INCREASES IN SALARIES OF COUNTY SUPER INTENDENTS IN WISCONSIN. During the year 1910 the salaries of sixteen county superintendents were increased by county boards; the aggregate increase was $3,280, making an average increase per superintendent of $205 a year. Milwaukee county raised the salary of its superintendent from $2,000 to $2,250; Grant county, from $1,200 to $1,500; in four counties salaries were raised from $1000 to $1,200; in one county (Oconto county) from $1,000 to $1,350; in one (Kenosha county) from $950 to $1,200; in six counties from $900 to salaries ranging from $1,000 to $1,200; in one county (Douglas), from $800 to $1,200; in one county, from $500 to $600. One county board decreased the salary from $1,400 to $1,100 on the plea that the new county superintendent should begin with a lower salary, an increase being promised if he makes good and is re-elected. The allowance for clerk hire was increased in twelve counties, the aggregate increase being $2,242, or an average increase of $186 per year. By releasing the county superintendent from much clerical work, the increased allowance for clerk hire will make possible closer and more effective supervision of schools. WINNERS IN THE RED CROSS SALE Columbus won the red cross prize by selling more Christmas stamps per capita than any other city in the state. The per capita sale was 25.33. This gives them the $350 piano donated by a Milwaukee company to the city of more than 2,000 population making the greatest per capita sale. Richland Center was second with a record of 19.22. Kenosha won the open air school offered to cities of 15,000 or more selling the most stamps per capita. Madison was second and Eau Claire third. Eleven sanitary fountains, donated by J. B. Clow & Son of Chicago, one to each congressional district in the state, were awarded to the following cities: Evansville, Columbus, Richland Center, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, Ripon, Eau Claire, Manitowoc, Kewaunee, Antigo, and Ladysmith. Kenosha also gets one month's service of a visiting nurse. Educational Bills Before the Legisla ture of Wisconsin Includes bills printed prior to Feb. 16. ASSEMBLY BILLS. No. 10, A. Provides for the location at Rhinelander of the first new state normal school hereafter built, provided said city shall offer a suitable site free of cost to the state. No. 25, A. Provides that neither principals nor teachers may inflict corporal punishment on pupils attending public or private schools. No. 48, A. Provides for the location at Antigo of the next state normal school to be built, provided said city shall donate a suitable site. No. 54, A. No candidate for any judicial or school office shall be nominated or elected on any party ticket. No. 69, A. Extends from 1912 to 1914 the annual appropriation of $200,000 to the state university for building purposes, including a dormitory for women. and a dormitory for men. No. 96, A. Provides for the location of a state industrial normal school at Oconto, and appropriates: $75,000 for a building. The site is to be donated by the city. No. 124, A. Provides a penalty of from $25 to $100for members of school boards who shall change textbooks except in accordance with the provisions of the law. No. 127, A. Amends the law relating to tradeschools. One-half the time in trade schools shall be and devoted to practical instruction one-half the time to such subjects as English, mathematics, physics, history, history of the trade, etc. Employers shall permit apprentices to attend such school in the day time at least six hours per week. No. 129, A. Changes from three to five years the time after which text books may be changed after adoption, whether formal or informal, unless the change can be made without cost to district or pupils. No. 131, A. Increases from two-sevenths to threeeighths of a mill the annual state tax for the university fund income. Appropriates $300,000 per year for two years for building purposes. Appropriates a total of $225,000 for the university extension and correspondence teaching for the next two years. No. 132, A. Provides a penalty of not to exceed $25 for the failure of boards of education to publish official proceedings of regular and special meetings. No. 149, A. Relates to Racine College. No. 159, A. Makes the amount of state aid to county schools of agriculture and domestic economy dependent on the average daily enrollment, the minimum enrollment to entitle to state aid being fifty pupils. No. 188, A. Provides that no saloon shall be located within one mile of any state normal school or county agricultural school, and that no saloon shall be located in the city in which the state university is located. No. 240, A. Provides that the citizens of any community shall have the right to the free use of public school houses for the discussion of public questions and for other civic, social, and recreational activities. No. 248, A. Repeals that part of the teachers' certificate law which requires attendance of at least six weeks at a professional school for teachers. No. 278, A. Creates a state board of education composed of five members, the state superintendent of public instruction to be ex-officio a member of the board, each of the other four members to be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of the senate, for a term of eight years at a salary of $5,000 per year. The board is to take the place of the regents of the university and normal schools and of the mining school board,. and it is to have supervision over all schools which receive financial support from the state. No. 280, A. Removes the restriction in area of school districts, which is now 36 square miles. No. 281, A. One of its provisions authorizes the annual town meeting in the case of township high schools to limit the amount to be raised for the support of the high school. No. 295, A. Exempts from taxation bonds issued by school districts. No. 348, A. Provides for a deciding vote by the town clerk or town chairman in case of a tie vote in organizing the town board of school directors. No. 349, A. Forbids payments from the county teachers' institute fund to unlicensed instructors. No. 350, A. Creates a state board of examiners for county teachers' certificates. No. 364, A. Decreases from one-half mill to threetenths of a mill the maximum tax levy which may be made for the maintenance of trade schools. No. 376, A. Provides a comprehensive plan for medical examination of school children. No. 379, A. Provides for physical training of school children and the training of teachers to that end. Same as No. 128, S. No. 392, A. Provides for the appointment by the state superintendent of an additional high school inspector. No. 397, A. Reduces from 4.5 mills to 2.7 mills the tax that may be levied in cities of the first class (Milwaukee) for the support of schools; and reduces from one-half mill to three-tenths of a mill the tax which may be levied in such cities for other school purposes. No. 418, A. Removes the necessity from graduates of high schools of studying theory and art in the high school in order to get a first grade certificate countersigned by a county superintendent. Professional training is now otherwise provided for by the certificate law. SENATE BILLS. No. 18, S. Provides that in cities where the ordin ary school district system is not in force, the question of free text books must be submitted to a vote. if a petition asking that free text books be provided is submitted which is signed by a number of electors equal to twenty per cent of the total vote cast at the last preceding election for state superintendent. The school board or city council may grant such petition, however, without submitting the question to a vote. No. 19, S. Legalizes acts of school boards in providing free text books without submitting the question to a vote of the people. No. 36, S. Appropriates $150,000 annually to the extension and correspondence department of the uni versity. Makes ten dollars the maximum fee that can be charged residents of Wisconsin for one full subiect for a semester, if the work is of university grade, and ten dollars for a full subject for a year if the work is less than university grade. No. 43, S. Relates to appropriations for the state university. Same as No. 131, A. No. 87, S. Permits town, school district, and halfsection lines in the boundaries of union free high school districts. No. 93, S. Appropriates $14,000 for care and repair of property and necessary industrial appliances for the Wisconsin industrial school for girls at Milwaukee. No. 107, S. Makes the charge for tuition of nonresident high school pupils the actual prorated cost to the high school district, not to exceed one dollar per week. The present maximum charge is fifty cents per week. No. 109, S. Includes graduates of high school teachers' training courses approved by the state superintendent among those who are exempt from attendance upon some professional school for teachers in order to secure a county teacher's certificate. No. 120, S. Appropriates $28,000 for the maintenance during the ensuing two years of the state mining trade school at Platteville. No. 128, S. Provides for physical training of pupils in public schools and for the training of teachers to that end. No. 131, S. Provides that the next state normal school to be built shall be located at Rhinelander. Same as No. 10, A. No. 163, S. Increases from $4,000 to $6,000 the maximum annual state aid which may be given to county schools of agriculture and domestic economy. The members of the senate committee on education and public welfare are as follows: W. W. Albers, Wausau. John S. Donald, Mt. Horeb. W. K. Gaylord, Milwaukee. H. C. Martin, Darlington. M. W. Perry, Algoma. Howard Teasdale, Sparta. THE HAPPY SPRING TIME. (An Exercise for Four Children) First Child There's something in the air, That's new and sweet and rare, A scent of summer things, A whirr as if of wings. Second Child There's something, too, that's new That's in the morning sky Third Child And though on plain and hill 'Tis winter, winter still, There's something seems to say, That winter's had its day. Fourth Child— And all this changing tint, This whisp'ring stir and hint Of bud and bloom and wing Is the coming of the Spring. All (Tune: "Sing a Song of Sixpence") Sing a song of summer time They'll all begin to sing, A School Building that is an Example to the World The above picture is taken from a photograph of a new school building just completed at Iron River, Mich. It so happens that the progressive spirit shown in the educational work of this northern Michigan town is due to a Wisconsin man who once headed the schools at Prairie du Sac. Supt. R. A. Brandt is one of those men in the teaching work whose energy is expended in doing things and not in talking about them. Think of it,-in a town of 3,000 inhabitants and a school population of 725, here is a building that cost $96,000. The school board makes up its own tax budget. There is no common council to interfere with their final decision. The amount is simply spread upon the tax roll and is collected. The building as noted from the picture is E shaped and consists of a main central portion 140 x 78 feet, while each of the two wings is 101 x 38 feet. There are eight grade rooms on the first floor besides the high school assembly room, recitation rooms, school board room, superintendent's office with fire proof vault, and the necessary toilets. The main corridor on this floor is 216 feet long. On the second floor there are nine grade rooms, a large music and drawroom, laboratories, lecture room, offices for supervisors, etc. The heating plant is entirely outside of the building and consists of two low pressure boilers. The two fresh air fans are run by electric motors, and the air is taken from out of doors directly under the eaves instead of on the ground as is the usual plan. This avoids the dust and dirt which is usually found near the surface. Humidifires are attached to the system and automatically take care of the amount of moisture necessary in the air of the schoolrooms. The sanitary equipment in the buildng is complete, including vacuum cleaning and everything which modern ideas have put forth to make the lives of school children more promising. Here, indeed, is a remarkable example of educational enterprise. There are a few Wisconsin cities who ought to send their boards of education to Iron River and find out what can be done by an enterprising school community. Wisconsin Educational News March! The breezy month. The N. E. A. meets at San Francisco July 8-14. Arbor and Bird Day has been set for Friday, May 5. The inter-normal oratorical contest will be held at La Crosse, March 17. Misses Ovitz and Webb. J. B. Crouch, formerly principal of the high school at Menominee, Mich., is now Wisconsin representative for Scott, Foresman & Co., with headquarters at Madison. The seniors of Fond du Lac and Kenosha high schools have come into line for dress reform at the coming commencement exercises. It is a A system of medical inspection has been institu- pleasure to note that this sentiment is spreading ted in the Green Bay schools. Supt. Dan P. Gibson of Trempealeau county has issued a very complete school directory. The night schools in Kenosha for the instruction of the alien citizens are growing rapidly. Mellen's new $72,000 school building was occupied for the first time the early part of last month. Mr. Peter Peterson, for a long time teacher at Waukesha and Hartford, died last month at the age of sixty-one years. Prof. H. E. Densford of the University of Indiana is the new appointee to the chair of English Literature in Ripon College. Reedsburg and Columbus have each received a gift of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie for the erection of a public library. By a provision in the will of the late Mrs. George H. Babcock of Plainfield, Wis., Milton College is given a bequest of $5,000. The Beloit school board has recently adopted a commercial course which will be installed at the beginning of the next school year. C. H. Hemingway, formerly superintendent of the Rock county schools, is editor and chief of the Valve World published by the Crain Co. of Chi cago. Two private educational institutions in the state have recently ceased to exist, the Poynette academy located at Poynette, and Rochester academy at Rochester. The latest bulletin from the Milwaukee normal school appeared last month and discusses "The Use of Reference Books," by the school librarians, throughout the state. Beginning this semester, senior students enrolled in the commercial department of the Oshkosh high school will be given credit for work done. outside of the schoolroom in regular office duties. subject to the approval of the principal. Among the new regents of the State University. named by Governor McGovern is Miss Elizabeth: Waters, an instructor in the Fond du Lac high school. Miss Waters is a graduate of the University, much interested in its welfare, and will prove a strong regent. The girls of the Marshfield high school have voted to eliminate all unnecessary expense at the commencement exercises. Hats will not be worn and the dresses will be plain and inexpensive. It is suggested that every high school in the state of Wisconsin follow suit. Of the 121 teachers employed in Marinette county last year, only fourteen were men, twentyone were graduates of normal schools, and fiftyfive had completed the work of the local county training school. The average wages paid female teachers per month was $43.00. A new ruling by the school board of La Crosse is that a pupil of any public school who has been absent for three days or more shall not be allowed to re-enter any of his classes until he has submitted to a physician's examination and found to be free from any contagious disease. J. C. Graham, for many years principal of an Oshkosh ward school and later a graduate from the agricultural department of the University, goes to Amherst, Mass., to take charge of the department of poultry husbandry about to be orgerized in the state agricultural college. The meeting of the Northeastern Wisconsin 'Teachers' Association at Oshkosh on February 1011 was again a success. The attendance is reported at about 1,200. Supt. E. M. Beeman of Neenah was elected president, and Miss Mary Jones of Oshkosh, secretary, for the ensuing year. La Crosse citizens have petitioned the board of education for an appropriation of $34,000 to build an addition to the present high school building where a full manual training and domestic science equipment may be installed. This movement is favored by all the factories of the city. The Stout Institute bulletin outlining the work for the summer session of that institution came from the press last month. We notice additional courses are offered for the coming summer, and the faculty will be even stronger than last year. The session will open July 31 and close September 1. The of the state last month made much of press the resignation of Prof. George D. Fairchild of Beloit College who frankly stated that he was obliged to leave school work that he might get out and hustle for himself in order to make a living. Prof. Fairchild goes with a firm of contractors and engineers in Chicago. At the interhigh school declamatory contest held last month under the auspices of Carroll College, first honors went to Miss Alieen Shepherd of Kenosha. The second prize went to Miss Frances Roberts of Columbus, and the third to Alvin Halgerson of Whitewater. This contest will be made an annual event hereafter. There seems to have been an epidemic of schoolhouse burglaries this winter. On one night last. month, four different schools in Sheboygan were entered and some money was taken and considerable property destroyed. One school in Milwaukee was burglarized, while Janesville, Beloit, Fond du Lac, and Sparta have also been visited by schoolhouse burglars. The county superintendents' convention held at Madison last month in conjunction with the faculties of the training schools of the state was an important one. Educational laws proposed in the legislature were thoroughly discussed and many spirited debates resulted. There seemed to be quite a division in the ranks of the superinten dents as to the merits of the county school board law. The faculties of Wisconsin high schools should be careful in regulating the conduct of their students at basketball contests. From several papers received this month, it is noted that in many cities the visiting delegation was not received with that courtesy due them. Hoodlumism is a bad record for the young men and women of any high school, and does not reflect much credit upon the superintendent and principal in charge. Cut it out! Eau Claire is becoming uneasy over the proposition advanced by many Wisconsin citizens to have the state assume the management of the Stout Institute at Menomonie. It is conceded by all parties interested that the next normal school should be an industrial one. Should the Stout Institute come into the hands of the state, either by purchase or through some other arrangement, it is not likely a building would be erected at Eau Claire for a good many years. Four hundred students are enrolled in the new union high school of Manitowoc. There are two instructors in manual training in the city, one for the high school and one for the grades, also a supervisor of domestic science, of music, of drawing, and a physical director. The industrial equipment cost nearly $4,000. Out of sixteen. teachers in the high school, eight are men. Supt. Zimmers is at the helm and has already effected a complete unification of the old districts of the city. Mr. A. L. Rhodes, instructor in physics in the Superior high school, died very suddenly on February 5, from an attack of pneumonia and congestion of the liver. Mr. Rhodes had been in the Superior high school for two years, previous to which he was three years principal at Boscobel and four years at the head of the Wonewoc high school. Mr. Rhodes was a man with a strong character, quiet in his manner, respected and honored wherever he worked, and his death is a loss to the teaching profession. The proposition to split the Northeastern Wisconsin Teachers' Association and organize two separate associations, one fof the Fox river valley and the other for the Wisconsin river valley, hardly seems justifiable in view of the fact that Wis |