Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-18
The Five Year Building Program

The five-year building program as
adopted by the Board of Education
Yesterday proposes new buildings for
the Mckinley and Business High
Schools, purchase of a site for an ad-
dltion to the Armstrong High School.
seven new Junior high school build
lngs and additions to others, IA new
elementary school buildings, purchase
OF sites for future buildings and ad-
dition of Fairgrounds to the District
schools. Such a program would fit out
the District school system effectively
and would practically catch up with
the arrears up to this time. If the
program is adopted promptly and
work is started without delay and the
yearly appropriations are made in ac-
cordance with the plan, in about seven
years from this time this work will
have been accomplished.
1t is always to be remembered that
n construction program arranged for
a certain period is subject to delays,
of authorizing legislation at the be-
ginning, of appropriation during the
period and of construction under the
execution of the law. To estimate a
seven-year lapse with a five-year
building program, reckoning from the
present, is therefore warrantable.
Should Congress adopt this plan and
provide the funds from year to year
,trictly in accordance with it, by Jan
gary l, 1882, therefore, the District
you'd be brought up to date in its
building equipment-that is to say,
brought up to date as of January 1 ,
1925. For the buildings provided for
in this present proposal are all needed
now. If by the rubbing of lamp
some genii could be made to place
this school outfit on the ground ready
for use today, or, say, on New Year
day, Washington would have a COM
plete equipment, and no more than
that. The school children would be
adequately housed for once in the his
tory Of the Capital. Insanitary build
ings could be discarded, half-time
classes could be placed on full-time
basis, the platoon system could be
abandoned and portable schools swept
into the junk pile. That, of course,
il subject to the provision of teachers
to man the plant.
So it is necessary in considering
this five-year building program to re-
III,
measure and not a provision for the
future. 1t is not an eXtravagant esti-
mate of the school building needs.
Testimony to that effect can be had
from school officials and teachers,
from pupils and from parents:
Though this is the short session of
Congress, this measure can, and
should be adopted. If it is postponed
till the next Congress the needs will
have increased, for their is a steady
and large growth of the school pop
ulation year by year. The problem be-
comes annually more difficult. The ar
rears increase.
The District prays that this measure
Will De put upon us passage DIT lTlS
session. despite the fact that only
little over two months remain before
final adjournment. There is no sub
ject that is better understood by the
District committees and the appropri-
alton committees. The money is avail
able for a big start in the execution
of this program. The Senate has
passed a bill to make available for
District uses District tax money now
held in the Treasury, due to failure
to appropriate in the past, and de-
clared to belong to the District by a
joint committee of Congress. Definite
ALLEGATION of this fund to execute the
five-year building program, upon the
equitable basis of the same terms as
those that prevailed when the fund
was accumulated-namel an even
contribution of Federal money-would
permit the beginning of this work
next Summer.
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