"In the communal schools of the rural districts, the fee was so small that the poorest families could contribute to the (teacher's) salary.

Assessments on the communal property, besides, helped almost everywhere in providing the teacher with a satisfactory salary, so that these functions were sought after and commonly well fulfilled..

..

Most of the villages had Sisters of Saint-Vincent de Paul for instructors, or others well known under the name of Vatelottes."-- "The partition of communal property, and the sale of that assigned to old endowments, had deprived the communes of resources which afforded a fair compensation to schoolmasters and schoolmistresses.

The product of the additional centimes scarcely sufficed for administrative expenses .-- Thus, there is but little else now than people without means, who take poorly compensated places; again, they neglect their, schools just as soon as they see an opportunity to earn something elsewhere."-- Archives nationales, No.