School Administration in Municipal Government (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...cities of the country and no general conclusions can be drawn in regard to the matter. This branch of administration is peculiarly open to abuse from the desire of publishers and manufacturers to secure business at any cost, from the facility with which wrong doing in the matter of prices, quality of goods, and special inducements can be concealed, and from the weakness of human nature in the purchasing agent. The only prevention for corruption at this point seems to be to select for the department of supplies the most trustworthy persons obtainable, and to require the head of the department to give heavy bonds for the faithful performance of his duty. See Rules and Regulations of the Beard of Education, Lincoln, Nebraska, . 1900, vii, 10. Also Rules and Regulations of Board of Education, Cincinnati, 1898, Section 27. CHAPTER IV SUPERVISORY ADMINISTRATION THE office of city superintendent of schools, as it is now known, is but little more than half a century old' in this country, and is therefore a very late development in the system of school administration. The superintendent has been compared to the foreman over groups of laborers, the superior workman who is selected for special skill and trustworthiness, and who multiplies his value many times by directing the work of others. In the earlier stages of the development of the superintendent's office this comparison would have been appropriate; but the modern city superintendent is more than an overseer. He is a captain of industry, as writers on economics use the term. He does not merely follow the directions of employers. He makes regulations for himself, and often for his employers, as well as for subordinates. He not only concerns himself with supplying the demand of the educational market;...