Eight states have the general statutory requirement that all contracts for laboratory supplies for the public schools amounting to over $200 in value must be in writing. 100 This restriction, together with the regulation made by twenty states that contracts for amounts exceeding a stipulated maximum must be awarded to the lowest bidder after advertising, 101 applies to contracts for laboratory supplies and for auxiliary services with equal force. Expenditures for auxiliary services and for laboratory supplies are also subject to the statutory regulations concerning the budget system, heretofore mentioned. 102

GENERAL LEGAL LIMITATIONS UPON EXPENDITURES

The statutes of many of the states specify what public school officials shall order warrants drawn, 103 what public officials must approve warrants before payment, 104 and upon what custodial officer the public school warrants shall be drawn. 105

The Texas Civic Appellate Court held in 1916 that the county auditor had no legal authority under the "auditor's law" to interfere with the paying of warrants of the board of school trustees. Justice Lane, in rendering the opinion of the court, said:

"If the county auditor has such control over the school
funds, by virtue of the auditors' law, as contended by the
appellant, many of the vital provisions of the public free
school law would be nullified, and the usefulness of the en-
tire machinery of the law concerning and governing the
public schools would be seriously impaired, if not effectu-
ally destroyed. Such result could not have been the
intent or purpose of the legislature which passed both of
the laws under discussion."106

Seven states have statutes protecting the issuance of school warrants by requiring itemized statements of the objects of expenditure involved, or by prohibiting expenditures for certain purposes. 107 Montana permits by specific statutory authority expenditures for public schools in excess of the year's income. 108 This is a marked exception to the usual statutory provisions that have already been mentioned, which prohibit such a practice. 109 The Supreme Court of Kentucky in 1918 held that a statute permitting county superintendents and independent public school boards to sell warrants for teachers' salaries, when there were no funds available to pay them, was legal. The court held, however, that to sell them below par would be illegal as a "violation of the Constitution and laws of the State."110

Key Code XVIII and Summary Chart XVIII which follow indicate in detail the legal provisions and prohibitions of expenditure of public secondary school funds in effect in the various states.

KEY CODE XVIII

LEGAL LIMITATIONS AND PROHIBITIONS OF EXPENDITURE

Key Number

GENERAL CONTROL

Provision

1645 The statutes of certain states prohibit the payment of members of local public secondary school boards for their services (8)*

1646 In certain states the making of a budget of expenditures for the secondary schools is optional with the local school board (2)*

1647 No employee of a public secondary school board shall be entitled to receive payment for services unless all records and reports have been properly submitted (1)*

Key

Number

Provision

TEACHERS' SALARIES

1648 The statutes of certain states prohibit the employ

ment of near relatives as teachers (4)*

1649 The statutes of certain states provide that special aid shall be spent only for teachers' salaries or other specified purposes urposes (22)*

1650 A minimum salary scale for teachers or similar provision is included in the statutes of certain states (12)*

1651 Certain states prohibit by statute the employment of teachers who are not citizens of the United States or have not signified their intentions by applications for first papers (5)*

1652 The statutes of certain states limit the payment of salaries to public school educators who have complied with all school regulations, including furnishing of final reports (6)*

1653 Public secondary school funds shall be expended only for teaching services of those who hold teachers' certificates in full force and effect (10)* 1654 The statutes of certain states provide that no member of the local school board may be employed as a teacher (1)*

1655 The statutes of certain states provide that contracts for teachers' services must be in writing (16)* 1656 The statutes of certain states prohibit the employment of teachers who do not have the qualifications prescribed by the state education department (48)*

1657 The statutes of certain states provide that the local salary schedules of secondary school districts be approved by the state education department (3)*

1658 The statutes of certain states prescribe a definite salary schedule which local school boards must pay, as a minimum, to secondary school teachers (5)*

1659 The statutes of certain states stipulate that no discrimination shall be made in teachers' salaries because of sex (4)*

1660 In employing teachers the local secondary school boards are prohibited from administering any religious or political tests, according to the constitutions and statutes of certain states (7)*

1661 The statutes of certain states prohibit the employment of teachers in public secondary schools who wear religious or sectarian garb (1)*

1662 The constitutions and statutes of certain states prohibit the expenditure of public school funds for any type of sectarian instruction (see religion (29)*

1663 The statutes of certain states prohibit expenditures of public secondary school funds for specified instructional purposes of more than a stipulated maximum (5)*

OTHER EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION (SUPPLIES, ETC.) 1664 The statutes of certain states require that all contracts for instructional supplies in lots exceeding $200 in value must be in writing (8)*

1665 In certain states local public secondary school boards are required by statute to budget the expenditures for instructional supplies necessary for the ensuing year (22)*

1666 The statutes of certain states prohibit the local secondary school board from incurring indebtedness in excess of income for any given year (8)* 1667 The statutes of certain states prohibit public secondary school teachers from being financially interested in any contract for instructional supplies for the school (6)*

• The figures in parentheses indicate the number of states having this provision

LIBRARY (INCLUDING TEXTBOOKS)

1668 The statutes of certain states provide that a member of a secondary school board shall not be financially interested in any contract for school instructional supplies for the school district (16)*

1669 In certain states the statutes require that the public secondary school board shall award orders for instructional supplies of more than a stipulated amount to the lowest bidder after advertising for bids (20)*

1670 The statutes of certain states require that books, publications, or papers of a sectarian, partisan, or denominational character be excluded from public schools and public school libraries (13)* 1671 Textbooks used in public secondary schools must be selected from lists approved by state educational authorities, according to the statutes of certain states (27)*

1672 Local school authorities are guaranteed freedom in textbook selection for public secondary schools in certain states (14)*

1673 The statutes of certain states provide that when textbooks are adopted for use in public secondary schools they shall not be changed for a stated period (23)*

1674 The statutes of certain states provide for control by state school authorities of prices at which textbooks must be sold to secondary school students (22)*

1675 In certain states it is required that certain specified books or their equivalents be used in the public secondary schools (1)*

1676 The constitutions or statutes of certain states prohibit the purchase or use of sectarian or partisan textbooks in public secondary schools (7)*