Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-18
Details in Report.

vi tlldl VIII pc
made later.
Details in Report.
While there was some little objection to
the adoption of the report until the entire
subject had been covered. the committee
voted by a large majority to receive the
report.
The report was in part, as follows:
Your subcommittee found the business
at the Franklin School conducted in a
systematic manner, looSe-ieaf ledger
and card index system being generally
used. Several items were taken from the
time the request was made by the teacher
or particular instructor, and traced
through the necessary channels, includ-
| ing the District property Clerk, until the
same was delivered to the person max
| ing the original requisition. The only
criticism your subcommittee has to make
in regard to the question of supplies is
| that the work of the District property
clerk in this connection seems entirely
! unnecessary. simply duplicating the work
| at school headquarters. This matter
should he left solely to the school au-
thorities. Herewith are flied blanks
showing how acquisitions are made, ap-
proved and forwarded.
| THE question of coal was investigated
and 1t was found that the requisition is
made by the principal of the particular
| school or the janitor direct to the school
authorities, who require the requiSition to
| be countersigned by the superintendent or
janitors, whose duty ii is to investigate
| the coal condition Of the school and TO
see if the coal as requested Is required
| Upon his countersgning this request the
coal is ordered.
page in their ledger for each school,
showing the exact amount of coal fur
nished that particular building. The coal
books We're examined back to the year
| ta11 hot
they had books still earlier than that.
Regarding the furniture. there is filed
with this report a record book. which
gives detailed account of the chairs and
desks used by the pupils, the teachers
desks and smaller chairs, blackboards,
pointers, erasers-in fact, everything that
goes into a schoolroom. This book is
accurately kept, and the teacher held re-
sponsible for any discrepancies In the
said book also is kept an accurate ac-
count of the text books as used by the
children. The system of issuing books
is very thorough.
General Storehouse Recommended.
Your subcommittee would recommend
that there be built a general storehouse
for the accommodation of school supplies.
The fire department, by its recent reSu-
lations, prevents the storing of school
furniture in the Easements, and conse-
ouently the school authorities have no
place to store their extra supplies. The
accommodation for the storing of extra
books and supplies Is meager, and IN con-
sequence small lots have to be purchased
at an increased price By having a suit
able storehouse the District would be
able to save considerable on the purchase
of its supplies.
The number Of pupils instructed one
day per teacher and the number of pu-
pills instructed one day for each 81
spent in salaries for officers and teach
ers have absolutely no significance un-
less the nature of the instruction given
is known. A teacher in a school for
defective and backward children has
from eight to fifteen pipils a
kindergarten school of thirty-five or
forty pupils has two teachers. A high
school section in Greek may have ten
pupils, while another in English liter
ature may have forty, and a graded
school may have forty eight. Pupils in
manual training shops cooking schools,
sewing classes and those taught by
teachers of drawing, music and physi-
cal culture already have been counted
in regular classrooms. The numDer
of teachers increases with the scope of
the instruction and the variety of spe-
cial subjects taught.
In other words, the more specialized
and up-to-date the instruction the
larger the number of teachers required
and the higher the cost To make a
comparison Of the school expenditures
of one city with those of another, not
only must the conditions OF the school
organizations and instruction in both
cities be accurately known but they
must be absolutely identical
The Real Issue.
THE vital question would seem to be
not whether Washington is spending more
per capita for education than some other
cities. but (a) whether Washington is
giving the schools more than their just
share os municipal revenues, and (b) If
the schools are expensive. is the expense
justified by unusual local conditions and
by the educational results obtained?
THE first question has been repeatedly
answered, and this is the answer: One
thing is plainly brought out by the CEN
sus bulletin given out for publication De-
cember 70 1909. showing for 15S cities
the following facts for the year 1907:
..The total expense of maintaining the
ordinary city departments and Offices in
l5S cities was $371 ,944. .424.
THE total amount expended for educa-
tion was s1O9 9.919,975. This was 29.5 per
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