New-York tribune., 1921-10-29
Mothers Join
I'm Protest at
Dirty Schools
Parent, Suffering From Ill
ness. Has to Take Older
Girl Out of Classes TO Keep
Little Ones ON Part Time
Hours Disrupt Homes
Women Urged to Use Ballot
TO Gust Hysan Regime and
Aid Educational Facilities

The troubles of mother who was
TOO Ill to accompany her youngest child
20 school at 1880 every morning and a
child out of school were revealed in
an interview yesterday.
The mother was Mrs. Strand, $40
East Seventeenth Street, whose chill
dren go to Public School so.
'Last winter I was i'll for months" !"
she said, "and l tried to get pass or
special permission for my older girl,
who went to school at $780, to come
home at 10 o'clock and get her little
sister, who was due at school at 10:30,
but they said she missed so much time
and she was on part time, anyway
that they would give the pass for only
two months. Of course, was sorry to
take her out of school. but what could
/ do! 1t is all right for mothers who
are able to take the littiest children
to school, but it Is terrible for the
others TO think of letting six and seven
year old children travel the long
distance to school that are necessary
when the schools are so crowded. What
we need Is more schools all over the
city.
Schools Need Cleaning
"But while they arc building them
it would be a good thing to listen to
the housekeepers and clean UP the
old ones
81 do not believe that Public School
So where my little girl goes, has been
painted in years and years. A couple
of weeks ago they asked us to come and
see the children in the school. l want
to tell you that if the mothers kept the
children in the kind of rooms that the
schools keep them in there would be
great talk about it. Every year we
try to have our homes freshened up
with paint and paper, but the places
where the children have to go are dirty,
and unsanitary, too.
"Then the children are crowded in so
closely, always two in seats made for
one, or three in seats made for two,
that any kind of disease that one child
may have is transmitted to another.
believe in having single seats in school
rooms, so that children do not need to
catch everything that gets started in
a school room"
Mrsh Helen Callahan, 147 East
Thirtieth Street. said: 81 do think that
they ought to think just little of he
mothers when they make their school
schedules. Children of the same fam
lily are often scattered to two or three
schools on two or three schedules, and
it takes all of the mothers time to keep
them in school at all. If complaint is
made they offer you a transfer, and say,
Put the child in another school, but
everywhere it is so crowded that
mothers know that it is impossible to
get the children into other schools"
Mrs. Zlotoin, 1928 East Sixteenth
Street, said: 81 wish they would plan
the schools SO that we do not have to
get the little children up so early. My
little boy goes at She is only seven
years old. 1t is not easy to get chill
dren to bed early where there are many
in a family and the apartment is small
We need schools so that the children
can go at regular school hours, instead
of getting up when they are dead for
sleep and being too sleepy to eat prop
crly before they CO."
Woman Afraid to Speak
A mother who expresses herself with
the schools upset the whole home sys-
TEN and make it hard for the mothers,
when asked to give her name, said that
her husband was in a city office aud
'it would not do for her to talk" "But
just the same" she added, 81 do hope
you make them do something about the
schools"
Another mother who wore a Hylan
button, said that she was on the
mothers pension roll and that If she