The Portland daily press., 1892-03-11
SCHOOL EXPENSES.
An Explanation of Their Growth in Re-
cent Years.

To the Editor Of the Press:
Kindly permit me space for few
words in reply to the communication in
your columns this morning, entitled
ssSome naked facts as to our schools
Your correspondent calls attention to the
fact that the general expenses OF the
schools have increased from $50 in
1866, to $21, 15740 in 1S90-91. He
gives the expenses for 1S90-91 as $31, 154,
but from this sum there should be de-
Quoted $4,000 spent for free text books.
That was an expenditure made necessary
by the recent statute compelling cities
and towns to furnish text books free, and
was necessarily much larger in that year
than it has been in the year just closing,
or than it will be again, since everything
had to be purchased new. Whatever
may be- the merits or dement's of the
law. it is something that the school Off
GERS of this city are not responsible for,
nor can they take to themselves any cred
| it for it's enactment.
| For the purpose of comparison, to
show the economical or the extravaganza
management of the schools, it should OBJ
viously be omitted.
There has been then an increase in ex-
penses during the 25 years of $7,S07.49
During the same period, the number of
pupils in the schools has increased from
1884 to 4,913. The average of general
expense per pupil in 1866 was 1894;
in 1S9O-91 it was S439, an increase of 45
cents per pupil. Now to what is this in
crease due?, In the first place, all Of the
school houses then in use, with one ex-
are in use today, and there have been
built during that period five large new
buildings, to wit: The North School,
the Smaller school, the Butler school, the
Mcclellan school, and the Jackson school.
All the old buildings have received from
time to time extensive repairs, and old
methods of heating and ventilating have
been replaced by new. This expense ac-
count includes janitors' salaries, and
with more buildings there are necessari-
ly more janitors. For the same reason
there is more expense for heating. TAX
ing into consideration the increased IA
cilities which have been added during
the quarter of a century I and
the increased accommodations
for the health and comfort
of the pupils it cannot justly be said that
the increase of expense of 45c. per pupil
is unduly large. On the contrary, the
fact that the increase is not larger is an
hot ,o1r
manner in which the schools have been
managed. If the school buildings of
Portland were today in no better condi-
ton than they were twenty-five years
ago, if they were heated and lighted and
ventilated in the same manner as they
were then, they could doubtless be cared
for at no greater expense now than was
necessary then. But the suggestion may
be made that many parents would be
found who would be unwilling to trust
the lives of their children in buildings
which might be fairly criticised as I'M
healthful. The people of Portland have
demanded that the changes in school ac-
commodation which hygienic principles
require should be made in this city; their
demands have been complied with, in
part at least, and they do not expect that
new, improved and enlarged accommoda-
lions can be supplied and maintained at
the same annual expense as the antigua
ted and discarded ones.
Your correspondent further says:
Assuming that forty scholars to each
teacher would be a proper maximum
(which we find in 1879 the same ratio
would give us forty teachers less in 1891
than were employed in the latter year.
This would be pretty substantial saw
ing" The implication here is that forty
teachers more than are necessary al
now employed. 1t may be admitted that
the average of forty pupils to teacher
is not too large SO far as the grammar
the High school, however, such an aver
age is too high. Twenty to twenty-five
pupils in a division is as many as one
teacher can Go justice to. Each grammar
and primary school teacher then having
charge of a room should have under her
charge forty pupils. If this is the posi-
ton of your correspondent it may be as
sumed to be well taken. There are en-
ployed today in the primary schools, ex-
Guiding ten pupil teachers at the train
ing school and the teachers in the schools
on the islands, eighty teachers.
The average number of pupils belong
ing in the primary schools in the city
proper, excluding the training school,
W Ull6 I0UtIuS IOT uuO ulOuOIl
of February is 2,740, making an average
of thirty-four pupils to teacher. The
number of teachers in the grammar
schools, excluding those principals who
do not have charge of special rooms
themselves, is thirty-nine.
The average number belonging in the.
grammar schools during the month a
February was 1,417, an average of thirty
six pupils per teacher. During the
month OF February there have been
many absences caused by the grippe and
similar sicknesses, SO that the average
attendance during that month is much
smaller than usual. For instance, in
October the average at the Monument |
street school was thirty-seven. In |
February it was thirty-four. At the
Jackson school it was forty-three in
October and forty-two in February. At
the Butler school it was forty-one in
October and thirty-seven in February.
1t will therefore be seen that even in
February when the average attendance |