Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-08
NEW CITY SCHOOLS ALREADY
0UTGRoWN
In Report Superintendent Moore Tells
New Board How to Avoid Past
and Present overcrowd.
ing Evils


ton"
Such is the report DR.. E. C. Moore,
superintendent of city schools, and the
man who is most closely i'm touch with
Los Angeles school conditions, makes
to do away with the crowded condi-
tion of the Angel cltys school chill
dren.
To the Los Angeles public which
has fondly imagined that the schools
built last year would give sufficient
room for an Indefinite time to come,
Superintendent Moore's report to the
new board of education yesterday
AFTERNOON VIII come as a rude and
unwelcome awakening. Dr. Moore
said yesterday:
IF the new schools had been ready
at the beginning of last term. when
they were supposed'to be, they would
have provided sufficient room for the
school children we had then; but the
school population has already out
grown them. When the new school
term begins February II we shall
have almost 1900 more new pupils, all
of whom will have to be placed some
where. We shall have to press into
service bungalows and temporary
structures of all kinds"
Talks Plainly
DR.. Moore's report is a plain talk
to the incoming board, delivered
straight from the shoulder The
school superintendent does not mince
matters, nor endeavor to gloss over the
defects of the present system. OF the
new schools he says:
"In several cases the new buildings
overflowed as soon as they were
opened. Temporary buildings will be
found in use besides the new ones at
West Vernon, Fifty-second street,
Cornwall street, Twenty-fourth street
and Main street and a colony of them
may be seen at San Pedro street, Ver-
non avenue and Fourteenth street.
Our situation is worse today than when
the last bond issue was asked for.
1--WE report that the following new
buildings are needed as soon as they
can be constructed: Four rooms at
Eagle Rock avenue, four rooms at
Edendale, four rooms at Twenty-fourth
street, eight rooms at Fourteenth
street, eight rooms at San Pedro street,
twelve rooms at West Vernon avenue,
new ten or 12-room building on or
near East Vernon avenue, eight rooms
at Fifty-second street, eleven rooms
near jefferson street and Western
avenue and a building south of Slauson
avenue and west of Main street"
AS remedy Prof. Moore sees only
one rational course-that of establish
ing an annual building fund. He says:
"School grounds and school rooms and
equipment foot up about $4,000 per
room; not less than seventy new ones
are needed each year. We should
therefore have an annual building fund
of not less than $210,000.
Better Than Bond Issues
ITO raise this fund in the annual
levy is far more satisfactory than to
get it by repeated bond issues. The
bonding capacity of the city Is limited
and should not be encroached upon.
with an annual building fund the
board of education could purchase
school sites in districts just beginning
to develop and so could get them cheap
and could buy as much acreage as is
needed, rather than pay large prices
for woefully small school grounds, as
at present, when the school house is
almost the last house to be located,
and preparations are made for 1t only
after the district is densely populated"
The condition of the high schools is
little or no better than that of the
grade schools. In his report DR.. Moore
says: 1.-The high schools Of the city
are crowded to capacity and attention
must be given to ways and means of
securing a new high school.
ITO increase the capacity of the
Polytechnic high school we recommend
a. m. and continue until 5:15 p. m,
instead of from 8 to 8. as at present.
Some students could then begin their
studies early in the morning and finish
them in time TO spend a part of the
day in work. Others could begin later
in the day, not finishing until late in
the afternoon. 1t is estimated that
with a proper arrangement of classes
the capacity of the school will be in
creased from one-third to one-half
more by this arrangement that it will
be more satisfactory to the students
than the present one, and that it will
be equally agreeable to the teachers,
as each teacher will be expected to
teach only the same number of periods
as at present"
According to DR.. Moore this change
could be put into effect when the new
term opens in February, if the board
approves.
More Pay for Teachers
From the needs of the pupils Super
intendent Moore turned to the no less
urgent needs of their instructors, maxi
ing strong plea for larger salaries
for the teachers. Dwelling on the fact
that all over the country such steps
are being taken, he expressed the hope
that Los Angeles would not be the
last to take such a step. OF the sal
"Our minimum salary in the grades
at present is $62; our maximum, $50.
1t Is surely not too much to hope that
the citizens and their representatives
will endeavor to change these figures
to $40 and $50, respectively. just as
soon as the city can afford to make
the hire of the laborer more nearly
equal to his worth Indeed, we hope
to live long enough to see the maxi
mum salary which a grade teacher
may draw in Los Angeles raised to
$1,000 per year"
Another important recommendation
of the superintendent Is that the
school department have a special ar
chitect who would plan all the schools
which the board erected. OF the ad-
vantage of such a person he says:
This would give us the advantage
OF a specialists knowledge in planning
our buildings, would enable us to have
the plans drawn as soon as the need
for the building became apparent, and
thus we would be freed from long de-
lays In securing plans after the money
TO erect the buildings is In the treas
ury. 1t would also enable us to give
careful attention to the matter of de-
xeloninp "a tVna of school architecture