EDITORIAL 



A Travesty of Justice 



A CLEAR thinking school superintendent from central 

 Illinois recently wrote to the editor protesting against 

 the inequalities in the present method of distributing 

 state aid to needy schools. The present procedure "makes 

 a travesty of justice, " he wrote. 



With this view the Illinois Agricultural Association 

 is in complete agreement. Both the lAA School Commit- 

 tee and the delegates to the last annual meeting called at- 

 tention to the injustices of present procedures. Both groups 

 also urged the adoption of a new plan of distribution 

 whereby all districts in similar circumstances would be 

 treated uniformly and equitably. 



Under the present law the distribution of special 

 state aid, intended for the assistance of needy schools, is 

 largely governed by property assessment practices. These 

 practices vary greatly from county to county. In some 

 counties property is assessed at as much as 75 per cent of 

 its actual value. In others assessments are made at less 

 than 25 per cent of the real value of the property. 



As a qualification for receiving special aid a needy 

 school district is required to levy for educational purposes 

 a tax of $1.00 on each $100 of assessed value. In the 

 highest assessment counties, therefore, school districts must 

 levy a tax of 75c on each $100 actual worth of property in 

 the district before it can be considered for special state aid. 

 But in the lowest assessment counties districts may become 

 eligible for special state aid by levying a tax of less than 25c 

 on each $100 actual worth of property. Thus school dis- 

 tricts in the lowest assessment counties are able to qualify 

 for special aid with less than one-third the local effort re- 

 quired in the highest assessment counties. 



It so happens that the poorer counties usually have 

 the higher assessments. Therefore, needy school districts, 

 both urban and rural, in the poorer counties are required 

 to tax themselves heavier in order to qualify for special 

 aid than are similar districts in the wealthier counties. Fur- 

 thermore, all other things being equal, the state pays the 

 largest amounts to the districts in the low assessment coun- 

 ties. Schools in the high assessment counties, therefore, 

 are doubly discriminated against. First, by being required 

 to levy a higher tax on themselves and second, by having 

 their special state aid reduced sufficiently to offset the 

 larger amount raised locally. 



The degree of discrimination against a needy school 

 district varies in proportion to the level of assessments in 

 each county. A substantial discrimination is made against 

 districts in a majority of the 102 counties of the state. 



The Illinois Agricultural Association in cooperation 

 with other interested groups is working out a plan where- 

 by these injustices will be eliminated. Under the new 

 plan the distribution of state aid will be based upon the 

 actual value of property in the district and will not be af- 

 fected by the assessment practice in each county. Each 

 district will be treated the same as other districts in similar 

 circumstances. Schools which really need more state as- 

 sistance will be able to get it. 



The Illinois Agricultural Association and other in- 

 terested groups will urge the General Assembly to adopt 

 this new and more equitable plan for distributing state aid 

 to needy schools. It is important that farm people, school 



administrators and other interested persons explain to 

 their duly elected representatives the need for this legisla- 

 tion. 



Farm-to-Morket Roads 



A COMPLETE system of farm-to-market roads has been 

 one of the objectives of Illinois farmers and' their 

 organization for many years. Since only limited prog- 

 ress has been realized toward this objective, it is srrull 

 wonder that one of the resolutions of the 1944 annual 

 meeting of the Illinois Agricultural Association demanded 

 every consideration of this problem. 



The resolution pointed put that "in many counties 

 the road situation is extremely bad. In numerous counties, 

 especially in the southern part of the state, more than one- 

 half of the farmers are served only by dirt roads which are 

 impassable during a substantial portion of the year. 



"This deplorable road condition exists notwithstand- 

 ing the fact that farm people have paid, in property and 

 gasoline taxes, vast sums of money for road improvement. 

 Plans are now being made for further large expenditures 

 of both state and federal funds for a system of super-high- 

 ways to connect the large cities." 



The resolution further demands "that low-cost second- 

 ary roads receive proportionate and proper attention in the 

 postwar period," and that "programs should be planned 

 and put into operation for the building in the early post- 

 war years of a practical all-weather road to serve every 

 farm home." 



Legislative action is needed. Present formulas for the 

 expenditures of state and federal highway funds and the 

 usual specifications for the construction of state aid roads 

 do not meet the needs of farm people, as the resolution 

 points out. 



The resolution further urges the officers and directors 

 of the Association to request the University of Illinois 

 and the State Highway Department to institute an adequate 

 program of research on the problem of materials, con- 

 struction, and maintenance of secondary farm-to-market 

 roads. 



There can be no more vital postwar plan than to make 

 it possible to secure "an adequate system of low-cost all- 

 weather roads to serve all the farm homes in the rural 

 areas of Illinois." . 



Thrift Among Fanners 



A RECENT University of Illinois College of Agricul- 

 ture study indicates that Illinois farm families who 

 have kept home accounts for 10 years are not only 

 doing their full share in the war effort on the production 

 front, but are following the soundest method of keeping 

 down inflation. That is, instead of greatly increasing their 

 expenditures, they are saving their money. 



Even before the war, this traditional attitude of thrift 

 was apparent, when farm families covered in the study were 

 saving one-third of their disposable incomes. 



Paying off debts, building a surplus against postwar 

 needs, avoiding speculative land purchases, and helping 

 in the war effort by putting as much as possible into bonds 

 — that is the course of sound planning and true patriotism. 



r J jv'v- ;,'■»■".' -I- 



:. 



