New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-29
COST OF RUNNING SCHOOLS.
,,rv-YORK'S AVERAGE LOWER THAN
THAT OF ANY OF THE OTHER
LARGE CITIES.
PIE ANNUAL EXPENSE FOR EACH PUPIL COM
PARED WITH THAT FOR BROOKLYN. CHI
CAGo. PHILADELPHIA AND FIVE
OTHER CITIES

CAGO. PHILADELPHIA AND FIVE
OTHER CITIES
criticisms have been made from time to time.
.h more or less harshness. upon the large amount
,money used in running the public schools OF New
work. city. 1t has been charged by some that the
,anner in which the public schools run is "ex-
,,ayagant and that the sum asked for 1865 CAS-.
"a is enormous" while some go far to
.os, that the present system of governing the
.hools be done away with altogether that the
,rssent Board of School Commissioners he wiped out
ard that a paid board OF educational experts he
Al, in their places All these sweeping changes be
= noted are suggested with the idea that the pres
an. Board OF Education is expending enormous"
.ums Of money belonging to the people without
Getting a commensurate return for the same. and
that the management of the public schools is con-
,,c,ed on an extraVaCant scale.
rrnres sed with the belief that the public schools
are conducted on a more economical scale than
,hose Of most other cities in the United States and
ceiling quite that the harsh critics of the public
school management in this city have been mised
=, confused by the immense and intricate mass OF
statistics connected with the expenditure OF public
.cbool moneys. a Tribune reporter has written to
,he Boards OF Education In eight principal cities in
,he United States inquiring into the cost OF public
ssucation in those places and the number of chill
,rsn in the public schools Answers have been re-
cs,ved and the statistics gathered have been com
nared as nearly as possible in parallel expendt-
r-e OF public school money in New-York. The re-
cult shows that New-York City in spite of the
higher cost of living here and the consequent pay
r,snt Of higher salaries school teachers than In
most other cities conducts it's public schools far
more economically than any other city in the United
States
4 brief summary OF the answers received will
.,ov this The first and most important questions
put vere these;
What is the total annual cost of running your
wat IS the total number Of children taught in
these schools?
on the answers 10 these two questions (a OF which
were based on the reports of the last year-1S94or
on the school year ending In June. 1880 based
the calculation to the average cost of educating
each child Answers were received from the Boards
of Education in Brooklyn. Chicago, Philadelphia,
Providence ST Louis. Milwaukee. Cincinnati and
Baltimore.
SCHOOL STATISTICS OF NETWORK.
The school statistics for she New-York public
schools will first he given so that the reader may
know how the expenditures of this city compare
with those other cities the statistics given.
According TO the ffty-thrd annual report of the
Board OF Education of the city OF NewYork for the
wear ending December 81 1894. the whole amount Of
money drawn from the Controller for the purpose of
public instruction for the 1894 was $6l3S9l0 H.
OF this large sum s64 3S4 IS expended the &C
count OF salaries Of teachers for the years 1890,
1891 1892 and 1893. OF the same large amount the
sum O., s95Ol IS was spent, for the maintenance OF
the nautical schooship St Marys. for free lectures
10 the people and a small sum for technical
manual and Industrial education and for physical
exercise For new school sites. new schools. sur
veys heating and furnishing the same the sum OF
s53 so % was taken from the s6.lSssl0 p received
in lss, by the Board OF Education.
The sum Of sl23 40 30 also given 10 corporate
schools which have nothing to do with the regular
public schools of the city and over which the Board
OF Education has little or no control 1t would be
erinently unfair In calculating the running OK
penses Of NETWORKS public schools compared
with those Of other cities TO include The expenses
OF the schoolship ST Marys the free lecture course
(Which has nothing 10 do with the children being
designed primarily for adults, the corporate
schools. which not under the control or the
Board of Education and other incidental expenses
which the systems or public school instruction in
other cities do not include 1t would also be unjust
10 include in the annual running expenses Of
New-Yorks public schools the purchase OF new
school sites and the erection OF new school build
ings on them. The cost Of New-York real estate Is
much greater than that Of the other cities in ques-
ton and the cost Of building a.so IL much greater
here
so that 10 get al the annual running expenses OF
New Yorks public schools Only the following items
vii! be considered and only these items will be con-
sidered in the cities whose public schools are 10
be compared with those OF New-York: Salaries OF
teachers janitOrs OF both day and evening schools,
officers and clerks. superintendenis truant agents
shop clerks to trustees. etc. SSei4S2 o. supplies
rents incidentas. fuel. gas. transportation. S74-
IA 2s repairs ETC. of all descriptions. s2s2 45i II;
heating and ventilating. repairs. etc, 1880 total
A3l2 s9 o. This sum therefore represents the real
annual cost OF running New-Yorks public schools
The items OF 81 1851 26 FOR new schoo! sites. new
buildings furnishings. etc; the items for back
salaries nautical school free lectures for the adult
no prOr)
erly accounted in the annual running expenses nor
can they fairly be brought into the estimate In
COMPARISONS with other cities which DO not main
tain such features. Yet they Increased the total
sum for which the New-York Board Of Education
h held responsible from ASl2,s9 % to s6,lSssl0 72
which was the total expenditure in 1884.
THE NUMBER OF PUPILS.
Having found the real annual cost OF running the
public schools in this city TO have been A3l2Ssl Us
in 1891 II will be Interesting 10 find out just how
many pupils have received instruction for that sum
According TO the annual report for 1894 just re-
ferred to- "the number OF scholars taught In the
schools under the Jurisdiction OF the Board OF Edu-
cation in 1894 but counting those taught IN
the Normal College and training department, or
those in the nautical school or In the corporate
schools was 324256" This number is divided as
follows In grammar schools and primary depart
ments 24335s; in primary schools. 440l9 in evening
schools sc ss4; total 324.256 This makes the as
tonishingy low average cost for pup. less than
81 a. :.
In answer TO the question OF What is the total
annual cost of running Chcagos public schools
Mr. Lane the superintendent. answers s'oS4S2S ~.
or slsin7 80 more than New-York spent on new
schools and everything else. AS to the total num-
Der OF pupils ne says 2Ol3sO. This makes the aver
age a pupil Sl 49, or nearly three tunes as
great as New Yorks average. But there Is an
other feature of this calculation which weighs
heavily in favor OF Chicago. The salary list OF
New York's school teachers is much greater thah
that Of Chicagos especially as to the amount PAID
70 each teacher No male teacher regularly en-
ployed in NETWORKS public schools gets less thah
s. $50. there are number OF male teachers IN
Chicago who draw salaries ranging from s75 TO $500
Chicago has eight assistant superintendent craw-
ing salary OF s. 900 each. while New-York has ten
drawing about the same salary. The principals or
l,hioa.o ,-.rnnnnr schools are paid from &.bOl