The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-02-05
some School FACTS

THEY SHOULD BE STUDIED BY
ALL OF OUR PEOPLE.
They Show That South Carolina Lags
Way Behind Many Other States in
Education.
Opportunely for its influence on
educators and lawmakers, upon the
eve of the assembling Of many State
legislatures, there is published TO-.
900 copy edition of bulletin con-
tanning results of an important COM
porative study Of State school sys-
tens in the forty-eight states, made
by the division Of education main
tanned under the Russell Sage foun-
dation.
None of the commonWealths COM
posing the federal union has school
system free from weak points, and
the foundation issues this notable
summary Of it's recent investigation
at this time, in order to bring these
weak points to the attention Of edu-
Gators and to place in the hands OF
State legislators an authoritative
statement Of present public school
conditions.
Copies of the bulletin have been
distributed among newspapers and
magazines, colleges, principals OF
normal schools, city school superin-
tendents, governors and State super
intendents of public, instruction, and
copy has been forwarded to every
member of every State legislature ap-
pointed to meet in 1918.
We agree with The State that
South Carolinians will find nothing
in this remarkable document to in
duce in them a feeling Of complacen-
cy, in respect Of the provision made
by their State for elementary public
schools. South Carolina is ranked as
follows among the forty-eight states:
Forty-seven in general efficiency.
Forty-eighth in educational e1pen-
diture per child Of school age.
Forty-eighth in average e1pend!-
ture per one days schooling for each
child of school age.
Forty-sixth In average annual SAL
ary per teacher.
Forty-ffth in the average number
of days schooling given each child Of
school age.
Forty-ffth in the number Of pu-
pills in high schools and colleges rela-
lively to the number attending public
and private elementary schools.
Rhode Island has the longest
school year Of any State-1s3 days:
but if these 1913 days Of schooling
we're divided equally among the chill
dren of school age in the State, the
result would be 116 days Of school
ing each. The Sage report terms this
the defective school year,, and COM
pares forty-eight states on that con-
servative basis.
Rated by this standard, South Car
olina provides fifty days Of schooling
for every child Of school age. South
Carolina's annual expenditure per
child Of school age is SO. Washing
ron's is s32, or nearly eleven times
as much. South Cardinals invest
nent in school property-buildings,
sites. etc.-aggregating s3,250,00o.
is only se per child Of school age,
as against Sis in Massachusetts,
md s111 in New York.
Our rank among the States in this
respect is forty-seventh, Mississippi
alone holding lower position. For
ty-eighth and lowest place Is held by
South Carolina in respect Of current
expenditure per child Of school age.
The average percentage Of atten-
dance among enrolled pupils in South
Carolina is 71.S, which gives US the
rank of twenty-one among the forty
eight states.
South Carolina teachers receive an
average annual salary Of but s212-
considerably less than 81 per day.
California teachers are paid, on the
average, 1913 per year each. Com
pare figures with the average annual
earnings of carpenters In the Unit
ed States 1892; Of coal miners $500;
OF factory workers. $3.50; Of common
laborers. 1913; and Of teachers,
s4S5; and remember also that one
Southern State rents it's convicts to
contractors at q little more than
s4oO each per year, while 1t pays its
public school teachers, on an aver
age. slightly over $500 each.
Nearly "a per cent. OF the children
of school age in South Carolina are
not enrolled in any school, public or
private. Not all Of these are to be
set down as not having had any
schooling or having no prospect or
getting any. since the number indi-
Gated includes some who have not
vet begun to go to school. but VINO
will begin and others who have COM
pleted their education: but it Is eVl-!
dent that Vermont, Maine and Con-
necticut with more than 90 per cent.
of their children Of school age ac-
tually in school, are making better
investments for future citizenship
than is South Carolina, with more
,han g per cent. Of its children OF
scholo age not receiving schooling.
South Carolina ranks forty among
the states in respect of total school
revenue available. all Of this but
le.2 per cent. being derived from
local and state taxes, but this total
can not fairly be used as the basis
Of a comparison with other states,