Other Side Of Tuition Question

Believes the Foreign Students Should Pay a Fee

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FOR PRIVILEGES OBTAINED

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And That Taxpayers Should Not Be Burdened With Their Education

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To the Editor of the Argus:

Numerous communications to the papers, recently, would indicate that the citizens of Ann Arbor are an extremely penurious lot of people with regard to educational affairs. It seems to be forgotten that in addition to carrying on a good public school system citizens of this city built and thoroughly equipped the School of Music in the panic years of 1893 and 1894; that on that investment, not a stockholder has realized a cent in the intervel, and that failure to receive any returns, ahs met with scarcely any complaint whatever. It is forgotten further, that during the trying years of the starting of this school, a company of citizens have carried on from year to year a large debt which has been incurred in conducting the school. It seems to have been forgotten further, that citizens of Ann Arbor, both by subscription and taxation, have given generously to educational institutions usually conducted by municipalities.

At the present time, a project is just ahead of us to add a $30,000 wing to the high school. Why is this necessary? Is it for the children of our citizens? Not at all-it is made necessary because of the fact that we are providing education for the children of strangers. The present high school is ample for our own necessities, and no additional building would be needed were it not for the foreign students in the school. We provided for 247 of these last year, not does this tell the story. The writer remembers distinctly a well-to-do citizen of Flint, who came to Ann Arbor because of its superior schools; he boasted that he paid is school taxes in Flint; he was only nominally a resident, and the citizens of Ann Arbor paid for his children's education. I remember a well-known lawyer of Indiana, whose family lived here for a number of years, and received the benefits of our schools while the father of the family paid taxes in another state. A similar statement might be made concerning a wealthy miner from Montana. Now it seems to me that in the case of people like these who are abundantly able to pay the tuition and who do not pay taxes, that our earlier school boards in adopting the present system, have adopted the only means for securing a portion of the cost of the instruction given from those whom it benefits. If I am correctly informed, even my friend Herbst came to Ann Arbor, form Minnesota, primarily, because of the educational advantages of the town. If one of his children takes a language in the high school, it will cost him $6; if three of them take languages, it will cost him $18. If the cost of this instruction for languages be put into the tax budget, it might increase Mr. Herbst taxes 25 per cent. His plea, therefore, "that he desires to escape double taxation," will scarcely hold-on the contrary, a fairer statement of the case would probably be that he desires to escape the cost of the instruction altogether, and, in this connection it must be remembered that the tuition for instruction in languages does not cover the cost of the same. It is not so many years ago, since the writer received such instruction in the high school, having earned the money to pay for same, himself, and it was not so great a burden either. Further, he believes that almost any good lusty boy (unless he be one of Dr. Herdman's "degenerates") would earn the trifling price of tuition asked. One of the Ithaca, N. Y., high schools charges from $500 to $700 per pupil. If the charge in Ann Arbor were something of this sort, it would be worthy of the hullabaloo that has been raised. The amount in an individual case is little; but the total of tuition amounts to more than $6,000 per year. Were the tuition removed, either so much more must be added to the tax levy, or else our school must deteriorate accordingly. The cry of a "free school" is purely a sentimental one; good "horse sense" would indicate that there is no hardship in the cost of tuition as fixed, and if the $6,000 received in this way be removed, the chances are very strong that the quality of the instruction given would be considerably lessened. We may today be proud of the quality of that instruction. The writer believes that the faculty of our high school excels in quality that of any sectarian college in the state, and he does not wish to see it cheapened. If we furnish the buildings for foreign pupils and for the transients from Flint, Indiana, Montana, and, possibly Minnesota, these same people should be willing to pay a part of the bare expense of instruction. In the case of our own scholars, if any of them are unable to pay the tuition, let it be remitted. If the board of education has power to furnish books on the same grounds, it can certainly remit the cost for languages to those who need it-in this class, I should not place Mr. Herbst; he is a man who is well-to-do, and should be willing to pay for the cost of instruction of his children. 

While writing about this matter, I desire to attach the following extract taken from a recent Chicago paper, the reference being to manual training schools:
"LaPorte, Ind., Sept. 24-Charles M. Schwab's plan to establish industrial training schools in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio is outlined in a letter to a friend here by Professor W. N. Hailman, head of Mr. Schwab's industrial school at Homestead, Pa. Any city raising a specified sum of money will be endowed with an amount, depending on the population, sufficiently to erect proper buildings and properly start the institution. Mr. Schwab is ready to put the plan in immediate operation."

While the gifts from Mr. Schwab seem to be limited to the states named, in view of what Ann Arbor is doing for the education of children from without her borders, Mr. Schwab would probably respond to a proper application from our school board; if so, it would solve the problem of the south wing to our high school, and, if our citizens should then see fit to make the old central portion conform in architectural features to the 2 wings, we should have a high school building, ample in size and satisfactory in appearance. 

I have noticed that it has been proposed to place the new library, which is to be erected under the direction of the board of education, in conection with the city hall, same to be built on the city lot at the corner of Fifth and Huron street. I desire to protest, as an individual citizen, against any such proposition. Ann Arbor should be distinctively the "Arbor" city, and this does not mean that a city hall and a public library should be cramped into the space of a store lot. I do not believe the ladies' library site is suitable either; it has only 56 feet front. If any such plan of a combination building is to be carried out, let it be on a larger piece of ground. Let the city lto and ladies' library lot both be sold. As an example, let the morgan property, on Huron street, opposite Judge Kinne's, be purchased, together with enough neighboring property to make a respectable sized lot. Let the city put $20,000 or $25,000 in a city hall fronting on Fifth avenue; let the Carnegie funds be put into a building fronting on Huron street, opposite Judge Kinne's, be purchased, together with enough neighboring property to make a respectable sized lot. Let the city put $20,000 or $25,000 in a city hall fronting on Fifth avenue; let the Carnegie funds be put into a building fronting on Huron street, but let ground enough be taken so that there may be a bit of green lawn, a few shrubs and even a few trees around this property.

At Pittsburg, the $2,000,000 Carnegie library is located well within the entrance of Schenley Park, and it therefore has several hundred acres of park for its surroundings. The Carnegie building in Homestead is on the confines of the town, about as far removed from its business as it can be. In these cities, undoubtedly, Mr. Carnegie's ideas have been carried out, and I believe they are correct. I do not regard the suggestion of the Morgan site as an ideal one by any means; it does not afford the room that should be secured. Probably better sugestions will occur to others. 

I am in favor of buying more land somewhere, and am willing to pay my share of the taxes for any discreet purchase. At the same time, I believe that the course of our school board with reference to non-residents and to transient residents with regard to tuition is correct. While willing to be taxed for legitimate purposes, I do not believe that Ann Arbor can afford to allow all creation to "dead head" it at her schools. The fact that there is free tuition at a dozen places in Michigan, cuts no figure here whatever. Our situation is peculiar to ourselves, and should be handled accordingly.

There is no other Michigan city where from 60 to 75 per cent of the high school attendance is either of non-residents or from the transient population of the city, both classes being as well able to pay for instruction as are our citizens to pay all for them. 
I am very respectfully yous,

G. F. ALLMENDINGER,

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The following, on the same subject, is from a private letter of a former Ann Arbor man, a graduate of the high school and the university, for years a high school principal and city superintendent and with years of experience in the department of education at Lansing. He says:

I want to commend some things I see in the Argus. I like to see letters from local people discussing local questions, and of late the Argus has had a number such. I am glad to see you getting ofter that relic of the dark ages-a tuition charge for languages in the high school. The next thing that ought to be attacked is charging bonafide residents tuition even for attending the grades. This is done for the first six months or year, that a person lives in Ann Arbor. My own opinion is that the law permitting such a charge is unconstitutional. Every resident of Michigan ought to be entitled to free tuition for his children in some school supported by the state. When the head of a family moves to Ann Arbor he loses his free school privileges in the town from which he moved and does not gain such privileges in Ann Arbor until after a residence of several months.