The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-03-25
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SCHOOL FUND.

ment of education for the state of Texas
shows that the county of Webb has onl!
one public school, with twenty-one enrolled
pupils.
The school fund being by law distributed
according to the report of children OF
scholastic age in that county, entitled
Webb to S3645. as the children thus re
ported amounted to $40; but it will be OBJ
served as stated, that there is but one
school in the county, with twenty-one pu
pills. Dividing the amount drawn under
the law, to wit, $3,645, by twenty-one, the
number of actual pupils, it will be seen
that each pupil in the school of Webb
county had $173.57 appropriated, or, in
other words. under the distribution accord
| ing to the number of children of scholastic
age III that county $173.57 was set aside
under the law of appOrtionment for each
child in the one school in Webb county.
OF course it is obvious that this amount is
largely in excess of the amount neces-
sary for the purposes of that school, and
largely IN excess of the amount appro-
priated to each child in other schools in
other counties. Let it be observed lust
here that if that amount was not used, as
it could not have been. that there Is no wav
under the law by which the county treas
urer of that county can cover back into
the treasury the extra surplus not used
To show how unjust the present appor
tionment law is, according to the popula-
lation of scholastic age,let us take another
county, to-wit, the county of Nc
Clennan. The number of children
enrolled in school in the latter
county, receiving tuition free of charge.
amounts to 300. The scholastic census of
McClennan county shows that 3,4OO chill
dren are enrolled and entitled to free tu-
ition, but the actual number in the schools
are IN excess of the census, 300 children.
The amount set aside under the law for
each child enrolled amounts only to $40.
giving the startling fact that each school
child in Webb county gets $16947 more
than each school child in McClennan
county.
There is another interesting contrast
that may serve to throw light on this sub
lect. Let us take the cities of Fort Worth |
and Laredo, boti of which report scho-
'astic population separate and apart
from the county population. Fort
Worth, with a population of
10000 or $4,000 reports a scholastic
population of 1000, and Laredo, with an
actual population of about 5000 inhab-
itants, reports a scholastic population of
1884 children.
Fort Worth had an actual attendance of
1916 in her schools, with 20 teachers:
While Laredo lad an actual attendance of
'O7, with Z teachers; and yet Laredo drew
'9,276.S0, while Fort Worth drew $40
3120.
The scholastic population of Fort
Worth, for the proceeding year was 2O55,
1hile that of Laredo was 1878 the latter
ear, showing an increase for Laredo of
bout 80 per cent, and no increase for !
'ort Worth; but everyone knows which .
own grows most rapidly.
Another inconsistency arising under the {
eficiencies of the law is apparent in the 6
act that San Patricio county had S73.46 I
} the credit of each child enrolled in {
'hool, and yet the county compelled /
our -ninths of the actual school children of j
he county to pay private tuition. If G
lie law had permitted the money to have t
cen expended upon children between the e
ges of and 81 years, all of them would
ave received tuition free of charge. C
Now for the remedy. The first is to an d
ortion the money to the different coun- k
es according to the number of schools t
i'd school children, as suggested by the b
published in the Fort t
orth Gazette, from Judge u. Z. Full f
ore, of this county, and copied in The n
rATEsMAN Sunday morning. t
The San Patricio matter referred to a
'uld be remedied by the change of the n
age. ?
TO illustrate the manner in which the a
'hool fund is not properly availed of, p
tention is called to the fact that there
e about $500 teachers in the state of
exas, and the school fund amounts
S2,35O,O00. Under a division of this y
md each teacher would be entitled to .,
'6l per year, which, upon an average II
larry of $40 per month, ought to give ~
e whole state of Texas schools for nine :,
onths in the year, while as a matter of
ct there is not an average of terms of al
hOols of more than six months in the RI
ar, or an average salary of $50 would al
We seven and quarter months in the n \,
ar. 1t must be apparent from these o,
'ures' taken from the biennial reports of vi
department of education that there nj
radical wrongs that ought to be cor 70
cted. We are content to let the mere d.
itement of facts go for the argument. tn
al H. st