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Rural Schools, Districts. Public schools ... «+.$ 420,946.00 Separate schools ... ... 89,054.00 WlA iT n ns Total appropriation .$ 460,000.090 "The total amount of grants actually paid to the elementary schools differs from -- the amount vyoted by a few thousand dollars. This is due to the fact that there are some trifling expenses charged against the legislative vote, such as "prmtlng or _ statistic returns, etc., and a small amount of money is always kept on hand to provide for adijustments of grants. On the sep-- | arate school side of the account, a $140,509 total, which was their share of the $1,665,000 appropria-- tion. The balance had to be divided pro rata. Thus, while the public schools absorbed their whole portion and left nothing undistributed, there was a& large sum to be again divided among the separate schools, which profited at the expense of other sep-- arate schools which did not become entitled to their full share of assint-- ance. No Change in Laws. *"(3) Votes to rural public separate schools, districts, CrTen Amve | We iss c Cmy ue 5 '"'The rights set forth in the act of 1863 are protected, as is well known, by section 93 of the British North America Act, the first clause of which states that the Provinces control education, but--'Nothing in any such law shall prejudicially affect any right or privilege with respect to denominational schools which any class of persons have by law in the Province at the Union.' '"*By direction of the statutes, sec-- tion 6, Department of Education Act, the sums to be appropriated by the Legislature for elementary educa-- tion are voted under three general heads:-- "(1) Votes to urban public and separate schools. "(2) Votes to rural public and separate schools, counties. Hon. Mr. Grant's complete state-- ment, delivered late last night, was as follows: Public schools ........ 81,5147,490.50 Separate schools ... .. 140,509.50 Total appropriation . $1,655.000.00 '"'There has been no change in the legislation affecting separate schools since the present Government took office. Nor have any changes been made in the regulations affecting the grants to urban or rural schools which would give separate schools more money than the amount to which the law entitles them. The system in vogue during 1920 and 1921 is the one which was in opera-- tion before I came to the depart-- ment. *"'Under these headings, the fol-- lowing sums were voted for the fiscal year ending October 31, 19%1: Urban schools ........ $ 197,000.00 Rural schools, counties 1,100,000.00 | Treasury Board order.. 555,000.00 : Rural schools, districts 460,000.00 | "'*Every Separate School Board shall be entitled to a share in the fund annually granted by the Legis-- lature of this Province for the sup-- port of common schools, and shall be entitled also to a share in all other public grants, investments and allotments for common school pur-- poses now made or hereafter to be made by the Province or the munici-- pal authorities, according to the average number of pupils attending such school during the twelve next preceding months, or during the number of months which may have elapsed from the establishment of a new separate school, as compared with the whole average number of pupils attending school in the same city, town, village or township.' Protected by B. N. A. Act. "On the basis of the average atten-- dance in these groups of schools the sums voted were divided between the public and separate schools as follows: Public schools .....,.. Separate schools . ... '"'The share of the separate schools in the Government grant for ele-- mentary education is secured by the Separate School Act of 1863. The clause which applies to this phase of the matter is as follows: Total appropriation Urban Schools. Schools, Counties. «$ 161,.540.00 * 35,460.00 .$ 197,000.00 and *"'This sum was divided on the basis of the average attendance in the schools between the public schools and the separate schools, the former's share being 91.51 per cent. or $1,514,490.50, and the latter 8.49 per cent. or $140,509.50. The share belonging to each class of schools was then distributed among the individual schools of the class | in agccordance with regulations which have:;existed for many years. These regulations take into account such factors as salaries paid to teachers, accommodations, equipment, grade of teacher's certificate, teacher's ex-- perience, and assessment of school section. In this division, the public schools absorbed their total appor. tionment; but on the same basis the separate schools absorbed only $70,-- 863.71 of their total apportionment of $140,509.50, leaving a balance of $69,645.79, or practically 50 per cent., which unquestionably bslong-- ed to and had to be distributed among the separate schools. Distributed Pro Rata. "The balance of the allotment for the rural separate schools was dis-- tributed pro_ rata among these schools as provided for in the regu-- lations. The procedure in making the distribution is the same in every detail as that which has been fol-- lowed for several years, . The sec-- tions of the regulations which pro-- vide for a second or pro rata dis-- tribution are not new. From time to time they have been applied to public schcols as well as to separate schools when. balances have re-- mained unabsorbed. For example, the public schools in 1919 received a 9.5 per cent., and in 1920 a 47 per cent. pro rata increase of un-- absorbed grants. "The statutes and regulations gov-- erning the distribution of the sums voted in support of elementary education among the schools of the Province are the same for public and separate schools. The regular procedure is first to divide the total sum into two parts as directed by the law. The regulations are then applied. As an example, take the vote to rural schools for the year 1921, which was $1,655,000. '"The operation of the factorse determining the distribution has al-- ways given rise to inequalities in the amounts awarded to different schools. The disparity which has been com--| plained of between the grants paid to certain rural separate schools: compared with those to neighboring' public schools is, therefore, not a new | condition. It has been in existence| for years. An examination of the| records as far 'back as 1917 shows: that the same schools now -- cited afforded illustrations of these in-- equalities from year to year. The inequalities are greater now because the Legislature has made more gen--| erous appropriations to elementary| education, and the separate school share has been proportionately in-- creased as the law requires. | Where Disparity Shows. | _'"'The amounts named in , statement belong respectively to public and to the separate sch and had to be distributed by Department of Education, each its own class of schools. _ There no warrant for either increasing diminishing the proportion -- to given to public schools or to ser ate schools, and such has not b done, "The increases in the Legislature appropriations for rural schools which have taken place during the past two years have, indirectly, pos-- sibly been the chief cause of direct-- ing attention to disparities which previously existed. These appropria-- tions were $750,000 in 1919, $1,-- 000,000 in 1920, and $1,655,000 in 1921. The last two increases are the only changes that the present Ad-- ministration is responsible for, and the appropriations have been in-- creased in order to pay in full the grants earned by boards under the regulations established by previous Administrations. se s l e moreover, & portion of th goss hack to consolidated because some schools are : ing the law and cannot 1 pald. '*"The inequ;fi.ties can be traced in general mainly to two causes: First, the total sum of money appropriated Alike, _ *rpPeclIVely to the he separate schools distributed by the Education, each to schools. -- There is either 1ncreaslng or the i8 Srants 4 revenus not obey. legally be _in this _0 _ be to separ-- not been