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THE 
 Establishment and Development 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCHOOLSYSTEM 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 THOMAS E. FINEGAN, Ped.D.,LL.D. 
 
 Third Assistant Commissioner 
 
 SYRACUSE. N. Y. 
 
 C. W. BARDEEN. PUBLISHER 
 
 1913 
 
 Copyright, 1913, by C. W. Bardeen 
 
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 ©CI.A346i07 
 
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 .31 
 
This address was delivered before the 
 New York State Teachers Association at 
 Buffalo, Nov. 26, 1912, and is published 
 by consent and with tbe revision of the 
 author. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 Introduction 9 
 
 The schools of Holland 10 
 
 Dutch settlers in America 14 
 
 Early New York schools 16 
 
 English influence on New York schools. .20 
 
 After the Revolution 21 
 
 The first Common school 25 
 
 The law of 1795 25 
 
 The law of 1812 27 
 
 The fight for Free schools 33 
 
 The Public School Society 47 
 
 Higher education 50 
 
 Columbia university 51 
 
 The Regents of the University 52 
 
 Union free schools 56 
 
 Equal education for girls 59 
 
 School funds 64 
 
 Training of Teachers 68 
 
 Supervision 73 
 
 Compulsory education 76 
 
 The Empire State 79 
 
 (7) 
 
The Establishment and Development 
 of New York's School System 
 
 The common school system of this state, 
 whose permanent foundations were es- 
 tablished by the Legislature in 1812, is 
 now completing one hundred years of 
 uninterrupted service. When the New 
 York State Teachers Association was 
 organized in 1845, the common school 
 system had not yet won that universal 
 support from the public which it now 
 enjoys and which was essential to the 
 fulfilment of the great service which the 
 state intended such system should render. 
 During the sixty-seven years of her his- 
 tory, this association has been an im- 
 portant agency not only in bringing 
 popular support to the state system of 
 (9) 
 
10 Development of New York Schools 
 
 public education but in influencing the 
 development of that system so that it 
 has been a powerful factor in developing 
 the state's intellectual and cultural stand- 
 ards, in building up and maintaining her 
 industrial and commercial supremacy, and 
 in promoting the security and happiness of 
 her people. It is therefore peculiarly 
 fitting that this association should devote 
 an evening to the consideration of the 
 essential facts relating to the history of 
 the origin of the common school system 
 of this state, of the great struggle that 
 ensued to make such schools free, and of 
 the progress which has been made during 
 the century of their existence. 
 
 The Schools of Holland 
 New York was settled by the Dutch 
 during the seventeeth century. Holland 
 was a land of homes, orphanages, hospitals, 
 
 J 
 
Development of New York Schools 1 1 
 
 churches and schools. It was a land 
 inhabited by a happy, contented, pros- 
 perous, thrifty, cultured, religious people. 
 Fiske says that even the peasants of 
 Holland could commonly read and write 
 their own langauge. For a century or 
 more public schools had been maintained 
 in the cities, and a system of schools had 
 been perfected in the closing years of 
 the sixteenth and the beginning of the 
 seventeeth centuries which extended not 
 only throughout the populous centres 
 of that country but throughout the rural 
 regions as well. This system of schools 
 provided instruction not only for every 
 boy but also for every girl in that land. 
 The schools of Holland were public 
 schools and were maintained in accor- 
 dance with regulations prescribed by the 
 public authorities. They were under 
 
12 Development of New York Schools 
 
 dualistic control, the church and the state, 
 with the ecclesiastical influence predomi- 
 nating. Although tuition was generally 
 charged for attendance upon these schools, 
 they were nevertheless properly regarded 
 as public schools. They were public 
 schools in the sense that they were open 
 to all children of the country, were sup- 
 ported in part by public taxation, and 
 were in their management and control 
 subject to the public authorities. The 
 curriculum was simple, including reading, 
 writing and religious instruction. Some- 
 times the elements of arithmetic were also 
 taught. The civil authorities determined 
 the books to be used, the qualifications 
 of the teachers, and the general policy 
 of the schools. They employed the 
 teacher and paid his salary. Poor chil- 
 
Development of New York Schools 13 
 
 dren, upon request, were received with- 
 out the payment of tuition. 
 
 In addition to these schools, several 
 universities had been established, afford- 
 ing a system of higher education and 
 exerting a mighty influence upon the life 
 of the nation. Holland's men of trade 
 and finance, of letters and science, her 
 artists and inventors, her lawyers and 
 statesmen were among the leaders of the 
 world. Her army and navy recognized 
 no superiors. Her people were men of 
 honor and of high ideals. While they 
 were generous and tolerant, they appre- 
 ciated the value of their liberties and 
 freedom and with firmness and courage 
 protected and maintained them. No 
 people of that period occupied a more 
 commanding position throughout the world 
 in industrial, commercial and financial 
 
14 Development of New York Schools 
 
 affairs. No country enjoyed the exercise 
 of greater civil, political and religious 
 liberties. 
 
 Dutch settlers in America 
 It was from a people of this character 
 and these advantages and political ex- 
 periences that the first settlers of New 
 York came. They were therefore unlike 
 the representatives of most nations that 
 sought homes in the New World in the 
 seventeenth century. They came to 
 American shores, not because they were 
 oppressed at home, not to avoid persecu- 
 tion, not to find a refuge where they might 
 peaceably live in accordance with the 
 dictates of their consciences, not as ad- 
 venturers and plunderers, but they came 
 on their own initiative to reap the ad- 
 vantages which their country's expanding 
 commerce and the commercial opportuni- 
 
Development of New York Schools 15 
 
 ties of the times and conditions afforded. 
 Wherever the Dutch made settlements 
 in America, they established schools and 
 such schools were of the type of those 
 which existed in Holland. In the creation 
 of an institution, in their adoped country, 
 which would have such a vital influence 
 upon their happiness and liberties as the 
 public school would have, it was natural 
 that they should introduce the type of 
 school which had been the bulwark of 
 their freedom and civilization in the mother 
 country. Of course, there was no organ- 
 ized government in the new land, and the 
 govermental authority exercised in the 
 Dutch settlements was that which Holland 
 exercised through the West India Com- 
 pany. The government was vested in a 
 supervisory body known as the Lord 
 Directors and a director general and 
 
16 Development of New York Schools 
 
 council who exercised such power as the 
 Lord Directors conferred upon them. 
 Early New York schools 
 
 The school master was required to give 
 religious instruction to all the children 
 in his school. A catechism was used for 
 this purpose. The course of study also 
 included the "three R's". In view of 
 the religious instruction required, the 
 church authorities therefore examined and 
 licensed the teachers, prescribed the cate- 
 chism, approved the books used, and 
 supervised the instruction to see that its 
 requirements were satisfied. 
 
 The expense of the maintenance of the 
 school was shared by the company at 
 New Amsterdam and by the city. It 
 appears that, in the Dutch villages, sub- 
 scriptions, which were regarded as com- 
 pulsory, were received and that an excise 
 
Development of New York Schools 17 
 
 revenue was available. There is evidence 
 to support the statement that in some of 
 these villages the company also contrib- 
 uted to the salary of the teacher. The 
 teacher also received from each child a 
 tuition fee which was fixed by the local 
 public authorities. In accordance with 
 the practice in Holland, poor children, 
 upon request, were received without the 
 payment of tuition. 
 
 The evidence is ample to show that the 
 first school established by the Dutch was 
 at New Amsterdam in 1633. This school 
 was not only the first public school in 
 New York but also the first upon American 
 soil. This pioneer American school was 
 maintained through the entire period of 
 Dutch rule but, upon the advent of the 
 second period of English rule in 1674, 
 passed into the control of the Reformed 
 
18 Development of New York Schools 
 
 Dutch Church of New York City and that 
 institution has continued the maintenance 
 of such school to the present time. This 
 school has therefore had a continuous 
 existence from 1633, or a period of nearly 
 three centuries. The schools in some of 
 the Dutch villages after the period of 
 English control were continued as official 
 schools and were under the direction of 
 and supported by the local civil authorities. 
 Elementary schools did not propsper dur- 
 ing the century of English rule preceding 
 the Revolution. The English could see 
 only a menace to their power in main- 
 taining schools for the Dutch. The entire 
 educational record of the colony of New 
 York for that century is restircted to 
 three acts— two creating free Latin schools 
 in New York and the other relating to 
 appropriations from public revenues for 
 
Development of New York Schools 19 
 
 the support of Kings College, now Colum- 
 bia University . 
 
 The leaders of the Dutch Church in 
 America appear to have been unable to 
 comprehend that America was destined 
 to become the land of a great English- 
 speaking people. They failed to realize 
 the great opportunities that would come 
 from uniting with the English authori- 
 ties who controlled the municipalities to 
 make provision for giving instruction in 
 the schools in the English language as 
 well as in the Dutch language. In this 
 incident is a lesson from which we may 
 profit today, and that is that public 
 schools which fail to meet the educational 
 necessities of the people are not performing 
 the functions for which they are organized 
 and maintained. 
 
 An examination of the general manage- 
 
20 Development of New York Schools 
 
 ment of the schools during the forty 
 years of Dutch rule will show that there 
 was a gradual separation between the 
 influence of the church and of the civil 
 authorities and that this movement was 
 toward the secular control of the schools. 
 During the century following the rule of 
 the Dutch, this movement gained great 
 strength with the people and developed 
 into an open opposition to the ecclesiasti- 
 cal control not only of the schools but of 
 civil affairs generally. 
 English influence on New York Schools 
 
 It is not to be assumed, however, that 
 there were no schools during the rule of 
 the English nor during the years im- 
 mediately following the Revolution. 
 
 There were schools but they were either 
 private schools, church schools, or charity 
 schools. They were not generally in the 
 
Development of New York Schools 21 
 
 accepted meaning of that day public 
 schools and were insufficient in number 
 and in organization to provide proper 
 facilities for the great majority of the 
 children. The Society for the Propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, a 
 missionary society representing the Church 
 of England, is entitled to recognition for 
 its labor and particularly for its effort 
 to promote the use of the English language. 
 
 After the Revolution 
 Immediately after the close of the 
 Revolution, the subject of public educa- 
 tion began to receive the attention of the 
 foremost men of the country. In our 
 own state, Clinton, Hamilton, Livingston, 
 Jay and others advocated the adoption 
 of means for the education of the masses. 
 The British evacuated New York City 
 in November 1783, and within two months 
 
22 Development of New York Schools 
 
 thereafter the state legislature was in 
 seesion and Governor Clinton was stating 
 to that body in his official message that 
 the most important subject for their 
 consideration was the necessity of pro- 
 viding for the education of the youth of 
 the state. In 1784 and within six months 
 after the defeated British forces had 
 marched from New York City, the law- 
 making body of the state enacted two 
 laws which have exerted a mighty in- 
 fluence in the development of New York's 
 public school system. These were the 
 act creating the University of the State 
 of New York and the one to provide 
 funds for the support of the schools. 
 The first official statement setting forth 
 the needs of a system of public schools 
 came from the Board of Regents in 1787. 
 A committee of that body of which Alexan- 
 
Development of New York Schools 23 
 
 der Hamilton and Ezra L'Hommedieu 
 were members submitted a report which 
 contained the following statement: "Your 
 committee feels bound to add that the 
 erecting of public schools for teaching 
 reading, writing and arithmetic is an 
 object of very great importance, which 
 ought not to be left to the discretion of 
 private men, but be promoted by public 
 authority." 
 
 Governor Clinton in his annual mes- 
 sages continued to impress upon the 
 Legislature the importance of providing 
 elementary schools. The Board of Regents 
 in their annual reports to the Legislature 
 joined with Governor Clinton in setting 
 forth the supreme need of establishing 
 schools throughout the state. In their 
 reports for 1793, 1794, and 1795, the 
 Regents again took strong ground upon 
 
24 Development of New York Schools 
 
 this question and, in the latter year the 
 Legislature responded favorably. 
 
 It may seem strange now that the Legis- 
 lature acted with much deliberation upon a 
 question of such pressing and momentous 
 importance to the people. There was 
 reason enough for such delay. The long 
 struggle of the Revolution had impover- 
 ished the people; the population of the 
 state was only 340,000; the expense of 
 inaugurating a school system was a 
 consideration at that day which properly 
 made wise men cautious; there were those 
 who believed that parents shoiild meet 
 the entire expense of the education of 
 their children ; there were those who were 
 indifferent to the proposition; and there 
 were others who were positively opposed 
 not only to the state's assuming direction 
 of public education but even to the idea 
 
Development of New York Schools 25 . 
 
 of educating the" masses. Public senti- 
 ment, however, was fast ripening upon 
 this question. 
 
 The first Common school 
 The first common school established 
 in this state was at Clermont, Columbia 
 county, in 1791. The Legislature author- 
 ized the use of the surplus excise revenue 
 which was not needed to support the poor 
 to purchase a site, erect a schoolhouse, 
 and maintain a school. Chancellor Liv- 
 ingston was appointed a member of 
 a commission to see that the act relating 
 thereto was made effective. 
 The law of 1795 
 The Assembly of 1795 appointed a 
 committee to consider that part of Gover- 
 nor Clinton's message which related to 
 his recommendation on the establishment 
 of a system of common schools. This 
 
26 Development of New York Schools 
 
 committee reported a bill which became 
 a law and was the beginning of the founda- 
 tion on which the state school system was 
 constructed. This law authorized an 
 annual appropriation of fifty thousand 
 dollars for a period of five years, to be 
 apportioned to the localities which main- 
 tained schools. Each town was required 
 to raise by taxation a sum equal to one- 
 half the amount apportioned to it from 
 the state fund. Localities were authorized 
 to form associations for the purpose of 
 maintaining schools and to elect two 
 trustees to have charge of the general 
 business affairs of the schools. The towns 
 were required to elect from three to seven 
 commissioners, who were given super- 
 vision and direction of the schools and 
 the power to determine the qualifications 
 
Development of New York Schools 27 
 
 of teachers and to apportion the school 
 funds. 
 
 This scheme had no general direc- 
 tory or supervisory force and no cohesive 
 power within itself and therefore completely 
 broke down. It appears that about fifteen 
 hundred schools had been organized within 
 the five years for which appropriations 
 had been authorized and that as many 
 as sixty thousand children attended them. 
 They failed however to command suf- 
 ficient respect and influence to induce the 
 Legislature in 1800 to renew the appro- 
 priation for their support and were there- 
 fore generally discontinued in that year. 
 The law of 1812 
 
 Each year thereafter the Governor 
 in his message and the friends of the 
 schools who were in the Legislature pressed 
 the issue to the front until the year 1811 
 
28 Development of New York Schools 
 
 when Governor Tompkins was authorized 
 to appoint another committee to report 
 to the Legislature the following year "a 
 system for the organization and estab- 
 lishment of common schools". This 
 committee gave the question most care- 
 ful consideration. They evidently made 
 an exhaustive study of the plans pursued 
 in other countries and submitted to the 
 Legislature of 1812 a report which forms 
 one of the most important educational 
 documents in the history of the state. 
 The committee also submitted with its 
 report the draft of a bill to carry into 
 effect the recommendations made in its 
 report. This bill was enacted into law 
 by the Legislature of 1812. Its principal 
 provisions were as follows: 
 
 1 The present plan of school districts 
 was provided. The territory in each 
 
Development of New York Schools 29 
 
 town was divided into such districts by 
 three commissioners chosen for this special 
 purpose at the town meeting. 
 
 2 A complete and effective school 
 organization was created in each district, 
 consisting of three trustees, a collector 
 and a clerk. 
 
 3 The principle that all teachers 
 should possess moral character and cer- 
 tain scholastic qualifications was estab- 
 lished and local officers known as town 
 commissioners and inspectors were created 
 to determine such qualifications and also 
 to inspect the schools. 
 
 4 The office of state superintendent 
 of common schools was created, being the 
 first office of the kind to be established 
 by any state in the Union. This officer 
 was given sufficient directory and super- 
 visory authority to initiate proceedings 
 
30 Development of New York Schools 
 
 to set the machinery of each district into 
 operation and the power to bind the 
 schools together into one strong, aggres- 
 sive force to accomplish the purposes for 
 which the state created them. 
 
 5 Each district was required to pro- 
 vide a schoolhouse and site, to keep the 
 building in repair, and to furnish necessary 
 appendages and fuel. A tax could be 
 laid upon the property of the district 
 for this purpose. 
 
 6 Trustees were authorized to employ 
 a teacher and fix his compensation. 
 
 7 The money apportioned to a dis- 
 trict from the school funds could be used 
 only in the payment of teachers' salaries. 
 
 These were the broad lines upon which 
 the schools were to be conducted, and 
 each of these general provisions has been 
 continued in the management of our 
 
Development of New York Schools 31 
 
 schools system through the century which 
 it is now completing. This fact is evidence 
 of the wisdom and the keen vision which 
 was possessed by our forefathers who 
 constructed the machinery for the opera- 
 tion of an organization so vast in its im- 
 portance, touching as it does the most 
 cherished interests of every fireside in 
 the commonwealth . 
 
 In addition to these provisions of the 
 law there are certain important funda- 
 mental principles of state policy involved 
 which should be briefly considered. 
 
 1 That public education was a state 
 function and that public schools should be 
 fostered and maintained under state super- 
 vision was determined. 
 
 2 That in the accomplishment of this 
 purpose a state system of tax-supported 
 schools should be established and officers 
 
32 Development of New York Schools 
 
 chosen in the several localities to execute 
 the state's policy in relation to public 
 education. 
 
 3 That where the funds of the state go, 
 the authority and supervision of the state 
 must follow. 
 
 A comparison of the essential features 
 of the school system adopted in 1812 
 with the school system developed in 
 Holland in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
 centuries and also with the schools main- 
 tained in the Dutch villages of New York 
 during the period of Dutch rule will re- 
 veal types of schools which are strikingly 
 similar. There was, however, one pre- 
 dominant influence in the Holland and 
 in the Dutch colonial schools which was 
 absolutely eliminated in the system of 
 1812, and this was the ecclestiastical 
 power. It will be observed that the 
 
Development of New York Schools 33 
 
 secular influence which had gained such 
 great ground throughout the civilized 
 world where the people were responsive 
 to the influences of democracy was in 
 complete control of the schools. 
 The fight for Free schools 
 There were three sources from which 
 the necessary revenues for meeting the 
 expenses of maintaining schools were 
 derived: (1) the district imposed a tax 
 for the expense of providing a schoolhouse, 
 fuel, etc. and the tuition of indigent 
 children; (2) the fund apportioned by 
 the state, which was about twenty dollars 
 for each district, was to be applied ex- 
 clusively toward the payment of the 
 salary of the teacher; (3) the balance 
 necessary to meet the deficiency in the 
 salary of the teacher was assessed upon 
 the parents of the children who attended 
 
34 Development of New York Schools 
 
 school. The children of the indigent 
 were exempt from the payment of tuition. 
 This assessment upon parents authorized 
 in 1814 was the inauguration of what was 
 known as the ratebill system. 
 
 This plan often placed a burden upon 
 the poor which they were not able to 
 meet. To avoid it, they must acknowl- 
 edge that ther were indigent. The tuition 
 was then assumed by the district and 
 entry of the payment thereof made in 
 the public records. The children affected 
 were therefore publicly branded as indigent 
 children and the recipients of charity. 
 The whole plan was repugnant to the 
 proper spirit of democratic institutions 
 in the dawn of the nineteenth century. 
 It was doubtless an inheritance from 
 Holland. In that country, during the 
 seventeenth century, as we have already 
 
Development of New York Schools 35 
 
 observed, the poor children were admitted 
 to school upon request without the pay- 
 ment of tuition. A similar plan prevailed 
 in the Dutch schools in America. While 
 the establishment of a system of common 
 schools was an expression of the democracy 
 which prevailed after the close of the 
 Revolution, our democratic tendencies 
 had not yet reached that development 
 where human rights were always to be 
 regarded as superior to property rights. 
 We were not yet ready to adopt the princi- 
 ple that it is the obligation of the state 
 to provide for the education of all its 
 children. 
 
 This very question which seems so 
 simple now was one of the most trouble- 
 some in the development of the public 
 school system. It is probabaly within 
 the truth to say that no other question 
 
36 Development of New York Schools 
 
 agitated the public mind to a greater 
 extent and was a source of greater feeling 
 among the people for so long a period of 
 time. It was a subject of bitter contro- 
 versy in the legislative halls of the state 
 for over a half century before a solution 
 was reached. 
 
 Until this issue was raised, the question 
 had been the establishment of common 
 schools. Now the question had become. 
 Shall we have free schools t Shall the 
 property of the state educate the children 
 of the state? Special laws were enacted 
 by the Legislature from year to year con- 
 ferring upon cities'and villages the privilege 
 of voting upon the question of making 
 the schools free and in every instance the 
 proposition was adopted. Between 1842 
 and 1848, it was adopted in Brooklyn, 
 Williamsburg, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, 
 
Development of New York Schools 37 
 
 Lansingburgh, Flushing, Newtown, Bush- 
 wick and Syracuse, and practically in 
 Albany, Troy and Utica. These sections 
 represented one-fourth of the population 
 of the state. The honor of being the 
 first city to adopt free schools belongs to 
 New York." 
 
 The subject of free schools came before 
 the constitutional convention of 1846. 
 It received careful consideration by the 
 committee on common schools and a 
 great debate upon the proposition occurred 
 upon the floor of the convention. On 
 the day preceding final adjournment, the 
 convention adopted a motion to submit to 
 the people the proposition to incorporate in 
 the Constitution a provision requiring the 
 Legislature to provide funds for the main- 
 tenance of free schools throughout the 
 state. This proposition was adopted 
 
38 Development of New York Schools 
 
 by a vote of 57 to 53. Unfortunately the 
 convention adjotirned for dinner. A 
 device sometimes known as a caucus or a 
 conference was understood even at this 
 early period. One was held during the 
 dinner hour and, when the convention 
 reconvened, its previous action in voting 
 to submit to the people the right to vote 
 upon the adoption of a constitutional 
 provision in favor of free schools was re- 
 considered by a vote of 61 to 27. 
 
 The question next came before the 
 Legislature of 1849. A law was enacted 
 in that year to establish free schools 
 throughout the state. The proposition 
 was submitted to the voters of the state 
 to determine whether or not it should be 
 adopted. Every county in the state ex- 
 cept Chenango, Otsego and Tompkins 
 gave favorable majorities and the state 
 
Development of New York Schools 39 
 
 gave an overwhelming majority of 157,921 
 in favor of free schools. This free school 
 law also provided that boards of super- 
 visors should levy upon their respective 
 counties for school purposes a sum equal 
 to the amount apportioned such counties 
 by the state. This school fund was then 
 apportioned among the towns and another 
 tax upon the town equal to the amount 
 apportioned to it was also assessed. The 
 balance necessary to maintain the schools 
 was to be collected by a tax upon the 
 property of the school district. 
 
 The result of the election was not known 
 until a majority of the boards of super- 
 visors had adjourned. No county tax 
 or town tax for school purposes was levied 
 by these bodies in most counties. The 
 entire expense of maintaining the schools 
 fell upon the school district. The in- 
 
40 Development of New York Schools 
 
 creased tax for school purposes was so 
 pronounced that a hostile feeling to the 
 law developed in all parts of the state. 
 The Legislature of 1850 was flooded with 
 petitions for the repeal of the law. The 
 opponents of free schools set in motion 
 every agency at their command to defeat 
 the project. The friends of free schools 
 were also alert. Assemblyman Bur- 
 roughs of Orleans county came forward 
 with a proposition to raise annually by 
 state tax $800,000 for the support of the 
 schools. Those opposed to the principle 
 of free schools would make no compromise 
 and they possessed sufficient influence 
 in the Legislature to pass a proposition 
 submitting to the people the right to 
 vote upon the repeal of the law. This 
 measure passed the Assembly on the last 
 day of the session and after midnight 
 
Development of New York Schools 41 
 
 when the pendulum of the clock had been 
 stopped and the hands set at twelve. 
 The friends of free schools renewed their 
 fight in behalf of the great principle for 
 which they had fought for nearly fifty 
 years. A state convention was held at 
 Syracuse which was presided over by 
 State superintendent Young and in which 
 the people of the state were urged to 
 oppose the repeal of the law, but the 
 convention pledged its efforts to such 
 amendments thereof as public sentiment 
 demanded. The repeal of such law was 
 defeated at the general election of 1850 
 by a majority of 25,038 votes and once 
 again had the people of the state gone 
 on record in support of free schools. 
 Forty-two counties in the state, however, 
 gave majorities in favor of the repeal of 
 the law and outside of New York City 
 
42 Development of New York Schools 
 
 there was a clear majority in favor of such 
 repeal. As reports came in from these 
 counties, the eyes of the entire state were 
 turned upon that great city, and she 
 rolled up a majority of 38,000, which not 
 only overcame the up-state vote but 
 which forever preserved the free school 
 system and scored a mighty victory in 
 favor of democracy in public education. 
 The opponents of free schools ptirsued 
 every possible avenue of attack upon the 
 law and even instituted proceedings in 
 the courts in four different counties to 
 test its constitutionality. One of these 
 cases reached the Court of Appeals and in 
 June 1853 that court declared the law 
 unconstitutional. This decision was 
 based upon the form and procedure in 
 the enactment of the law and not upon 
 the power of the Legislature or the au- 
 
Development of New York Schools 43 
 
 thority of the people to provide free schools. 
 The law was so drawn that its validity 
 depended upon a majority of the votes 
 being cast for its adoption and not upon 
 the action of the Legislature. The court 
 held that the constitution conferred on 
 the Legislature the power to enact laws 
 and that the Legislature could not divest 
 itself of this responsibility and delegate 
 that power to the people. 
 
 This decision of the court, however, 
 had no vital bearing upon the estabHsh- 
 ment of free schools. In the campaign 
 of 1850, involving the repeal of the free 
 school act, the friends of that project 
 recognized the inequality of taxation 
 produced under the operation of that law 
 and pledged their best efTorts to correct 
 the same by remedial legislation. The 
 Legislature of 1851 in responding to this 
 
44 Development of New York Schools 
 
 demand authorized an appropriation of 
 $800,000 to be raised by direct taxation 
 for the support of the schools and thus 
 laid the foundation of the free school 
 fund. In this law, the essential features of 
 the free school act of 1849 were re-enacted. « 
 Under its provisions, the schools were 
 declared to be free to every child in the 
 state between the ages of five and twenty- 
 one "except as herein provided". This 
 exception was that, when state funds 
 were insufficient to meet the salary of 
 the teacher, the deficiency should be 
 obtained by assessments upon the parents 
 of the children who attended school. The 
 old ratebill system was still continued. 
 The additional state aid extended to 
 the schools did not relieve the poor from 
 the burden of taxation for the education 
 of their children which it had been antici- 
 
Development of New York Schools 45 
 
 pated such aid would afford. The country 
 was growing, its business interests ex- 
 panding, the simple life of the people 
 was becoming more complex and the 
 expense of maintaining schools was in- 
 creasing in common with the increased 
 expense of other affairs. The amount of 
 tuition paid by parents under the ratebill 
 system was increasing and amounted to 
 about SriOO.OOO annually. The schools 
 had become free in nearly all the cities 
 and in many of the villages of the state. 
 This tax was therefore paid by the people 
 living in the farming sections. 
 
 The democracy of that age was taking 
 new form. Lincoln's Emancipation Proc- 
 lamation had been issued. The great 
 Civil War in the name of liberty, freedom 
 and union had been fought. Human 
 rights were obtaining increased recogni- 
 
46 Development of New York Schools 
 
 tion, human beings were regarded as 
 more sacred than property, and in 1867 
 the Legislature abolished the old ratebill 
 system, increased the annual appropria- 
 tion for free schools and authorized a - 
 school-district tax for the maintenance 
 of schools. The schools then really be- 
 came free schools and the principle that 
 all the property of the state should edu- 
 cate all the children of the state was 
 definitely and finally asserted. The people 
 of this generation find it difficult to believe 
 that such a heroic fight was required in 
 order to provide free schools, and yet 
 our state was a leader in this great move- 
 ment in the recognition of the people's 
 rights. It was not until 1881 that the 
 elementary schools of France were made 
 absolutely free, and not until 1888 that 
 
Development of New York Schools 47 
 
 similar action was taken in Germany 
 and not until 1891 in England. 
 
 The Public School Society 
 No review of the educational system 
 of New York state would be complete 
 without reference to the Public School 
 Society of New York City. This society 
 was organized in 1805, or seven years 
 previous to the permanent organization 
 of the state school system. It was later 
 known as The Public School Society of 
 New York and for nearly fifty years 
 rendered a valuable serivce in promoting 
 public education in that city. This 
 society was a private corporation under 
 the management of a board of trustees, 
 many of whom were leading citizens of 
 that city and among the foremost men 
 of the country. DeWitt Clinton was the 
 first president of the society and served 
 
48 Development of New York Schools 
 
 in that capacity until his death in 1828. 
 There were many private schools in New- 
 York City which were attended by the 
 children of the aristocratic and wealthy 
 families. There were many other chari- 
 table and church schools, but the founders 
 of this society knew that there were many 
 children who had no opportunity to 
 obtain an education. The object of this 
 society was to provide educational facili- 
 ties for these children and the scope of the ' 
 work of the society was enlarged so that 
 its function was to provide an education 
 for all children in New York City not 
 otherwise provided for and as defined in 
 its charter "whether such children be or 
 be not the proper objects of gratuitous 
 education, and without regard to the 
 religious sect or denomination to which 
 such children or their parents may belong". 
 
Development of New York Schools 49 
 
 This society received voluntary contribu- 
 tions and appropriations were made to 
 it by the city and by the state. It parti- 
 cipated pro rata in the apportionment 
 of the state school funds. 
 
 As the public school system developed, 
 public sentiment became opposed to a 
 private corporation's management of 
 schools which were supported almost 
 wholly from the public treasury. Popular 
 opinion earnestly supported the idea that 
 public authorities should control the public 
 schools and, in 1842, the provisions of' 
 the common school law were extended to 
 New York City and a board of education 
 and the other necessary machinery for 
 operating the schools of a city were created. 
 In 1853, this society turned over to the 
 city board of education seventy-eight 
 
50 Development of New York Schools 
 
 schools and property to the value of 
 nearly one-half million dollars. 
 Higher education 
 The growth and development of the 
 country, the general advancement of the 
 common intelligence of the people and the 
 increased demands upon the social and 
 commercial life of the state placed greater 
 demands upon the state's system of public 
 education than were provided by the 
 common schools. The educational facili- 
 ties afforded by the academies, which were 
 institutions of secondary learning, were 
 inadequate to these demands. Public 
 sentiment developed until the proposition 
 that the public schools should provide 
 these additional educational facilities was 
 strongly supported. 
 
Development of New York Schools 51 
 
 Columbia university 
 The task of tracing the forces which 
 influenced the development of our system 
 of elementary schools is comparatively 
 easy, but that of determining the influences 
 which affected the development and shaped 
 our system of secondary and higher edu- 
 cational institutions is more difficult. 
 Kings College, now Columbia University, 
 was the first college organized in the 
 state and was incorporated in 1754. A 
 violent controversy occurred over the 
 issuance of a charter to that college. 
 One faction desired a charter granted by 
 the colonial authorities and another de- 
 sired one granted by the royal authorities. 
 The influence of the royal party prevailed 
 and the charter of Kings College was 
 granted by King George II. It was, of 
 course, an institution which represented 
 
52 Development of New York Schools 
 
 the aristocratic and ecclesiastic influences 
 which were controlling elements in Eng- 
 lish affairs at that day. The fact, however, 
 that there was a faction in the colony 
 taking the position that the charter of 
 this college should be granted by the 
 colonial legislature is evidence that in 
 1754 there was abroad in the colony the 
 germ of that intellectual, civil and religious 
 freedom which asserted itself and became 
 supreme in the Revolutionary period. 
 The Regents of the University 
 The legislation of 1 784, creating the Uni- 
 versity of the state of New York, induced 
 the friends of Kings College, which had been 
 discontinued during the war, to undertake 
 to revive that institution. The foremost 
 men of the state were men who possessed 
 strong attachments for English institu- 
 tions. Paris, however, might well be 
 
Development of New York Schools 53 
 
 regarded as the world's intellectual center 
 at that time. French soldiers and French 
 capital had rendered material aid to the 
 colonists in their struggle for freedom 
 from English rule. Our leading men in 
 science, literature and statesmanship had 
 come in contact with the scholars and 
 statesmen of France and had been students 
 of the liberalizing movements which were 
 in force throughout the world. While 
 it can not be said that the plan of educa- 
 tion contemplated under the University 
 of the state of New York, created in 1784 
 and modified somewhat in 1.787, was 
 modelled after either the English or French 
 systems of higher education, there are 
 points of similarity which can be traced 
 to the influences of these two countries. 
 Nevertheless, there were no greater men 
 in the state, and no firmer patriots in 
 
54 Development of New York Schools 
 
 the country, than those who participated 
 in and were responsible for the organiza- 
 tion of the Board of Regents — CHnton, 
 Hamilton, Jay, Diiane, Livingston and 
 others. In the final analysis, however, 
 of the motives and influences which 
 determined the character and policy of 
 this great educational measure, it must 
 be held that the dominating power was the 
 prevailing spirit throughout America as 
 expressed not only in the Declaration of 
 Independence and the Constitution of 
 the United States, but also in the several 
 state constitutions, that the people desired 
 self-government and political freedom and 
 would support no scheme of public edu- 
 cation which, in their judgment, was 
 not a guarantee of the preservation and 
 development of these principles. The 
 influences therefore which were vital 
 
Development of New York Schools 55 
 
 in the creation of the University of the 
 state of New York and which were con- 
 trolling in the development of our system 
 of secondary and higher education were 
 characteristically American. 
 
 The Regents were charged with the duty 
 of incorporating academies and colleges. 
 From the creation of the University in 
 1784 to the year 1812, when a permanent 
 elementary state school S3^stem was or- 
 ganized, the Regents had chartered thirty 
 academies. Three colleges, Columbia, 
 Union and Hamilton had also been charter- 
 ed. The Regents rendered a great ser- 
 vice to the state and to public education 
 in exercising such discriminating judgment 
 in passing upon applications for charters. 
 Several applications for college charters 
 were denied but charters for academies 
 were granted instead. Many applications to 
 
56 Development of New York Schools 
 
 incorporate academies were denied. These 
 charters were granted as public necessi- 
 ties demanded and as petitioners showed 
 their abiUty to organize and maintain the 
 institutions on proper financial and educa- 
 tional standards. 
 
 Union free schools 
 The year 1853 is an important period 
 in the development of secondary schools. 
 At the close of the fifties, there were about 
 one hundred ninety academies operating 
 throughout the state. The growth of these 
 institutions had been gradual and sub- 
 stantial up to this period. From this 
 period there has been a gradual decrease 
 and many have been merged into the 
 public school system. In 1853, the Legisla- 
 ture enacted the union free school law. 
 The object of this law was to consolidate ^ 
 the separate districts of a city, or two or 
 
Development of New York Schools 57 
 
 more districts contiguous to each other 
 in the villages of the state, so that more 
 property and a greater number of children 
 should be brought to the support of a 
 single school. This action enabled school 
 authorities to liberalize their courses of 
 study and to provide the necessary equip- 
 ment and teachers for giving instruction 
 therein. Such districts were authorized 
 to organize academic departments and 
 were later authorized to take over under 
 contract academies located in the district. 
 These districts were also authorized to - 
 organize high schools. The terms "aca- 
 demic course" and "high school course" 
 became synonomous. 
 
 These departments in the pubHc schools 
 were tax-supported institutions and there- 
 fore became powerful rivals of the acade- 
 mies in all parts of the state. The rise of 
 
58 Development of New York Schools 
 
 the public high schools until they number 
 about nine hundred in the state has 
 caused the decline of the old academy 
 until that class of institution is nearly ex- 
 tinct. These pubHc high schools and 
 many of the one hundred seventy private 
 secondary schools offer not only the tradi- 
 tional college preparatory course but also 
 commercial courses, agricultural courses, 
 manual training and technical courses 
 for boys, and domestic art and science and 
 home-making courses for girls. In other 
 ■words, these institutions bring within the 
 reach of every boy and girl in the state 
 a technical training which will prepare 
 them for the special field of labor which 
 they desire to pursue, 
 
 The men of liberal education throughout 
 the history of modern times have been 
 the champions of national progress and of 
 
Development of New York Schools 59 
 
 individual liberty and freedom. These men 
 have constituted the influence and power 
 in all large movements in this country 
 and abroad intended to accomplish these 
 results. The more vast and intricate the 
 aftairs of the nation become, the greater 
 the need of an increased number of men of 
 large vision and intellectual power. The 
 number of such men depends very general- 
 ly upon the character of the institutions 
 of secondary and higher education. The 
 policy of the state therefore in fostering 
 these institutions from an early date and 
 in extending them generous financial as- 
 sistance has been one of prudence, wisdom 
 and patriotism. 
 
 Equal education for girls 
 There has been one feature in the devel- 
 opment of the public school system of the 
 state from its beginning which has dis- 
 
60 Development of New York Schools 
 
 tinguished it from the plan of education 
 which has been pursued in other states 
 and in other countries. We adopted the 
 policy of our Dutch ancestors by providing 
 that the elementary schools should be open 
 to the girls of the state upon the same con- 
 tions under which they were open to the 
 boys. Writers of educational history tell 
 us that the doors of the public schools of 
 Boston were barred against the girls of that 
 city until 1790, when Boston began to 
 regard the girls sufficiently to admit them 
 to school during the summer months when 
 the attendance was low because the boys 
 would not attend at that time of the year. 
 It is further asserted by these writers that 
 the records show that in 1788 Northamp- 
 ton, Mass., voted that girls were unworthy 
 of an education and that such town would 
 tolerate no expense for "schooling girls". 
 
Development of New York Schools 61 
 
 This state has always accorded girls equal 
 privileges with the boys not only in the 
 elementary schools but also in the secon- 
 dary schools, and has manifested a keen 
 interest in affording adequate provision 
 for the higher education of women. 
 
 Some writers have credited Deny, New 
 Hampshire, with the honor of having 
 organized in 1823 the first academy in this 
 county designed solely for girls. These 
 writers are attempting to rob the state of 
 New York of one of her most notable 
 achievements in pubHc education. In 
 1819, or four years previous to the organiza- 
 tion of the Derry academy, Mrs. Emma 
 Willard opened the Waterford Female 
 Academy. She continued this institution 
 imtil 1821 when she moved that academy 
 to Troy and founded the Troy Female 
 Seminary, which was later named the 
 
62 Development of New York Schools 
 
 Emma Willard School in honor of its 
 distinguished founder. The citizens of 
 Troy provided a commodious building 
 for that institution in 1821. Although this 
 institution was not legally chartered until 
 1837, it has had a continuous existence 
 devoted solely to the education of girls 
 since 1819. The Albany Female Academy 
 was chartered by the Legislature in 1821, 
 or two years before the Derry school was 
 opened, and has been in continuous 
 operation from that date. The Emma 
 Willard School is the oldest organized in- 
 stitution in the country, if not in the world, 
 devoted solely to the secondary education 
 of girls, and the Albany Female Academy 
 is the oldest chartered institution in the 
 country, if not in the world, devoted to 
 the secondary education of girls. These 
 two pioneer institutions which projected 
 
Development of New York Schools 63 
 
 their activities in this line of public edu- 
 cation have therefore brought distinction 
 and honor upon the Empire state. But 
 more than this, the Elmira Female College 
 wns the first college in the world devoted 
 to the education of women which organized 
 courses of study on an equal footing with 
 the courses which obtained in the colleges 
 of the country for the education of men. 
 The founders of the public school system 
 of the state were guided by such wisdom 
 and statesmenship that they comprehended 
 the v/ide range of activities which would 
 open to the women of the country and the 
 great benefits which would come not 
 only to society but to the state itself 
 through their proper education. As a 
 result of New York's policy of providing 
 equal privileges in her public schools for 
 boys and girls, there are today more girls 
 
64 Development of New York Schools 
 
 in attendance upon the secondary and 
 higher educational institutions of the 
 state than there are boys in attendance 
 upon such institutions. 
 
 School funds 
 Of course the establishment of a system 
 of public education depended in a large 
 degree upon financial support and we 
 have seen that the first action of the state 
 toward a permanent state fund to be 
 devoted to the support of public education 
 was the enactment of a law directed to 
 such purpose in 1784. The state possessed 
 large tracts of unappropriated public 
 lands. The law provided that these lands 
 should be divided into townships of six 
 miles square and that in each town three 
 hundred acres should be set apart for the 
 support of a minister of the Gospel and 
 six hundred ninety for the support of a 
 
Development of New York Schools 65 
 
 public school. This law was the origin 
 of the gospel and school fund." From 
 this fund, the schools obtained very 
 substantial assistance in the earlier history 
 of the state and it still renders shght aid 
 to the schools in about one-half of the 
 counties. 
 
 Another fund, known as the literature- 
 fund, was established in 1786 through 
 the sale of state lands. Various additions 
 to this fund have been made since that 
 date. The revenues have been expended 
 under the direction of the Regents in 
 extending aid to the academies of the 
 state and other institutions which have 
 been under the supervision of the Regents. 
 The capital of this fund is about $284,000. 
 
 The establishment of these funds, how- 
 ever, was the initial action of a state 
 policy. It established the principle that 
 
66 Development of New York Schools 
 
 the state should give financial support 
 to the maintenance of public schools. 
 Out of the action creating these funds 
 came the action which resulted in the 
 establishment of a larger fund and one 
 which has given greater support to the 
 schools, namely, the common school fund.- 
 This support came at a time when the 
 schools were in their greatest need of 
 financial assistance and the aid thereby 
 rendered was undoubtedly more elTective 
 and serviceable than the state aid accorded 
 the schools at any other time in their 
 histor\^ This fund was created in 1805, 
 from the net proceeds of the sale of 500,000 
 acres of state land. There could be no dis- 
 tribution of this fund until the annual rev- 
 enue amounted to $50,000. The first dis- 
 tribution was made in 1815 and one has 
 been made annually since that date. The 
 
Development of New York Schools 67 
 
 amount of this fund is over four million 
 seven hundred seventy-three thousand 
 dollars. The creation of these funds for 
 the support of the schools was the corner- 
 stone in the foundation of the greatest 
 school fund which has been created by 
 any state in the Union. The outcome 
 of that great contest for the establishment 
 of free schools in this state, which ex- 
 tended through one half of the nineteenth 
 century, rested upon the creation of a - 
 permanent state fund 'which would give 
 to localities substantial aid in meeting 
 the expense of maintaining schools. This 
 fund was authorized by the imposition 
 of a direct tax in 1851 when the first free 
 school law became operative and the 
 amount raised and distributed among 
 the several schools was $800,000. This 
 
68 Development of New York Schools 
 
 amount has been increased from time to 
 time and in 1912 was $5,175,000. 
 
 To include all funds which have aided 
 the development of the system of public 
 education, mention should be made of 
 the United vStates deposit fund. In 1836, 
 Congress divided certain surplus revenues 
 in the treasury among the several states 
 for safe-keeping. New York state re- 
 ceived about $4,000,000. The Legislature 
 directed that the revenue from this fund 
 should be used for the support of the 
 schools and from 1838 to 1881 it yielded 
 annually for that purpose $165,000 and 
 since that time, because of depreciation 
 in investments, only $75,000. 
 Training of teachers 
 
 In all the laws enacted by the state in 
 the development of its public school 
 system, the teacher has been recognized 
 
Development of New York Schools 69 
 
 as an important factor. The right to 
 teach in a public school during the entire 
 history of the state has been predicated 
 upon character and educational qualifica- 
 tions. Governor DeWitt Clinton in his 
 message to the Legislature in 1819 urged 
 upon that body the need of providing 
 facilities for the professional training of 
 the teachers who were to be employed 
 in the public schools. He brought the 
 subject to the attention of the Legislature 
 repeatedly and in 1825 recommended the 
 establishment of a "seminary for the 
 education of teachers'*. The Regents gave 
 the Governor most cordial and helpful 
 support In his efforts in this direction by 
 recommending in several reports that 
 special provision for training teachers be 
 made. The Legislature also gave the 
 subject most careful consideration, but 
 
70 Development of New York Schools 
 
 the opinion of that body appears to have 
 been that the condition of the state treasury 
 at that time would not permit the state 
 to undertake a proposition involving such 
 additional expense. 
 
 It also appears to have been the opinion 
 of the Legislature that the results desired 
 to be accomplished through this special 
 seminary could be achieved through the 
 co-operation of the academies, which were 
 then in a rather prosperous condition. 
 The academies were already furnishing 
 teachers for the common schools and, 
 although special courses for teachers were 
 not maintained, these institutions were 
 somewhat imbued with the professional 
 spirit and were giving instruction in the 
 "principles of teaching". The literature 
 fund was increased in 1827 and one of 
 the stated objects was to "promote the 
 
Development of New York Schools 71 
 
 education of teachers". In 1834, a law 
 was enacted directing that the revenue 
 of the literature fund apportioned to 
 academies should be expended in the 
 education of teachers for common schools. 
 This law gave the Regents the authority 
 to prescribe regulations to govern such 
 instruction. This early consideration of 
 the subject shows that New York state 
 had anticipated one of the greatest needs 
 of the public school service and in advance 
 of every state in the Union. She was 
 the first American state to enact a law 
 providing for the professional training 
 of public school teachers. This law was 
 the foundation of the present system of 
 training classes, which is supplying an- 
 nually about one thousand teachers for 
 the rural schools. 
 
 The inadequacy, however, of this prepa- 
 
72 Development of New York Schools 
 
 ration for the teachers employed in the 
 more advanced schools was soon recogniz- 
 ed. Interest was again centered upon a 
 more thorough and advanced system of 
 professional instruction of teachers and 
 developed into the establishment of the 
 state normal school at Albany in 1844. 
 The organization of this school was the 
 beginning of the development of an ex- 
 tensive system of state normal and city 
 training schools. There have been estab- 
 lished ten state normal schools and thir- 
 teen city training schools devoted solely to 
 the professional training of teachers for the 
 elementary schools of the state, supplying 
 annually about two thousand teachers. 
 The original normal school established at . 
 Albany has become the State Normal Col- 
 lege and is engaged in the training of teach- 
 ers for the secondary schools of the state. 
 
Development of New York Schools 73 
 
 Supervision 
 From the very inception of the organiza- 
 tion of a state school system, the state 
 has recognized the value of the proper 
 supervision of its schools. In the early 
 act of 1795 provision was made for com- 
 missioners and inspectors who were charg- 
 ed with the general supervision of the 
 schools in their respective towns. vSimilar 
 provision was made in the permanent act 
 of 1812 and, from that time to the present, 
 supervision by local officers under the 
 direction of the state has been maintained 
 over the public schools either through 
 inspectors, deputy state sviperintendents, 
 county superintendents, town superin- 
 tendents, school commissioners, or dis- 
 trict superintendents, and city and village 
 sup erint endents . 
 
74 Development of New York Schools 
 
 As separate organizations developed 
 for the management of the schools in the 
 populous centers, the necessity of pro- 
 fessional direction of educational work 
 in such centres was recognized. The 
 city which has the honor of being the 
 first not only in the state but in the United 
 States to select a city superintendent of 
 schools, is Buffalo, whose hospitality has 
 been showered upon us during this meeting. 
 
 The state was apportioning large sums 
 of money to the cities for the support of 
 schools and regarded it important that 
 these schools should be brought to the /■ 
 highest possible degree of efhcienc}^ As 
 early as 1864 the state gave encouragement 
 to the proper supervision of schools in 
 the cities by making an apportionment 
 of state funds to the extent of S50() for 
 each member of Assembly to which a 
 
Development of New York Schools 75 
 
 city was entitled if the city employed a 
 superintendent of schools. In 1876 the 
 state extended this policy by including 
 villages of 5,000 or more inhabitants and 
 today we have in the cities, villages and 
 supervisors^ districts 800 superintendents. 
 It should be a source of congratulation 
 to the people of the state to know that 
 in no other state or country is there to 
 be found a body of officers charged with 
 the important work of giving direction 
 to the education of its future citizens so 
 well equipped from the standpoint of 
 education, professional training and ex- 
 perience, or rendering a more vital service 
 to public education, as the body of superin- 
 tendents who are employed in supervising 
 the schools of the state of New York. This 
 has been a wise policy on the part of the 
 state because it gives intelligent direction 
 
76 Development of New York Schools 
 
 to its educational activities, provides more 
 efficient instruction, prevents waste of 
 public funds and, what is of greater im- 
 portance, a waste of the child's time. 
 Compulsory education 
 The declared policy of the state that 
 public education was a state function, 
 that public policy required the mainte- 
 nance of public schools and the extension 
 of public school work so as to include 
 modern high school courses, and the 
 further action of the state in making all 
 these educational facilities free to every 
 child in the Commonwealth, inevitably 
 meant that the authority of the state 
 would be exercised to compel children to 
 attend school. If the welfare of society 
 and of the state depended upon the dis- 
 semination of education among all classes 
 and in all sections of the state, and if the 
 
Development of New York Schools 77 
 
 state possessed the legal aiithority to 
 tax the property of all its citizens for the 
 accomplishment of this result, then surely 
 the state possessed like authority to 
 compel the children who are to become 
 its future citizens and upon whom its 
 welfare in the future depends, to attend 
 upon the instruction provided for them. 
 Soon after the enactment of the free 
 school law of 1867, the agitation of com- 
 pulsory attendance laws began and in 
 1874 the first of these laws was enacted 
 in this state. As might be expected, the 
 original statute enacted to accomplish 
 such purpose was cumbersome, was funda- 
 mentally wrong in its construction and 
 therefore its provisions were never pro- 
 perly enforced. However, as the people 
 began to understand the prevailing ex- 
 tent of illiteracy, the public conscience 
 
78 Development of New York Schools 
 
 became aro^jsed at this menace to society 
 and the sentiment of the state not only 
 supported the enactment of stringent 
 attendance laws but the rigid enforce- 
 ment of such laws. This feeling through- 
 out the state resulted in the enactment 
 of the compulsory attendance act of 1894 
 and in various amendments thereto since 
 that date until the present law, which 
 not only promulgates the right of the 
 child to receive an education but which 
 also declares the obHgation of the state 
 to protect and guarantee such right of 
 the child, is the most effective in this 
 country. The effect of this law was 
 immediate and has been manifested in 
 two ways. First, the attendance of en- 
 rolled pupils has increased. When this 
 law was enacted in 1894, the average 
 daily attendance upon the public schools 
 
Development of New York Schools 79 
 
 of the state was 64 per cent of all the 
 pupils enrolled in such schools. The 
 average daily attendance at present is 
 about 80 per cent of the enrolled pupils, 
 or a gain of nearly 16 per cent. Second, 
 there has also been a gradual decrease 
 in the number of illiterates in the state 
 between the ages of ten and fourteen 
 years. Between 1890 and 1900 there 
 was a decrease of 53 per cent in this class 
 of illiterates throughout the state, and 
 between 1900 and 1910 there was a de- 
 crease of 45 per cent. 
 
 The Empire State 
 Such in brief is a general review of a 
 century of development and progress in 
 public education in New York state. It 
 has not been possible to consider the kin- 
 dergarten, the private schools, the school 
 and public libraries, nor the facilities for 
 
80 Development of New York Schools 
 
 the edtication of the orphan, the deaf, the 
 blind, the crippled children, the feeble- 
 minded, the illiterate criminals in the state 
 penal institutions nor the Indian children 
 upon the state reservations. These special 
 fields of education have received the at- 
 tention and financial support of the state 
 and the state has thereby reflected her 
 broad, comprehensive interest in human 
 affairs. 
 
 Since 1800 oiir state has grown from a 
 people of e340,000 to an empire of U>,000, 
 000 human souls or abovit one-tenth of 
 the population of the entire country. 
 From the rank of fifth in the sisterhood 
 of states in population, wealth, manufac- 
 tures and commerce, she has risen to 
 first place and acquired the title "Empire 
 State". 
 
Development of New York Schools 81 
 
 During this same period of the state's 
 commercial and industrial development 
 and growth, her system of public educa- 
 tion has risen step by step from the feeble 
 beginnings of 1812, meeting each new 
 demand, until today there are within 
 the state 12,000 public elementary schools, 
 900 pubhc high schools, 175 private 
 secondary schools amd 125 institutions of 
 higher learning, which are attended by 
 2,000,000 students who are under the 
 instruction and training of 54,000 teachers, 
 at an annual expenditure of nearly $80,- 
 000,000 and operated on an invested 
 capital of S365,000,000. 
 
 These institutions are the instruments 
 of mighty power in eliminating the forces 
 which are destructive of social and national 
 progress and greatness. In them are 
 trained for citizenship not only the children 
 
82 Development of New York Schools 
 
 of American parentage and customs but 
 associated with these are armies of thous- 
 ands upon thousands of boys and girls 
 of foreign birth, customs and languages, 
 representing all the nations of the earth. 
 They are prepared to enter the various 
 activities of our commercial, industrial 
 and professional life and generally become 
 good American citizens. This record of 
 progress, this achievement of unquestioned 
 success of New York state in training 
 her citizens, and the ready adaptability 
 of the whole school system to meet the 
 ever-changing needs of the people is 
 sufficient answer to the frequent and 
 unfounded indictment that the American 
 public school system is a failure. 
 
 Fellow teachers, this work which has 
 been accomplished by the schools for 
 the moral, social and intellectual advance- 
 
Development of New York Schools 83 
 
 ment of society and the state is your 
 achievement. In every great movement 
 to make the schools more serviceable 
 to the people, the progressive teachers of 
 the country have been the leaders and 
 their demands for the inauguration of 
 reforms have been in advance of popular 
 opinion necessary to their adoption. In 
 the movement of the present decade to 
 readjust the work of the schools to make 
 them meet more completely and efficiently 
 the needs of the great majority of children 
 by the introduction of industrial educa- 
 tion in the public schools, those charged 
 with the management of the schools have 
 been the leaders. You should feel a 
 just pride in the contribution which you 
 have made toward the success of our 
 public school work. You should not be 
 satisfied however with present achieve- 
 
84 Development of New York Schools 
 
 ments. The dawn of a new century in 
 our educational history may well give 
 you renewed courage and may well in- 
 spire you to press forward with even 
 greater devotion, in uplifting the common 
 intelligence of the state, in promoting 
 the peace, progress and prosperity of the 
 country, and in the establishment of the 
 principles of justice and right which are 
 the foundations of the common brother- 
 hood of man. 
 
MAR 17 1913