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304 Wisconsin: Amending sundry sections of the statutes, repealing sundry sections, and creating new sections relating to fish and game.

One-third of fines for violations to go to school fund (sec. 4567m).
Chap. 525, June 17, 1909.

(d) State Taxation for School Purposes.

Each of the items brought together within this group are significant of a nation-wide tendency of utilizing the State as the chief taxing unit for educational purposes. Maine (305) doubled the state tax for common schools, Oregon (307) passed a county school fund law containing several progressive provisions, and Tennessee (308) established a general educational fund, the governing provisions of which are regarded of sufficient importance to warrant presentation in full.

305 *Maine: Relating to the common school fund and the means of providing for and distributing the same.

(Additional tax. Increase from one and one-half to three mills. See Chap. 111, Laws, 1907.)

"SEC. 1. A tax of one and one-half mills on a dollar shall annually be assessed upon all of the property in the state according to the valuation thereof and shall be known as the tax for the support of the common schools.

"SEC. 2. This tax shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as other state taxes and shall be paid into the state treasury and designated as the common school fund.

"SEC. 3. One-third of this fund shall be distributed by the treasurer of the state on the first day of January, annually, to the several cities, towns and plantations according to the number of scholars therein, as the same shall appear from the official returns made to the state superintendent of public schools for the preceding year and the remaining two-thirds of said fund shall be distributed by the treasurer of state on the first day of January, annually, to the several cities, towns and plantations according to the valuation thereof as the same shall be fixed by the state assessors, for the preceding year.” SEC. 4. *

SEC. 5. *
SEC. 6. *

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SEC. 7. * * *

(Provisions of act not to affect secs. 124, 125, 126, and 127, chap. 15, Revised Statutes, or sec. 2, chap. 111, Laws, 1907.)

Chap. 177, Mar. 31, 1909.

306 Missouri: Submitting amendment to sec. 11, art. 10, constitution, relating to revenue and taxation.

Increasing limit of minimum tax rate for school purposes.

Con. Res. No. 10, p. 911, 1909.

307 *Oregon: Providing for the raising of school funds in the several counties and school districts in the State and for the distribution of the same; amending sec. 3371, Bellinger and Cotton's Annotated Codes, as amended by chap. 96, Laws, 1907; and amending sec. 3374, Bellinger and Cotton's Annotated Codes, as amended by chap. 99, Laws, 1907, relative to county courts levying taxes for school purposes.

"SEC. 1. That Section 3374 of Bellinger and Cotton's Annotated Codes and Statutes of Oregon as amended by Chapter 99, General Laws of Oregon, 1907, is hereby amended to read as follows: For the purpose of creating a county school fund, the county courts of the several counties of this State are hereby required to levy, at the same time they levy other taxes, a tax for school purposes upon

all the taxable property of the county, which aggregate an amount which shall produce at least $7.00 per capita for each and all the children within the county between the ages of four and twenty, as shown by the then preceding school census, which shall be collected at the same time, in the same manner, and by the same officers, as other taxes shall be collected; provided, that the per capita amount so levied in any county shall not be less than the per capita amount of the school tax levied in the county for the year 1903.

"SEC. 2. In case a district does not levy a special tax of at least five mills on the dollar for maintenance for the ensuing year or that will produce an amount sufficient to give the district for such maintenance the difference between three hundred dollars and the amount received from the county school fund as provided for in Section 1 of this act, or fails to report the same to the county clerk and county school superintendent as required in Section 4 of this act, it shall be the duty of the county court of the county in which said district is located to levy, at the same time it levies other taxes, a tax on all the taxable property of said district that will produce an amount sufficient to give to the district for maintenance for the ensuing year the difference between three hundred dollars and the amount received, or to be received by said district for the ensuing year, from the county school fund as provided for in Section 1 of this act; provided, that such levy by the county court shall not exceed five mills on the dollar. SEC. 3. In case the amount apportioned to any school district from the county school fund, provided for in Section 1 of this act, and the special district school tax provided for in Section 2 of this act, do not amount in the aggregate to the sum of three hundred dollars, the county court of the county in which such district is located shall on the first Monday in October of each year transfer from the general fund of the county to the special school tax fund of such district such an amount as may be necessary to make said sum of three hundred dollars. The county court shall include in its annual tax levy for county purposes a sufficient amount to meet the requirements of this section.

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"SEC. 4. It is hereby made the duty of all school clerks to report to their respective county clerks and also to their respective county superintendents on or before December 10 of each year the amount of tax levied by their respective districts for maintenance; and, also, the amount of tax levy made by their districts for other purposes; and it is hereby made the duty of the county clerk to enter such levies on their tax rolls.

"SEC. 5. The county superintendent shall on the third Monday in December of each year make the estimates to meet the requirements of Section 2 of this act and report the same to the county court; and he shall also, on the third Monday in December of each year, make the estimates to meet the requirements of Section 3 of this act and report the same to the county court.

"SEC. 6. In the case of a joint district, the amount of tax to be levied as required by Section 2 of this act, and the amount to be transferred as required by Section 3 of this act, shall be in such ratio to the whole amount to be levied or transferred for such district as the assessed valuation of such district lying within the county bears to the assessed valuation of the whole district.

"SEC. 7. That Section 3371 of Bellinger and Cotton's Annotated Codes and Statutes of Oregon as amended by Chapter 96 of the General Laws of Oregon, 1907, is hereby amended to read as follows: Districts shall not be entitled to their proportion of the county school fund at the disposal of the county superintendent, unless they shall report to him within fifteen days after the annual school meeting, and shall have had a school taught in their district at least six months in each school year; provided, that a new district shall not be required to have a school taught, as aforesaid, for the space of one year from the date of its organization.

"The provisions of this section shall first apply to the school year beginning June 20, 1909, and ending June 17, 1910."

SEC. 8. *

Chap. 128, Feb. 23, 1909.

308 Tennessee: Relating to the improvement, unification and extension of the systems of public education of the State; creating a general education fund, and providing for its apportionment and distribution.

"SECTION 1. * * *. That for the purpose of improving, unifying, and extending the systems of Public Education of the State of Tennessee, for the purpose of giving more adequate support to public schools of all grades, and for the purpose of extending the benefits of the school system more equally to all the sections, counties, and districts of the State, a General Education Fund shall be, and the same is hereby, created, and for the year one thousand nine hundred and nine and annually thereafter twenty-five per cent of the gross

revenue of the State shall be paid into this General Education Fund, to be apportioned as hereinafter provided; and the Comptroller of the Treasury shall pass, and he is hereby directed to pass, on the first day of January and the first day of July of each and every year, to the credit of said General Education Fund, the amount due thereto according to the provisions of this Act, and to distribute the same as hereinafter provided.

"SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That sixty-one per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act shall be apportioned to the several counties of the State according to scholastic population, as the interest on the permanent school fund is apportioned and for the same purposes.

"SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That ten per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act shall be, and the same is hereby, set aside as a special fund to be used and expended for the purpose of more nearly equalizing the common schools in the several counties of the State, the same to be apportioned among the several counties of the State by the State Board of Education in accordance with the provisions hereinafter set forth.

“Provided, that before any county shall be eligible to receive any portion of this ten per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act, it shall levy for public schools, including the school taxes levied by the State, and excluding taxes for public high schools, a tax of not less than forty cents on each hundred dollars of taxable property, a tax of two dollars on each taxable poll, and all the privilege taxes which the laws of the State permit counties to levy for school purposes; and, provided, further, that this special fund of ten per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act shall be apportioned among the counties of the State that comply with the provisions of this section of this Act in proportion to their scholastic population and in inverse ratio of the taxable property of the several counties to scholastic population, and to be distributed as other school funds coming into the Trustee's hands are distributed; provided, further, that before any apportionment of this ten per cent is made, there shall, for the year 1911 and annually thereafter, first be deducted from it such an amount as may be necessary to pay a portion of the salaries of County Superintendents of Public Instruction, as provided in Section 4 of this Act.

"SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That for the year one thousand nine hundred and eleven and annually thereafter, before appropriating the ten per cent of the General Education Fund provided in Section 3 of this Act, the sum of thirtythree thousand six hundred dollars ($33,600) of the ten per cent mentioned in Section 3 of this Act, or so much thereof as may be required by the provisions of this section, shall be set aside to assist the several counties of the State to pay more adequate salaries to the County Superintendents, and that there may be more competent supervision of the public schools. Each county in the State shall receive from this fund, to be paid on the salary of the County Superintendent, an amount equal to that which is paid by the county; provided, that no county shall receive from this fund for this purpose more than $350 in any one year; provided, further, that any County Superintendent receiving the maximum amount ($350) from this fund as herein provided shall devote all his time to the duties of the office for a period not less than nine months in the year, and he may be required to devote thereto all his time for the entire year.

"Provided, further, that not more than half the amount apportioned to any county under the provisions of this section of this Act shall be paid to said county until all reports required of the County Superintendent and other county school officers have been made accurately and satisfactorily, and until all other duties required of the County Superintendent by law have been faithfully performed.

"All funds apportioned to any county under the provisions of this section of this Act shall be paid by the Comptroller on the certificate of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and as other school funds are paid.

SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That eight per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act shall be used as a high-school fund, to encourage and assist the counties of the State to establish and maintain public county high schools as hereinafter provided.

"It shall be the duty of the State Board of Education to grade all high schools now established and maintained or that in the future may be established and maintained under the provisions of the county high-school law; to prescribe their minimum courses of study, requiring the elements of agriculture and home economics to be taught in all schools; and to classify them as high schools of the first, second, and third class.

"Under such regulations as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education, all qualified public county high schools may receive assistance from the fund provided by this Act and this section of this Act in proportion to the amount of money received by the several schools from other sources and expended annually for the payment of teachers' salaries and incidentals, not including permanent improvements of grounds or buildings; provided, that no county may receive in any one year more than one-fiftieth part of the total fund provided by this section of this Act for that year, and that no one school shall receive from this fund more than one-third the amount received from other sources and expended in that year for its maintenance, not including any amount expended for permanent improvements.

"All applications for assistance under the provisions of this section of this Act shall be made in such way as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education, and all payments shall be made on the certificate of the President and Secretary of said Board.

"All teachers in the public county high schools receiving aid from this highschool fund under the provisions of this section of this Act shall be examined and licensed under regulations prescribed by the State Board of Education, and said Board is hereby empowered and instructed to make rules and regulations for the examination and licensing of such teachers. The State Board of Education shall have the power, and the same is hereby authorized, to employ an Inspector of High Schools, at such annual salary as it may determine, his salary and traveling expenses, when engaged in the work of high-school inspection or the performance of other related duties assigned him by the State Board of Education, to be paid out of the high school fund herein provided. Said High School Inspector shall have his office in the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and shall give his time to the inspection of high schools in the State and such other related duties as may be assigned him by the State Board of Education, and shall make reports of his work and of the conditions of the high schools of the State as required and directed by said Board.

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'Any portion of the high-school fund of any year provided by this Act and this section of this Act that cannot be apportioned to the public high schools of the State without exceeding the ratio to income of such schools as provided in this section of this Act shall revert to the school fund provided in Section 2 of this Act and be apportioned as therein provided.

"SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That one per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act shall be used to encourage and assist in the establishment and maintenance of libraries in the public schools as herein provided. "Whenever the patrons and friends of any public school in any county of the State shall raise by private subscription or otherwise and tender to the County Trustee, through the County Superintendent of Public Instruction, the sum of twenty dollars ($20) or more for the establishment and maintenance of a library for that school, said County Superintendent shall notify the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, upon the certificate of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Comptroller of the Treasury shall pay to the Trustee of said county, out of the fund herein provided, a sum equal to half that raised by private subscription or otherwise, to be added to the library fund of said school; and whenever ten dollars ($10) or more shall be raised by private subscription or otherwise to supplement a library already established under the provisions of this section of this Act, said library may in like manner receive from the fund herein provided a sum equal to half the sum so raised.

"Provided, that no school shall receive in any one year from this fund more than twenty dollars ($20) for the establishment of a new library, or more than ten dollars ($10) to assist in supplementing a library already established..

"Provided, further, that in distributing the funds under the provisions of this section of this Act preference shall be given to applications coming from counties which have not previously received their proportionate part of this fund according to scholastic population.

"And, provided, further, that preference shall be given to applications for assistance to establish new libraries rather than applications to assist in supplementing libraries already established.

"It shall be the duty of the State Board of Education to make and cause to be published through the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction rules and regulations for libraries established under the provisions of this section of this Act, issue approved lists of books from which purchases for

said libraries may be made with money received from the State as herein provided, and arrange for the purchase of such books at the lowest possible prices. All libraries receiving assistance from this fund shall comply with all the regulations made by the State Board of Education, as herein provided. All money received from the State to assist in establishing or supplementing a library under the provisions of this section shall be used to purchase books on the approved lists aforesaid, and no books shall be purchased at a higher price than the price in said approved lists. All purchases of books shall be reported to the County Superintendent, and a list of the same shall be attached to the warrant issued in payment of the same; and no commission shall be allowed the County Trustee on library funds.

"One-fifth of the amount accruing annually for school libraries under the provisions of this Act may be used for the purchase and maintenance of circulating libraries for the public schools of the State under the joint direction of the State Library and the Department of Public Instruction.

"SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That thirteen per cent of the General Education Fund provided by this Act may be used for the establishment and maintenance of Normal schools solely for the education and professional training of teachers for the elementary schools of the State, as herein provided. One Normal school for the education and professional training of white teachers shall be established and maintained in each Grand Division of the State, and shall be open and free alike to white males and females resident in the State of Tennessee; and one Agricultural and Industrial Normal School for the industrial education of negroes and for preparing negro teachers for the common schools shall be established and maintained, and shall be open and free alike to negro males and females resident in the State of Tennessee; but no person shall be admitted to either of these schools who is under sixteen years of age and who has not finished at least the elementary school course prescribed for the public schools of the State; nor shall any person be admitted to either of the Normal schools for white teachers who does not first sign a pledge to teach in the public or private schools of the State of Tennessee, within the next six years after leaving the school, at least as long as he or she has attended said school.

"Each school established and maintained under the provisions of this section of this Act shall have connected with it one or more practice and observation schools, in which shall be taught at least all the subjects prescribed for the primary schools of the State; and the County Boards of Education of any county, or the District Directors of any school district, or the Board of Education of any incorporated city or town having a special school system under the provisions of its charter may, and the same is hereby empowered to, contract with the State Board of Education to provide for the teaching of children of public-school age in such practice and observation schools, and to pay to the said Normal school all or any portion of the public-school fund belonging to such county, district, or incorporated city or town, as agreed upon by the school authorities of said county, school district, or incorporated city or town, and the State Board of Education, as in the case of consolidated schools under the provisions of the State school law.

"The principals and instructors in the Normal schools for the education and training of white teachers may be required to assist in conducting Teachers' Institutes in any of the counties of the Grand Division of the State in which said school is located.

"Provided, that no principal or instructor may be thus required to assist in institutes more than six weeks in any one year.

"Provided, further, that no more than two members of the faculty of any Normal school may be required to be absent from the school for this purpose at the same time.

"And, provided, further, that all such service shall be performed without additional pay, except that necessary traveling expenses and hotel bills while engaged in this service shall be paid out of the funds of the Normal school.

A certificate of graduation from any one of the said Normal schools shall entitle the holder thereof to teach in any of the public schools of the State without further examination for a period of four years from the date of such certificate. Any such graduate who completes within the said period of four years such additional courses of reading and study as may be prescribed by the State Board of Education and shall pass the required examinations in the same and has proven his ability as a teacher by teaching acceptably not less than fifteen months within this period may, upon application, be granted a permanent license to teach in any of the public elementary schools of the State.

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