CHAPTER XX. [Containing Tables 1-21.] STATISTICS OF STATE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEMS. INCLUDING PUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS. In most of the States where biennial reports on education are made by the superintendents of public instruction, the reports are for a period ending with an even-numbered year, and hence in the even-numbered years the statistics of each State are compiled as rapidly as possible. Thus the compilation of the statistics of 1905-6, included in the reports for the biennial term 1904-1906, were com pleted early in January, 1907, ready to be presented to the State legislatures. But the compilation of the statistics collected for the "off years" is usually delayed in the State offices on account of slow returns from county officials, and the figures are not ready for use until the spring of the following year in many of the States-too late to be included in the Annual Report of this Bureau. Consequently no information regarding these "off years" can be furnished in season by State superintendents to this Bureau in many cases, and when furnished it is often far from satisfactory. The foregoing state ment will account for the fact that the 1906-7 returns from only 30 States are included in this chapter. The statistics of the public common schools are presented in 21 tables in this chapter. The information given is for the school year ending June, 1907, in all cases where the statistics could be obtained for that year. The total population of the United States in June, 1907, as estimated by the Census Office, was 85,526,761. This Bureau estimates that the number of children in this population from 5 to 18 years of age was 24,262,936, the number of boys being 12,225,149 and the number of girls 12,037,787. The estimated number of male persons 21 years of age and over was 23,805,219. Similar estimates for each State are given in Table 1. Table 2 furnishes various items of statistics useful in making comparisons between the States. These statistics are from the United States Census Report of 1900. Table 3 gives for each State the latest school census reported to this Office. The table also shows the age for free attendance at the public schools, the age for compulsory attendance, and the age of children enumerated in each State. There were enrolled in the common schools 16,820,386 different pupils of all ages, as shown in Table 4. This was 69.88 per cent of the school population (5 to 18 years of age). The per cent of enrollment was less than in 1900, when it was 72.43 per cent of the school population. In 1890 it was 68.61 per cent; in 1880 the per cent was 65.50, and 61.45 in 1870. These comparisons are made by States in Table 4. The school enrollment is compared with the total population for the five different years mentioned above in Table 5. In 1906-7 there were enrolled 8,447,212 boys and 8,373,174 girls, the total (16,820,386) being 19.82 per cent of the total population, Table 6 gives the per cent of school population, i. e., children 5 to 18 years of age, enrolled in the public schools in each geographical division each year since 1871. The average daily attendance in 1906-7 was 70.26 per cent of the common school enrollment, the average daily attendance being 11,817,834, as shown in Table 7. The average attendance for the years 1871, 1880, 1890, and 1900 will be found in the same table for purposes of comparison. The average length of the school term for 1906-7 was over 151 days (151.2), as shown in Table 8. In 1871 the average length of school term was only 132.1 days, 130.3 in 1880, and 134.7 in 1890, while in 1900 it had reached 144.3 days. The average number of days' schooling given for every child 5 to 18 years of age in 1906–7 was 74.3, while the average number of days attended by each pupil actually enrolled was 106.2. These items are exhibited in Table 8. A review from 1871 to 1907 for each geographical division, showing the average length of school term in days and the average number of days' schooling given for every child 5 to 18 years of age, is given in Table 9. In 1906-7 the total number of teachers employed by the State school systems was 475,238. The male teachers numbered 105,773, or only 23.6 per cent of the total number. A comparison in Table 10. shows a steady decline in the proportion of male teachers since 1880, when the percentage was 42.8. In 1890 the percentage had dropped to 34.5, and in 1900 only 29.9 per cent of the teachers were men. The average monthly salaries for teachers in the public schools of the United States for 1906-7 was $50.15, the average for men in those States making a sex classification being $56.10 and for women $43.67. These averages are shown in Table 11, together with the It is shown in Table 11 that 259,115 buildings were used for school purposes, and that the estimated value of all school property belonging to the public school systems was $843,309,410. Table 12 is an exhibit of the receipt of school moneys for the year 1906-7. The total revenue for school purposes, excluding balances from previous year and bond sales, was $343,602,738. Table 13 compares the school revenue with the school population and the adult and male population. The sources of school revenue are also compared. The progress of school expenditure from 1871 to 1907 is exhibited in Table 14. The expenditure for 1906-7 was $330,680,801, or $3.90 per capita of population, as compared with $2.84 per capita in 1900, with $2.24 in 1890, and $1.56 in 1880. The corresponding rate for 1870 was apparently $1.75. The total school expenditure for 1906-7, as shown in Table 15, was distributed as follows: For buildings, sites, furniture, libraries, and apparatus, $65,817,870; for teachers' and superintendents' salaries, $196,980,919; for all other purposes, principally maintenance, $67,882,012. Table 16 shows the average expenditure per pupil based on average attendance, the average daily expenditure per pupil, together with the percentage analysis of school expenditure. Tables 17 and 18 make comparisons of the principal items in Tables 15 and 16 for a series of years. Table 19 compares the school expenditures for 1880 and 1890 with the total wealth of the country. Table 20 makes like comparisons for 1900 and 1904. Table 21 is a partial exhibit of permanent school funds and school lands for the benefit of public education. |