The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-11-27

dDplng, chairman or the House Il
nance committee and who in the in
terInin edits very comprehensive
News and Comment" column in the
Hibbing Daily Tribune, speaks of the
State School Fund as follows:
Minnesota has, with one exception
Texas, the largest state school fund OF
any state in the Union.
The Minnesota state school fund
which now exceeds sixty millions OF
dollars, has been derived from the
proceeds of school lands granted to
the state by the federal government
For many years the permanent school
fund" Of the state was built up from
the sale of lands and the timber from
the school lands, but in recent years the
principal revenue to the permanent
school fund has come from the de-
posts of iron ore that have been found
on state school lands.
Minnesota today owns every foot
Of iron ore lands that it has ever had
title to- None of it has been lost,
stolen, sold or given away, notwith-
standing a belief to this effect which
prevails in some parts of the state,
particularly in Southern Minnesota.
The state has never attempted to mine
its own ore, but has leased the various
state properties that have been dis
covered to various mining companies.
Practically all state ore mined and
RI l,n rot
Is cents per ton by way of royalty.
A new act was passed in 1923 imposing
higher rate in the case of any leases
made after that date, but no such
leases have yet been made.
The revenue to the state school fund
from iron ore leases has amounted
to as much as 100000 per year, but
this year the shipments of state ore
have all fallen off as have all ore ship
mentS, and the addition to the state
school fund from iron ore leases for
1881 will not exceed 100000.
TT seems certain that the Minnesota
state school fund, now more than
sixty millions, will finally amount to
more than one hundred millions. If
the low grade ores owned by the state
are finally made commercially avail
able the permanent state school fund
of Minnesota may exceed two hundred
million and enthusiasts declare that it
will some day reach the huge total
of a quarter of q billion dollars.
The state school fund is permanent
fund. It is constantly increasing, but
not dollar of the principal can ever
be used for any purpose. The interest
upon this permanent school fund is
distributed pro rata to all school dis
tricts in the state in proportion 60
the number of children in the public
schools.
"The Commissioner of Education of
j. A. Mcconnell, has just
issued statement concerning the dis
tribution of the funds by the state
to school districts.
The money for such distribution
comes from two funds, the Current
School Fund" and special appropriation
called state aid' made by the legis-
lature. From these two sources the
schools of the state in 1881 receive al
most s11,OOO,O0O.
The Current School Fund is made
up Of the interest on the permanent
school fund of more than sixty million
and the proceeds of the state one mill
school tax levied upon all property in
the state. It amounts for 1881 to about
81 ,000, 900 and the distribution is slightly
in excess of 81 for each pupil in the
public schools.
The state aid appropriated by the
together with some COM
paratively small aids from the federal
government, this year amounts to
Sc, Toe, 600. It is not distributed pro
rata, but according to complicated
Set-up of "aids, "-tuition aid, supple
mentary aid, evening school aid, aid to
high schools, aid to rural schools, etc.
Due to this fact, the total aid received
by different school districts, out Of the
eleven million total distribution, varies
greatly.
"St. Louis County gets bigger hunk
of the eleven million dollar state school
melon than any other county in the
state,-and we make SO bold as to
claim some credit for it. st. Louis
County for 1881 receives $3.50, 824.50
state school aid, or more than one
twentieth of the whole melon. Hen
nepin County, due to the high schools
of Minneapolis, is second and ItaSca
County, because of special legislation,
secured by members of the legislature
from Itasca and st. Louis Counties, is
third with sos, 4O624
"Of st. Louis county's big slice Of
more than half million, about one
half goes to the rural schools of the
county The big unorganized rural
district gets 500, lao; Is other rural
schools s25,75O; F7oodwood $4,000;
s10.762."
The main features of Minnesota's
big state school melon of s11, OO0, 900
are here sketctlily set forth. There are
also some very interesting particulars.
For instance, here is the school dis
trict of Benidii dragging down s50,071
BemidI Juggling of this fat slice, has
showed every other community in the
state into the background, leaving out
Of consideration, Of course, the three
big cities, which, because Of their popu-
lation, secure large amounts.
There are other communities, also,
which receive enough from the state
to entirely support the public school of
a former generation Take a look at
this very respectable parade: Bemidji