A distinctive feature of city school systems, and one that has made them an interesting object of study to students of educa tional administration coming from other lands, is the wide diver sity in educational facilities which they provide, with a resulting adaptability of the instruction to the needs of the many different classes in the population which attend. Unlike most European two-class school systems, the American public school has been compelled to organize its instruction about a one-track form of educational organization and provide an educational ladder nomi nally at least open to all. The adjustment to the needs of the different social and intellectual classes which attend has had to be made by providing a diversity of types of classes and instruc tion. This adaptability has been made possible only by reason of the unity of its administration and finance, and it could not have been provided except under a centralized large-scale form of educational organization.
In business administration and finance, the city school district has long enjoyed exceptional advantages. As a part of the State educational organization, the cities share in any apportionment of State school funds and taxes made. In the rate of taxation which must be levied locally or degree of support which must be pro vided, the State has set the limits rather than the local city gov erning authorities. In addition, due to the concentration of wealth
which the city usually represents, and with local school levies made on the city school district as a whole by one administrative board, a pooling of costs is made possible which results in the provision of uniform educational advantages for all without undue burden to any portion of the whole.
In practice, city boards of education determine their own ex penditures, within limits set by the State school law, in approxi mately three-fourths of the cities of the United States, and in the remaining cities they formulate their budget but are dependent on the city council for allotment of the amount they may have to spend, after the State minimum requirements have been met. In the United Mates as a whole, approximately 20% of all money expended comes from State sources, approximately 15% from county sources and the remaining 65% is levied locally, though with wide variations in these proportions in the different States. Approximately 25% of the total taxes levied for all purposes in cities is devoted to the maintenance of schools, with extremes as low as and as high as 4o%. For school administration in other countries see EDUCATION.