The government of schools for the deaf is practically the same in the different states. They are, for the most part, in the hands of boards of trustees, boards of directors, boards of managers, or boards of visitors, as they are variously termed. The semi-public institutions, as we have seen, were started as private concerns under private boards of directors. These boards still exist, and control the affairs of the institutions, having full powers but subject to such regulation as the state may direct. Such boards are usually self-perpetuating bodies, though in some cases the governor has been allowed to name a part. In the American School the governors and secretaries of state of the New England states are ex-officio directors. In the case of some schools, as the Pennsylvania Institution, where membership is open to any one on the payment of the dues, the governing board is elected by the members of the society or corporation.[273] In all these boards the members serve without compensation. Their size varies considerably, but they are usually large, having in some cases over twenty members.[274]
Where the school is strictly a state institution, the board is usually appointed by the governor, sometimes with the approval of the state senate.[275] In a few cases the boards are elected by the legislature, as in Georgia and Tennessee. In Montana appointment is made by the state board of education. In several of the states the governor or some other public officer, most often the superintendent of public instruction, is a member ex-officio.[276] These boards also as a rule serve without compensation, and are paid only for expenses actually incurred.[277] Their size is smaller than that of the corporate boards, usually consisting of from three to seven members, though in a few cases they may go beyond the latter figure. They are appointed to serve two, three, four or five years, and in a few cases even longer. In states where the members are elected by the legislature, the term is usually indefinite; and in one or two states, as in Alabama, the board is self-perpetuating.[278]
In eight states the institutions are under special boards of their own, without supervision or regulation from other bodies: Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. In eighteen states the schools are under special boards of trustees, while the state board of charities—or whatever the official title—may visit, inspect, supervise, advise, or may otherwise be connected with them: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It may be noted that such central boards—including the state boards of control—are found in thirty-nine states, and in all but five have some connection with the schools.[279] In eleven states the schools are directly under the state boards of control, central boards or bodies with similar powers, no special or local board intervening: Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.[280]
In some of the states, on the other hand, the schools are related to the state department of education. In four states they are under boards of trustees, with supervision only by this department: Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. In Idaho and New Jersey the schools are directly under the department,[281] though in the former there is also connection with another state board. In Montana the board of trustees is appointed by the department. In Indiana and Oklahoma the schools have boards of trustees and are under the department of education, but with inspection also by the department of charities. In New York and North Carolina there is supervision both by the department of education and of charities. In several states the board of trustees includes the state superintendent of public instruction as a member ex-officio, as in Alabama, Louisiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In Kansas the school is under the state board of administration for educational institutions, including the university, normal school and agricultural college, and in Florida the school is under the board of control of state educational institutions, while in Arizona the school is a department of the state university.[282]
Procedure in States without Institutions
In states where pupils are sent to schools outside the state, appointments and commitments are usually made in the East by the respective governors, and in the West by the boards of education or of charities. In Delaware the governor appoints pupils to outside schools, the state supreme court having first recommended. In New Hampshire the governor recommends, while the children are placed by the board of control.[283] In Wyoming the education of deaf children is directed by the board of charities and reforms, and in Nevada by the state department of education.[284]
FOOTNOTES:
[253] The two institutions here are the Kendall School and Gallaudet College, though both really form what is known as the Columbia Institution.