CHAPTER XIII COLORADO PUBLIC SCHOOL FUND * The permanent common school fund of Colorado, officially known as the Public School Fund 54 consists (January 1, 1906) of $1,408,322.50; the annual revenue of which added Title. Condition 1906 to the rent on unsold school lands belonging to this fund amounts to $220,896.44, which is approximately four and ninety-seven hundredths per cent (.0497) of $4,438,030, the total common school revenue derived from all sources.54a The invested fund represents not more than one-twelfth of the prospective capital:-1,568,530.42 acres of unleased land of an estimated value of $5,487,856.47 and 1,993,041.40 acres of leased land with an estimated value of $9,965,207 to make a total of $15,453,063.47 to be added to the present capital. The total invested and estimated capital ($1,408,322.50 plus $15,453,063.47) amounts to $16,861,385.97. Upon her admission into the Union, Colorado received from the United States for the support of common schools the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township, amounting Origin in all to 3,650,000 acres.55 The first constitution, adopted August 1, 1876, upon her admission as a state, and which has remained unchanged, provided that "The Public School Fund of the state shall consist of the proceeds of such lands as have *For this account I am indebted to Katherine L. Craig, State Supt. of Public Instruction of Colorado, who is authority for all data unless otherwise stated. 54 Colo. Constitution, 1876, Art. IX, Secs. 3, 5; Report U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1892-93, II, p. 1383. 540 Report U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1906, I, p. 306. 55 The U. S. General Land Office (for reference see note 9) makes this 3,715,555, but this is evidently an estimate, not an exact measurement. In many cases the acreage reported in these tables is too large; 3,650,000 acres is the area invariably given in Colorado reports (see Report State Supt. of Public Instruction, 1901-02, p. 18). Superintendent Craig wrote 3,561,572, but this is the present total unsold acreage. heretofore or may hereafter be granted to the state by the general government for educational purposes." 54 Loss Four hundred eighty-eight thousand, six hundred thirty-three dollars and forty-four cents of the School Fund derived from the sale of school lands was invested in the so-called "excess warrants" of 1887, 1888, and 1889, which, with interest, would now (1906) amount to over $1,000,000. Since that time the state has redeemed about $25,000 of these warrants, and the investment without interest now represents $463,765-77The state has twice repudiated this indebtedness, and the warrants cannot be paid until some time in the future when a constitutional amendment shall be adopted. Sources of The constitution of 1876 in the section already referred to, provided five possible sources of increasing the principal:54 (1) All estates escheating to the state; (2) all grants, (3) gifts, or (4) devises made to the state for educational purposes; (5) proceeds of all lands granted to the state for educational purposes by the United States. The only sources that have actually contributed anything up to the present time are the proceeds of the sales of sixteenth and thirty-sixth section lands. The State Treasurer is the custodian of this fund.54 The revenue is apportioned by the Superintendent of Public Instruction among the counties on the basis of the total school population (six to twenty-one years).56 Management. The Public School Fund revenue must be used for the maintenance of the schools of the state.54 The law permits its use for all objects of school expenditure except erecting, repairing, and furnishing school-houses and the Objects purchasing of school lots.57 This of course leaves the greater part of it for teachers' wages. The only requirement which a school district must fulfil in order Requisitions for to receive its quota of the Public School Fund revenue is that it maintain a public school for at Participation least three months during the school year. 58 Colo. School Laws, 1897, p. 16, Sec. 11. 57 Ibid., p. 57, Sec. 71. 58 58 Ibid., 1900, Sec. 75. CHAPTER XIV HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL FUND OF CONNECTICUT No state permanent school fund has a more interesting history or is more worthy of study than that of Connecticut. Peculiar interest must always be attached to this fund in Introduction view of the fact that Connecticut was the first state to establish a permanent state fund for the benefit of common schools. New York had taken the first step towards the establishment of her Literary Fund in 1786, but this fund was devoted to secondary not elementary schools, and it was not until 1805 that she established her Common School Fund. Maine did not create her Permanent School Fund until 1828; New Hampshire her Common School Fund until 1867, Massachusetts her School Fund until 1834. Furthermore, Connecticut began distributing the income from her School Fund in 1799 whereas the first distribution of New York's Common School Fund was not made until 1815. By the Ordinance of 1785 and the resulting contracts of sale of public lands made in 1787, the federal Government had reserved for schools in its western lands one section out of every thirty-six, yet it was years before any permanent funds were established from the proceeds of these reservations. Those who established the Connecticut School Fund planned that its income would be sufficient to support the common schools of the state. From 1821 to 1854, all taxation for schools was practically discontinued. The result was a decline of the school system as soon as the School Fund began to contribute its revenue. The experience for which Connecticut paid dearly, guided and warned others, at the same time that her example inspired them. The Connecticut permanent common school fund, officially known as the School Fund,59 consists in 1905 of a permanent 50 Conn. Constitution, Art. VIII, Sec. 2. invested inviolable principal of $2,022,502.23,60 yielding an annual revenue of $109,579.60 In 1902 approximately three and two Title. tenths per cent (.032) 61 of $3,443,944, the total state public school revenue, was derived from the income of the School Fund. Fund Origin Original Extent Conn., 1662 The charter of Connecticut given by Charles II, King of England, in 1662, "conveyed to the 'Governour and Company of the EngConnecticut School lish Collony of Connecticut, in New England in America'" land which included parts of Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and all west of New Jersey between north latitude 41° and 42° and 2' to the Pacific Ocean.61a By virtue of this charter, Connecticut in 1663-64 claimed jurisdiction over the towns of Wickford, Rhode Island, and Westchester, New York, to the Hudson river, and most of Long Island, but these claims were soon given up, and the Pawcatuck river was agreed upon with Rhode Island as a boundary line. The parts of New York and New Jersey included by the charter of 1662 had been previously granted under Plymouth Charter, 1620, and therefore could not be claimed by Connecticut. All lands west of the Delaware river had never been granted to any one, and therefore belonged to Connecticut. Claims in New In 1681 Charles II gave to William Penn the charter of Pennsylvania, covering the present state of Pennsylvania. The northern part of this had been already given to Connecticut. Connecticut asserted her claim to this land. "Settlers from Windham County, Conn., began to migrate to the Wyoming Valley while the French and Indian War was in progress, but permanent settlements were not effected until about 1769. These operations were conducted principally under the auspices of the Susquehanna Company, * For an account of the sources from which moneys for schools were derived prior to the creation of the School Fund and for a description of the evolution of policy which brought about the creation of this fund consult Chapter II. 60 Conn. School Fund Commissioner's Report, 1905, pp. 12-13. 61 Report Conn. Board of Education, 1903, p. 47. 61a Report Conn. Board of Education, 1876, p. 108. which was at first a private affair, but was afterwards incorporated and protected by the State." 61b From 1774 to 1782, "the settlers on the Susquehanna sent their representatives to the Connecticut legislature, received officers Connecticut's c appointed by that body, established schools and paid taxes precisely like other citizens in Connecticut." 61 In 1782 a Court of Commissioners appointed by Congress to arbitrate the Connecticut-Pennsylvania land case rendered the following decision: "We are unanimously of opinion, that the state of Connecticut has no right to the lands in controversy. We are also unanimously of opinion, that the jurisdiction and pre-emption of all the territory lying within the charter boundary of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by the state of Connecticut, do of right belong to the state of Pennsylvania." 61d Connecticut still owned the land west of Pennsylvania, a narrow strip seventy miles wide but extending through forty-four degrees of longitude or nearly one-eighth of the circumference of the earth. But in May, 1786, acting upon the repeated suggestions of Congress to the colonies owning western lands, the General Assembly of Connecticut authorized her delegates in Congress, "or any two of them to convey to the United States all (of Connecticut's) lands lying west a line parallel to and 120 miles distant from the western line of the State of Pennsylvania." 61c Connecticut Connecticut reserved for her own use the lands lying between the western boundary line of Pennsylvania and the ceded territory. The area of the section of land thus reserved was about three million three hundred thousand acres.63 It was known variously as the "Western Reserve," "Connecticut Western Reserve,” and "New Connecticut." 61/ It lay in what is now the northeastern 616 Hinsdale, B. A., Documents Illustrative of Educational History, Report U. S. Commissioner of Education, 1892-93, p. 1265. 61c Report Conn. Board of Education, 1876, p. 108. 61d Journals of Congress, VIII, pp. 83-84. 611 Report Conn. Board of Education, 1876, p. 106. 63 Report Conn. Board of Education, 1853, p. 69. |