The Financial Aspect of Educational Administration in Canada.
| Date | 01 October 1930 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1930.tb01999.x |
| Author | N. H. Bilbrough |
| Published date | 01 October 1930 |
Notes
THE
FINANCIAL
ASPECT
OF
EDUCATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION
IN
CANADA.
Ixv
Canada
the distribution of financial respomiility for
education
differs considerably from
that
which
is
familiar
to people
in
England.
Toronto, for instance,
is
almost a self-supporting educational
authority. The taxpayers
of
the
city
pay
95
per cent. of the educa-
tional
tax
bill
of
the
ciw,
the other
5
per cent. representing subsidies
from
the
Provincial
Government.
We have
in
Toronto about
117,000
pupils
in
our
125
schools
and
these
schools
have cost
us
roughly
thirty-three
millions
of dollars. For
each of the
last
ten years we have spent over one and a-half
million
dollars
in
providing new
school
accommodation and have not
as
yet
caught
up
with
the
demand.
Our
total education budget
this
year
amounts
to considerably over
thirteen
million
dollars.
In
1921
our
Provincial
Legislature put into
operation
an
Act
demanding that
all
children
attend school
until
sixteen
years
of
age,
raising
the leaving
age from fourteen
years
to
sixteen.
The
situation
in
Toronto
is
not
exceptional,
as
in
a
greater or lesser degree the same system prevails
throughout the
Dominion.
In
these circumstances the
necessity
of
keeping expenditure
within
the
limits
of
the civic purse
has
meant
an incessant analysis
of
costs
in
an
endeavour to make the most of
our
resources. Fortunately
in
19x7
and
19x8
our
local
Board
installed
a
modem system of accounting procedure,
including
an
efficient cost
accounting
system,
which
has
been a wonderful
boon
to
us
in
our
tive machinery
was
reorganized
difiiculties, and
in
~gzo
our admumIra
and put
on
a modem
basis
to further improve the situation.
The
following are some of the economies effected:-
The
fire
insurance record
was
examined back to
1go0
and found
to be very
good,
A
reduction
in
the price
of
insurance was
then
secured
and the rate
now
averages
47
cents (-47c.) per hundred
dollars
($100.00)
for
the three-year term.
School
supplies were checked up and
$20,000.00
a
year
is
now
being saved by a tightening
up
in
the distribution.
Research
showed
that
in
quite
a
number
of
classroo@s
a
few
years ago there were many vacant
seats.
Consolidation
of
classes
was
adopted
as
a
policy
in
1927
and the
city
is
getting
along
pvith
sixty
(60)
fewer teachers and
saving
seventy-five thousand dollars
($75,000.00)
annually by
this
step.
..
454
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