purposes in recent years. Taxes, however, for the following purposes have been levied, 1. Interest on certificates of indebtedness, representing loans from the trust funds to towns, etc. 2. Common Schools (the one mill tax.) 3. University. 4. Free high schools. 5. The fifth normal school. 6. Support of patients in the State Charitable Institutions. (Each county pays for its residents only.) The only taxes, except in 1897 and 1898, since 1884 have been for education, and if the education funds and lands had been conserved these also would be unnecessary. 1885 An annual tax of 1 mill for the benefit of the school fund income. (Ch. 287.) An annual tax of $10,000 for the fifth normal school. (Ch. 364.) 1889-A tax of $200,000 for University buildings (Secretary of State's Report, 1889-90, 4.) A special tax of 1-10 of 1 mill to be levied for 6 years, for university buildings. (Ch. 29.) 1893-An annual tax of 1-20 of 1 mill for normal schools. (Ch. 185.) 1895-An annual tax of 1-5 of 1 mill for normal schools. (Ch. 91.) 1895-A tax of 1-10 of 1 mill for three years, beginning in 1897, for the Historical Society building. (Ch. 298.) Made seven years in 1897 (Ch. 237.) In 1899 this tax was discontinued (Ch. 296), and $500,000 was appropriated from the general fund, and $15,000 annually for the maintenance of the building. 1895 (Ch. 241.), 1897 (Ch. 284.)-An annual tax of 1-5 of 1 mill for the University. 1897-An annual tax of 1-10 of 1 mill for normal schools. 1897-A tax for general expenses of 3-10 of 1 mill in the years 1897 and 1898. (Ch. 148.) 1899-Provision was made for specific taxes for the University and the normal schools, in lieu of the mill taxes, $268,000 for the University; $180,000 for the normal schools. (Ch. 170.) 1901-The University tax was made $289,000. (Ch. 322.) Normal school tax increased to $215,000. (Ch. 370.) 1903-The University tax was made $291,000. (Ch. 135.) An appropriation was made for the common school fund of a sum equal to 7-10 of 1 mill on the valuation of all property exclusive of the property of corporations that pay special taxes. This appropriation comes from the corporation taxes to the extent of $200,000 and the balance comes from a general tax. This appropriation is an annual one; this is in lieu of the one mill tax. (Laws of 1903, Ch. 313.) An additional tax of $485,000 for the University, and a tax of $7,500 for two years for the University library. 1905 An annual tax of 2-7 of 1 mill for the University. (Ch. 320.) 1907-Annual appropriation of $20,000 for educational extension and correspondence teaching. (Ch. 413.) Annual appropriation for four years of $100,000 for women's building and men's dormitories. (Ch. 428.) CHAPTER VIII STATE TAXES FOR EDUCATION* I. FREE HIGH SCHOOLS The free high schools of the state are for the most part maintained partly by the state and partly by the local administrative units. Some of the free high schools do not accept aid from the state. The free high school law of 1875 provided that when a high school had been established and maintained for thirteen weeks or more in any year in any high school district, such district was entitled to receive from the state a sum equal to onehalf of the amount actually expended for instruction in the school, but no town, city, or village was to receive more than $500 a year, except that high school districts having a population of more than 3,000 were entitled to $100 additional for each additional 3,000 inhabitants. The amounts raised locally for high schools are exclusive of the amounts required by law to be raised for common schools. High school districts are permitted to make arrangements for the education of their boys and girls with academies and colleges having preparatory departments, and to receive aid from the state in the same manner and to the same extent as they would if they established high schools. The law of 1875 provided that a sum not exceeding $25,000 is to be appropriated annually from funds not otherwise appropriated to aid in high school education, but each year the Secretary of State is to add to the tax apportionments of the several counties sums equal to the amounts granted by the state for free high schools in the respective counties, so that the state aid in form is in reality county aid.1 *See Chapter VII, Section F, for taxes for University. Laws of 1875, ch. 323. The Revised Statutes of 1878 limited this aid to three years in the case of each school. In 1879 the time was made five years; in 1882, ten years and in 1885 the aid was made annual. In 1899 the maximum amount to be granted to free high schools was made $75,000.2 By the law enacted in 1885 aid was provided for free high schools in towns in which there are no graded schools. This aid is the same as that granted to other free high schools and shall not in the aggregate exceed $25,000 a year.* A law of 1897 providing for the organization of manual training departments in high schools declared that such departments when of approved standing are each entitled to receive from the state, provided that they are maintained for six months in the year, $250 annually, but the total aid so granted is not to exceed $2,500 a year, which sum is included in the state tax levy. An amendment of 1899 provides that not more than twenty schools shall receive such aid and the total amount granted annually by the state is not to exceed $5,000. The additional $2,500 is paid out of funds in the state treasury.3 II. COUNTY TRAINING SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY In 1899 county training schools for common school teachers were authorized in counties in which there are no State Normal Schools. Such training school, if of approved character and standing, is entitled to receive from the state annually an amount equal to one-half of the sum expended for the school provided that the school has been maintained for ten months. in the year. The total amount paid to such schools annually shall not exceed $2,500, which amount is apportioned annually as part of the state taxes. A law of 1901 authorizing county boards to appropriate money for the organization, equipment, Revised Statutes, 1878, ch. 27, sec. 496. Laws of 1882, ch. 22. Laws of 1885, ch. 420. Aggregate maximum made $50,000 in 1907. * Laws of 1899, ch. 273. Not more than twenty are to receive aid. Laws of 1879, ch. 245, sec. 5. Laws of 1907, ch. 601. and maintenance of county schools of agriculture and domestic economy, in which are to be taught the elements of agriculture, including instruction as to the soil, and plant and animal life on the farm, also a system of farm accounts and domestic economy, provides that such schools, if of approved standing, are entitled to receive from the state one-half of the sum actually expended in support of the respective schools. In 1903 it was provided that state aid might amount to two-thirds of the sum expended and that the school should be conducted for eight months. Not more than $4,000 is to be paid to any one school in any one year." III. SCHOOLS FOR DEAF MUTES AND FOR DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN In 1885 it was enacted that there should be paid out of the state treasury each year to the treasurer of every incorporated eity or village maintaining a school or schools for deaf mutes, under the charge of a teacher or teachers of approved qualifieations, to be determined by the state superintendent of public instruction, $100 for each deaf mute instructed for at least nine months in the year next preceding the first of July and a proportionate amount for each pupil receiving instruction for less than nine months. The apportionment for each pupil was inreased to $125 in 1893 and to $150 in 1897.5 Another law of 1885 appropriated $30,000 for a "State Public School" for dependent and neglected children. Children dependent upon public support and over three and under fourteen years of age are receivable into the school. An amendment of 1901 provides for the admission of crippled children under fourteen, who are of sound mind and whose physical defects are such as to admit of proper treatment in the school. Children admitted to the school may be kept there until they become sixteen or longer until good homes can be secured for them. The object of this school, which is located at Sparta, Wisconsin, is to pro Laws of 1899, ch. 268. Laws of 1901, ch. 288. Laws of 1903, ch. 143. |