Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/614

 600 OHIO education are elected by the people. Among other duties they may authorize and require for school purposes a tax not exceeding seven mills on the dollar. They may require any lan- guage to be taught in the schools under their control, and are required to provide instruction in the German language upon the demand of 75 freeholders, representing not less than 40 pupils who desire and intend to study both the German and English languages. Prior to 1873 instruction in the German language exclusively was given in many of the public schools. Un- der the new law all branches must be taught in the English language. Boards of educa- tion are also empowered to establish separate schools for colored children when their num- ber exceeds 20, and to provide suitable even- ing schools for whites. An enumeration of all unmarried persons between 6 and 21 years of age is required to be made in each district annually. The state commissioner of com- mon schools is chosen by the people for three years, and receives a salary of $2,000 besides his travelling and contingent expenses. He is required to visit annually each judicial dis- trict, and to make a report before Jan. 20. A state board of three examiners, appointed by the state commissioner for two years, are au- thorized to issue life certificates to teachers upon examination ; there are also county ex- aminers. . The state common school fund con- sists of the proceeds arising from the sale of lands appropriated by congress for the support of schools and the amount accruing from the one-mill tax on the taxable property of the state. The school statistics for 1873-'4, as re- ported by the state commissioner of common schools, are as follows : Number of persons between 6 and 21 years of age. . 985,947 White 963,548 Colored... Males 505,001 Females 430,946 Number of school districts 1,919 " of school houses 11,688 " of school rooms 14,768 Estimated value of school houses and grounds $18,829,586 Number of teachers (males 9,911, females 12,464). . 22,375 Average number of weeks the schools were in sess'n 29 " of pupils enrolled 707,943 " in daily attendance 429,630 Number of teachers in colored schools 160 Pupils 6,131 Total revenue for school purposes |8,300,594 Income from mill tax $1,491,510 " from interest on irreducible funds and rents of school lands $225,523 Income from local taxes (average rate 5-23) $5.960,625 " from sale of bonds $899,625 " from fines, licenses, &c $223,810 Total expenditure .' $8,072,167 Amount paid teachers $4,614,499 " " for supervision $188,530 " " for sites and buildings $1,474,082 " " for interest on and redemption of bonds $516.603 Amount paid for fuel and contingent expenses $1,328,452 Average cost per pupil on year's expenditures, net per capita on average daily attendance $14 15 On enrollment $8 57 Average cost per pupil enrolled including 6 per cent, on value of permanent improvements. . . $9 55 The number of high schools reported was 108, having 678 teachers and 23,372 pupils. Be- sides the public schools above enumerated, there were in the state 265 instructors and 13,066 pupils in private schools. These schools receive no support from the public school funds, but boards of education are re- quired to report concerning their condition. Ohio has no state normal school; but sev- eral institutions not receiving public funds are maintained for the training of teachers. Chief among these are the National normal school in Lebanon, the Northwestern Ohio in Ada, the Northwestern in Fostoria, the Ohio Central in Worthington, the Western Eeserve in Milan, the McNeeley in Hopedale, the Or- well normal institute in Orwell, and the nor- mal school in Cincinnati. Most of these have courses of instruction in addition to the nor- mal. The most extensive of them is the Na- tional normal school, opened in 1856, which has collegiate (including scientific and classical courses), teachers', engineering, business, and preparatory departments, in all of which there were in 1873-'4 17 teachers, of whom 7 were females, and 1,657 pupils, of whom 324 were females. During 1873-' 4, 75 teachers' institutes were held, and were attended by 8,579 teachers. Nothing is contributed by the state to the sup- port of this means of training teachers. Of the cost ($15,318) of maintaining these insti- tutes, $11,792 was taken from the fund ac- cruing from the fee of 50 cents paid by each applicant for a teacher's certificate, and $3,332 was contributed by teachers and others. The Ohio agricultural and mechanical college has been established by means of the congression- al land grant of 1862, from which a produc- tive fund of over $500,000 has been realized. The institution was opened in Columbus in September, 1873. The system of instruction embraces three schools : 1, exact sciences, in- cluding mathematics, civil engineering, phys- ics and mechanics, and chemistry ; 2, natural history, comprising botany, zoology, geology, and agriculture ; 3, letters, embracing the Eng- lish, German, French, Latin, and Greek lan- guages and literatures. Social science and po- litical economy are also taught. The entire course of instruction occupies four years. The studies of the first two years are prescribed. During the remainder of the course the student has a liberty of choice from six courses of study. He is required to take at least one from each of the schools above mentioned, and may take all of his remaining studies from one school. Instruction is free to pupils of both sexes. Applicants for admission are ex- amined in the ordinary English branches. The degrees of bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and civil engineer are conferred. The institu- tion has a farm of 320 acres, and valuable ap- paratus and collections for imparting an in- dustrial and scientific education. In 1874-'5 there were 10 instructors and 75 students. The colleges and professional schools of the state, with the number of instructors and pu- pils in 1874-'5, were as follows :