A 
American Agriculturist, January 26, 1924 
69 
How the School Bill Would Lower Taxes 
Would Bring $120,000 More Into Tioga County Alone 
I HAVE recently been able to secure infor¬ 
mation in regard to some of the provisions 
which will be incorporated in the school 
bill soon to be introduced in the legislature. 
The school bill first introduced last year was 
Senate Bill, printed number 492. This was later 
amended materially and became number 2117. 
The bill which will be introduced will 
be changed in many particulars to 
meet valid objections made to No. 
2117. 
I have obtained the following 
figures upon which the new bill will 
be based. 
The appropriation made for schools 
in this State in 1923 was in round 
numbers $40,000,000, of which $32,- 
000,000 went to cities and large 
villages and $8,000,000 to rural 
schools. Under the proposed law the 
appropriation for cities and large 
villages will be the same, $32,000,000, 
and that for rural schools will be 
$20,000,000, an increase of $12,000,- 
000. County Treasurer, Frank S. 
Truman, informs me that the rural 
schools in Tioga County (not includ¬ 
ing Owego and Waverly) received in 
1923 public money from the State to 
the amount of $81,930.18. Under 
the proposed law at least $200,000 
would be received in excess of the 
amount paid in increased State taxes 
in the territory affected by the law. 
This would be a net amount of about 
$120,000 in excess of that received 
under the present law. There are 147 
rural school districts in this county. The above 
amount would give an average sum to each dis¬ 
trict of more than $800 in excess of that now 
received. These figures should be sufficient to 
prove that under the proposed law the school 
taxes now paid in the territory affected by the 
law in this county would be materially reduced, 
the poorer districts receiving the 
larger percentage of reduction. The 
school districts located in Owego and 
Waverly do not come under this law, 
but the $120,000 additional which 
will be paid mostly by cities will find 
its way into the channels of trade and 
all parts of the county will be ene- 
fited by it. 
If $12,000,000 additional is added 
to the State budget for schools, 
New York City will contribute more 
than $8,000,000 of that amount. 
Some people have suggested that if 
New York City w r as willing to increase 
their budget so much for the beneHt of 
the rural schools there must be some 
joker in the bill. In answer to that I 
have heard many reasons given. One 
reason given at the hearing on the 
bill by Senator Downing of New 
York, Chairman of the Finance 
Committee in the Senate, who 
introduced the bill, was substantially 
as follows: 
“'There are about 10,000 young people who 
tind their way from the rural districts of the 
State into New York City every year. The 
city prefers to furnish the funds and have more 
of these people receive a high school education 
before going there.” 
Farming requires a scattered popu¬ 
lation and this situation makes it 
more expensive per child to provide 
schooling in the country than in 
villages and cities. Farmers should 
not be penalized on account of this 
situation. It is to correct the effects 
of this condition that the State now 
offers to make liberal appropriations 
tor these communities. 
There will be two provisions in the 
By HON. D. P. WITTER 
Representing Tioga County in the New York State 
Assembly 
bill about which there may be an honest difference 
of opinion. This bill will provide that every boy 
and girl in this State shall be given a high school 
education free, if they desire it, including tuition, 
and transportation if necessary, this to be paid by 
the Community District, the State furnishing 
additional funds for that purpose. If there is not 
a high school in the Community District, they 
shall be conveyed to a high school in some other 
district. Under that provision it is expected that 
many more young people will secure a high school 
education than at present. This provision does 
not require the establishment of more high 
schools, but if there should be more, the State 
will contribute liberally toward the building and 
equipment. The second provision referred o is 
the one which would create a larger tax district 
for the purpose of equalizing and 
reducing taxation. Perhaps some 
would prefer to keep the tax districts 
the same as at present and pay the 
higher taxes rather than be under 
the direction of a Community Board. 
I am quite certain the State will 
not materially increase the appropria¬ 
tion for rural schools unless a larger 
tax district is formed. No other 
practicable way has been suggested of 
equalizing the school taxes between 
districts having a high and low 
assessed valuation than by forming 
larger tax districts. This does not 
mean that there need be fewer 
schools, it does not necessitate the 
abandonment of a single existing 
rural school. 
I will briefly state some of the more 
important provisions of the new bill: 
1. IT WILL TRANSFER MUCH 
OF THE AUTHORITY NOW 
VESTED IN THE STATE DE¬ 
PARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
TO THE PEOPLE AND LOCAL 
AUTHORITIES THEREBY GIV¬ 
ING THEM A GREATER MEAS¬ 
URE OF HOME RULE THAN 
THEY HAVE AT PRESENT. 
2. IT WILL TAKE FROM THE DISTRICT 
SUPERINTENDENT THE POWER TO ABOL¬ 
ISH A SCHOOL DISTRICT AND GIVE 
THAT AUTHORITY TO THE VOTERS OF 
THE DISTRICT. 
3. A rural school cannot be closed for one year 
without a petition being signed by a majority of 
the voters in the district and two- 
thirds vote of the community board. 
4. All persons appointed on tem¬ 
porary commissions for the purpose 
of forming the larger tax districts 
must be residents of the territory 
affected by the law and one-half the 
members of such commissions must' 
be residents of common school dis¬ 
tricts. These commissions are 
abolished as soon as their work is 
completed, which should be in a few 
weeks. 
5. The community board is com¬ 
posed of one member from each 
common school district elected at the 
annual meeting in May, and the 
members elected in the union free 
school district, if there be one in the 
community district. Why would the 
people of a school district vote to abolish 
their district when by so doing they trill 
lose a representative on the school board? 
6. The intermediate board corre¬ 
sponds and takes the place of the 
present board of school directors for 
each supervisory district (but with 
much greater power) and is composed 
of one member from each community 
district, selected by the community 
district board from its own member¬ 
ship. 
7. It will give a high school educa¬ 
tion to every boy and girl in the State, 
if they desire it, free of tuition and 
transportation. 
8. IT WILL REDUCE THE 
SCHOOL TAXES PAID BY THE 
RURAL RESIDENTS IN TIOGA 
COUNTY BY MORE THAN 
$100,000 ANNUALLY. 
(Continued on page Id) 
1 U',/ 
Cowtesy Xno York Tribune 
Study the Bill 
T HE article on this page on the Rural School Bill by As¬ 
semblyman Witter bears out what we have said many times, 
that is, that the passage of this bill will bring a reduction of school 
taxes in over half of the school districts of New York State. 
Moreover, the reductions will come where they are most needed— 
in the poorer districts. So large also are the provisions for more 
State aid that even the wealthy districts will not feel the equaliza¬ 
tion of valuation and taxation for which the bill provides. 
We have also said many times that neither this bill nor any 
other, should be passed if farm people do not want it. But it 
seems too bad that honest opposition to a good measure should 
develop as a result of a sensational campaign of misrepresenta¬ 
tions and misstatements of the true facts and the true meaning 
of the principles in this bill. 
The Rural School Bill with several amendments will probably 
be introduced soon into the Legislature. We hope you will 
write your Assemblyman for a copy and read it carefully before 
making your final decision.— The EDITORS. 
