TABLE II.-Potential allocation of $300,000,000 Federal aid to education under a weighted population formula-Continued

2 Department of Commerce figures indicate that average per capita income for continental United States in 1941-43 was $861; for the 3 richest States, it was $1,236; and for the 3 poorest States it was $421.

Table II shows the potential allocation of $300,000,000 of Federal aid among the States and Territories on the basis of the above formula. About $282,000,000 of this would be available to the 48 States and the District of Columbia because the table is based upon certain assumptions as to per capita income payments of Territories, and then weighs Territorial population accordingly, thereby treating Territories and possessions on a basis comparable to that used for the States.

A comparison of the allocations, which might result from the use of each of these formulas, shown in table III, indicates certain differences. Basically, the weighted-population formula as outlined immediately above, achieves a somewhat higher degree of equalization among the poorest States, given the same total appropriation to be distributed. There are other variations between the series which result from differences in the effort currently being made to support education. A formula which matches State and local expenditures tends to give somewhat more to the States making greater effort; the weighted-population formula takes no account of the effort made by the various States.

The weighted population formula is capable of being adjusted in various ways. For example, it would be possible to replace the figure for per capita income of the three richest States with one equivalent to, say, twice the national average income per capita; this would have the effect of reducing somewhat the grants to the States with the lower per capita income and increasing the size of the grants to some of the States with higher per capita incomes. On the other hand, if it were preferred not to provide for grants to the richest States, the figure for per capita income of the three richest States could be replaced with the average of per capita incomes of a considerably larger number of States. If it were desired to give no aid to States having per capita incomes higher than the national average per capita income, that figure could be substituted. This would also necessitate dropping the suggestion that a floor be placed on the weight to be applied to any State's population.

Alternatively, if it was felt that 1 percent was too low a weight for any State, it would be possible to increase this "floor" and thus to increase the grants to those States affected by the "floor percentage"; this would decrease pro rata all the remaining grants. Just as a "floor" to the weights obtained by this formula may be desirable, so an appropriate "ceiling" on the weights may also be desired, perhaps 400 or 500 percent.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION

(The Advisory Committee on Education).

FOREWORD BY THE COMMITTEE

The Advisory Committee on Education was appointed by the President of the United States on September 19, 1936, initially for the purpose of making a study of the experience under the existing program of Federal aid for vocational education. Under its original assignment, the Committee was known as the President's Committee on Vocational Education.

In a later letter dated April 19, 1937, the President stated that he had been giving much thought to the general relationship of the Federal Government to education, that numerous bills in connection with educational matters were pending in the Congress, and that it was his understanding that the Committee was already in possession of much information bearing upon the subject. He therefore requested the Committee to give more extended consideration to the whole subject of Federal relationship to State and local conduct of education, and to prepare a report.

In accordance with this request, the Committee prepared a comprehensive report, which was transmitted to the President on February 18, 1938, and was transmitted by him to the Congress on February 23, 1938. The report was printed as House Document No. 529, 75th Congress, 3d session. An indexed edition of the report, differing in pagination but not in text, was also printed for public use by the Advisory Committee.

Demand has arisen for a summary of those parts of the report which relate particularly to the situation in the schools, inequalities of educational opportunity, the national interest in education, and the proposed Federal grants for educational purposes. This pamphlet has therefore been prepared in order to present briefly the relevant parts of the Committee's findings and proposals.

The pamphlet was prepared by the Secretary of the Committee and he is responsible for the selection, rearrangement, and interpretation made necessary by condensation of the report. Although the Committee assumes full responsibilty for publication of this summary, the complete report should be consulted for the exact text of the recommendations which were agreed to by the individual members of the Committee, as well as for the text of an expression of minority views on the part of one member of the Committee.

Interested readers should also refer directly to the Committee's report for its discussion and recommendations concerning the general problem of the education and adjustment of youth. Other sections of the report not summarized here include those dealing with higher education, vocational rehabilitation of the physically disabled, and education in the District of Columbia, the Territories, and other special Federal jurisdictions.

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A SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND PROPOSALS OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION

The public-school system in the United States greatly needs improvement. Glaring inequalities characterize educational opportunities throughout the Nation. The education that can be provided at present in many localities is below the minimum necessary to preserve democratic institutions. Federal aid is the only way in which the difficulties in this widespread and complex situation can be adequately corrected.

These are the general conclusions of the Advisory Committee on Education. The Committee's report,' based on more than a year of study of the schools throughout the country, is now under consideration by the Congress, to which it was transmitted by the President on February 23, 1938.

It is the purpose of this pamphlet to summarize major findings of the Committee and to present briefly the Committee's proposals for Federal aid for education.

ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Public education is one of the largest of all public businesses. By 1930 the people of the United States were spending on public schools the impressive sum of $2,300,000,000 a year. The value of the property of the public schools had reached $6,675,000,000.

Expenses were cut drastically during the early years of the depression. These cuts meant curtailed school terms, restricted courses of study, overcrowded schools, and overworked, underpaid teachers. During the school year 1935-36, after partial recovery from the worst effects of the depression, support for the public schools totaled about $2,000,000,000.

Enrollments in public elementary schools have been declining slightly since 1930 because of the decreasing number of young children in the total population. In 1935-36 the elementary public-school enrollment totaled 20,400,000.

High-school enrollments continue to expand as a larger proportion of all youth enter the high schools. Enrollments in public high schools increased from 4,400,000 in 1929-30 to nearly 6,000,000 by 1935-36.

City Schools

The strong public-school centers in the United States are found most frequently today in the small and middle-sized cities. The school situation in the great metropolitan centers is often less satisfactory. Most of the larger cities have the financial resources for good educational programs and in many cases spend liberally for public education. But the largest school systems necessarily can adapt to changing conditions only slowly.

Rural Schools

In general, the least satisfactory schools are found in rural areas. Although rural schools have improved steadily, there is a wide gap between country and city levels of educational service. Under present conditions there is no prospect that the rural areas will be able to lessen this gap through their own resources. In 1935-36 almost equal numbers of children were attending city schools and rural schools. City school systems spent an average of $108 that year for each child in attendance; rural schools spent an average of $67. Since town and village schools are counted as rural for statistical purposes, average expenditures per child in schools of open-country areas were undoubtedly much lower than $67. Low school expenditures in rural areas have unfortunate results for the children. Since the teachers are poorly paid, they are frequently untrained and inexperienced. They usually follow textbooks and make little use of supplementary materials to give vitality and interest to their teaching. School terms average a month shorter than in cities. The health, welfare, guidance, and other services that school children need in addition to instruction are almost universally lacking.

In 1930, 800,000 children in the United States between the ages of 7 and 13 were not going to school at all. Most of these children lived in the poorest rural areas, where relief problems have been most serious since 1930.

1 The Advisory Committee on Education, Report of the Committee, for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Price 35 cents.