EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION 315 



ward from grade to grade as he meets the successive 

 tests. It unifies the methods and standards of in- 

 struction and provides for the preparation of teachers. 

 It acts as the judicial authority in the arbitration of 

 all disputed educational questions between pupils, 

 parents or guardian and the local educational agen- 

 cies. It does a certain amount of police work in 

 insuring that every child receives the prescribed 

 amount of instruction that the State considers essen- 

 tial to its welfare. 



The educational system is removed from politics 

 largely through its overhead administration by a 

 non-partisan board of twelve regents, three more 

 than the number of judicial districts, appointed from 

 time to time by the Governor as their terms succes- 

 sively expire. This system of supervision began in 

 1784 and in 1904 absorbed the functions of a Depart- 

 ment of Public Instruction. 



'Next to the Board of Eegents is the President of 

 the University and the Commissioner of Education, 

 one chief officer in whom all the work of the Uni- 

 versity centers. The functions of the University, 

 which may also for convenience be known as the De- 

 partment of Education, are distributed in five groups : 

 elementary education, secondary education, higher 

 education, the State Library, and the State Museum. 

 The first three are presided over, each by an assistant 

 commissioner, the fourth by the State Librarian, and 

 the fifth by the Director of the Museum. For ad- 

 ministrative purposes, the Department is organized 

 into thirteen divisions. The form of organization 



