104 STATION BULLETIN 3i6 



is allocated according to population. All construction work financed 

 by joint funds and expended on the secondary and town systems is 

 under the direct supervision of the state highway commissioner. In 

 1940 the expenditures of the state highway department aggregated 

 more than seven million dollars including federal and state aid funds. 

 Towns and cities expended nearly four million dollars for mainte- 

 nance, and this was expended on nearly 70 percent of the total high- 

 way mileage in the state. 



Primary responsibility for public education is centralized in the 

 state department of education. Although some division of labor is 

 present, the state board is granted broad supervisory powers over 

 the management, supervision, and direction of the public schools of 

 the state. This control includes general supervision over superin- 

 tendents, teachers, and pupils of both elementary and secondary 

 grades. Moreover, the state board is authorized to establish regula- 

 tions concerning the powers and duties of local school boards and of 

 superintendents of the supervisory unions who are employees of the 

 state but are electees of the joint boards of the respective unions. As a 

 further restraint upon local activities, each local school board must 

 require the attendance of the superintendent at all board meetings. 

 However, some discretionary business remains with the local school 

 district. Maintenance of the plant, teachers' salaries, transportation, 

 and budgets are local business but even here minimum standards and 

 state regulations play an important part. 



Equalization of educational opportunities is attempted by two 

 legal procedures. The state legislature appropriates money for ap- 

 portionment among the districts on the basis of equalized taxable 

 wealth. This grant-in-aid is apportioned by the state board which 

 has authority to withhold it in order to enforce state regulations and 

 minimum standards. All but 82 of the 241 districts of the state re- 

 ceived this form of state aid in 1939-1940. A second method involves 

 a per capita tax of two dollars per pupil which is paid to the state 

 treasurer and then transferred to the department of education for the 

 purpose of defraying in part the costs of state-wide supervision. This 

 I^rocedure is a matter of taking away from the wealthier and more 

 populous districts and giving to the poor and sparsely populated dis- 

 tricts. New Hampshire has no direct grant-in-aid for secondary edu- 

 cation. Each school district not maintaining a high school is required 

 by law to pay tuition elsewhere, but transportation to high school, ex- 

 cept in a few instances, is a matter of private concern. 



The responsibility for public welfare services is divided between 

 the state, the county, and the town. Care of the town poor is a local 

 responsibility under the supervision of the overseer of the poor, a 

 town official. Whether the county or the town is ultimately liable 

 for the expense is determined by "settlement," which is gained by 

 residing in a town for five consecutive years without public support. 

 In addition to a financial rsponsibility for out-of-settlement direct 

 relief, the county maintains the county farm which is combined with 

 the county hospital, house of correction, and county jail. Welfare 

 expenditures constituted only 6.4 percent of all town and city pay- 



