The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-26

| tional burden. The principle involved in this
condition OF affairs may be simply illustrated
! thus: Suppose the head of each family had to
pay directly for the education of his own child
rem. Then, even with equality of means, the
burden would. as matter of course, fall heavier
on the one with numerous than the one with a
small progeny. To make apparent the effect of
this inequality in the proportion of minors to
| adults In different parts of our common country.
let us suppose that the mean average cost of
schooling is $4 per annum for each child 1t ap-
pears that in Connecticut, out of every one hun
dred persons fifty nine are adults, and forty
one are minors. AT this supposed rate, them
| the ftty-nine adults would each have to pay
| 81. 70 per annum in order to make up the $l64
per annum needed for the education of the forty
one children. 1t appears, also, that i'll South
Carolina, out of every one hundred persons
forty three are adults and fifty scven are
minors At the supposed rate, then, these forty
three adults would have each to pay $3.50 per
annum in order TO make up the 1928 per annum
needed for the education of the ffty-seven chill
! dren Now, this is a very important fact, in
| deed and must lead all air-minded advocates
| of education to modify somewhat the criticisms
| they may have made touching the expenditure
| III the South for education as compared with
| that in the North and West, for here it becomes
| palpable that So rs per adult in Connecticut is
| equlyaient to $3.50 per adult in South Carolina
for the schooling of the children respectively
| in those States; nearly twice much in one
| State as in the other
| But this result is from an assumed uniform
mean average standard or the coSC or eQucAtlIg
| each child in the Union. Let us test the matter
by comparison founded actual cost. Take
for instance, the States of Maine and Mississippi
In Maine there are fifty-eight adults to forty
two minors in every 100 persons. In Mississippi
there are forty three adults to fifty minors
in every 100 persons. In Mainef the educational
expenditure per capita of the school population
is 81. 81 per annum. This enforces an annual
expenditure for this purpose Of 1888 by each
adult An equal school tax of 81. 81 per annum
for each scholar, imposed upon the adult popula-
ton of Mississippi would call for $619 from
every adult-or nearly twice what the adult OF
Maine must pay.
| 1t must surely be already apparent that this
| inequality of the educational burden created by
| the disparity existing between the populations
| of various portions of our country alone be
met and remedied by some aid from the general
| government. Careful tabUlations from the cen
| sus returns show that a school enrolment of
%, per cent of the total population Of Missouri
| amounts to but 49, per cent. of the school pop
/ ulation of that State, fixing the standard of
| school age as between six and sixteen years.
| while a school enrolment of % per cent of the
| total population of New Jersey is equal tot 1015
per cent. of her school population Hence. al
though Missouri has somewhat larger percent
| age In school of her entire population than has
| New Jersey, yet she lacks more than IL per cent
of having all her children of school age enrolled
as scholars while slightly smaller per cent. of
| her total population places more than all the
school age children of New jersey in school.
1 So also Vermont where school enrolment of
| " per cent. of the total population gives 1925
! per cent. in school of all of school age.
| Even in States situated so near to each other
| as Pennsylvania and New York we observe this
| inequality. In the former, where the school en-
rollment is % per cent. of the total population,
it is but 1914 per cent of the children of school
age, while in New York % per cent. of the total
| population enrolled in the schools is 1874 per
| cent. of her children of school age Thus far
| have been selected for comparison some of those
| states the ratios of whose school enrolment to
| the total population were about the same. But
while these contrasts bring out very clearly the
inequality in the burden of educating the child
| rem of our country, yet there more marked
| illustrations at hand. Take Arkansas West
| Virginia and New York, for instance. In
Arkansas the school enrolment is IL. per cent.
| of population, and but 5l.3 per cent.
| of the children of school age AT the
| same ratio a school enrolment of % per
! cent. of total population ia Arkansas would be
but S7.4 per cent of the children of school age.
West Virginia has a school enrolment of 1873
per cent. of total population, which is only $40
| per cent. of her children of school age. Yet
| New York. as we have already seen. by an en-
| rollment of % per cent of her total population
secures schooling for 49, per cent.-more than
| all-of her children of the school age.
Let apply these facts practically and
| thus reach clearer understanding of the effect
of this great disparity. The actual mean aver
| age cost of the schooling of each public school
| scholar in the United States is about $40. ASH
Stunning then that the adult population of each
State bear the burden of educating its children
and that all the children of school age in each
| State are enrolled in the schools-as they should
| be--let us ascertain how much the tax per capita
would be the adults bearing this burden in
each State and Territory In other words let
us discover how much in each State and Terri
tory must every adult (male or female) pay
every year in order to supply the $40 per annum
| that it costs to educate each and every child in
| that State or Territory.
1t would cost each adult in Montana, 81 5
| do IL L.
So 20; Arizona So 81; New Hampshire, So rs;
Idaho, So; Massachusetts, 1923 Dakota, So 30;
Rhode Island, 1922; California, 49, 49, Con-
nectcut 1927 Maine, $343; Vermont, So 46;
Washington, SD a. New Jersey. 1902; Mich
igan $415; Oregon, $42 20; Delaware $43l;
Pennsylvania, ST. &c; Ohio, 81 80; Maryland
81 55 Nebraska 477; Minnesota, ST. 70; New
Mexico, 81 65: Wisconsin, 81 So; Illinois, 81 49,;
Indiana, So, Iowa, 500; Mssoori, So %;
Kansas, So 49, Louisiana 1854; North Caro-
lima, $5.67; Virginia, So 49, Texas, 1885, Ken
lucky, So. Co. Florida, So 70; Utah, $6.07 Ala
| bama, 1912; Arkansas, S. IL; Georgia, $5 %;
| South Carolina, s.. 49, Tennessee So; West Vir-
einia, s.. &C. and Mississippi So %, while mass
| ing the entire Union, the cost to each adult in
| it would be s. 70. If inequality in the burdens
| imposed Ia order to educate our children be any
argument in favor of national aid to edueation-
and who will venture to deny it-then we have
in these statistics positive evidence of very great
and possibly hiterto unsupported inequalities; in
'6QudnbleS OF WINCH nCue cOulu De aware WlJnOuG
a close and critical analysis of the figures the
developments of which, as previously limited
may we'll cause us to modify somewhat the re-
proaches we may have felt inclined to cast upon
some of our States for what seemed to be a lack
of proper effort on their part in the direction of
| education.
Let us examine the ratio of children enrolled
| in schools to the adult population. That ratio
49, in Alabama, 34.6 per cent; Arkansas 81
California 49, 2; Colorado, III; Connecticut, 36 |;
Delaware, 34.6 District of Columbia, 30 /; Flor
ida, 35.s; Georgia, Az Illinois, so; Indiana 543;
Iowa, 56; Kansas 538; Kentucky 36. 3; Louisi-
ana 90: Maine, 40; Maryland, 81 A. Massachu-
setts, 33.5; Michigan, A; Minnesota, AS; Missis
sippi, 4S6 Missouri, All; Nebraska, 455; New
Hampshire 3L3; New Jersey, 407; New
York, 403; North Carolina, 40.7 Ohio, AIS;
Pennsylvania, 422 Rhode. Island, 30.2 South