IC-NRLF 
 
 SIS 
 
DEPARTMENT OF 
 
 PVBLIC INSTRUCTION 
 OAKLAND CALIFORNIA 
 
 REPORT 
 
 of a Survey of tLe 
 
 Organization, Scope, and Finances 
 
 of tLe 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 
 
 of 
 Oakland, California 
 
 By 
 
 EL WOOD P. CUBBERLEY 
 
 Professor of Education, Lclancl Stanford Junior University 
 
 BOARD OF EDUCATION BULLETIN 
 
 NUMBER 8 JUNE, 1915 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF A SURVEY OF THE 
 
 ORGANIZATION, SCOPE, AND FINANCES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 
 
 OF 
 
 OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 
 
 BY 
 
 ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY 
 
 Professor of Education, Leland Stanford Junior University 
 'Price, Ten Cents 
 
 PRINTED BY ORDER OF 
 
 THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
 1915 
 
PRESIDENT'S LETTER. 
 
 OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, June 21, 1915. 
 To THE TAXPAYERS OF OAKLAND: 
 
 Since the per capita cost of maintenance based on the average daily 
 attendance of the Oakland School Department has increased twenty-two 
 per cent during the last five years, -the Board of Education recently decided 
 it to be a point of wisdom to employ a disinterested expert to investigate the 
 reasons for the increased expense and to determine if it were possible to 
 conduct the schools more economically without loss of efficiency. 
 
 This investigation was inaugurated at a meeting of the Board of Edu- 
 cation held June 1, 1915, at which the following resolution was unani- 
 mously passed: 
 
 WHEREAS, there has been a considerable annual increase in the school 
 budget for several years past, and 
 
 WHEREAS, the Board of Education is desirous of conducting the School 
 Department as economically as possible without lessening its efficiency, be it 
 
 Resolved, that Dr. E. P. Cubberley, recognized as one of the foremost 
 authorities on educational administration in the United States, who has 
 conducted school surveys for the cities of Baltimore, Portland, Butte, and 
 Salt Lake City, be employed- to investigate the plan of organization of the 
 Oakland School Department, with special reference to the number of em- 
 ployees, their salaries and duties, in order to determine if there be any 
 unnecessary expenditures or if any economy can be effected without injur- 
 ing the efficiency of the department. 
 
 Dr. Cubberley's report is hereby presented to the public. The Board 
 of Education earnestly desires that it be given thoughtful consideration. It 
 represents the judgment of an unbiased expert of wide experience, and as 
 such is worthy of careful study. 
 
 In presenting the report to the taxpayers of Oakland, the Board calls 
 attention to the fact that in its administration of the schools there has been 
 a consistent attempt to maintain a progressive and efficient school system, in 
 order to afford the young people of the community the best possible oppor- 
 tunity to secure a good education. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 A. S. KELLY, 
 President of Board of Education. 
 
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 
 
 To the Board of Education, 
 Oakland, California. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 I herewith transmit to you my report on the organization, 
 scope, and costs of the Oakland school department, as requested 
 by your resolution of June 1, 1915, directing me to make such 
 a survey of your school system. 
 
 In making the report I have divided it into three parts, to 
 cover each of the three main questions I was asked to consider. 
 The first deals with the form of organization of the administra- 
 tive departments, and the overhead expense of the school de- 
 partment ; the second covers the scope and further needs of the 
 school system under your control ; and the third considers the 
 financial aspect of the problem, and the ability of the city of 
 Oakland to maintain a good system of schools. I hope that the 
 report as submitted may prove useful to the Board of Educa- 
 tion in handling its problems, and to the people of the city as 
 well, in enabling them to understand the magnitude and the 
 importance of the problem with which the Board of Education 
 has to deal. 
 
 I desire here to express my appreciation of the assistance 
 rendered me by the officers of the different departments of the 
 administrative organization, without which help it would not 
 have been possible to have made such a survey of conditions 
 and needs in so short a time. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY. 
 
 Stanford University, Cal., 
 June 12, 1915. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. Form of organization, and overhead expense 9 
 
 II. Scope and needs of the Oakland school system 18 
 
 III. The financial phase of the Oakland school problem 37 
 
 Appendix A. The expenditures of the Oakland school de- 
 partment, for the fiscal year 1914-15, by to- 
 tals and by percentages - 48* 
 
-PART I. 
 
 FORM OF ORGANIZATION, AND OVERHEAD EXPENSE. 
 I. The Form of Organization. 
 
 Present Form of Organization. An examination of the rules 
 and regulations of the board, of education, and of a tabular sheet 
 prepared, showing the present organization and scope of the 
 school system, reveals that the school department of the city of 
 Oakland is at present organized into four separate departments. 
 These are (1), the clerical and auditing department; (2), the ed- 
 ucational department; (3), the buildings and grounds depart- 
 ment; and (4), the purchasing department. The attendance de- 
 partment is included under the educational department. Each 
 of these four departments is to a certain extent independent of 
 each of the others, the head of each reporting directly to the 
 board of education, which then serves as a coordinating and di- 
 recting body. This places upon the board of education and its 
 committees numerous duties which, in many other cities, boards 
 of education do not have to handle. 
 
 Criticism of the form of organization. Whatever may have 
 been the reasons for the original creation of four separate ad- 
 ministrative departments, each more or less distinct from and 
 independent of the other three, the best administrative experi- 
 ence of our American cities would indicate rather clearly the 
 undesirability of continuing such a form of administrative or- 
 ganization. It is too wasteful of time and effort and does not 
 properly centralize authority and responsibility. At present, 
 due in part to the requirements of the rules and regulations of 
 the board of education, and in part to the co-operative spirit 
 shown by the heads of the different departments, a large degree 
 of harmony and co-operation in work seems to prevail. That 
 such a condition will always continue to exist may, however, be 
 seriously doubted. 
 
 The public, as well as the board of education itself, looks to 
 the superintendent of schools as the responsible head of the en- 
 tire school system. If overhead charges become too high ; if the 
 school accounts are not properly kept ; if reports to the public 
 do not explain operations clearly ; if the supplies furnished are 
 
10 Oakland School Survey 
 
 poor or inadequate, or are too lavishly provided ; if the build- 
 ings are not of the right type, or cost too much, of if they are 
 not properly cared for and made available when needed ; if the 
 expense for building upkeep is too high ; if proper harmony 
 among the different administrative officers does not prevail ; or 
 if a dozen other possible things do or do not come to pass, the 
 public rightly holds the superintendent of schools the nominal 
 head of the school system to be the responsible person. In 
 many matters by law under the control of the board of educa- 
 tion, the public holds the superintendent of schools, rather than 
 the board of education, as the responsible party. 
 
 One head for the entire school system. This should mean 
 that the superintendent of schools should be the responsible 
 head of the whole school department, and that he then should 
 be held to strict accountability for its successful operation. 
 This is the method followed in all successful corporation control. 
 The board of education should represent, as it were, a board of 
 directors for a corporation, and in this case it is a corporation 
 doing a million and a half dollars worth of business each year. 
 As such they should have as one of their most important func- 
 tions to select the chief executive officer for their business, and, 
 with his co-operation and advice, to select the heads of depart- 
 ments and others for important executive positions. They should 
 also, with the co-operation and advice of their chief executive 
 officer, and such of his subordinates as they may see fit to call 
 into consultation, decide not individually but as a body all 
 questions relating to the general policy, expansion, arid finance 
 of the business under their control. All matters of detail 
 should be left to the officers of the business to handle; if they 
 cannot carry the responsibility they should be replaced by those 
 who can. 
 
 The best experience of cities generally has been that both 
 harmony and efficiency are promoted when the superintendent 
 of schools is made the actual as well as the nominal head of the 
 entire school department, and when the heads of other executive 
 departments report to and through him. This should not mean 
 any subordination of individual subdepartment executives to the 
 extent that their proper work is interfered with, but instead a 
 co-ordination of effort, a unified control of expenditures, and a 
 
Organization and Overhead Expense 1 1 
 
 distribution of work which probably would result in a more 
 effective expenditure of the funds at hand. 
 
 The chief department the educational. It cannot be too 
 clearly understood that the chief end for which the schools exist 
 is the education of children, and that all forms of organization 
 and all administrative machinery exist for the sole purpose of 
 getting teacher and children^ together under the best possible 
 educational conditions. To this end the clerical business, pur- 
 chasing, building, and attendance officers all exist for the pur- 
 pose of aiding the educational department to so get teachers ancl 
 children together. The purchasing and building departments 
 also exist in part for the purpose of deflecting, into the work of 
 actual instruction, as large a percentage of the funds set apart 
 for annual maintenance as is possible. 
 
 With the one possible exception of the clerical department, 
 which is largely in the nature of a department of record, all 
 other departments and subdepartments should be able to prove 
 their usefulness by the savings they effect, the waste their pres- 
 ence prevents, or the increased efficiency of the instruction 
 which their administrative oversight ensures. Every overcharge 
 detected by the auditor, every dollar saved in the purchase of 
 supplies, every economy effected in the erection and repair of 
 buildings, is added money for increasing the effectiveness of 
 the instruction in the schools. It is for this purpose that all 
 these departments have been created, and the only excuse for 
 their existence and continuance lies in their contribution to the 
 saving of funds for purposes of actual instruction. 
 
 This being the case, the educational department stands as 
 the chief department of the school system, most deeply inter- 
 ested in and feeling most responsible for the success of the 
 schools, and, within reasonable limits, the other departments or 
 divisions of the school organization should act under its super- 
 vision ancl control. The superintendent of schools should be 
 made to feel that he has supervisory oversight and control over 
 the methods of bookkeeping employed, the expenditures for 
 equipment and supplies, the replacement and betterment pro- 
 jects to be undertaken, and, to a certain limited extent, over the 
 way and the times at which the office and working forces of the 
 different departments do their work, in so far as such con- 
 
12 Oakland School Survey 
 
 cerns the educational work of the schools. If he cannot assume 
 such responsibility and handle it wisely, he should be replaced 
 by some one who can. 
 
 II. The Overhead Expense. 
 
 The extent and costs for the present overhead administrative 
 organization, together with the salaries paid to each person in 
 the overhead organization, may be seen from the following 
 table : 
 
 TABLE No. 1. 
 
 The Overhead Organization and Its Cost. 
 
 I. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Six members, paid $40 per month for their services, or 
 
 $480 each per year $2880 
 
 II. DEPARTMENTS UNDER BOARD CONTROL. 
 
 1. The Clerical and Auditing Department. 
 
 1 Secretary of the Board $2700 
 
 1 Auditor and Assistant Secretary .... 2220 
 
 1 Assistant to the Secretary 1320 
 
 1 Bookkeeper . 1260 
 
 1 Stenographer at 1020 
 
 1 Stenographer at 000 
 
 1 Stenographer at 600 
 
 Total cost for clerical department $10,020 
 
 2. The Educational Department. 
 
 1 Superintendent of Schools .....$ 4000 
 
 1 Secretary to the Superintendent 1620 
 
 1 Director of Information, Statistics, and Ed- 
 
 ucational Research 1500 
 
 2 Stenographers at $900 each 1800 
 
 1 Attendance Officer (part time) 1000 
 
 1 Attendance Officer .. 1620 
 
 Total cost for department* $11,540 
 
 * The two Assistant Superintendents are not included here, as they 
 devote their time chiefly to the supervision of instruction. They ac- 
 cordingly belong with the school principals, in the overhead cost for 
 school supervision, and are so classified. 
 
Organization and Overhead Expense 13 
 
 3. The Buildings and Grounds Department. 
 
 1 Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds $ 2700 
 
 1 Department Mechanic 2400 
 
 1 Department Electrician '. 1800 
 
 1 Draftsman 1080 
 
 1 Stenographer 600 
 
 Total cost for department $8,580 
 
 4. The Purchasing and Supply Department. 
 
 1 Purchasing Agent $ 2400 
 
 1 Stenographer 900 
 
 1 Storekeeper , 780 
 
 Total cost for department $4,080 
 
 Total overhead charge for administrative sala- 
 ries $ 34,220. 
 
 Total estimated additional cost for supplies, au- 
 tomobile allowances, printing, postage, 
 etc., 1914-15 .. 5,327.43 
 
 Total overhead cost for general con- 
 trol $ 39,547.43 
 
 Total estimated cost for maintenance of school 
 
 department, 1914-15 , $1,425,896.19 
 
 Percent of total spent for administration # 2.7 
 
 Number of employees and salaries. An examination of the 
 roster and salaries paid the office force in the different adminis- 
 trative departments, as well as a study of the percentage of 
 costs devoted to general administration, does not reveal any ex- 
 travagance in salaries, or any place for important reductions in 
 expenditures. On the contrary, the salaries paid are relatively 
 low. 
 
 The only department which possibly seems to be a little over- 
 stocked with help is the clerical and auditing department. This, 
 
 Compiled by the Secretary, and includes all expenses up to date, all 
 June salaries, all outstanding orders, and an estimate of all additional 
 expenses for the 22 days remaining in this fiscal year. 
 
 # This includes the $2800 paid board members by the city, and not 
 actually coming from school department funds. 
 
14 Oakland School Survey 
 
 however, may not be the case, as the work of this department is 
 of such a nature that one unfamiliar with the principles under- 
 lying clerical and business efficiency could hardly pass judgment 
 on this matter. Should it be desired to look further into the 
 number and salaries of the employees of this department, a busi- 
 ness expert should be directed to examine into the amount of 
 work and the effectiveness of the employees concerned. 
 
 The purchasing and building departments. The purchasing 
 and the buildings-and-grounds departments now have as small 
 working forces as could be expected for the conduct of such de- 
 partments, and the salaries paid the employees in each are mod- 
 erate. Each department requires good judgment, honesty, and 
 the ability to transact business with accuracy and dispatch, and 
 such ability cannot be expected for smaller sums. 
 
 The administration of these two departments, in 1914-15, cost 
 together but 93-100 of 1% of the cost for maintenance of the 
 school system. The orders for materials and supplies issued by 
 the purchasing department from July 1, 1914: to June 3. 1!)15, 
 total $396,927.99, and the unexpended balances of the 1914-15 
 budget will not permit of orders exceeding this sum by more 
 than a very small amount. This means that this department 
 was conducted for 1% of the orders issued. Similarly, the or- 
 ders and requisitions issued by the superintendent of buildings 
 and grounds for the same period, together with an estimate of 
 additional orders to June 30, total $464,895.53. This means that 
 this department was conducted at a cost of 2.05% of the business 
 transacted. These figures represent low operation costs. 
 
 If the purchasing agent saved an average of one per- 
 cent on the articles purchased, he would save the en- 
 tire cost of his department. The probabilities are that he saves 
 nearer six to ten percent on purchases, and hence probably saves 
 for the school department from $25,000 to $40,000 a year over 
 and above the cost of his department. As the superintendent of 
 buildings saves six percent in supervising-architect commissions 
 on all construction work carried on in the school department, he 
 also saves from $10,000 to $20,000 a year, varying with the 
 amount of new buildings and repairs to old buildings, above the 
 cost of his department. These two departments, by reason of 
 closer buying, increased efficiency in service obtained, and the 
 
Organization and Overhead Expense 15 
 
 elimination of the need for the employment of experts, save 
 enough each year for the school department to pay the entire 
 cost of all overhead administrative control, and, in addition, 
 leave a balance to be applied to the work of instruction. 
 
 The educational department. The working force in the edu- 
 cational department also is not large, and the salaries are very 
 moderate. Judged by the standards of other cities, a salary of 
 $6000 for the superintendent of schools, $2500 for the director 
 of information, statistics, and research, $2000 for the secretary 
 to the superintendent, and twice the force of stenographers and 
 clerks, would not be excessive for a city the size of Oakland. 
 At least one more stenographer should be added to this office, 
 so that the assistant superintendents, attendance officers, and the 
 director of research may have stenographic service for writing 
 letters, sending communications, and similar service. There is 
 no economy in trying to save on stenographers and typewriters. 
 
 The secretary to the superintendent renders a very important 
 service in meeting the public, answering questions, sifting out 
 those who should see the superintendent or his assistants, and 
 directing the work of the office. It is using $1620 labor to good 
 advantage to save $4000 time. 
 
 The statistical clerk. The director of information, statistics, 
 and research, if the office is properly developed, should in time 
 render a very important service in testing and standardizing ed- 
 ucational processes. His present title is inexpressive, and his 
 present services are limited to statistical and clerical work. I 
 would recommend that his title be changed to that of statistician 
 and director of educational investigations, and that the investi- 
 gation side of his work be gradually expanded. Every school 
 system needs to measure and test its work, from time to time, 
 and the director of such a bureau ought to assist materially the 
 two assistant superintendents and the school principals in test- 
 ing and measuring the educational results obtained in the 
 schools. 
 
 In a number of our cities such an office has recently been es- 
 tablished, though elsewhere more emphasis has been placed on 
 the study of the educational work of the schools than upon sta- 
 tistical and clerical service. If our cities are to have any intelli- 
 gent outlook upon the work they are doing for their children, 
 
16 Oakland School Survey 
 
 and are to be able to justify their expenditures by an exhibition 
 of results, such must be based on careful statistical studies made 
 by those who have time for such work, and who know how to 
 conduct such -"Studies. In the business world efficiency experts 
 are appreciated at their full value ; in the educational world they 
 are as yet almost unknown and undeveloped. 
 
 The attendance department. The enforcement of compul- 
 sory education, which in Oakland is classed under the superin- 
 tendent's office, represents but a very small expense. A city the 
 size of Oakland, and of its peculiar character, ought to spend 
 three or four times as much money as is now done on the en- 
 forcement of the attendance laws, and ought also to maintain, 
 either singly or in combination with Berkeley and Alameda, a 
 parental-home school for boys and one for girls, with large vo- 
 cational opportunities in each. There being no state school 
 census only emphasizes the need for more accurate information 
 as to the whereabouts and the school attendance of the children 
 of school age than can possibly be obtained from the services of 
 the one and one-half officers now employed. A school-census 
 bureau, one that will compile accurate records as to children and 
 check up attendance at private and parochial schools as well as 
 at public schools, with a proper provision of special-type schools 
 for all irregular cases, is not more than a city such as Oakland 
 should provide. There is no special economy in neglecting 
 youthful waywardness to save a little money, and permitting it 
 later on to add to the criminal and prostitute class. The State 
 of California cannot be expected to permit its larger cities to con- 
 tinue much longer to neglect, in large part, the care and proper 
 education of its truant and wayward and incorrigible children. 
 
 Cost of the educational department. The entire overhead 
 cost for the educational department, including here the office of 
 the superintendent of schools, the director of statistics and re- 
 search, and the compulsory ?' endance work, represents at total 
 cost of but 94-100 of 1%, which is quite small. It ought to be 
 larger rather than smaller. The compulsory attendance work, 
 or the investigation of educational results, ought to cost that 
 much alone. 
 
 Oakland's overhead expense compared. To show that Oak- 
 land's overhead expense for schools is not high, a comparison 
 
Organization and Overhead Expense 
 
 17 
 
 may be made with a number of western cities where salary costs 
 and other expenses are comparable. In making this comparison 
 all cities west of the Rocky Mountains which in 1910 had 25,000 
 or more inhabitants have been included, and all but one of these 
 cities also had 5000 or more school children in average daily at- 
 tendance. The data for Oakland is for the year 1914-15, and as 
 furnished by the secretary and the superintendent of schools. 
 The data for all the other cities is from the last published annual 
 report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education, and is for the 
 fiscal year 1912-13. This puts Oakland at a little disadvantage 
 for purposes of comparison, as costs for all forms of education 
 are increasing almost everywhere. This comparison gives the 
 following result: 
 
 TABLE No. 2. 
 Cost for Overhead Administrative Control in Western Cities. 
 
 City. 
 
 Percent of total maintenance cost 
 spent for administrative control 
 
 Sacramento, Cal 
 
 Spokane, Wash 
 
 Pasadena, Cal 
 
 Seattle, Wash 
 
 Oakland, Cal 
 
 Denver, Colo 
 
 San Diego, Cal 
 
 Berkeley, Cal 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 San Jose, Cal 
 
 Los Angeles, Cal 
 
 Butte, Mont 
 
 Tacoma, "Wash 
 
 San Francisco, Cal 
 
 Colorado Springs, Colo 
 
 Portland, Ore 
 
 Average for 16 cities 
 
 Median point for 16 cities. 
 
 1.8 
 2.2 
 2.4 
 2.6 
 2.7 
 2.7 
 2.7 
 2.8 
 3.0 
 3.0 
 3.6 
 3.8 
 3.9 
 4.3 
 4.6 
 4.9 
 3.2 
 2.9 
 
 As will be seen from this table, Oakland's overhead, or ad- 
 ministrative expense, is below both the average and the median 
 (the point above which and below which fifty percent of the 
 cases fall) for western cities. If tnJ^money paid for services to 
 the members of the board of education were deducted, as pay for 
 such services is not usually granted in American cities, the per- 
 centage of expense would be reduced to 2.5%. An expenditure 
 for administration of 3.0% to 3.5% would not be unreasonable in 
 a growing city the size of Oakland. 
 
18 Oakland School Survey 
 
 PART II. 
 Scope and Needs of the Oakland School System. 
 
 The old-type school system. Up to fifteen or twenty years 
 ago communities generally were content to maintain a school 
 system primarily for the instruction of children in the old book 
 subjects. For this an eight-year elementary-school course, 
 based entirely on text-book instruction and the same for all, was 
 considered sufficient. For those who cared to go to the high 
 school, two or three parallel and somewhat similar courses, 
 "based largely on text-book work, were offered. The instruction, 
 while perhaps good of its kind, was nevertheless a relatively 
 cheap form of instruction to provide. A room, a stove, some 
 desks, and an inexpensive teacher answered almost all instruc- 
 tional needs. The instruction was book-instruction, and the 
 pupil, in addition, furnished the book. 
 
 The instruction practically assumed that all children were 
 about alike, and had about the same educational needs. In a 
 sense it was an aristocratic conception of education, as opposed 
 to the more democratic conception of today. The instruction 
 provided was determined largely by the needs of the more intel- 
 lectual classes of the community, that is, that class who found 
 it easy to work with ideas and abstractions, and who took some- 
 what easily to literary knowledge. There was little attention 
 given to anything else. Possible future vocations, home needs, 
 hand and eye training, health and physique, and the world of 
 natural phenomena were largely or entirely neglected by the 
 school. Those who could master the instruction offered were 
 promoted, while those who could not failed and soon dropped 
 from school. Few special teachers and little supervision were 
 required, and the school buildings erected were simple in con- 
 struction and relatively cheap. 
 
 Changes in conception. Within the past two decades a vast 
 change in our conception as to the place and purpose of public 
 education in our national life has taken place, in all parts of the 
 United States. No city or no part of the nation has any monop- 
 oly of this new development in public education, though certain 
 cities have naturally made greater progress in the matter than 
 have others. 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 19 
 
 This change in conception as it relates to public education is 
 only one of the many manifestations of that great social change 
 which has come over our people, and which has everywhere em- 
 phasized the importance of child-life and human-welfare work 
 in contrast with the accumulation or saving of money. In edu- 
 cation it is no longer a question of merely a school, but of 
 schools properly suited to the needs of each type of child in the 
 whole community. The finger-minded as well as those who can 
 work with ideas are to be trained ; hand and eye and sense train- 
 ing are not to be neglected longer ; and health and physical de- 
 velopment have been given an entirely new emphasis in our edu- 
 cational work. Even play has been discovered to be education- 
 al, and valuable in developing character, and has been made a 
 directed subject. In the realm of high-school education, the 
 need of many new courses, and even of new schools, to prepare 
 young people to meet the problems of democracy and the chang- 
 ing economic life of the times better, has been felt and met. 
 Even the irregular, the defective, and the wayward are to be 
 cared for. This calls for new types of teachers, differentiations 
 in instruction, reorganizations and expansions in school work, 
 new and better arranged school buildings, and a marked in- 
 crease in the expense for public education. 
 
 Differentiations and increasing costs. The result has been a 
 marked differentiation in school work, within recent years, better 
 to adapt the schools to the individual needs of the children ; the 
 introduction of new types of instruction ; the establishment of 
 new types of schools; a demand for better teachers and more 
 skilful supervision ; and a popular demand for larger play- 
 grounds and a type of school building better adapted to modern 
 educational and community needs. 
 
 The people generally have welcomed these additions and ex- 
 pansions and changes in conception, though the tax-payers have 
 sometimes grumbled at the increased expense. We are, how- 
 ever, a relatively rich people, and we have felt that we can afford 
 to spend a - relatively large part of our annual taxes for the im- 
 provement of the stock and the better education of the genera- 
 tion \vhich is to take up society's burden when we lay it down. 
 
 Oakland's recent educational development. In many of our 
 American cities this new development and expansion of the edu- 
 
20 Oakland School Survey 
 
 cational system of the city began fifteen to twenty-five years 
 ago, and the costs have mounted slowly and gradually with the 
 increasing wealth of the city, and hence have aroused little or no 
 criticism. For many years Oakland has been building an ex- 
 cellent type of school building, and has been in advance of most 
 cities in paying a living wage to teachers, but until quite recently 
 the chief development has been on the building and salary side 
 of the school system. 
 
 Within the past half dozen years Oakland has begun a some- 
 what delayed expansion of its educational work better to adapt 
 its schools to the needs of its children, and this, connected with 
 the many expenses incurred in the equipment of the numerous 
 new buildings required by a rapidly-growing city, has caused an 
 increase in tax rates for schools which has attracted attention. 
 As will be shown further on, however, Oakland is still behind 
 our better school systems in its educational development, and its 
 percentage and per capita costs for education are not as yet 
 really high. 
 
 The problem before the board of education and the people 
 of Oakland is a double one, being both educational and financial. 
 In this part or chapter the educational aspect of the problem 
 will be considered ; in the following part or chapter the financial 
 aspect of the problem will be presented. 
 
 Causes for the recent increase in costs. As was just stated, 
 Oakland has only recently begun the educational expansion of 
 its school system, and the result has naturally been an increase 
 in costs. What many other cities have been fifteen or twenty 
 years in doing, gradually increasing their costs for instruction, 
 Oakland has done largely in the past five or six years, with a 
 resultant jump in school expenditures. 
 
 The increased salaries for teachers; the large increase in the 
 number of teachers employed; the recent rapid introduction of 
 kindergarten instruction ; the additions to the supervisory 
 force; the organization of new high schools, and new depart- 
 ments in these schools ; the reorganization of a number of the 
 elementary schools, for instruction along department lines ; the 
 addition of new subjects of instruction in the elementary schools, 
 and of new departments in the high schools, such as domestic 
 science and home economics; an excellent reorganization and 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 21 
 
 expansion of the work in music ; the organization of a depart- 
 ment for health-development and sanitation ; the better organi- 
 zation of the work in physical training, and the provision of di- 
 rected school playgrounds ; the organization of a department of 
 child study, the classes for the instruction of atypical children; 
 the organization of a vocational school ; the extension of the 
 courses in the evening high schools ; and the beginnings of an 
 evening lecture systeny these represent the chief causes of the 
 recent rise in the expenditures for education in Oakland. 
 
 The increase in cost due to these newer additions can at 
 any time be largely eleminated, if the people so desire, by aban- 
 doning any or all of them and going back to the school system 
 of ten or fifteen years ago. This, though, no intelligent and pro- 
 gressive city is willing to do, and such action Oakland does not 
 need to take. 
 
 An examination of these additions, item by item, will reveal 
 their purpose and the desirability or undesirability of the ex- 
 pense involved. 
 
 1. Increased salaries for teachers. As from sixty to seventy 
 percent of the annual cost for maintenance of a school system 
 usually goes for teachers' salaries, any increase in this item natu- 
 rally causes the total to amount up rapidly. The tax-payer sees 
 the total sum as printed in the- newspapers, notes any increase 
 in the tax rate, forgets that for decades our teachers have been 
 the most poorly paid of all city employees representing any 
 large degree of education and professional skill, and begins to 
 object to the large amount so expended. The total expended 
 for teachers' salaries in Oakland during 1914-15, $925,707.70, 
 does look large, but this is because so many teachers are re- 
 quired to teach the 32,697 children who were enrolled in the 
 schools. 
 
 The salaries paid teachers in Oakland, however, are not high, 
 and are not more than men and women of similar education and 
 professional skill should be paid. Averaged up for all teachers 
 employed, the above total sum equals $1,176.25 for each teacher. 
 The salaries paid to teachers in Oakland easily stand comparison 
 with the salaries paid in other city departments, as is shown by 
 the following table. 
 
22 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 TABLE No. 3. 
 Comparing Salaries in Different City Departments. 
 
 Position. 
 
 Salary 
 
 Years of 
 service to 
 reach 
 maximum. 
 
 Minimum 
 
 Maximum 
 
 I. 
 
 TEACHERS. 
 Kindergarten teachers 
 
 $ 780.00 
 780.00 
 1200.00 
 
 1020.00 
 1320.00 
 1800.00 
 1740.00 
 
 1200.00 
 1200.00 
 1500.00 
 
 $1200.00 
 1200.00 
 1260.00 
 
 1260.00 
 1680.00 
 2100.00 
 1740.00 
 
 1200.00 
 1200.00 
 1500.00 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 Elementary school teachers 
 
 Intermediate school teachers 
 
 High school teachers 
 Assistants 
 
 Instructors 
 
 Heads of departments 
 
 Sub-heads of departments 
 
 Special teachers 
 Domestic science 
 
 Manual training 
 
 Skilled mechanics 
 
 II 
 
 . OTHER CITY EMPLOYEES. 
 School janitors 
 
 $ 900.00 
 780.00 
 840.00 
 1200.00 
 1200.00 
 780.00 
 1200.00 
 
 $1200.00 
 1200.00 
 840.00 
 1380.00 
 1380.00 
 1080.00 
 1500.00 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 City Hall janitors 
 
 City Hall elevator operators 
 
 Policemen 
 
 Firemen 
 
 Junior stenographers 
 
 Senior clerks . 
 
 The salaries paid teachers in Oakland are not higher than 
 are paid in adjacent cities with which Oakland has to compete, 
 or higher than in most other large western cities. 
 
 It would of course be possible to find "home girls" who 
 would be willing to take places in the schools and work for 
 smaller "wages," but Oakland has for a long time followed the 
 much wiser policy of paying about what the best schools in the 
 vicinity pay, and then trying to attract to its service the best 
 trained men and women of the state who are willing to apply. 
 With the constantly increasing complexity of the educational 
 process, the constantly increasing demand for better trained 
 teachers, and the constantly increasing costs for living, this is 
 no time to depart from such a well-established policy. 
 
 That the salaries offered are not too high, in view of the 
 quality of teachers obtained and the increased cost of living in 
 a city of Oakland's size, may be seen from the statement that in 
 the elections to the preferred lists for 1915-16, 26 high-school 
 teachers elected averaged a monthly increase over previous po- 
 sitions of but $9.00, while some came for no increase at all ; 28 
 departmental teachers for seventh and eight grades averaged a 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 
 
 23 
 
 monthly increase of but $3.30, and some came with no increase; 
 and 83 elementary-school teachers averaged a monthly increase 
 of $21.90. The surprising thing is that Oakland could secure 
 good teachers at so small an increase in salary. 
 
 2. Increased number of teachers. That the number of 
 teachers employed has increased is but natural. Until Oakland 
 ceases to grow, either in population or in its conception of edu- 
 cation, this will always be the case. That the increase in num- 
 ber of teachers has not been, out of proportion to the growth of 
 the city may be seen from the following table. 
 
 TABLE No. 4. 
 
 Number of Pupils per Class Teacher, by Departments. 
 Based on Average Daily Attendance. 
 
 Type of school. 
 
 1910-111 1911-12|1912-13| 1913-141 1914-15 
 
 Elementary school 
 
 38.6 
 
 39.4 
 
 38.2 
 
 39.0 
 
 36.6 
 
 High school 
 
 20.7 
 
 25.4 
 
 23,0 
 
 22.6 
 
 21.1 
 
 Evening" school 
 
 16.3 
 
 17.4 
 
 16.5 
 
 21.8 
 
 19.2 
 
 Kindergartens 
 
 27.6 
 
 30.6 
 
 29.0 
 
 30.0 
 
 35.2 
 
 Average for all schools | 34.2 | 36.1 | 34.7 | 35.1 
 
 In 1883-84 the average for all schools was 32.6; in 1893-94 it 
 was 38.6 ; and in 1903-04 it was 36.8. 
 
 While our better school systems have been gradually reduc- 
 ing the number of children per teacher, cutting the maximum 
 number in an elementary-school class down from 50 or 55 
 thirty years ago to 30 to 35 today, Oakland, over a period of 
 thirty years, has scarcely held even. The apparent large re- 
 duction during 1914-15 was due in part to the employment of 
 many new teachers incident to the opening of the new Tech- 
 nical High School, and will be offset by the much smaller num- 
 .ber of new teachers employed for 1915-16, and the certain in- 
 crease in the number of children next year. 
 
 If we consider 35 pupils in average daily attendance in elem- 
 entary schools as a maximum beyond which it is not desirable 
 to go, as is now done in our better school systems, then a num- 
 ber of the elementary schools of Oakland are still inadequately 
 supplied with teachers, as may be seen from the following 
 table. 
 
24 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 TABLE No. 5. 
 
 Average Daily Attendance per Teacher at Elementary Schools 
 for the Year 1914-15. 
 
 School. 
 
 Average 
 Number 
 of teachers 
 
 Teacher 
 average 
 
 School. 
 
 Average 
 Number 
 of teachers 
 
 Teacher 
 average 
 
 Allendale 
 
 9. 
 
 37.7 
 
 Jefferson 
 
 13 
 
 38.1 
 
 Bay 
 
 16.5 
 
 37.5 
 
 Lafayette 
 
 26.3 
 
 39.6 
 
 Beulah 
 
 1. 
 
 17. 
 
 Lakeview 
 
 14.5 
 
 35.8 
 
 Campbell 
 
 6. 
 
 32.7 
 
 Laurel 
 
 4.5 
 
 30.7 
 
 Clare mont 
 
 16 3 
 
 39 5 
 
 Lazear 
 
 8 5 
 
 37 5 
 
 Clawson 
 
 14 5 
 
 36.3 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 23 
 
 36 6 
 
 Cleveland 
 
 4 
 
 35 
 
 Lockwood 
 
 13 
 
 28 5 
 
 Cole 
 
 18. 
 
 36.7 
 
 Longfellow 
 
 17. 
 
 37.8 
 
 Dewey 
 
 9. 
 
 39.3 
 
 Manzanita 
 
 8. 
 
 40.3 
 
 Durant 
 
 20 
 
 38.2 
 
 McChesney 
 
 10.5 
 
 38.2 
 
 Elrnhurst 
 
 16. 
 
 39. 
 
 Melrose 
 
 9.9 
 
 33.8 
 
 Emerson 
 
 19.5 
 
 37.5 
 
 Melrose Hts 
 
 9.5 
 
 40.8 
 
 Franklin 
 
 19 
 
 38 7 
 
 Peralta 
 
 4 
 
 26 7 
 
 Frick 
 
 3 5 
 
 31 4 
 
 Piedmont 
 
 13 8 
 
 33 2 
 
 Fruitvale 
 
 11 
 
 32' 4 
 
 Prescott 
 
 21 5 
 
 36 8 
 
 Garfield 
 
 19 5 
 
 38 1 
 
 Santa Fe 
 
 8.5 
 
 34.4 
 
 Grant 
 
 23 4 
 
 36.7 
 
 Sequoia 
 
 6. 
 
 33.5 
 
 Harrison 
 
 3.5 
 
 32.3 
 
 Tompkins 
 
 10. 
 
 31.8 
 
 Hawthorne 
 
 12. 
 
 37.9 
 
 Washington 
 
 18.5 
 
 39.9 
 
 Highland 
 
 10.5 
 
 36.8 
 
 University 
 
 5. 
 
 28.2 
 
 Intermediate 
 
 15. 
 
 33.9 
 
 Vocational 
 
 6.5 
 
 14. 
 
 Comparing Oakland with the same fifteen other cities used 
 in Table No. 2, we get the following table : 
 
 TABLE No. 6. 
 Number of Pupils in Average Daily Attendance per Teacher in All Schools 
 
 City. 
 
 Teacher 
 average 
 
 City. 
 
 Teacher 
 
 average 
 
 Pasadena, Cal 
 
 20. 
 
 Colorado Springs, Colo.... 
 
 29. 
 
 Berkeley Cal 
 
 21 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 29. 
 
 Los Angeles Cal 
 
 25. 
 
 Portland, Ore 
 
 29. 
 
 Sacramento Cal 
 
 25. 
 
 San Jose, Cal 
 
 31. 
 
 Denver Colo 
 
 26 
 
 Spokane Wash 
 
 32 
 
 Seattle, Wash 
 
 26. 
 
 Oakland, Cal 
 
 32.8 
 
 Butte Mont 
 
 27 
 
 Tacoma W^ash 
 
 33. 
 
 San Diego, Cal 
 
 27. 
 
 San Francisco, Cal 
 
 34. 
 
 Average for the group- 
 
 28. 
 
 Median for the group.. .. 
 
 28. 
 
 3. Kindergartens. These have now been established in 29 
 of the 42 elementary schools maintained in Oakland, and the 
 average daily attendance in them in the five months since Janu- 
 ary 4, 1915, when 17 new kindergartens were opened was 982 
 children. This is an average of 33.8 children per school. In 8 
 schools the average daily attendance exceeded 40, and in one, 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 25 
 
 reached 53. The average daily attendance in the first grade for 
 the same period was approximately 4100. This makes the 
 average daily attendance in the kindergartens approximately 
 24% of that in the first grade. In a city such as Oakland, 
 judged by the standards in cities having made good provisions 
 for kindergarten instruction, it ought to be between 40% and 
 50%. This would indicate the need of more kindergartens, and 
 probably one should be established in connection with each 
 school of four or more rooms in the city. It is probable that 
 there are 2000 children in Oakland, between the ages of five and 
 six, who would attend school for kindergarten instruction if full 
 opportunity for such attendance were provided. Many cities 
 provide for the admission of kindergarten children at four and 
 one-half, and a few as early as four. 
 
 The value of good kindergarten instruction for children has 
 become so well established that it is not deemed necessary to 
 present any arguments in favor of this form of instruction. In 
 cost it should average about 1% times that for elementary-school 
 instruction. 
 
 4. Additions to the supervisory force. The supervisory 
 force for 1914-15 consisted of the following persons, and at the 
 salaries stated : 
 
 2 Assistant Superintendents, at $3,600.00 $ 7,200.00 
 
 1 Supervisor of primary work 1,800.00 1,800.00 
 
 1 Director of vocal and instrumental music 3,000.00 3,000.00 
 
 1 Director of bands and orchestras 1,500.00 1,500.00 
 
 3 Directors of vocal music, at 1,500.00 4,500.00 
 
 1 Director of drawing (part time) 1,200.00 1,200.00 
 
 1 Supervisor of drawing 1,800.00 1,800.00 
 
 1 Supervisor of drawing 1,500.00 1,500.00 
 
 1 Supervisor of manual training 2,400.00 2,400.00 
 
 1 Director of home economics 2,000.00 2,000.00 
 
 1 Director of the child-study laboratory 1,800.00 1,800.00 
 
 4 Language Supervisors (part time), at.... 240.00 960.00 
 
 Total for special supervision $ 29,960.00 
 
 3 High school principals, at $3,300.00 9,9000.00 
 
 1 Principal of vocational school 2,000.00 2,000.00 
 
 1 Principal of evening school 1,400.00 1,400.00 
 
 15 Elementary school principals, at 2,400.00 36,000.00 
 
 3 Elementary school principals, at 2,100.00 6,300.00 
 
 11 Elementary school principals, at 2,000.00 22,000.00 
 
 3 Elementary school principals, at 1,800.00 5,400.00 
 
 Total for all supervision $112.960.00 
 
 Percent of total maintenance cost spent for supervision 7.9 
 
26 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 That Oakland again is not high in the amount spent for 
 supervision may be seen by comparison with the same fifteen 
 other cities used in Table No. 2, which gives the following re- 
 sult: 
 
 TABLE No. 7. 
 Percentage of Total Maintenance Costs Spent for Supervision. 
 
 Percent 
 
 City. 
 
 Seattle Wash 
 
 3 4 
 
 San Francisco Cal 
 
 9 7 
 
 Pasadena Cal 
 
 4.9 
 
 Salt Lake City Utah 
 
 9 9 
 
 Butte Mont 
 
 5.0 
 
 Colorado Springs, Colo 
 
 10 2 
 
 Spokane \Vash 
 
 7.6 
 
 San Diego, Cal 
 
 10.2 
 
 Oakland, Cal 
 
 7.9 
 
 Portland, Ore . 
 
 10 4 
 
 Denver, Colo . . 
 
 9.2 
 
 Sacramento, Cal 
 
 11.1 
 
 Tacoma, Wash 
 
 9.3 
 
 Los Angeles, Cal 
 
 11.1 
 
 Berkeley, Cal 
 
 9.3 
 
 San Jose, Cal 
 
 15.3 
 
 Average for the group.. 
 
 9.0 
 
 Median for the group.-.- 
 
 9.3 
 
 Percent 
 
 That Oakland also is not overstocked with supervisory offi- 
 cers, compared with other cities of its class, may also be seen 
 from the following table, giving the number of supervisory offi- 
 cers per teacher in the different cities compared in Table No. 2. 
 
 TABLE No. 8. 
 
 Number of Pupils in Average Daily Attendance for Each 
 Supervisory Officer. 
 
 City. 
 
 Pupils per 
 supervisory 
 officer 
 
 City. 
 
 Pupils per 
 supervisory 
 officer 
 
 Colorado Springs Colo 
 
 208 
 
 Spokane W^ash 
 
 369 
 
 Sacramento, Cal 
 
 252 
 
 San Francisco, Cal 
 
 397 
 
 Pasadena Cal 
 
 262 
 
 Seattle, Wash 
 
 400 
 
 San Diego, Cal 
 
 283 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 403 
 
 Butte Mont 
 
 296 
 
 Denver, Colo 
 
 423 
 
 Tacoma \Vash 
 
 331 
 
 Berkeley Cal 
 
 433 
 
 Los Angeles, Cal 
 
 333 
 
 Oakland, Cal 
 
 445 
 
 San Jose, Cal 
 
 365 
 
 Portland, Ore 
 
 513 
 
 Average for the group 
 
 357 
 
 Median for the group- 
 
 367 
 
 Tables 7 and 8 combined show clearly that Oakland is se- 
 curing its supervision in large units and at a very economical 
 rate. 
 
 The question as to the efficiency of this special supervision 
 is one which cannot be answered without a careful educational 
 survey of the schools. Oakland would be a marked exception to 
 the general rule, though, if all of it were highly efficient. Gen- 
 erally speaking, the principalships of our American city school 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 27 
 
 systems contain more dead wood than any other part of the 
 school systems, and it would be surprising if Oakland did not 
 have some such dead wood in such positions. Principals and 
 supervisors not infrequently become mere inspectors and record 
 keepers, rather than helpful supervisors, and it should be one of 
 the particular services of the two assistant superintendents to 
 see that the principals, in particular, are kept alive, and that 
 they render helpful service to their teachers and to the com 
 munities they serve. By showing them how 'to hold helpful 
 teachers' meetings, how to Measure and test results in their 
 schools, and how to assist and direct their teachers, the two as- 
 sistant superintendents can render a very significant service to 
 the school department. 
 
 Assuming that the supervision is good, however, Oakland has 
 not too much, nor is it too expensive. Nothing pays so well as 
 plenty of good leadership at the top. Money spent for mere in- 
 spection is to a large degree money wasted, but money spent 
 for helpful leadership is money which gives large educational 
 returns. 
 
 The supervision now provided might even be extended, with 
 advantage to the schools. The plan of part-time supervision of 
 language instruction in the departmental grammar schools 
 might be extended to the work in history, geography, and Eng- 
 lish. Unless the teachers of Oakland are better trained in sci- 
 ence than is true of most city school systems, a good supervisor 
 of nature study and science instruction could be added with ad- 
 vantage. A supervisor of school gardening would also be very 
 useful in such a city. A vocational guidance director for the 
 school system, with a teacher in each high school giving some 
 time to the subject, might also be an important addition to the 
 supervisory corps.* 
 
 5. New high schools and new departments. The increase 
 in enrollment in the high schools in the past five years from 
 2480 to 4045, and in average daily attendance from 2170 to 3089 
 in the same period, is evidence that the additional high-school 
 instruction provided was needed. The surprising thing is that 
 
 * In the Technical High School, two teachers now devote part of their 
 time to courses in "Survey of Vocations" and to advising students in 
 regard to courses of study suitable to prepare them for the vocations 
 , they desire to enter. 
 
28 Oakland School Survey 
 
 the number has not been greater. In 1910-11 the average daily 
 attendance in the high schools represented 12.7% of the total in 
 all schools, and in 1914-15 it had increased to but 13.3%. In 
 most cities the increase has been more marked than this. 
 
 The reorganization of the instruction in the two upper ele- 
 mentary-school grades along departmental lines ought to add 
 still more to the number who desire to go further with their 
 studies. The opening of the new Technical High School, with 
 its varied courses of instruction along practical lines, may also 
 be expected to add to the number and to the percentage of those 
 who desire a high school education. If the growth of the city 
 continues at its present rate, however, and no increase in the 
 percentage enrolled in the high schools takes place, there will 
 be over 4800 high school students by 1920, and if the city is to 
 meet the needs of its children a new high school will probably 
 need to be provided for within a relatively short time. 
 
 It is good for the institutions of democracy that a larger 
 and larger percentage of pupils should be attracted to the sec- 
 ondary schools, and that courses which will interest a large 
 variety of types of young people should be offered there. The 
 introduction of commercial courses, home-economics courses, 
 and technical courses to supplement the literary and general- 
 science course, is to be commended. All such new work, how- 
 ever, adds materially to the costs for instruction, and this the 
 city must be prepared to meet. Secondary-school instruction 
 costs more than elementary-school instruction, and laboratory 
 and technical instruction costs more than literary and book in- 
 struction. For many pupils, though, it is instruction of very 
 large value, and well repays its larger cost. 
 
 6. Seventh and eighth grade reorganization. The process 
 of reorganizing the two upper grades along departmental lines, 
 thereby offering a better quality of instruction, and instruction 
 along new lines, represents a very commendable beginning of 
 the junior high-school idea. The weakest point in grade in- 
 struction has for long been in these two upper grades, due in 
 part to the inability of teachers to be proficient in the advanced 
 work of so many studies, and in part to the fact that the child- 
 ren themselves are changing,, and the grade plan of instruction 
 is no longer so well adapted to their educational needs. The 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 29 
 
 slight increase in the salary schedule for the teachers in these 
 schools is moderate, and thoroughly justifiable, and the fact that 
 the two upper grades can be reorganized after a departmental 
 plan at an increased expense of from 8% to 10% speaks well for 
 the plan from a financial point of view. 
 
 This expense, however, is too low, and ultimately more 
 money should be spent on these schools. Before long, as the 
 elementary-school buildings become more and more crowded 
 and the high-school attendance increases, the best arrangement 
 from an educational point of view, as well as the most economi- 
 cal plan from a school building point of view, would be to build 
 five or six or possibly more new buildings, at central locations, 
 designed especially for junior high school work. Into these the 
 seventh and eighth grades from a number of adjacent elemen- 
 tary schools, and the ninth grade from the high school of the 
 district, should be placed and taught along departmental lines. 
 This would provide a superior grade of instruction, permit of a 
 differentiation of courses to meet different needs which is not 
 now possible, and give building relief in all parts of the city to 
 both elementary and secondary schools. 
 
 The expense for such instruction, when properly organized, 
 should lie about half way between the cost for elementary and 
 secondary schools. The educational results obtainable under 
 such a plan of instruction are much larger than can now be ob- 
 tained in grade work. The evidence as to the greater efficiency 
 of the junior high school is practically unanimous wherever it 
 has been tried. 
 
 7. Expansion of the work in music. The band and orches- 
 tra work in the Oakland schools is, I think, regarded generally 
 as among the best to be found in our city school systems. In 
 very few cities in the United States are so many pupils interes- 
 ted in some form of self-expression along musical lines. In ed- 
 ucation, self-expression is what really counts. 
 
 The cost, in comparison with the returns, has been exceed- 
 ingly small. The entire annual expense for musical supervision 
 is but $9000 out of a total of $.1,105,321 for instruction and $1,- 
 425,896.19 for total maintenance, or .0063% of the total. If any- 
 thing like the same results in other subjects could be obtained 
 from a similar expenditure of money, it would be short-sighted 
 
30 Oakland School Survey 
 
 economy not to spend it. Drawing, which is another form of 
 self-expression, ought to be similarly expanded. The ultimate 
 results would be an artistic and a musical city. Both subjects 
 also possess high moral values. 
 
 8. New subjects of instruction. To improve the instruction 
 in manual training, to add instruction in domestic science, to im- 
 prove and expand the drawing, to add millinery and sewing, and 
 similar lines of work, not only adds to the cost of instruction but 
 requires more building space and equipment for the work. All 
 such work naturally increases the percapita cost for instruction. 
 It is no longer necessary to argue that such instruction has in 
 it large educational value, and that for some boys and for many 
 girls it is the most valuable work they do. 
 
 The expense for such work is at first markedly increased by 
 the need for the employment of both supervisors and special 
 teachers. This was once true of penmanship and of music and 
 drawing, subjects now usually taught by grade teachers. In 
 time these newer subjects can be in large part so provided for. 
 The present plan of the superintendent, providing for a reor- 
 ganization of the domestic-science instruction along such lines, 
 will effect a saving in special teachers of $18,000 during next 
 year, and without impairing the value of the work. In time 
 probably other sums can be so saved in this work and in manual 
 training. 
 
 9. The department of health. Viewed from the standpoint 
 of human welfare and happiness, this department should be 
 classed with the supply and building departments as another 
 money maker for the people. The chief difference is that in the 
 case of the purchasing and building departments the savings 
 are visible, and can be used to maintain other work, while in 
 case of the health-development work the savings in otherwise 
 wasted human life and vitality are personal, and cannot be 
 cashed in to the school-department treasury. 
 
 There are two phases of this work. One relates to medical 
 inspection, and aims chiefly at the detection and prevention of 
 contagious diseases. This is valuable work, but it represents 
 but a very limited field of activity, and ordinarily concerns only 
 about 3% of the school children in any one year. The other 
 goes much further and aims at the correction of developmental 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 31 
 
 defects. This brings the work to from 50% to 65% of the school 
 children. 
 
 The number of school children in any city who are in need 
 of examination, advice, and personal attention from physicians 
 and nurses is so large as to surprise one unacquainted with 
 school room conditions. Teachers, even, are often unaware of 
 what exists under their very eyes. Of the 32,697 children en- 
 rolled in the Oakland schools last year, about 10% were poorly 
 nourished and anemic, 50% had seriously defective teeth, 15% 
 suffered from obstructed nasal breathing, 10% had enlarged cer- 
 vical glands, 10% probably will die from tuberculosis, 10% had 
 vision, defective enough to require correction by glasses, 1% 
 were nine-tenths deaf, 2% had organic heart disease, 5% were 
 predisposed to nervous disorders, 1% to 2% had speech defects 
 which should have been remedied, 10% to 20% had toothache fre- 
 quently, 20% obtained from one to two hours too little sleep 
 each night, and 50% were improperly nourished. To contribute 
 to the elimination of these harmful developmental defects, to im- 
 prove the work of hygiene teaching in the schools, and to see 
 that sanitary conditions are provided, are very important funct- 
 ions of such a department. Not only is human physical welfare 
 promoted, but the effectiveness of the ordinary instruction in 
 the schools is increased as a result of attention to such develop- 
 mental defects. 
 
 The present department for, health work is doing good work, 
 but there ought to be additions to its staff. The part-time as- 
 sistant director should be replaced by another full-time examin- 
 ing physician, or by two half-time physicians. There should 
 also be added a full-time woman physician, chiefly for high 
 school girls; an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist, on at least 
 half-time; and a school dentist*, for full time. Two school 
 nurses and a half-time school physician should be added for 
 every 6000 increase in school children enrolled. The salaries 
 paid at present are not high. 
 
 10. Physical training and school play-grounds. This work 
 seems well organized, for both boys and girls, and appears to be 
 under good direction. The salaries paid are not large. The 
 
 *Dr. Cubberley was not informed that the county now provides in the 
 city of Oakland two school dentists. 
 
32 Oakland School Survey 
 
 records show that very valuable work in the elimination of de- 
 velopmental defects in children and in improving posture and 
 body carriage are being done. The physical examination of the 
 children and the prescribing of individual corrective work for 
 each, with the organization of the physical-training work into 
 groups suited to individual needs, are excellent features of the 
 work. 
 
 Instead of costing too much, this work is costing too little. 
 The staff of assistants is too small to handle the work properly, 
 and the work now imposed on the teachers is much beyond 
 what the board of education has any right to expect for the 
 salaries it pays. With the organization of the upper grades 
 along departmental lines, there should be a better organization 
 and supervision of the physical training work in these grades. 
 This will demand additional special assistance, though it may 
 be possible to effect economies here, as in domestic science, by 
 selecting departmental teachers who can also direct the physical 
 training. 
 
 That Oakland may be doing as much as other cities are now 
 doing is hardly a valid argument. The neglect of health and 
 physique for the puzzles of arithmetic and the intricacies of 
 technical grammar has long been a fundamental weakness of 
 our schools. 
 
 The play-ground work is also a work of much importance 
 for any large city, and the amount of it that is to be taken up 
 is to be limited only by the desire of the city to provide directed 
 play for its children, and the city's ability to provide play- 
 grounds and play teachers. Money spent on this work repre- 
 sents money saved in the future on juvenile courts and police 
 and jails. 
 
 11. Schools for atypical children; ungraded rooms. Careful 
 studies made in many American cities, as well as studies made 
 abroad, show that every city has its share of children whose 
 mental capacity is such that they do not and can not profit by 
 the instruction of the ordinary school. If kept in the grade 
 rooms, they not only make no satisfactory progress, but they 
 rob the brighter pupils by absorbing in wasted effort an undue 
 proportion of the teacher's time. In every city not less than 1% 
 of the school children are so mentally backward that their in- 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 33 
 
 telligence will never go beyond that which is normal for a 
 twelve-year-old child, while an additional 2% would be very 
 materially helped in their school progress by some form of spe- 
 cial instruction for at least a portion of their school life. 
 
 At present Oakland provides a director for this work, at a 
 salary about half of what is paid for similar service in eastern 
 cities, and seven teachers of special classes. Each teacher tor 
 such work needs both teaching experience and special training, 
 and should receive at least an equivalent of the special salaries 
 provided for teachers of manual training and domestic science. 
 Instead, Oakland pays them only the ordinary grade-teacher 
 salary schedule. Judged by standards in cities which have 
 properly developed this work, Oakland is getting a good service 
 at a very low rate. 
 
 The classes provided, however, are not sufficient to meet the 
 needs of the city. There are at least 300 children in Oakland 
 who should be in classes for atypical children. A few should 
 be in a state institution for the care of those of the lowest grade 
 of intellect. As 15 such children is about a maximum for a 
 teacher, it can be seen that the present provision represents 
 about 40% of what is needed by the present school system. 
 Again here, as in the w r ork in physical training, the fact that 
 Oakland is now making as good provision for the education of 
 such children as other cities are making is not pertinent. Every 
 year more and more cities are seeing that it is not economical to 
 try to handle such children in the regular classes, and are mak- 
 ing special provision for their education. The good work which 
 Oakland has begun should be continued until all are properly 
 provided for. 
 
 In addition to these atypical children, there are probably 500 
 to 600 more who are slow, and who need the help of an un- 
 graded room, managed by a skillful coach teacher. With the 
 large classes at present handled by the grade teachers (See 
 Tables 5 and H), and the tendency to increase their size* with 
 the growth of the city, at least one ungraded room should be 
 organized in each of the larger schools for the special instruc- 
 
 * An examination of the reports filed by school principals on June 
 2nd, estimating the size of each class for the opening of schools in Aug- 
 ust, indicates a steady growth in population and many large classes for 
 next year. 
 
34 Oakland School Survey 
 
 __ 
 
 tion of these laggards in the grades. Such rooms exist in most 
 of our cities, and it is something of a surprise to find but seven 
 such rooms in so large a city as Oakland. At least thirty ad- 
 ditional ones should be opened. It is uneconomical to try to 
 educate such children in a class of normal children. They are 
 either neglected by the teacher or use up an abnormally large 
 part of the teacher's time and energy, at the expense of the nor- 
 mal children. In the interests of economy and efficiency they 
 should be segregated and given special help. 
 
 12. The vocational school. The organization of the voca- 
 tional school, in the old Technical High School building, was an 
 important addition last year to the school work of Oakland. Such 
 schools have passed the experimental stage in eastern cities, and 
 are now recognized as occupying an important place in a city's 
 educational system. In a sense they are institutions for saving 
 and making useful what has heretofore been regarded as waste 
 product. Many boys and girls, to whom the ordinary literary 
 work of the upper grades and of the high school meant little 
 or nothing, and who formerly dropped from school at the earli- 
 est possible opportunity, fipd in such schools work that appeals 
 to the best there is in them, and there lay the basis of useful, 
 moral, and economically-profitable lives. 
 
 Such schools naturally cost more money than the traditional 
 type of school instruction, and the thoughtless tax-payer is likely 
 to complain in consequence. It is, however, possible, in a num- 
 ber of lines of the work taught, so to conduct such schools as to 
 reduce materially the costs, and in some cases, even to render a 
 profit on the instruction. This is particularly true of the Avork 
 in printing, bookbinding, and cabinet making. However this 
 may be, viewed from the standpoint of twenty years hence, they 
 probably are wealth producers and tax reducers, as well as be- 
 ing moral institutions of a high order. In time Oakland will 
 need a second school of this type. 
 
 13. Evening school extension. Oakland has here begun, 
 very recently, what eastern cities have been developing for the 
 past two decades. An examination of the work listed as offered 
 would indicate that only a good beginning has as yet been made. 
 The opening of the Panama Canal is certain to result in the 
 development, for our western coast cities, of a foreign-born 
 
Scope and Needs of Schools 35 
 
 problem such as our eastern cities have been trying for some 
 time to solve. In the assimilation of these foreign people the 
 schools must play the leading part. 
 
 This will involve a general reorganization and expansion of 
 the evening school work, the establishment of "neighborhood 
 schools" for the education of mothers, and the development of 
 a public-school lecture system, including illustrated lectures and 
 educational moving pictures. This will in time cost much 
 money, but it will be a necessary city work. In the end it 
 probably will prove to be, as all good education does, a money- 
 making and a citizen-producing service, which will be manifest 
 in the greater productive capacity and moral strength of the 
 people. 
 
 The very small expense that Oakland has so far incurred in 
 this direction may be regarded as only the merest beginning. 
 
 14. Desirable additions not yet developed. In addition to 
 the special types of education and schools so far mentioned, 
 there are other types of schools which have not as yet been de- 
 veloped, or at most have only been begun, and which a city the 
 size of Oakland might reasonably be expected to provide. A 
 mere mention of these is all that need be made here. These 
 include better provision for the oral instruction of deaf children, 
 too young to be sent to the state institution (the instruction of 
 such children should begin at about three years of age) ; schools 
 for non-English speaking children, youths, and adults ; separate 
 schools for the instruction of children three or four years or 
 more over-age ; special disciplinary classes for troublesome chil- 
 dren ; parental-home schools for the more acute cases ; vacation 
 schools ; schools for children w r ith marked speech defects ; and 
 neighborhood schools for the education of mothers in the care 
 of children and the management of homes. 
 
 All these types of schools will add to the cost for schools, 
 but they will give large educational returns. It may be confi- 
 dently expected that in the near future the people will demand 
 their establishment. In the process of changing public educa- 
 tion from a class to a mass institution, provision must be made 
 for types of education adapted to the needs of all classes which 
 compose the mass. 
 
36 Oakland School Survey 
 
 j 
 
 Where to economize. A careful examination of the scope 
 and needs of the Oakland school system does not reveal any 
 place where any important economy is possible, if the school 
 system is to continue to serve the needs of the children of the 
 community. On the contrary, many places where additional 
 amounts should be spent have been pointed out. Of course, 
 if economies had to be made, it would be possible to abolish any 
 one or more of the new lines of work just considered, such as 
 kindergartens, domestic science, manual training, the vocational 
 school, the technical high school, etc., or even all of them, and 
 strip the school system down to what it was fifteen or twenty 
 years ago. Still more money could be saved by abolishing the 
 public schools entirely, and turning the whole business over to 
 the private and parochial schools to handle. No progressive 
 American city desires to do any of these things however, and 
 the people will not long stand any unnecessary curtailment of 
 the public school system. Having once tasted of its advanta- 
 ges, they want to continue to enjoy them. 
 
 In the part or chapter which follows, the problem will be con- 
 sidered from the financial side, and it will be shown that there 
 is no need for any curtailment of the public school system in 
 Oakland. 
 
Financial Phase of Problem 37 
 
 PART III. 
 
 The Financial Phase of the Oakland School Problem. 
 
 There now remains to be considered that phase of the edu- 
 cational problem which relates to the increasing cost for educa- 
 tion in Oakland, and the city's ability to pay for a good school 
 system. 
 
 Increase in maintenance costs. That the total costs for al- 
 most every item of city administration must increase in a grow- 
 ing city may be considered as self evident. The increase in 
 population makes new demands, which must be met by addi- 
 tional appropriations for maintenance and for betterments. In 
 a city that has increased as rapidly as has .Oakland since 1906, 
 any actual cutting down in the total sum appropriated for any 
 department of government is hardly possible, unless the proper 
 development of that department is to be seriously interfered 
 with. Any period of rapid growth in any city calls for an ex- 
 penditure of funds for extensions and betterments, which, in the 
 total at least, appear to mount up very rapidly. Within recent 
 years all expense items in every city department have been 
 further complicated by the increasing cost of every form of la- 
 bor and almost every item of supply or equipment furnished. 
 That the school department has only shared with other city de- 
 partments in this general increase of expenses may be seen from 
 the statement that, during the past five years, the following ap- 
 promixate increases in total annual maintenance costs have 
 taken place. 
 
 Fire department 82% 
 
 Police department 60% 
 
 Street department 3% 
 
 Parks and boulevards 64% 
 
 Playgrounds 400% 
 
 School department 64% 
 
 Schools, per capita cost based on average 
 
 daily attendance 22% 
 
 It is perfectly natural, with these rising costs for all forms of 
 municipal service and with all municipal departments materially 
 
38 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 increasing their expenditures, that the tax-payer should begin 
 to complain, and should vote for a reduction in expenditures.* 
 
 Total costs, however, or even precentages of increase in the 
 total costs, are not proper measure of development. Totals may 
 be increasing, even somewhat rapidly, while the cost per capita 
 or per unit of service may be decreasing. The real measure is 
 to be found in the tax rate, based on real instead of assessed val- 
 uation, or in the per-capita-of-the-population costs. 
 
 Increase in tax rate in Oakland. To determine in how far 
 increases in operating costs have been reflected in the tax rate, 
 a study of the increases in both the city and the county tax rate 
 has been made. As most of the school money comes from the 
 county school tax, and as Oakland probably gets back nearly as 
 much of this as it pays, the county and city tax rates for schools 
 and for other purposes have been, combined. The following 
 table gives the results of the study. 
 
 TABLE No. 9. 
 
 Combined City and County Tax Rates for Schools and for Other 
 Purposes Compared. 
 
 (NOTE. This table is for the "original city," and does not include the annexed territory.) 
 
 Years. 
 
 City, District and County tax rate combined 
 
 Percent of total 
 for annual 
 school mainte- 
 nance 
 
 For school 
 mainte- 
 nance 
 
 For int. & 
 redempt. 
 sen. bonds 
 
 For other 
 purposes 
 
 Total 
 rates 
 
 1905-06 
 
 .458 
 .48 
 .45 
 .4575 
 .48 
 .74 
 .585 
 .58 
 .69 
 1.09f 
 
 .16 
 .21 
 .09 
 .10 
 .10 
 .11 
 .165 
 .174 
 .1656 
 .2197* 
 
 $2.142 
 2.19 
 2.15 
 2.0725 
 2.12 
 2.21 
 2.51 
 2.2726 
 2.2244 
 2.3703 
 
 $2.76 
 2.88 
 2.69 
 2.63 
 2.70 
 3.06 
 3.26 
 2.97 
 3.08 
 3.68 
 
 16.6 
 16.6 
 16.7 
 17.4 
 17.9 
 24.1 
 17.9 
 19.5 
 22.4 
 29.6 
 
 1906-07 ... 
 
 3907-08 
 
 1908-09 
 
 1909-10 
 
 1910-11 
 
 1911-12 
 
 1912-13 
 
 1913-14 
 
 1914-15 
 
 # Our cities, as well as individuals, have recently come to feel that 
 they can afford many luxuries. What the tax rate will not provide 
 bonds have been voted for. City buildings, parks, waterfront improve- 
 ments, boulevards, and other more or less non-productive acquisitions and 
 betterments have been acquired, with a resulting added tax cost for 
 their care and upkeep. To meet the interest charge and sinking-fund 
 requirements on the borrowed money requires quite a large annual sum. 
 In Oakland, in 1914-15, it required a property tax of 51 cents on the 
 $100 to meet the interest and redemption charges on bonds issued by 
 the city, and 5 cents additional for school district bonds. Together this 
 equalled 44% of the total tax rate of ten years ago. 
 
 t Approximately 25 cents of this amount was due to betterments or 
 new .expenditures for land, buildings, etc., mentioned above. 
 
 * Includes a city tax of.2 1 /^ cents for new buildings, in lieu of bond- 
 ing. 
 
Financial Phase of Problem 
 
 39 
 
 Represented graphically, the foregoing table gives the curves 
 shown in the following diagram : 
 
 5.00 
 
 *2.00 
 
 Total 
 
 Tox 
 
 Fig. 1 . Taxes for Schools and Total Tax Rate Compared. 
 
 An examination of both the table and the curves will show 
 that the school rate has not increased during the period any 
 more rapidly than has the general city and county tax rates 
 combined. Only during the last year has the school rate in- 
 creased at all rapidly. The increase during 1914-15 has been, 
 due in part to the fact that a building tax of %y 2 cents was levied, 
 for the first time ; in part to the expenditure of the unusual sum 
 of $345,235.78 (a sum over three times that of the preceding 
 year) from the proceeds of taxation, for land, new buildings, 
 and equipment.* 
 
 * During- 1914-15, the following amounts, derived from taxation, have 
 been so spent. 
 
 For land $ 2,461.30 
 
 On new buildings 25,944.55 
 
 Alterations of old buildings 53,889.31 
 
 Equipment of new buildings 134,539.31 
 
 Equipment of old builldings 128,401.31 
 
 Total $345,235.78 
 
 In 1913-14 the amount so spent was $110,626.39 
 
 In 1912-13 the amount so spent was $ 59,749.69 
 
40 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 As this expense for buildings was incurred in part to put 
 the school plant in good condition for the exposition year and 
 the meeting in Oakland in August of the National Education 
 Association, there is every probability that both the school tax 
 rate and the percentage of all taxes devoted to school purposes 
 will materially decrease in 1915-16. 
 
 Property valuation and school increase compared. There is 
 another phase of the tax rate question that needs to be con- 
 sidered, and it is this: Are the city and county valuations in- 
 creasing properly with the growth of the city? If not, tax rates 
 must necessarily increase, even though the rate of expenditure 
 remains the same. A tax rate of $3.60 on a 50% valuation is 
 the same as a tax rate of $3.00 on a 60% valuation. 
 
 An examination of the city and county assessment totals for 
 the past five years reveals the fact that the assessors have been 
 increasing the property valuations but very slowly, while the 
 county assessment on city property, upon which 87% of the 
 school tax is raised, has increased but 15% in the last five years. 
 The number of children in average daily attendance in the 
 schools, however, has increased 34^ in the meantime, and the num- 
 ber of teachers needed to teach these children has increased 
 39%. This would naturally increase the tax rate for schools 
 approximately 15%, even though the per capita cost for educa- 
 tion remained the same. This may be seen from the following 
 table. 
 
 TABLE No. 10. 
 City and County Assessments, and Growth of Schools Compared. 
 
 Year. 
 
 City 
 Assessment 
 
 County 
 Assessment 
 
 %of total 
 school tax 
 levied on 
 county 
 assessment 
 
 Children in 
 average 
 daily 
 attendance 
 
 Average 
 number 
 class teach- 
 ers employed 
 
 1910-11 
 1911-12 
 1912-1S 
 
 $126,920,650 
 116,881,725 
 129,467,400 
 
 $117,344,224 
 109,124,037 
 127,156,828 
 
 96 
 
 86 
 92 
 
 17,332 
 18,337 
 19,175 
 
 507 
 508 
 552 
 
 1913-14 
 
 137,727,750 
 
 133,823,778 
 
 87 
 
 21,201 
 
 604 
 
 1914-15 
 
 141,691,600 
 
 135,592,527 
 
 87 
 
 23,216 
 
 707 
 
 The results shown in this table are also shown graphically 
 in the following diagram : 
 
Financial Phase of Problem 
 
 41 
 
 Teachers 
 
 Rxpils in 
 Attwtdance 
 
 orii 
 to. 000.000 
 
 120.000.000 
 IOO. OOO OOO 
 
 - do. ooo, ooo 
 
 - 6ao 00.000 
 
 - 4-O.000.000 
 
 - 2.0,000.000 
 
 Fig. 2. Valuations, Attendance, and Teachers Employed Compared. 
 
 It will be seen from the table and diagram just given that 
 the school tax rates, given in Table 9, have increased much 
 more rapidly in appearance than in reality, and for the simple 
 reason that the county assessment has not increased in the same 
 ratio as the school attendance. The 19%. jump in the combined 
 city and county tax rate for 1914-15 can be in part accounted 
 for by the increase of only 1.3% in the county assessment for 
 the same year. 
 
 Percentage of taxes for schools compared. While the per- 
 centage of the total taxes devoted to public education in Oak- 
 land has increased rather rapidly during the past half dozen 
 years, as shown in Table No. 9, due largely to the educational 
 expansion of the school system during this period, as analysed in 
 the preceding part of this report, it remains to be seen whether 
 or not Oakland is even now expending a larger proportion of 
 the total available taxes for education than ought to be the case. 
 Perhaps, after all, the rise in percentage spent for schools has 
 been in large part because the school department has only re- 
 cently come into possession of its own. 
 
 Taking again the same sixteen western cities used in Table 
 No. 2, and calculating from data given in the U. S. Census 
 Bureau "Statistics of Cities for 1913," we get the table which 
 
42 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 follows. Here again we are comparing Oakland for 1914-15 
 with the other cities for 1912-13, the last year for which statis- 
 tics have as yet been published. This places Oakland some- 
 what at a disadvantage. 
 
 TABLE No. 1 1 . 
 
 Percentage of Total Local Taxes Devoted to the Maintenance 
 of Education. 
 
 City. 
 
 Percent 
 for 
 schools 
 
 City. 
 
 Percent 
 for 
 schools 
 
 San Francisco, Cal 
 
 12.7 
 
 Portland, Ore 
 
 38 
 
 Denver, Colo 
 
 29.4 
 
 Spokane, Wash 
 
 39.1 
 
 Oakland, Cal 
 
 29.6 
 
 Los Angeles, Cal 
 
 39.4 
 
 San Diego Cal 
 
 31 4 
 
 San Jose Cal 
 
 45 3 
 
 Seattle Wash 
 
 31 5 
 
 Colorado Springs Colo 
 
 46 1 
 
 Butte Mont 
 
 34.2 
 
 Pasadena Cal 
 
 48 4 
 
 Sacramento, Cal 
 
 34.3 
 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 48 4 
 
 Tacoma, Wash 
 
 36.7 
 
 Berkeley, Cal 
 
 54.7 
 
 Average for the group- 
 
 37.8 
 
 Median for the group. 
 
 37.4 
 
 This table shows that Oakland is still below both the aver- 
 age and the median of all western cities of 25,000 or more in- 
 habitants in the percentage of taxes devoted to public educa- 
 tion. If San Francisco were omitted from the calculation the 
 average would be raised to 39.5 per cent and the median to 38.0 
 per cent. 
 
 Can Oakland afford good schools? There yet remains the 
 question, can Oakland afford to provide good schools for its 
 children? This can be answered most easily by an examination 
 of its assessed and real wealth per capita, and its per capita tax 
 rate compared with all other cities we have previously used. 
 The United States Census figures for 1912-13 will again be 
 used, for the reason that these represent the most recent and 
 the most reliable figures we now have in print with reference 
 to city maintenance costs. Oakland's expenses have of course 
 materially increased since 1912-13, but so have those in practi- 
 cally all the other cities. If the figures for 1914-15 were at hand 
 for each city used for comparison, it is probable that the cities 
 would not show any marked change in position. 
 
Financial Phase of Problem 
 
 TABLE No. 12. 
 
 Actual Wealth and Tax Rates Compared, per Capita of the 
 Totrl Population. 
 
 City. 
 
 Assessed 
 wealth 
 per 
 capita 
 
 Average 
 basis 
 of 
 Assmnt. 
 
 Real 
 wealth 
 per 
 capita 
 
 City tax 
 rate per 
 $100 of 
 real wealth. 
 
 Tax rate- 
 per capita 
 total 
 population 
 
 Butte Mont 
 
 $ 596.91 
 
 75% 
 
 $ 795 88 
 
 $1 59 
 
 $12.65 
 
 San Jose Cal 
 
 648 61 
 
 60 
 
 108102 
 
 929 
 
 10 07 
 
 Denver Colo 
 
 543 25 
 
 50 
 
 1126 50 
 
 1 538 
 
 17 33 
 
 Colorado Springs, Colo... 
 Tacoma, Wash 
 
 400.77 
 742.33 
 
 33 
 60 
 
 1202.31 
 1237.22 
 
 1.155, 
 1.049 
 
 14.71 
 13.13 
 
 Berkeley, Cal. 
 
 822.68 
 
 60 
 
 1371 13 
 
 .871 
 
 12.00 
 
 Oakland, Cal. 
 
 738.96 
 
 50 
 
 1477.92 
 
 1.03 
 
 15.23 
 
 Seattle, Wash. 
 
 721.24 
 
 45 
 
 1602.77 
 
 .908 
 
 14.59 
 
 Spokane, Wash 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 Sacramento, Cal 
 
 699.77 
 589.23 
 1042.03 
 
 42 
 35 
 58 
 
 1666.12 
 1683.52 
 1796.60 
 
 .735 
 .794 
 .956 
 
 12.28 
 13.38 
 17.18 
 
 Pasadena, Cal 
 
 1280.94 
 
 66 
 
 1921.41 
 
 1.311 
 
 25.46 
 
 Portland, Ore 
 
 1212.40 
 
 63 
 
 1924.44 
 
 .9or 
 
 17.54 
 
 Los Angeles, Cal 
 
 888.20 
 
 46 
 
 1930.87 
 
 1.413 
 
 27.63 
 
 San Francisco, Cal 
 
 1193.32 
 
 45 - 
 
 2561.82 
 
 .99 
 
 26.25 
 
 San Diego, Cal 
 
 1051.05 
 
 39 
 
 2695.00 
 
 .792 
 
 21.35 
 
 Average for group | | |$1629.66| 1.06, | $16.87 
 
 Perhaps Oakland's position may be seen still better if we 
 give the real wealth per capita for a number of eastern and mid- 
 dle-western cities which are generally regarded as cities of 
 wealth and as cities which maintain good school systems. 
 
 These eastern and middle-western cities show the follow- 
 ing distribution of real wealth per capita of the total popula- 
 tion. 
 
 I. Selected Eastern Cities 
 
 Jersey City, N. J $ 895.50 
 
 Yonkers, N. Y 65.00 
 
 Worcester, Mass 993.18 
 
 Newark, N. J 1,012.27 
 
 Cambridge, Mass 1,063.20 
 
 New Haven, Conn 1,094.40 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y 1,213.33 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa 1,414.02 
 
 Oakland, Cal 1,477.92 
 
 Washington, D. C 1,523.97 
 
 Springfield, Mass 1,556.11 
 
 Hartford, Conn 1,715.10 
 
 Newton, Mass 1,915.90 
 
 Boston, Mass. . 2,061.84 
 
 II. Selected Middle Western 
 Cities 
 
 Des Moines, la $ 932. 60 
 
 Omaha, Neb 1,249.10 
 
 Milwaukee, Wis 1,252,12 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio 1,319.67 
 
 Kansas City, Mo 1,411.58 
 
 Indianapolis, Ind 1,432.63 
 
 Oakland, Cal 1,477.92 
 
 Duliith, Minn 1,480.00 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. ...: 1,698.51 
 
 Minneapolis, Minn. .. 1.^872.44 
 
44 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 These tables reveal Oakland as a city of average wealth 
 among western cities and of much more than average wealth as 
 compared with wealthy eastern and middle-western cities. The 
 main table also shows that Oakland's tax rate per capita is 
 somewhat less than the average for the group. 
 
 Per capita costs for maintenance. Another measure of Oak- 
 land's ability to maintain good schools is to be found in the per 
 capita costs for maintaining the city government and the schools 
 compared with other cities of its class. Such a comparison, 
 based on the U. S. census figures for 1912-13, gives the following 
 table. 
 
 TABLE No. 1 3. 
 Costs per Capita for City Maintenance and Schools. 
 
 City. 
 
 Costs per capita of total 
 population 
 
 Cost for 
 schools per 
 pupil in av. 
 clailv attend. 
 
 For city 
 maintenance 
 
 For schools . 
 
 Portland, Ore. .. 
 
 $12.60 
 13.49 
 13.82 
 13.83 
 13.86 
 13.90 
 16.05 
 16.20 
 16.59 
 16.67 
 16.68 
 19.12 
 19.48 
 20.91 
 22.01 
 22.43 
 
 $ 4.73 
 4.95 
 6.26 
 5.41 
 6.71 
 7.60 
 5.06 
 5.74 
 7.64 
 5.72 
 5.71 
 6.01 
 5.72 
 10.11 
 8.66 
 4.27 
 
 $49.95 
 43.92 
 48.16 
 54.94 
 44.81 
 62.20 
 60.50 
 52.33 
 52.65 
 64.75 
 63.45 
 59.90 
 48.07 
 86.87 
 68.03 
 44.86 
 
 Tacoma, Wash 
 
 San Jose, Cal 
 
 Spokane \Vash 
 
 Salt Lake Cit}' Utah 
 
 Berkeley Cal 
 
 Seattle Wash 
 
 Oakland, Cal. 
 
 Colorado Springs, Colo 
 
 Sacramento, Cal. 
 
 Butte, Mont 
 
 San Diego Cal 
 
 Denver Colo 
 
 Pasadena Cal 
 
 Los Angeles Cal 
 
 San Francisco, Cal 
 
 Average for the group 
 
 $17.35 
 $16.40 
 
 $ 6.27 
 $ 5.72 
 
 $56.58 
 $53.80 
 
 Median for the grotm. 
 
 Comparing the same selected groups of eastern and middle 
 western cities used above as to cost per capita for schools, we 
 get the following distribution. 
 
Financial Phase of Problem 45 
 
 I. Selected Eastern Cities II. Selected Middle Western 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y $4.52 Cities. 
 
 New Haven, Conn 5.03 Indianapolis, Ind $4.51 
 
 Jersey City, N. J 5.05 Milwaukee, Wis 4.59 
 
 Cambridge, Mass 5.14 St. Louis, Mo 4.69 
 
 Oakland, Cal 5.74 Omaha, Neb 4.99 
 
 Worcester, Mass 5.90 Duluth, Minn 5.24 
 
 Yonkers, N. Y 6.22 Cincinnati, Ohio 5.26 
 
 Hartford, Conn 6.26 Minneapolis, Minn 5.26 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa 6.26 Kansas City, Mo 5.58 
 
 Newark, N. J 6.48 Oakland, Cal 5.74 
 
 Washington, D. C 6.56 Des Moines, Iowa 7.26 
 
 Boston, Mass 6.78 
 
 Springfield, Mass 7.07 
 
 Newton, Mass 8.72 
 
 When we remember that in most of these eastern cities 
 the salary schedule for teachers is lower than in Oakland, the 
 position of Oakland in the matter of per capita costs is not un- 
 favorable. To be sure Oakland's costs for 1914-15 would be 
 somewhat higher, but the same would be true in nearly all the 
 other cities of the list. The per capita costs in Oakland for 
 1914-15, too, would hardly be a fair measure of what the city 
 would ordinarily spend, due to the large jump in expenses due 
 to the organization of the new Technical High School in the 
 middle of the year. The year 1913-14 would be a better measure 
 of what the year 1915-16 will be. 
 
 Oakland's position in the matter of school expenses. Review- 
 ing all the tables presented bearing. on the costs for the Oak- 
 land system, and after making all due allowances for decreas- 
 ing valuations of property and increasing costs in all other city 
 departments, there is no denying that the expenditures for 
 education in Oakland have materially increased within recent 
 years. The educational expansion of the past half dozen years, 
 as analyzed in part two, could not have been made without a' 
 marked increase in maintenance costs. Considering all that has 
 been added and the educational value of the additions, the in- 
 crease in costs for public education have been reasonable. Even 
 now, Oakland is not spending as much for education, either in 
 
46 Oakland School Survey 
 
 percentage of total city expenditures or per capita of the popula- 
 tion, as are other cities of its class. The rise in cost, too, has 
 been in part an artificial rise, due to but slowly increasing prop- 
 erty valuations. As was pointed out in the preceding part of 
 this report, still more needs to be done if the schools of Oakland 
 are to be made highly efficient community institutions, and if 
 Oakland is to retain the position of prominence in educational 
 work which the city at present holds. To stand still, even for 
 a few years, means to drop toward the rear in the matter of 
 public education. 
 
 Possible economies. Suppose, though, that it be urged that 
 the people demand economies in their government, and that the 
 cost for the schools must be reduced. Such an economy in 
 money costs can always be made by cutting somewhere, though 
 cutting in public education is quite a different matter from cut- 
 ting in park development, street work, sewer extensions, or in 
 the number of policemen. A child has but one chance for a 
 good education, and what he is deprived of at the proper period 
 can never be added later on. Still, if the people of Oakland 
 think it of more importance that their taxes be reduced than that 
 they continue to provide a good and a rich education for their 
 children, and if they think that such a policy is a wise one to 
 pursue from a real estate and a city welfare point of view, they 
 of course have the right to order their representatives to cut 
 the school system and save ( ?) money for the city. 
 
 Should it be decided to follow such a policy care should be 
 taken to make cuts which will really reduce expenditures. To 
 cut off a supervisor here, to take out a few special teachers 
 there, or to cut a few salaries at different points, will not ac- 
 complish a saving of any importance. After all has been done 
 perhaps a saving of not to exceed 1% of the cost of maintenance 
 may be made by such means, but with a resulting loss of ef- 
 ficiency larger than the saving made. To achieve a really fund- 
 amental economy something large and important must be cut. 
 The Technical High School, for example, might be closed, as the 
 education given there is quite costly, largely because it is very 
 good education. The Vocational School is also likely to prove 
 somewhat costly, and this might be closed, even though it 
 probably does more to make useful men out of irregular and 
 
Financial Phase of Problem 47 
 
 delinquent boys than anything else in the city. The health and 
 development work and all work in physical training might be 
 abandoned, on the ground that schools exist to impart informa- 
 tion, and are not concerned \vith the health or physical welfare 
 of the pupils. The domestic science and household arts work 
 might also be abandoned with quite a saving, carrying out the 
 theory that schools are not maintained to help make intelligent 
 women or well-managed homes. These are types of really 
 fundamental cuts. Such cuts, though, Oakland does not want 
 made, and would not permit" its board of education to make. 
 
 The only place in the school department where expenses 
 may be cut down without seriously impairing the efficiency of 
 the schools is in the building and maintenance of the plant. Less 
 elaborate and less costly repairs may be made, less expensive 
 school buildings may be erected, and the so-called "portables" 
 may be made to serve for a time until the city is better able 
 to erect new permanent buildings. In the work of administra- 
 tion and actual instruction, however, cuts should be made only 
 as a last resort., 
 
 The real place for economies in city administration, how- 
 ever, lies in other departments than that which deals with the 
 education of its future citizens. The school department should 
 be the last to be affected. In a city with as large per capita 
 wealth and as small a percentage of children of school age as 
 Oakland, 0-1.1% between the ages of 5 and 14, as against an 
 average of 17.4% for the United States as a whole), there is little 
 reason why it cannot care for all its children, and provide them 
 with an education which shall be one of the best offered by our 
 American cities. A city that can afford a million dollar city 
 auditorium and a two million dollar city hall, that is able to 
 engage in expensive public improvements, and that can spend 
 as much money on general city maintenance as does Oakland, 
 can certainly afford to give its children the best educational op- 
 portunities. 
 
48 
 
 Oakland School Survey 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 Estimated Expenditures of the Oakland School Department for the 
 Fiscal Year 1914-1915, by Totals and Percentages. 
 
 Items, numbered as in 
 Fiscal Schedule 
 
 Expense 
 
 Percentage 
 Distribution 
 
 1-6, 9 Board of Education and 
 
 Business Offices $ 26,164.26 1.83 
 
 7-8 Superintendent's Office 13,383.17 .94 
 
 10 Total Overhead Charges.... $ 39,547.43 2.77 
 
 11-12 Salaries and Expenses of 
 
 Supervisors 33,032.78 2.33 
 
 13-14 Salaries and Expenses of 
 
 Principals and Clerks 88,018.55 6.15 
 
 15 Salaries of Teachers 925,707.70 64.9 
 
 16-18 Other Expenses of Instruc- 
 tion 58,561.97 4.11 
 
 19 Total Expenses of In- 
 struction 1,105,321.00 77.49 
 
 20 Wages of Janitors $ 72,459.40 5.08 
 
 21-25 Other Expenses of Opera- 
 tion 36,692.86 2.57 
 
 26 Total for Operation 109,152.26 7.65 
 
 27-31 Total for Maintenance.. 129,203.87 9.1 
 
 32-39 Total for Auxiliary 
 
 Agencies 34,818.63 2.44 
 
 40-46 Total Miscellaneous Ex- 
 penses 7,853.00 .55 
 
 1-46 Total Expenses $1,425,896.19 
 
 Estimated Outlays or Betterments 
 (Capital Acquisition and Con- 
 struction) 
 
 Land $ 2,461.30 
 
 New Buildings 25,944.55 
 
 Alterations of Old Buildings 53,889.31 
 
 Equipment of New Buildings 
 
 and Grounds 134,539.31 
 
 Equipment of Old Buildings and 
 
 Grounds 128,401.31 
 
 Total Outlays 345,235.78 
 
 Total Expenses and Out- 
 lays $1,771,131.97