RUSHDEN NATIONAL v. BOARD SCHOOLS

SIR —In your last issue the Rev. Canon Barker is reputed to have said at the annual conference of the united rural deaneries of Higham Ferrers, held at Thrapston on May 16th, that they had in his parish (Rushden) a School Board rate of 10d. in the £, and in contrasting the expense of the National Schools, stated that with more than double the number o£ scholars they were not much more than a tithe of the expense of the Board Schools. Such a statement, on the authority of the Rector of Rushden, would naturally be received as conclusive evidence, and if allowed to pass unquestioned would be reiterated by other speakers whenever it appeared necessary to denounce the extension of the School Board system. I claim, therefore, to question Canon Barker's assertions. I have no means of learning the expenses of conducting the National Schools, but I can safely challenge Canon Barker to prove in detail that the Board Schools are more expensively conducted than the National Schools. As regards the principal item, namely the teaching staff, the National School has always had the reputation of paying higher salaries than the School Board, and I have no doubt that reputation is still maintained. Instead of a 10d. rate at Rushden, in no one year has it reached 8d. in the £, while from the following statistics it will be seen that the average rate for the past three years is 7d. in the £, which includes the amount necessary for the repayment of building loan, expenses of school management, and also the terrible bogey, viz., cost of administration:—

Rushden Board Schools

Expenses, Including salaries, books, apparatus, fuel, cleaning, repairs, rates, &c.:—

Provided in the following manner:

The cost of education has, therefore, been £1 9s. 3d. on each scholar in average attendance, or £1 0s. 4d. for each child on the register. Of every pound expended 4s. 4d. has been contributed in the shape of school fees, 11s. 5d. has come from the imperial taxes in Government grants, and 4s. 5d. out of the rates.

The other items of expenditure paid for exclusively out of the rates are as follows:-

Repayment of principle and interest of loan for school building:-

Administrative expenses, including elections, rates, and school attendance officer:—

The above figures will enable Canon Barker to make a more accurate, and therefore fairer comparison between Church and Board Schools, and if he will supply similar information in respect to the National Schools, your readers will them be in a position to judge whether or not the facts warranted the Rector's assertions.

I would add that if managers of church schools are enabled for sectarian purposes to retain the education of the children in their own hands, free from popular control, they ought not to grumble at having to contribute 4s. 5d. per head, even assuming they cannot educate the children at a cheaper average than the Rushden Board Schools. From a church stand point merely this must be considered a, good investment.—Sincerely yours,

GEORGE DENTON
Rushden, May 28th, 1884.