The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1895, Page 18

i THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 25, 1895. e e e COMMON SCHOOLS OF CALIFORNIA. Institutions That Are Depended Upon for the Preservation of the Republic. Few States Can Show as |bih Good a System of Public Education. County School Report Great Interest and a Tend- to Popular ency Improvement. All the Equipped Buildings, Larger Cities Are Well With Handsome and Even the Most Remote Districts Have the All Needed Facilities. ject in which f California are more deeply than in that of popular'educa- re but few States in the Union Superintendents | | the early Superintendents of the county w the school children are better pro- vided for than i California. The com- school svstems of thi te, and of | inties, is not perfect—none are—but it is up to the stand. d of the best modern school systems of the elder Eastern States surpasses many of them in efficiency and practical results. The followi »orts from the various 1tendents of the State es and need no com- show a condition of which San Francisco County. of the future there n connection with the manage- ment of any city or community that s important as the education of chil- in the San Fran- the school year . with an average Who of the work ou conside: ,000 children tudies in charge of and teachers? It aid with emphasi about 900 should that the t kill in al to that in the Union. The co have the confi- t of ther ople who send There is, the United on of their int as do the ols. ity in the educ not only ching corps, re and intelli- f the chiidren in our no doubt because of tage of climate thata boy speci rance o lLere s and is more v intel than i oreu. the sc ren for inte ote to this city, the chief business of and must be, to fitt gent citizenship. 1 much attentio chief among en there are arith- phy and history. ittle attention’ to n as fads, but in the main to the substantial side ches, nar, geogr of an educatio carpentering and b these tk are not gener- el introduced to the department. There 1s no question of the ntility of in- struction in these branches, but thereisa San Fran- is pre- gs a permanent ruction erious qu o or any other Am e these t course of in Mapisox Superintendent - Alameda County. COCK, chools. In the excellence of her system of pub- lic schools California is one of the four or five States in the Union which take the front rar And when a first place is claimed in the schools of the State for the public schools of Alameda County, the claim is one that might be justly expected from the large educational opportunities our people have enjoyed. The school system of Alameda County presents a remarkable growth and devel- opment. This growth and development may be exemplified ina remarkable way by a few figures from the records. By the report made to the State Supe endent for the school year ending June 30, 1876, the num- ber of teachers in schools below the high school was 138 Of these only 39,0or a little more than 23 per cent, held first- grade certificates. In the school year end- ing June 30, 18%6, there were, excluding bigh schools, teachers, double the number of ten years before, and of these 276. 205 or more than 74 per cent, held first- grade certificates—a tn wonderful record of professional improvement. Again, in the report of last school year, ending June 30, 1895, nineteen ye: from the first re- port quoted, the number of teachers in the county schools, not including high schools, was 389, and of these, or more than 91 per cent, are the holders of first-grade cer- tificates. This in itseli is a great advanee, Inthe first record quoted, 72 per cent of the Alameda teachers held certificates be-' low the first grade, while in the record of last year less than 9 per cent of the teach- ing force held certificates of an inferior grade. This betterment of the teachers has re- sulted in an improvement in the character of the work done ai!along the line. Another cause of improvement of the schools has been the establishment of high schools. No county in the State has taken advantage of the law for the estab- lishment of union high schools toa greater extent than has Alameda. Besides the high schools of Berkeley, Alameda and Oszklang, the county has tinree others, located at Centerville, Livermore and Hay- wards, all well equipped and doing excel- lent work. These high schools represent twenty-eight school districts outside of Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley. Twenty-fi | n Francisco | | | | | wres younger, and in conse- | the cities where severe | | 10,145. ive years ago there was not a ! groups, each circle consisting of about | hoo! in the county—to-day theére are six, with an hverage daily attendance of over 1200 pupils. 3 There is another important factor which bas been at work in the improvement of ar schools. It is the influence of the ined her—the influence of the State Normal School. These are the teachers who are beginning to be in demand. Another influence in making the schools t they are is supervision. Among are three men whose work in the forma- tive period of our schools was of a charac- ter to insure the degree of excellence they have attained—W. F. B. Lynch, the pio- neer Superintendent, a man of large heart, quick sympathies and great love for children; J. C. Gilson, a wise and untiring worker, whose eight years of service feft every school in the county on higher ground, and P. M. Fisher, under whose administration the schools took a new departnre in the change of the course of study It is beginning to be understood that the schools are for the children. While there are schools whose teachers have not earned anything of the evolution of edu- cation that is aoroad in the land, itisa pleasure to be able to say these schoolsare in the minori a minority that is con- tinually growing smaller. This demand for better teachers and for better teaching is heard on every hand, and must be heeded. Itcomes from our high schools and our great universities. It comes from the foremost educators of our own and other countries. It comes from the great National assemblies of teachers. = Colonel Parker says, “When the chil- dren think, kings tremble.” Right think- g is character, and in the character of our children is the safety of the Republic. P. GARLICK, | County Superintendent. | g Los Angeles County. The public schools of Los Angeles County have never been in a more flourish- ing condition than at the presenttime. In almost any other section of the globe such a growth as the schools have made here would bave excited widespread attention twenty-five teachers. Each circle elects its own president and secretary and meets once a month to read and discuss topics in a systematic, professional way. The services of Dr. Dresslar, who occu- pies the chair of pedagogy in theNormal School, have been called into requisition to lay out a definite plan of pedagogical reading, and great results are expected. Seurcrox V. RiLey, County Superintendent. —— Santa Clara County. The first public school in Santa Clara County was organized in Sen Jose in March of 1853, and Rev. Horace Richard- son was apvointed teacher. Before this school was organmized—as far back as 1811, a parish schoo! was taught by one Rafael Villanicencio, and attended by the chil- dren of the pueblo. Also in 1851 a Yrotes- tant school known as the “San Jose Academy’” was opened by Rev. B, Bannis- ter. A young ladies’ private school, known as the “‘Bascon Institute,” was started in 1853, the first principal being Mrs. R. C. Hammond. The first systematic arrangement of the county into districts was 1n 1855, when fifteen school districts were organized. A break occurs in the school records to 1863, when 8. 8. Wilds was County Superintendent. There were then seventy- three teachers and 4043 school children. The receipts of the County School Depart- ment were $23760 and expenditures $21,956. Then comes another break in the | records to 1866, from which year until the present time the records are complete, with very slight exceptions. The statistics for the past school year, 1894-95, show a marked advance; dis S, 85; teachers, 248; census children, 13,837; enrolled, 10, ; receipts, $320,038; disburse- ments, $263,958. Notwithstanding the fact that some twenty new schoolhouses have been erected during the past five years, the bonded indebtedness for school purposes is only $60,600, ana the total valuation of roperty is §363,347. i8 teachers, 168 are graduates of ormal Schools, and those who are not Normal School graduates are teachers of considerable experience, many of them holders of educational and life diplomas. The average monthly wages paid male teachers in primary and grammar grades is $87 12; in high schools, $158. Average monthly wages paid female teachers in primary and grammar grades, §65 35; high THE OAKDALE SCHOOL, CHICO. {Drawn from a photograph.] and been considered marvelous. Hereit | is but a condition of the country. | The city of Los Angeles has not been | able to keep up with the increase of her | population and at present there are fully | 3000 children who are attending half-day | 8 ns. The completion of the nrw‘ school buildings, for which $306,000 in bonds were issued, will for a time relieve | | this congestion. Tke new buildings will | contain 128 rooms and be capable of ac- | | commodating about 6000 pubils. | The number ot school children in the | city exceeds 19,000, of which 14,000 appear | on the rolls, the actual attendanze being | The Increase on the rolls last | month was 462, or at therate of 4620 per | year, a condition of affairs that will neces- sitate erecting more buildings as soon as | those already contracted for are com- pleted. In the outside districts it will be ncces- sary to cite but a few instances to show the phenomenal progress that has been made eince 1887. Pasadena then bad ten teachers; this year there are forty-two. Monrovia, organizea in 1887 with one teacher, mnow has seven. Redondo, crganized in 1889 with one | teacher, now has four. Santa Monica in 1887 employed three teachers, at present thirteen; Garvanza one, now five; Long Beach one, this year six; Pomona (then Palomares District) seven, now thirty-two, and Rosedale increased from two to fifteen teachers. With the increase in number of pupils the outside disiricts kept pace with ac- commodations, Los Angeles County at the present time having many public school buildings fitted with valuable li- braries and school apparatus, The buildings are mostly modern, hav- ing been erected during the past ten vears, and especial attention has been given to those two most imporiant factors, drzinage and ventilation. At the close of the fiscal year, 1894-95, the following re- port was made and serves to show the con- dition of the schoois in this country at that time: Number of school districts, 122; num- ber as per census of school children in the county, 46,877, 13,000 of whom were under 5 years of age; number of children en- | rolled, 25,450, Thers are employed in the county this year 661 teacners, the average monthly salary of male teachers being %89, females $82. The total expense for the year 1894-95 was $483,488, or an average of $i9 per scholar. The valuation of lots, buildings and school furniture was $1,395,030; school li- braries, $34,615; school apparatus, $21,545. Total, $1,451,190. As the bonded indebted- ness at that time was only $270,575 and there was a balance on band of $131,353 the showing 1or a comparatively young community is a remarkable one. There has recently been organized for the benefit of the teacners what is known as the Los Angeles County Pedagogical Society., It is divided into circles or schools, $110. There is no discrimination against female teachers, women being paid equally with maen for the same work. There are weli-equipped and efficient high schools at San Jose, Santa Clara, Los Gatos and Giirgy. : Qur people may justly be proud of their public schools. L. J. Curemax, County Superintendent. Monterg_ County. The growth of the public schools of this county since 1860 has been apace with the other counties of the State. At the present time ihe schools consist of filty-two primary classes, eightylgram- mar-grade classes and one high sehool. There is uniform work in all the schools and a spirit of progress among the teach- ers. The Salinas City High School has three teachers and an enrollment of about fifty pupils. Itscourse isone of the best in the State, the school being on the accredited list of the State University and Stanford University. Sixty of the one hundred school dis- tricts have erected new school buildings during the last ten vears, many of the buildings being of the type of modern school architecture. It is not in fine school buildings that the educational sen- timent has shown its advancement so much as in the befter class of teachers selected, increased interestin school mat- ters, and a feeling that the children of the county must have every advantage pos- sible. The educational outlook in this county is bright. Jos Woobp Jr. County Superintendent. Fresno County. Fresno’s claim to be the leading county of the southern San Joaquin Valley is not the less weéll founded in the line of educa- tion than in other desirable features. There are at the present time 126 school buildings in the county, containing more than 180 schoolrooms. Within the last two vears twenty modern and well-fur- nished school buildings have been built in the county, and one large eight-room brick structure has been added to the number of ward schools in the city of Fresno. A $60,000 high school building is now in the process of construction in the city, which, when completed, will be one of the handsomest and most substantial structores of its kind in the State. The teaching force of the county con- sists of 195 members, apportioned among the 121 districts. Followingis a statement of the average monthly wages paid: Male teachers in primary and grammar grades, $78 75; female, $64 50; male teachersin high schools, $137 50; female, $118 75. The female teachers are considerably ir the majority, numbering 147 as compared with 40 of the sterner sex. During the last school year school was maintained more than six monthsin every district, and eight months or more in 99 out of the 121 districts. The county pos- sesses three kigh schools—one in the city, and two being established upon the union high school plan. - During the last year 248 pupils attended these schools, 37 of whom graduated. Each graduate cost in teach- ers’ salaries about $250 last year. The city of Fresno has four substantial ward school buildings, some of which are even mnow overcrowded. The schools throughout the county were first system- atically graded about five years ago. Fresno County is a small empire in itself. The Superintendent, in hisannual visits to the schools, travels from the snows of the Sierra to the Pacific side of the Coast Range divide, from the magnificent pine forests of the eastern mountains to the dreary vistas of the plains of the west side. Mr. T. J. Kirk, the present Superintendent, is a product in part of the schools of Cali- fornia, having spent some time at the San Jose Normal. As the industrial development of this great valley cannot be adequately foretold, neither can its educational, but it is safe to predict that the one will keep pace with the other. GEORGE COSGRAVE, R Sacramento County. The first school was established in Sac- ramento City early in August, 1849, on the bank of what is now known as “China Slough.” The schoolhouse was made of rough lumber, with old sails from dis- carded vessels to form the roof and sides. The school opened with four pupils. There was an unexplained delay in pro- viding a system of public instruction in the county. At the close of the year 1851 there were about 400 children reported in the county, and no schools except two pri- maries and one academy and a high gchool in the city—all private. ‘The first public school was opened in the city on February 20, 1854, and there were present fifty boys and forty girls. Up to that time such educational advantagesas had been afforded were in private schools. The schools of the city are under the control of & board of nine directors, of which Winfield J. Davis is president and 0. W. Erlewine is the superintendent. The statistics are not at hand for the pres- ent year, but the enrollment at the end of 1894 showed 4368 pupils, of whom 200 were in the high school, 1067 in the grammar schools ana the rest in the primaries. The census enroliment shows about 5500 chil- dren between 5 and 17. The school en- rollment given does not include those at- tending the night and kindergarten schools. There are about 120 teachers em- ployed. Twelve regular school buildings are owned by the city, the estimated value of which, exclusive of grounds, is about $120,000. The average salary of principals of primaries is $350 per annum, of gram- mar principals $1666; maximum salary of primary and grammar school teachers $750, and the minimum $600. The high school is under the principal- ship of James H. Pond, who has six assist- ants. One school is maintained for the exclusive education of Chinese children. Thesystem of public education in the county outside of the city is controlled by County Superintendent B. F. Howard and the local Board of Trustees. There are 76 teachers employed in that jurisdic- tion in 71 districts. The number of census children is 2870 and the enrollment 2482, We feel in Sacramento City and County that we have as efficient and practical a departmentas any other city or county, and that it is conducted with as low a pro rata expense per pupil as in any other part of the State. J. M. Morrisox, Chairman Board Supervisors. San Mateo County. Few counties possess greater educational advantages than San Mateo County with the fine schools of San Francisco on one hand and the great Leland Stanford Jr. University on the other, and within our own boundary good public schools and pri- vate institutions that have a reputation abroad. Z The pride and interest of the people in their public schools have been shown in | their liberality of voting school bonds and in the levy of tax for school funds. The vote last year was twelve cents on each §100 of taxable property, which' was valuead at $16,769,000. The total valuation of school property this last year was 12,639. The amount paid for apparatus was $192 28, and for library books $671 70. A careful course in English, requiring its study to commence with the lowest grade, has been added to the list of studies, as well as geometry and natural science. San Mateo County only numbers thirty- two districts, each with a sunitable build- ing and one or more teachers as the dis- trict demands. There are at present fifty- eight teachers, of whom nine are male and fifty female. The average monthly salary paid to male teachers is $90 6214 and to female teachers §61 70. The average length of term was 9.6 months. The total enroll- ment of pupiis was 2051 and the percent- age of daily attendance was 93. The two largest districts are Redwood City, with nine teachers and an enrollment of 347 pupils, and San Mateo, with eight teach- ers and 412 pupils, composed of parts of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties and a union high school dis- trict. The teachers of this county have shown their earnestness and a desire of keeping abreast of the times by organizing a teach- ers’ association that meets once a month. The results of these meetings will be seen in more organized and scientitic methods in the schoolrooms. E. M. SiLLox, County Superintendent. SEE 1T Santa Cruz County. No State of the Union gives of her treas- ure more freely and abundantly for the ed- ucation of her children than does Califor- nia, and we. are proud of the fact, which is conceded by all, that our schools, urban and rural taken together, stand in the front rank, surpassed by none and equaled by few. Santa Cruz, the smallest in area of the counties of the State, with the single ex- ception of San Francisco, ranks thirteenth in the number of school census children, and in the efficiency of her schools stands well among her sister counties. Through the beneficence of the State, the generous support and genuine sympa- thy of her people, the earnest endeavor of her local school boards and the true and progressive educational spirit which in- spires her teachers, she has provided for her children the means of obtaining an education which comprises the work from the kindergarten to the high school, and which she confidently believes will fit them to become true, loyal, self-respecting and self-supporting citizens of the com- monwealth. During the past year the people in many parts of the county have freely taxed them- selves to provide additional facilities for the education of their children. The city of Santa Cruz hasadded twenty new schoolrooms to her equipment this year. Among these improvements has been the erection of a new high school building, which is not only an adornment to the city, but is a model of convenience and admirably equipped for good work. ‘Watsonville has erected a beautiful build- ing for her high and commercial school, of which her people are justly proud. Felton has completed a beautiful two- room building, modern in every respect, and Ben Lomond followed her sister vil- lage by erecting one of the neatest and best equipped school buildings in the county. Besides these, new bnildings have been erected at Casserly, San Vicente, Alba, Vega and Valenciag. The school property of the county is valued at $275,000. Last June diplomas of the grammar grade were issued to 160 pupils, represent- ing thirty-two of the fifty-seven districts of the county. The Santa Cruz high schooi has 150 students, and the high and commercial school at Watsonville bas about 100. Both of these schools are equipped with chemical and physical laboratories. There is a marked progress along all lines of educational work in the county each vear. Never before was there so much thought and study on the part of our teachers looking toward a more care- ful understanding of the needs of the im- mortal beings committed to their care, and to the best methods of imparting in- struction. They need the hearty co- operation and encouragement of all the friends of education, and a criticism which is not based on ignorance, but which rests ou a clear understanding of the necessities of the age and the conditions which con- front our young men and young women as they approach the dawn of the twentieth century. 1. W. Sixcort, County Superintendent. POt o Marin County. The extent to which the physical fea- tures of a country determine the character of its people is well illustrated throughout California. ‘The one bond that serves to unite the mixed elements of society in the rural dis- tricts of Marin County is the public school. The one object of common interest is the public schoolhouse. Here and there and yonder, in the narrow valleysand on the hillslopes, may be seen the symbol floating as proudly as if from the dome of the Na- tion’s Capitol. In plain, unpretentious structures, amid natural surroundings of interest and beauty, daily gather groups of children to be trained for future citizenship. From scattered homes of Celt and of Saxon, of Teuton, of Slavand of Gaul, come these juvenile representatives, who will develop ; metrically by strengthening all his pow- | ers—mental, moral and pbysical. The lines of work followed lead to those ends. ‘What is the ultimate purpose? To make good citizens, says the State. Rosest FURLONG, County Superintendent. e Calaveras County. The schools of the small mountain counties, of which Caiaveras may.be taken as a fair type, present many umqne.feat- ures not to be found in the more thickly populated parts of the State. Walled in by our mountain fastnesses, cut off from i railroad connection with the educational centers and means of educational growth and progress, this county has always been dependent upon itself for what of progress it has made. Its schools and school work stand by themselves, and what of value they possess is due mainly to the earnest work of faithful teachers, backed by an in- teliigent community. A leading educator of this State, one whose work has brought him in cn_ntaclt with schools and school matters in ail parts of the State, said of us in effect at a recent institute of the county that ‘‘Cala- veras represented educntionn‘lly. as in other things, an extreme of civilization, of which Los Angeles, San Diego and other progressive communities were the other. There all that was modern and progressive, here the old and conservative; there the age of railroads, of electricity and of the highest culture, here the stagecoach, tke pick and pan and the sturdy independence of '49.” To a great extent is this true, and yet with all the disadvantages, despite the lack of means and the educational at- mosphere of more favored localities, we claim for our schools that theyturn out men and women strong, sturdy and stal- wart in all that goes to make up manhood and womanhood. And if by some stroke of fortune any of these pupils are trans- ferred to city schools they at once take rank in the essential studies, even ahead of those of the same age who have had the advantage of those schools continuously. Qur schools do not attempt to teach so mauch, but the mind is concentrated upon work-of practical value, and_the value of the time spent in school is fully impressed upon the minds of the children. It costs an effort to get an education, and it is ap- preciated accordingly. From the first there has been a strong New England element here, and the hold of the public school upon the people has been naturally strong. Cousidering the THE K STREET [Drawn from SCHOOL, FRESNO. a photograph.] into heads of “American” families by the next generation. Truly the process is marvelous. The school system of Marin County does not differ essentially from that of other counties in the State. The small area is comprised of thirty-seven school districts, two of which are .joint with Sonoma County. A common course of study, prepared by a County Board of Education, outlines the principal work to be done in the different grades and serves to unify and systematize the schools. A few less than sixty teachers perform the work of education for the entire county. The standard of qualifi- cations for teachers is as high as any for the best educational counties in the State. A majority of the teachers have had professional training for their work. Others have brought themselves up to a fair standard of efficiency by practical ex- perience in their calling, supplemented by a course of reading from pedagogical books. It is generally acknowledged that a more faithful and efficient body of teachers cannot be found in our State. The highest teaching skill is required to successfully train the complex little humanities found in many Marin County districts. Entering school with no knowledge of English, perhaps unable to give either name or age, with racial traits peculiar to the type, each little tyro is an enigma which the teacher must solve, a chrysalis which she must carefully unfold to reach the undeveloped being within. All do not develop into butterflies or angels. Ten- dencies inherited through a long line of ancestry cannot at once be eliminated by any process with x, y and z known to mathematical science. Marin County has some good schools, even in the sparsely settled dairy sections, where circumstances are more favorable for educational work than those described. Several districts, largely composed of English-speaking people, have graded schools of a high standard of excellence. Bessions of nine school months in the year are usually held in such schools. Ina few country districts ten months of school are maintained. In thesmaller districts eight- month terms are the rule. There isa grow- ing feeling in many communities of the county that the rate of school support should be so'increased as to enable all dis- tricts to have ten months of school each year. Theschools of San Rafael and Sau- salito are well graded and fully equipped for the best educational work. The for- mer has fourteen teachers employed. The thriving villages of Novato, Mill Valley and Tomales have each a graded school of primary and grammar departments. The high school at San Rafael is doing excellent work not only for resident pupils but also for others from adjacent districts. It is on the accredited list for admission to the University of California. The proposition to erect a new high school building in San Rafael in the near future is favored. 1t is aimed to develop the child sym- | comparative poverty of the county the support of the schools has been liberal. Tor the year 1894 the assessment roll of the county was $4,633,153, and there was raised for school purposes $16,740. There are fiity-two school district in the county, and sixty-three teachers em- ployed. The average length of the school term for 1894 was 8.2 months. The total number of census children was 2631, of whom 2154 were enrolled in the schools. There were employed last vear fourteen male teachers at an annual salary of $68 85 ‘per month, and forty-nine female at an salary of $59 68 per month. There is no high school in the county. Up to’1879 there was no course of study in existence. In that year one was presented by the Board of Education and was put into general effect. One peculiar feature of our schools, aris- ing mainly from our isolated position, is the number of teachers of home produc- tion. It has been said that about six teachers have made the schools of Cala- veras, since the present teachers are nearly all the pupils of these pioneers. We believe the results are seen in the class of graduates that issue from our schools. While we realize our imperfec- tions, we are willing to have our schools judged by the results they attain. E. T. Froxp, County Superintendent. Mendocino County. Up here in Mendocino we are doing our very best to keep toward the front in edu- cation and to get everything possible out of it. Perhaps we are somewhat but not hopelessly behind, but like Barkis we are “willin,’ ”’ Not willing to say “satisfied,” but to say “we are in a position to do much better in the futare.”” This pousition is being made clear by the light of the *‘New Education” which is beginning to throw its eniivening beams among us. Truly it is a powerful searchlight, by which are revealed the fallacies and incon- sistencies of some of our old methods and theories. The electrical source of this light is the minds of the great philoso- phers and educators of the pastand pres- ent: Froebel, Pe;alozzi, Kant, Herbert Syencer. Harris, De Garmo, Sully, Bald- win, A.rnold and many others. Each of these is giving every day to help all, even the young teacher of the remote mountain district with six or ten pupils. 1t seems truly marvelous to the teacher of this district, unheard of outside the little community and unknown to nine- tenths of the people of the eountry, that these great men and women come long jxnrneyu from distant days and far-away l&ncs and give their best thoughts to aid the few little children gathered there in becom ing good men and women. The Board of Education adopted a new course of study last July which bids fair to eventually swing us into line with the first ranks. It carries out the recom- mendations and suggestions of the com- mittees of ten and fifteen as far as is adaptable to our schools, and we are al- ready beginning to feel its good effects. Whenever our boys and girls have occa- sfon to go outside and contest for position they have covered themselves with bonor and,won respect and consideration for old Mendocino. The last three apvointments to cadetships at West Point and the last one to Annapolis have been decided by & competitive examination open to boys of the required age from all the counties in the Congressional district, and a Mendo- cino boy has carried off the prize in each case. Two of these cadets, one from West Point and one from Annapolis, have al- ready graduated with the highest honors. From this we reason that our schools are good and our *“material” the very best. Of our teachers about one-fourth are from abroad and the others are people of our own county. Mendocino has 101com- mon school districts, in which 124 teachers are employed at an average salary of §65 per month. The average length of school vear is about eight months. There are 4500 census children, and the average daily attendance is about 3000. We have two county high schools, one at Mendocino City with an enroliment of sixty-four, and one at Ukiah with 118 on the register. A principal and two assist- ants are employed in each high school. The amount to be expended for school pur- poses this year will approximate $100,000 : Georee H. RHODES, County Superintendent. Riverside County. In visiting the schools of Riverside County one is subjected to nature’s sharp- est contrasts. The name Riverside per- haps brings to the ordinary mind the soft breezes of the semi-tropics, laden with perfume from the orange groves; but the boundaries of this county reach far out- side the golden orchards and take in the distant north and the far south. Itisa grand place to teach geography—to give young folks a wide and comprehensive notion of the earth—for here, within a single county, can be shown nearly all conditions of surface, soil, climate, life, that can be found anywhere on the round old earth. The San Jacinto Mountains are mnearly 11,000 feet high, and in the tangled masses of their dark foothills are nestled many schools. In Aguaneja district the chiidren some- times ride in sleighs, throngh valleys walled in by pine-clad heights. Some- times the frost comes every month in the year. The frowning summit of the moun- tain hangs over ali, a giant refrigerator, aiways cold with snow, always the great condenser of the streams of air that flow over it, around it, in passing be- tween the desert and the sea. The children can watch the snowstorms, rainstorms and hailstorms forming about the topmost peak and spreading to the slopes below, where the pines give place to oaks and the Alpine changes to the temperate zone, oranges, tropic fruits and flowers. Riverside County was created less than three years ago from parts of San Diego and San Bernardino counties: its area is 7000 square miles. It contains fifty-eight common school districts, three union high school districts and three district high school districts. It has 4200 school-chil- dren and employs 115 teachers. Thenum- | ber of boys is almost exactly equal to the number of girls; but there are eighty-six women teachers to twenty-nine men. The highest salary paid is $150 per month; the lowest $45. The average salary for male high school teachers is $107; female, $100. For male common scheol teachers, $69; female, $53. More than half the teachers are normal school graduates; more than half the country teachers lose their places every year. Six new schoolhouses have been built within the year, and three new districts have been formed. Besides the public schools there are two Government contract schools and three In- dian schools. The attractiveness of the country as a dwelling-place draws the highest type of parents and the highest type of teachers; the effect upon the schools is not hard to see in the present— nor to foresee in the future. Epwarp. Hyarr, County Superintendent. o vSa‘nta Barlgara County. In the year 1855 the children of Santa Barbara were first given the advantages of a school system. The inhabitants were mostly Spanich, Mexicans and In- dians, with a scatiering of the more ad- venturous Americans who were the fore- most of the great immigration to the coast. The teacher in this first school was a Peruvian, hiz textbooks were published in Mexico and were in the Spanish lan- guage. Among other things the pupils were taught that the United States was a country to be dreaded, for ‘‘the ‘inhabitants were mostly pagans.” The birth of the public school in Santa Barbara County really belongs to a later period ; in 1860 the first building for'educa- tional purposes was erected. A few years later the need of more ex- tensive and modern accommodations for the teaching of the young became appar- ent, and in 1870 the city voted $10,000 bonds for the purpose of building a larger house. From that time on the influx of Americans has caused the steady improve- ment in the educational standard, until to- day the schools of the city and county compare with any in the Union. ‘Within the county there are now three high schools, thirty - seven grammar schools and sixty-eight primary schools, employing in all 116 teachers. The aver- age monthly salary paid male teachers in the high schools is $120 and female teach- ers $100; in the primary and grammar grades under $75, and $60 is the average. Two valuable acquisitions to the school system of Santa Barbara within recent years are the sloyd school and the kinder- garten. It is probable that in anothef year the kindergarten will be incorporated with the public-school system. G. E. THURMONT, County Superintendent. San Luis Obispo County. ' The people of San Luis Obispo County are keenly alive on all subjecfs pertain. ing to the education of their children. San Luis Obispo County has an area of nearly 3500 square miles. It is thus eon. siderably larger than the Statesol Dela- ware and Rhode Island comuined. atie The schools of the county are organized and graded according to the vrovisions ot the school laws of the State. At the present time we have forty-nine primary schools, the same number of grammar- grade schools, and four high schools. The total number of teachers empldyed in the schools so far during the present school year is 133. The average number of months school was maintained in the county during the school "year ending June 30, 1895, was 8.2. v There are now four high schools in the county. San Luis Obispo County has néw school districts, primary and grammar, 93; high schools, 4; census children, § to 17 years,