Ryerson's School Bill Of 1846 ( Originally Published 1912 ) THE
year 1846 will ever be memorable in the annals of school
legislation in Upper Canada, because it established the main
principles upon which all subsequent school legislation was
founded. As already pointed out, the Act of 1843 was largely a
failure because it did not provide adequate machinery for the
enforce-ment of its provisions. No important school legislation
was undertaken during 1845 in anticipation of Ryerson's report.
After making his report, Ryerson drafted a Bill which, with a
few trifling emendations, became the Common School Act of 1846.
It will assist us to an intelligent grasp of future legislation
if we examine this Act with some care. It first defined the
duties of the Superintendent of Schools. He became the chief
executive officer of the Government in all school matters. He
was to apportion among the various District Councils (there were
twenty at this time) in proportion to the school population, the
money voted by the Legisla