CONTENTS Page Introduction ---. Chapter I.-Legislation on the high school. Types of high-school legislation_-_. 1. Permitting or requiring the establishment of high schools.......- 1 1 2 3 3 3. Provisions for wider distribution of the privileges of second- 45 5. Standardization and classification____ 4. Provisions for extension of plant or instructional facilities-- 6. Provisions for administration of State laws. Chapter II.-Analysis of junior high-school legislation_. 1. Permitting establishment 2. Financial support for general purposes- 3. Wider distribution of privileges---. 4. Provisions for extension of plant or instructional facilities_. 6. Provisions for administration of State laws- 6 7 8 8 11 11 12 14 17 Chapter III.-The organization of junior high schools in States having no legislation relating explicitly thereto---- Conditions under which junior high schools are organized___ Chapter IV. Reports of State departments of education concerning additional junior high-school legislation__-- 1. Laws preventing or hindering reorganization___ 2. Legislation needed to facilitate reorganization___ Chapter V. The problem of legislative stimulation of the junior high school____ Significance of the problem___ Different attitudes toward legislation___. 1. No additional legislation needed_. 2. Legislation needed for the removal of legal obstacles-- 3. Legislation in broad, general terms only is needed_____ Appendix: Text of State laws relating explicitly to the junior high LEGISLATION ON THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Chapter I LEGISLATION ON THE HIGH SCHOOL INTRODUCTION The development of the junior high school as a distinct and separate unit of the public-school system is one of the most remarkable and striking chapters in the history of public education in the United States. From humble beginnings in a few scattered cities the movement has gathered momentum until hundreds of school systems have been profoundly affected, and almost all of the remaining towns and cities are considering the feasibility of joining the movement. In a considerable number of the States, legislation which relates explicitly to the junior high school has been enacted. In many other States similar legislation is under consideration. In both groups of States educational authorities are actively interested in the following three questions: (1) What types of legislation will promote the best development of the junior high school? (2) What types of legislation will hinder the best development of the junior high school? (3) Will the best development of the junior high school be more easily achieved without the aid of additional legislation? The purpose of this report is to throw light upon these three questions. With this object in view it was decided: First, to make a simple preliminary analysis and classification of existing legislation on the high school; second, to analyze the content of such legislation as relates explicitly to the junior high school, estimate its probable effect on the reorganization movement, and compare the same with similar legislation on the high school; and third, to ascertain what legislation on the junior high school is being proposed in the various States and the opinions of responsible school officials and competent students of education on the need for and effect of such laws; and finally, to make such suggestions concerning future legislation on the junior high school as the facts seem to warrant. TYPES OF HIGH-SCHOOL LEGISLATION It is a matter of common information that secondary education has reached a higher stage of development in certain directions in the United States than in any other great nation. The program of studies is almost unlimited in extent and variety, and its privileges are enjoyed by an unprecedented proportion of the youth of the land. During the century in which this development has taken place the American people have gained an enormous amount of experience with legislation concerning secondary education. The kinds of legislation which have substantially facilitated the growth of the high school are now well understood. The educational authorities who are guiding the expansion of the junior high school, fortunately, are not under the necessity of blazing new trails through an uncharted legal wilderness. They are in position to take advantage of the experience of previous generations with laws on the high school. Generally speaking, the legislation which is found on the statute books at the present time represents the legal principles which years of experience with the high schools have justified. An analytical study of this legislation offers the sponsors of the junior high school the safest guide in their efforts to find the legal principles which will facilitate the development of the new institution. A brief and simple analysis of high-school legislation will be adequate for the purposes of this study. Practically all of the existing laws can be classified under the following six categories: 1. Permitting or requiring the establishment of high schools. 2. Financial support for general high-school purposes. 3. Provisions for wider distribution of the privileges of secondary education. 4. Provisions for extension of plant or instructional facilities by means of financial aid for special purposes. 5. Standardization and classification of high schools. 6. Provisions for administration of State laws. In the discussion which follows, almost no attention is given to the time when the various types of laws appeared on the statute books, or to an enumeration of the States in which they are found. Nor is any effort made to take into account the considerable amount of general school legislation which affects all divisions of the publicschool system alike, but only indirectly affects the high schools. Only those laws which relate explicitly to the high-school grades are considered. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to a description of the several categories and of the functions of the laws which are classified under them. 1. Permitting or requiring the establishment of high schools.-The first legal principle which had to be established, and the most fundamental, was the right of local districts to organize schools in which the higher branches of knowledge were to be taught. The opinion which was handed down by the Supreme Court of Michigan in the famous Kalamazoo case is the most widely known of a long line of affirmative decisions. At the present time in all of the States the high school is accepted as a part of the public-school system, and local communities are encouraged to found and maintain such schools. At times it has been necessary even to place restrictions upon the pride and enthusiasm of local districts and refuse to authorize the establishment of high schools until definite requirements had been met as to number of pupils prepared for high-school work, ability of the locality to support such a school, etc. A number of the States, on the other hand, have found it advisable to make the establishment of secondary schools mandatory upon local, town, or county districts which meet certain conditions of size and wealth, and where such advantages are not available in near-by communities. In these cases the locality is forced to assume the right to establish. Other laws connected with the establishment of high schools outline the procedure which districts are to follow in organizing new schools. The supporting district is to be formed in a specified manner, the controlling board elected, consent of State or county officers obtained, etc. 2. Financial support for general high-school purposes.'-Coincident with the right to establish high schools went the right to levy taxes on the property of the district or to otherwise secure public funds for their maintenance. The claim of the high schools to funds from taxation of property is now universally admitted. The next step in logical order was to permit the newly established secondary school to share in the general school funds of State and county. With the exception of a few States, this right is now admitted throughout the Union. Because of the greater cost of secondary education as compared with elementary education, an advanced position with reference to the distribution of common-school funds in favor of secondary education has been taken in some of the States. In one way or another the high school is allowed a weighted share of the State or county funds. In the State of Washington, for instance, one and one-half times as much money is allowed the local district for a high-school pupil as for an elementary-school pupil. In this manner the local district finds a measure of relief, and the larger taxing unit is made to bear a larger proportion of the heavy cost of secondary education. 1 For additional information on financial support of secondary education, see: Butterworth, Problems in State High School Finance, School Efficiency Monographs. |