He also states that it depends on a reasonable amount of money. We are fortunate in the state of Pennsylvania, at least in the school districts of cities of the second class (of which Erie is one), in having the law so read that the taxes are levied for school purposes directly by the board of education. The amount of the levy does not have to be approved by any other department of the city government and therefore is in no way mixt up with any politics, outside of the politics that there might be in the school board itself. If we are to maintain in this country an efficient public-school system we must make up our minds to spend a reasonable amount of money per capita to educate the children and must justify ourselves and the public in spending as much money, or even more money, for education during the stress of war time as we have spent previously. We have been told that we are fighting for democracy, and we realize that the nations of the world are at war to uphold their ideas of government. If nations and the people of the nations are willing to sacrifice their wealth and life itself to uphold their ideas of government, is it not important that we make some efforts to teach the coming generation what we believe are the true ideas of government, and what we really mean by democracy? It would seem to me that this is one of the most important things that our schools can do. Teach the children what a government is, what a government is for, and what we think a government should be, and perhaps if this is done, and done thoroly, the seed may be sown, and such a government may be developt that its effect will spread universally, as its benefits are seen, and the next generation will be spared such a bloody and costly war as we are now enduring. I believe that the schools and the schools alone can do it, and I believe that a war budget should not be cut but should be maintained and even expanded, and that our educators should give a great deal of time and study to developing a study of government that will make a lasting impression on the children in the grades. UNIFORMITY IN SCHOOL ACCOUNTING JAMES STOVER, SECRETARY, BOARD OF EDUCATION, BUFFALO, N.Y. Public education is a state function. A board of education acts as an agent of the state and also acts in the capacity of agent for the local community in establishing the policies under which the officials, teachers, etc., of the department shall operate in the administration of its schools. The problem of securing the funds necessary for school administration rests with the board and the superintendent, hence upon them lies the burden of proving to the community the needs of the school department. The public is entitled to know and should know how school appropriations are expended. In all our cities we find citizens who are very much interested in the schools of their city and are proud of the fact that it maintains a high school with an enrolment of a thousand pupils, with fifty men and women on the faculty, and that this or that special feature may be found in their high school. These same citizens very likely would be much interested in making comparisons of their city with other cities of nearly the same size, that is, to analyze the statistics of other cities of nearly the same size in order to ascertain whether or not the teachers receive the same salary in all of the cities, whether the repair of buildings and upkeep of grounds are nearly the same in all cities, whether the cost of education per pupil is nearly the same, and many other items which cannot be enumerated. If this is true of the people of our communities it is equally true of the officials of the school system who must prepare the estimates of expenditures for presentation to the city council. A board of education may have under consideration the establishment of a special class for the instruction of the partially blind. One of the first steps will be that the superintendent or secretary find out what is being done in other cities and what it costs. Files are resorted to and the annual reports of various cities searcht. In some it is found, in others not. Why? Because up to a very few years ago there were about as many different methods of school accounting as there were city school systems. It is only within very recent years that city school systems have adopted a fairly uniform form to be used in recording financial statistics. Railroad companies, insurance companies, interstate corporations, banks, etc., all use uniform or standardized methods of accounting and find this to be an absolute necessity for intelligent and profitable administration. In order then to make comparisons of costs for different items and for different parts of a school system it has been found expedient gradually to adopt a uniform financial report, so that when the superintendent and the board of education are considering budget estimates they may have before them, not only the statement of annual expenditures of their own city for various educational activities over a period of years, but that of other cities of the same size situated in the eastern, southern, northern, or western part of the United States.1 Thru the use of uniform financial reports a gradual elimination of "lump sums with no details" is being brought about. School officials can now readily provide information, when requested, as to the total expenditures for salaries of principals of day elementary schools, day high schools, evening elementary schools, evening high schools, vocational schools, normal schools, and special schools, whereas in former years all of these appeared For those who are interested in the preparing of budgets see the article "Efficient Finance in a City School System," by F. W. Ballou, in the American School Board Journal, June, 1918. in the financial statement as salaries of principals. The same is true of the salaries of teachers, cost of textbooks, janitorial service, etc. The United States Bureau of Education, the United States Census Office, the University of the State of New York, the Association of School Accounting Officers, and the Committee of the National Council of Education on Uniform Records and Reports have cooperated in preparing a form which has been adopted within recent years by many city school systems. The form recently adopted in the state of New York involved the keeping of all school financial records under the following headings: I. EXPENSES OF General ConTROL (Overhead charges) (Classified for Ledger Column, Total, Salaries, and Other Objects) A. Business Administration 1. School election 2. Board of education and secretary's office 3. Finance offices and accounts 4. Offices in charge of buildings and supplies 5. Legal services 6. Operation and maintenance of office buildings 7. Other expenses of business control B. Educational Administration 8. Office of superintendent of schools 9. Enforcement of compulsory education, truancy laws, and census enumeration 10. Other expenses of educational control TOTAL EXPENSES OF GENERAL CONTROL II. EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION-DAY SCHOOLS (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, Elementary Secondary, Normal, A. Supervision Vocational, Special) 11. Salaries of supervisors of grades and subjects 12. Other expenses of supervisors 13. Salaries of principals 14. Salaries of principals' clerks and office assistants 15. Other expenses of principals' offices 16. Other expenses of supervision B. Teaching 17. Salaries of teachers 18. Textbooks 19. Other supplies used in instruction 20. Other expenses of instruction TOTAL EXPENSE OF INSTRUCTION FOR DAY SCHOOLS III. EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION-NIGHT SCHOOLS (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, Elementary, Secondary, Normal, Vocational, Special) A. SUPERVISION 21. Salaries of supervisors of grades and subjects 22. Other expenses of supervisors 23. Salaries of principals 24. Salaries of principals' clerks and office assistants 25. Other expenses of supervision 26. Other expenses of principals' offices B. Teaching 27. Salaries of teachers 28. Textbooks 29. Other supplies used in instruction 30. Other expenses of instruction TOTAL EXPENSE OF INSTRUCTION FOR NIGHT SCHOOLS TOTAL EXPENSE OF INSTRUCTION IV. EXPENSES OF OPERATION OF SCHOOL PLANT (Classified under Ledger Column, Total Salaries, Other Objects) 31. Wages-janitors, other employés 32. Fuel 33. Water 34. Light and power 35. Janitors' supplies 36. Services other than personal 36a. Other expenses of operation TOTAL EXPENSES OF OPERATION OF PLANT V. EXPENSES OF MAINTENANCE OF SCHOOL PLANT (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, Salaries, Other Objects) 37. Upkeep of grounds 37a. Repair of buildings 38. Repair and replacements a) Of heating, lighting, and plumbing equipment b) of apparatus used in instruction c) of furniture d) Of other equipment 39. Other expenses of maintenance of school plant VI. EXPENSES OF AUXILIARY AGENCIES AND SUNDRY ACTIVITIES (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, Salaries, and Other Objects) 40. Libraries a) Salaries b) Books, repairs, and replacements c) Other expenses for libraries 41. New books (capital outlay) 42. Promotion of health a) Medical inspection b) Nurse service c) Dental service d) Other expenses 43. Transportation of pupils 44. Care of children in institutions 45. Provision of lunches 46. Community lectures 47. Social centers 48. Recreation 49. Other auxiliary agencies and sundry activities 50. Payment to private schools 51. Payments to schools of other civil institutions (tuition) VII. EXPENSES OF FIXED CHARGES (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, Salaries, Other Objects) 52. Pensions 53. Rent 54. Insurance 55. Taxes 56. Contributions and contingencies TOTAL EXPENSES OF FIXED CHARGES TOTAL CURRENT EXPENSES VIII. EXPENSES OF DEBT SERVICE (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, Salaries, Other Objects) 57. Redemption of bonds 58. Payment of sinking fund 59. Redemption of short-term loans 60. Payment of interest on bonds 61. Payment of interest on short-term loans 62. Refunds (tax and tuition) TOTAL EXPENSES OF DEBT SERVICE IX. EXPENDITURES IN CAPITAL OUTLAY (Acquisition and construction) (Classified under Ledger Column, Total, 63. Land (new) Salaries, Other Objects) 63a. Improvement of new grounds 64. New buildings 65. Alteration of old buildings 65a. New buildings and grounds 66. Heating, lighting, plumbing 66a. Furniture 66b. Instructional apparatus 66c. Other equipment 66d. Old buildings and grounds, exclusive of replacement 67a. Furniture 67b. Instructional apparatus 67c. Other equipment 68. Other capital outlay TOTAL EXPENDITURES IN CAPITAL OUTLAY TOTAL PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR BALANCES AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR TOTAL PAYMENT AND BALANCES Those who are interested in securing a copy of this form should write to the Statistical Division of the State Department of Education of New York. Income receipts should also be carefully classified. The following is suggested: RECEIPTS (Include all departments) 1. Balance on hand at close of fiscal year 2. Public money from the Council for salaries and supplies. (This may be itemized and classified to whatever degree feasible) |