Page:The Extravagent Expenditure of the London School Board.djvu/9

 of those erected in the earlier stages of its career, by which we shall find that the cost per head, expensive as it was at the outset, has been and is still increasing at a most extraordinary rate, until we are now brought face to face with the question "where will it stop?" It should also be borne in mind when instituting a comparison between the cost of Board Schools and Voluntary Schools that their educational results are generally speaking equal. It will be as well at the outset to explain that the cost of building a school, as considered here, does not include the expenditure for fittings, nor the cost of the site.

The earlier Board Schools were erected from the designs of Architects holding no permanent official position in connection with the Board; all the subsequent ones having been designed by the Architect of the Board permanently appointed. As it was claimed by the Chairman of the Board that this late arrangement effected a saving of some £2000 a-year, we may as well separate the earlier schools from the later ones, and see which, were the most economical, it being fairly assumed that for the purpose of efficient education they are equal. In arriving at the following figures, the cost of each school designed by what I may call the "outside Architects," includes the Architects' commission and other expenses of superintendence, whilst the remaining Board Schools having been designed by an officer of the Board are not charged with any commission. In the case of those Board Schools for which Tenders have been accepted, but which are not yet completed, an addition of 10 per cent, has been made to the amount of the Tender, to represent the probable value of the extras and the cost of superintendence (clerks of works, &c.) A margin of this per centage for extras is allowed by the Board upon all contracts, and this amount is generally expended, and, indeed, frequently exceeded.

It must be added that no notice has been taken of Schools