=Support of Schools.=--About one half of the expense of the schools is paid from the general state fund, one third from local taxation, and the balance comes from income from endowments, church funds, tuition, etc. The general tendency is to make the schools free, according to the recommendation of the minister of education, but some communities still continue to charge tuition. In these cases, there are poor schools for those who cannot pay tuition, thus affording school privileges to all. =The Teachers.=--All teachers of the Prussian common schools are normal graduates, or have had an equal pedagogic preparation.[174] Graduates of the university seldom enter the common school work; they teach in the secondary schools, in private schools, and as tutors. The common school teachers generally come from the common schools. If a child shows special aptness for teaching, the attention of the school inspector is called to him, and, with consent of his parents, he is sent to a preparatory school for three years. His work there is entirely academic in character. At seventeen he enters the normal school and has another year of academic work, after which he begins his technical work. His normal course is three years, the last year being given almost entirely to professional work. Each class in the normal school contains from thirty to thirty-six students, thus making the total number of students in a German normal school about one hundred. As only about thirty can enter from the whole district, it will appear that the opportunities for children to extend the common school course are very limited. After completing the normal course, the graduate is provisionally appointed to a position for three years. He is now under the oversight of his former principal, as well as of the district inspector. If he proves successful in teaching, he is required to pass a final examination, chiefly on pedagogical questions, and then has a life tenure, and can be removed only on the ground of inefficiency or immorality. The average tenure of office with teachers is twenty-five years. The salary is often very low, but with free rent, fuel, and light, the schoolmaster's income is by no means inadequate. His salary increases with the years of service, and his prospective pension also increases year by year.[175] The German schoolmaster is a state officer. He commands, by virtue of his position, the respect which his character, his self-sacrifice, his efficiency, and the great work that he is doing deserve. "It is the schoolmaster that has won our battles," said Von Moltke; and it is he that is preparing Germany for the arts of peace as well as those of war.