PROVISION FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE BLIND BY STATES
Source - THE BLIND ; THEIR CONDITION AND THE WORK BEING DONE FOR THEM IN THE UNITED STATES
1919
Contributed by Tina Easley

In the several preceding chapters we have considered the provisions which have in general been made for the education of blind children in the United States, including the organization of institutions, the arrangements for pupils sent to schools in other States, the plan of the day school, and the measures designed for higher education. In the present chapter we shall examine the provisions in the several States individually, determining to what extent and in what manner instruction has been undertaken in each. South Carolina. In 1834 provision was made for the education of some blind children at the school in Massachusetts. In 1849 a private school for the deaf was started at Cedar Springs, in which in 1855 the blind were allowed to enter, and which in 1857 was taken over by the State. It is now known as the South Carolina Institution for the Education of the Deaf and the Blind, and is under a board of five commissioners, including the State superintendent of education. Provision is made for higher education. In 1894 the name of the school was changed from the South Carolina Institution for the Education of the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. A department for colored children was created in 1883. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR SCHOOLS FOR THE BLIND Extent Of Provisions In all the States of the Union the education of the blind has been effectually accomplished by statutory action on the part of the legislatures. But in certain ones, to render this a formal and permanent duty, there have been incorporated in the organic law provisions requiring such bodies to give due heed to the matter. Attention of this kind has been demonstrated not to be necessary in actual practice for the support and continuance of the schools for the instruction of the blind; while by some students of constitutional law the view is held lhat the organic law should confine itself only to fundamental principles of government, leaving the working out of details, as they arise, to the chosen representatives of the people. Yet, however it be considered, the inclusion in express terms of the regard by the state for the education of the blind is quite commendable, and bespeaks a praiseworthy solicitude for their welfare. These constitutional provisions relating to the blind are found in twenty-eight States: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina. South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. The provisions are more direct in some States than in others, and vary from a specific command to a mere incidental reference. In most instances they refer both to the care and to the education of the blind, though they are evidently intended to mean mainly the latter. The first State to make reference in its Constitution to the education of the blind was New York in 1846. Michigan, however, in 1850 was the first State to provide directly for their education as a requirement on the part of the legislature. It was followed in 1851 by Indiana and Ohio. Of the forty-two States adopting Constitutions, new or revised, since 1846, twenty-eight have made reference of some kind to the blind, while fourteen have failed to do so. Of the twenty-two States adopting Constitutions since 1889, eighteen have made such provision.  It thus appears that the more recent a Constitution, the more likely it is to have a provision respecting the blind. For a number of the States without such a reference, it is to be observed that their Constitutions date far back in our National history, and were adopted before attention was called to the needs of this class. Hence in general it is not to be concluded from the mere presence of constitutional mention that certain States are more regardful of the educational welfare of the blind than are others. Check out out National site for additional information on other STATE provisions.