The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-02-23
Maryland Public Schools.

Maryland Public Schools.
The annual report of the State
board of education, recently issued,
-2iyes statistics which are always in
| teresting. There is no branch of the
| public service which comes closer to
the people than the management of
! the public free schools. Maryland
was one of the pioneer States in pro
viding educational facilities The
cause of education is dear to the
hearts of the people, and they are
quick to resent any wrongdoing, par
tisanship or incompetency in school
! management. This volume of re-
| ports and statistics has been made
and compiled by Mr. Prettyman, the
secretary of the board.
There are in Maryland 2,465 public
schools, of which 2,273 are in the
counties, and the pupils attending
numbered 236,003, of whom "a, 70S
were in Baltimore city and 141, 295 in
the counties. This is in proportion
to the respective population of city
and counties, indicating that great
er proportion of the children attend
school in the city than in the coun-
try, because far larger proportion
of city children attend private schools
than in the country. That more
children attend schools in the city
than in the country is, of course, to
be expected. Because of the near
ness of schools and good pavements,
city children begin school at an ear
lier age. If it were possible it would
add to the interest and value of these
annual reports of the State board of
| education to include such statistics
and information of the private schools
and colleges of the State as may be
! obtainab lie.
The cost of conducting the public
Nschools of the State for the year COW
cred by this report was $3,052, 326.S6,
nearly equally divided between city
and counties. The cost of each pu-
pill in the counties is given at $9.12,
and in the city at $19.0S. The esti-
mate of cost, however, is based upon
average attendance, and is, therefore,
perhaps misleading, as the cost must
be governed to a great extent by the
maximum number of pupils and not
by the average. The amount of mon
ey spent upon the public schools in
the State is raised by an average tax,
including county, city and State, of
more than fifty cents on the hundred
dollars, supplemented by oyster Ii
cense funds and some other small
items in some of the counties. When
we add to this the great sum annual
ly paid by the State to schools and
colleges not in the public school sys-
TEN and the amount paid by the peo-
pie for private schools, it will appear
that Maryland spends money for edu-
cation with most liberal hand.
The report shows a most gratifying
increase in the number of schools,
teachers and pupils, as well as in ex-
penditures. Indeed, the increase in
pupils in the city and some of the
counties is so great that there is the
utmost difficulty in making receipts
keep pace with it. There is a con-
slant demand for more money, more
schoolhouses and more teachers. In
lnany places schoolhouses are ovr e.
crowded, to the detriment of health
and discipline. To make the classes
i-too large is an injustice to both teach
err and pupil, but principally to the
pupil. 1t entails a waste by the pu-
pills of the most precious time in
their lives. Where to get this addi-
tional revenue is a puzzle, for taxes
are already as high as the people are
willing to stand. In is not unlikely
that the $150,000 appropriated by the
State to provide books free of cost to
the children could be more advan-
tageously employed in providing more
schoolhouses and more teachers.