Excerpt from Fifth Annual Report of the Board of Education of the City of St. Louis, Mo: For the Year Ending June 30, 1904 Four years ago it was my privilege to submit the annual School Report. It seems fitting now before going further into details to call attention to the general progress made in four years. The progress Of a single year Often seems small, largely of promises and expectations; but when four consecutive years are taken together, we see more clearly and appreciate more fully what has been accomplished. In my former report, while congratulating the city on the general prosperous con dition of the schools, I pointed out as clearly as I could the necessity for several improvements. Let us see what those demands were and how they have been met. I. The demand was made for a larger income - the power to levy a tax of six mills, if necessary, in place of a limit of four mills to the dollar. That power was given by an amendment to the Constitution which was approved by the Legislature in February, 1901, and adopted by the people of the State by popular vote in Novem ber, 1902. AS a consequence the Board levied five mills in 1903 and 572 mills in 1904. II. The general introduction Of free books in all grades was urged, on the ground that the measure would promote the attendance in the higher grades, facilitate the organization and maintenance of class work, and be on the whole economical to parents. Free books and free stationery were, introduced in 1902. The effect upon the attendance in the grades above the fourth was immediate and visible. Two other influences combined with free books to bring about this result, viz. The introduction of weekly lessons in manual training and domestic science in the seventh and eighth grades, and the erection and opening Of the two new High Schools. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.