The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-26
ANNUAL REPORT 0F
 ALABAMA SCHOOLS Submitted to O'Neal by the
 Superintendent ENROLMENT IS 74,972

Report Is Exhaustive in Every Detail
 Citing Statistics Which Will In- .l : terest Educators = Contains Many Recommendations
 Montgomery. November 25s--tspecial:l 7s sAlabama's great education system. set forth in a nutshell. is analysed thorough ly and splendidly in the annual report of Superintendent of Education Henry J. Willingham, which has just been sub nlitted to Gov Emmet O'Neal. The report is exhaustive in every detail, and cites statistics that will prove of invaluable benefit to the educators of the state. the lawmakers. and those interested in the educational uplift of the commonwealth.
 feature of the report Is the recom- mendations which it contains, none of which, however is given so great prom thence as is the suggestion of the su- {. compulsory school attendance law. The question is one that has been raised by MT. Willingham ever since his entrance Into office, but in his annual report to the state chief executive he concludes that the issue is inevitable and that it merely is a question of time as to when Alabama will lift It's voice with the voices of 40 other states in such a declaration as will make the youths of the day rec. ognize in education the great solution of all social problems. If some of the expenses now incurred in maintaining iais and criminal courts could be trans ferred to the betterment of our public schools the superintendent of educa- ton says, it would improve our policy a business arrangement and at the same time elevate the standard of our citizenship"
 The report calls attention to the diff culty experienced by the education de- partment in securing full and prompt reports from the various schools in the states system. The superintendent stated in this connection that probably failure of some of the reports to arrive in time precluded the possibility of full presen tation of the facts.
 Enrolment in Schools
 The report shows that the school census of July, 1910. established the fact that there were in the state at that time a total of 12.7s9 children between the ages of and 21 of which total 390,062 are whites and a22707 colored. Reports re- ceived by Superintendent Wilingham shows that during the fiscal year just closed there were in attendance upon the schools S02. .671 white pupils and l56,16l col oied pupils. the percentage of white at- tendance, compared with co1ored being IS, and the percentage of colored pu- pills being AZ.
 Perhaps we have no right to expect a larger proportion says the superin tendent, when it is borne in mind that this question is determined absolutely ana only by the will of the parents and chi1 dren themselves.
 The superintendent states that it is not at all gratifying to note that one-fourth of the white pupils of school age do not. avail themselves of the states school facilities. Esf
 Attendance Record .J
 During the year covered by the report the school terms throughout the state averaged 127 days for the whites, and 95 days for negroes. Figures show that the white children who actually became en- relied attended these schools an average of 80 days. the colored pupils attendin. on an average of 66 days. How we are to become an educated people when only about tnree-fourths of the white people are in school, and they averaging only four months in attendance, Is d difficult
  tendent.
 A total student enrolment of 774,972 was shown by the statistics of the past year in so far as towns and cities are con- according to the report. Of these 52, ,629 were whites and 21,349 were colored. Provided for the education of the stu dents in cities and towns are 259 white schools and 121 negro schools. The white schools are valued at $3,S69,050 and colored Tot a vbifp teachers, 1899: total number of colored teachers, 365.
 The amount of money expended for rural school houses during the past year. according to the report, was $o423l.12, with a balance in treasury in favor of the various counties of $83,029.63. f The total number of public schools in Alabama during the past year was 4s90 whites and 1876 colored, a total of 6566 schools. White male teachers during the past year averaged a salary of $il3 while the white female teachers averaged s34o. Yearly income among, negro male teachers was $l69, and negro female teach CTS $50. The superintendent admits that the sums are inadequate.
 Some Of the other striking features in the report as set forth as follows:
 Agricultural Schools
 "The total student enrolment during the last year in the nine district agri- cultural schools was 1402, an increase of a little more than 10 per cent over the previous year. It will be seen by study of the figures referring to these schools that 655 of the students enrolled repre-. sent other localities than those in which the schools were located. The state ap- propriates annually sum total of about $4O,OOo to those nine schools, while their receipts from other sources bring up the annual income of all these nine schools to about $56.O00.
 Nine hundred and sixty-six of the 1i02 students enrolled in the district agr!cu- tural schools were engaged in system attic study, both theoretical and prac- tical of the subject of agriculture. These institutions appear to be emphasizing more the importance of agriculture as a science, the development of which among the people constituting the cause for which those schools were established. The students receive good high school training with special stress laid on the scientinc side. 1t is hoped that provi- sion will soon be made for instructlng the girls in the subject of household economics, including at least cooking and sewing In fact. legislative provision was made to that end by the recent legis- lature but the additional appropriation
 tf,