ool of its own, one of its arguments is always that this
school will keep the children in its own group, racially and religiously.

The North Middle Western states--Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa,
the Dakotas, Nebraska--have large immigrant groups. In the rural
districts of those states it is a fact that where there exists a private
or parochial school, the public school is neglected, poorly equipped,
and has a very small attendance.

A county superintendent of schools in Minnesota reports:

One of our greatest drawbacks in attendance is the parochial schools.
These retard the attendance and keep the school terms down.[23]

A county superintendent in South Dakota writes:

In a number of districts the attendance is so small, owing to the
fact that many attend the parochial school, that interest and
enthusiasm are lacking.[24]

Another report from Minnesota states that,

the poorest schools in the country are in communities where there
are private schools in connection with a church.

The children attend these for years at a time, and when they return to
the public schools find themselves behind their former companions.[25]

In 1915-16 there were in the state of Wisconsin 78 rural public schools
enrolling five or fewer children, and 445 rural public schools enrolling
six to ten children. The state school authorities explained to the
writer that the small enrollment in certain public schools does not
always indicate that there are not enough children of school age in the
district or that the children do not enroll. Very often in the same
district there is a well-developed parochial or private school attended
by immigrant children. The parents prefer these schools to the public
schools for racial and religious reasons, and contribute liberally to
their development and maintenance.

In a number of cases where there are public and private schools in
immigrant localities, the writer observed an active and intentional
neglect of the public schools by the local school authorities. For
instance, in some cases where the state gives a certain sum of money for
the support of the public schools, the money is deposited in the bank
instead of being used for the development of the public schools. Such
deliberate neglect of the public schools by the immigrant local school
leaders was quite conspicuous in the state of Wisconsin.

[21] _Thirteenth Census of United States_, 1910,