A careful study of this table reveals many important and interesting facts:

INCREASE IN NET ENROLLMENT. -The total net enrollment of pupils increased during the year 1899-1900 from 493,849 to 523,419, an increase of 29,570 or about 6 per cent. The following table shows how this increase was distributed throughout the various boroughs:

For purposes of comparison, the following table, showing the net enrollment in 1898-99, and the increase in each borough over the net enrollment for 1897-98, is presented:

Further on I shall point out the relation existing between the figures just given and the additional school accommodations provided during the year in the several boroughs. For the present, it is necessary only to note the significant facts that the net enrollment for the entire city in the school year 1899-1900 shows a larger rate of increase over the year 1898-99 than the latter year shows over 1897-98; that the rate of increase has risen from 4 per cent. to 6.5 per cent. in Manhattan and The Bronx and from 5.75 to 12.1 in Richmond; and that the rate of increase has decreased from 5.25 per cent. to 4.2 per cent. in Brooklyn and from 12 per cent. to 8.7 per cent. in Queens.

COMPARISON BETWEEN NET ENROLLMENT AND POPULATION. Comparing the net enrollment of pupils in the public schools with the population as determined by the recent census taken by the United States authorities, we find the following results:

Of the whole population, 15.2 per cent. attended the public schools some part of the school year 1899-1900. Manhattan and The Bronx are the only boroughs in which the proportion of the population in the public schools falls below the average for the entire city. It should be understood, however, that the Children's Aid Society Schools, and other corporate schools in these boroughs-institutions which receive a considerable share of the public school moneys—— had a net enrollment of 27,949 pupils during the year. The large number of children in these "corporate" schools accounts to some extent for the smaller proportion of the population found in the public schools of Manhattan and The Bronx. The number of children enrolled during the year in the corporate schools of Brooklyn was 5,454.

The interesting facts given above may be stated in another way, as follows: In Manhattan and The Bronx, one person out of every 6.8 persons in the population was enrolled some part of the year in the public schools; in Brooklyn, one person out of every 6.5 persons; in Queens, one person out of every 5 persons; in Richmond, one person out of every 5.5 persons. The larger proportionate attendance in Queens and Richmond may be accounted for by the facts that, as those boroughs are still semi-rural in character, and as their population is relatively sparse, it has been less easy to establish and maintain private schools, in opposition to the public schools, while the transient element among the people is smaller. Whatever the reasons may be, more children in Queens and Richmond, in proportion to population, are in the public schools, than in Manhattan, The Bronx, and Brooklyn.

REGULARITY OF ATTENDANCE.-The regularity of attendance is determined by a comparison between the average register and the average daily attendance. The percentage of daily attendance on average register for the whole city was 90-a very high standard and a most creditable record.

In this respect, Manhattan and The Bronx led the other boroughs with a standard of 92 per cent. In Brooklyn, the percentage was 88 per cent.; in Queens, 89 per cent., and in Richmond, 85 per cent. These percentages, unfortunately, cannot be regarded as an absolutely accurate index of the regularity of attendance in the several boroughs. They are only approximations, but they are very close approximations. The reason is that the register of pupils is not kept in the same way in the several boroughs. In one borough a child's name is stricken from the roll whenever he has been absent a certain number of days, no matter what the cause of his absence may be; in another borough, an absent pupil's name is retained on the rolls until it is definitely known that he has been withdrawn from the school he has been attending. In the latter instance the regularity of attendance, as shown by the percentage of the average daily attendance on the average register, seems to be much lower than in the former, though such may not in reality be the case. The method of keeping the school registers is, however, a matter within the jurisdiction of the several borough school boards, and, so far, it has appeared impossible to secure any uniformity of plan. The result is inaccuracy of knowledge regarding a most important feature of school statistics where the utmost accuracy is required. This is but one of a thousand inconveniences that arise from diverse methods of school administration in the different boroughs.

NUMBER OF SITTINGS PARED. The great importance of having a uniform method of keeping the school register will be appreciated when it is understood that a comparison between the average register and the number of sittings is, or should be, a large factor in determining the relative amounts of money to be expended at any given time for new school buildings in the several boroughs. The following table shows the number of regular

AND AVERAGE REGISTER COM

sittings in the school houses of the several boroughs as compared with the average register :

Again, as at the close of the preceding year, Brooklyn is the only borough in which the school register exceeded the number of sittings. In 1898-99 the register in the Brooklyn schools exceeded the number of sittings by 1,381; in 18991900, the excess had grown to 4,257. These facts point. clearly to the conclusion that Brooklyn at present stands more in need of new school buildings than any other borough. This conclusion is strongly supported when we consider the increase in the number of sittings, the number of children who attend school only part time, and the number of vacant rooms, in the several boroughs..

INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF SITTINGS.-The following table shows the number of sittings in the school houses of the several boroughs at the close of the school year 1898-99 and at the close of the year 1899-1900, with the increase in each borough: