Evening star., 1927-09-18
BY BEN McKELWAY.

DGAN AL
And then the whining schoolboy, with
his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping
like a snail
Unwillingly to school.
Shakespeare, according to the mod.
ern philosophy Of elementary educa.
ton. is far behind the times. or at
least he should be. The sc, 900 Wash
ington children who strap UP their
books tomorrow, must go with shin
ing morning face but they should
not creep, unless it be to cross the
street intersections. unwillingly to
school. For the efforts Of those in
charge of our schools are being con-
centrated on making school as attrac-
the child will be interested and kept
interested; place where the desire
to learn will be adorned with the ad-
vantages of learning; where the class
room stimulates, rather than represses.
the busy, cropping mind Of child. The
millennium has not been attained
which sees the children scratching the
calendar on the first of September as
they do on the first of December.
School days have not triumphed over
the siren of Summer vacation. But
their call is more attractive, sweeter
than it used to be.
The mother who bundles her child
off to school tomorrow for the first
time doubtless experiences mixture
of emotions. She looks forward eager
ly to transferring heavy Responsible
ity from her own shoulders to those
of the teacher, at least during the
I. )rning hours. But she feels a slight
tugging in the region of her heart as
she watches the sturdy youngsters
starting out so confidently to capture
the world and lay it at her feet. sShe
has a motherly, therefore a sympa-
thetic anticipation Of the many STUN
bling blocks ahead. stumbling blocks in
her mind, but mountains to a child.
She may take comfort, however, from
the fact that the times are changing.
Every year the school system becomes
l,si Of a hungry machine which seizes
it's raw material wholesale, some OF II
few years later to po''r from a spout
marked "passed" and another part to
drip from a spout marked "unf1t. The
ideal school system is one which
adopts it's facilities , the childs needs.
The other idea. that of moulding the
child TO ht the dimensions OF the
school system, is losing force.
The Washington school system,
especially in the last seven years, has
experienced the advantages and the
disadvantages OF a keenly watcniui
public interest. On the one hand the
school officials have had only to mark
out a. course designed for the better
ment of the local schools in order TO
enlist a public eager to get behind the
wheel and push. On the other hand,
washington is unique in that Its resi-
dents, lacking opportunity to express
their wishes through the ballot, voice
their sentiments in great deal OF
talk. Much of this talk is constructive.
Much of it is nonsense. Much OF 1t is
worthwhile criticism, and much OF 1t
is an aimless harping on subjects OF
which the takers know little. Where
talking entails no responsibility. one
finds it in huge quantities, ana TINS
Is particularly true of the schools.
The school Is the one municipal instl'
tuition in which virtually every resident
has a vital interest. Washington prob
ably voices more suggestions, good and
bad, on how to run its schools than
any other city of comparable size in
the country.
When DR.. Ballou came to Washing.
ton in 1920 as superintendent of
schools the school system was the
target for a great deal Of criticism
and the center of much discussion.
DIR. Ballou was confronted with the
task Of choosing, from many items
that needed attention, a program for
the betterment of the schools that
would find a united city behind it. The
program had to be free of personali-
ties, for the city and the schools We're
sick Of personalities. DR.. Ballou and
the Board of Education set themselves
to work on the five-year building pro-
gram, and Washington got behind IT..
Congress found-possibly to its sur
prise-that there was subject on
which there was no dissent. The five
year building program is now going