The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-12-30

 the year amounted to 1892, compared with 126s the previous year, and 1,054 in 1919. Already the enrollS ment in the high schools during the present session Is more than 2,000 This amounts nearly 10 per cent of the total enrolment and Is, there fore, equal to the average for the en- tire United States 1t may also be seen that the number of seventh grade graduates has grown steadily since 1918 from 460 to 1,059.
 Receipts-The item of 2.072,943. given as the total of receipts, does not indicate that the income for the year amounted to that much. Tn fact the total available Income for rural schools, including the district taxes, was around s665,o00. The re- malnder of this amount was paid over to the cities of the county upon a per capita basis or Is included In warrant sales and loans amo'i0 ! 2 to nearly S700, 000
 Supervision-You sustain seven dis- trict supervisors and four supervisors of special subjects, devoting their en- tire time to the work; also during the past year you have e\ ployed man ual training supervisor and super visor of secondary education, who nave u0NQLtu pdII Ol lHIlI tune. These supervisors have made during the year a total of s,S52 visits to the various schools of the county and since the average size of school Is a three-teacher school. the total num- Der of schoolroom visits has been ap- proximately 10.05s.
 Retarded Pupils-From the report of the committee on age-graded dis tribution, we find 1.2 per cent chil- dren advanced beyond their grade and 53 per cent retarded below their normal grade No extended study has been made as to the reasons for this, but 1t is well known tha. the change in the state laws lowering the legal school age from seven to six years, short terms of school in days gone by anC the seemingly necessary irregu- larity of attendance of the country children as well ,as the lock-s step methods of promo otions observed by many teachers are responsible for this rstardation.
 Enrollment-The total enrolment for the year shows a very small in- crease over that of the preceding year, the number being 2s,002 not in- cluding the night school enrolment. This Is an increase of about $50 over the preceding year. However, indi- cations are that the present year will show an Increase of 1000 or 5000 over 1920-21. This conclusion Is reached from the fact that the first month shows an increase of 3354 over the first month of last year.
 County High School-During the year the County High school enrolled A pupils. The graduating class con- tained 42. The property Is valued at S170, 900 and the amount of funds ex- pended by the principal In conducting the school was s25,12s. These funds were derived from four sources. In- cidental fees amount ro s4,46s; state appropriation. S4,000; board of rev enue, appropriation, SS,000. and county board of education. ss,565. Of the pupils enrolled 250 live more than three miles from school. The average daily attendance was 392. Fourteen teachers In addition to the principal were employed. The school library contains 1000 volumes: sS70 was col lected for library purposes during the year.
 Teacher-T Training in Servtce-An- other very gratifying development of the year was the large number of teachers who sought to improve themselves by study during the year. Nearly 300 teachers engaged in one or more of the phases of teacher train ing in the county. The present ses- sion sees an increase of this number By this means teachers can either ex- tend their certificates without ex- animation or receive credit at normal school or college for the work done on Saturdays. thus working toward graduation and Nhigher certificates with but very little expense and with the effect plainly noticeable in the better conduct of the schools. This work Is entirely voluntary upon the part of the teachers AS no action has been taken by your board requiring the work to be done.
 Salary of Teachers-The average salary of the Jefferson county teacher, including both white and colored, is SS2S per annum; the aver age colored teacher received S435, and the average white s9s0. The average male white teacher received $1,173; the average female, S91S.
 Other Statistics-From the books of the chief clerk 1t appears that the total amount invested in buildings and equiphent In the county is $1,- 96S, GOA, ah increase of $1.027, ,000 in two years. During the present year the valuations will pass the S2.000,- 900 mark. In passing, may I remark that this is a great amount of prop erty to be held in trust for the chill dren of the county and that we be- lieve that our appeal to the trustees and teachers to assist in maintaining this property will find a ready re- sponse.
 Notwithstanding the fact that Brighton and Fairfield are no longer part of the county system and that