The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1888-04-12
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
LETTER NUMBER -FOUR.

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
LETTER NUMBER -FOUR.
According to the lest returns the
whole number of white and colored
children between the ages OF 6 and 81
years was 566,270. The white chill
dren, during the last four years, in
creased from 321 ,561 to 353, ,481 /; to-
tai in four years 81 1920 or 9.92 per
cent. During the same time the col
ored children increased from 1885
to 212,7S9; total 1896 or 9.77 per
cent. Thus it will be seen that the
rate of increase is very nearly the same
for both races, the whites having in
creased only 10 per cent faster, or 10
in 10000
Last year there were enrolled in
the white schools 57.2 per cent. or
2O2,1 out of 353,481 children in
the colored schools 578 per cent. or
1913, ,145 out of-212,7S9. The average
daily attendance in white schools was
35.2 per cent, and in the colored
schools 33.5 per cent. Looking back
over tour years the figures show that
there is a small INCREASE in both the
enrolment and average attendance of
the whites and small DECREASE of
the colored. [ state this because it is
sometimes said that the colored people
attend the public schools better than
the whites. This may be true for
some comm dnities, but it is not for the
State according to the returns made
to my office Besides, the whites have
a much larger proportional attendance
in private schools than the negroes
have.
Because there are enrolled in our
public schools only 81 or So children
out of every 100 there is an opinion
among many people that the remain
ing AZ or 43 do not attend at all.
This is not the fact. Our school age
is from to 81, period of Is YEARS.
During any one session large num-
Der of small children within school
age will not be enrolled, who at some
subsequent time will be; and also a
great many, say from Is to q, drop
out of the public schools to engage in
work or pass into the private schools
and colleges and are not enrolled in
the public.
The fact is that during the short
time our schools are in session we
have enrolled in them a larger per
cent. of POPULATION than Massachu-
setts, Connecticut or New York. We
have enrolled 20.03 per cent. OF the
whole population including men, wo-
men, and children, of all ages, or one
person in five, while Massachusetts,
has only Is per cent, Connecticut
1851 per cent, and New York 1871
per cent. The figures are taken from
the last report of the Commissioner of
Education and are based on the Uni
ted States census of 1880 and the
latest school censuses of the States
compared. And further, our daily
average attendance in proportion to
the whole population is better than in
New York or Connecticut.
am free to say that quite a large
number of our children DO not avail
themselves of the facilities they have,
but the greatest difference between
the educational status of our State
and those I have mentioned above,
and other northern States, consists in
the length Of annual school terms.
North Carolina has so days per an
mum Gust about the same for both
races), Massachusetts 172, Connect.
cut 179 and New. York 178. With
nearly the same rate of enrolment
and average attendance and, say,
three times as long terms, the public
educational forces in these three States
are three times as great as those of ou1
State, granting that our teachers are
| as we'll prepared for their work. We
| are indeed far behind in the educa-
tional race, but still our public schools
are improving in efficiency and attend
ance, and our many private schools
are giving valuable help both in the
instruction of children who are not in
cluded in the public school enroll
ment, and in providing higher educa
tion to those young persons who have
passed beyond the public schoo
course.
In estimating our educational facil
4 1tlCo = AdtO b6lACA tile dNCId2Os 1Ol b1As
State. We must not lose sight of tht
fact that, while the average schoo
term. is so days or three months, som,
counties have only about two months
and others have four months or. more
This results from several causes
l. A difference in valuation of prop
erty in the different counties.
/ 2. Closer collections of school fund.-
by officers of some counties than o
| others.
3. Receipts from license of retail
liquor dealers, which are large il
some counties and small or nothing il
others.
/ 4. Special levies for schools b,
some county commissioners and non
by others. S. NJ. FINGER,
Supt. of Public instruction.
i The executive committee of the Mort
Carolina Agricultural Society have fxe