In Part II have been indicated some of the significant features of the legal provisions made for the modern public secondary education program in the United States. Many kinds of day and evening secondary schools are now authorized or prescribed by law in order to attempt to meet the needs of our cosmopolitan population. More than a hundrd prescriptions have been made as to curricular instruction in order to foster certain basic types of instruction so that the common principles upon which the welfare of the Nation depends may be preserved. Scores of subjects have been authorized by law so that the special needs of local communities may be met in a more nearly satisfactory manner. Compulsory attendance laws are in effect in every state, insuring educational opportunities to the individuals included within their scope. The resultant heterogeneous grouping of students has accentuated the problem of proper care of the physical welfare of the public secondary student body. In attempting to solve this problem, the states have enacted many laws for the purpose of preventing the spreading of infectious and contagious diseases, for the correction of physical defects, and for constructive health instruction. The constitutional and statutory provisions, now in effect, guarantee a free system of public secondary schools in every state, a system serving the educational needs of an increasing proportion of the population, a system free from religious or sectarian control, and a system controlled and supervised by public school authorities and by state legislatures for the exclusive benefit of the public. CHAPTER IX PROVISIONS FOR CUSTODY OF, AND LIABILITY FOR, PUBLIC FUNDS AND SECONDARY SCHOOL SUPPORT The public secondary school curricula and extracurricular services have assumed places of tremendous importance in the social, economic, and political welfare program of the United States. They serve as a means of completing mastery of the fundamental tool processes of learning. They serve as aids to youths in making wise selections of future vocations. The public secondary schools serve as vocational preparatory finishing schools for some, university-preparatory institutions for others, and as citizenship training agencies for all. Such a program of education must necessarily require the expenditure of huge sums of money for its support. The public secondary school program has cost large amounts of money. The public schools of the United States required $1,580,682,187 for their support during the year 1923. It is true that one and one-half billion dollars does not seem to be such an immense sum of money to spend annually in support of public education in the United States when one considers that during the year 1920 the people of the United States spent $17,361,000,00, or more than ten times as much for luxuries. However, the proper care and expenditure of more than one and one-half billion dollars annually by public school officials constitutes a grave responsibility. 2 The public secondary schools require a considerable portion of the annual expenditures for the support of public schools. What legal provisions have been made for the proper control of expenditures for public secondary education in the United States? The results of a study of the statutes, constitutions, and court decisions 1Research Bulletin of the National Education Association, Vol. II, Numbers 1 and 2, 1924, p. 9 "According to a statement issued by the Treasury Dept. June 11, 1920 |
