Among fhose present at the signing of Ih* 

 1949 State Aid of Schools BUI by Governor 

 Adial Stevenson (teated) was John K. Cox 

 fseconcf from right), director of rural 

 school relations for the Illinois Agricultural 

 Association. Man behind the governor Is 

 Vernon I. NIckell, Illinois stale superinten- 

 dent of public instruction. 



By JOHN K. COX, Director 



lAA Rural School Relations 



lAA School Progress Report 



ILLINOIS RURAL SCHOOL REFORM FOLLOWS PATTERN LAID DOWN BY lAA SCHOOL COMMITTEE 



M 



ANY of the rccommendalioiis 

 of the lAA School l-ii'|)ort of 

 I91-1- are now law. lAA school 

 l)olicy has. in fact, been the 

 ieadinji factor in school reor- 

 ganization legislation. 



To show how \\.\ School Heport 

 reconinienilalioiis have been written into 

 law we shall quote reconinietulations 

 from the l{e]iort. then point out the leg- 

 islation in which tUe intent of the^e 

 recommendations is carried out. 



1. "The lAA School Committee 

 urges people of every rural com- 

 munity to study their school prob- 

 lems." Page 51. 



The School Sur%ey Act of 1915 pro- 

 vided for this local study. 



2. "State aid for transporting pu- 

 pils should be increased by raising 

 the maximum annual allowance 

 from the present Si 5 per pupil to 

 S20." Page 63. 



legislation [)assed in 101.5 raised the 

 amount |)er pupil from S15 to S20. 



3. "Reorganization of rural high- 

 way administration is much 



needed in Illinois." Page 30. 

 Legislation passed in 1917 and 



amended in 1919 provided a way to 

 make some progress in reorganizing 

 inefTicient township road districts. 



4. (a) Grade Schools 



". . . . state aid should not be used 

 to subsidize and continue in exist- 

 ence small, inefficient schools. 

 The minimum average daily at- 

 tendance needed to qualify an ele- 

 mentary school for state aid should 

 be gradually increased. (The pres- 

 ent law passed previous to 1945 

 but postponed to 1945 will re- 

 quire a minimum of seven after 

 1945.) This should be increased 



to 10 in 1949 and eventually raised 

 to 15." Page 64. 



The seven jnipil law became effective 

 in 1915. In 1917 an A.D.A. (average 

 daily atitcndancc) law was passed re- 

 (|uiring grade schools before receiving 

 >tate aid to have 10 ])upils in .^.D.A. 

 hv June ;'.0. 1919. 12 bv June ".O, 1951 

 and 15 l)y June .HO. 195.!. 

 lb) High Schools 

 "High schools having an average 

 daily attendance of less than 10 per 

 grade should not be eligible for 

 state aid after a short period. This 

 minimum figure should be in- 

 creased to 15 within a few years 

 and raised to 20 in not more than 

 10 years (1954)." Page 64. 

 Legislation was ado])ted in 1917 to 

 become effective after Jutie .HO. 1951 

 that would require high schools to have 

 an average of nine pupils in .A.D.A. per 

 srade before makitig a claim for state 

 aid. House Hill 1072 passed in 1949 

 rc(|uires high schools to have an aver- 

 age of 15 pupils per grade after June 

 .iO. 195.'). before receiving state aid. 

 5. "Positive steps should be taken 

 to prevent further divisions of 12- 

 grade districts and to encourage 

 the organization of new ones." 

 The Community I nit .Act was passed 

 in 1917 and amended and imf)roved in 

 1919. thus providing a simple method 

 of creating a 12-grade unit in place of 

 dual system districts. Also, the unit 

 district was popularized in the 1915 

 session of the General Assembly by 

 beins allowed a lower qualifying rate 

 (.H7V2C) for equalization state aid as 

 compared to the qualifying rate (25c -|- 

 25c = 50c) required of dual system 

 districts. The legislature in 1919 went 

 still further in H.B. 1065. the state aid 



bill, by allowing the unit district a 

 qualifying rate of 50c as compared to 

 40c for iioth grade and high school or 

 a total of IJOc. 



6. "The Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation has repeatedly pointed 

 out the need for reducing the bur- 

 den of ta.xes on farmers and home 

 owners. The Association has also 

 emphasized the necessity of secur- 

 ing for the schools revenue from 

 sources other than property taxes." 

 Page 45. 



The amount of state aid appropriated 

 by the General .Assembly for the bienni- 

 um beginning July I, 1943 was S'iH,- 

 000.000. This figure was increased to 

 SH.OOO.OOO in 1915. 865.000.000 in 

 1947 and S100.300.f)00 iq 1919. 



7. "Aid to wealthy districts and 

 those weM able to carry their own 

 load should not be increased from 

 present levels. Page 45. 



The slate aid bill just passed and 

 signed by the governor provides for no 

 increase in the flat grants, all the addi- 

 tional state money going into equaliza- 

 tion guarantees." 



8. "Legislation should be enacted 

 requiring all new high school dis- 

 tricts, except these created by the 

 consolidation of two or more pre- 

 viously existing districts, to in- 

 clude a population of at least 2(X)0 

 persons and to have an assessed 

 valuation of at least $1,500,000." 

 Page 37. 



The $1.. 500,000 assessed valuation 

 when property was asses,sed at one-third 

 its full value on the average would be 

 comparable to S 1..500.000 now. The 

 law now requires a minimum of 86,- 

 000.000 assessed valuation (full value) 

 {Continued on page 50) 



14 



L A. A. RECORD 



