CHAPTER II.

STATISTICS OF STATE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEMS.

Completeness of the returns-System pursued-Multiplicity of ratios-Limitations of statisticsUrban and rural school systems-Misuse of the tables-Sources of error-School year, total population, and population 6-14 (Table 1)-School ages and school census (Table 2)-Enrolment (Table 3)-Average daily attendance (Table 4)-Total attendance; duration of schools (Table 5)-Number of school buildings; seating capacity (Table 6)-School libraries; high schools (Table 7)-Private schools (Table 8)-Teachers (Table 9)-Salaries of teachers (Table 10)-School revenue (Tables 11, 12, and 12 A)-School expenditures (Tables 13, 14, and 14 A)-Permanent school fund, total assessed valuation, and value of school property (Table 15)-Percentage of increase or decrease of various items during the past year (Table 16)--Ten years' growth of the public school system (Table 17)-Education in the South-Expenditure--Education in the North and West-Chief State school officers (Table 18).

Completeness of the statistical returns. The progress and present condition of common school education in the United States is set forth in the following tables with as much accuracy and completeness as the material that came to hand up to the time of going to press permitted. Returns for the current scholastic year, of more or less completeness, were received from forty-one States and Territories, including Georgia and Louisiana, whose statistics for the calendar year 1886 are republished. This equals the number reporting the previous year. It is a matter affording considerable satisfaction that such is the case, since of the twenty-four States and Territories that have adopted the biennial report system few or none issue a report for the present year.

The Bureau is greatly indebted to many State superintendents for the special efforts they have made to forward their returns in season for publication, and in several cases for their courtesy in furnishing advance sheets of their printed reports. It is only through their voluntary co-operation in the interest of education that the exhibits which appear in the following pages have been made possible.

Seven States and Territories failed to send returns for 1886-87, as follows: New Jersey, Delaware, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico. The returns of the preceding year are given in every case, however, except in that of New Mexico, from which no full educational statistics have been received later than those of the United States census of 1880.

The State superintendency of Delaware having been abolished, application for the statistics of the current year was made to the county superintendents; two of the three county superintendents (those for New Castle and Kent Counties) responded; as their returns did not give a complete view of the State, however, it was deemed best to publish the figures for 1884-85 as taken from the printed State report.

The statistics of Wyoming and Washington Territories were taken from the reports of their respective Governors to the Secretary of the Interior, and are very imperfect, especially those of the former Territory.

SYSTEM PURSUED.

The practice of working up in this Bureau the material of the returns made to it has been extensively pursued, as will appear from the following tables. The idea has been to give, not only the materials for information, but the information itself. Such computations as are most needed, and as are of general utility, have been made, so that those who have use for the results may find them ready to hand. Not the least advantage of this work is, that it is uniformly done for all the States, the imperfections and limitations of the data, when known, being taken into consideration, and the best results obtained of which the character of the material admits.

Arrangement. The arrangement of the tables has undergone some alteration, chiefly with the object of facilitating reference and rendering more easy the comparison of different States and geographical sections with each other as regards their educational condition.

Totals. No totals are given for the United States or for any geographical section, except in case of those items which are reported from every State or are estimated. The common practice of using incomplete totals as if they were complete, has been a fruitful source of erroneous deductions. Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the point that only homogeneous numbers, such as only complete totals are, are comparable with each other. In order to fill up the most important columns, if returns were lacking in only a few instances, recourse was had to estimates, if there was any good basis therefor, or to the returns for the preceding year. In such cases it may be seen that the percentage of error in the totals is only a small fraction of what it was in the number so supplied. This course has been pursued on the assumption that it is better to have an approximate knowledge of a subject than to be entirely destitute of information regarding it.

MULTIPLICITY OF RATIOS.

The idea may occur to a person examining the tables for general purposes, without having his attention directed to any particular subject, that there are an unnecessary number of ratios, etc., enough, it may be, to perplex or even confuse him. But it must be borne in mind that each student or investigator who has recourse to the tables for any specific purpose, follows his own line of argument and requires data adapted to his own particular needs, according to the aspect under which he is viewing educational problems.

LIMITATIONS OF STATISTICS.

In the discussions of the tables the Bureau has formulated only the most obvious of the many conclusions of which the data admit. The points that can be satisfactorily elucidated by these statistics, however, are few, compared with the host of questions that are pressing for a solution, or upon which more light is desired. Even within their legitimate sphere the usefulness of the tables is greatly restricted by their incompletenessto mention no other defect-by the array of blanks which is met with in nearly every column. But above and beyond this, the fact remains that but few of the circumstances or conditions that affect the educational life of a State can be subjected to quantitative measurement. The tables give the number of teachers in a State, but how can their educational force be measured as compared with as many teachers in another State,-their power of developing latent faculties, of moulding character, or of imparting information? We may know that in one State there has been half as much again expended for education for each child as in another, but where are we to find the figures which will tell which State profited most from its expenditure, in which it has been made judiciously under competent direction, and in which it has been marked by extravagance, jobbery, ora vain desire for outward show to the sacrifice of more essential matters? Regard should be had for these and like considerations in the use of statistics; the information they furnish should be compared with and supplemented by that derived from non-statistical sources, in order to get the clearest light practicable upon any subject.

URBAN AND RURAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS.

A comparison of the schools of a State which contains a dense city population with those of a sparsely settled agricultural State, is manifestly unjust to the latter; hence the desirability of making separate exhibits of the rural schools of the different States has forcibly impressed itself upon the attention of this Office. In order to effect this, the city statistics must be eliminated from the State returns, an operation which can be properly effected only when the city returns have all been made; these latter, however, have heretofore been incomplete, a considerable percentage of cities failing to make any report to this Office.

MISUSE OF THE TABLES-SOURCES OF ERROR.

Improper use of the tables.-There are frequently brought to the notice of the Bureau instances where false deductions have been made through improper use of the statistical tables. Nearly all these errors arise from considering as comparable with each other quantities which in point of fact are not so; which do not cover the same extent of territory or are for different years, or are not homogeneous in some other respect, as an inspection of the foot-notes or an examination of other columns of the table would generally have made apparent. For instance, in determining the amount of money expended in any State for each pupil enrolled, care must be taken that the enrolment and expenditure are each reported for the whole State and for the same year, and also that they are free from any other limitations that would impair the accuracy of the result. The number of children of school age" in one State can not be compared with that of another, except in those few cases where the school age is the same in the States concerned. This might appear to be a self-evident proposition, were it not for the fact that the expenditure per capita of "school children," the percentage of "school population" enrolled, and such like quantities are continually used as the measures of the educational status of the different States, even in journals of the highest class. If the

capacity of a bushel were different in each State; if in some, for instance, it were twice what it was in others, a comparison, without any notice of this circumstance, of the number of bushels of wheat raised in the different States would furnish results just as truthful as the comparisons involving "population of school age," the school age being arbitrarily determined by the Legislature of each State.

Defects of the tables.—The above remarks apply to the misuse of the statistical tables and the erroneous deductions resulting therefrom. There are other sources of error, however, inherent in the tables themselves, which the most skilful manipulator of statistics cannot avoid, being, in fact, unaware of their existence. These sources of error are of various kinds; but it is the desire of the Bureau again to call attention to that particular one which is the cause of the greatest confusion and misconception, i. e., the want of uniformity in common school statistics.

This want of uniformity has been fully recognized in the addresses and discussions of educationists during the past decade and a half. The necessity for a common language of statistics has been frequently pointed out; but there has been no general movement in the direction of uniformity, notwithstanding the reports and recommendations that have been made. Steps in advance have been taken here and there, but the matter, as a whole, is in nearly the same unsatisfactory condition as ever. Each State has its own understanding as to the meaning of the terms used, its own rules and methods of computation, so that its statistical language is unintelligible when placed in juxtaposition with that of other States.

Classification of school revenue. -The classification of school revenue affords perhaps the most notable instance of diversity. There is a certain source, viz, the income of the United States surplus revenue of 1837, which is essentially of the same character in all the States that possess it. Yet it is classified in some States as income from permanent funds, in others as income from State taxes, and in one at least as income from local taxes, varying according to the system of book-keeping that may have been adopted. Again, in the case of taxes levied under a State law the revenue from which is retained and distributed in the localities where it was collected, there is a want of uniformity; such taxes are classed sometimes as State taxes, and sometimes as local taxes. Also, special taxes on the property and capital stock of corporations, and miscellaneous taxes and licenses, are sometimes classed as local taxes, and sometimes as revenue "from other sources." Taking it altogether, the table of school revenue affords but poor facilities for ascertaining the relative amount of income from the different sources in the several States.

Average wages of teachers.-There are two methods in use for ascertaining this quantity; the first gives the simple mean of the several rates of pay; in the second, each rate is given a weight proportioned to the number of months it was in operation, the average being found by dividing the total amount paid to teachers by the total number of months taught. Where the school term is of unequal length in different parts of a State and the salaries vary widely, it makes a great difference which method is used. Either one may be resorted to, provided it is uniformly followed by all the States, with a proper understanding of the result it gives. If the average salary is wanted, the first method would seem to be the proper one to use, since a salary is not a sum received, but is a rate of pay, and is independent of the time it is in operation. If the average amount actually received by each teacher during the year is wanted, the second method would be the one to use.

Reliable vs. unreliable statistics.—The above are only some of the more palpable difficulties that lie in the way of the adoption of a universal language of statistics. It is the more to be regretted that they exist, since, after a uniform system was once adopted, the making of reports, returns, and computations, at least in regard to certain important points, would be as easy as is now the case. A teacher need not be called upon to "lay down his life in a struggle simply to perfect his statistics;" he, as well as school officers, can attain to statistics of wide application with as little labor as they now do to those of limited range; to statistics that will not only answer the question. "Are we of this State advancing or receding?" but also that other question, "How do we stand as compared with our neighbors in other States?"

SCHOOL YEAR, TOTAL POPULATION, AND POPULATION 6 TO 14.

[Table 1, Page 54.]

Mode of computing population. The necessity of having some statistics of population, and the methods of computing those given in this Report, are set forth somewhat in detail in the Bureau's Report for 1885-86 (pp. 22 and 23). It was erroneously stated in that Report, however, that a committee of the National Council of Education had recommended the age six to fourteen as the school census age. The original recommendation of their report was in accordance with that statement; but after considerable discussion in the council, the committee withdrew this recommendation and substituted four to

twenty-one as the school census age. The age of each individual enumerated was to be noted, however, so that the number of children between any two limits of age could be ascertained.1

Predominance of child population.—An examination of the last column of Table 1 reveals the circumstance that the proportion of children to be educated in a community varies greatly in different parts of the country. In the North Atlantic Division, for instance, there are only 17 children of the age given to every 100 persons, while in the South Atlantic Division there are 21, and in the South Central Division 22. A computation of the number of children 6 to 14 years of age to every 100 adults would show a still greater disparity. This excess of children whose education is to be provided for forms one of the peculiar disadvantages under which the South labors, and must be taken into account in forming an idea of the educational situation in that section.

Density of population.-The density of population is another important factor affecting education. In sparsely settled agricultural States, where the schools are of necessity small and far between, the conditions are, and must remain, unfavorable to the development of a highly organized system, carried on at great expense for teachers and educational appliances, and holding sessions of nine or ten months in the year, as is the case with densely peopled States having a large urban population. It is on this account that Column 5 of Table 1, giving the population per square mile of each of the States and Territories, has been introduced.

It is a notable circumstance that while the density of population in the North Central States is less than one-third of that in the North Atlantic States (it being twenty-seven and ninety-seven in the two sections respectively), the people of the former group have nearly equalled, and in some cases surpassed, those of the latter in the development of their public schools. The fact that this is so forms a high encomium upon the enterprise and intelligence of the people of the North Central States.

The desirability of having separate exhibits of urban and rural school systems, in addition to the complete State exhibit, is referred to elsewhere in this Report.

TABLE 1.-SCHOOL YEAR, TOTAL POPULATION, AND POPULATION 6 To 14.

Addresses and Proceedings of the National Educational Association, 1885, p. 478, note.
a The population is given for the beginning of the school year reported,

Number.

Average number in each 100 of total

population.

a The population is given for the beginning of the school year reported. For ten months ending June 30, 1887.

e For later information, received too late for insertion in the tables, see p. 153. d Excluding Alaska.

SCHOOL AGES AND SCHOOL CENSUS.

[Table 2, Page 57.]

The primary object of a school census, in nearly every case where one is taken, is to secure a basis for the apportionment of the State school revenue. As a general rule, the persons of the age for free attendance at the public schools are the ones enumerated; in a few instances, however, as in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, Oregon, and California, the scope of the school census is determined, not by the age of those entitled to free school privileges, but by special age limits which govern the distribution of the school revenues. Hence, as regards the school population of the different States as given by the school censuses, there is a want of homogeneity, not only in respect to the years included, but as regards the essential natures of these quantities, some of them being merely ages for the distribution of funds, others ages for free attendance.

This circumstance has been mentioned in order to illustrate further the non-comparability of the "State school populations;" this point can not be too strongly emphasized; it may be said, without exaggeration, that the treating of these quantities as homogeneous has been the most fruitful source of the abnormal and contradictory statements