Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/278

 268 PENNSYLVANIA taxes, build and furnish school houses, employ and pay teachers, select text books, and man- age the schools generally. County superin- tendents visit schools, examine teachers, and report yearly to the state superintendent, who makes an annual report to the legislature. The schools are chiefly supported by taxation. The school fund proper consists of local taxes and fines and an annual state appropriation, which the constitution of 1873 requires to be not less than $1,000,000. The appropriation of public money for sectarian schools is pro- hibited. Women are eligible to any school office. The school age is between 6 and 21 years. The following are the most important facts concerning the common schools of the state for two years ending June 1 : PARTICULARS. 1872-'8. 1878-'4. Number of school districts. . . " of schools 2,070 16,805 2,071 16,641 " of graded schools... " of school directors . . of superintendents. . 5,307 13,576 19089 5,586 13,750 86 19827 Average salaries of male teach- ers per month $42 69 $42 95 Average salaries of female teachers per month Average length of school term in months $34 92 6-67 $35 87 6-78 Whole number of pupils Average number of pupils Percentage of attendance upon the whole number registered Average cost of tuition per month for each pupil Cost of tuition for the year. . . Cost of building, purchasing, and renting of school houses Cost of fuel, contingencies, debt and interest paid 834,020 511,418 61* $0 96 $4,325,797 47 $1,753,812 36 850,774 548,026 67 $0 95 $4,527,308 03 $2,160,514 87 $2 050 106 98 Total cost for tuition, build- ing, fuel, and contingencies . Aggregate cost $8,235,120 41 $8345836 41 $8,787,929 88 $8847939 88 Value of school property $21,750,209 00 $22,569,668 00 Besides the above, $450,879 49 was expended by the state for orphan and $110,000 for nor- mal schools, making the aggregate expendi- tures for public education $9,408,819 37. The marked educational progress of the state out- side of Philadelphia during the past decade is shown in the following : PARTICULARS. Number of districts " of schools Time schools were open . . . Number of teachers Average salaries of male teachers per month Do. of female teachers . . . Whole number of pupils. . . Average number of pupils . State appropriations paid . . Kate for school purposes, mills Rate for school buildings . . Received from collector. . . Expenses for school houses Cost of instruction Paid for fuel and contin- gencies 1865. 1,837 12,547 5 m. 14 d. 14,286 $31 82 $24 21 629,587 896,701 $210,134 $2,437,640 $2,818,069 $374,459 $1,990,777 $410,246 1870. 2,001 13,832 5 m. 21 d. 16,097 $39 63 $30 55 695,052 484,912 $821,200 $4,731,049 7-76 5-39 $5,684,997 1874. 2,071 14,978 6 m. 8 d. 17,664 $41 88 $33 33 716,728 468,309 $521,345 $5,787,833 7-55 5-02 $6,808,917 $2,560,137 I $1,600,131 $3,010,690 $3,596,094 $807,713 $1,652,652 not fewer than 300,000 persons of school age who do not in any one year attend school. The federal census of 1870 reported 1,076,040 per- sons in Pennsylvania from 5 to 18 years of age, and 1,295,864 from 5 to 21, while the total number attending school was returned at 725,- 004. There were 131,728 persons 10 years of age and over unable to read, and 222,356 un- able to write; of the latter, 126,803 were of native and 95,553 of foreign birth. Of the to- tal population 21 years old and upward (1,733,- 773, of whom 1,268,101 were native and 465,- 672 foreign, 1,698,109 white and 35,634 col- ored), the number of illiterates was 190,838, including 61,350 white males and 116,261 white females, and 5,758 colored males and 7,469 colored females. Earnest efforts are made to secure properly qualified teachers for the pub- lic schools. Four kinds of teachers' certificates are issued : the state certificate, given by the board of examiners of the state normal schools, which entitles the holder to teach at any time and place in the state ; permanent, granted by the state superintendent to holders of pro- fessional certificates, and good for one year throughout the state; professional, which is granted by the county superintendent, and con- fers the privilege of teaching in the county during his term of office and one year after ; and provisional, also given by the county su- perintendent, and good for one year in the county. In 1857 a law was passed providing for the division of the state into 12 normal school districts and the establishment of a nor- mal school in each, and prescribing general regulations for their management. Eight nor- mal schools had been opened in 1874, and two more were in process of organization. These are not owned or directly controlled by the state, nor is tuition in them free. The state superintendent has the appointment of two state trustees for each school, and appropria- tions are annually made by the state in behalf of each. Up to 1874 these appropriations amounted to $280,000, including $60,000 ap- propriated in that year. The distribution is made by the governor, state superintendent of public instruction, and attorney general. Stu- dents intending to become teachers in the pub- lic schools of the commonwealth may receive from the state 50 cents a week and $50 on graduation; soldiers' orphans are entitled to $1 a week. The general statistics of the nor- mal schools for 1873-'4 are as follows : Annual censuses of the school population are not taken, but it is estimated that there are WHERE SITUATED. Date of organiza- tion. Num- ber of instruc- tors. Num- ber of pupils. State ap- propria- tion ir 1874. Bloom sburg .... . 1869 10 272 $5000 1861 10 553 5000 Kutztown 1866 10 890 10,000 Mansfield 1862 10 242 5000 Millersville 1865 24 826 15000 Sagamore 1865 5,000 Shippensburg 1872 15 882 5000 West Chester 1871 18 880 10000 Total $60,000