The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-04-07
Avenue, the most overcrowded dis
trict in town. or worse STILL, ito &C.
cupy modest quarters In Poverty Flat. :
SCHOOLS VERSUS POLICE FORCE.

SYMBOLS VERSUS HOItC6N fOHOE.
Compare the cost Of olty's police
force with the cost of its school sye.
TEN and You have one indication OF
that municipalities interest In educa-
ton, according to DR.. Harlan Upde-
graft. DR.. Updegraff is specialist In
school administration OF the United
States bureau of education, which has
Just published for free distribution
monograph containing the results OF
his Investigations.
Updegraff is quoted as saying that
every American city spends more mon
ey on it's schools than on it's police.
But the value of this comparison,
he said comes in finding how much
more the public schools get. It is An
interesting, and possibly significant
fact, that the larger the proportion OF
total municipal revenue given to one
of these branches OF city government,
the smaller the proportion received by
the other. This rule is practically in
variable In all the cities investigated.
Again, 1t has been found that the
smaller the city is, the larger is the
proportion OF it's income spent on
schools"
The investigation conducted by DR..
updegraff embraced 1903 OF the 1874
American cities which the census of
1910 showed to have population OF
$4,000 or more. He divided the list in
to four groups. In the first group,
which consisted Of thirteen cities with
a population of 100000 or more, he
found that the general practice was to
spend about IS per cent of the total
revenues on the public schools, or
s2.12 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 as it spent on it's police.
The second group of cities. which in
cludes twenty communities with a
population of 100000 to 100000, gen
orally speaking devoted little more
than one-third of their incomes to edu-
cation, or three times as much as they
gave their police. Here Scranton,
Penna.. 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 forty-two cities having a
population of $4,000 to 100000, he
found that they are spending about
36.5 per cent of all the receipts on
education, or three and two-fifths times
the police appropriations. Johnstown
Pa. takes first prize, standing about
where Scranton does in the list ahead
Finally, twenty-eight cities invests
gated. which have population OF 80,
900 to $4,000, lay out practically 81
| per cent of their money on schools
This is four and one-third times as
much as the guardians of the peace re
|ceive. Here Topeka, Kans.. and Jop
lin. Mo, are tied for first place. eaci
with showing OF an even SO per cen
OF all revenues to educate their chill
dren. This was 49, times as much al
Joplin gave its police. and more thar
eight times as much as Topeka de
voted to the same purpose.
DR.. Updegraff's bulletin, which il
entitled "a Study of Expenses of Cit!
School Systems was prepared Il
provide those charged with the admin
/ istration of public schools in the larg
est cities of the United States tn,
means of making exact comparisons 0
cost between any two or more cities.