education throughout the different sections of the country. If there exists throughout these regions what might be termed a "one-to-one correspondence," it seems a fairly safe conclusion that the correlation is causal, that the organization probably grew out of the same conditions in both cases, and that the factors developing the one unit were at least the most influential causes in developing the other.

In a study of the kinds of units, their chief general characteristics and the nature and character of their origin would be the points it seems most closely studied. What are they, and why are they? would be the questions most often before the student. A study of the number and character of the units of civil administration as the probable origin of educational administrative units will be first discussed.

Admindstrative Units in Civil Affairs

By a unit in both civil and educational administration, in this discussion, is meant the territory under a unified form of control. That a similar definition is not uncommon may be established by reference to certain rather widely known discussions. (Cubberly, "Public School Administration," pp. 5-10; U. S. B. Bulletin, No. 44, 1914, Monahan, p. 9; Woodrow Wilson, "The State;" James Bryce, "The American Commonwealth;" and Fairlee, "Municipal Administration," pp. 72-102.) The primary units of civil administration are the town of New England; the township of the Middle West; the county of the South; the independently chartered cities of various types and sizes, common to the several sections of the country ; and the State.

The Town

The town, which Woodrow Wilson (Woodrow Wilson, "The State," p. 509) says is a lineal descendant of the Saxon practices in the days of Tacitus and Caesar, and not an American invention, is peculiar to New England. Originally it was the collection of houses, with their outlying farms, constituting any one settlement. (Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," p. 561, Volume I.) In the development of the country these towns have come to embrace not only growing villages, but prosperous cities. But the most distinguishing features of the original town still characterize it. "The town meeting" (MacDonald, "Government of Maine," Section 30, and Hart, "Actual Government," p. 82) is still the source of control, and every individual in the town still may exercise his voice in that control. The officers of the town are still the selectmen, three to nine in number, a town clerk, treasurer, assessors and collectors of taxes, a school committee, and a constable. (Ibid, p. 567, and Woodrow Wilson, "The State," p. 51.) It represents, perhaps, the most democratic type of control found in America.

The County

The county, as a unit of control, is most highly developed in the South. While counties are found in other sections of the country, even in New England, they are not original units of control. They have rather developed from a synthesis of towns. In the South, however, the county has long been the unit of control, even as the town has exercised that function in New England. In a way somewhat similar to the one already described, the Southern county undertakes all local administration and has a complete set of officers. Usually the executive authority is centralized in a small group of county commissioners. (This body in some cases, as in Tennessee, can perhaps hardly be described as a small body.) They direct the other officers of the county, who usually are: treasurer, superintendent of roads, superintendent of education, superintendent of poor, an auditor, and a sheriff. (Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," p. 563; Woodrow Wilson, "The State," p. 517.) The county, as the unit of administration in government affairs, was, as Mr. Ingle says, "frankly undemocratic." (Edward Ingle, "Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science," Third Series, pp. 97-199.) "The dominant idea was graduation of power from the governor downward, not upward from the people." The chief causes for this wide difference in the unit chosen for administration were : The country where the first Southern colonies were formed was low and fertile, "with a kindly climate, deep rivers, broad stretches of inviting country, and a general readiness to yield its fruit in season." (Woodrow Wilson, 'The State," p. 442.) These conditions of soil and climate offer as great a contrast to those of New England as that shown by the administrative units developed. There were other causes, however, that frequently are cited, such as: the fact that the settlers of the South were drawn more from the rural England, while those in New England came more from towns and cities, and that a different motive actuated the two groups of settlers. Whichever may have been the dominant reason, the simple fact of the matter is, there developed in New England the democratic town, while at the same time the South developed the less democratic county as a unit of administration.

The Township

In the Middle West and Northwest, wherever the New England settlers have gone, they have carried their idea of administration, and the town exists in modified form (Bryce, p. 565), as a township. It usually came throughout the Northwest, however, later than the county and as a division of it, the result of the analysis of the county rather than the opposite situation, as described in the New England towns. The organization of the township varies with localities. In some places the "town meeting," only slightly modified, exists ; in others, officers are elected at the regular county or state elections. Usually, as in Minnesota (Woodrow Wilson, "The State," p. 514), there are three supervisors at the head of a township. The functions of the township boards vary. In Michigan such a board has rather extensive power; in Illinois it is a committee of audit solely. Where township organization is found, county organization occurs in widely varied forms. Very often the division of labor throws upon the county the administration of justice and a general supervisory authority over the townships.

The City

The city, as a rule, depends for its administrative organization on special legislation. As a type, then, it presents many different forms. The authority in this unit is strictly delegated. In some cases, as in the case of the city and the county of St. Louis, cities have been organized entirely apart from the county in which the city is located. This, however, is far from the usual plan of organization. The chief administrative feature of city government that differs from county or township is the existence of the city council, which is a legislative body. In other features the administrative organization is not fundamentally different from that of the township. There may be an executive board of several commissioners ; there may be none. Similar conditions prevail in townships, as has already been noted. (Ashley, "American Government," pp. 57-65.)

The State

Bryce says that our American States fall into five divisions. While each division possesses certain features peculiar to itself, they are in their administration more similar than dissimilar. Whether they are regarded as the unit, which when subdivided furnishes counties and townships, or whether they are thought of as a collection of such units, they are, so far as most administrative features are concerned, far more important than any other unit already discussed. They have supervisory power over the other units mentioned, and the great majority of the matters of important legislation, especially education, is left exclusively to them. (Wilson notes that of the dozen greatest problems of legislation before England during the last century, ten at least would have been settled by our states individually and would not have resulted in national legislation.)

The Unit of School Administration in New England

What is the unit of high-school administration in New England, with its town unit of civil administration? Histories of administration emphasize the historic importance of the district unit. This discussion is concerned only with the present units. An examination of conditions shows these facts. In Massachusetts the state law (Revised Laws of Massachusetts, relating to Public Instruction, 1915) provides that every town of five hundred householders must maintain a high school. Its support is derived from funds which the town (under penalty of fine for failure to do so) must raise. Its board of control is composed of three members, or any multiple of three as the town may decide, elected at the town meeting from its membership. The duties of this board are to select and examine the teachers and, in general, to exercise supervision and control over the school, hi Massachusetts the unit of high-school administration is the town. In Maine (Laws of Maine, relating to Public Schools, 1917) the high schools are maintained by the towns. They are supported by town tax, supplemented by special state aids. They are controlled by a town board of three, chosen at the town meeting, whose duties are: the management of the school, including the care of its property, the election of the superintendent of the town, and the confirmation of the appointment of teachers by this superintendent. The unit of administration as specifically set forth in the law is the tow7i. The same law specifically abolishes the district unit.

In New Hampshire (Laws of New Hampshire, relating to Public Schools, 1917), every town, under penalty of fine for failure to comply, as in Massachusetts, is required to appropriate sufficient money properly to maintain a high school. Its control is in a board of three, whose duties are to select teachers, to prescribe rules, for management, for studies, classification, and for the discipline of the school. "Each town shall constitute a single district for school purposes." (Ibid, p. 14.) In Vermont (Vermont School Laws, Acts 1915), every town must maintain a high school. Every town has a board of directors, consisting of three citizens of the town, who have the custody of the school equipment, who elect the teachers and town superintendent, subject to the approval of the State Commissioner of Education, and who recommend to the town meeting the amount of money necessary to maintain the school. "A town shall constitute a district for school purposes," the law definitely states. (Ibid, p. 7, Section 11.) In Connecticut (Connecticut School Document, 1916) high schools are established and maintained by towns. In every town there is a board of school visitors, three, six, or nine in number, as the town shall determine. They elect the superintendent and the teachers. This town board has power to form, unite, alter, and dissolve any subdivisions of the town as school districts. The administrative unit in Connecticut, then, is the town. In Rhode Island (Laws of Rhode Island, relating to Education, Supplement No. 7, Acts of 1916) the laws provide for the election of a town committee and fix the unit of distribution as the town. The school code of which this is the supplement fixes the unit of secondary education as the town.

An examination of both civic and educational administration in New England shows the unit of administration to be the town. It seems reasonable to conclude that the conditions which produced the civil unit, plus the traditions of its long use, and the additional advantage of having one system of administrative machinery serve for the various fields of administration, are responsible for the town's being the unit of administration in school administration. It seems equally reasonable to conclude that the merits and faults of the one will feature somewhat in the other. The principle of the New England town government which has excited the most comment is its thorough democracy. The corollaries have been the strongly developed local interest and a corresponding degree of decentralization. Without regard to their merits or faults, both these would be expected to appear in the educational administration where the town was a unit.

The County

The county, as a unit of school administration for secondary schools, is discussed at length in the next chapter. At this point it seems sufficient to observe that in its highest development it is found in that section where the county, as a unit in political government, is most often found — namely, in the South. It is found in other sections, brit not as an exclusive unit, the parallelism with the status of the county in political government being very pronounced. In sections where the county is hardly developed to the point of recognition its part in educational administration is correspondingly negligible. It also would be expected that the same chief characteristic, more definite centralization of authority, would also occur in the administration of the secondary schools.

The Educational Unit of the Middle West and Northivest

In the Middle West and in the commonly called "Northwest" the prevailing unit will be studied through the study of a number of representative cases. An examination of the laws of a number of these states shows that in them the unit of school administration, especially when applied to secondary education, is most often the townshiD. When the educational codes for Michigan, Wisconsin. Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, Utah, Washington, South Dakota. North Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, New Jersey, Arizona, and Pennsylvania were examined, this type of administrative organization was found. In a number of other states a unit of high-school administration growing out of the consolidation of districts may easily coincide with either the municipal or the congressional townships, thus making, in effect, the township the unit of administration. Illustrations of this latter condition may be found in the states of Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. An examination of several cases belonging to the first group shows the township the unit of educational administration in an original sense.

In North Dakota (General School Laws of North Dakota, 1915) the common-school district is any territory "having territory not less than a congressional township." Since high schools may be established in any district by majority vote upon petition of ten voters, and, further, since the controlling board is chosen from this same congressional township, it becomes the unit of secondary educational administration. In Michigan (School Laws of Michigan, 1917) the districts are formed by the township board, who may form townships into single districts. As it is the duty of the township board of education in these districts to establish and maintain township high schools, the unit for administering the rural high schools becomes the township. In Ohio (School Laws of Ohio, 1915) the district units are the city, the village, the rural township, and the county. Township boards of education establish high schools and, in general, control them. One of the three administrative units existing in the state is the township. In Indiana (School Laws of Indiana, 1915) the district unit is the township. There is one high school in each township having a property evaluation of $600,000. There is a board of trustees elected by the township trustees, who have general charge of the school. In these states support of the township high school is divided among the township, the county, and the state. Certainly the support is less decidedly local than it is in the towns of New England. A closer scrutiny of one of these Middle West states shows more clearly the organization of the township unit.

The Community an Educational Unit

In a previous paragraph, discussing the educational unit of the Middle West and Northwest, it was pointed out that the consolidation of districts could oftentimes, and frequently did, follow the lines of municipal and congressional townships. It should be noted that perhaps they equally often disregard these lines; and while area, population, and administrative organization correspond rather closely to that of the township, they cannot be classed as such in the literal meaning of the civil unit. Discussions in later chapters show that the tendency to make the community the unit of administration where districts are consolidated is not confined to the states of the Middle West. In discussing this unit, however, the same state (Illinois) is used which will be used in the discussion of the township. One reason for this choice is that in this state the community is, in general, as often the unit as is the township. There are only twenty-seven counties in Illinois in which there is no

14 The Administf'ation of

township nor community high school. Mr. Holhster, commenting on this type of unit (Bulletin No. 35, 1917, U. S. B., 'The Township and Community High School Movement in Illinois," H. A. Hollister), names as the first advantage the uniting of town and county in maintaining a "truly democratic high school" for both urban and rural population. Another advantage which he stresses is the strong community interest which develops around them. One of the most interesting of these community high schools is the La Salle-Peru-Oglesby School, in La Salle County. It is not the intention of this study to discuss in detail this school. Such a discussion is found in the study quoted. (Ibid, p. 45.) This study is content to point out the community as a unit for reasons already enumerated and to point out the fundamental differences between it and the strictly township organization.

The Township in Illinois

For studying more closely the township, Illinois is chosen. It seems to embody the features characteristic of such an organization. It, perhaps, has fewer features that would tend to complicate the study than has any other state listed. Historically, Northern Illinois was settled by families originally from New England ; Souttiern Illinois, by settlers from Kentucky and Tennessee. One group brought ideals and ideas from the New England town ; the other group, the governmental plans of the Southern county. (Bryce, "The American Commonwealth," Volume I, p. 572.) While the Southern settlers came first and established the county, the New England influence, struggling for the town, succeeded as early as 1848 in legalizing township oiganization. This was again embodied in the Constitution of 1870. (Illinois Constitution of 1870, Article X, Section 5.) The school code of Illinois describes an organization for the administration of secondary education which is defined as a township unit. (School Laws of Illinois, Circular No. 126, 1917.) Its prevalence is illustrated in a quotation from Superintendent Blair (quoted from a personal letter received from Superintendent Blair) : "The township high-school district is the prevalent administrative unit in Illinois for secondary education."

A school township, as defined by Illinois law, is a congressional township. The affairs of the township high school are administered by the township board of education, consisting of five members, serving for a term of three years. This board is elected at the same time and in the same way that the trustees of the township for the public elementary schools are chosen. The first duty of this board, after organization, is to secure a proper and suitable location for the township high school. In the general administration of the school, this board has a very broad responsibility. To illustrate, they are entirely responsible for the selection of its teachers, for levying taxes, and for making the rules for the management of the schools. While they may, and perhaps most often do, accept the recommendation of the county superintendent or of the state high-school inspector, they are not legally bound to do so, the only legal checks upon them, in this regard, being the certification laws of the state and the check which the state department administers through inspection and state aids. Legally, at least, the major part of the administration of these schools is in the hands of this board. As to programs of study, entrance requirements, and privileges of affiliation with higher institutions, the same requirements for entrance and the same quantitative requirements for graduation are made that are made of the high schools administered through other units. It is true, in fact, that many high schools which were originally classed as town ("town" is here used, not with the New England meaning, it was given earlier in this discussion, but with the meaning commonly accepted outside New England — that is, being an urban community) high schools have reorganized, with the township as the unit of administration.

While their administrative unit has been distinctly the unit which has cared for the rural secondary population, their programs of study have been evaluated on the same basis and they have enjoyed the same privileges from the University of Illinois as have the high schools in the urban comumnities. Their purpose, if the number on the accredited list of the state university and of the North Central Association, or if the close similarity of their programs of study, with their requirements for entrance and for graduation, are objective criteria, is not different. It is, in fact, in their administration that these schools differ from those of other units of administration. They exist for, and are administered by, the people of a township. Their chief control is in their township high-school board. Their chief support is in their taxable wealth of the township. They seem to be almost as close to the people of their unit as were the schools of the local district unit. Very little of its democracy seems to have been relinquished. Doubtless they retain most of the advantages, in the way of local interest, of the more democratic unit, and may also carry the weaknesses resulting from the lack of centralized administrative control.

General Situation Where Township Unit Exists

In general, that section of the country which in pohtical administration shows the division of authority between township and county, shows a similar situation in educational administration. For the administrative unit in many rural communities, and in communities on the transitional ground between rural and urban, the township forms a much-used unit of educational administration, especially for secondary schools. This unit has, in fact, been more highly developed in this respect than it has in civil administration, (For a more detailed discussion of the township high school, see U. S. Bulletin No. 35. 1917; Holhster, "The Township and Community High School Movement in Illinois.")

The City Ufiit

The city, as a unit of secondary administration, will be discussed very briefly. As a civic unit, it exists in all sections of the country ; as an educational unit, its distribution is equally wide. It exists where the county is the unit, where the township and county both exist, and where the New England town controls. Since its existence is universal, as far as this discussion is concerned, only one illustration will be discussed. In Kansas (The Common School Laws of Kansas, 1917) the city is recognized by law as a unit of educational administration, and its existence specifically provided. Cities of the first and second class (excepting cities between 50,000 and 75,000, inclusive ; Ibid, p. 47, Chapter V) are organized as such. Their control is placed in a board of six members, elected from the city at large, who are in general control of both elementary and secondary education. Among their fundamental duties are the selection of a superintendent and of each member of the teaching force ; to provide, as a part of the city budget, the necessary funds for the maintenance of, and, in general, to exercise final control over, the schools, checked only by certification laws, conditions necessary to participate in special aids, and the pressure of state inspection and classification.