Compulsory Education

New York, 1895

The New Law Imposes a Penalty on School Districts.

The compulsory education law passed by the last legislature went into effect Tuesday, and every boy or girl under the age of 16 years, who is found upon the streets during school hours and cannot give a satisfactory reason for it, will be arrested for truancy.

The law aims more particularly at parents and guardians, employers and the boards of education. The law provides that should any board of education refuse or neglect to enforce the law, the district will forfeit one-half its apportionment of the state money, which, to some districts, is a considerable item.

The new law provides that all children between the ages of 8 and 12 years, who are in proper mental and physical condition, shall attend school on every school day during the year. Children between the ages of 12 and 14 must attend school eighty consecutive school days, unless ill, and if not employed in some useful occupation the rest of the school year they must attend the same as children between 8 and 12 years, or the entire session of thirty-nine weeks. Children between the ages of 14 and 16 years, if not employed regularly, must also attend school during the entire year.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 4, 1895, p. 1.