New Britain herald., 1915-09-10
EDUCATION IN THIS
 CITY IS NEGLECTED
Appropriations for Other Depart
 mentS Show Bigger Increase

In the last nine years the cost of education in this city has increased 113 per cent. This statement is made in the annual report of Super- intendent Stanley H. Holmes, submitt- ed to the school board this afternoon. It shows that while appropriations for other departments have been increased by greater percentages, ed- ucation has not been considered of enough consequence to make suffi- cient increases in appropriations Ap- propriations for streets have increased 164 per cent; for parks. 19l per cent; for police, 118 per cent; for sewer maintenance, 127 per cent; for health, 203 per cent; for street sprinkling, 112 per cent; for chari- ties, 62 per cent; for fire department 46 per cent; and for lights, 43 per cent.
 Schooling Costs little Here. The report says:
 "An examination of the facts shows that the upward rise in school expenditures has been general and that while the rate of increase has been more rapid in New Britain than 1t has been in the state and in the country at large, at the same time, the per capita cost has only slightly ex- ceeded that of the country at large which includes the inefficient and low cost schools of the South and is still below the average cost for tho state
 General increase in school cX- penses Cost of schools per pupil: 1915 1913 United States ....$25.40 $32.17 Connecticut ....... 30.63 34.9S New Br.tan ....... .26.98 33.97
 "The above table presents a com par1sOn of per capita cost for the years 1905 and 1913, the figures for 1913 being the latest available for the state and country. These figures are based upon average membership. Elm ploying the same basis of cost gives $34.2S as the per capita cost for New Britain in 1914-15 which is less than the figures for all of Connecticut in 1913.
 New Britain at School.
 Interesting figures regarding the appreciation of education bv people living in this city are given in the fol- lowing part of Superintendent Holmes report:
 New Britain goes to school in a very real sense. for it is tr,a tbat eleven out Of every fifty people in the city have received instruction and have been provided with places in the public day and evening school during the past year. The figures show that one of every fifty people in the citv has been in the High school one out of every fifty in the Grammar school and preVocatlonal school, one out of every thirty-five in the evening school and one of every seven in the elemen- tary schools.
 The estimate population of the city according 10 the estimate of the Chamber of Commerce is now 53,000. Of this number 12,725 were of school age (between 4 and 16) in September 1914. This is twenty-four per cent. or approximately one-fourth of the total population.
 .In this connection it is also inter- esting to note that during the past eight years the rate of increase in mately two ana one-half times the rate of gain in the total population of the city. The estimated gain in chil- dren of school age having been fifty six per cent. as shown by the school census against an estimated gain in total population or twenty-three per cent"