The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-15
Tie Condition of Our Schools.

The Condition of Our Schools.
THE old woman that lived in the
shoe, who had so many children she
didn't know what to do" was not more
sOrely VeXed than the St. Paul school
board. that must solve the problem of
educating $4,000 pupils, at an average
cost Of SIS per capital for $4,000 The
question is more like the poor mans,
however. whose children and funds pre-
sent a knOtty problem Of inverse ratio.
But what is the matter? Is st. Paul so
poor that she cannot scrape together
enough money to maintain her schools?
Not at ALL but she Is impeded by the
law. which forbids her levying more
than 2'2 mills upon each dollar of as
sessed property. The very obvious
remedy would be, when a shoe pinches
to take it off. But the difficulty in the
present case is that the 212 mills limit.
responsible for the discomforting pinch,
is an integral part Of our city charter,
which the citizens a short time since
declared to be a fairly comfortable
shoe ard refused to discard for a new
one.
II will he recalled that this charter
was given to the city by the legislature
before the cities had home rule and
when the property valuation in st. Paul
was 1926, 600, 000-a fact which made the
limit for the school levy seem war
rantable. When, however, the valuation
was lowered to 500, 000, 900. the school
revenue fell far short Of the require
increase.
Proceeding to find relief by the pro-
cess OF elimination, the apparently
simple device Of getting the legislature
to amend the law must be abandoned
for the reason that by an amendment
to the constitution Of the state ''the
legislature may repeal any existing
special or local law but shall not
amend. extend or modify any Of the
same" The repeal of the st. Paul
school law as whole is not desired by
the citizens, and, as amendment is i'm
possible, relief must be found in gen.
eral legislation which shall, in effect.
remove the 214-mill limit.
1t is possible, as will be found upon
investigation Of our laws, and upon
consultation with competent and con-
sentative lawyers Of our city, to get
legislation applying to cities of a GER
tain class. for example, to cities Of over
$4,000 inhabitants, which would afford
relief to st. Paul. Shall this bill be
framed TO raise the limit of school
levies in this class of cities or shall it
be framed in such a way as to permit
20 al
for the amount which they deem neces-
sary to the proper maintenance of
their schools?
The chamber of commerce proposes a
bill permitting an additional levy Of
one mill, when necessary, to be APP
piled exclusively to the erection Of
school buildings, purchase Of sites, re-
pairs. furnishings, etc.
The criticism made upon the propo-
sition is expressed by member of the
teachers association, who said: But
what is the use of erecting new build
ings? That will not help ST. Paul out
now, for where is the money to come
from to pay teachers, janitors and
coal bills, when it is more than prob
able that the existing schools cannot
year,"
A sort Of compromise. coming from
citizens and teachers, is that the bill
be amended to read zone and one-half
mills. one-third of which be applied
to the erection of school buildings,
etc" Either of these bills would
make the cooperation OF Minneapolis
necessary, and. as there is abundant
evidence that the Twin City has been
cramped with her fourmill limit, 1t is
reasonable to assume that her support
can be secured in favor Of the bill.
Right here it may be interesting to
compare the school levies made by
various cities throughout the state.
Duluth has 8; Winona, II $40; Fergus
Falls, "a; Moorhead II; Renville, %;
Mankato, 20; st. Paul, 215
Framing a bill to suit the conditions
and needs of different cities, even
though they are Of the same class. in
such a way as not to do violence to
the constitution of the state, demands
care and skillful manipulation, and
should not be undertaken without COM
petent legal supervision. A prominent
lawyer of the city has given it as his
opinion that the bill should be SO
framed as to permit the city to tax
itself. AS conditions are now, there is
little reason for the legislatures limit
upon the council in the matter of a
school levy. During the time when
the school board could pledge the cred
1t. of the city for any debt which 1t
might make for the maintenance of
the schools, thus, in effect, combining
the levying and spending powers, 1t
was but fair to the taxpayers that
there should have been a. reasonable
limit But now, when the council must
make the definite appropria ton and
the school board dispense it, thereby
making a separation between the levy
ing power and spending power and
shutting off all reasonable fear Of job
berry, there is small wisdom in limit
ing the council. since 1t would have
nothing to gain and much to lose In
making excessive and extravagant ap-
propriations. Moreover. this precau-