LEVEL OF CURRENT EXPENDITURE PER CLASSROOM UNIT-Continued $2,000 to $2,099 $2,100 to $2,199 $2,200 to $2,299 $2,300 to $2,399 | $2,400 to $2,499 $2,500 to $2,599 $2,600 to $2,699 $2,700 to $2,799 $2,800 to $2,899 $2,900 to $2,999 Dr. NORTON. The information for each State is given in the long study,' yes, with figures, diagrams, and explanation. Senator ELLENDER. Will that be made a part of the record? Dr. NORTON. Dealing with Montana, Montana would have to spend $1,180,000 more in order to bring all districts up to the national median. The CHAIRMAN. Are the States doing their part in carrying out this obligation? Dr. NORTON. Could I answer that question in just a moment with a chart that is coming up? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. I was going to say in some States they have completely wiped out their debt and have money in the treasury and are bragging about the splendid position they put the State in. They have allowed the Government to take over all of the obligation with reference to the poor, with reference to education, and everything 1 Cited above. else. My State is one of the States that is doing that. At the last election the Governor was elected on the basis of reduced taxes and a balance in the treasury and at the same time he was allowing education to go to the dogs. Dr. NORTON. I would say that the surplus in most States is a temporary war phenomenon, taking account of the total economic situation and the obligations against those amounts. If you took that money and devoted it all to education, it would only be a drop in the bucket. It would help for a year or so at most. Then the State would be right back to where it is now. In other words, the fiscal significance of these temporary war surpluses has been greatly exaggerated, with reference to this problem of providing a decent minimum of school support in all States. Senator HILL. I wonder if I might not say this, that so far as these surpluses are concerned, they are a good deal like an individual's or corporation's plant account. They do not necessarily indicate what the wealth of the corporation or individual might be. A corporation or a man might be bankrupt and yet they might have a pretty good bank account, whereas some individual or some corporation that owned great wealth might have a very, very small bank account; isn't that true? Dr. NORTON. Yes. Senator HILL. You have got to consider this thing on the basis of the wealth, the resources, what is available to be reached through the years from taxation-isn't that true-rather than any bank account that might temporarily be in the bank? Dr. NORTON. That is true. That is, you have to take some real indication of fiscal ability, such as the total income of the people, and relate that to the job to be done before you get any valid measure of ability to finance education. Would I not be right, Senator, to say that many of these surpluses are really obligated already? They are largely postponed expenditures that will have to be made as soon as the war is over. Arkansas is shown next in chart 65. Arkansas, spending in round numbers $10,000,000 for education now, would have to spend $18,000,000, represented by this part of the area [indicating], in order to come up to the national median. Next, let us look at charts 66, 67, and 68. These are among the more significant charts in the whole investigation. In each of these charts the States are arranged in order of median level of support for education. At the bottom of each chart the 10 highest States and the 10 lowest States are thrown together in a group. New York State has an average of $4,100 back of each classroom. Mississippi has an average of $400 back of each classroom. The States are arranged in order of rank, from the highest to the lowest in financial support. Chart 66 shows the relationship of support to percentage of children, per thousand population. States like Mississippi, Arkansas, and the agricultural States are the seedbed of our population. There is where we find the higher birth rates, whereas States like New York, California, and other States at the top are below the average in ratio of children to total population. As the ratio of children increases, the provision made for their education tends to decrease. So we have an indefensible situation. If we had planned it, we could not have PERCENTAGE OF CLASSROOM UNITS CHART 65-DISTRIBUTION OF CLASSROOM UNITS ACCORDING TO LEVELS OF EXPENDITURE ARKANSAS CURRENT EXPENDITURE PER CLASSROOM UNIT $500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 5,500 6,000 100% 90 80 70 60 AMOUNT OF PROPOSED ALLOTMENT ARROW INDICATES 1939-40 $500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 5,500 6,000 done it more poorly. In the parts of the country where the higher proportions of children are we provide the poorest education facilities in terms of finance. In the parts of the country where the smaller proportions of children are born we provide the most generous amounts for education. Chart 67 also lists the States in order of expenditure per classroom unit, from New York, with a high level of support, clear on down to Mississippi with a low level. This chart compares level of support with ability to finance education, or income per capita, which I believe economists recognize as one of the more valid measures of fiscal capacity. Senator ELLENDER. Mr. Chairman, will these charts be placed in the record in connection with the witness' testimony? |