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 expendi- tures 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 expendi- tures 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 pro- viding for additions to the teaching staff or the school plant, or both. Even more significant is the trend in the distribu- tion of population between the urban centers and the rural sections of the state. Today more than one half of the popu- lation 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 in- crease 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 con- stantly 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 construc- tion and maintenance. Neither do the data include the ex- penditures of cities and incorporated towns for streets and