CHAPTER XLI.

STATISTICS OF CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS.

There are 578 cities in the United States claiming to have more than 8,000 population each. In these cities there are 601 distinct systems of city public schools, a number of cities having two or more school organizations. In 1890-91 there were only 442 such systems, with an enrollment of 2,627,275 pupils. For 1896-97 the enrollment in the 601 city systems was 3,590,875, an increase of 963,600, or 36.67 per cent in six years. In the same time the enrollment in the public schools outside of the cities of 8,000 population increased from 10,422,857 in 1890-91 to 11,061,617 in 1896-97. This was an increase of 638,760, or a little more than 6 per cent. This wide difference in the rate of increase in enrollment in city and country schools is partly due to the fact that in 1890-91 more than 150 of the systems now classed as city systems were yet outside of cities of 8,000 population and over, and the enrollment in these 150 systems is now in effect subtracted from the enrollment in country schools and added to that in city schools. Whether this accounts for the whole difference in the rate of increase or not the fact remains that the enrollment in public schools in cities of 8,000 population and over in 1890-91 was only about 20 per cent of the total public school enrollment of the United States, while in 1896-97 the enrollment in cities of like size is 244 per cent of the public school enrollment for the whole country. The following table is a summary of statistics of school systems of cities containing over 8,000 inhabitants, showing increase or decrease from previous year:

In 1890 the cities of 8,000 population and over had 29.2 per cent of the population of the entire country. In 1897 the estimated population of the United States, based argely upon the school census of the previous year in most of the States, was 1,374,142. The aggregate population claimed by the cities of 8,000 inhabitants and ver was 24,878,211, or 34.86 per cent of the total population. This percentage is nanifestly too great, the actual population of most cities being consideraly below he "claimed" population. The total population of these cities, estimated on the basis of the latest school census of each city, was 22,531,091 for 1897, or 31.57 per ent of the estimated population of the United States for that year.

The statistics of city school systems are summarized in Tables 1 to 20 in this chaper, and certain comparisons are drawn between the public schools of the cities and he public schools outside of cities of 8,000 population and over.

Table 1 shows for each State the number of city systems of public schools, the enrollment in these public schools, the aggregate number of days attended, the aver

age daily attendance, the number of supervising officers, and the number of teachers, male and female. The estimated enrollment in private and parochial schools is also given. The public school enrollment in the cities, 3,590,875, was an increase of 106,620, or 3.06 per cent, over the preceding year. The aggregate attendance, 507,622,259, was an increase of 17,835,554, or 3.64 per cent. The estimated enrollment in private and parochial schools, 824,609, was a decrease of 24,151, or 2.85 per cent, from the year before. The number of teachers in 1896-97 was 74,117, an increase of 3,792, or 5.39 per cent, although the number of supervising officers was 79 less. Table 2 is an exhibit of the school property owned by city school systems, and shows the amount of money expended for teaching and for all purposes in the cities of each State. These city schools occupied 8,604 buildings, in which were 3,397,275 seats for study, showing an increase of less than 1 per cent in seating capacity from the preceding year. The value of school property was $267,050,289, an increase of $9,813,706, or 3.82 per cent, in one year. The amount of money expended for teaching and supervising was $48,772,485, an increase of $2,024,620, or 4.33 per cent, over the previous year. The aggregate expenditure of the 601 city systems for all purposes, except repayment of loans and interest on bonds, was $84,866,092, an increase of $1,823,974, or 6.03 per cent, over 1895-96.

Table 3 is a bird's-eye view of the statistics of city school systems summarized by States, preceded by a review for the past five years by geographical divisions and for the United States as a whole. The table shows that for 1896-97 the enrollment in private schools was only 18.7 per cent of the total school enrollment in cities; that the average daily attendance in the public schools was 74.8 per cent of the public school enrollment; that the average number of days' attendance of each pupil enrolled was 141.4; that the average length of school term was 188.9; that the average number of pupils in attendance to each teacher was 36.3; that the average number of teachers to each supervising officer was 19.3. The table also shows that the average number of seats for each 100 pupils in attendance was 126.4; that the average number of seats to a building was 395; that the value of school property per capita of pupils in average attendance was $99.36; that the cost of teaching and supervising per capita of pupils in average attendance was $18.15; that the total cost of maintaining the schools per capita of pupils in average attendance was $31.58: that the average cost per day of tuition for one pupil was 9.61 cents, and that the average daily expenditure per pupil for all purposes was 16.72 cents.

Table 4 shows that there were 627 high schools belonging to the 601 city systems. These high schools had 5,920 instructors, 2,288 males and 3,632 females. In the high schools there were 181,410 secondary students, 73,872 males and 107,538 females. The average number of teachers to a high school was 9.4, the average number of students to a teacher 30.6, and the average number of students to a high school was 289.3. The table gives similar statistics for each State. Statistics of all the high schools in the United States are given in Chapter XL.

Table 5 summarizes the statistics of evening schools belonging to the public school systems of cities. There were in 1896-97 in cities of 8,000 population and over 813 such schools, with 4,141 teachers and 183,168 pupils. It is seen that 558 of these schools, with 140,053 pupils, are in the cities of the North Atlantic division, 201 being in Massachusetts and 151 in Pennsylvania.

Table 6 is a summary of the statistics of kindergartens belonging to the publie school systems of cities. In the cities of 8,000 population and over there were 1,077 public kindergartens, conducted by 2,024 teachers. In these kindergartens were 81,916 pupils, 35,968 boys and 37,883 girls. Nearly all the public kindergartens were in the cities of the North Atlantic and North Central divisions. The second part of the table shows that in cities and villages of over 4,000 but less than 8,000 population there were 80 kindergartens, conducted by 139 teachers. These kindergartens had 4,717 pupils, 2,052 boys and 2,218 girls. Lists of cities showing the number of kindergartens, kindergarten teachers, and pupils are given in Tables 21 and 22. The detailed statistics of the 601 systems of public schools in cities of 8,000 pop

ulation and over are given in Tables 23 to 26. The statistics of the public schools of 307 cities and villages containing between 4,000 and 8,000 inhabitants are given in detail in Table 27, at the conclusion of this chapter.

CITY AND RURAL SCHOOLS COMPARED.

For the purpose of comparing certain statistics of public schools in cities of 8,000 population and over with like statistics of the public schools outside of such cities, Tables 7 to 16 have been arranged. It can not be said that all the schools not in cities of 8,000 population and over are rural schools, but as a rule the schools in the smaller cities and in the villages present conditions similar to those in rural schools. In the public schools of the 307 cities and villages of from 4,000 to 8,000 population there were 321,435 pupils enrolled, as shown in Table 20. In only a small number of these cities and villages have the public schools reached the high standard of organization maintained by the larger cities. The comparisons made in this chapter will not be vitiated by considering the public schools of the smaller cities as a component part of the rural schools of the country. In the census reports for 1890 the aggregate population of all cities of 8,000 population and over was considered to be the urban population of the United States, while all the population outside of such cities was classed as rural population.

Table 7 gives the estimated population of the United States and of each State, based upon the latest school census in each State, as reported by superintendents of public instruction. This estimated population was for the whole country 71,374,142 in 1897. The aggregate population of the cities of 8,000 population and over was 22,531,091, estimated largely on the basis of the scholastic population. According to these careful estimates the urban population of the United States was 31.57 per cent in 1897, as compared with 29.20 per cent in 1890. The rural population in 1897 was 48,843,051, or 68.43 per cent of the total population. The “claimed” population of the cities is given in the third column of Table 7, but is not used for purposes of comparison, the aggregate being manifestly too great. In a few States where the school census was defective the population was estimated by using the 1890 ratio, and in five States the "claimed" city population is placed in column 5 for the same

reason.

Table 8 gives the number of children of school census age in the cities, outside of the cities, and for the whole United States. In the cities the children of school-census age numbered 5,893,132, or 26.16 per cent of the city population; outside of the cities there were 15,084,884 children of school-census age, or 30.88 per cent of the total rural population. The number of children of school-census age for the United States was 20,978,016, or 29.39 per cent of the total population. This total of 20,978,016 was not the number of children from 5 to 18 years of age, but the number actually reported or estimated by State superintendents of public instruction. The last column of the table shows the ages for enumeration in the cities, being in most cases also the ages for enumeration in the entire State.

Table 9 shows the number of pupils enrolled in the cities, outside of the cities, and in the whole country. The number enrolled in the cities was 3,590,875, or 15.94 per cent of the city population; the number enrolled outside of the cities was [1,061,617, or 22.65 per cent of the rural population. The combined enrollment was (4,652,492, or 20.53 per cent of the total population. The same table also shows that the enrollment in cities was 60.93 per cent of the school population of those cities, the enrollment outside of cities was 73.33 per cent of the rural school population, and the enrollment for the whole country was 69.85 per cent of the total school populaion. The comparison shows that in the matter of enrollment the advantage is lecidedly in favor of the rural schools.

Table 10 gives the aggregate and average attendance and average length of school term in the cities and outside of the cities in each State. The average length of school term in the cities was 188.9 days, or nearly nine and one-half months, while the length of term outside these cities was 122.8 days, or nearly six months and three

days. In the cities of only three States does the average length of school term f below eight and one-half months, but in the rural schools there are wider variations The shortest average term in the rural schools of any State is 61.7 days and the longest average term is 183.4 days. In six States the school term is less than four months, and in fourteen States less than five months. The average length of school term for the United States, as shown in the last column of the table, was 140.4 days or about seven months.

Table 11 is a comparison of public high school statistics for city and rural schools The 627 high schools in cities had 181,410 secondary students, this number being 5.05 per cent of the public-school enrollment of the cities. The 4,482 high schools outside of the cities of 8,000 population and over had 228,023 students, or only 2.06 per cent of the rural-school enrollment. The last column of the table shows that 2.79 per cent of the pupils enrolled in the public schools of the United States constituted the public high school enrollment. It may be observed that in a number of States the high schools of the cities had more than 8 per cent of the city public school enrollment. For the North Atlantic and Western divisions the percentages were 6.33 and 6.43, respectively.

Table 12 shows that male teachers constituted only 7.79 per cent of the teaching force in the cities, while in the rural schools it was composed of 38.16 per cent males and 61.84 per cent females. It may be noted that nearly all the 3,859 supervising officers in the city schools were males. If these be included, the teaching and supervising force of the cities would be composed of about 12 per cent males and 88 pet cent females. For the whole United States the percentage of male teachers in the public schools was 32.6.

Table 13 shows the whole amount expended for public schools in cities of 8,000 population and over, the aínount expended outside of such cities, and the aggregate for the whole country. The $84,866,092 expended for city public schools was per capita of city population. The $102,460,846 expended for rural schools was $2. per capita of population outside of the cities. The total amount expended for pab lic schools in the United States for 1896-97 was $187,326,938, or $2.62 per capita population. The expenditure for city public schools, as shown in the second e umn of the table, presents wide variations. The per capita expenditure is but cents in the cities of one State, and exceeding $5 per capita in the cities of sever other States. The expenditure per capita of population was as low as 32 cents i one State and as high as $4.84 in another. In the two Southern divisions the pe capita expenditure for rural schools is less than $1.

Table 14 shows that the amount of money expended for teaching and supervising in cities, $48,772,485, was 57.47 per cent of the total expenditure for public schools In the rural schools the expenditure for teaching, $70,531,057, was 68.84 per cent of the total expenditure. For the United States the expenditure for teaching and supervising was $119,303,542, or 63.69 per cent of the total expenditure for public schools Table 15 shows that in the cities the average expenditure per pupil, based es average attendance, was $31.58, and that in the rural schools the average was only $13.84 per pupil for the school year. For the whole country the average per pupil was $18.56. The average expenditure per pupil in city schools is as high as $18.89 in one State and as low as $11.88 in another. The expenditure per pupil in rural schools varies from $3.53 in one State to $48.74 in another.

The average sums received by teachers and supervisors for the whole school year without regard to the number of months of service are given in the second part of Table 15. The teachers and supervisors in city schools received $625.48, while the average sum received in the rural schools was $216.78, the average for the whol country being $295.79. The highest city average in any State was $814.93 and th lowest $322.47. The highest average for the rural schools in any State was $549.5 and the lowest was $70.82.

Table 16 presents the estimated average salaries of teachers in the city and rus schools of the United States.

The first column shows the average monthly salary

male teachers in each State and the second column the average monthly salary of female teachers as derived from the reports of State superintendents of public instruction. The next column gives the average salaries of teachers and supervisors in the city schools as $66.19 per month. This is found by dividing the average sum received by teachers and supervisors in city schools, $625.48, by the average length of the school term in months. The average, $625.48, was found by dividing the amount expended for teaching and supervising by the number of teachers and supervisors. This gives an average somewhat larger than the true average for teachers and much less than the true average for supervisors. The same method shows an average of 35.31 per month for teachers and supervisors in the rural schools. The average monthly salary of teachers and supervisors in the public schools is estimated at 42.14 for the whole country. The average monthly salary in the city schools of the North Atlantic Division was $66.75 and in the rural schools $34.22; in the South Atlantic Division $58.92 in the city schools and $28.93 in the rural schools; in the South Central Division $60.86 in the city schools and $36.30 in the rural schools; in Che North Central Division $64.68 in the city schools and $32.70 in the rural schools; n the Western Division $83.01 in the city schools and $53.22 in the rural schools.

RELIGIOUS EXERCISES IN CITY SCHOOLS.

To ascertain the nature of religious exercises in the public schools of the cities his office in 1896 sent to each city superintendent the following request for informaion:

Please state whether you have any religious exercises in your schools, or whether hese are forbidden by the regulations.

In case you have religious instruction, is it limited to the reading of the Bible, or are other exercises allowed?

Please state the nature of such religious exercises or instruction. Is the Bible or he New Testament read, or some book of selections?

In response to the above inquiry 531 superintendents in cities of 8,000 population nd over sent information, and replies were received from 277 superintendents in ities of less than 8,000 population. The information furnished by the 531 superinendents is summarized in Table 17, and that from the 277 superintendents in Table 8. The statistics of these two tables are combined in Table 19.

Table 17 shows that of the 531 cities 425 have religious exercises in their public chools and 106 have not. In 57 of the latter such exercises are prohibited by law or egulation. The superintendents of 446 cities reported that religious exercises were ot prohibited in their schools, while 28 did not answer this question. In 29 cities the ligious exercises are limited to the reading of the Bible, in the schools of 381 cities he Bible is read, in 3 cities the New Testament only, and in 5 the Old Testament aly, while in 38 cities books of scriptural selections are in use. In the schools of 13 cities the daily exercises begin with prayer and in 142 with sacred song. In 63 ties comment ou the scriptural reading is forbidden by regulation. Table 18 gives similar statistics for 277 cities of less than 8,000 population. Reliious exercises are held in 226 of these schools and not held in 51; such exercises are rohibited in 20 and not prohibited in 243, and limited to the reading of the Bible 14. The Bible is read in the schools of 221 of these cities, the New Testament ly in 5, the Old Testament only in 3, and books of scriptural selections in 11. xercises begin with prayer in 193 cities and sacred song is employed in 81. In 36 ties teachers are not allowed to comment upon the scriptural readings. Table 19 combines the statistics of the two preceding tables, showing that in the ablic schools of 808 cities and villages of 4,000 population and over, religious exerses are held in 651, not held in 157, and prohibited in 77. In 602 of the cities the ible is read, in 536 daily prayer is offered and in 226 there is sacred song. In only he State is the prohibition of religious exercises general. Reports were received om 29 cities and villages in Wisconsin, and in the schools of 24 of these religious xercises were prohibited.