Evening star., 1930-12-08
o. s. Aid to D. C. Schools.

W .. Alu 10 ~. y. SCHOOLS.
One of the traditional demands to
know" with which the District has a
tong-suffering acquaintance, is the de
mand to know" why the Federal Gov
ernment should contribute so much as a
penny to the support of the District
Public Schools. Naturally enough, 1t
has already come up in the fiscal re-
lations hearings and will come up again.
+ DR.. Carusi of the Board of Educa-
tion has been quick to furnish a par
tial answer to the question by obtaining
from the statistical Office at the Frank
lin School some figures that show the
amount of tuition-free education given
to the sons and daughters of non-tax-
paying federally employed parents in
the District Public Schools. Measured in
terms Of dollars and cents, it amounts
10 $217,854.s2 q year. That would be
enough, 1t Is pointed out, to erect a
new elementary school building every
year or a new junior high school every
two years.
Federal dollars are not earmarked for
use in District appropriations. 1t could
be argued that the proportionate pay
ment to the schools out of the Federal
contribution far exceeds the $217,s54.s2
representing the amount of tuition that
Is furnished free. 1t could as easily be
argued, however, that not a cent Of the
Federal money goes into the schools,
but is used for purposes that are more
national in character than are the
schools. 1t would be as easy to con-
tend, in other words, that the Federal
Government does not contribute
penny to the school system here as it
would be to contend that the Federal
Government supports the schools to the
extent Of twenty to twenty-five per
cent contribution to the budgetary al
lotment to the schools
The difficulty encountered by those
who seek to earmark Federal dollars
and distinguish them from local dollars
on the basis of national or local func-
tions, however, lies in the difficulty of
any attempt to dissect National Capital
activities and separate them into ma
tional and municipal functions In
mathematical proportions, and then, on
the assumption that primary RESPONSE
bility for the Capital is on the local
community, attempt to measure the
monetary value of the service under
each head rendered by the Capital COM
lnunity to the Nation.
A theoretical attempt was once made
30 separate municipal and national
functions In order that control of nu-
nicipal functions might be transferred
TO the people Of the municipality, and
It was then discovered how closely
interviewer were the national and local
lines In the Capital and how dificult,
even to the point of impossibility, it was
70 separate them. If it Is impossible to
make the separation for the purpose of
dividing control, it is likewise impossible
for the purposes of dividing financial
responsibility. Control and financial re-
Sponsibility are inseparably linked.
But, returning to the old demand,
why should the people of my State
contribute to the support of the District
Public Schools?" 1t may be asked with
equal emphasis, why should the people
Of the District contribute to the support
Of your schools?" The Districts con-
tr1bution to Federal income Is relatively
high. It exceeds the contributions of
any one Of half the States. And Fed
era1 educational subsidies are enor-
moB-subsidies in which the District of
Columbia does not share Under the
Smith Hughes act for promoting voca-
tional education. and which is made on
the much-abused $3.50 principle, the
States between 1918 and 1884 will have
received about 100000 900 from the
Federal Government. Land grants by
the Federal Government to States and
territories for the support of common
schools exceed 100000 acres; to
the States for universities, seminaries
Of learning and normal schools, more
than three million acres; for colleges of
agriculture and mechanical arts. aerf-
cultural experiment stations and CO.
operative extension work, more than
100000 acres, while appropriations
for colleges Of agriculture and mechani-
cal arts for 1880 exceed s2,5Oo 900.
This does not end the list Of Federal
educational subsidies to the States. It
does furnish an enlightening index.
volume could be-in fact, volumes
have been-written on the amount of
Federal subsidies to the States. The
stupendous totals relegate to an abb
surdity the childish quibbling over why
the Federal Government should appro-
pirate for the Federal City which it gov
erns and controls, and render ridicu-
lous the grave warnings against raids
on the Treasury by the voteless but tax
paying residents of the District.
Soviet Russia has increased its out
put In various lines, not emitting a