River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-12-15
ANNUAL. REPORT OT, SUPERINTErJD-
ENT OF SCHOOLS.
PIERCE COUNTY. WISCONSIN.
SCHOOL POPULATION AND ATTEND
ANCIc


ing the past year ana decrease of 1893,
or nearly per cent in five years. There
are now 48 school children less In the
county than there were ten years ago.
The total enrolment in our public schools
was 5,969, or AZ less than the previous
year
The average number of months attend
| ance by each pupil enrolled In the pubnc
| schools was about four and three-fourths,
! less than the compulsory requirement
| OF the 4,124 between the ages OF z ana
IA years. over q per cent failed to comply
with the new compulsory education law,
which requires an attendance OF 81 weeks
| in cities and 20 weeks in all other dls-
tricts This is really a serious condition,
though probably no worse than In other
counties Of the state. / did everything in
my power to get school boards to secure
a compliance with the law. but / found
il very difficult matter to get them TO
act feel that as long as the adminlstra-
ton of such law Is left to local authorl-
ties It Will not ne en sent fo the school
boards last winter. I asked them TO APP
point men Of good judgment as truant
officers, which was done in "a numoer
of districts, with good results. There IS
no greater element of waste In our scnools
than that caused by Irregular attendance.
AS the average pupil attends schooI niue
/ more than one-half of the time that
! school is in session. there results from
! this alone a waste of nearly one-naI OF
the money expended for schol purposes.
When we consider the fact that IL CON
! etantly becomes more necessary tnat
everv individual must have good educa-
tion in order to cope with the close com
netition in all lines Of work, we realize the
need Of a closer observance Of the com"
pulsory education law,
SCHOOL Hor1sTs GROUNDS AND
/ EQUIPMENT.
! large and commodious school building al
| a. cost Of about $4,000 and the CITY OF
River Falls has also built large addltloh'
arr
X Considerable effort has been put forth
bv teachers and pupils in improving
school grounds by the plantin? or tr Tree.
and shr11bberv During the coming sDrlng
7 hone to get teachers interested IN the
matter Of school gardens.
I am pleased to state that schooi b'r1rn.S
are exercising more care IRE IN ao, 1h1 and
are quite generally Durch9sln@ the Hlott
necessary articles. Most districts ore now
supplied with good bookcases 10 protect
the fifteen thousand books in the dtNerent
libraries. Nearly one-third of the d1s-
tricts now furnish free text DOCKS.
TEACHERS AND TEACHFPs' whcTG.
During the last school year 161 persons
ann1ied for certificates nv direct evannina-
tion transfers etc OF this pumbHr I'VE
received q first grade certificate ~ sec
ond grade and 81 a third grade Twenty
nine failed to pass the required eXafniha-
tions. =. ozo 49,
+i6ca+es s8 second grade certificates and
n third grade certificates. Tn addition
there are Al teachers teaching on state
certi6cateS Of some form. which makes
at least PIP certificates in force.
During the past year we ernploved q
men and 148 women to teach the l55 dll-
evnn+ dara rtrYoerts ~ orr biop o-ra5ed
and country schools. This shows the very
commend BILE fact that in over PC n@r cent
NJ the schools the teachers remained DUR
inc the entire year
THE average monthly wages paid to
male teachers in all schools last wear was
1921. an increase Of $6.15 per month over
fine previous year. The average for
female teachers was 1892 an increase
~ s3.43. In the country schools the aver
age for men was S4A So an Increase Of
60 70 and for women it was 1876 ~. an in
crease Of 1924 District No. Q. Gilman
country school, paid $50 per month. while