Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/257

 High School Legislation In Oregon 235 1,916 students at the time the first of this legislation was enacted. These laws are imperfect and the percentage of the population in high school is small, but, considered as the accomplishment of a decade, this piece of work is of large proportions. The imperfections in the laws as they stood in 1910 have already been discussed. They will be but briefly referred to at this point. Since both the laws that made the county the unit of taxation were optional, many boys and girls were left without free high school opportunities and considerable property within the state remained free of all tax for high school support. The standard of pre- paration for high school teachers was low and compara- tively little had been done in the way of standardization. Later legislation has provided a partial remedy for each of these imperfections. The County High School Tuition Fund Law, which now applies in every county except those with county high schools, assures that every piece of property in the state pays something toward the sup- port of high schools and also opens the high school door to every boy and girl in Oregon prepared to enter. The administration of this and other high school laws gives the state superintendent a large measure of authority over the high schools which he can use to good effect in bringing them up to set standards of effectiveness. Since 1911, there has been little to complain of so far as the high school certification law is concerned. Oregon still faces three definite needs in the way of high school legislation. First, there should be a plan for state aid to high schools in proportion to their need. This need is not in- dicated by the number of students enrolled nor by the number of teachers that are employed. It is indicated by the levy for high school purposes that is assessed upon the property of the high school unit, whether that unit be county, district or union high school district. A tax should be levied upon all the property of the state to