EDUCATIONAL OKGAMZATION 319 



tended to the rural schools through tiie system of dis- 

 trict superiutendeiits. These officials, who must be 

 qualified and experienced teachers according to the 

 standards of the Commissioner of Education, must 

 also be qualified to give instruction in agriculture. 

 Under the district su])erintendents is placed a con- 

 venient group of townships and all the schools in this 

 unit come under his or her immediate supervision. 

 The educational system lias been the leveler of fran- 

 chise and sufl'rage standards, for men and women 

 alike have access to all its positions from the highest 

 to the lowest, and for many years before general 

 sufl'rage was extended, women, with certain restric- 

 tions, were permitted to vote on all educational mat- 

 ters. School l)ooks may be furnished to the pupils 

 at public expense if so elected by the local board of 

 education and this practice prevails in many places. 

 The centralized supervision and close grading of the 

 instruction makes possible the Eegents system of 

 uniform examinations and rating in all elementary 

 and secondary schools throughout tlie State as a result 

 of which pupils graduating from the public school sys- 

 tem including the high-schools receives a state certifi- 

 cate of proficiency. 



In recent years, special attention has been given to 

 vocational work in the grades and secondary schools. 

 Like other forms of education, this has diffused down 

 from the institutions of higher learning. Vocational 

 training takes three forms according to the character 

 and status of the pupil; industrial training particu- 

 larly for the city boy; agriculture for the country 



