Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-06-21
sCHOOL CHANCES
UNEVEN IN STATE
.AIndiana Official Points to I'm
equal Taxation.

Educational opportunities provided
school children in various counties in In
diana are not equal because local school
corporations are the taxing units for
school funds, is the statement Of B. J.
Burris, assistant state superintendent OF
public instruction.
OF the money expended for education
in the state 81 per cent is raised in the
local corporal tons, as shown by the sta
tistics prepared by Burris.
1t is further shown by the figures that
there are great differences in the per
capita amounts of taxables in the coun-
ties for children enumerated for school
purposes.
Benton county leads the state in the
amount of taxables for each school child
the total valuation is quoted at 81, TT3,
SO; the school enumeration is 3,295 and
child is SO, 0S6.
4 SIMILAR QUOTATIONS
TOR OTHER COUNTIES.
Similar statistics were quoted for the
counties of Boone, Carroll, Clinton, Han
cock, Hendricks, Jasper, johnson, Rush,
Montgomery, Shelby Tippecanoe and
Union.
Crawford county appears at the bot
tom Of the list with taxable property
amounting to S2,9S0,S5O, school child emu
meratfon Of 3,146 and only 1891 of tax
ables for each school child in the county.
A like condition exists in Clark, Clay.
Dubois. Floyd, Franklin, Harrison and
Orange counties.
The total taxable property IN Indiana
for 1920 is IS, 749, 45S, 794, and the school
enumeration for this year is 77S,7S6, fix
ing the average true value of taxable
wealth for each pupil enrolled for school
purposes In 1920 at S7.3S2.
CONTRASTS
ARE STRIKING
The uneven distribution of taxables in
Indiana is shown strikingly by the fact
that one township in the state has taxa
bles amounting to S1s.000.Qo0; at least
fourteen townships have taxables rang
ing from 100000 to $1s,O00.o 900; sixty
one townships have taxables ranging
from s60OO,oO0 to $S,OOO,0OO, while other
townships have taxaDies ranging down
ward from 100000, some as low as
100000.
These figures do not include the taxa
BILE property lying within incorporated
towns and cities.
II this property were to be included in
the figures the differences in taxables in
the townships would be even greater.
OQe township II the blGle has lNAdOAc
property amounting to 1851, 54S, 800.
SOME TOWNSHIPS
MORE THAN COUNTIES.
Some counties in the state have less
taxable property than some townships.
SpeSser county has a total assessed
valuation of only ST,295,690. while Penn
township Of ST. Joseph county has prop
erty assessed at ST.455.04O, and Lawrence
township of TippecanOe county has a
valuation of SIS, I61,4SO.
Following the publication OF the sta
tistics It is expected there will be a
4 movement started to make the state pro-
rSs more than 10 per cent of the funds
used for educational purposes in the
community.
bill providing for making the state
the taxing unit for school purposes is
expected to be submitted at the next
regular session of the general assembly
by school authorities.
As a result of the present financial
conditions in the state some townships
are maintaining a school term OF not
more than 100 days. while in other town
ships the school term is almost double
that amount.