CONTROLLING AUTHORITIES 



the remaining three-quarters the board of education is the con- 

 trolling authority. 



In the investigation conducted in 1911, as has been stated, 

 the facts concerning medical inspection were gathered for 1,046 

 school systems in 1,038 cities and towns. Among these, 443 had 

 systems of medical inspection. The following table shows how 

 these systems were divided between the two forms of administra- 

 tion. 



TABLE 34. ADMINISTRATION OF SYSTEMS OF MEDICAL INSPECTION 

 IN CITIES OF UNITED STATES, BY GROUPS OF STATES. II I 



A good idea of the feeling of those in charge of the work in 

 localities where the question as to administration has been raised 

 may be gained from reading some extracts, mostly taken from 

 official reports made by executive officers. 



In his report for 1907 (pages 142-3), William H. Maxwell, 

 city superintendent of schools of New York, says: 



" Dual responsibility in the school that of the board of education 

 and that of the department of health always has resulted and always 

 will result in confusion and inefficiency in the work effected. It is owing 

 to this dual responsibility that the large annual appropriation made by the 

 city for the physical examination of school children is to a great degree 

 wasted. Efficient service will be obtained only when the board of educa- 

 tion is made solely responsible for all the work that goes on in the schools. 



"The physicians employed by the board of health do not perform 

 any of the functions which it is highly advisable should be performed by a 

 truly educational department of hygiene, such as studying hygienic condi- 

 10 145 



