Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

No. 4

October, 1924

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

and

STATE LAWS

The Text As Well As A Classified Summary Of All State
Laws Governing Private Schools, In Force In 1924.
Together With State Constitutional Provisions
And Some Important Judicial Opinions

-Also-

State Laws And State Supreme Court Decisions Governing
Bible Reading In The Public Schools

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

L5

THE

PREFACE

`HE reasons for the compilation and publication of "Private Schools and State Laws" are neither far to seek nor hard to appreciate. In the first place, the men and women who administer and control private education, need to know exactly what the law requires. To them this booklet will be convenient for reference, containing as it does the text of every law in force that applies to private schools. In the second place, since the original proposal to abolish private schools in Michigan, there has been a renewed interest-and in many quarters an interest entirely new-in school legislation; and there has been a consequent demand for information concerning the legal status of private schools in the various states.

No one concerned with private education can possibly have a clear understanding of the whole school question, unless he has made a careful study of pertinent legislation. Even to him, who has a good general knowledge of school law, it is a revelation to read the text of the compiled statutes bearing upon private schools. There can no longer be any doubt that many legislators consider private schools not merely a part of the educational resources of the state, but practically a part of its educational system, subject to indefinite regulation and restriction. If the present tendency to make laws affecting the private school persists, a situation will gradually but inevitably arise, where private elementary schools will be purely private only in the sense that they will be allowed to teach religion, to be supported privately, and to retain direct administration. In order to meet such a possible situation, knowledge of existing laws and study of pending legislation is necessary.

No attempt is made in this booklet to interpret any law. The grouping of the laws under headings of states has seemed to the compiler to be the most logical arrangement. For a quick survey of the whole body of these laws or of a special class of them the Summary should be consulted, where the grouping is under topical headings, such as Compulsory Attendance, General Curriculum, Qualifications of Teachers, etc.

The laws, and particularly the decisions, on Bible reading in the public Schools have been included because they have a serious bearing on some of the principles underlying private education in America.

The judicial opinions quoted are illuminating. The future of the private school in the United States rests in great part in the hands of the Courts; it is important to know, therefore, what is the attitude of the Courts towards some of the problems of private education.

Thanks are due for cheerful help and guidance to Mr. William R. Hood, Specialist in School Legislation, United States Bureau of Education, and Mr. James R. Ryan, of the N. C. W. C. Department of Laws and Legislation.

C. N. L.

« ZurückWeiter »