The standardization of schools is being advanced and schoolhouses are being erected, larger and better than those of earlier decades and well suited to the needs of the day. Industrial and vocational education is recognized and provided for in special institutions, in the university, the normal schools, and also in the high schools. The State, after a long preliminary period in which uniformity of textbooks was provided by law but not always enforced in practice, has come to realize the desirability of providing all books at State expense, and a pension system is being tried. Many of these lines of endeavor are still in the trial period, but they indicate the trend of the times.
As yet there has not been attained in Arizona the centralization needed to place on the State department of education the responsibility for providing equal opportunities. As recently pointed out by the survey of the United States Bureau of Education the board itself should be reorganized and its power increased; all politics should be eliminated in both county and State affairs; the powers of the county board should be increased also with a reorganization of the methods of apportionment and an extension of expert supervision of rural schools.
When these and similar measures have been carried out there will not be lacking the centralized administration necessary to attain State-wide progress “without unnecessary delay and expense.”
PUBLIC SCHOOL STATISTICS—1870=1916.
| Years. | School population.[1] | Teachers. | Schools.[2] | Monthly salary. | Days in school year. | Value school property. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 1,923 | |||||
| 1872–73 | 1,660 | |||||
| 1873–74 | 2,584 | 11 | 11 | [3] $100.00 | 180 | |
| 1874–75 | 2,508 | 14 | 14 | 100.00 | 180 | |
| 1875–76 | 2,955 | 21 | 21 | 110.00 | ||
| 1876–77 | 31 | 28 | 100.0 | 190 | $44,436 | |
| 1877–78 | 3,089 | 37 | 28 | 91.00 | 124 | 47,479 |
| 1878–79 | 5,291 | 51 | 51 | 74.00 | 165 | 78,681 |
| 1879–80 | 7,148 | 101 | 101 | 83.00 | 109 | 113,074 |
| 1880–81 | 9,571 | 102 | 148 | 84.00 | 121,318 | |
| 1881–82 | 10,283 | 126 | 98 | 116,751 | ||
| 1882–83 | 9,376 | 98 | 104 | 75.00 | 120 | 82,183 |
| 1883–84 | 9,376 | 143 | 121 | 85.00 | 140 | 153,466 |
| 1884–85 [4] | 10,219 | 131 | 137 | 86.00 | 120 | 212,385 |
| 1885–86 [4] | 10,219 | 150 | 150 | 78.00 | 140 | 201,984 |
| 1886–87 [4] | 10,303 | 175 | 169 | 81.00 | 143 | 176,238 |
| 1887–88 [4] | 10,303 | 191 | 184 | 80.00 | 124 | 222,219 |
| 1888–89 [4] | 12,588 | 199 | 197 | 79.00 | 135 | 222,958 |
| 1889–90 [4] | 12,976 | 240 | 219 | 77.00 | 126 | 268,435 |
| 1890–91 | 13,874 | 237 | 127 | 297,444 | ||
| 1891–92 | 14,710 | 251 | 124 | 320,609 |
- ↑ Until 1883 the school age was 6 to 21; 1884 to April, 1901, 6 to 18; since 1901, 6 to 21.
- ↑ During the earlier years these are referred to as “school rooms,” “in 1881–82, as districts.” They were one-teacher schools.
- ↑ Through 1880–81 these figures are for men. The salaries of women were as follows: 1873–74, $100; 1874–75, $100; 1875–76, $90; 1876–77, $50; 1877–78, $74; 1878–79, $68; 1879–80, $70; 1880–81, $68. The figures given beginning with 1882–83 are the average of all salaries.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 From report for 1889–90; these figures do not always agree with those in other reports. They are probably in most cases only approximate.
