Evening star., 1925-03-10
The Schools.

With the s1s 900 900 fve-year school
building program about to be put into
operation, with increases in the sal
aries of local teachers provided Tor
and with the compulsory eoucatlon
and school attendance bill enacted
into law together with provision for
census of all Washington children be-
tween the ages of and Is years and
adequate machinery for enforcement
Of the law, Washington is about to
enter upon an era Of elementary and
high school development hitherto un-
precedented in the city's history. The
combined efforts of the Board OF Edu-
cation, the public, the District Com
raissioners and the Government Of
ticials Immediately concerned has born
admirable fruit, and there is every
promise that, when the five years Of
building shall have been completed
the educational facilities Of the Dis
trict Of Columbia will stand as a
splendid example to the cities Of the
Nation.
This, in contrast to the long years
Of increasing inadequacies and make
shift solutions in the form Of part
time and oversize classes and rented
or portable structures-years in
which District children have suffered
both in the matter of education and
health-is a most happy conclusion.
That it is to be fully taken advantage
Of, that the funds available are to be
so expended as to achieve the maxi
mum in results to the desired end Of
a model public educational system, is
evidenced by the careful and efficient
process Of study and survey being un-
dertaken by school officials and the
District architect. School construc-
ton and location in other cities as far
West as Chicago is to be thoroughly
Investigated, and from the experiences
and practices of others are to be
CLEANED whatever is best for local
usage.
The sum available, s19, 100000, is a
large one-but the arrears to the cor
rection of which it is to be applied are
Of long standing and very extensive.
It is believed that the fve-year pro
gram, supplemented by nominal an
nual appro opriations to care for imme-
diately prospective increases in at
tendance, will put Washington where
it should be in the matter of public
education. But there are no funds
laI 10 irrt. lyac
that every penny it has so generously
appropriated has been expended with
wisdom and is earning interest in the
matter Of better educated and more
healthy Washin gton children, Con-
gress might well be prevailed upon to
increase the fund available should it
prove inadequate for the program as
laid out. But any tendency toward
rash experiment which resulted in un-
wise and inefficient expenditure would
inevitably incur congressional disap-
proval and render difficult that con-
tinuation Of the program so essential
to the future.
So it is that the Washington public
views with whole-hearted approval the
businesslike efficiency Of those charged
with carrying forward the program
as they go about the task Of winnow-
ing the wheat from the chaff Of school
construction, with a view to applying
the best to local needs. With every
scheme given it's proper consideration,
with every step taken with due eau
tion, with every energy lent to the
task Of getting the utmost possible
for the Washington school children of
today and tomorrow out Of every dol
lar spent-the dream of a model
school system for the National Capital
should, and no doubt will, become a
reality.