Page:History of Public School Education in Arizona.djvu/99

Rh can properly administer; in some cases he does not devote all of his time to the work and is often without help in performing the routine duties of his office.

Another topic which has agitated the school world of Arizona during recent years is the county unit plan. While there was county organization to a certain extent, the plan offered in this connection meant still more centralization. The superintendent warns that while this might be good it might also be used “for the worst politics and abuse of power.” If accepted at all, the superintendent thought that it should be by local option, and he approved the proposal then made to appoint county school commissioners and county school superintendents rather than elect them.

Supt. Case reports that the arrangement of the matter of textbooks was, in general, “fairly satisfactory.” The law as revised in 1913 provided for a State-wide furnishing of free textbooks and paid all contingent expenses. When books were adopted the law required them to be used for five years and did not permit that more than one be changed each year. This worked a hardship, for it meant practical adoption each year. Books were loaned to pupils and were required to be fumigated before being reissued. The cost of these books to the State when first adopted in 1913–14 was $102,033.96. This stood for a total of 368,866 books received during the year and meant a cost of $2.42 for each child enrolled and $3.62 for each in average daily attendance. The next year there was paid out $31,983.16 for 96,745 new books and in 1915–16 a total of $33,637.60 for 122,424. The sales to pupils and the collection on books lost did not usually equal the contingent expenses of distribution. According to these figures the cost of supplying textbooks the first year after a new adoption was nearly $2.50 per pupil enrolled, and the cost of maintenance was about 70 cents per enrolled pupil.

The school law of 1913 provided a new section on teachers’ pensions. After a service of 25 years as a teacher in the public schools, the State board of education may order and direct that such person be retired and paid an annual pension of $600 out of the school fund of the State. The faults of this law are said to be in the main those of omission. There is no provision for incapacity during service, for widows or orphans. It provides a straight pension from State sources, but the pension has no relation to the salary previously received. There is demand for a tax to meet the cost of the system. Among the first teachers retired under this law were Miss Elizabeth Post, who taught from 1872 to 1913, and Prof. Charles H. Tully, ex-superintendent of the schools of Tucson and secretary of the old Territorial Teachers’ Association.

Besides reviewing the progress which had been made since admission as a State, the superintendent mentions in his report other