PUBLIC EDUCATION 2899

day in May. At this meeting the board shall each year elect one of its
members to serve as president, and one to serve as vice-president. Other
regular meetings shall be held on the last Wednesday of August, November
and February, and such special meetings may be held as the duties and
business of the board may require.

For a resume of the powers and duties of the state board of education, see Duer v.
Dashiell, 91 Md. 669.

See sec. 5.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 10. 1912, sec. 10. 1904, sec. 10. 1888, sec. 10. 1872, ch. 377.
1904, ch. 584. 1906, ch. 356. 1916, ch. 506, sec. 10.

10. The members of the state board of education shall receive no salary,
but their actual traveling and other necessary expenses incurred in attend-
ing the meetings and transacting the business of the board shall be paid.
The state superintendent of schools shall be the chief executive, the secre-
tary and the treasurer of the state board of education. He shall attend all
meetings of the board and of its committees, except when his own tenure,
salary or the administration of his office are under consideration, and
shall have the right to advise on any question under consideration, but
shall have no right to vote.

See note to sec. 9 (this article).

An. Code, 1924, sec. 11. 1912, sec. 11. 1904, sec. 11. 1888, sec. 11. 1870, ch. 311. 1872,

ch. 377, sub-ch. 3, sec. 4. 1874, ch. 463. 1898, ch. 221. 1904, ch. 584.

1916, ch. 506, sec. 11. 1920, ch. 249, sec. 11.

11. The State Board of Education shall, to the best of their ability,
cause the provisions of this Article to be carried into effect. They shall
determine the educational policies of the State; they shall enact by-laws
for the administration of the public school system, which when enacted
and published shall have the force of law. For the purpose of enforcing
the provisions of this Article, and the enacted and published by-laws
of the Board, the State Board of Education shall, if necessary, institute
legal proceedings. The State Board of Education shall explain the true
intent and meaning of the law, and they shall decide, without expense to
the parties concerned, all controversies and disputes that arise under it,
and their decision shall be final; and the secretary of the State Board of
Education shall have authority to administer oaths, in any part of the
State, to witness in any matter pending before said Board.

This section referred to in construing sec. 149—see notes thereto. Williams v. Fitzhugh,
147 Md. 386.

This section does not authorize the county superintendent or State Board of Edu-
cation to determine legal effect of a contract between an agency of the school system
and an individual for the performance of a specified duty. Board of Education v.
Cearfoss, 165 Md. 186.

By-law of State Board setting minimum requirement for certificates to be granted
teachers under secs. 27, 28, 86 and 88 was valid exercise of discretion under this section.
Metcalf v. Cook, 168 Md. 475.

Under secs. 88 and 186, while the principal teachers of district schools are appointed
by district trustees subject to confirmation by school commissioners, the latter have
direct control of high schools, and authority to appoint principal and assistant teachers
thereof. The control, however, given to school commissioners of high schools is subject
to the provisions of this section; hence the determination of the school commissioners
relative to dismissal of a teacher of a high school is subject to visitorial power of state
board; action of latter cannot be controlled by courts. The question of which of two
persons shall be recognized as a teacher of a school involves the proper administration
of school system. Zantzinger v. Manning, 123 Md. 177. And see School Commissioners
v. Morris, 123 Md. 402; School Commissioners v. Breeding, 126 Md. 86.

This section does not give state board of education authority to determine purely
legal questions; the courts have jurisdiction to pass on such questions. Cases involving
only proper administration of public school system, distinguished. The act of 1904,