LB Issued October 1, 1910. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, . OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS— BULLETIN 232. A. C. TRUE, Director. CONSOLIDATED RURAL SCHOOLS AND ORGANIZATION OF A COUNTY SYSTEM. GEORGE W. KNORR, Special Field Agent, Bureau of Statistics. ISSUED BY THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS IN COOPERATION WITH THE BUREAU OF STATISTICS. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1910. Glass iS ^st l Book .1k & Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/consolidatedruraOOknor 1294 Issued October 1, 1910. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS— BULLETIN 232. A. C. TRUE, Director. CONSOLIDATED RURAL SCHOOLS AND ORGANIZATION OF A COUNTY SYSTEM. GEORGE W. KNORR, Special Field Agent, Bureau of Statistics. ISSUED BY THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS IN COOPERATION WITH THE BUREAU OF STATISTICS. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1910. ^ V LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. V^ ^ b V. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Washington. D. C, July 18, 1910. Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith a bulletin on Consoli- dated Rural Schools, by George W. Knorr, special field agent of the Bureau of Statistics. This bulletin was prepared under the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics and by him transmitted to this Office for publication in the series of agricultural education publications. The statistical investigation upon which this bulletin is based ex- tended over more than three years, and was made by Mr. Knorr under the direction of Assistant Secretary of Agriculture W. M. Hays. In the course of the investigation Mr. Knorr visited several hundred district schools and a large proportion of the typical con- solidated rural schools recently established in this country. His statement that 95 per cent of the farmers who have thoroughly tried the consolidated rural school give it their indorsement and support, should command universal attention. These consolidated schools are gradually supplanting the one-room rural schools; they at once supply excellent graded eight-year ele- mentary courses and one or more years of high-school work; and provide conditions under which trained teachers may instruct in agriculture and home economics. Many are now teaching these sub- jects in a thorough manner and thus lead in the long desired de- velopment of our belated system of schools for rural communities. Through these schools opportunities are afforded the Department of Agriculture and the state experiment stations for disseminating the results of their researches; new facilities are also afforded for the distribution of new varieties of plants and seeds which are being created by breeding. The information contained in this bulletin will be valuable to the scientists of this Department in enabling them to establish vital re- lations with country-life schools and aid in the movement to carry to every farm boy and girl the rich stores of knowledge now being rapidly accumulated through agricultural research. It will also be of great value to educators throughout the country who are interested in bringing about a better organization of country-life schools. I therefore recommend its publication as Bulletin 232 of this Office. Respectfully, A. C. True, Director. Hon. W. M. Hays, Acting Secretary of Agriculture. No. 232 OCT 85 f§to o CONTENTS. Introduction 7 Advantages, extent, and progress of rural-school consolidation 7 Object, scope, and method of investigation 16 Description of the consolidated rural school 23 The typical consolidated school 28 Consolidated graded school 30 Union school 30 The consolidated school in country-life education 31 The consolidated school a democratic institution 32 Cost of maintenance of consolidated schools and district schools 33 Financing and cost of rural schools 33 Necessity of supplementing state and county school funds by local funds 33 State aid to consolidated schools 35 Cost of schooling in rural district schools 35 In rural district schools in Delaware 37 In Hardin County (Iowa) rural schools with low attendance 38 In Olmsted County (Minn.) rural schools 39 Under specified conditions 39 Comparison of cost of maintenance of consolidated schools and district schools in the same county and under similar conditions 45 School attendance at consolidated and rural district schools 50 School patronage increased by public conveyance of pupils 51 Distribution of school attendance by grades 53 Educational efficiency of consolidated and district schools 56 Economic utilization of the time available for school work 56 Effective division of the school time 57 Division of school time in consolidated schools rational and advantageous to pupils 58 Division of the school time at the disposal of the teachers 59 Supervision of schools and qualifications of teachers 61 Organization of a county system of consolidated schools and practicability of such a system 63 The consolidated school as the logical center of country life activities 63 The consolidated school not influenced by change of population 63 Consolidation in States where the one-room school district is the unit 65 Projected consolidation in Ada County, Idaho 68 Projected consolidation in Canyon County, Idaho 69 Projected consolidation in Olmsted County, Minn 71 Consolidatior. in States where the county or township is the unit 74 Consolidation in Duval County, Fla 75 Consolidation in Delaware County, Ind 77 Consolidation in Union Township, Montgomery County, Ind 79 No. 232 (3) Organization of a county system of consolidated schools and practicability of such a system — Continued. Page. Factors in the redisricting of counties into consolidated school districts. . 80 Population 80 Land values, tax unit areas 81 Survey of land values of States for purposes of determining areas of possible consolidation 82 Faulty district formation 82 Consolidated schools in Mecca Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. 83 Consolidated school at Lewiston, Winona County, Minn 83 John Swaney Consolidated School, McNabb, Putnam County, 111. 86 Consolidated school at Kinsman, Trumbull County, Ohio 87 Topography 88 Projected consolidation in Douglas County, Minn 89 Tentative plan for consolidation of District No. XIV, Douglas County, Minn 91 Roads 91 Projected consolidation in Fairfax County, Va 94 Conclusion 97 Acknowledgments 99 No. 232 TABLES. Page. Table 1. Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Massachusetts 9 2. Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Vermont 10 3. Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Virginia - 10 4. Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Indiana 10 5. Average annual high-school attendance during a three-year period in three consolidated school townships and three dis- trict school townships in Ohio 29 6. Average annual cost of schooling per pupil in attendance in 1906 in the rural district schools of Delaware 37 7. Average cost of schooling per pupil in Hardin County (Iowa) rural schools, with average attendance of less than 9 pupils 38 8. Average cost of schooling per pupil in Olmsted County (Minn.) rural schools, with average attendance of less than 9 pupils 39 9. Expenditure per school of the first grade and cost of schooling per pupil in Olmsted County, Minn 41 10. Expenditure per school of the second grade and cost of school- ing per pupil in Olmsted County, Minn 41 11. Expenditure per school and cost of schooling per pupil in 45 consolidated schools , 43 12. Average area, valuation, tax rate, and tax levy of three con- solidated-school townships and three district-school town- ships in Ohio 45 13. School funds of three consolidated and three district school townships in Ohio . 46 14. Average annual school expenditure and expenditure per pupil of three district-school townships in Ohio 47 15. Average annual school expenditure and expenditure per pupil in the 12 grades of three consolidated-school townships in Ohio 47 16. School population, enrolment, and average daily attendance in three consolidated and three district school townships in Ohio 1 52 17. Average number of schools, school population, enrolment, and daily attendance of three townships in Ohio, for three years before and three years after consolidation 53 18. Average daily attendance, by grades, of three consolidated and three district school townships in Ohio, and number of possi- ble students of agriculture 54 19. Average age of pupils, by grades, in three district and thr.ee consolidated school townships in Ohio 57 20. Total recitation and study hours available to each pupil during the entire eight-year elementary course in a consolidated and in a district school , 58 21. Average number of teachers, number and size of classes, and length of recitations in the elementary grades of three con- solidated and three district school townships in Ohio 60 22. Size and number of classes daily in three district-school town- ships in Ohio 60 23. Enrolment for sixteen years in seven rural district schools in Minnesota 74 No. 232 (5) ILLUSTRATIONS Page. Fig. 1. Map showing extent of school consolidation in Massachusetts, 1906. . 9 2. Map showing extent of school consolidation in Indiana, 1908 11 3. Map showing extent of school consolidation in Florida, 1908 14 4. One-room district school in Champion township, Ohio 15 5. Map showing six northeastern Ohio counties 18 6. Consolidated school building at Kinsman, Trumbull County, Ohio.. 19 7. Consolidated school building at Johnston Center, Ohio 20 8. Consolidated school building at Greene Center, Ohio 21 9. Consolidated graded school at Southington, Trumbull County, Ohio. 22 10. High-school pupils entering school wagons, Southington, Ohio 22 11. School wagons from Southington returning pupils to their homes 23 12. A one-pupil class 24 13. Consolidated school building in Twin Falls, Idaho, 1908 25 14. School wagon arriving in town at 8.30 a. m. at Twin Falls 26 15. Wagon shed and wagons belonging to Twin Falls consolidated school. 27 16. Map of Ada County, Idaho, showing boundaries of school districts and the location of district and high schools, 1S08 66 17. Map of Ada County, illustrating a tentative plan of consolidation 67 18. Map of Canyon County, Idaho, showing boundaries of school dis- tricts and location of district and high schools 69 19. Map of Canyon County, Idaho, illustrating a tentative plan of con- solidation 70 20. Map of Olmsted County, Minn., illustrating a tentative plan of con- solidation 72 21. Map showing consolidated districts and location of consolidated schoolhouses in Duval County, Fla. , 1908 76 22. Map showing extent of school consolidation in Delaware County, Ind., 1908 78 23. Map of Union Township, Montgomery County, Ind., 1908 79 24. Map of Mecca Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, 1907 84 25. Map of consolidated school district at Le wiston, Minn 85 26. Map of Magnolia Township, Putnam County, 111., showing the loca- tion of the John Swaney consolidated school district, 1908 86 27. John Swaney consolidated school, McNabb, Putnam County, 111 87 28. Map of Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio 88 29. Map of Douglas County, Minn., illustrating a tentative plan of rural school consolidation and demonstrating that in lake sections of the country school wagon routes can be planned successfully 90 30. Tentative plan of consolidation district No. XIV, Douglas County, Minn., in detail , 92 31. Map of Fairfax County, Va., illustrating a tentative plan of rural- school consolidation in a county with irregular roads 94 No. 232 (6) CONSOLIDATED RURAL SCHOOLS AND ORGANIZA- TION OF A COUNTY SYST INTRODUCTION. ADVANTAGES, EXTENT, AND PROGRESS OF RURAL-SCHOOL CON- SOLIDATION. From a realization that the old district-school system no longer conformed to modern educational and economic conditions, the plan was evolved some years ago of transporting at public expense pupils of neighboring school districts to large central schools. The plan has proved exceedingly popular, and a large proportion of the one- and-two-room district schools in the entire country seems destined to be supplanted by an educational system under which groups of these primitive institutions of learning will be merged into com- modious consolidated schools, equipped with modern conveniences, and provided with school wagons for the regular, safe, and prompt transportation of children from and to their homes. The advan- tages of the new system are obvious : The fusion of a number of small districts into a larger administrative unit furnishes a stable and extensive basis for financing the school and thereby makes for higher efficiency. The school, no longer seriously affected by fluctuations in school population, becomes an institution with fixed location and belongings. An incentive is given to make permanent improvements, to beautify the school grounds, secure modern sanitation, and pro- vide ample schoolroom equipment. The large number of children assembled at a centrally located school makes possible graded classes and a better division of the school day. Studies can be introduced which require special equipment and specially trained teachers, such as agriculture, home economics, manual training, music — advan- tages almost unattainable in small district schools. These centrally located country-life schools, too, form convenient social centers for communities; local interests and activities affiliate with the schools, so that public use is frequently made of their commodious class rooms or auditoriums. Encouragement is given to the growth of literary and debating societies, social and agricultural clubs, grange meetings, reading circles, athletic and other competitions among pupils, and entertainments of various kinds. No. 232 (7) It has occasionally been asserted that rural-school consolidation, because it has not made more extensive progress since its origin in 1869, does not promise soon to become an influential factor in our educational system. Recent events have made this opinion no longer tenable. During the past five years more consolidated school build- ings have been constructed in the United States than during the twenty-five years preceding. Perhaps it is fortunate that during the early period of its growth consolidation did not spread with greater rapidity. It was assimilated into the rural-school system as a result of -observation and careful experiment, and fortunately lacked every element of a fad. It gains a foothold chiefly where civic ambition and high educational ideals establish high standards and determine to attain them. There is an impressive substan- tialness about these schools and their belongings which indicates that the people who built have unbounded faith in them. Con- solidation of rural schools has won a permanent place among the distinctly American institutions. Consolidation, with its attendant function of public conveyance of pupils, is now a part of the rural-school system of thirty-two States. Eighteen hundred completely, and not less than two thou- sand partially, consolidated schools attest the remarkable adaptabil- ity of the system to the peculiar needs of agricultural communities. Although in most States consolidation is still limited to scattered localities, it has in several assumed noteworthy proportions, indica- tive of a well-defined educational movement. Graphic illustrations are introduced herewith to show its extent in a few educationally progressive States differing widely in geographical position, agricul- ture, and population. Expenditure for transportation in a State or county reflects in a general way the extent of this educational move- ment, and has been made the basis of figures 1, 2, and 3. The black circles represent expenditure for conveyance, the largest indicating the largest expenditure, the smallest the least. The circles in each map are drawn to a different scale, and hence those on one are not comparable with those on the others. The territory over which consolidation will eventually extend in the United States is probably considerably greater than popularly supposed. Taking the increase of expenditure for conveyance as an index of the growth of consolidation, several States show phenomenal increases and indicate that farmers are putting forth unprecedented efforts along educational lines. Massachusetts, the oldest State in consolida- tion experience, furnishes the longest record. The annual expenditure for conveyance since 1889 is shown in Table 1. No. 232 Table 1.- -Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Massachusetts. - Year. Amount expended. Year. Amount expended. 1889 $22, 118. 38 24, 145. 12 30, 648. 68 33, 726. 07 50, 590. 41 63, 617. 68 76, 608. 29 91,136.11 105, 317. 13 123, 032. 41 1899 $127, 409. 22 141, 753. 84 1890 1900 1891 1901 151, 773. 47 1892 1902 - 165,596 91 1893 1903 178 297 64 1894 1904 194, 967. 35 1895 1905 213,220.93 236,415.40 1896 1906 1897 1907 252,451.11 292, 213. 33 1898 , 1908 a Annual Reports of the Board of Education, Massachusetts. During the first twelve years the growth of consolidation in Massa- chusetts was very rapid and doubled practically every four years. Later development, although slow, was continuous. BERK- J SH/REr-, \ FRANKL/N jy~7 Hampshire) i / {WORCESTER ) \J4IDDLESEX LEGEND: THE CIRCLES IN ORDER OF SIZE SYMBOLIZE AN EX- PENDITURE OF $1,0009 AND '$ 5,000 'A FOR CONVEYANCE OF PUPILS. ™ S/IRAfST/lffLE DUKES a^*v£ NANTUCKET Fig. 1. — Map showing graphically the extent of rural-school consolidation and expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Massachusetts counties, 1908. Area of State, 8,040 square miles ; number of counties, 14 ; consolidation in all. In each county consolidation is indicated by a black circle, whose size is proportioned to the expenditure for transportation. Vermont, where it would be supposed topographical conditions give but slight encouragement to school- wagon transportation, has expended the sums shown in Table 2. The greatest increases in ex- penditure were made within the last two years. No. 232 10 Table 2. — Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools m Vermont. Year. Amount expended. Year. Amount expended. 1895 812, 941. 34 18, 428. 85 18, 520. 65 18, 306. 11 20, 880. 77 26, 492. 24 32,034.39 1902 836 562 89 1886 1903 37, 358. 05 1897 ... 1904 43, 687. 37 45, 361. 20 47, 132. 58 1898 1905 1899 1906 1900 1907 54, 012. 24 73, 465. 24 1901 1908 a Reports of the state superintendent of schools, 1895-1908. Statistics for four years of consolidation in Virginia are presented in Table 3. The increase of expenditures, twelvefold in four years, discloses a remarkable spread of consolidation sentiment among the farmers of that State. Table 3.- -Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Virginia. Year. Amount expended. Year. Amount expended. 1905 $2, 101. 22 6, 953. 67 1907 816, 000. 00 25, 858. 00 1906 1908 a Virginia School Report. The rapidity and extent of consolidation in Indiana give that State at present the leading position in rural school development. As prac- tically all of the quarter million dollars and more expended for trans- portation of school children in 1907-8 was raised by local taxation, it is evident that the farmers of that State regard consolidation as the school system par excellence for rural communities. The organization and methods of a transportation system upon which the large sums exhibited in Table 4 are expended have been developed to a point of high efficiency. Table 4. -Expenditure for conveyance of pupils to consolidated schools in Indiana. 11 Year. Amount expended. 1904 886, 600 1906 175, 886 1908 290, 073 ° Statistics furnished by superintendent of public instruction of Indiana. Since 1904 the expenditures for conveyance in Indiana have more than trebled. No. 232 11 The superintendent of public instruction of North Dakota reports that " the number of schools [in that State] which have been consoli- dated completely or in part have doubled within the last two years." _/" \SVJOSEPH \elKHART\LA6i ■ Fig. 13. — Consolidated school building in Twin Falls, Twin Falls County, Idaho, 1908. Area of district, 36 square miles ; population in 1908, 4,000. A modern, steam-heated, brick building with slate roof. Basement is high and spacious and contains several class rooms ; running water throughout building. The total enrolment is 726 and the high school enrolment is 100, or over 13 per cent of the total. Eight school wagons convey about 200 of the children to school, all living outside city limits being entitled to public transportation. Not all, however, make use of the privilege. The school has 2 acres of playground and a school farm of 4 acres. The high school offers a strong commercial course, and agriculture, having a hearing on local farming conditions, is taught. Four years ago the ground where this building now stands was a solid growth of sagebrush and the country for miles around was arid and unin- habited. Attention is called to the carefully planted and staked young trees and the closely clipped lawn on three sides of the building. This union may comprise an entire township or part of a large town- ship, or a magisterial district, an election district, a tax district or a " town," as used in the New England States. A large variety of names is given in different parts of the country to the same civil unit or subdivision of the county. Consolidation may also take place in special or independent school districts especially organized for the purpose. In every case the consolidated district represents (1) a tax district, the resources from which go to the support of one or more No. 232 26 consolidated schools, and (2) a unit of farm territory in which the pupils living beyond reasonable walking distance from schools are transported thither at public expense in wagons owned by the school or hired from private parties. The service of railroad and inter- urban or electric cars and even of launches is often used very ad- vantageously, and in some cases private conveyance provided by patrons themselves is utilized. The consolidated schoolhouses should Fig. 14. — School wagon arriving in town at 8.80 a. m. at Twin Falls, Idaho, 1908. The topography of the Twin Falls consolidated district is level ; roads run mostly on section lines, and owing to slight rainfall are good and solid the year around. At times dust is disagreeable. The landscape shows a considerable dearth of houses ; homes as yet are far apart. That some of the farm population live in tents is seen to the left. The simplicity of this picture is quite in contrast to the impressiveness of the story which it tells. In these newly settled western lands, to which civilization has suddenly been transplanted, progressive educational ideas seem to find sustenance and quickly bear results. These new communities with their commodious schoolhouses, neat, well-planted and carefully tended school grounds, and well-organized systems of school transportation, assembling pupils from even remote homes, some located in what is practically " desert,"' imply a firm faith in education. It is safe to say that educationally such districts as this are half a century in advance of some of the older sections of country. be located preferably at or near the geographical center of the dis- trict. Convenience in travel and justice to all the patrons make this almost imperative. Cases are not rare where, in order to build the school in the exact geographical center of the toAvnship or district, it has come to be located at some distance from the village or town which constitutes the business center. On the other hand, where ex- isting town or village schools were turned over to and accepted by the No. 232 27 school board to be converted into consolidated schools, the matter of geographical location was, as a matter of course, largely disregarded. As each community models its schools in conformity to its own needs and financial conditions, the organization and work of con- solidated schools naturally varies. Some communities convey only the pupils from the sixth grade up, continuing those in lower grades in the original district schools; others transport only the younger chil- dren, while the high-school pupils are required to furnish their own transportation. But most schools furnish conveyance to all children, irrespective of age or grade. When new buildings are erected they usually represent the best efforts of the community, and are objects of local pride. The size, equipment, and architecture are decided largely by the wealth of the Fig. 15. — Wagon shed and wagons belonging to Twin Falls consolidated school, Twin Falls, Idaho, 1908. Housing of the school wagons, which are public property, is provided for. This shed stands on one corner of the 4-acre school farm. community. In wealthy agricultural sections it is not uncommon to find school buildings costing $20,000 and more. A serviceable, sub- stantial, and modern four or five room building can be erected for from $8,000 to $12,000, and the majority of buildings are of this kind. There are a number of firms of architects who have made the peculiar requirements of these schools a special study, and who have wide experience in planning suitable buildings. The services of such spe- cialists should be engaged when the erection of a new building is contemplated. Three general forms of consolidated schools may be distinguished : Typical consolidated schools, consolidated graded schools, and union schools. The first two, in the majority of cases, represent complete consolidation of district schools, and the last, partial consolidation, No. 232 28 though there are some successful typical consolidated schools under partial consolidation. Complete and partial consolidation are merely relative terms. THE TYPICAL CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL. The distinctive feature of this form of consolidated school is, in addition to the usual elementary course, a two, three or four year high-school course. This type is gaining marked favor with farmers, especially in Ohio, Indiana, and Massachusetts. Reversing the custom of letting the country boy and girl reach the high school as best they can, in effect bringing the high school to the farm, and then adding to ease of access by hauling the children to it at public expense, is certainly revolutionary. The common and popular idea is that the country child must obtain an education under difficulties and even hardships, and the lives of successful and eminent men are frequently cited in support of that contention. The persist- ence of this idea, which has advocates in the city as well as in the country, has no doubt checked school growth in many rural districts. Simple justice, if there were no other recason, should compel the admission that to attend high school is as much the right of the country child as of the city child. The only place where this right is freely accorded is in the typical consolidated school district. It is common to judge the educational opportunities of all the chil- dren of a rural community by those which a few of the most for- tunate enjoy, either by accident of birth or by chance of living near a high school. That is a gross injustice. The educational solicitude which is extended -to each individual child is the true index of the value which a community places upon its children. High-school attendance for rural pupils not resident in city or town is provided for in different ways in different States. In some States liberal " state high-school aid laws " allow attendance in any high school free to any pupil in the State; in others, free attendance at county or township high schools is confined to pupils resident in that particular county or township. In other States no aid laws provide for defraying cost of high-school tuition from state or county funds, and country children attending high school are re- quired to pay their own tuition. Upon statistical analysis it is found that the privilege accorded to the country child of attending a city or town high school free of tuition has at best a very limited value and in the end places high-school attendance within the reach of only a select few, usually those living near towns. This is best shown in the extraordinary increase in high-school attendance, where consolidation places a high school within the reach of children of the community and provides free public transportation. No. 232 29 The data obtained in the educationally progressive northeastern Ohio counties of Trumbull and Ashtabula illustrate the increase of high-school attendance with especial force. There the state law provides certain conditions under which the home township of the rural or nonresident pupil shall pay the tuition at whichever public high school he or she may choose to attend. Hence, attendance at high school there is practically free to rural children, being condi- tioned only upon their means and ability to reach the town or city high school. While this encouragement to rural youth to attend near-by city or town high schools does benefit a goodly number, it is far less effective than the establishment of locally owned and conducted high schools within easy reach of the farm home, as shown by Table 5 : Table 5. — Average annual high-school attendance during a three-year (1903- 1905) period in three consolidated-school townships and three district-school townships in Trumbull and Ashtabula counties, Ohio. Item. Consoli- dated- school township. District- school township. Population of school age, 6 to 18 number.. 204 192 4.2 Average daily attendance in high school do School enrolment attending high school per cent.. School population attending high school do 25.3 18.6 12.4 2.5 2.2 The per cent of the school population attending high school in the unconsolidated townships was only 2.2, as compared with 12.4 per cent in the consolidated townships, illustrating how much more effective the consolidated school is in leading rural youths to high school. Of the total school enrolment in the consolidated-school townships, one pupil in every six attended high school, while in the district-school township the proportion of high school students was 1 in 36. The annual report of the commissioner of common schools for Ohio, 1904, gives the total number of district-school graduates for whom tuition is paid as 0.97 of 1 per cent of the rural school popula- tion. Hence the 2.2 per cent in the above table indicates an unusu- ally strong high-school attendance from the townships represented in the table. Since the consolidated school can also much more effectively sup- ply instruction in agriculture and home making, as will be shown further on, it is clear that funds raised by state, county, or local taxes for purposes of education are much more effective when ex- pended through the consolidated school than in the county high school in the distant town or city. No. 232 30 CONSOLIDATED GBADED SCHOOL. Schools of two, three, or four rooms, with a regular seven or eight year primary or elementary course and no high school, are herein called consolidated graded schools. This type of school is exceedingly serviceable in communities where limited funds or lack of pupils do not permit the establish- ment also of a high-school course ; they possess all the advantages of a graded school, with social, cooperative, and other advantages of consolidation. In the less thickly peopled sections of the country, schools of this type are rapidly overcoming many of the adverse con- ditions of district schools. They are found in greatest numbers in the Western and Southern States. There is an interesting group of these schools in the thinly settled portions of North Dakota, a State which is taking the lead of States in the Northwest in systematically adopting rural school consolidation. Florida and Georgia are also reconstructing their rural schools on the consolidation plan. Most of them are of the consolidated graded type, and not a few are avail- ing themselves of the opportunity which state aid affords of placing high-school courses in their curriculums. Southern farmers as a whole favor the system; the chief obstacle to its more rapid progress is lack of means for financing it on an extensive scale. UNION SCHOOL. The organization of the union school is simple. It consists of the combination of two, three, or even four common-school districts, placing the schoolhouse at some strategic point, with or without public conveyance. In a community where the idea of conveying children to school in wagons is new, the first trials are necessarily more or less experimental. Much of the success of the undertaking depends upon the business qualities of the official in charge, whose most important qualifications must be managerial ability, tact, and good judgment, and a clear realization of the importance of obtain- ing capable drivers for the school wagons. Where any of these qualifications are lacking, dissatisfaction and complaints are likely to result. Not infrequently, the union school develops signs of considerable strength and absorbs several district schools within driving distance, until it has evolved into a typical or graded consolidated school. The union of one-room schools by transportation of pupils offers a solution for many perplexing defects of organization in the district schools. For instance, cases are not infrequent where neighborhood quarrels, extending to the school, make teaching in the district so distasteful that it is difficult to get teachers; oftentimes, too, teach- ers can not find a suitable boarding place, or taking board with one No. 232 31 family may arouse the jealousy of another family. The ensuing disagreement may eventually disrupt the school and bring the teach- er's work to naught. There are districts where family feuds have been handed down as a heritage from one generation of school children to the next. For all such difficulties transportation to a centrally located school affords permanent settlement. Indiana is undoubtedly taking the lead in abolishing its small and unsatisfactory district schools by legislation, and thus indirectly forcing consolidation. In that State the law makes mandatory the discontinuance of all schools having an average daily attendance of twelve or less, and leaves optional with the township trustee the closing of those with an average daily attendance of fifteen or less. Under this law, 1,200 district schools were closed in 1907 and 1908, some under the plan of uniting a few schools, others under the plan of at once effecting complete consolidation of the schools of the township. Other States have similar laws, but exemptions make the laws virtually inoperative ; as no legal provisions are made for funds for the transportation of the pupils of a discontinued school to some other, the small schools are generally continued under the ex- emption clauses. Where complete consolidation can be at once effected there is no loss from changes of temporary plans carried out under the partial consolidation by the union of a few schools. Frequently the union of schools can be effected without transporta- tion and without greatly increasing the distance which some pupils have to walk. In many localities where district division has been carried to extremes and where schoolhouses are less than a mile apart, this is being done very advantageously. Georgia, North Caro- lina, and South Carolina have in the last few years abolished scores of district schools by this method. As to the cost of operating union schools, no data have been col- lected. Where the wages of the teachers of discontinued schools -are sufficient to pay for the transportation of pupils to the union school, the proposition is simple. Or, where pupils living within \\ miles of the school are required to walk and those beyond that limit are hauled, a very large number may be assembled at comparatively small expense. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL IN COUNTRY-LIFE EDUCATION. It would be inopportune to discuss here the causes — industrial, economic, and social — which have contributed to the decline and even dissolution of many of the district schools. Historical fact and sta- tistical evidence lead to the conclusion that consolidation is a natural and logical step in the evolution of the American rural school system. It was not inaugurated in imitation of the city school system; but No, 232 32 the idea of consolidation and its necessary complement, transporta- tion of pupils, was conceived because the resourceful American farmer found that it would serve the peculiar needs of his own rural community. Consolidation was created by necessity to meet new con- ditions in the open country. The first consolidation of rural schools in the United States was effected by Supt. William L. Eaton at Concord, Mass. A state law enacted in 1869 authorized transportation of children to school at public expense. Under this act Superintendent Eaton immedi- ately began the task of consolidating the schools of Concord " town," and the magnificent school building now named " Emerson School " stands a monument to his ability and success. Superintend- ent Eaton's first school was really a union school, and the " difiiculties under which consolidation labored at that time can be realized from the fact that a period of ten years intervened between the closing of the first and the last district school in the township " (called " town " in New England). Kingsville, Gustavus, Kinsman, and several other Ohio town- ships are frequently cited as pioneers in consolidation because there for the first time consolidation by entire townships was successfully undertaken. All precedents in school-district organization were overthrown. Each township by vote transformed its several dis- trict schools into a single consolidated school. Special legislation was necessary to enable the townships to proceed. At Concord ab- sorption was the process resorted to, while the radical and aggressive Ohio farmers used what may be called constructive consolidation. THE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL A DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION. In the consolidated rural school all children from the entire town- ship or district meet, mingle, compete, strive, make friendships, and learn how to work together. The school is free and accessible to all children within its jurisdiction. All the boys and girls, including those attending high school, return home daily, and, doing their allotted work or chores mornings and evenings, keep in touch with the home, the farm, and all its affairs, and remain within the shelter of home during the most impressionable period of their lives. There is no longer so much occasion for part of the children to attend distant boarding schools or to pay board in the near-by villages to attend high school. Class distinctions, which the old district school unconsciously fostered, are broken down and removed. The begin- ning of the consolidated-school movement fortunately occurs at a time when popular ideas of the purpose and aims of an education are undergoing an almost revolutionary change. The receptive attitude of school officials and educators and the aggressive spirit with which boards of consolidated schools support ideas tending to advance edu- No. 232 33 cational interests promise a career for consolidated schools the results of which will leave a lasting impress upon American agriculture and rural citizenship. Already the high-school courses are being en- riched by the introduction of new studies which have both an in- formatory and a vocational value, as distinguished from the classical studies which have chiefly culture value. Some use special text- books on farming, supplemented by bulletins from extension depart- ments of the state college and the United States Department of Agriculture. The consolidated schools are shaping their courses of study more and more to meet the needs of the boy and girl whose school days end at the expiration of the eight elementary years or in the early years of high school. Those who are desirous of taking up the study of agriculture as a profession can easily go from the consolidated school into the state agricultural college. Where the local school affords only a part of a high-school course, the student can complete high-school work in an agricultural high school or other school of secondary grade. The farm boy or girl who desires to enter some nonagricultural vocation can easily transfer to the general or special school of whatever kind he or she may desire. The broader train- ing provided by the consolidated school is much superior to that pro- vided in the average district school. There will thus be finally real- ized for the country boy and girl, no matter what his or her station, the opportunity for a vocational education in every school up to the highest in the land. The consolidated school is an institution which not only affords instruction in the various common branches of knowledge, but also reaches out and touches the communal life and the home life and enriches and enlarges the individual life of the youth as the district school never did and never can do, even under the most favorable conditions. COST OF MAINTENANCE OF CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS AND DISTRICT SCHOOLS. FINANCING AND COST OF RURAL SCHOOLS. NECESSITY OF SUPPLEMENTING STATE AND COUNTY SCHOOL EUNDS BY LOCAL FUNDS. Education is a component part of the standard of living and its tendency is to vary with soil productivity and with the material wealth and resources of the community. The standard of living in a community is reflected not only in the school buildings and other public belongings, but also in the efficiency of teachers, in the breadth of courses of study, in the care of buildings, in cleanliness and sani- tation, and in the thoroughness with which all undertakings are 54634°— Bull. 232—10 3 34 carried out. Of course there are exceptions, and some rural com- munities of lesser wealth are known to maintain highly commendable district schools, while in some of the wealthiest agricultural sections the district schools are in every respect inferior to even average rural schools. Incorporated towns and cities have long recognized the necessity of supplementing state funds with local school tax levies. Country districts have been slower to adopt that policy, and in some States they still depend chiefly upon state and county taxes for their school funds. In certain States, in fact, the law until quite recently forbade the levying of local school taxes, and their rural schools were in a de- plorable condition. The idea that the rural school can make its greatest progress through local initiative is gaining ground, and the necessity and value of local taxation for the support of schools is con- stantly receiving wider recognition. At the same time, however, there is need of placing present methods of taxation and financing of public school systems upon a rational basis. This applies especially to methods of apportionment of state and county school funds. The prevailing method of basing the ap- portionment of state and county funds upon the census enumeration of children is probably the most open to criticism. Several States have improved upon this by apportioning funds upon the basis of enrolment or attendance, or still better, days of attendance. But these methods work hardships upon small districts, and a better plan, now in use in a few States, is to make the state apportionment accord- ing to the number of teachers employed in the county, and the county funds according to the number of teachers in the township or dis- trict. A combination of all these methods, each properly weighted in order of importance, would be the ideal system of apportionment of school funds, and one that would give full justice to all districts. It is safe to say that with an absolutely just and scientific system of taxation and school financing, every State in the Union will even- tually have ample funds for building, equipping, and conducting, in every community, public primary and secondary schools of the highest efficiency. The fate of various tax reforms depends upon state legislation ; and in many States constitutional amendments must first be voted before revision of tax and assessment laws can be undertaken. All such movements are slow and require time for maturing. Self-help is the best help immediately in view ; the largest part of school funds must be derived from local taxation, supplemented by state and county funds; and this principle should be applied vigorously and exten- sively. Fortunately, the tendency everywhere is in that direction. After a community has once succeeded in building up a good school, its cost generally ceases to be a matter of greater concern than the No. 232 35 results. In the writer's opinion, rural communities do not arrive at a conviction which leads to consolidation, by fine weighing of the financial aspect of the proposition. Many, who on general principles are opposed to consolidation, admit that the educational advantages to be gained considerably outweigh the cost. Consolidation justifies itself by superiority over the old system and needs no financial arguments as proof. In fact, in all farm communi- ties where it has been signally successful the imputation that the object in consolidating was cheaper rather than better schools would be indignantly resented by the farmers. STATE AID TO CONSOLIDATED SCHOOLS. State aid to certain kinds and grades of public schools, for specific purposes, has accomplished great good ; and, under the present imper- fect system of financing schools, it is wise to utilize and even to extend that practice. Few fields promise the State larger returns than does aid to consolidated schools, whether for transportation, for high- school courses, or for the teaching of agriculture and home economics. Vermont was the first State to extend financial aid specifically for transportation to communities furnishing conveyance for children to consolidated schools. Eventually, by means of state aid, the more expensive vocational and industrial subjects will be taught in consolidated schools. The lawmakers of the State of Minnesota, having had exceptional oppor- tunities to observe in the school of agriculture in that State the bene- ficial results of vocational training for farm boys and girls, were probably the first in the United States to provide for agriculture and home economics in consolidated schools, and to set apart funds for that purpose in the form of liberal state aid. This law, enacted in 1907, provides for an appropriation from the state treasury to be distributed to the first 50 consolidated rural schools established, equipped, and conducted so as to meet given requirements. Among these are the following: That the area of the district shall be not less than 16 nor more than 36 square miles in area; that a con- tinuous tract of 10 acres of land be provided upon which the school building must be erected and that the land shall be managed to serve as a means of instruction for the pupils; that a principal teacher shall be employed to teach agriculture and an assistant principal to teach home economics; that the conveyance for pupils shall be pro- vided and that the schoolhouse shall be outside of any incorporated city or village. (Chap. 301, sec. 3, 1907.) COST OF SCHOOLING IN RURAL DISTRICT SCHOOLS. Before comparing the fiscal affairs of the two systems of schools, attention is directed to some peculiarities of the cost of schooling in No. 232 36 district schools, arising chiefly from irregularities of attendance and other conditions which vary greatly in different districts. Lack of uniformity and pronounced difference in organization and service make comparison between district and consolidated schools often unsatisfactory. In a civic unit sO small as the rural school district there is no flexi- bility. Its enrolment is determined by the school population. If the latter be large, the enrolment and attendance will be large and cost of schooling per pupil moderate ; if small, enrolment and attend- ance will be proportionately small and cost of schooling per pupil high. Under such circumstances, a uniform administration of dis- trict-school finances is extremely difficult, and the amount expended per pupil is what chance makes it. In thousands of rural districts, without exception as to geographical location, the ineffectiveness with which taxes are expended for school purposes passes unnoticed, be- cause the necessity of maintaining a school is paramount and obscures all other considerations. It is always taken for granted that the money accomplishes the purpose for which it is expended." If it be discovered that in any one school the average cost of school- ing per child exceeds that in other schools, it is perfectly logical to devise means for reducing it to a reasonable level, so that other chil- dren may benefit from the money saved. If, on the other hand, the average cost in any one school falls greatly below that of efficiently conducted schools, it is logical to expend more money in such school with the view of raising its standard. Divergent conditions, such as these, generally escape attention because published reports of averages of school statistics of counties or even of townships tend to level or equalize the extremes. The correct way of approaching this question of cost is through a study of individual schools, and then it will be seen that a rather large number of the school districts of a county are at one or the other extreme, and that almost without ex- ception cost is highest in schools with small attendance. Those op- posed to consolidation urge increased cost as an objection, yet knowl- edge of the true financial and educational status of their own district school would often show an expenditure of more money per child per day in school attendance than is expended in many consolidated a Throughout this bulletin the annual and daily expenditure (or cost) per pupil is used as a basis of comparison between schools. The annual expend- iture per pupil is obtained by dividing the total yearly expenditures of a school, exclusive of bonds, interest, and permanent improvements and buildings, by the average daily attendance; and the daily cost per pupil, by dividing the annual cost per pupil by the number of days of school. No good reason exists for the prevailing practice of basing cost of schooling upon teachers' wages, to the neg- lect of all other expenditures, nor for basing the cost of schooling per pupil upon the total or monthly enrolment. No. 232 37 schools. The importance of this subject demands that it be presented somewhat in detail from statistics collected from widely separated localities. IN BUBAL DISTBICT SCHOOLS IN DELAWABE. The State of Delaware, 5T.3 per cent of whose school population attends rural schools, supplies a good illustration for an entire State (Table 6) : Table 6. — Average annual cost of schooling per pupil in attendance in 1906 a in the rural district schools of the State of Delaware. Number of schools (State). Annual cost of schooling per pupil. Schools, attendance — State of Delaware. County. New- castle. Kent. Sussex. 29 139 71 18 $41. 44 22.70 13.74 10.63 $48. 99 26.15 17.79 17.72 $37. 30 21.24 14.31 9.93 $34. 01 11 to 20 22.36 21 to 30... 12.69 7.88 18.98 25.46 18.92 16.54 ° Based on figures taken from Report of Delaware Board of Education, 1906. Extraordinary variation is noticeable in expenditures for service which is supposed to be, and in justice should be, of equal standard and efficiency in all schools. Within the respective counties the ex- penditures vary between wide extremes. The cost of schooling in Sussex County varies from $7.88 to nearly five times that sum. In Kent County the highest cost is over three times that of the lowest, and in Newcastle County the highest cost exceeds the lowest nearly three times. The small schools are in all cases the most expensive. Every county in every State seems to have its quota of small and poorly attended rural schools. Kansas a has 1,629 district schools with attendance of 10 and less ; New Hampshire h reports 117 schools with 6 pupils and less, and 383 schools with 12 and less. Out of a total of 2,398 one-room schools, Maine c continues 206, having an average attendance of less than 8 ; Minnesota school statistics d show 335 schools with attendance of less than 10 ; Michigan e has 1,500 ; and Nebraska f 1,200 of these small schools of 10 and fewer. a Bulletin of Information. State Superintendent of Instruction, Topeka, Ivans., 1908, p. 8. 6 Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1908. c Maine School Report, 1908. d Reported by Office of State Department of Public Instruction, 1909. e Reported by Department of Public Instruction, Michigan, 1909. f Reported by Department of Public Instruction, Nebraska, 1910. No. 232 38 Thus it is seen that the number of small and expensive schools is larger than commonly supposed. They check the progress of the rural-school system and constitute a serious problem for superintend- ents and other educators. A resume of the expenditures and cost of schooling of pupils in small schools in several strong agricultural counties will illustrate. Data obtained from a number of such schools in Hardin County, Iowa, are given in Table 7. IN HARDIN COUNTY (IOWA) RURAL SCHOOLS WITH LOW ATTENDANCE. Table 7. — Average cost of schooling per pupil in 1908 in Hardin County {Iowa) rural district schools, ivhose average daily attendance was less than 9 pupils. Township. District. Average daily attend- ance. Length of schocl term. Total yearly ex- penditure. Cost per pupil. Per year. Per day. 7 7 8 5 7 6 7 6 6 5 6 6 7 6 3 Days. 140 160 160 140 140 160 140 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 $196. 00 239. 68 272. 00 172. 40 285. 67 274. 08 260. 19 237. 60 213. 12 222. 40 245. 76 288. 00 303. 24 294. 96 246. 48 $28. 00 34.24 34.00 34.48 40.81 45.68 37.17 39.60 35.52 44.48 40.96 48.00 43.32 49.16 82.16 Cents. 20.0 21.4 District No. 8 21.2 24.6 Pleasant Valley 29.2 28.6 Clay Mineral Point 26.6 24.8 District No. 2 District No. 3 22.2 27.8 25.6 District No. 11 30.0 27.1 District No. 6 30.7 District No. 8 51.4 Total 92 2,320 3, 751. 58 637. 38 " 155 250. 11 40.78 27.5 This is a large, fertile, and prosperous county. The land is prac- tically all tillable and approximates in value $100 per acre. The rural schools with low attendance are typical of like schools in hun- dreds of counties in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys in which the cost of schooling is excessive. In 15 districts in this county school facilities were provided for 92 children at an average annual cost of 27.5 cents per day. This is 10.1 cents higher per day than the cost of schooling in elementary grades of the consolidated schools investigated in northeastern Ohio (see Table 15). Even the district whose school expenditure was the lowest shows a higher daily cost by 2.1 cents than the average of 45 typical consolidated schools (see Table 11). Moreover, the highest cost per pupil (30 cents, 30.7 cents, and 51.4 cents per day, respec- tively) exceeds greatly that in the average typical consolidated school. No. 232 39 IN OLMSTED COUNTY (MINN.) RURAL SCHOOLS. The high average expenditure per pupil in small schools of Hardin County and the number of schools making such expenditures are both exceeded by the same class of schools in Olmsted County, Minn. All the rural district schools in the last-named county, with an average daily attendance of less than 9 in 1907, are tabulated in Table 8 ; they were 17 in number, or 12 per cent of the total number of rural schools of the county, and the expenditure per pupil reached the extraor- dinary average of $56.49 per year, or 40 cents per day. Table 8. — Average cost of schooling per pupil in Olmsted County (Minn.) rural district schools, average daily attendance of which in 1908 was less than 9 pupils. Township. Number of district. Average daily attend- Length of school term. Total yearly ex- penditure. Cost per pupil. Per year. Perd;:? Orinoco New Haven. Quincy Eyota . Marion Rochester. Rock Dell... High Forest. Orion . . Elmyra Total.... Average 101 32 62 110 11 45 119 39 9 132 141 142 83 113 18 63 121 Days ill 5.3 140 140 160 140 120 160 140 160 140 160 120 120 120 120 140 160 160 $208. 20 371. 34 149. 33 254. 62 203. 97 481. 63 345. 07 363. 59 379. 34 405. 90 202. 21 224. 00 354. 11 186. 04 233. 25 273. 57 504. 61 129. 74 61.89 37.33 84.87 34.00 120. 41 69.01 60.60 189. 67 57.99 40.44 56.00 59. 02 31.01 46.65 39.08 63.08 2,400 5, 140. 78 56.49 Cents. 21.2 44.2 23.31 60.6 28.3 76.8 49.2 43.2 135.0 46.6 40.4 46.6 38.0 25.84 33.3 24. 4 39.4 In many of these small schools the cost of schooling per pupil equals that in consolidated schools which have high-school courses, and the highest cost per pupil would go far toward maintaining him in college. UNDER SPECIFIED CONDITIONS. Fortunately, there are at hand data of cost of schooling in district schools under certain specified conditions of teachers' qualifications and equipment; these data are furnished by that high type of rural district school which has developed in Minnesota under a liberal state aid law. Under this law schools applying for state aid are classified into schools of the first and second grade, responding to certain quali- fications at the time of application. No. 232 40 The following are the rules governing the application for state aid : To be entitled to special state aid at $125 as a first-grade rural school the law and regulations of this department require : First. The school must have been maintained for the full period of eight months during the year. Second. The teacher shall hold a first-grade common-school state certificate, or one of higher rank, during the entire school year of eight months. (Note that a state certificate is required.) Third. The district shall have suitable school buildings, outhouses, library, and apparatus necessary for doing efficient work. Fourth. The school building and each room must be clean and well kept, and proper provision must oe made for heating and ventilating. Fifth. The school must be provided with sufficient blackboard, a large dic- tionary, one complete set of supplementary readers, in addition to the regular readeis used, and a library, to which must yearly be made additions to the amount of at least $10. Sixth. The application of each school must show that it has maintained its standard of efficiency, both in the work and in the equipment, and that some improvement has been made during the year. The school grounds must be kept neat, clean, orderly, and attractive. Seventh. Aid will not be granted to rural schools in which the average daily attendance is less than 12. To be entitled to special state aid of $75 as a second grade rural school, the requirements are the same, excepting that the teacher shall hold a certificate of at least second grade. This law amply fulfills the intention of its enactment. The state ex- penditures incurred under it are met from regular annual appropria- tions. These schools, meeting definite standards and answering to stated requirements, are at present the best type of district schools. For this reason the averages of cost of schooling at these schools not only set standards of cost for rural district schools of equal attend- ance everywhere, but also afford a trustworthy basis of comparison of district with consolidated schools. The Olmsted County district schools of the first and second grade are representative of this type of schools. Statistics of cost of schooling are given in Tables 9 and 10, respectively. No. 232 41 Table 9.- -Expenditure per school of the first grade and cost of schooling per pupil in 1907 in Olmsted County, Minn. Township. Number of district. Average daily attend- ance. Length of school term. Total yearly ex- penditure. Average cost per pupil. Per year. Per day. 57 121 17 36 53 49 64 132 67 3 33 105 74 44 93 94 100 67 29 35 37 52 25 112 37 86 32 124 6 89 120 81 114 14 a8 16 20 25 17 20