The total expenditures for all school purposes, including the expenses of school boards and the cost of collecting taxes, as well as the payments for teachers' salaries, and for building purposes, show marked increases during the period under consideration. The total for 1888 was 39.4 per cent greater than that for 1874. In view of the increases in the purchasing power of money during the period 1874 to 1888, it seems clear that expenditures for school purposes increased somewhat more rapidly than the average number of children attending the schools. This is best shown by the increase of the annual expenditure per school child from $14.62, in 1874, to $16.66 in 1888. But the progress was not continuous. In 1875 expenditures increased to $15.73 per pupil, remained nearly the same for 1876 and then declined to $11.76 in 1880. In 1882 the amount paid out for each pupil, as indicated by the table, had increased and was $12.82. The minor fluctuations in the total of expenditures may be accounted for by irregularities in reports or by outlays for permanent improvements in a large number of districts in certain years and the absence of such operations in other years. The downward trend from 1875 to 1880 can be explained only on the ground that the districts were economizing. But this does not necessarily mean that the schools were correspondingly less well officered and equipped, since throughout this period the purchasing power of money was increasing.

Turning now to the sources of revenue to meet increasing payments, we find that the state appropriation grew steadily until 1877, thereafter declined slightly until 1885, with the exception of 1881, and then again increased to nearly the level of the former year. The amounts paid in any given year do not, however, indicate accurately the state appropriations for that year, since lack of funds in the treasury or slowness of the districts in making proper reports, sometimes delayed the payment of the subvention due in any given year until the succeeding year.

The state appropriation constituted a slightly larger proportion of the total expenditures in 1888 than in 1874. It is evident, however, that it was not only larger absolutely in 1881 but also relatively more important as compared with the total expenditures, or with the local tax, than in any other year.

Moreover, the seven years 1876 to 1882 inclusive show a larger proportional contribution on the part of the state than any other similar period. The subvention, under the stimulus of the constitution of 1873, reached its greatest importance in 1881 and then declined, not because of an absolute reduction in amount but because of the steady growth of revenue from local taxation after 1880.

Beginning with 1889 the total appropriation for common schools shows substantial increases in every year but one until 1911. In 1889, 1894, and 1909 the amounts added were very large, and in no case before 1911 was the gain thus added lost in subsequent years. *15 The growth of expenditures for schools was not peculiar, since the same tendency is to be observed in other branches of public enterprise at about the same time. The year 1890 seems roughly to mark the beginning of a movement for a wider extension of state functions. The following table shows the progress of the school system for the years 1889 to 1916.16

15 There is obviously a falling off in the years 1911-1916 from the amount reached in 1910. But the decrease is due to the diversion of a part of the subvention to educational purposes other than the common schools.

16 Compare the data of the tables on pages 156 and 159 with the payments from the state treasury for common schools in Table III Appendix, which includes the amounts paid to Philadelphia. Note that the fiscal year of the state and of the school system are different.

The Average Number Of Pupils Attending The Schools, The Number Of Teachers Employed, And The Finances Of The Common School System, Philadelphia Excluded, 1889-191617

17 From the Report (1916) of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, pp. 650-651.

18 The fiscal year of the school system ended the first Monday in June until changed by the act of 1911. Thereafter the year of the report began on the first Monday in July. The data for 1912 are therefore for thirteen months, but this does not interfere with the comparability of other years. See School Laws and Decisions (1913), sec. 2807.

The most striking fact brought out by this table is the tremendous increase in the total expenditure for common schools. In 1916 this figure was over five times as large as in 1889. Local taxes also increased but at a slightly slower rate. The subvention, on the other hand, grew somewhat more rapidly than the total of all expenditures. The average number of children attending the schools increased 76.3 per cent during this period and the number of teachers employed increased 73.4 per cent. This increase in the number of teachers was accompanied by an augmentation of the salary budget from $5,044,385 in 1889 to $21,173,791 in 1916. *19 In 1889 the expenditures per pupil were $16.36, or about the same as in 1888, but beginning 1890 the amount paid out increased irregularly until in 1916 it amounted to $48.08. During this period the progress of expenditures is in marked contrast with that of the period 1874 to 1888. Not only have the per capita payments been much greater, but the additions to the total have been much more regular. The subvention on the other hand has fluctuated slightly, and since 1909 has been practically stationary in amount.