1 The County Superintendent reports annually to the State Department of 3 Only to determine percentage of attendance. The Constitution of Louisiana of 1921 authorized the Legislature to pro- 5 For Baltimore City an annual census is prescribed. An annual census of handicapped children is required in Maryland counties. The law also provides for the enumeration of those over 16 years of age 8 Exemptions to these are: In the largest city the census must be taken every 10 The law states that a census is to be taken of those children not enrolled 11 Mandatory school census law has never been repealed but the census COMPULSORY EDUCATION Laws on compulsory attendance are found in all States. The ages at which pupils must attend and the number of days necessary to attend each year differ by States. Enforcement of compulsory attendance laws varies greatly by States due partly to differing interests in education and partly to differences in the laws and regulations governing enforcement. Exemptions from attendance are universal. The States do not as yet accept the full responsibility of seeing that all children go to school at a certain age. Exemptions at certain ages, for example, due to the need for working, are found in practically all States. However, it may also be said, that after the differences have been pointed out, laws and regulations concerning compulsory school attendance show a definite common pattern. The ages most common for compulsory attendance are 7-16 (24 States). The other principal variations in compulsory attendance age range are 8-16 (9 States), and 8-18 (3 States). For ages 14-16 or 14-18 there are, except for 4 States, regulations covering both school attendance and employment. Exemptions from compulsory attendance apart from the need for employment are most commonly based on (a) physical and mental disability, (b) distance from school, and (c) attendance at private school and private instruction. APPOINTMENT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICERS (a) State level.-State departments having some specified responsi bility regarding the appointment of attendance officers are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Usually such authority has to do with appointment in the local situation when the local school districts fail to appoint adequate and qualified personnel for attendance work or with the appointment of State personnel for special purposes or for special districts. (b) County board of education. The law requires that attendance officers be appointed by the county board of education in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee (except in counties with a small population), and West Virginia. States in which the law provides that county boards of education may appoint attendance officers are: Indiana, Louisiana (parishes), North Carolina, Texas (in large counties and independent school districts), and Virginia. In California the county school boards and city school boards may jointly appoint attendance officers. (c) County superintendent of schools.-The law requires that county superintendents appoint attendance officers in Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri (in large counties), Nebraska, and Oregon. The county superintendent may appoint attendance officers in Oklahoma. In the flowing States the county superintendent is required to serve as tendance officer for the county: Florida (when no attendance assistit has been appointed), Indiana (when no attendance officer has been appointed), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. (d) School districts.-In Arizona (in districts having 2,000 or more children of legal school age), Colorado (in cities of the first and second class), Georgia (in districts with "municipal boards of education"), Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana (in first- and second-class stricts), Nebraska (in cities of the first class), New Hampshire, New Jersey (except when specifically exempt by the county superintendent of schools), New York, Ohio, Oklahoma (in cities and incorporated towns), Oregon (in districts of the first class), Pennsylvania (in first-, Second, and third-class districts), Rhode Island, South Dakota (in independent school districts), Tennessee (in cities with separate school systems and having school populations of 500), Vermont, Washington (in eity districts), and Wisconsin, the appointment of attendance officers by school districts is required. Appointment is made permissive by school districts in the following States: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana (in independent districts), Iowa (in school districts having 20,000 population), Kansas (in cities of first and second class), Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina (in cities and counties), North Dakota in school districts having a population of over 500), Oklahoma (in ities and towns), Oregon (in cities of the second class), Pennsylvania in fourth class districts if authorized by State department of education), Texas, Utah, and Wyoming (in school districts with a population of 2,500 or over). QUALIFICATIONS OF ATTENDANCE OFFICERS There is practically no uniformity in the qualifications set up by legislatures for attendance officers. Most States either do not have any specified qualifications, such as is the case in Arizona, Colorado, Conecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virinia, Washington, and Wyoming, or it is left to the State department of education to set up the qualifications as in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Laws in the other States present various methods for qualifying attendance officers, for example: COMPULSORY EDUCATION Laws on compulsory attendance are found in all States. The ages at which pupils must attend and the number of days necessary to attend each year differ by States. Enforcement of compulsory attendance laws varies greatly by States due partly to differing interests in education and partly to differences in the laws and regulations governing enforcement. Exemptions from attendance are universal. The States do not as yet accept the full responsibility of seeing that all children go to school at a certain age. Exemptions at certain ages, for example, due to the need for working, are found in practically all States. However, it may also be said, that after the differences have been pointed out, laws and regulations concerning compulsory school attendance show a definite common pattern. The ages most common for compulsory attendance are 7-16 (24 States). The other principal variations in compulsory attendance age range are 8-16 (9 States), and 8-18 (3 States). For ages 14-16 or 14-18 there are, except for 4 States, regulations covering both school attendance and employment. Exemptions from compulsory attendance apart from the need for employment are most commonly based on (a) physical and mental disability, (b) distance from school, and (c) attendance at private school and private instruction. APPOINTMENT OF ATTENDANCE OFFICERS (a) State level.-State departments having some specified responsibility regarding the appointment of attendance officers are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Usually such authority has to do with appointment in the local situation when the local school districts fail to appoint adequate and qualified personnel for attendance work or with the appointment of State personnel for special purposes or for special districts. (b) County board of education. The law requires that attendance officers be appointed by the county board of education in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee (except in counties with a small population), and West Virginia. States in which the law provides that county boards of education may appoint attendance officers are: Indiana, Louisiana (parishes), North Carolina, Texas (in large counties and independent school districts), and Virginia. In California the county school boards and city school boards may jointly appoint attendance officers. (c) County superintendent of schools. The law requires that county superintendents appoint attendance officers in Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri (in large counties), Nebraska, and Oregon. The county |