A MICHIGAN SCHOOL HOUSE-PUBLIC GRADED SCHOOL, FLINT.

Michigan realized benefits from the munificence of Congress, which it is still enjoying, but which were largely lost by some of the neighboring States which allowed each township to do as it pleased with its "section 16." Again, it was at that time decided that the proceeds of this particular grant should be applied to the support of the primary schools exclusively, and from this construction of the law there has been no departure. The original constitution of the State also declared that all grants of land for the support of schools should be "inviolably appropriated" to such purpose, and directed the Legislature to "provide for a system of common schools, by which a school shall be kept up and supported in each school district at least three months in each year." The present constitution, framed in 1850, reaffirms and broadens this guaranty in these words (article 13):

SECTION 2. The proceeds from the sales of all lands that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to the State for educational purposes, and the proceeds of all lands or other property given by individuals, or appropriated by the State for like purposes, shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest or income of which, together with the rents of all such lands as may remain unsold, shall be inviolably appropriated and annually applied to the specific objects of the original gift, grant or appropriation.

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SECTION 4. The Legislature shall provide for and establish a system of primary schools, whereby a school shall be kept without charge for tuition, at least three months in each year, in every school district in the State.

The same instrument provides specifically for the maintenance of the university, the normal school and the agricultural college, and declares that institutions for the benefit of the deaf, dumb, blind, or insane shall always be fostered and supported.

THE PLEDGES OF THE STATE MORE THAN REDEEMED.

The legislation of this State in regard to its educational interests of all kinds has more than met the requirements of the territorial ordinances and the pledges of its organic law. Michigan has supplemented the liberal gifts of the general government by such State and local taxation as has been necessary for the development of a system of free education, embracing all grades of general education from the primary school to the highest university courses of study in literature, science, and the arts, and all branches of technical and professional education with the exception of military science and theology. It has in the fullest sense "encouraged" "schools and the means of education." That this enlightened policy will be permanent cannot be doubted, for it is upheld by the traditions and laws of the State, by the valuable character of its results, and by the profoundest convictions of the popular judgment. The future settler in Michigan, however humble, will always find the door of the free school ready to open at his touch.

THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

The common schools of Michigan are the special pride of its people. They are the base of its educational system, and they constitute by far its most important part, for the instruction they supply forms the chief mental training for the every-day duties of life of the great mass of the children who come to maturity in this State.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCHOOLS.

These schools are known as graded and ungraded. The latter exist in the smaller districts, and preserve the chief features of the original primary school. They occupy inexpensive buildings, are under the charge of but one or two teachers, and are almost exclusively confined to instruction in the clementary branches. The graded schools are found in the more thickly settled rural districts, and in the villages and cities. Their courses of study range from the primary department through the grammar school to the high school, and their pupils are graded in classes according to their degrees of advancement. They are generally the product of the union of one or more districts, and usually occupy a large central building, possess a corps of teachers, and ́ are attended by several hundred children. In some of the larger cities separate edifices have been erected for the high schools, but this is not the rule. The graded school, as fully developed in Michigan receives the child ignorant of the alphabet and in a few years fits him or her for admission to the university. The ungraded districts of Michigan were 6,191 in number in 1882, and their schools were attended by 224,250 children. The graded school districts were 439 in number in that year, but 161,254 children enjoyed the benefits of their thorough and advanced systems of instruction.

THE CHILDREN OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL-GOING.

All persons five years of age and over, of whatever race, color, or condition, are entitled to admission without charge to the public schools of Michigan in the districts in which they reside. The State takes annually a census of the children between the ages of five and twenty; their number in 1882 was 538,356, and the number actually attending school was 385,504; there were also in that year in the State 20,577 children who attended private or denominational schools. Comparatively few children go to school at five, and the majority probably not under seven years of age, while a large percentage commence the active work of life at fifteen or sixteen. Making allowance for these deductions, the average attendance in 1882 of 406,081 out of a school population of 538,556 shows that the great mass of the children of Michigan between the ages of seven and sixteen are school-going.

THE SCHOOLS ENTIRELY FREE AND MAINLY UNDER LOCAL CONTROL.

Tuition is absolutely free to resident pupils in all the public schools, except that a fee may be required for advanced studies in the high schools, although the reports show only an occasional case in which this is done. Their immediate administration is entrusted to the districts themselves and to the school officers elected annually by the taxpayers. The State exercises a general supervision over the system, but does not interfere with the freedom of local action within the law. It provides for the holding of teachers' institutes annually in every county containing over 1,000 children between five and twenty years of age; at their sessions practical instruction in the best methods of doing their work is given to the local teachers by the State Superintendent or by experienced educators of his selection.

THE SCHOOL YEAR AND THE COURSES OF STUDY.

The constitution of the State provides that a free school shall be kept at least three months in each year in each district, and the general law requires at least five months of school in districts having over thirty and less than eight hundred children of school age, and not less than nine months in districts with more than eight hundred. The courses of study in the various grades are as follows:

Primary Schools: Reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, and geography. Grammar Schools: Reading, arithmetic, geography, United States history, grammar, spelling, writing, composition, and in many districts music and drawing.

High Schools: Grammar, arithmetic, geography, composition, algebra, history, physical geography, rhetoric, geometry, book-keeping, botany, physiology, natural philosophy, civil government, zoology, political economy, chemistry, astronomy, moral and intellectual philosophy, and the Latin, Greek, French, and German languages. These numerous studies are arranged in various courses, from which pupils and guardians make their selections.

As a rule four years is required for the completion of a regular course in each grade.

PUBLIC AID TO SECTARIAN SCHOOLS ABSOLUTELY PROHIBITED.

The law absolutely prohibits any application of the public moneys to the support of schools of a sectarian character, whether under the control of any religious society or made sectarian by the action of the district officers themselves.

THE REVENUE OF THE COMMON SCHOOLS.

The revenue for the support of the primary schools is derived from the following

sources:

1. The Primary School Fund. This principally consists of the proceeds of the original "section 16" grant. Under that grant the State came into possession of 1,077,209 acres; of these lands there had been on September 30, 1881, over 720,000 acres sold at an average price of $4.50 per acre. The proceeds of these sales form one of the trust funds of the State treasury (the character of these funds is fully explained in the pages of this pamphlet treating of State finance and taxation), and upon them the State pays interest annually at the rate of seven per cent. A law passed in 1858 also provided that one-half of the cash proceeds of the sales of swamp lands should be added to the primary school fund, and that the State should pay annual interest thereon at the rate of five per cent. On September 30, 1882, the condition of the fund, including the sums still due from purchasers, was as follows: The Primary School Fund.

The income is paid annually by the State to the counties for distribution to the school districts, according to their number of children of school age, and the money is used for the payment of teachers' wages. From the school lands still unsold and other sources enough will undoubtedly be realized to ultimately increase this fund to about $4,500,000 and to raise the interest thereon to over $300,000. The practical extinguishment of the State debt has also left that part of the specific taxes paid by corporations, which has heretofore gone into the sinking fund to be added to the income from the primary school fund. From this source several hundred thousand dollars will be realized yearly, the amount for the year ending September 30, 1882, having been $314,044. The sum which the counties will annually receive from the State treasury for the support of their free schools will henceforth probably exceed $600,000; in 1882 it was $639,751.

2. The One Mill Tax. Each township is required to raise annually for "school and library purposes" a tax of one-tenth of a cent on each dollar of its assessed valuation, and this is apportioned, after deducting the amount which may have been voted for the support of the township library, to the school districts in which it was raised, provided such districts have maintained at least the minimum school term required by law. Such part of this tax as may have been raised in unorganized territory, or in districts not maintaining the required school term, is apportioned to those districts