New-York tribune., 1922-10-18
Pupils on p art
Time Gain Four
Fold Since 'l8
Nudd Says 2O2,39l Are in
Makeshift Classes, in Ad-
dition to l53,I66 Who
Cannot Get Full Work
Assails Dual Control
Uses School Boards Own
Figures To Answer Hylan's
Charge of Exaggeration

part time in the elementary and high
schools in this city, there are 2o2, ,s9l
children on various make shift pro-
grams, detrimental to their proper edu-
cation, such as double sessions. These
positive assertions were made yester-
day by Howard W. Nudd. director of
the Public Education Association of
this city, in answer to the charge of
Mayor Hylan that part time figures
have been exaggerated by the power
full Interests" Mr.. Nudd added that
he got his facts from what he con-
sidered good authority - the Depart
ment of Education.
AT the budget hearing before the
Board Of Estimate last Friday rep
resentative of the United Parents AS
sociation requested additional schools
TO reduce the number of part time ses-
slons, and in answer to the request
Mayor Hylan said: part time is not
as great as reported by the Gary-Nudd-
Rockefeller com 5ination. The president
OF the Board Of Education is prepar-
ING figures to refute the claims of in
crease in part time"
Refuted by Ettinger
1t is supposed that the Mayor re-
ferred to the opinion expressed re-
Gently by George j. Ryan, president Of
the Board of Education, that a large
part of the pupils listed under the
heading of part time" should be
elassed under double sessions" and
were really getting the benefit of full
time in the schools. In refutation Of
this William l.. Ettinger, Superin-
q Hnfe nf Snh
munication presented at the last meet
ing of the Board of Education, showed
that almost the opposite was the true
state OF affairs. This report, dealing
cnly with the high schools, revealed
that the pupils on double sessions lose
an aggregate of nearly 100000 pupils
periods q week and that, as a matter
of fact, most of those on double ses-
sions should really be classed as part
time.
Mr.. Nudd in his statement yester-
day made comparison of the official
part-time figures for the last five years,
which shows that the number of pupils
in this class this year is more than
tour times greater than in 1918. At
that time there were 38,165 children on
part time and now there are ,166.
Mr.. Nudd said further:
Last year there were more than
100000 children in classes of forty or
more. While the figures this fall are
not yet available it is obvious that
if the new seats provided this Septem-
Der were inadequate to care for the
increase in register, SO that part time
and double sessions increased, there
could be no decrease in the size Of
overcrowded classes
Pupils Obliged to Stand
An instance of this condition is the
situation in the Commercial High
School in Brooklyn, which, in it's main
building, runs on single full time
session. Yet in virtually every class
many of the pupils have to stand for
lack of seats, and many Of the classes
have to be held in laboratories, where
there are no seats at all, and the chill
dren have to sit on radiators or any
other available substitutes for seats.
Mr.. Nudd's statement continues:
Meanwhile, some members of the
Board Of Education, egged on by the
Mayor and apparently oblivious of the
elementary mathematical fact tina.
$4,000 new school seats against $4,000
increase in register is bound to pro-
duce surplus of several thousand
additional children without adequate
accomm odations, are loudly proclaim
ing that somebody has padded the fig
ures. All of this results in aimless
and demoralizing controversy within
the school system and absorbs much
valuable time and energy that could
be better utilized in getting down to
brass tacks and devising practical
ways to meet the emergency. In this
futile effort to pass the buck the
children are completely lost sight Of,
While this indefensible wrangle goes
on hundreds Of thousands of children
are receiving a partial education for
citizenship and personal efficiency.
Attacks Dual Control
"The dual control of the public
school system by TIE city and the state
has proved disastrous. 1t is choking
professional initiative and impeding
normal progress. Efficient administra-
tion win be impossible until legisla.
tion is enacted that will provide CONF
petent Board Of Education, released
from endless red tape and petty bick-
erings and empowered with adequate
| financial control to devote it's efforts
entirely to the welfare of the chill
dren.
designing politicians may attempt
! to link those who stand for such re-
! organization with 'the interests with
all the sinister meaning that term is
intended to imply, but the work will GO
on increasingly, in the belief that In
that direction lies more than lip serv-
ice. to the people for whose children's
| welfare alone the public schools exist
a