It will be noted that in 1907, 411 pupils entered school for the first time, while in the same year there were 135 graduates; i. e., the graduating class was equal to 32.8 per cent of the beginners' class. In 1914 there were 465 beginners and 335 graduates. In this year the graduates equaled 72 per cent of the beginners' class. In other words, the pupils completing the grades now have increased over 100 per cent as compared with those of 1907, the last year before consolidation. It is interesting to note one further fact in the statistics given above. It will be seen that in 1907 there were 81 students in high school. These were all in the first two years of high-school work, as the third and fourth years were not then given. In 1914 there were 400 students in high school, 47 of whom completed the fourth-year work. This is a record to which we also point with considerable satisfaction. During the year just passed the superintendent has been assisted in the work of supervision by four supervisors who are specialists in their lines of work and whose efforts in the county schools have shown most commendable results. A primary supervisor has devoted her energies to the direction of work in the first four grades. A supervisor of art and sewing has created great interest and marked improvement in these lines of work; in a few schools cooking has been introduced. As a result of the work of the supervisor of music never before have the boys and girls of Box Elder County been so enthusiastic in their enjoyment of music. The supervisor of agriculture has awakened and maintained much interest in practical agriculture and has organized 20 agricultural clubs among the boys. Richmond County, Ga., is one of the 15 counties in the State where city schools as well as country schools are included in the county system. The Richmond organization is slightly different from that of other counties. The county superintendent, Mr. Lawton Evans, in an address published by the Georgia campaign committee, describes the Richmond County system as follows: The board of education of Richmond County is an unusually large board. It consists of 40 members-3 from each of the five wards of the city of Augusta; 3 from each of the six militia districts; 3 from each of the two incorporated villages, and the ordinary of the county. * * * The members of the board are elected for a term of three years, one-third of the membership expiring annually. This keeps two-thirds of the members acting as older and wiser than the new ones who may come in, and since many members are retained, we are not greatly disturbed by a large influx of reformers. The board of education of Richmond County is elected directly by the people, at a special election held annually for the purpose. The school commissioner, or the superintendent, is elected by the board. This brings the people in direct contact with the schools, through their own representatives, and guarantees the kind of schools the people desire. The school commissioner can exercise some degree of independence of the people, in view of the fact that he is one degree removed from the popular election. The peculiar advantage to be derived from a large area of organization is the distribution of the school fund according to the necessities of the people. In the case of my county the board has the unusual authority of levying a school tax, and this authority is not subject to the revision or approval of any other county authority. A school tax is levied upon all the property of the county, whether it is city property or county property. The rate is the same for stores and mills in the city and for fields and barns in the country. Everyone pays according to his possessions to make our school fund for the entire county. There is no separate city school tax and country school tax, but there is one general tax applied to all alike, This general school fund is not distributed over the county according to the amount each ward or district has paid, but is distributed strictly upon the basis of school population. Every community gets its pro rata share of the school fund, according to school population, no matter how much or how little it has paid into the school treasury. It frequently happens that remote communities are rich in nothing but children, and of these they have a plenty. Perhaps the taxpayers of that community have not paid enough school tax to run a school six weeks, but they get an appropriation for a good schoolhouse and a teacher for seven or eight months in the year. A county system can offer to the people at large facilities that no other kind of system can offer. If a community can show a need for a school, the county at large can supply the building and pay for the teacher. The teacher's pay does not depend upon the location of the school nor the accident of the district in which she is employed, but depends entirely upon how long she can keep the school together and how many pupils she can get to attend. She is rewarded according to her energy, being guaranteed a minimum amount and a minimum length of time. Being employed by a larger body than the district trustees, she feels independent of the whims of a few, and can do her duty and draw her pay. As to expert supervision, I take it for granted that most persons will agree that a good superintendent who devotes all his time to the schools of his county or city, who meets the teachers and instructs them in the methods of teaching, who organizes and plans for better things in his system, who is a stimulant and an inspiration to his teachers, a real educational leader of power and influence in his community, can create a good school system through his own initiative. The discipline of the schools, the progress of the pupils, the extension of the school influence are largely in the hands of the man who thinks for them, and who will have better conditions or know the reason why. A superintendent makes or mars a school system. Therefore he should be an expert, trained to the business, alert, and energetic to see that everything is moving along properly. Until a county can afford to pay a competent superintendent, and will get a trained educator for the purpose, the schools of the county will drag helplessly behind. I beg leave to insist that the duty of a county superintendent is not merely to keep the books, audit the accounts, and distribute the pay to the teachers of the county. To divide the school fund out among all the teachers and have each one run his school at such an allowance is a schoolboy proposition in division. To visit, inspire, and upbuild a great school system is another proposition. The solution of the question of expert and well-paid supervisors in our State schools is found in county local taxation, giving a large area and a sufficient school fund to engage the attention and warrant the pay of a trained educator. V. A COMPARISON OF SALT LAKE COUNTY, CONSOLI- UNCONSOLIDATED, By J. C. MUERMAN, Bureau of Education. For the purpose of comparison, two adjacent counties, similar in general characteristics, have been taken; one, Utah, organized with the old district system, has 23 separate districts; the other, Salt Lake, 1 A consolidated county is a county organized as a single district under a county board of education. Unconsolidated counties are organized on the "district" basis. organized under the county unit law, has two districts. All other "consolidated" counties of the State are organized with but one district in the county. Cities are independent districts, not included in the county systems. It should be understood that the school districts of Utah in unconsolidated counties are not the small districts usual in other States. The population of Utah is gathered in villages, not distributed on farms. There are only about 20 one-teacher schools in the entire State. In selecting these two adjoining counties, Salt Lake and Utah, it is with the idea of comparing conditions that are the best. Of the 27 counties in the State of Utah, only 16 can be consolidated under the present law. Of this number, 8 are consolidated and several others are planning the necessary steps to become consolidated. Of the 8 unconsolidated counties, Utah County is by far the richest and most populous. The schools are and have been well supported, and an active interest in their welfare has been maintained. December 15, 1904, the county of Salt Lake was consolidated into two districts, Granite district being the northern half of the county and Jordan the southern half. They were made practically equal both in valuation and in population. The statistics given below are the combined figures for these two districts considered as a unit. The county contains Salt Lake City, a city of the first class, and Murray, a city of the second class. Utah county has also a city of the second class-Provo. The general conditions in each county are essentially the same. Both are agricultural, with good irrigated lands and some dry farming. Utah County has a beet-sugar factory, and Salt Lake County has several smelters and one of the largest copper mines in the world. Both have excellent transportation facilities. The markets are largely local. Utah County has the larger concentrated areas of population, the census of 1910 showing 11 incorporated towns, while Salt Lake County has only 4. SCHOOL POPULATION AND ATTENDANCE. School population and attendance show a healthy growth in each county. Salt Lake County, however, has sustained continual losses due to the extension of the boundaries of Salt Lake City. Approximately 1,217 pupils have been lost to the county in this way since 1906. Others are lost to the county because the Salt Lake City schools attract many pupils from Salt Lake County, thus lowering the attendance in the county. The excellent car service to the city, and the opportunity for work there while attending night or day schools, assist in making the loss to the county still larger. In spite of all this, the ratio of attendance is approximately the same in both counties. The 1 See page 31. list of those not attending any school seems to be growing in both counties. Quite a difference in favor of the consolidated county is shown in the average number of days attended by each child. In 1905 the numbers of days attended were approximately the same, but the report for 1912 shows the boys attended 25 days more in Salt Lake County than the boys of Utah County, while the girls of Utah County show 7 days more of average attendance than the girls of Salt Lake County. The per cent of population enrolled and the per cent of annual attendance do not offer a striking difference. The figures for each year since consolidation are given in the following table: TABLE 3.-School population, 6–18 years, inclusive, and attendance. TABLE 4.-Average length of school term and number of days attended. Table 5 above shows that in the consolidated county of Salt Lake the average salary of teachers is higher than in Utah County, although the qualifications in both counties are practically the same. There is no greater tendency for teachers to change positions in one county than in the other. This table shows that the average salary for men teachers in Salt Lake County has advanced since 1905 from $72.55 to $95.69, and for women from $53.65 to $62.62. The number of teachers has increased 64. In Utah County the average salary for male teachers has increased from $70.73 to $89.20, and for female teachers has decreased from $48.84 to $45.61, but the number of teachers has increased 107 during the same period. Each year, however, except 1912, shows an increase in the average salary of the female teachers of Utah County. MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION. It is in the management and supervision of the consolidated county and the unconsolidated county that the most striking differences are noted. Jordan and Granite districts in Salt Lake County have each a board of five members, with a superintendent employed by each board. These men have absolute control over all school work in the county. This includes the purchase, care, and distribution of supplies, the employing of superintendents, teachers, and also special supervisors, under certain rules and regulations adopted for the government of each board. Utah County has 23 school boards and 1 county superintendent elected by the people. The superintendents in the districts of Salt Lake County have excellent offices, well equipped, good and efficient property clerks, and storerooms in the same building with the offices of the boards of education and special supervisors. The office of the county superintendent of Utah County is in the back part of the bank building and |