Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/351

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

IOWA 339 ties for any breach of the penal laws, must be applied to the support of common schools or the establishment of libraries, as the board of education may provide. Educational funds must be distributed among the districts in pro- portion to the number of persons between 5 and 21 years of age. The board of education was abolished in 1864. The school system of the state contemplates a threefold plan of superintendence, state, county, and district. There is a state superintendent of public in- struction, and a superintendent for each coun- ty, while the general supervision of the district is vested in a board of directors. The follow- ing are the most important statistics of the public schools for 1873 : Number of school districts 2.536 " of schools graded 419 " of schools ungraded .- 8,897 u of school houses 8,856 Average number of months schools have been taught. <3 1 Number of teachers (6,091 male and 10,193 female).. 16,284 Average compensation of males per month $36 28 " " offemales" " $27 63 Number of persons between 5 and 21 years of age. . 491.844 " of pupils enrolled in public schools 847.572 Total average attendance 204,204 Percentage of enrollment on total enumeration 71 " of attendance upon enrollment 68 " " u enumeration 42 Number of private schools 121 " of teachers in same 864 " ofpupila u 12,182 The amount of the permanent school fund on Nov. 1, 1873, was $3,294,742, on which the in- terest for 1873 amounted to $275,789. The total expenditures for school purposes amounted to $4,229,455, of which $2,248,676 was for teachers' salaries. The total cost of education in 1873 was $3 38 per capita based on the total population, $8 60 on the school population (be- tween 5 and 21 years old), $12 17 on the en- rollment, $20 71 on the average attendance, $17 76 on the number of heads of families, and $15 17 on the number of adult males. Based on taxable property, the cost was 11-59 mills on the dollar, including 6-17 mills for tuition, 2-24 for incidentals, and 3-18 for the erection of school houses. Although normal instruction is afforded by several institutions in the state, Iowa has no state school devoted exclusively to the training of teachers. The state teachers' association meets annually, and there are nu- merous county institutes. Teachers in the public schools are required to hold certificates obtained by examination, and issued by county superintendents for a term not exceeding one year. Prior to September, 1873, examinations were conducted and perpetual state certificates granted by a state board of examiners consist- ing of the faculty of the state university ; but this board has been abolished. The most im- portant educational institutions of Iowa, with the number of instructors and pupils during the year 1873-'4, were: TITLE. Location. Denomination. When foundd. No. of faculty. No. of students. Iowa City IMO 1869 1858 1866 1855 1873 1867 1869 1856 80 17 10 5 14 4 5 8 18 4 5 T 2 B 19 6 6 6 5 651 268 118 199 200 16 160 40 858 120 170 128 .40 126 881 150 101 188 51 Upper Iowa university Tabor college Fayette Tabor Methodist Episcopal Congregational Methodist Episcopal. . . . Methodist Episcopal Friends Whittier college Salem Methodist Episcopal. . . . United Brethren Western Oskaloosa Disciples Pella Baptist 1854 Baptist Grinneil Congregational Oskaloosa., Friends 1878 1860 1861 1853 Indlanola, Methodist Episcopal Lutheran Baptist The state university comprises academical, nor- mal, medical, and law departments. In the first named, besides a preparatory course of two years, there is a four years' curriculum affording three courses, classical, philosophi- cal, and scientific. The course in the law de- partment covers one, and in the medical de- partment two years. Of the 551 students of the university in 1873, 85 were in the law, 76 in the medical, and 17 in the normal de- partment. The income from June 20, 1871, to Oct. 1, 1873, amounted to $128,499, and the disbursements to $103,415. The state agricultural college has received the con- gressional land grant for the promotion of in- struction in agriculture and the mechanic arts. In the regulation of this institution two inter- esting experiments have been made, and are regarded as successful : 1, the union of manual labor with intellectual exercise as a part of the course, students being required to devote an average of 2 hours a day throughout the col- lege year to manual labor ; 2, co-education of the sexes. The institution has extensive grounds and valuable collections. Courses of instruc- tion are provided in agriculture, four years; horticulture and forestry, stock breeding, me- chanical engineering, civil engineering, mining engineering, architecture, " general science for ladies," military tactics and engineering, nor- mal course, and course in bee-keeping. The Norwegian Luther college, the largest Norwe-