Evening star., 1928-12-31

~ ONTENT formerly TO meet tneu
problems as they were pre-
sented by the regular admins
~ tration of school business and,
consequently, to build their
record upon the solutions they meted
out, the District school authorities en-
tered this year upon a program OF
initiative activity which established
1928 as outstanding in the annals OF
Washington schools.
Briefly, defense was dropped for Of
fense. and out of the transition and its
ACCOMMODATING near-strife evolved prof.
ects which eliminated only three weeks
ago in the second five-year school build
ing program.
Nineteen hundred and twenty-eight
was begun under q cloud OF doubt, so lar
as the schools were concerned, for In
January the report of the Bureau OF
Efficiency on its years survey OF the
system was expected daily. Made pub
lie finally on January 81, the report for
the most part was highly complimentary
to the current administration and, CIV
ing confirmation as it did to policies
and programs already in force, it served
as a powerful stimulus to the Board of
Education and it's co-working staff of
officers.
corded in the school systems calendar
during the year ending today were not
comparatively small units Of accom-
plishments which could be described as
completed "jobs," but rather embraced
the launching of broader tasks, which
by their very proportions will occupy
most of the new year and perhaps
most of the years ahead Of that to
complete.
Seek More Revenue.
A declaration of purpose for the fun
damental improvement OF the school
system as a whole describes as well as
any other expression, perhaps, the big
gest development of the year 1t en-
| braces the determined efforts of the
school board under DR.. Charles F.
Carusi, president, to obtain higher
percentage of the District Of Columbias
revenue for school purposes, so that the
admittedly inadequate school facilities
could be replaced with ample equip
ment as authorized by the first flve-year
school building program; its efforts to
obtain better coordination between the
school system and the various depart
| ments of the District Government with
| which it deals in business and techn1-
| cal matters; its attempts to obtain i'm
provement of the systems relations with
| the Bureau of the Budget and Congress
on matters of appropriations, and its
efforts to better its methods of securing
school legislation by presenting pro-
posed bills direct to the District COM
mittees of Congress rather than through
! the Commissioners.
Completing this array of projects, the
| Board of Education has framed Sec
ond f1ve-year school building program
which, as the year ends, is in the hands
| of the Commissioners for presentation
| to the current session OF Congress and
by which the board hopes to provide the
system with its sorely needed facilities
| Besides these items, which by virtue
of their scope and purpose cannot be
| confined to the past IL months alone,
1928 gave the schools a program of more
concrete, though perhaps less signit1-
cant, accomplishments
Ask Cut of Million.
| Carried on at first in executive COM
mittee sessions, the Board of Educa-
tion's campaign for more funds for
school use reached its climax early in
, September when the board refused to
trim its estimates for the 1880 budget,
which then was in course of preparation.
The total District estimates had been
forwarded to the Bureau Of the Budget
by the Commissioners and the budget
| bureau returned them with the edict
that they be cut. In attempting to ap-
portion the cut among the various Dis
trict departments, the Commissioners
requested the Board Of Education to
prune approximately 81 100000 from its
estimates of $13,972,000.
The school board, however, con-
vinced that it had reduced its financial
requirements to an absolute minimum,
returned its original estimates to the
Commissioners untouched. DR.. Charles
F.. Carusi, president of the board of
= education and leader in the fight for