, 1881-09-18


! force Of the city.
PUBLIC EDUCATION.
The report of the Commissioner of Educa-
tion for 1879 has just been received. Owing
| to the slowncss of the officials, especially in
| the Southern States, and the difficulty eXpe-
rienced in getting full and uniform returns
from all parts OF the Uni0n, these reports are
] very much delayed. The comparisons i'll the
present instance are made between the
! school-years 1S71-7S and 1S76-19. The sta
| tistics lose much Of their value by the delay.
The system under which they are collected
admits of Improvement.
Tic total school population in the States,
exclusive of the Territories, in 1S1" was a.
1S22, 7G5; the number enrolled in public
schools, 9,33S 3s3S COS; average attendance, six
| States not reporting, 5,3a3,;;, 100. The school
population of the Territories was 1G2, 81, Wy
| o1ning not reporting; the number enrolled,
attendance, s., 81,
The value of the comparisons is again di-
1n1nishcd by the fact that the provisions Of
the State laws concerning school ages are va
rious. There are sixteen school ages III the
States and Territories, runging from to Fl
years. In nine States the school age Is . to 81
years, and in nine other States it is to q
years. The longest school year is 10 days,
| and it prevails in the States of Connecticut,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New
York, and Rhode Island.
There were 270.1G3 teachers employed in
the. States. The average salaries for men
Il it, i,,1f
SS4. .4G i'll Nevada; and for women from So. S.
in New Hampshire to Ss3 in Nevada. In
Maryland the average Was the same for both
sexes white tia difference was greatest in
Massachusetts, where men receive all aver
age of $G7.s4 month and women all average
Of $3.50. T]lirty-four States report l04 ,S43
male and 141, lGl female teachers.
The public school income of all the States
is S., SIS; expenditure, 81. '6,4. Thir~
ty States have q total permanent school fund
of Silt, 2t4 44j44. 44j}44 The expenditure per capita
Of the school population varied from 95 cents
in Georgia to S15.2G in Massachusetts, and
per capita Of enrolment in'pubic schools
from Sill in North Carolina to Sl7.l7 in
California.
The number Of normal schools reported is
a07. They lad 1,322 instructors and 4o,029
students. There were Ia business colleges,
ayitl 535 instructors ana 22,0ol students, of
whom ;,2246 were in evening schools. The
number Of kindergartcns was 195, with 453
teachers and 1854 pupils. There were ,2,36
academies or institutions for secondary in-
structlon, having 5,9G1 instructors and los, 7344
pupils. There were also 81, ,4GG persons pursu-
Ing similar courses OF study in the preparatory
departments Of universities and colleges,
city high schools, normal schools, etc. The
number Of preparatory schools specially de-
voted to fitting persons for admission to col
lcge was 1o3, having SIS teachers and 1861
pupils, All increase Of nine schools and ,0223}
pupils as compared with tie previous year.
Two, hundred and twenty-seyen Institu-
tious give higher instruction to women.
They have 2077 instructors. about one-fourth
of whom are 1nen and "a, ,605 students. Their
grounds. buildings, and apparatus are valued
at S., 2l22,5 500. Their tuition fees in the year
previous to the report amounted to S70G, E4}}9.
The "uniyersitics and colleges" in 1878
numbered 3G4. with 4,241 Instructors and
COOL students. The students and instructors
were divided in collegiate and preparatory
departments as follows:
! Students, Teachers.
Colleginte. .....................Jl.5Ei .5Ei $3.50
Preparatory y..............-..-...a55.4M .4M 7;1
The volumes in the college libraries
amounted to 2,30l, ,991, an increase OF G9,0G3
during the year. The value Of grounds.
buildings, and apparatus was $4,000 35544;; 33554;
amount Of productive funds, $40, a5s s557; Ill
crease from same, so,6s4,o77; receipts from
tuition fees, ST, ,9,9, ,oGo; from State appropria-
{ 49, +s,F ~,
ship funds, 53,012,042.
The report by States shows deplorabie
want Of progress in the South. ''rhe inau-
cnces which operate exclusively against the
school provisions for the colored people arc
disappearing" but the school funds are very
inadequate, and there is considerable hosti1-
ity to the establishment Of schools in CON-
,nunities where they have never existed.
Fifty-eight per cent of the co1ored children
OF school age are not enrolled, but are
wholly illiterate; Of the the remaining 42
per cent large proportion are attend
ants npon the schools only in name. The
colleges, normal, and professional schools for
the colored race were supported chiefly by
the Peabody and other benevolent contribu~
tons, while many Of the public schools for
GUlulCu ClIlluIEH lCCClttO SuOS@AHl1AI llOll
the Sa 1ne quarter.
4 curious feature of the report Of interest |
to readers in this section is the discouraging |
nature Of the reports from some Of the North |
western States. Great dissatisfaction with |
1.-THE poor character Of the country schools"
Is said to exist in Ohio. The quality Of the
superintendence in Michigan has fallen off,
and the number of enrolled pupils dimin-
ished in one year i, ,564, while the number of |
children of school age increased 0,lS7. In |
Indiana there was loss of S,643 in enroll |
ment, Of $3.50 In average daily attendance, |
OF 1ol in the number OF teachers, of s164 POS
In receipts, and Sl7s. 1se in expenditures. The t
Illinois report is distracted thus: |
Statistics here, + Indicate a falling OF |
Of ], 1T In educahof H. OF 1889 In public |