Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1936-07-16
PINE COUNTY RURAL
SCHOOL NEWS
A. e. GUSTAFSON
County Superintendent
Supplemental Aid.

The new 1895 supplemental aid law
is much different than the old law
The object of the supplemental aid
law of 1885 is to more nearly equalize
the educational advantages of the
poorer school districts with those OF
the richer districts. After all, If edu-
cation makes better and more useful
citizens, it should be statewide
problem and not a local community
problem.
Using the state average mill rate
for school maintenance go mills) and
the average annual expenditure per
pupil ($6O-elementary). the 1885 law
was carefully framed so that school
districts that levied the average mill
rate and whose total income from all
taxes and state aids did not reach a
total of $50 per elementary pupil, or
500 per high school pupil, in average
daily attendance, the state would pay
to that district the difference, pro-
vided they spend up to a certain
limit. This is called supplemental
aid.
The error in the new law was found
to be in the first part of the law where
it reads "the tax levy for mainten-
ance," should be counted as income
in determining the amount of sup
Elemental aid due the district. 1t
should read proceeds of the levy
or net proceeds of the levy, because
there sometimes is a big difference
between amount levied and amount
of taxes actually received.
Anyone who would spend a few
minutes time studying the effect of
the law as it was written could easily
see that it Disseminated against the
poor districts and therefore would not
serve as was intended. Pine is one
of the seventeen counties that would
have been very seriously hit by this
new law. Many of our schools must
have supplemental aid in order to
operate. Many of our schools would
be forced to close within a year or
two unless this supplemental aid is
received.
Where there is a high tax delin-
quency, as we have in most sections
of Pine county, it would be suicide
for many districts to figure the tax
levy as income Some of our dis
tricts have from so per cent to 80
per cent delinquency. Yet you should
see how difficult it was for a few of
us to convince those responsible for
the law that it would not and could
not serve the purpose for which it
was intended. We should change the
wording so as to read in the first part,
the proceeds of the levy" Your
county superintendent made a nuis-
ance of himself and pestered those
higher up" for a period of several
months. With the help of Senator
G. Elmer johnson we finally con-
vinced Mr.. Rockwell, Mr.. Amidon and
finally Mr.. Utne, who framed the law
The next step was to get it changed
Representative G. G. Mann took i'm.
mediate steps to reopen the case but
we found that in the special session
of the state legislature last fall
there would not be much hope given
to the II poor counties. A better and
quicker way was to get new opinion
from the attorney general, Harry Pc.
terson, based upon the original in
tentions of the law. This we did an6
it is in our favor, as you saw by pub
lished letter from Mr.. Amidon, assist
ant commissioner of education, in this
column a few months ago, giving due
credit to your senator and your county
superintendent for pushing this i'm
portant issue. This Interpretation
will mean over $4,000 for Pine coun.
ty this year. 1t affects favorably
every high and graded school in Pine
county as we'll as about thirty rural
schools. 1t saved $4,000 for Bruno