Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-22
D. c. SCHOOLS FACE
CURTA|LMENT PLAN
Elimination of 10 Teachers in
1880 Bill May Cause Gen.
eraI Retrenchment.

A program of retrenchment. affect
ing both curricula and teaching per-
sonnet administration, faces Washing
ton public schools next year as a result
of the elimination of Is of the proposed
80 new school teachers in the 1880 APP
preparation bill as it was reported to
the House yesterday, it was revealed at
Franklin Administration Building today.
According to the specified classes of
salaries allowed in the bill. the is
teachers thus provided for include one
elementary school teacher and seven
senior high school and seven junior
high school teachers. With this allow
ance, school officials declared this morn
ing, the most serious effects will be
suffered by the elementary and the
senior high schools.
Commenting on the treatment accord
ed the school system In the bill as a
whole, however. the official staff was
unanimous In the opinion that ut Is a
good BILL affording the schools fair
treatment. The teacher cut, in the face
of the amiable attitude of the members
of the subcommittee during the hearings
on the school needs. however, was ad-
mitted "a big surprise"
Effects Explained.
Explaining the effects of the elimina-
ton of 18 of the teachers, Stephen E.
Kramer, first assistant superintendent
in charge Of high schools, and Robert
L. Haycock, assistant superintendent In
charge of elementary schools, said that
with the extension of the normal school
course to three years next year. at least
three of the high school-salaried teach
ers will be placed in the Wilson Normal
and the Minor Normal schools. This
would leave, at the most, only four addi-
tional high school teachers to be d.
high schools. The situation may become
even more acute, II the addition of one
year to the normal courses REQUIRES
more OF the seven qualified teachers.
With one more teacher for the ele-
mentary school system, which has been
augmented with the opening of new
buildings, and further handicapped
with ever increasing enrollments, the
situation can be met only by recruiting
teachers for regular classroom work
from the corps Of special subject in
structors. This would necessitate the
narrowing of the education afforded
Washington children in the public
schools by reducing the hours of in
struction In music, drawing, physical
training, manual training, domestic
science, nature study and gardening
and speech correction. If demands
placed upon the schools next September
increase materially over this years en-
rollment, Mr.. Kramer said. 1t would
not be impossible to imagine the COM
plete abandonment of one or more OF
the special subjects.
Public education is the only busi-
ness in the world which cannot turn
away It's trade Mr.. Kramer comment
ed When the children of the city
come to us and to our buildings for an
education, we've got to take them in"
Special Courses Reduced.
The number of special course teachers
already has been reduced from 228 in
November. 1925. to 1913 at present. and
further inroads upon this staff cannot
help having direct effect upon the
curricula of the public school system, it
was pointed out by officials. Another
means of coping with the reduced num-
Der OF teachers, they said, would be the
shifting Of the school children from
building to building in an effort to
equalize the pupil load which each
teacher would be required to carry.
This, however, often would make it nee
essary for pupils who live in one section
OF the city to travel to an entirely diff
Ierent section to go to school.