252 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY I3TH ANNUAL REPORT 



The differences between different regions agree pretty well 

 with those brought out elsewhere in this report about the compo- 

 sition and density of population, illiteracy, agriculture, etc. The 

 western division of the flatwoods leads in several things on ac- 

 count of containing our largest city, for city schools of course are 

 usually larger and mDre regularly attended than country schools. 



The differences between central Florida and the whole State 

 are not very pronounced (if comparison had been made with the 

 rest of the State instead of the whole State the contrasts would 

 have been magnified), but they are nearly all in the direction of 

 larger and better schools, older, more experienced and better paid 

 teachers, better attendance records, etc. Comparisons with other 

 states would involve considerable labor, but central Florida is evi- 

 dently well up to the United States average in most respects.* 

 The government school statistics available do not separate the 

 races, but in the whole country about 90% of the population (and 

 probably a still larger proportion of the school population) is 

 white, so that figures for white schools would not differ much 

 from those for all schools. When the sparse population of our 

 area is considered its excellent showing in school matters is rather 

 remarkable. 



In Figure 43 the school populatio'n of central Florida and the 

 whole State, not counting the chart or kindergarten grade, is di- 

 vided by races and grades. The curves are cumulative, i.e., the 

 distance from any point on any curve to the right hand margin 

 indicates the percentage of pupils in the group designated that 

 have entered or passed through the grade selected. Consequently 

 the percentage enrolled in a given grade corresponds to the hori- 

 zontal distance between the points where the curve cuts the upper 

 and lower boundaries of the grade. The curves are all steepest in 

 the upper grades, on account of the inevitable dropping out of pu- 

 pils all along, though in some countijes there are a few more in the 



*In comparing Florida with the rest of the United States it should be borne 

 in mind that most other parts of the country are colder and therefore require 

 more substantial schoolhouses and greater expense for heating them. 



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