DISTRIBUTION OF STATE COMMON SCHOOL FUND TO MAKE ILLINOIS A LEADER AMONG THE STATES IN STATE AID FOR SCHOOLS PRINCIPAL FACTORS TEACHING SERVICE THE TRAINED TEACHER PUPIL ATTENDANCE " { ' (Third Edition) DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY SENATE BILL 220 FIFTY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY STATE OF ILLINOIS .X-5A5 The Illinois Educational Commission was created by act of the Fifty-second General Assembly. The Commission was directed: (a) "To investigate the entire educational system of this state, with a view to standardization, unification and correlation of its various efforts, ... as are in harmony with the educational requirements of the State and the most advanced educational thought. (b) "To suggest for the guidance and assistance of the next General Assembly such revision of school laws as may be necessary, and prepare drafts of proposed Acts." Senate Bill 220 has been prepared by the Commission to comply with the command given in the law as quoted above. The bill is the result of much investigation and earnest effort. It replaces the haphazard, antiquated method in the distribution of state aid and will correct one of the greatest fundamental weaknesses in Illinois' system of education. The membership of the Commission is as follows : Hon. Len Small, ex-oflficio; Senator Wm. Scott Gray, Coatsburg; Representative Harry Wilson, Pinckneyville; Dean C. M. Thomson, Urbana; "'• •' Mrs. M. H. Libber, Winnetka; '"" SuPT. W. W. Lewton, President, Cicero. LIBF^ARY OF CONGRr33 ??ECeiVEO JMNl 1^. — I iii m ifc r l t l H i f ii n niMlHxainlMM— 1 [2] A DIGEST OF SENATE BILL 220 PROVIDING FOR A MORE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STATE SCHOOL FUND The purposes of a state common school fund are : (1) To equalize, as far as possible, the opportunities for a good ele- mentary education for every child in the state. (2) To stimulate local effort for better schools. (3) To encourage the employment of better trained teachers and to provide opportunities for young men and women to secure better training for teaching service. The existing method of distribution of the state school fund in Illi- nois does not accomplish these purposes. Each school district in the state receives an allotment from the fund in the ratio of the number of persons under twenty-one years of age residing in the district to the total of such persons in the state. This method of distribution does not give adequate aid where it is most needed. It bears only a very general relation to the number of children actually attending school. It does not encourage a district to improve its schools. It does not encourage the employment of trained teachers. The proposed plan does not change the established machinery for the distribution of the state school fund. It does provide a method of ap- portionment that, in large measure, will give aid to those districts which show a willingness to help themselves to as good schools as their means make possible. 13] THE TEACHER-SCHOOL-DAY "The teacher-school-day, which shall constitute one basis for apportionment, shall consist of class sessions of not less than four clock hours class time work per day, con- ducted by a full time elementary teacher with not less than nine pupils between the ages of six and twenty-one years in a school grade not lower than the first grade nor higher than the eighth grade. Days during which schools are not in session, because of an act of God or upon the order of the Board of Health or other proper authority other than the Board of Directors or Board of Education, shall be deemed school days and shall be in- cluded in determining the number of teacher-school-days. "A sum of seventy-five cents shall be apportioned to each county for each teachei'- school-day or major fraction thereof." [S. B. 220, I. 214] The state is interested in lengthening the school year in order that all the children of the state may have as good educational opportunities as some of the children now have. To bring this about the state will give each school district for each teacher employed seventy-five cents per day for every day the schools are in session. It is a serious economic loss to run a low enrollment school. In six school districts in one county there are fifty-six pupils, with an average per capita cost of $214.00. In a certain district there are two pupils. The two are the children of a director. The annual cost is $490.00 for each pupil. The average per capita cost for elementary pupils in 1922 was $53.80. In one of the most fertile counties there is a school with three pupils. One of these lives nearer a graded village school than the one he attends. Another lives as near another rural school as the one he attends. The third is a relative of the teacher, who is a relative of one of the directors of the school. Pupils cannot receive social and educational stimulus under such conditions. Therefore, the state is not willing to extend aid to a school with an attendance of fewer than nine pupils. 4] EQUALIZING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY "In addition thereto the following apportionment shall be made to the counties: "(1) The sum of $2.00 for each teacher-school-day in school districts of the county hav- ing an assessed valuation of property, per full time elementary teacher, of $25,000.00 or less. "(2) The sum of $1.50 for each teacher-school-day in school districts of the county hav- ing an assessed valuation of property, per full time elementary teacher, of more than $25,000.00 and up to and including $30,000.00. "(3) The sum of $1.00 for each teacher-school-day in school districts of the county hav- ing an assessed valuation of property, per full time elementary teacher, of more than $30,000.00 and up to and including $35,000.00. "(4) The sum of 50 cents for each teacher-school-day in school districts of the county hav- ing an assessed valuation of property, per full time elementary teacher, of more than $35,000. 00 and up to and including $40,000. 00." [S. B. 220, 1. 224] The state is convinced that a proper school cannot be maintained unless each district have an educational fund of at least $800.00 for each teacher it employs. To bring this about the state will give low- valuation districts sufficient aid to bring their funds up to the amount of $800.00 per teacher. It is not to be understood that this $800.00 is all that such a district is to receive. As is shown elsewhere in this section and in sections second, third, and fourth, hereinafter, the district may receive further amounts for the teacher-school-day, for the teacher's normal training, for pupil attendance, and, in case of a one-room elementary school, an additional amount if the teacher is a normal school graduate, — up to a possible total of $1,000 or $1,100. [5] EQUALIZING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY "If in any year a school district does not levy the maximum rate allowed by law (without referendum) for educational purposes, no apportionment on the teacher-school- day basis under the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 4 above, shall be made to the county for the benefit of such district for that year." [S. B. 220, 1. 238] The state believes that these low-vakiation districts should do all they are able to do to help themselves before they should expect the state to give them this special assistance. Each district has within itself the motive for and the incentive to educational improvement. Each local community should have as great a desire for a good school as does the larger group of which it is a part. Consequently, the state seeks to enlist this desire and to stimulate this incentive, in the only way that it can be done, — namely, by offering a reward. K the state offers a reward, it has the right to make the conditions under which the grant can be obtained. If the district fails to appreciate the offer made by the state by help- ing itself as much as it is able then the state surely is justified in with- holding the special aid it offers. 6) A STATE DUTY— TO PLACE TRAINED TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOLS "There shall be apportioned to each county, for each elementary teacher, supei-- vising principal, supervisor of elementary academic subjects or teacher or supervisor of special elementary subjects regularly employed by a school district of the county for full time work in grades one to eight inclusive and for teachers or supervisors of special ele- mentary subjects regularly employed by a school district of the coimty for part time work in grades one to eight inclusive in proportion to the time employed, amounts based upon training beyond the twelfth grade in a recognized high school, as follows: "(1) For each teacher who has had at least eighteen weeks of normal school training, or its equivalent, fifty cents per week for each week not exceeding thirty-six weeks that such teacher is employed. "(2) For each teacher who has had at least thirty-six weeks of normal school training, or its equivalent, $1.50 per week for each week not exceeding thirty-six weeks that such teacher is employed. "(3) For each teacher who has been graduated from a two-year course, in a State Normal School, or its equivalent, $4.00 per week for each week not exceeding thirty-six weeks that such teacher is employed. "Training substituted as an equivalent for normal school training shall be determined and classified by the State Examining Board for Teachers' Certificates which shall furnish a statement of such classification to the County Superintendent. Provided that in dis- tricts not under the jurisdiction of the State Examining Board, the local certificating authorities shall determine and classify the training substituted for normal school training, and furnish a statement as required above." [S. B. 220, 1. 242] The state is interested in a longer school year. It is also interested in having its schools taught by trained teachers. The state will give to any school district which employs a teacher with eighteen weeks normal training after graduation from a recognized high school the sum of fifty cents for each week the teacher is employed. If the district will employ a teacher with thirty-six weeks normal training the state will give the district $1.50 for each week the teacher is employed. If the district will employ a teacher who is a normal school graduate the state will give the district $4.00 for each week the teacher with this training is employed. 7] QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS IN 1922 Of the 39,576 teachers employed in the elementary and high schools of the State, 7,696 were college or university graduates; 9,728 were nor- mal school graduates; 10,309 had high school education only. 9,552 more had attended college or normal school; 1,154 had attended high school but were not graduates; 1,151 had not attended high school. 4,823 taught for the first time in 1922. 13,913 were serving their first year in a new location. This shows that more than 9,000 changed posi- tions at close of 1921. 7,790 were high school teachers. Of the remaining 31,786 engaged in elementary work, 2,109 were teaching in newly created positions. The average annual increase in new positions, 1917-1922 inclusive, has been 1,145. The average requirement to take care of teacher changes in the state since 1917 has been about 4,500 per annum. The Normal Schools have not been working to their capacity because there has been no reward set up for professionally trained teachers. The result has been that the large investment in Normal School plants and the annual up-keep of these institutions has not paid a high dividend in trained teachers be- cause the normal schools have graduated less than 700 per annum for a number of years. The number of graduates this year will be much higher than it has been since the pre-war period. The five Normal Schools will have to work to their capacity to meet the demand for trained teachers if the provisions of Senate Bill 220 are incorporated into law. Is it not time for Illinois to fix a policy that will make its teacher- training institutions function.'' A MEASURE OF THE DISTRICT'S WILL TO HELP ITSELF "When the total amount for teacher training has been determined for each school dis- trict of the county as herein provided, such amount shall be multiplied by a fraction whose numerator is the district's local rate for educational purposes (including the rate for text books) and whose denominator is two. The total of the amounts so determined for the several school districts of the county shall be the apportionment for such county on the basis of teacher training." [S. B. 220, 1. 261] The state school fund should stimulate local effort for better schools. A district which has a low school tax rate should not expect as generous aid as one which invests more in its schools by having a higher tax rate. The state will give aid to a district to secure trained teachers only in ratio to the wilUngness of the district to tax itself to get better teachers. PUPIL ATTENDANCE "There shall also be apportioned to each county a sum of two cents per day for each daj'"s attendance of each pupil between the ages of six and tMenty-one enrolled in grades one to eight inclusive. A pupil day shall be one full day or major portion thereof that the pupil is in actuaJ attendance. Days diu-ing which schools are not in session because of an act of God, or upon the order of tiae Board of Health, or any other proper authority other than that of the Board of Directors or Board of Education, shall be deemed school days. Each pupil enrolled at the time of such forced intermission shall be coimted as present dm-ing the time such order is in force." [S. B. 220, 1. 268] The state wants the children in the school. The best teacher and the best school cannot train a child who is not in attendance. To encourage a regular attendance of all the children, the state will pay to each district two cents a day for each day a child is in the elementary school. If a school is in session for 100 days with an average attendance of ten pupils the state pays the district $20.00. If the school is in session for the same term with an average attendance of twenty pupils the state pays the district $40.00. If a district keeps its school open for 180 days with an average attendance of twenty pupils the state pays the district $72.00. STATE AID IN PROPORTION TO LOCAL EFFORT "When the total amount for pupil day attendance has been determined for each school district of the county as herein provided, such amount shall be multiplied by a fraction whose numerator is the district's local rate for educational purposes (including rate for text books) and whose denominator is two. The total of the amounts so determined for the several school districts of the county shall be the apportionment for such county on the basis of pupil day attendance." [S. B. 220, 1. 276] The state is not willing to help those who are not willing to help themselves. If a district does not levy the maximum educational tax rate the state gives aid to the district on the basis of pupil attendance only in the ratio of the local tax rate to the maximum educational tax rate. [9] THE NOR]\L\L GRADUATE IN THE RURAL SCHOOL "There shall also be apportioned to each county for each normal school graduate who teaches nine months in a one-room elementary school district, a sum to be determined by multiplying $100.00 by a fraction whose numerator is the tax rate for educational purposes of the district in which such teacher is employed and whose denominator is two." [S. B. 220, 1. 2S3] In order that normal school graduates may be willing to teach in one-room elementary schools, the state will give $100.00 to any district having such a school and employing a normal school graduate for its teacher. This aid is given in full only to those districts which are willing to tax themselves the maximum rate to secure a competent teacher. If a district is not wilhng to do all it can to have the best teacher it is possible to secm-e, the aid of the state is correspondingly reduced. There are approximately 10,000 one-room rural schools in Illinois. Fewer than 400 of the 10,000 teachers are normal graduates. Is it not one of the state's duties to give the boys and girls attending rural schools a better chance for an education by rewarding trained teachers who work in rural schools "^ " "SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET" '■Report of School District Nimiber ." (this section details substantially the manner in which the data necessary under the provisions of this Act shall be reported, and the forms to be used for that purpose) . "Superintendent, Principal, or Teacher." The several items appearing Lu this budget are all reported under the present laws, or are found in Sec. 211 (e) just above. The teacher and the secretary of any Board of Directors or Board of Education can readily prepare this budget for the district when they make up the annual report of the district. 10] SOrMAPtY OF THE STATE FEXD DISTEIBmOX 31,786 elementary teachers at 75c. per day for 170 days §4,a52.71.5.00 166,027,000 pupU days attendanc-e at ic. 8S,3£0.,540 . 00 ni,060 at .^.