Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-03-23

can be Gone. the existing districts will
| have to be abolished and for the hns+
| interest OF the boys and girls of tbe
city the step ought not to be long de-
| layed. l do not advocate the union of
the village and the Williams districts
but the aboliShing of those districts. the
result of which would be that all thu,
schools of the city would be placed on
Il common basis where they ought to
be and they would be supported by
general taxation. AS it is now only the
suburban schools and the High school
are supported by general taxation; the
| taxpayer in the village and the Will
| Jams districts has to pay his general
| city tax and in addition to that the
school tax of his own district, thereby
| making his rate Of taxation so much
greater than the general rate. Taking
the past municipal year of 1903 as an
! example, the general tax rate was 23h
| mills and the school rate in the village
district was 1h mills. making q total
of 70 mills for the rate in that district.
| The total rate in the Williams district
| was nearly - mills, and right here is a
| dlfflcuity which terrifies the opponents
| OF tn" proposed plan, n difficulty which
! IS largely one of MISUNDERSTANDING be-
| cause they are thinking of union dis
! tricts rather than abolishing of the
| same. The village district taxpayer
naturally objects to union because his
tax rate is not so high as that of his
| neiShbOr i'll the Williams district but
| he should not cOnfound the shadow
with the substance. Let us look for q
! moment and see what would have been
| the result in 1863, if the proposed plan
| had been in use and all the schools had
been supported by general taxation. BY
actual figures, taking the amount of
money raised for the support of schools
| in the village and the Williams dis
tricts and adding to that-if you please
t-$110O for the salary of n superintend-
l ent of schools and the tax rate of the
! citizens living in the village district
! would have been only a fraction, about
! one-third of a mill. in excess of Is
| mills. the amount actually paid by
| him in 1863, certainly not an alarming
Increase in his rate. The general rate
would have been raised by that small
fraction of a mill, at the rate of about
| 33 cents on every, thousand dollars of
| taxable property.
The suburban schools expend $500 q
year for superintendent of the rural
schools and for the committees COM
pensation. About 5000 is paid by the
| village and Williams districts fer the
| special assessment of taxes in those
districts. These amounts would pay
nearly one-half of the superintendent's
| salary. and l venture to say that in the
matter Of school supplies and in numer-
GUS ether ways many dollars would be
saved in running expenses so that on
| ly few hundred dollars additional
| outlay would be necessary to pay the
superintendent. l mention these last
points simply to show that the salary
question would take care of itself very
| easily.
1t may not be out of place to call at
| tention to the fact that in 1901 the Ed
wards Mills property will come in for its
share of the public burden and as I I'M
derstand, the amount received on the re-
turned valuation will be practically the
same as the amount that is annually
| raised for the support or schools in the
Village and Williams Districts combined.
Using that as an estimate tho tax rate
Tor 1904 should be materially lower than
the rate in the Village District in 1905.
The scheme proposed of doing away
with four districts and making one and
the consequent supporting of them all by
general taxation would give the taxpayer
in the rural communities a somewhat in
creased rate. but | venture to say that
very little objection would ever be raised
from that quarter in view of the fact
that the rural schools would be placed
on exactly the same footing as the schools
in the city proper, a result that would
he impossible under the present condi-
tons. The pupils in the country sections
the same quality of work in every par
ticuiar that would fan to the lot Of the
pupil in the schools of the city sections.
No one who knows at all about such
matters can for moment claim that the
schools in any portion of the city have
reached a point beyond which progress
is impossible. Perfection Is impossible in
but the aim should be To come as near
as may be to that perfect state and the
nearest approach can he had only under
the plan which has been suggested The
business man would look for dismal fail |
ure il he were 70 conduct his business
venture on the plan in vogue in our
schools at the present time. The success
Of any financial enterprise depends on
the strict and close correlation Of all its
parts. To be a good financiar
orc must be able to grasp the details Of