ferred into the hands of special commissioners, the secretary of the Board of Education and the treasurer and receiver-general.274 This is the present (1905) form of management.275 "The secretary of the Board of Education and the treasurer and receiver general shall be commissioners, who shall invest and manage the fund and report annually to the general court the condition and income thereof. The premiums on any securities purchased for said fund, to an amount not exceeding in any one year fifty thousand dollars, may be paid from any money in the treasury of the commonwealth, not otherwise appropriated. All investments shall be made with the approval of the governor and council.” 275 Present Sources of Increase Four sources are at present provided by law to increase the principal of the School Fund: (1) portions of School Fund revenue forfeited by towns owing to their failure to fulfil conditions of participation; 276 (2) moneys received into the state treasury, disposition of which is not otherwise provided for (provided, 1890); 277 (3) annual appropriation of $100,000 to be continued until the principal of the School Fund amounts to $5,000,000 (provided, 1894); 278 (4) $25,000 to be added annually until 1937, to the income of the School Fund (not the principal) from the excess income of the Fitchburg Railroad Securities Loan Sinking Fund.279 Apportionment 281 Chapter 456 of the Acts of 1903 provides as follows: "Sec. 1. The annual income of the Massachusetts School Fund shall, without specific appropriation, be apportioned and distributed for the support of the public schools in the following manner: I. Every town which complies with all laws relative to the distribution of said income and whose valuation of real and personal property, as shown by the last preceding assessors' valuation thereof, does not exceed one-half million dollars, shall annually receive five 274 Acts, 1866, Chap. 53, Sec. 1. 275 Rev. Laws, Chap. 41, Sec. 3. 276 Pub. Stats. of Mass. relating to Public Instruction, Including Laws in Force, 1892, p. 55, Chap. 46, Sec. 11; Abbreviated Stats., P. I., 1892. 277 Mass. Acts, 1890, Chap. 335, Sec. 1. 278 Mass. Resolves, 1894, Chap. 90. 279 Report Mass. Board of Education, 1899-1900, pp. 19, 264 ff. 281 Mass. Acts, 1903, Chap. 456. hundred dollars; but if its rate of taxation for any year shall be eighteen dollars or more on a thousand dollars it shall receive seventy-five dollars additional. II. Every such town whose valuation is more than one-half million dollars and does not exceed one million dollars shall receive three hundred dollars; III. and every such town whose valuation is more than one million dollars and does not exceed two million dollars shall receive one hundred and fifty dollars; IV. and every town whose valuation is more than two million dollars and does not exceed two and one-half million dollars shall receive seventy-five dollars. The remainder of said income shall be distributed to towns whose valuation does not exceed two and one-half million dollars, and whose annual tax for the support of public schools is not less than one-sixth of their whole tax for the year, as follows: Every town whose school tax is not less than one-third of its whole tax shall receive a proportion of said remainder, expressed by one-third; every town whose school tax is not less than one-fourth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-fourth; every town whose school tax is not less than one-fifth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-fifth; and every town whose school tax is not less than one-sixth of its whole tax shall receive a proportion expressed by one-sixth. All money appropriated for other educational purposes, unless otherwise provided for, shall be paid from the treasury of the commonwealth. "Sec. 2. The income of said fund which has accrued on the thirty-first day of December in each year shall be apportioned by the commissioners of the Massachusetts School Fund in the manner provided for by section one of this act, and shall be paid to the several towns on the twenty-fifth day of January thereafter." 281 The law permits a city or town school committee to expend not more than twenty-five per cent (.25) of their share of School Fund revenue to purchase books of reference, maps, Objects and apparatus; the remainder must be applied to the support of public schools.282 The term "support of public schools" is defined by law to include the following eight classes of expenditure: 283 (1) teachers' wages; (2) transportation of school children; (3) fuel; (4) care of school premises; (5) clerks, truant officer, etc.; (6) superintendents of schools; (7) text-books and supplies; (8) school sundries. No part of the income of the Massachusetts School Fund shall be used for payment of the compensation or expenses of members of school committees.284 282 Mass. Stats., P. I., Chap. 43 (1892), Sec. 6, p. 26; see note 276. 283 Mass. Acts, 1900, Chap. 175, p. III. 284 Mass. Acts, 1904, Chap. 107, Sec. 2. No apportionment of School Fund revenue can be made to any town or city which fails: (1) to raise a local school tax of at least $3.00 for each inhabitant, five to fifteen years of age; (2) to submit the school returns required by law; (3) to comply with the laws regarding truancy; (4) to maintain the public schools required by law.286 Conditions of Chapter 107 of the Acts of 1904, provides as follows: Section 1. No town shall receive any part of the income of the Massachusetts School Fund unless it shall have complied, to the satisfaction of the Board of Education with all laws relating to the public schools.285 285 Ibid., Sec. I. 286 Stats., P. I., 1892 (cf. note 276), p. 27, Chap. 43, Sec. 5. Titles. CHAPTER XXX MICHIGAN PRIMARY SCHOOL FUND. SWAMP LAND FUND Michigan has two "accounts" of permanent common school funds, known respectively as the Primary School Fund,287 and the Swamp Land Fund.288 "The Primary School Fund is the account of the proceeds received from the sales of primary school lands. The state pays seven per cent annually upon this account, whence it is often called the Seven Per Cent Fund. The constitution provides that this fund be kept a permanent fund which can never be decreased; nevertheless, the Primary School Fund contains no money. All moneys received by the state in whole or in part payment upon school lands sold are used by the state for general purposes.' These statements apply equally to the Swamp Land Fund, concerning which the law provides that "all moneys received on such sales (sales of lands belonging to school swamp land fund) . . . after deducting the expenses as aforesaid, shall be used and applied to the payment of the outstanding indebtedness of the state." 290 The state pays five per cent annually on this "account," 290 whence the fund is commonly called the Five Per Cent Fund. The Primary School Fund is a perpetual fund fixed by constitution, whereas the swamp land fund is a statutory fund, and can be changed by the legislature.288 The condition of these two funds in 1903 was reported as follows: 201 Primary School Fund: Proceeds paid in Due from purchasers Total amount of fund available for interest 287 Constitution of Michigan, Art. XIII, Sec. 5. 288 Report Supt. of Public Instruction, of Michigan, 1903, p. 24. 289 Ibid., pp. 22, 23. 290 Acts of Mich., 1887, No. 142, Sec. 5. 201 Report Mich. Supt. of Public Instruction, 1903, pp. 27, 31. $4,193,642.40 77-377-45 $4,271,019.85 Unsold lands, 46,975.33 acres estimated at $5 per acre $234,876.65 The total interest-bearing proceeds (principal?) of these two funds combined is therefore $5,201,852.37, and the total prospective proceeds (principal?) $5,614,856. The income derived from these two funds for the same year was as follows: Interest on Primary School Fund (Seven Per Cent Fund) Interest from purchasers $345,447.91 52,366.62 6,061.39 2,243.90 Received from trespassers Total Income Total annual receipts for common schools, this same year, derived from all sources $406,119.82 $8,871.294.56 292 Per cent of total revenue derived from "permanent funds" accounts, approximately (.0457)* four and six-tenths per cent. In 1804 when Michigan was yet a district of the territory of Indiana, Congress reserved for the use of the public schools, section Origin 293 numbered sixteen in each township. The total area of the lands thus reserved amounted to 1,067,397 acres.10 This grant was recognized when Michigan was organized into a separate territory (1805). Provision was made for the establishment of the Primary School Fund by section 2, article X, of the constitution adopted by the constitutional convention, 1835,294 and this provision became effective and the fund established * Computed. 292 Ibid., p. 167. 293 For account of origin of these funds see Report Mich. Supt. of Public Instruction, 1903, pp. 18-24; also Report 1899, p. 22. 294 Roberts, Mich. Rev. Stats., 1838, p. 42. |