CHAPTER X 



CONTROLLING AUTHORITIES 

 IN AMERICAN MUNICIPALITIES 



UNDER American systems of municipal government, the 

 question as to whether medical inspection of schools is a 

 proper function of the board of education or the board of 

 health is bound to arise as soon as the organization of such a 

 system is contemplated. The claims of both are certain to be 

 warmly argued. 



On the side of the board of health is the argument that the 

 machinery of government already existing for the conservation 

 of the health of the community may properly be extended to 

 include new activities, and that another branch of the government 

 should not duplicate social machinery already existing. It is 

 further argued that an important feature of the medical inspection 

 of schools is the detection and segregation of cases of contagious 

 disease. This is a protective measure relating to the safety of 

 the whole community, and as such should remain a function of 

 the board of health. 



The argument for keeping the work in the hands of the board 

 of education is that the whole work, to be effective, must be 

 closely related to school work and school records; that friction 

 is inevitably produced when those in charge are in the employ of 

 an outside body, neither responsible to nor perhaps in sympathy 

 with those who have the schools in charge. This results in a loss 

 of efficiency. 



The further claim is made, and substantiated by referring 

 to records in many cities, that the exclusion of cases of contagious 

 disease is after all a comparatively small part of the work of med- 

 ical inspection. Thus in Newark, New Jersey, in 1909-10, the 

 total exclusions amounted to 4,955 in a school membership of 



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