286 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
the county; but in the great majority of the States it is the school 
district. "These districts vary so greatly in wealth and taxpaying 
ability that the grossest inequalities exist, both in tax burden and 
school facilities. 
Examples of the inequalities and deficiencies created by the district 
system are abundant. A study in 1922 of the school districts of 10 
counties in Oklahoma showed assessed valuations varying from $1,000 
to $82,000 per child in average daily attendance. Within this same 
group of districts the average annual expenditure per child varied 
from $21 to $437, and among the districts constituting the richest 
county in the State the variation was from $51 to $395 per child. In 
1921 there were 5,014 village and rural white districts in the State, 
and the school terms ranged from 3 to 10 months (138, p. 98). 
In Larimer County, Colo. (130, p. 80), school district levies in 1928 
ranged from 1.4 to i8.2 mills. The discrepancies are nearly as great 
when expressed in terms of cost per pupil. Thus in the third-class 
districts of this same Colorado county, the total receipts per pupil in 
average daily attendance ranged from $34.94 to $416.18, and the 
receipts from a local district tax, from nothing to $243.20. 
The need for larger school units is well recognized in Wisconsin. 
Ashland County (171, pp. 11, 13) in 1929 had 31 school districts and 
48 schools. Thirty-eight of the schools were one-teacher schools. 
In 7 years the enrollment in the rural schools had decreased from 
1,008 to 809. The enrollment of the village schools had increased from 
806 to 969. 
High pupil cost was associated with schools having a small enroll- 
ment. Eight schools located in the more isolated sections of the 
county had an enrollment of from 2 to 10 pupils. The 2 schools hav- 
ing 5 or fewer pupils had an average cost per pupil of $386. Six 
schools with from 6 to 10 pupils had an average cost of $159 per pupil. 
In comparison with this, there were 11 schools in the county with 
from 21 to 30 pupils having a per pupil cost of $56, and 1 school with 
more than 50 children having a per pupil cost of less than $30. A 
poorer quality of work was observed in the schools with very small 
enrollments. The best type of school work was done in schools that 
had an enrollment of from 20 to 35 pupils. In 1928-29 the county 
received $72,674 of State aid for schools. State aid to districts 
ranged from $250 to $6,320. 
Forest County, Wis. (174, pp. 13, 15), in 1930 had 17 school 
districts and 36 schools. In 10 of the 14 civil towns 1 school district 
covered the entire town. School costs were $214,701, of which 
$73,987 was received from the State. Of the balance, $22,000 were 
derived from a county-wide tax and $118,714 from local district taxes. 
District tax rates ranged from 1.1 to 4.7 percent and the assessed 
valuations from $81,000 to $2,400,000. A county-unit school organi- 
ee would equalize both the tax burden and the quality of the 
schools. 
In Marinette County, Wis. (170, p. 8), rural school enrollment 
decreased from 2,916 in 1921-22 to 2,427 in 1927-28. More than one- 
half of the rural schools have an enrollment of 20 pupils or less, and 3 
have under 5 each. In 1927-28 there were 4 schools with an average 
cost of over $300 per pupil; 4, between $200 and $300; 20, between 
$100 and $200; 17, between $75 and $100; and 25, with a cost between 
