Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-27

TlIE school populatiou has about dou.
l. bled in twelve years School eS'
penscs have ticbl,d in the same period.
Joseph W. Catharinc. attorney. pub
I licist, and former city official. made this
statement at tho February meeting or
the Board OF Education in sc"ord,ug
the motion OF Dr Edward Martin for the
authorization Of committee from the
board 70 make survey Of the school
system from the inside and 20 effect
economy through efficiency" through
consideration Of the recommendations
made in President VOLTS annual report
statistics from the Handbook Of the
Board Of Education prove Mr.. CATH
ariac's statement somewhat misinforn-
ing Tho latest edition. for the year end
!nr December ~. 1916, sets the school
pnp,Ilatlon at 2@I 900 and the amount Of
echool expenses at sl2,isl,O00. From the
way in which the statistics are presented
II is not possible to make comparison
on the twolveyear basis or even on
a ton.ycar basis. 4 comparison can b."
made on an cight-yeat basis. since the
flg,iroS for 1905 are given. In that year
the school expenses we're s1,20o,000. This
shows considerably less than a doubling
Of the appropriation. IN fact an increase
Of only 80 per cent, while there was an
increase just short Of 80 per cent In the
enrolment. The disparity between the
increase in budget and In inatriculatlon
il not, however, an evidence OF eNtrav-
agarcc or wastetrlness but may he as
gIuled 70 be due to the sharply auSment-
I'd rises In all costs OF commodities ann
oDcrat;ons during tho last decade. For
1915 Tho expenses wern s1@.201,OOO and
IN, enrolment was 2os,oo0: for 1914.
expenses. S1l.2G9.OO0. enrolment @o1.-
600. both indicating a much moro cdu't-
able adjustment between school costs
and curo,Iments The cost per pupil IN
1905 was :32.36: 1919. sS6.S4: 1915.
S$Tsf: 1916. SST.67 Presented on this
basis the Increased budgets in relataion
20 the increase in number Of pupils do
not seem so excessive
REASON FOR HIGHER COSTS
The usual yearly increase in nuInhtr
~ pupils runs from 5000 TO 5000 The
excess Of 1916 over 1915 was due to the
inauguration Of the continuation schools.
These schools. with the vocational
schools ana special classes. all of which
are highly commended by educators
Throughout the country. bring in new
and large element OF expense and any
criticism Of tho expenses Of maintaining
, the schools on a modern, humanitarian
ana Efficient basis must ta';" this into
account
ComDar-d with school expenses IL
other cities Philadelphia does not rank
very high. It's per capita expenditure
for schools for the year 1910. based on
. ~. II ..t. So,
II is fourteenth in n list Of the eighteen
largest cities. Boston. New York and
Washington. in this order, spend moro
; than SO Der capita Ncwaih. Afnreap-
olis. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati more
than So: Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee,
St Louis, san Francisco more than s..
Philadelphia is The third city in thc
country in school population and the
tenth in the cost per pupil in a tabula-
tion Of operating expenses, oNCludng
permanent improvements. Tt9 cost figure
per pupil IL S5i.%2 as against sTG37 for
los Angeles. the most liberal spcndrr ia
the cnuntr; for schools, and more than
$50 for pittsburgh. Cincinnati. Cleveland,
New orleans and Minneapolis
Not only is It's rating low 81 cost
per pupil and per capita taS and operat-
ing overhead" but very much 50 in per
mduent improvements and equipmcnt
For 1917. there was an addition Of more
than 1000 pupils and at the opening Of
the school year in Juno permanent i'm
provsmeuts in Increased accommodations
for new pupils We're provided for only
3so0. This is the prevailing ratio for
some years. It is still far behind in
the innovations Of vocational and trade
schools and has only within the last
decade mad" a fair stride forward in
sectional high schools.
/ Tho cot vontiou OF 80 cent school
rat" ont Of the old $50 tax rate be
came as firmly entrcnched in the public
mind as sufficient for school purposes
as that rate became regarded as enous Il
for municipal purposes. The truth is
the public has not yet become educated d
10 the actuality that the fiscal policy
in this city has been scaled on Il mig
sardly basis,
N n maximum school tax rate ot ten
mills is urged in II statement by Bruc,
w. Watson, SECRETARY Of the Public Edu-
4 cation and Child Labor Association
That Philadelphia's school system