PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE 257 
and in others they can be adequately financed by local levies 
considerably below the average for the state. 
The population of Missouri is more than fifty per cent 
urban. During the past decade the population of the rural 
sections showed a decline. In most of the counties the 
decline was large enough to be very significant in connection 
with the present problem. On the other hand, the important 
urban centers and many towns and villages showed increases 
in population during the decade, which more than compen- 
sated for the decline in the rural sections. It is not possible 
to measure the extent of the decline during each year of the 
ren-year period. For the present purpose, it may be assumed 
that the decrease in rural population in the counties affected 
was evenly spread throughout the period, and that the popu- 
lation shift is likely to continue for at least some time. 
The significance of this rural decline in relation to the 
problem of public school finance is found in the fact that it is 
a direct causal factor influencing the per capita cost and in 
many instances the per pupil cost of maintaining the one- 
teacher schools in a large number of the rural districts. The 
per capita cost in such districts must increase unless the ex- 
penditures for school purposes decrease as the population 
declines. An increase in state apportionments could at the 
most merely reduce the proportion of the expenditures 
financed by local levies and could not reduce the absolute 
costs or per capita costs. The decline in rural population 
injects a variable into the problem of public school finance, 
which may mean decreased efficiency because of inability to 
maintain the previous length of term or increased per capita 
cost, if the previous level of expenditures is maintained, and 
increased per pupil cost in those districts in which the enroll- 
ment shows a decline as a result of the decline in population. 
The shift in population is probably the most fundamental 
aspect of the school problem. The detailed statistics of the 
fifteenth decennial census showing population by counties 
and smaller governmental divisions will be extremely valu- 
able as an aid in solving the problem. The ten-year trend in 
population can be compared. with the trend in school enroll- 
ment, and such a comparison should indicate the approxi- 
mate change in per capita and per pupil costs in the sections 
with declining rural population.