Evening star., 1922-12-21
SCHOOLS DISGRACE,
CHARGES CAPPER,
SCORING CONGRESS
Senator Lays Blame Before
Legislators for miserable"
Failure to Provide.
NEARLY ALL BUILDINGS
LACK ELECTRIC LIGHTS
Fairgrounds a Joke and Only 10
Assembly Halls in Entire
D. c. System.

Congress has failed miserablv in
supplying even the physical basis
for a healthy and vigorous educa-
tional system in tho National Cap
itai." Senator Capper Of Kansas chair
man OF the Joint congressional com
mtttee on public schools Of the Dis
trict. told the Senate today In an ad
dress In which he placed the blame
for school conditions hero squarely on
the Congress. Senator Capper dis
cussed In detail the school situation
as he had found It during the sweep
ing investigation which his commit
tee conducted in recent months.
Not Meeting 0blisatisa.
| Congress Is not In any sense meet
ing its obligation to the city of
Washington" said Senator Capper
The District OF Columbia is perhaps
the most arbitrarily governed area
in the United States. Tho indifference
and lack Of Intelligent consideration
which the people OF the District OF
Columbia have to meet in their gov
erning body Is almost sufficient cause
for them to gather in force end march
on Congress-"
This statement on the part OF Sena-
tor Capper. coming on the heels of the
refusal of the House appropriations
subcommittee to hear the citizens
| committee on the needs OF the schools
in connection with tho District, was
taken as an indication that a strenu-
to provide adequate school appropria-
tions. whatever action may bo taken
| by the other body.
Crges Constructive Program.
The Kansas senator insisted that
the needs Of the District schools can
not be met by piecemeal legislation.
He strongly urged upon tho Senate
the need Of q constructive program Of
school legislation. He said,
school situation heer Is a disgrace to
| the National Capital. One-third OF
the l54 school buildings in Washing
ton are ramshackle testimony to the
| inemciency Of the Congress that des-
ignates the kind Of public school: for
buildings arc SO poorly adapted for
school purposef that It Is travesty
upon childhood 10 continue them In
use. Congress has repeatedly ap-
tional surveys in the District Of Co
| lumbia. and as often has failed - act
upon their recommendation. In
1898. for instance, a commission rec
ommended that ten buildings be
fams viewpoint As Il has 4. present.
Congress proceeded assiduously to
| forget the recommendation, and
these ten buildings are still In use
That was fourteen yearS ago. and
! which should be abandoned has in
creased to at least twice that num-
Der.
Only Thirteen Assembly Nails.
Tho mention of Fairgrounds to the
average parent in Washington pro-
| vokes q smile. Fairgrounds are SO
| few and SO small that IL Is q misuse
tually all of tho schools are without
electric lights and only thirteen out
of the entire system have assembly
halls. Many Of the buildings have
| been in use for nearly half q century.
yet even with this dilapidatcd equip
eight portable schools. More than
| 5000 children. right here in the capi-
| tai Of the nation. are receiving their
| education in these portable schools.
tho schools found in the mountainous
sections and the thinly settled states
OF the west.
"Twenty-seven rented buildings. in
GLIDING the back room Of q coiored
church and several sccond-story
apartments are being used for school
purposes. At the end Of last fiscal
ycar there were approximately 40.
'Dr. Ballou. the superintendent OF
schools. has informed me that in
! spite Of the new ciassrooms which
have been opened. this number has
grown larger since the opening of
school this fall. another instance OF
! short ightedness on the part of Con-
arcss. Our subcommittee on schools
/ finds in Warrington today more than
| 1000 children receiving three-and-
a-half hours of instruction inatead of
vided In all adequately financed school
| aystoms. Children are forced to be
at school at $3.50 In the morning and
are sent home at IL o'clock In order
come at o'clock This latter group.
even with three and -a-half hours in
struction, does not get out until 40.
or just In time to get home before
dark. am told by the school ON
the 10000 school children are receiv-
| ing only 50 per cent OF . normal
public school education.
Testinsnisls Of Disgrace.
These statistics mean nothing .un-
less the members Of Congress are suf-
hcisntly interested to visualixs the
conditions which they describe. But
whether or not the Senate 10 inter-
| ested, these are testimonials Of dis
grace, and the members OF Congress
cannot escape the disgrace.
I'm the high schools. conditions are
even worse. There are 1000 moro
| students in the high schools than tho
buildings can adequately accom-
modate. This city has one Of the
highest percentages in the country
for high school Attendance. It 10 an
admirable tribute to the quality OF
teaching But. instead Of encoura 1fng
this spirit, Congress has withheld the
msteriai support which Il Justly de-
| sArves.
Physical Basis Laeking.
| Congress has failed miserAbly in
supplying even the physical basis for
healthy and vIgorous educational
system. And when I say Congress.
I do not mean to shift the. respensi-
bility to an abstraction, mean the
members Of this body and Of the
House Of Representatives. Congress
! has been generous only with sxpres-
sions Of good tntentioEA We hear
much talk Of = model school system
for tho capital Of the nation II 10
beautiful phrase. 1t 10 . phrase
which the members Of Congress are
accustomed to use In placattng the