The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1921-07-01

What That "Vicious" School Bill Does
"What is the eight-tenths of a mil
school bill, passed by the last legis-
lature, which the Duluth Kiwanis
club, without offering a single fact
to support it's contention, denounces
as "vicious?"
''The act provides for the levy of
an eight tenths of mill tax upon
the taxable property of st. Louis
county, the funds so secured to be
used as follows: Any school district in
the county in which tax levy of 80
mills does not produce $50 per pupil,
will receive sufficient funds from the
eight-tenths of mill levy to make its
receipts for school purposes $50 per
pupil.
"This is the whole sum and sub
stance of the vicious" eight-tenths
of mill school bill.
"This act is an attempt to provide
that the enormously wealthy county
of ST. Louis shall give every child
within it's borders fair chance for
an elementary education.
"Was the act needed?
1. "There are four high or graded
school districts in ST. Louis County
in which tax levies of from 7 to 10
per cent GO to 100 mills) for school
purposes alone are insufficient to
maintain the public schools. These
districts are Proctor, Tower, Flood
sIooqos 9qL 'spueIMope9W pue pooM
of Proctor have been partially main
tanned by charity for some years and
the tax rate in these places for
schools has become so high as to be
practically confiscatory.
g. "There are 20 rural school dis
tricts in st. Louis county in which a
levy of 80 mills for school purposes
is utterly INADEQUATE to maintain the
schools. In the Alborn district a
levy of 112 mills think of it, 11.2
per cent? for school purposes alone
produces funds so inadequate that the
schools must be closed if help is not
given. Several of these 20 rural
schools are on the point of being
closed for lack of funds.
3. est. Louis county has what is
called an Unorganized or County
School District, managed by County
Board of Education. In this I'm
organized district there are 1876
schools and many more are needed.
HC GoCdl doSSoSSu VdludClOIl Ol CnlS
great district is $5,700,000 and its
tax rate for school purposes only is
45.6 mills, or more than three times
the school tax rate in Duluth. Six
teen school buildings in this big dis
trict are inadequate; 81 others are
unfit for school use; 13 schools are
being held in tar paper shacks end
log cabins. Twenty-four localities
are without schools entirely and
urgently need them.
''It is to relieve the conditions out
lined in paragraphs l., and above
that the vicious" eight-tenths of a
mill bill was passed-a bill which COM
pels rich county to dole out pit
tance of its wealth to give some
meager help to the hardy men and
women who are pioneering and de-
veloping the county and staggering
under an almost impossible burden in
their heroic effort to give their little
ones that inalienable right of every
child in America-the right to the
elements of common school educa-
ton.
"St. Louis county is a very large
county. 1t contains 1874 congress
sional townships. Of these so
townships have abundant wealth, end
to spare, for the education of their
children; SO abundant, in fact, that
the school houses and the schools of
these 81 townships are the talk of the
country and their tax rates for school