Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-04-13
STATISTICS SHOW c,TIES OF Ma.
TON PAY MORE FOR EDUcA.
rioN THAN PEACE.
FIGURES AN INDEX TO
MUNICIPAL PROGRESS
Smaller Cities Spend More in Compare.
son for School Systems Than Larger
Municipalitiss-Govs Invssti-
CATION Reveals Interesting Fact
Oener News.
Ispecial Correspondence

| Special Correspondence
| Washington, April 1O.-compare the
cost of city's police force with the
cost of its school system and you have
one Indication of that municipality
interest in education, according to DR.
Harlan Updegraff. Dr. Updegraff il
| specialist in school administration Of
the United States bureau OF education
which has just published for free dis
tribution a monograph containing the
results Of his Investigations,
In discussing his monograph yes
terday. DR.. Updegraff said that every
! American city spends more money on
Its schools than on its police. But the
value Of this comparison" he said
comes in finding how much more the
public schools get. 1t is an interesting
and possibly a significant fact, that the
larger the proportion Of total munich
pal revenue given to one Of these
branches of city government, the
smaller the proportion received by the
other. This rule is practically in
varia BILE in all the cities investigated.
Again. it has been found that the
smaller the city is, the larger is the
proportion Of its income spent on
schools.
Minneapolis Leads.
This investigation embraced 103 OF
the 1874 American cities which the CEN
sus Of 1910 showed to have a popula-
ton OF 10000 or more. We divided the
list into four groups In the first group,
which consisted OF thirteen cities with
a population of 100000 or more. we
found that the general practice was to
spend about &c per cent of the total
revenues on the public schools. or $2.12
for every dollar spent on the police
force Minneapolis made the best
showing, giving Its schools 81 per cent
of its entire income. or AZ times as
much az it spent on its police.
The second group Of cities. which
includes twenty communities with
population Of 100000 to 100000. gen
orally speaking devoted a little more
than one third Of their incomes to ed
ucation. or three times as much as
they gave their police. Here Scran-
ton did the best by its schools, with
expenditures for them amounting to
practically half of all Its income,
whereas Its police force got only one
sixth that amount
Going still farther to the third
group, comprising ~ cities having a
population OF $4,000 to 100. 600 we found
that they are spending about 365 per
cent OF al! the receipts on education,
or three and two hfths times the po-
lice appropriations. Johnstown, Pa.
takes first prize, standing about where
Scranton does in the list ahead.
The. Smaller Cities.
Finally, twenty-eight cities investi-
gated. which have a population Of 80
900 to $4,000. lay out practically SO
per cent OF their money On schools.
This Is four and one-third times as
much as the guardians Of the peace
receive. Here Topeka. Kan, and Jop-
lin. No, are tied for first place, each
with showing Of an even SO per cent
OF all revenues to educate their chill
dren. This was 40 times as much as
Joplin gave its police. and more than
eight times as much as Topeka devoted
to the same purpose"
DR.. Updegrars bulletin. which is en-
titled "A Study of Expenses Of City
School Systems" was prepared to pro-
vide those charged with the admins
tration Of public schools In the largest
cities Of the United States the means
Of making exact comparisons Of cost
between any two or more cities.
High School Pupils Ovsrdrsss.
There 10 a tendency on the part Of
the Older high school pupils to over
dress and adopt the styles and fash
ions that make them seem more ma
ture in nature and appearance. The
younger pupils are quick to initiate
the dress and manners Of their older
schoolrnates. This leads them in
to indiscretions and robs them Of an
important part Of childhood. The ex-
pense Of overdressing falls heavily up
on most families and tends to discour-
age many parents from keeping their
children in school,
These assertions are made in a cir
cular Of Information Just issued for
free distribution by the United States
bureau Of education. which deals with
an educational experiment at Dayton,
o.. whereby the school children are
segregated In a special high school
for their first year after graduation
from grammar school. "In this school,"
says tl1e circular Of Information, there
are no older pupils. and the simplicity
OF childhood is maintained in dress
and manner for another year. The chill
dren are able to develop more natural
ly without; the influence of older
pupils" The bureau Of education's cir
r,,1o~ ~ 81 Porv,, %ion ,car v,rlttnn -h1,