216 Charles Abner Howard 1869, and had increased to only 140 by 1880. However, 1890 showed an enrollment of 263 and from that year, the school grew rapidly both in enrollment and in general favor. In 1895 the enrollment was 685 and by 1900 it had reached 860. 26 In the meantime, though the city had grown rapidly, the private secondary schools had just about held their own. Their total enrollment for 1880 was 388; for 1899, 273; for 1900, 377. The figures for 1880 probably include some pupils below secondary grade. By 1900, more and more of the younger men who had come into leadership in Portland were products of the public high school and relatively fewer were graduates of the private institutions. The Portland high school had over 1000 graduates previous to 1900 while many others had attended the school for a year or more. 27 These men and women served to leaven the lump which had weighed so heavily in its opposition to a general system of high schools for the state. From the time of the establishing of the office of state superintendent of public instruction in 1873, the state board of education had assumed that some measure of secondary education should be a part of the public school system of the state. On the basis of this assumption, text- them "free school bums" and shouting to them: "My father pays for your education." 26 The following tabulation is made up from figures taken from the Report of the United States Commissioner of Education and the Reports of the Public Schools of Portland, Oregon. The tabulation is imperfect on account of the fact that figures showing the enrollment in the private schools were not available for every year. Enrollment Secondary Enrollment Year Portland H. S. Portland Private Schools 1869 45 1876 137 1880 140 388* 1890 263 273 1895 685 1900 860 377 1905 1094 1910 2387
- Probably includes some elementary pupils.
27 Twenty-eighth Annual Report of the Public Schools of Portland, Oregon. 1900-1901. pp. 47-66.
