The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-09

olina except for the remarkably high
staIding given that state, ranking 1t
twenty in the matter of school at
tendance. Alabama would also perhaps
have surpassed North Carolina and Mis-
sissippi except for the high grading given
| those two states in the two subjects of
expenditure as compared to wealth, and
in the relatively large number of chill
dlen enrolled in school. North Carolina
| has a compulsory attendance law and also
| surpasses II states in the relative amount
| 1t expends for public schools as compared
to its valuation of property. Mississippi
surpasses 16 states in the relative amount
it provides for public schools as COM
pared to its valuation of property, and
| surpasses 10 states in the percentage of
| it's children enrolled in school, South
Carolina surpasses 81 states in the per-
| ceIitage of its children enrolled in school.
| There Is always a reason If we can find
1t. Why did South Carolina rank so high
| in the matter of It's school attendance?
| Reference to another part of the Sage
| foundation report, page s. shows that
South Carolina raises by local taXa..on,
| county and district, S3.9 per cent of its
| school revenue, thus creating local In
itiative, local interest, to a remarkably
| high degree. North Carolina ranks de-
| cidedly above Alabama in its relative
school attendance because they have a
! compulsory law on this subject.
Basis in Washington
| washington, the state which heads the
| list for efficiency in educational systems
throughout the union, pays So for each
| child of school age in that state. In Ala
4 bama the entire amount raised for school
purposes from all sources per child of
school age is 81. The amounts, as shown
! on page of the report, raised in the
several states for school purposes range
/ 1. .t.,..t t.4.. ..
| to $4 raised in each of the states of
| Alabama Georgia and Mississippi, and
| Sc for South Carolina. Let it be remem-
bered that these few states which raise
no more per child than Alabama get bet
| ter results in attendance by virtue Of
the fact that they have local taxation
which necessarily secured a keener per
| sonal interest in the schools and thus pro-
notes attendance to such a degree as TO
| outrank Alabama in this nationwide re-
port
Two Remedies Needed
There are two remedies for our de-
| plorable conditions educationaly, and
these remedies should be applied with
| out further waiting. Chief of these is
| a constitutional amendment which will
permit our people to tax themselves by
| their own votes to an increased county
rate for public schools. and also per-
nit them to levy district tax as a final
| supplement when needed for the school
or schools. This report shows, on page
>. that Alabama raises "A per cent of its
public school fund by local taxes, 60 per
cent by state taxes. Al per cent from
permanent funds dn effect, state fund,
and about per cent from other sources
| OocaD. Thus, in plain words we depend
on the state government for "A per cent
of all the money used for school pur-
! poses in Alabama. and receive the re-
mainder, 26 per cent, from local sources,
counties, districts, towns and cities. These
| figures of the Sage report practically
verify the findings of the national gov
ernment which places Alabama as pro-
| viding rs per cent of its school funds
! from state sources and "a per cent from
| local sources.
In this particular phase, and it is per-
| haps the most important of any feature
of the report, when we are looking for
| remedies, Alabama stands in class all
| by itself in the large proportion of its
school funds provided by the state gov
| eminent and its very small percentage
derived from local sources. The state of
| Massachusetts provides only per cent
of its school funds through the state
| government, IS per cent being local. The
range is gradual from Massachusetts to
| Alabama, except that Georgia, which is
| next TO Alabanld III depending Oh iht
| state government, is in fact a good way
from 1t by actual figures, her state fund
| being GA per cent as compared with Ala
| ban.a S Is pei cent. The United States
government report for the year 1910 shows
| that the state of Washington provides 81
per cent of its school fund, while 50 per
cent is provided locally by districts and
by counties This is the state which
heads the list in efficiency. as shown
lby the report. and. evidently they have
the proper ratio depending on the state
i the county and district about equally.
/ LARGE Teachers Salaries
Another striking feature which i'm
Ipresses itself upon the reader when
comparing Alabama's public school sys-
Item with the systems or all the other
states, is the fact that 80 per cent OF
1.-THE money used annually for school
Il nnrnnseS In this state is eXpended foI