318 RURAL NEW YORK 



is in the secondarv scliools; and one in every two 

 luiiidred and seventy ])ersnns is in institutions of 

 hig-her learning. Omitting miscellaneous institu- 

 tions other than colleges and universities, one in every 

 three hundred and forty persons gains the opportu- 

 nity for higher study. Tliis is about three-tenths of 

 one per cent of the i)opiilation. Higlier education 

 is, therefore, an exclusive privilege to which all may 

 aspire but few attain. 



In 1910 the total illiteracy in the State was 5.5 

 per cent for all persons ten years of age and over. 

 Considering all classes, it was 5.9 per cent for the 

 urban population, and 3.9 foi' the rural. Among the 

 native whites, the illiteracy is sliglitly greater in the 

 country than in the city. For the United States as a 

 whole, the illiteracy was 7.7 per cent which is 2.2 per 

 cent greater than in New York in spite of the large 

 influx of foreign po})ulation on whom the ability to 

 read and write is imposed as a condition for admis- 

 sion by the federal immigration laws. 



The organization and administration of the city 

 and village schools for a long time very much sur- 

 passed that in the rural communities. Always there 

 has been cooperation between the local forces and the 

 State system in conducting educational work. The 

 educational system has been likened to a small state. 

 Each local group is presided over by trustees and 

 boards of education in the cities, and by school direc- 

 tors in the country districts. The city public schools 

 are directed by the superintendent. In the last few 

 years, a similar measure of supervision has been ex- 



