STATE AND LOCAL EXPENDITURES 29

When the prices of labor and materials increase rapidly, the
most likely reaction is a curtailment of school construction.
When these prices fall, the volume of construction increases.
Consequently the figures for total school expenditures do not
reflect the decline that otherwise might be expected because
of the lower price level. While variations in school expenditures
 from year to year are not explainable on the basis of
price level changes, the latter are, nevertheless, important in
accounting for the change in expenditures between a year
like 1927 or 1929 and a year considerably earlier, such as
1915 or any of the years preceding.
Other important factors in the growth of school expenditures
 are the increase in the school population and the shift
of population from the country to the urban centers. The
increase in the number of pupils enrolled in Missouri schools
has not been particularly rapid, but even a small increase
frequently represents a problem which those in authority
must try to solve by adjusting existing facilities or by providing
 for additions to the teaching staff or the school plant,
or both. Even more significant is the trend in the distribution
 of population between the urban centers and the rural
sections of the state. Today more than one half of the population
 of Missouri is classified as urban. The movement from
the farm has been particularly rapid during the past decade.
Educational facilities in urban communities are relatively
more expensive and are more adequate on the whole than are
those in rural sections. A population shift such as has
recently occurred in Missouri is naturally reflected in an increase
 in school expenditures at a more rapid rate than the
increase in total or in school population. These factors,
together with the higher educational standards that are constantly
 demanded, constitute the most important reasons for
the rise in the level of local school expenditures.
Expenditures for Local Roads
Table 9 shows the disbursements for local roads for the
years 1921 to 1929. The data presented in this table do not
include the expenditures of the state for highway construction
 and maintenance. Neither do the data include the expenditures
 of cities and incorporated towns for streets and