prepared to do their work in such way that the money raised through the taxes of the people of the State may not be wasted and the State defrauded in the character of its citizenship.

If the people of all communities contribute to the support of the normal schools and other schools in which the teachers are prepared, then they have a right to demand that teachers be prepared in such way and in such numbers that there may be properly prepared teachers for the schools of each and every community and that no community may find it necessary to fill its schools with incompetent teachers at the risk of the loss of their money and the time and opportunity of their children. The State that assumes the responsibility of educating all its children at public expense must assume the accompanying responsibilities of determining standards of preparation for its teachers and of providing the means and opportunity of preparation for all the teachers needed in all its schools to the extent that they are not prepared elsewhere and by other means. Otherwise, the State is open to the charges of injustice

and folly.

(8) SUPERVISION.

The data used in this section were obtained from a special questionnaire sent out from the Bureau of Education. Of the 62 counties in the State, omitting Denver, 40 superintendents replied. Repeated requests were sent to the other 22, one replied, but too late for use in this report. The 40 who replied include those known to be the most capable superintendents in the State. This is to be expected as only the best qualified have that professional interest which prompts them to comply with requests of this nature.

Discussion regarding the necessity for adequate supervision of rural schools is not within the province of this report. It is sufficient to say that modern school practice assumes it to be a necessity, that practically all of the towns in the United States of 2,500 population or over have provided it, and that many of the progressive States in the Union are making provision to extend facilities for supervision to the rural communities. Colorado is particularly in need of adequate supervision for its country schools, since there are so many one-teacher schools and inexperienced and untrained teachers. The 40 superintendents report 1,436 one-teacher buildings and but 21 consolidated schools. The one-teacher rural school is difficult to organize, even when trained and experienced teachers are in charge. The inexperienced and untrained teachers need professional aid and instruction if they are to conduct their schools successfully. Such supervision as these schools now receive is given by the county superintendents. No assistant superintendents are employed in the State. Since the laws governing the election, salary powers, and duties of county superintendents were enacted, educational ideals and practice have changed materially; and while these laws may have answered the purposes for which they were made at the time they were made, they are no longer adequate. Education has become an established profession. The supervisor must be an educator, not a politician, and must be selected because of professional fitness.

74891°-Bull. 5-17-6

Education and training of county superintendents.-The education, training, experience, tenure, and ability of the superintendents determine the efficiency of the supervision, if the territory and the number of teachers are small enough to make real supervision possible. The salary and manner of selection determine the qualifications which can reasonably be expected of supervisors. Trained and capable supervisors as a rule insist on being engaged on the basis of professional fitness and must be assured of tenure during good service and a salary commensurate with the service rendered. When the new salary schedule goes into effect after January, 1917, 20 counties will pay their superintendents an annual salary of $1,500 or over. The remaining 42 counties, which pay from $1,100 down to $100 annually, with a two-year term, can not expect, except accidentally, to obtain good superintendents. Even the 20 counties which pay $1,500 or more must extend the tenure and remove the position from politics if efficient service is to be obtained.

TABLE 43.-Education of county superintendent above the elementary school, and teaching experience.

The educational qualifications of the 40 superintendents who reported to the Bureau of Education are given in Table 43. A summary follows:

Seven of these 40 have an A. B. degree.

Seven others have the degree of Pd. B., which is given by the State teachers college for two years above a standard high-school course.

Eight years of education above the eighth grade, including professional training, is the minimum of educational requirements for superintendents in practically every city of 2,500 or over in the United States, including those in Colorado. The University of Colorado does not accredit high schools unless the teachers engaged have eight years of training above the elementary schools, or its equivalent. It is difficult to understand why persons with less training are selected as county superintendents. The position is surely of as much importance as the two mentioned, and the work much more difficult. The above summary shows, however, that 40 per cent of the superintendents reporting have only the equivalent of a high-school education or less, four years or less above the elementary schools.

Of the 40 superintendents reporting, 5 had some previous experience of a supervisory nature, 35 had some teaching experience, and 5 had no teaching experience of any nature when they assumed their duties as county superintendents. The tenure of office for all county superintendents in the State has been given. (See p. 28.) The summary below shows the tenure for the 40 reporting on the special inquiry. It may be noted that the superintendents not replying are nearly all serving their first term.

Expenditure for county supervision. The salaries of the county superintendents reporting varies from $100 to $2,800 and averages $1,027 per year. The mileage allowed varies from nothing to $300. The average total expenditure of the county superintendents' offices in the State, including salary, mileage, and current expenses, amounts to $1,433. (See Table 45.) An effort was made to compare this with the total expenditure of other county offices. Satisfactory data could not be obtained. The average expenditure of the county clerks' offices for the years 1913 and 1914, taken from the auditor's report and averaged for the first 14 counties given in that report, was $3,770. This omits Denver but includes some of the smaller counties, one at least in which the total expenditure for the county superintendent's office is but $115. It seems probable that frugality in the management of county offices is practiced chiefly in making the allowance for the county superintendent of schools. Five counties allow no traveling expenses, although the superintendent in one of these counties reports traveling 8,000 miles at her own expense. Another superintendent traveled 4,000 to visit each teacher once. Some of the very large counties are among the most densely populated; for example, Weld, with an area of 4,000 square miles, has 300 teachers under the supervision of the county superintendent in addition to those in first-class districts with superintendents.

Eight of the 40 superintendents reporting do not give their full time to their work as county superintendents. The salary does not justify it. Those giving full time visit their schools once or twice a year, and in a few small counties four or more visits are possible. These superintendents spend from one to three hours in each visit. They report in some cases as high as 90 per cent of the teachers teaching for the first time in the districts in which they are employed, the average for the 40 counties being 50 per cent. Sixteen per cent of all the teachers in these counties have no previous experience. When it is remembered that the majority of these teachers (1,436) are teaching all or nearly all of the elementary grades, and more than one-half of them are new to the particular district in which they are teaching, and that 16 per cent are entirely inexperienced, the

seriousness of the supervisory problem may be realized. It should also be remembered that these teachers are selected by a great many different directors, whose idea of a teacher's qualifications are by no means unified or consistent. The reports from the county superintendents show that few directors consult them in regard to the teachers employed. In many counties the superintendent is not consulted at all, but the teachers, in the words of a county superintendent, are "hired mostly on pull." (See Table 46.)

TABLE 45.—Amount expended for county superintendent's office.

1 For all purposes, including salaries, supplies, and travel allowance.

NOTE.-One full-time assistant in El Paso County, salary $1,200 per annum, and part-time assistants in Larimer and Otero Counties, salaries $225 and $240, respectively.

It is to be expected that county superintendents selected as they are in Colorado, with a tenure so uncertain, and with so slight a premium placed upon educational qualification for their work, would have very little idea of the necessity for training teachers in service. Only 5 of the 40 superintendents report that they have made any arrangements of value for this phase of teacher training. These