NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF COMMON SCHOOLS. FOR THE YEAR ENDING AUGUST 31, 1862. To the General Assembly: GENTLEMEN: I have to acknowledge unusual promptness on the part of nearly all the auditors of our counties in making their reports, for the last school year, to this office. They were all due on the fifth of November. The first came from Lawrence, October ninth; and on the twelfth of November eighty-five counties had reported; leaving Brown, Meigs and Shelby unreported. In the preparation of the statistical tables accompanying this report, these three counties are represented by teir reports of 1861. Since the preparation of those tables, Brown and Shelby have been reported. But no returns have been received from Meigs. Thus far the war does not appear seriously to have checked the general prosperity and progress of the schools of this State. Thousands of our male Teachers have entered the army, but in most cases their places have been made good by their successors. There are, however, exceptional cases, as will appear by documents published in the appendix of this report. In some localities the restricted taxation of 1861, has proved seriously injurious; and I can not doubt that when they shall experience the full force of the great reduction made by the tax law of 1862, not a few of our best schools will find difficulty in keeping their standard up to the point which has cost them long years of labor to attain. In many districts the salaries of Teachers were last year reduced full ten per centum. In this reduction there was a general and cheerful acquiescence on the part of our Teachers. They were willing to share with others the burdens and privations which the war imposes. But within a few months the expense of living has very greatly increased. The price of dry goods, groceries, fuel and many other necessaries of life, is nearly double what it was when the war commenced. For all the ordinary purposes of money, a salary of $1,000 now is no better than one of $600 was eighteen months ago. As a necessary consequence, wages in every department of industry have risen. In justice, then, the salaries of our Teachers should be increased, rather than diminished. It is not true that the support of our schools is a severe burden on our people. To show this, I have prepared a list of all the districts in each county in the State, and the levies of each for school purposes in 1862. (See Appendix-W.) It will be seen that many districts levied no tax at all; but supported their schools from their apportionment of the fund raised by the State tax. A greater number levied a tax of less than one mill; and not one fourth of them all reached the legal limit of two and three-fourths mills on the dollar. The only schools in which inconvenience and injury will result from the reduction of levies prescribed by the tax law, passed during the last session of the Assembly, are those in our incorporated villages and smaller cities. Most of these will find it difficult to sustain their schools upon the amount of funds which the levy will yield. But, as a whole, our school system has never been in a more successful working condition than during the year now under review ; never under better local supervision; and never enjoyed a higher degree of public confidence. And the fact that nearly all our schools passed unharmed through such a year of trial, proves the excellence of the system on which they are organized and managed. There is abundant room for improvement, and I devoutly trust that this system has not yet reached its best achievements. But the nine years of its existence which have now closed, have triumphantly vindicated the wisdom of its enactment. The reputation of the Ohio School Law is such that no where its friends find it necessary to defend it. One of our rising Western Commonwealths has adopted our law entire; only changing dates and terms for the sake of adaptation. For a detailed statement of receipts and expenditures of school funds, I refer to Appendix Table A. The following are the totals: RECEIPTS. Balance on hand Sept. 1, 1861-- Fines, licenses and miscellaneous sources. Irreducible school funds..... State tax..--. Township tax for prolonging schools six months, and sustaining high schools... Township tax for sites, buildings, repairs, and contingent expenses Total $788,570 01 50,408 85 166,130 27 1,074,659 95 703.639 73 770,967 90 $3,554,376 71 By the tax law passed at the last session of the General Assembly, the two separate township levies are consolidated, and will in future be so reported. This will greatly simplify the bussiness of school accounts; and leave Boards of Education free to appropriate the moneys at their disposal according to necessity. Our State School Fund, arising from the tax of one and three-tenths mills on the dollar valuation of all the property of the State, is apportioned to the counties. according to their enumeration of school youth. The following table shows the excess of payments or of receipts of each county. Thirty-three counties pay into this fund more than they receive from it; while fifty five counties receive more than they pay: |