The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-03-24
TO KILL THE KINDERGARTENs.

II
The Mcneil bill to raise the school age
limit from five to six years has been re-
modelled since its last killing and was re-
ported out of the committee on education
yesterday with recommendation Tor
passage This is a deliberate attempt 10
kill the kindergarten schools of the state
We understand that the author OF the
bill and his supporters make no conceal
ment of this purpose. They say that the
country districts have and can have no
kindergartens; that 1t is. only the cities
that can have them. and that it Is I'M
fair that the cities should draw from the
apportionment Of the general school fund
for the support of kindergartens when
the country schools do not and cannot
There is also some specious talk ABOUT
the hysienic effects of sending children to
school before their sixth year which. as 1t
is put forward as a pretense to cover the
real purpose. need not be considered
The apportionment of the school fund
is made by using the number of children
enrolled in all the schools between the
ages of five and twenty-one as divisor,
and the total fund available as divi-
dend, obtaining the share of each pupil
as quotient. or course, If the divisor
is reduced the quotient Is enlarged. and
by cutting out the pupils In the kinder
Sartens the per capita of the others
would be increased. There are forty
seven kindergartens in the state, twenty
seven of which are in st. Paul, with
total enrolment of some 5000 OF course
this bill will not operate on the kinder
gartens alone, but will cut down the en-
rollment in every school district In the
state In fact its severest effect may be
in the country districts where the sum-
mer school is largely composed of very
young children, too young to work on the
farms.
At this time we purpose, however to
consider a feature Of the case that bears
upon the question Of fairness and JUS
tice. Admitting, for the moment that the
bill, IL enacted. would affect the cities
only and reduce their share Of the ap-
portionment as intended. are the gentle
men who support this bill aware of the
fact that the cities already contribute to
the support of all the state schools much
more than they receive from the distribu-
ton of the school fund? Would it be
. ,&,,,fi .t,
of the small amount it receives for its
childen III the kindergartens while it is
paying over two dollars for each one re-
ceived from that portion of the fund de-
rived by direct taxation2 Possibly the
gentlemen are not aware of this fact.
The records In the state auditors and
proof of It's truthfulness. From them we
present the following figures:
Total state apportionment 1913. 81 ,02O, 1853
Deduct amount state l mill tax. 569, 07S
Remainder derived from gen.
eraI fund NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. $46l, 6S9
One mill tax. percentage of total
appOruonment ........ ........... 55.8
Percentage from general fund 80. Az
Ramsey county appcrtion-
ment ............ ............S7,266
From l mill tax, 55.S per
cent ~, VA
Paid into treasury from l
mill tax Observation-Disclosures. 6,290
Excess of tax paid over tax
received .......,.. ..........S3 ,3(6
That Is to say, Ramsey county paid, in
the direct tax of one mill, into the gen.
eral school fund s55,S76 more than it
received from that portion of the sum
apportioned that was derived from the
one mill tax. We submit in all candor,
to the gentlemen from the country who
may be disposed to support the Mcneil
crusade on our kindergartens If 1t is fair
or just to take few thousand dollars,
six or seven at the outside, from county
that contributes over S55, 900 to the sup
mort of their schools