posed almost entirely of primary school interest fund and one mill tax. Where the census is low and the valuation high, the surplus will be largely one mill tax. Where the reverse is true, the surplus is largely primary money. The present system of apportioning, makes it possible for some districts to have on hand a large amount of primary school interest fund which is not used, and this money is simply tied up and does no one any good, while other districts are really suffering because of lack of funds with which to maintain even five months of school. From the standpoint of the State, such unequal conditions ought to be adjusted, because the school exists for the children and their interests ought to be safeguarded by the State at every point. The question is, what plan of distribution of this money will be for the best interests of our schools.

STATISTICS SHOWING AMOUNT OF PRIMARY MONEY ON HAND IN CERTAIN

The purpose of legislation on this subject is to secure the greatest good to the greatest number, and alleviate the extremely trying conditions in hundreds of school districts of the State of Michigan without distressing any single district.

Plan
Suggested.

The plan suggested by the Department for the distribution of primary money is as follows: Districts, that according to their own reports, have on hand enough primary money to pay their teachers and tuition for two years, shall receive no apportionment until such time as their reports shall show the amount of primary money on hand to be less than the amount required to pay their teachers and tuition for two years. The justice of this plan is evident as it would cause no hardship to any district but would better the condition in the great number of districts in which, under present conditions, the greater part of the expense of maintaining a school must be met by levying a school tax.

Michigan with its 7,310 school districts is confronted with a great problem, that of improving the conditions found in many of those districts. This is by far the most important school problem in the state today.

Rural
School
Problem.

During the past few years the subject has been given earnest consideration. There is a great future for the rural school, and the indications are that it will be but a few years until radical changes will have been made, and the boys and girls of the farm will be given the opportunity which is their due. All movements which tend to create a more useful country school should receive emphasis. The work is not confined to any one line; but in the establishment of the township as the unit of school administration is to be found one of the most efficient means. The bill passed by the legis

lature of 1909, made the establishment of the township unit system optional with the people of the township.

There are 747,307 children of school age in Michigan; nearly one-half of that number live in rural communities, and if they attend school, all but few are to be found in district schools. The changes that have come about in the number of children in the districts since the organization of such districts, have given rise to some peculiar conditions. There are several districts in the state with only one child of school age on the census list, many districts with only three, four, or five each. More than 1,500 districts out of the total 7,310 have fifteen or fewer children of school age, and less than ten in actual attendance.

The great majority of the rural schools of Michigan are at present under the district system, the township being divided into school districts varying in number from five to twelve; in Present other words, there are from five to twelve single-room schools Conditions. in each township, the taxing area being divided accordingly. The number of pupils in these districts varies from one to forty, with a few schools of greater enrollment. Each district board consists of three members. The course of study covers the first eight grades; in a few schools some advanced work is given. The daily program of the average school consists of from twenty to thirty classes. One grade often consists of but one pupil. The conditions are such as to admit of almost no work in drawing, music, nature study, manual training, and agriculture, and even the drill in reading, arithmetic, penmanship and spelling is necessarily limited. High school departments are very

rare.

The condition of buildings, as to ventilation, light, furnishings, and equipment, is in many cases poor.

The majority of rural school districts contain from three to six sections of land, a very small taxing area, consequently a high rate of taxation.

These are practically the educational conditions that we are offering to the boys and girls of rural communities. With all our boasted democracy and free schools, equal opportunities have not hitherto been furnished to all. The idea of free public schools as carried out is unAmerican and unjust. The well-to-do farmers send their children to the city schools and pay their board in order to give them school advantages. The children whose parents can not afford this expense, while perhaps just as bright as the more fortunate children, must suffer from their poverty and do without advantages which could just as well be given them in their own district, with little, if any, additional expense.

The interest and efficiency that characterized the large schools of former days in many localities is today wanting in the present smaller schools.

The district system which served quite satisfactorily a half century ago, has to a great extent outgrown its usefulness. It has declined in efficiency and will continue to decline. The dis- District trict school is very much as it was fifty years ago. This System. condition exists not because the rural population of Michigan is not progressive. Improvement has been made along all other

lines. Where the farmer lived in his log cabin and harvested his wheat with a sickle, today the average farm home is one of comfort; the farmer gathers his wheat with a binder; everything connected with the average rural community has advanced.

Two essential features, in educational work as well as in business, must be kept in view,-efficiency and economy. To secure these there must be comfortable, convenient schoolhouses, necessary appliances, intelligent teaching, and no more schools than are needed for the number of pupils. The problem is, how can the maximum amount of efficiency be secured at practically a minimum expense, or, in other words, how can the greatest good,to the greatest number be provided at a reasonable expenditure.

Aside from the fact that the average cost per capita in a one-room country school is, in many cases, from three to ten times as much as in the neighboring city and village schools, the results under this system are not only not commensurate with the cost of maintaining but the advantages offered are far below those of other schools.

A comparison of the following statistics will be instructive. Parallel cases can be shown in nearly every county. The cost per capita per month in schools which have kindergartens, high schools and manual training departments is in the majority of cases less than in rural schools where eight grades or less are found.