The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-24
Gary's School System

Gary's School System
 Gary, Indiana, founded by the Uni ted States Steel corporation only about eight years ago, has now a population estimated at 1000 and public school system that is attracting the attention of educators and students of sociology in all parts of the country. So many new and constructive features are em- braced in its public school work that the United States bureau ot educatlon has recently issued in pamphlet form a report by William Paxton burrls, dean of the College for Teachers of the University of Cincinnati, who had made personal investigations and ob- tained his information at first hand. This phamphlet, or bulletin as the government styles it, contains about fifty pages, is elegantly printed and is beautifully illustrated.
 Gary is situated on the southermost shore of Lake Michigan, about thirty miles southeast of Chicago. It IS named in honor of the chairman of the Steel corporation, Judge E. H. Gary. When the foundations of the town were laid there, were only "wastes of shifting sand dunes, dotted here and there with clumps of shrub oak trees and broken in places with swamps." It has now all the public utilities common to modern cities.
 Professor Burris says that the pop ulation of Gary is made up of for eigners to an extent unusual even IT manufacturing centers. Many of the inhabitants are very recent emigrants and something like thirty nationalities are represented there. While many skilled workmen, officials and scien- tific specialists connected with the va rious industries constitute an educated part of the community, very large percentage of the labor force is un- skilled and many of these workmer are ignorant of the English language The children of all these foreign fam. lilies attend the public schools, and are trained for the best sort of Ameri- can citizenship. Says the report:
 The rapid growth of the city and
 the character of the population pre-
 sented a problem of uncommon diff
 culty in providing adequate and suit
 able educational facilities Provision
 for these, however, was a first con
 sideration by the city builders, and
 while keeping pace with the increase
 in population, there has developed in
 this city a unique and ingenious syn
 thesis of educational influences which
 this bulletin seeks to describe and
 eN1,uate.
 The interest in the school system
 to be found here has become so wide-
 SpIedC lbdt lHe DOdTu or euucdtlOn
 has found it necessary to set aside
 certain dates for visitors, with the
 request not to come at any other time,
 in order that teachers may properly
 perform their regular school duties.
 There are larger school buildings il some of the great American citie than those found at Gary; but ther, are not many of more pleasing artistic appearance or with sanitary appoint ing receives attention, but strict re gard is paid also to grammar, litera ture and other humanizing studies, in cluding music. The playground has large part in the Gary system, and tn whole atmosphere is said to be idea
 The first schoolhouse in Gary cos $550. The cost of school building to date is about s625,O00. In 190 there were only 143 children in schoo and only four teachers were employed Tn 1913 there were 120 teachers an 4O00 pupils. In 1906 the teachers pay roll was $500; in 1913 it wa $120,000. Such an admirable schoc system as Gary's costs money, c course, but the tax payers furnish th revenue and do it gladly. The schoc tax of 1912 totaled $244,6S7 1lle tota school tax in five years has beel nearly s1.o0o,OOc. The school librar,