this source of school support in 1918, it is not safe to estimate the amount received in 1917. In Table 5 the amount of gifts and bequests for each year since 1870 has been assembled. Omitting the amounts received in 1882 and 1917, the total amount accruing to the cause of education from this gratuitous support has been $677,393,176. This amount is not sufficient to maintain the public elementary and secondary schools of the Nation for one year. (The total amount required in 1918 was $763,678,089.) This amount is equivalent to $32.48 for each pupil now enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools (20,853,516 pupils enrolled in 1918). TABLE 6. Data used in securing the average number of days of school attended by each person who became 21 years of age in 1918 (5.38 years of 200 days each). An attempt has been made to ascertain the amount of schooling received by the "average" person now completing a school course. The data showing the method of arriving at such an average are given in Table 6. In Table 12 in the chapter on State School Systems the percentage of children enrolled in school at each age in 1910 is shown. These percentages are repeated in column 4 of Table 6 of this chapter. It is assumed that all children who are under 6 years of age and who are attending school are 5 years of age. There is practically no fallacy in the results obtained in this way, although it is known that some children attend kindergarten at the age of 4, since the age groups of 4 and 5 essentially equal. It is found, therefore, that 19.5 per cent of the children 5 years of age, or an equivalent 13225°-20-2 thereof, are in school. Similarly for those over 20 years of age, it has been assumed that they are all 21 years of age. As the age groups just above 20 are essentially equal, it does not matter if all such persons are considered 21 years of age. This enables one to combine these scattered persons who are attending school into workable percentages which for all purposes are reliably correct. It is assumed, therefore, that the average child entered school at the age of 5 in 1902 and attended school more or less irregularly until he was 21 years of age, in 1918. The average number of days attended by all pupils enrolled in school in 1902 was 101.7; in 1903, 102.1 days, etc., as shown in column 3 of the table. The "average" child 5 years of age attending school in 1902 went 101.7 days. The following year this "average" child went 102.1 days, etc. But it must be considered that only 19.5 per cent of the children 5 years of age attend school and that only 52.1 per cent of those 6 years of age attend school. Consequently, the "average" child in the population in 1902 received not over 19.8 days schooling at the age of 5 and not over 53.2 days schooling at the age of 6 in 1903. Proceeding as shown in the last column in Table 6 it is found that this "average" child gets the longest school term at the age of 12, when he attends 101.1 days. During his lifetime he will attend a total of 1,075.9 days, or an equivalent of 5.38 years of 200 actual school days each. At the age of 5 the complete expectation of life, as shown by the United States Life Tables in 1910, as prepared by James W. Glover for the Bureau of the Census, is 56.21 years of 365 days each. The "average" child as shown above attends school after this age only 1,075.9 days, or an equivalent of 2.95 years of 365 days each. By comparing these figures it is found that this "average" child attends school only one-nineteenth of his life, subsequent to his fifth birthday. In other words only 1 day in 19 is spent in scholastic preparation for life. One error involved in the computation of column 5 of Table 6 needs to be pointed out. The average number of days attended by each child enrolled in school as shown in column 3 includes the number of days attended by the older as well as the younger children. Possibly the younger children enrolled in school do not attend so regularly as the children coming within the compulsory attendance age limits. In other words, the "average" child attending school at 5 may not attend the average of 101.7 days, while at the age of 12 he may attend more than the average of 112.6 days. As these errors are counterbalancing, and as the range of these averages is narrow, falling between 101.7 at 5 years and 121.2 at 18 years, no great vitiating factor can be discerned herein. It is held, therefore, that the method is essentially sound, and that the results secured are reliable. The fact that it has been necessary to use the percentage of persons attending school in 1910 does not materially operate in nullifying conclusions, since the school history of this average child centers around the year 1910, and since such minor errors as may exist are again compensating. MEN TEACHERS IN RURAL SCHOOLS. In cities having a population of 2,500 or over, 25,063 men and 216,319 women teachers are employed. In rural schools (schools located in the open country and in villages) 80,164 men and 329,196 women teachers are employed. From these figures shown in detail in Table 9, it is found that 10.4 per cent of the city teachers and 19.7 per cent of the rural teachers are men. In all schools, both city and rural, 16.1 per cent of the teachers are men. The percentage of men teachers in the rural schools of each State is shown graphically in figure 1. Indiana, Arkansas, and West Virginia lead with relatively high percentages of men teachers, while Connecticut, Vermont, Nebraska, and Colorado fall at the bottom of the list. The scarcity of men teachers in the rural schools in certain States should be suffi cient to give great concern. Unless more remunerative salaries are paid in the rural schools, the exodus of practically all men teachers from these schools seems imminent. THE RURAL AND CITY SCHOOL TERM. For the United States the average length of the school term in elementary and secondary schools combined is about 161 days. In the city schools the corresponding average is 182 days, while in the rural schools it is only 144 days. The children in the rural schools have a little over 7 months of school, while city children have over 9 months. The city child has a school term 36 days longer than the child in the rural schools. Figure 2 and Table 8 present these facts for each State. In the figure the projection of the "pin" beyond the "bar" is very pronounced in the States falling in the lower half of the figure. Smaller differences prevail among States with respect to the length of the city school term, than to that of the rural school term. The "pins" are more nearly equal in length than the "bars." PART OF SCHOOL TERM NOT ATTENDED. The part of the school term lost by irregular attendance is shown for rural and city schools in Table 8 and figure 3. In the first part of the diagram the per cent of the school term lost in the rural schools is about twice that wasted in city schools. In many States near the bottom of the list the loss is about the same in both classes of schools. Illinois and Ohio are outstanding in the relatively small proportion of the rural school lost by irregular attendance. It should be noted |