Some Facts and Figures Relating to Local Taxation For Public Schools A comparative study of the revenues provided for public education in the several states and territories of the Union is herewith present- ed. Expenditures for higher education in col- leges and universities are not included in these tables. Reference is made to the public schools only. Published by the Alabama Education Committee Montgomery. Alabama PARAGON PRESS ’8. US, ■n TV -t \ * ?A e * TO THE PUBLIC : Section 1685 of the code, enumerating the duties of the superintendent of education, says among other things, “He shall ***** elicit information relative to the system oi public education in other states and countries, and disseminate all useful knowledge regard- ing the same, etc.” The facts presented in this pamphlet were obtained for the most part from the last report, volume II, of the United States Commissioner of Education at Wash- ington. That the tables are absolutely relia- ble we have no reason to doubt. These sim- ple facts are presented without any lengthy comment. They speak for themselves. My purpose in arranging these tables and in publishing this pamphlet (without any ex- pense to the State) is to try to convince any one who may not already be convinced that the people of Alabama are entitled to have the privilege of supporting their own schools through local taxation by districts and by an increased county rate. The pages in the latter part of this pam- phlet showing the basis of taxation for the public schools in each of the several States of the Union are correct down to date of Jan- uary 15th, 1911. It will be seen that Alabama is in a class almost by itself in denying to the people the right of supporting local schools with local money. Surely the voting privilege in Alabama is reposed in as safe hands as it is in the other States. If there are counties and districts which do not need any additional revenue for their schools they would not be required to have it. Those counties and dis- tricts which do need this relief ought to be allowed to have it. Special attention is called to page 16 show- ing the percentage of our taxes raised local- ly — by counties and districts — as compared with the percentage of local taxes raised for school purposes in the other states. That table covers the whole matter. Let the people have the chance of saying, in the regular election in November, 1912, whether they are willing to trust themselves with local taxing powers to assist the State in the support and maintenance of their own public schools. Superintendent of Education. ( 4 ) It is interesting to note on the next page the relatively small amount we are spending in public education. Evidently the people in northern, eastern and western states do not regard these expenditures as burdensome tax- ation. Probably they regard such money as a permanent investment. ( 5 ) WHOLE AMOUNT RAISED (1907-8) FOR EACH PERSON OF SCHOOL AGE. Nevada Washington California Montana Colorado New York Massachusetts ... Wyoming New Jersey Idaho N. Dakota Oregon Michigan Illinois Pennsylvania Connecticut Utah S. Dakota Ohio Minnesota Indiana Nebraska Iowa Arizona . Vermont Rhode Island .... New Hampshire Maine Wisconsin Kansas Missouri West Virginia Maryland Delaware Florida New Mexico Texas Louisiana Virginia Arkansas Kentucky Tennessee Georgia North Carolina Alabama J.. South Carolina Mississippi .$62.86 . 42.60 . 32.34 . 30.69 . 29.36 . 27.63 . 27.30 . 24.16 . 23.29 . 23.28 . 22.62 . 22.11 . 21.31 . 21.25 . 21.16 . 21.15 . 20.76 . 19.96 . 19.69 . 19.54 . 18.78 . 18.63 . 18.37 . 17.89 . 17.79 . 17.58 . 17.32 . 16.01 . 15.07 ...13.86 . 11.92 . 11.30 . 9.81 . 9.51 . 8.44 . 8.16 . 7.05 . 6.70 . 5.52 . 5.35 . 5.30 . 4.93 . 4.39 . 3.65 . 3.30 . 3.29 . 3.21 ( 6 ) Seven states have no form of compulsory at- tendance law. Alabama is one of them. This fact accounts, in a measure, for the compara- tively small percentage of Alabama children who actually attend school. Dividing our public school fund among those who do attend, we make a showing on the next page which prevents us becoming hilarious even if we do stand above five other states. (7) AVERAGE DAILY EXPENDITURE PER PUPIL BASED ON AVERAGE ATTENDANCE (1907-08) Cents 1. Nevada 46.5 2. North Dakota 34.4 3. Montana 34.3 4. Arizona 33.6 5. California 30.3 6. Wyoming 27.6 7. New York 26.9 8. Washington 26.8 9. Colorado 26.3 10. South Dakota 26.1 11. New Jersey 25.5 12. Minnesota 24.5 13. Illnois , 23.9 14. Idaho 23.1 15. Massachusetts 22.9 16. Utah 22.5 17. Ohio 22.4 18. Oregon 21.8 19. Pennsylvania 21.4 20. Rhode Island 20.2 21. Wisconsin 19.9 22. Indiana 19.6 23. New Hampshire 19.3 24. Connecticut 19.1 25. Nebraska 18.8 26. Vermont 18.3 27. Iowa 18.2 28. Michigan 18.0 29. Maine 17.9 30. Missouri 17.3 31. Kansas 16.8 32. Oklahoma 15.7 33. Louisiana 15.5 34. New Mexico 15.5 35. Florida 15.4 36. West Virginia 14.6 37. Texas 14.5 38. Maryland 13.8 39. Virginia 11.9 40. Delaware 11.7 41. Arkansas 11.4 42. Kentucky 10.2 43. Alabama 9.3 44. North Carolina 9.2 45. Georgia 8.8 46. Tennessee 7.8 47. South Carolina 7.2 48. Mississippi 5.7 ( 8 ) Sometimes we persuade ourselves to believe that we are already spending a due share of our means in providing for the education of our children. The table on the next page answers that question and the answer is against us. ( 9 ) AMOUNT EXPENDED FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS ON EACH $100 OF TRUE VALUATION OF ALL REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY, 1907-08. Amount in Cents 1. Washington 38.6 2. Utah 34.0 3. Massachusetts 33.2 4. Colorado 33.0 5. South Dakota 32.9 6. Vermont 32.6 7. North Dakota 31.5 8. West Virginia 30.1 8. Indiana 30.1 9. New York 29.8 10. Idaho 29.1 11. Michigan 27.9 12. Wisconsin 27.8 13. New Jersey 27.3 14. Mississippi 27.1 15. Maine 26.8 15. Connecticut 26.S 16. New Hampshire .... 26.6 16. Ohio 26.6 17. Iowa 26.4 18. Missouri 26.3 19. Kansas 25.2 20. Illinois 24.7 21. North Caroilna 24.6 22. Minnesota 24.1 23. Nebraska 23.8 24. Tennessee 23.6 25. California 22.8 26. Pennsylvania 22.7 27. Rhode Island 22.6 28. Florida 21.9 28. Texas 21.9 29. Arkansas 21.5 30. Oklahoma 21.4 31. Oregon 21.2 32. South Carolina 20.3 33. Georgia 19.2 34. Maryland 18.2 35. Kentucky 17,4 36. Virginia 16.6 36. Montana 16.6 37. Louisiana 15.9 38. Arizona 14.3 39. Indian Territory .... 14.0 40. Alabama 13.0 41. Nevada 11.7 42. New Mexico 10.6 Delaware omitted. Wyoming omitted. ( 10 ) v If the census of 1900 had neglected to re- port the illiteracy of whites and blacks sepa- rate, we might content ourselves with think- ing that the presence of the negroes caused Alabama to be so near the bottom of the list. The next page referring only to grown white men bom in Alabama makes interesting read- ing and causes us to wonder what showing we shall make when the figures of the census of 1910 are announced. ( 11 ) PER CENT. OF ILLITERATES (UNABLE TO WRITE) AMONG NATIVE WHITE ADULT MALES, 1900 1. Washington State 5 2. Nevada 8 3. Wyoming 8 4. Montana 8 5. South Dakota 8 6. Massachusetts 9 7. Nebraska 1.0 8. North Dakota 1.0 9. Minnesota 1.0 10. Connecticut 1.0 11. California 1.1 12. Oregon 1.1 13. Idaho 1.1 14. Utah 1.2 15. Iowa 1.6 16. Kansas 1.7 17. New York l.S 18. Wisconsin 1.9 19. Rhode Island 2.0 20. New Hampshire 2.0 21. New Jersey 2.3 22. Colorado 2.4 23. Michigan 2.4 24. Pennsylvania 2.5 25. Oklahoma 2.7 26. Illinois 2.8 27. Maine 3.1 28. Ohio 3.2 29. Vermont 4.1 30. Indiana 4.4 31. Arizona 4.5 32. Maryland 5.1 33. Missouri 5.4 34. Texas 5.8 35. Delaware 7.1 36. Mississippi 8.1 37. Florida 8.3 38. Arkansas 10.5 39. Indian Territory 10.7 40. Georgia 11.8 41. Virginia 12.2 42. South Carolina 12.3 43. Alabama 13.8 44. Tennessee 14.1 45. Kentucky 14.3 46. Louisiana 16.9 47. North Carolina 18.9 48. New Mexico 23.6 ( 12 ) The next table puts us really at the bottom of the list. The children who actually go to school in this state attend just long enough to be equivalent to two months for all the chil- dren of school age in the state. In other words, we are making a desperate effort to educate children who are not in school. ( 13 ) AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS’ ATTEND- ANCE FOR EVERY CHILD OF SCHOOL AGE IN 1907-8. 1. Washington 147.6 2. California 122.4 3. Nevada 119.2 4. Massachusetts 116.4 5. Idaho 115.0 6. Colorado 109.5 7. Connecticut 109.1 8. Nebraska 103.1 9. Michigan 103.0 10. New York 99.3 11. Iowa 98.7 12. Oregon 98.2 13. Vermont 96.8 14. New Jersey 96.3 15. Rhode Island 95.0 16. Utah 94.5 17. Kansas 88.7 18. Delaware 88.0 19. Indiana 87.8 20. Ohio 87.3 21. Illinois 84.8 22. Pennsylvania 84.5 23. Montana 83.7 24. New Hampshire 82.7 25. Wyoming 82.6 26. North Dakota 81.4 27. South Dakota 77.5 28. Maine 76.0 29. Wisconsin 75.3 30. Minnesota 75.3 31. Missouri 72.4 32. Maryland ; 69.0 33. West Virginia 64.9 34. Arizona 58.8 35. Tennessee 57.8 36. Texas : 52.9 37. Georgia 50.5 38. Mississippi 50.3 39. Florida 50.1 40. Kentucky 49.6 41. Virginia 47.9 42. New Mexico 45.6 42. Oklahoma 44.8 43. Louisiana 44.5 45. Arkansas 44.3 46. North Carolina 43.1 47. South Carolina 42.8 48. Alabama 40.7 (14) Even after children are enrolled in the schools of Alabama this page shows that they attend only an average of 73 days. Alabamians are willing to admit that their children are the best and the brightest of any in the world, but it is complimenting them rather too highly to expect them to compete in life’s battles on 73 days’ schooling with other children who attend twice as long. AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS ATTEND- ED BY EACH PUPIL ENROLLED IN 1907-8. 1. Massachusetts 154.0 2. New York 148.8 3. Rhode Island 145.5 4. Connecticut 141.2 5. Michigan 138.7 6. New Jersey 137.5 7. California 136.5 8. Illinois 132.1 9. Pennsylvania 129.9 10. Indiana 127.0 11. Utah 123.6 12. New Hampshire 122.7 13. Ohio 121.9 14. Washington •. 121.8 15. Vermont 121.4 16. Iowa 120.6 17. Oregon 119.0 18. Nebraska 118.3 19. Montana 117.6 20. Delaware 116.6 21. Wisconsin 111.7 22. Kansas 111.4 23. Nevada 110.1 24. Minnesota 108.8 25. Colorado 108.1 26. Maryland 106.1 27. Missouri 104.9 28. Idaho t 103.6 29. South Dakota 99.2 30. Wyoming 99.1 31. Maine 1 95.9 32. North Dakota 94.8 33. Louisiana 90.4 34. West Virginia 87.4 35. Arizona 1 84.6 36. Georgia 83.6 37. Kentucky 82.6 38. Virginia 81.0 39. Tennessee 80.9 40. Texas 80.7 41. Florida 76.1 42. Alabama 73.0 43. New Mexico 71.3 44. Oklahoma 71.0 45. South Carolina 69.1 46. Mississippi ' 64.5 47. North Carolina • 60.9 48. Arkansas 59.7 (15) AMOUNT EXPENDED PER CAPITA OF TOTAL POPULATION 1907-08. 1. Nevada $11.81 2. Washington 10 00 3. California 8.47 4. North Dakota 8.37 5. Idaho 7.59 6. Colorado 7.10 7. Utah 6.93 8. Montana 6.40 9. New York 6.37 10. South Dakota 6.26 11. New Jersey 6.15 12. Massachusetts 5.93 13. Nebraska 5.83 14. Oregon 5.63 15. Illinois 5.56 16. Wyoming 5.45 17. Minnesota 5.43 18. Ohio 5.17 19. Iowa 5.13 20. Arizona 5.09 21. Michigan 5.01 22. Connecticut 4.79 23. Pennsylvania 4.79 24. Indiana 4.77 25. Rhode Island 4.51 26. W!i scon sin 4.44 27. Kansas 4.43 28. Vermont 4.15 29. Missouri * 3.70 30. New Hampshire 3.45 31. Maine 3.15 32. West Virginia 2.92 33. Delaware 2.73 34. Maryland 2.65 35. Texas 2.57 36. Florida 2.39 37. Louisiana 2.2 4 38. Oklahoma 2.20 39. New Mexico 2.17 40. Virginia 1.81 41. Arkansas 1.71 42. Kentucky 1.56 43. Georgia 1.49 44. Tennessee 1.43 45. North Carolina 1.32 46. Alabama 1.26 47. South Carolina 1.07 48. Mississippi 98 (16) In 1907-8 the percentage of the whole reve- nue for public school purposes derived from local taxes was as follows: 1. Massachusetts 94.39 per cent 2. New York 88.45 a u 3. Rhode Island 88.41 u ii 4. Kansas 87.36 « ii 5. Oregon 86.03 a {{ 6. Iowa 84.74 a ii 7. Ohio 81.81 u it 8. Pennsylvania 81.26 a ii 9. Connecticut 80.43 a ii 10. Missouri 77.66 u ii 11. Wyoming 76.88 « ii 12. New Hampshire .. 76.05 u ii 13. South Dakota 75.97 u ii 14. Vermont 75.48 ii i 15. Idaho 74.30 a ii 16. Nebraska 72.68 a ii 17. Illinois 70.37 a it 18. Wisconsin 69.76 a ii 19. Delaware 67.96 a it 20. Colorado 66.53 a ii 21. Florida 66.44 a ii 22. North Dakota 66.34 a ii 23. Tennessee 63.73 “ ii 24. New Jersey 60.09 a it 25. New Mexico 59.78 a it 26. California 59.15 a it 27. Arkansas 58.80 a ii 28. Maryland 58.45 a it 29. Minnesota 58.37 a a 30. Arizona 57.94 a a 31. West Virginia 55.77 a a 32. Utah 54.49 a a 33. Washington 53.82 a a 34. Virginia 50.72 a u 35. Maine 46.02 a a 36. Michigan 40.40 a a 37. Montana 30.84 a a 38. Texas 30.06 a a 39. Georgia 30.04 a a 40. Nevada 30.03 a a 41. Indiana 28.82 a a 42. South Carolina 28.65 a a 43. North Carolina ... 25.30 a u 44. Kentucky 23.08 a a 45. Alabama 13.95 a a 46. Louisiana 13.47 a a 47. Mississippi 10.86 a a Oklahoma omitted. Basis of Taxation for the Public Schools in the Several States (m stands for mills) w o o o o +» o s o X t) t} * 50 p CO *c • •> tn+i-P O P • - P o § £ ^ g-c £ CO T5 P o3 bC s! P rp P f ft rH w «e- bi) O T3 .g,2fi T3 P P Jag! o H a x LO> P #>/ P +» if is £.2 £ § .S+i A > X «J ° p g § o * P T3 LO _ I © ■*■* a> § £ 5 1 a OP 0) <3 §3 -3 © © §s s ft c § p o zl 03 ^ £ •2 -p © © s s s|| CO LO LO ('P *3 LO P £ "© rP Si> CO 60- cq §3 ‘43 c3 -2 I is p rP © u J2.P ,p « CO f . -4-^ 0.0 o «h*h a >>£.2 "P no P 03 O €0- >» 'p o p d P -o pw §.g o -p O P © p 03® co O © p p -P 'w *a O £ P o P © p p 53 S o ft o o LO £ CO 03 rH CD P -P -*-> 02 P P || 3! CO .2 P e 2 & P o P «H P c3 p C3 0) M jP §,3 «H O o rP o w jJ •s “I ° o S c .2 | 13 © 6 g §4 h 2 » S -u -S 73 « aS S s-s § rj -H> .S 0.3 05 P o> .a be Ip aS tn 2 g p 1 8 i? •8-S § Si § S4 J? ^ a> 1X2 3 5 .g o~ > •Ss -2 ” s o &-o® ;sis J s ” s rH CO .1 & 5 S w S £ f-t be o _o p “ 2*0 g O'S £ ^ rP O ■ s^is O fl-g* 9 °o “13 ^ >.21 3 6*:§ ® p ~ S 2 £ o 10 iH CM ui 05 s 'P £4 aS M .S g 2 * ° ^ p s «H O o *43 aS T 3 T 1 s-. S-4 ft O aS ,P 2 „ ■+f £ 05 ?i H gggg 5 O ^ > 2 ^ P wo as isli-s ^ aS 05 o.^ 0 T3 P, ci £m aS aS aS ft +3 o .Sr M W 05 w Pw IS a«jg ss sss s ss islati' i x 3 i in 'S T3 . £ -P TO .2*£ .£ g S ^ M r— i © >5 © ?M DrQ .w+S >» 9 ?H TO j=8^ raS 4 ^ w 2 S © if* C £2 00 Z1 s 8 *x cS g - s g O in> 03 o 73 w 5 2 ^ § £ o & W o in °-x 3 ",_; p xi'o £ flft oS i-i m % cti 73 « £ • a © e c pH /— v J’T I rH P“H £& S °co ° £2 Z ^ CO Z cj 03 Z CD >-5 © O £ O ■§11 O *73 be o 3 c s' h.® ft •sgt. e%*» hW 0) CD © fl ^ o o zz >> ho • O r 2 S t «33 g &g 1 1 * v g LO 00 1-1 £ © £ g s lO t> 03 «H O 2 £ a a 2 °- w aS © > be be CD CD H— i H -3 a £ 'a'a a a a aj CD © > > jj'w'w g ’Sc' So o be be » £ CD ccS U w* s & cu CD ZZ ccS £ l-el * 0 / « o zzz ox Zo £ o be > grand list” | None I By vote, no limit. Basis of Taxation for the Public Schools in the Several States (m stands for mills) >> Xi B o >> « be fi *2 1 £ w g Ml tH O O- “2 3 o 2 o C'S ^ -C a X) xi ^ ^ O £ © CO *H 43 «*H U m SS'-SSS iO o o 2 Co ^ 2 C ® • s \A va &U- B B be a> iJ £ 8 c o ■& .s be > .£ be co © ’£ '& 2 co 1 o'§ s| > TO £ f