is divided into eleven divisions as follows: administration, agriculture, archives, attendance, extension, examinations and inspection, law, library school, school buildings, school libraries, and visual instruction. Each assistant commissioner is at the head of a series of schools, as follows: colleges and professional and technical schools are under the first assistant; high schools and academies, under the second assistant; elementary, rural, and normal schools, under the deputy commissioner. The commissioner apportions the publicschool moneys of the state and has power to remove any school officer or to revoke any teacher's license for cause. It is his duty to interpret the school law and decide cases brought up to him on appeal from the decision of lower school officials or brought directly to him.

Supervisory District. Each county of the state, except those within the boundaries of New York City, is divided into supervisory districts, varying from one to eight. In these districts cities and villages having 5000 or more inhabitants are not included. In such cities and villages the requirement of the state constitution for the provision of free public schools is met by the terms of their charters. These villages and cities each constitute a school district having a board of education in charge of the schools. The board of supervisors in each county is charged with the responsibility of dividing the county into supervisory districts. In so doing they must not divide a town, and the territory of the district must be compact and contiguous.

District Superintendent. The district superintendent is chosen by the school directors of his district, two from each town, for a term of five years, at a salary of $1500 per year, with $300 per year for expenses, both sums being paid by the This amount may be increased, with the consent of the supervisors of the towns of the district, by levying a tax

state.

upon the towns of the district. The district superintendent's term is for five years, and he may be removed by the state. commissioner of education. Any citizen of the United States, twenty-one years of age, a resident of the state, may be chosen district superintendent without respect to sex. To qualify educationally, the candidate shall hold a certificate to teach in any of the public schools of the state without further examination, and also shall pass an examination in the supervision and teaching of agriculture. He need not be a resident of the district at the time of election, but he must become one after being chosen. If removed from office, a person becomes ineligible for reëlection for a term of five years. The district superintendent is the superintendent of all the rural schools, and of schools in villages of less than 5000 inhabitants, of his district. He has power to fill vacancies in the office of school trustee unless filled as provided by law within thirty days, to form new districts, and to change the boundaries of old ones. Under the direction of the state commissioner of education he may examine and license teachers. He has power to condemn schoolhouses and order the residents of a district to build new ones. Appeals from his decisions are taken to the state commissioner of education.1

Compulsory Attendance. Not only has the state provided free schools for all its children, but it has made attendance compulsory. In this matter the state dictates to the parent and protects the rights of the child. Children between the

1 A state-wide pension for public-school teachers is provided by law. To this fund teachers are required to pay one per cent of their salaries. The community also is required to pay into this fund an equal sum. A teacher who has taught in public schools twenty-five years, fifteen of which have been in this state, may retire and receive an annuity equal to one half of his average salary for the last five years, provided said one half does not exceed $600 and he is physically or mentally unable to teach. The law is administered by a board of five members appointed by the state commissioner of education.

ages of seven and fourteen years who are mentally and physically capable of attending school must attend school all of the time that school is in session or receive equivalent instruction elsewhere. Children from fourteen to fifteen years old who have completed the eight years of school may secure a permit to work if they have attended school at least one hundred and thirty days since their fourteenth birthday; those from fifteen to sixteen years old are required to complete only the first six years of school. If not legally employed, children must be in school until sixteen years old. Permits are granted by the health officers upon the signed statement from the schools showing that the applicant has met the provisions of the law in all particulars. The state furnishes printed forms free for use in certifying school records. Attendance officers are appointed to enforce the provisions of the law. It is illegal to employ any child without such permit, and parents and employers are subject to prosecution and fine for evading the law. Attendance officers may arrest a truant pupil without a warrant. It is the business of the secretary of the school census bureau maintained in each city of the state to know that every child, parent, and employer complies with the law.

Compulsory Physical Training. All children above the age of eight years in all the elementary and secondary schools of the state, both public and private, must receive physical training at least twenty minutes each school day. The board of regents determines the course of study and the qualifications of teachers. The military commission may recommend methods adapted to the development of correct physical posture and bearing, mental and physical alertness, self-control, disciplined initiative, sense of duty, and spirit of coöperation under leadership, but the board of regents is not bound to accept such recommendations. For each teacher of physical training employed, the state will pay one half of the salary

up to six hundred dollars. The law applies to country and village schools as well as to city schools.

Compulsory Military Training. Military training is compulsory for all boys above the age of sixteen and not over nineteen years. No boy subject to military training who fails to enroll may attend school or secure legal employment. This law applies to all public and private secondary schools and colleges. The time devoted to military training is not to exceed three hours per week, and this time is in addition to prescribed periods of instruction in both secondary schools and colleges. This work is under the direction of the state military training commission. Instructors may be selected from competent teachers of physical training in schools or colleges if satisfactory to the military-training commission, or may be appointed from the national guard or the naval militia. For this work additional compensation is granted. Without the consent of the board of education school buildings and grounds cannot be used for purposes of military training excepting in so far as the board of regents incorporate military training as a part of the state course of physical training.

Other State Educational Activities. To encourage boards of education to establish courses in vocational and agricultural instruction, the state pays a large share of the salaries of teachers employed in this work both in day schools and in evening schools. Where there are ten or more mental or physical defectives residing within a district, boards of education must organize special classes and provide instruction adapted to their needs. The state encourages health education by authorizing boards of education to organize and conduct open-air schools for anæmic children, to establish and maintain dental clinics, and to employ school nurses and medical inspectors. The state is constantly studying ways of adding to the physical and mental well-being of its children.

Qualification and Training of Teachers. Schools receiving state aid must meet the state requirements in the qualifiIcation of their teachers. It is illegal to pay state money or money raised by local taxation for the support of rural or public schools to an unlicensed teacher, and trustees and boards of education authorizing such expenditure are personally liable and may be made to reimburse their communities. There are several different kinds of teachers' licenses. For the preparation of teachers the state provides a normal college at Albany and ten normal schools located as follows: Plattsburg, Potsdam, New Paltz, Oswego, Oneonta, Cortland, Brockport, Buffalo, Geneseo, and Fredonia, and is to build the eleventh in Westchester county. It also provides training schools and training classes in high schools and recognizes the work done in college for the training of teachers.

State Aid to Schools. In addition to the money raised by local taxation for the support of the public schools, the state makes large appropriations from the general state funds. The legislature of 1915 made the following appropriations : for common schools, $5,600,000; for cities, academic departments, academies, and libraries, $603,500; for normal schools, $672,000; for training classes and schools, $100,000; for salaries of district superintendents, $248,400; and for Indian education, $14,000. The commissioner of education apportions the first two items given above as follows: to cities and villages having a population of at least 5000 and maintaining a superintendent of schools, $800; a district quota varying from $125 to $200, and a teacher's quota of $100 for each teacher employed in any school district, village, or city, not counting the first teacher; $700 to each city or village maintaining a training class; and special quotas for teachers of vocational and agricultural studies. The state also pays sums toward library books and apparatus equal in amount to