THE SUMMARY, BY STATES AND DIVISIONS, OF COMPARATIVE STATISTICS OF CITIES

[Table 20, Page 305.]

The difficulties and uncertainties that have surrounded the preparation in past years of the summaries, by States and divisions, of the school statistics of cities, have led to a radical change in the method of presenting them. It has not yet been possible to procure returns from all the cities on the lists of the Office. Of 690 blank forms sent to as many different cities, 518 were returned with statistics available for the Report; 162 cities and towns were not heard from, though the efforts of the Bureau were four times repeated; ten of the returns received were rejected, as the information they contained did not properly concern any city system. It will be seen that nearly all the States are represented in the list of cities that furnished no statistics. The "numUnder such circumstances it is plain that no summary of absolute quantities could be prepared that would not do injustice to the State for which it is made. ber of children enrolled" in 75 per cent. of the cities and towns of a State cannot, by any process now known to this Office, be made to represent the "number of children enrolled in the public schools of the cities" of that State, without bearing on its face a palpable error. Any summarized statement of totals concerning any number of cities, not the whole number in any State or division, would be for all practical purposes meaningless.

For these reasons it has been decided to abandon the use of totals in the summaries of city statistics and present, instead, summaries comprising the same averages and ratios as are shown in the foregoing table. These are believed to be approximately correct, upon the hypothesis that the averages shown by any number of cities under substantially similar conditions will not materially differ from those shown by threefourths of that number. The statistics of the States are presented in a previous chapter, and furnish all information ordinarily desired as to totals.

In the table it has been necessary to leave a number of the columns blank, for the reason that the items necessary for the computation were not reported by a sufficient number of cities to make an equitable average for the State. Two States-Florida and Vermont-are entirely without representation. Of the three cities in the former, the return of but one was available for use; and from the latter State, with seven cities and towns on the list, only two returns that could be considered satisfactory were received.

In instituting comparisons between the States as represented by the cities, it appears that Massachusetts leads in two important respects: the average attendance is equal to 92.8 per cent. of the population between 6 and 14, and the total amount of instruction imparted is equivalent to the attendance of the population 6 to 14 for 179.9 days. The same State excels in the amount ($20.75) appropriated for schools by the cities and towns per capita of population 6 to 14, and is second only to Colorado in the amount paid for supervision and teaching, upon the same basis. New York, with 149.8 per cent., heads the list in the ratio of total public and private school enrolment to the established basis, being 7.6 per cent. ahead of Massachusetts. The proportion of enrolment to the population 6 to 14 is remarkably large in Colorado, reaching 138.4 per cent.; the value of school property and the amount paid to superintendents and teachers are also unusually large per capita. The children enrolled in the cities of Georgia are most regular in their attendance, 82 per cent. of them, on an average, being present every day; 163.7 represents the average number of days of each pupil's attendance. Ohio has the largest number of sittings in proportion to enrolment, but Colorado again leads if the number be compared with the average attendance. The average number of sittings to a building is greatest in South Carolina and least in New Hampshire. The cities of Michigan are best supplied with libraries, there being 313.7 volumes to each 100 pupils in average attendance. The percentage of male teachers to the whole number of teachers is largest in Alabama. The number of pupils in average attendance to each teacher is largest in South Carolina and smallest in Minnesota. Michigan and New Hampshire share the distinction of having proportionally the largest high school enrolment, with the advantage slightly in favor of the former.

TABLE 20, PART I.-Summary of comparative school statistics of cities, oy States and geographical divisions.

TABLE 20, PART II.—Summary of comparative school statistics of cilies, etc.—Continued.

TABLE 20, PART III.—Summary of comparative school statistics of cities, etc.-Continued.

THE SUMMARY BY CLASSES.

[Table 21, Page 309.]

It appears from the figures of the following summary that if there is any advantage on the side of any class of cities, that advantage lies on the side of those whose population is less than 10,000. In only two cases is there a marked gradation, but it will be noted that in some of the most important columns the superiority of the small city from an educational stand-point is manifest. The ratio of enrolment to the population between 6 and 14, the amount of instruction imparted in proportion to the scholastic population, the average length of school life as shown by the number enrolled in high schools, the ratio of total public and private school enrolment to population, and the proportional value of school property, may be mentioned as matters in which the cities of Class 6 excel those of the other classes. The statement that these advantages are due chiefly to the size of the cities would not be borne out by the statistics, for, if such an assertion were true, it would be expected to find a gradual increase in every important column. Instead of this, it is shown that in the largest cities-those of Class 1-the averages attained are, in at least two important instances, more favorable than those of the other classes, and in the ratio of enrolment to population, and in the proportional amount of instruction furnished, the largest cities rank next to the smallest.

Column 7 plainly indicates that as the size of a city increases, the chances of the average child for a long school life diminish. To attempt to discuss the reasons for this fact would be to open a question concerning the social conditions of cities which it is not within the province of this Report to settle. It is evident, however, that it is not due to any failure on the part of the authorities of the larger cities to provide liberally for the schools, since it is proved by Column 14 that the proportional amount paid for supervision and teaching increases with the population, though not in regular progression.

The amounts apportioned to the schools are generally larger per pupil in average attendance in the large than in the small cities; and since the value of school property is greater per pupil in the smaller cities, it may be inferred that the authorities in the great cities prefer to devote the funds at their disposal to the improvement of the character of the instruction, rather than to the acquirement of property, and that in the cities of lesser population the tendency is in the other direction. It can only be a matter of conjecture to what extent these conclusions are affected by the well-known facts that the difference in the cost of living makes it possible to secure good teachers at lower salaries in the less populous cities, and that the more crowded condition of the large cities renders practicable the use of larger and therefore less expensive buildings.

So few of the cities concerned reported the items required for the calculations that Column 9 for Class 1, and Columns 8 and 9 for Class 2, could not be filled. It appears, however, that private schools are patronized least in the towns and smaller cities, and that the total enrolment steadily increases from Class 3 to Class 6.