Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-17

administration for what was character
lied as 'squandering" funds on archi-
tectural establishment in the newer
school buildings and for not transferring
the systems business management to
the new first assistant superintendent,
whose salary was established by the
subcommittee last year, marked the
hearings on the schools share of the
Districts 1891 budget before the sub
committee of the House committee on
appropriations, which were made pub
| lie today.
! So incensed was the committee at the
school administrations failure to i'm
prove conditions in the business depart
ment of the system that it inserted in
| the bill which it presents to the House
today a limitation to the effect that no
money be appropriated for the purchase
of school furniture and equipment unless
! the school boards acquisitions are ap-
proved by the Commissioners.
The hearings disclosed also that there
| is general dissatisfaction with the two
schools for crippled children because
of the apparent need for hospitaliza-
ton for the majority of these pupils.
Indications in the testimony are that
these schools eventually may be housed
in separate one-room structures to pc
erected on the grounds of some already
established hospital, where adequate
! treatment would be available.
Simmons Leads Attack.
! Representative Robert G. Simmons of
| Nebraska chairman of the Subcommlt-
| tee, led an attack upon the local school
authorities and their methods, which
was lightened for them only by ms
svowed determination to provide Capital
children with adequate school accom-
modations at savings of taxpayers
money and by his fiat assertion that:
I'VE are taking money from every
other activity and putting it into schools
| this year.
Mr.. Simmons condemned chiefly the
new E. A. Paul Junior High School, at
Eighth street and Concord avenue, and
| the new John Quincy Adams School,
at Nineteenth and California streets,
both of which, he said, contain expen-
sive "doo-dads' at sacrifice of needed
| class rooms. He roundly denounced
Albert l.. Harris, municipal architect.
for mot keeping faith with the sub
committee" because Mr.. Harris did not
build the Paul School according to the
exact plans of the mcfarland Junior
High School as, he contended, the APP
preparation legislation required.
Scores Paul School "DOo-dads,"
The Paul and the Mcfarland build
! ines, which, he said, under the law
were to have been virtual duplicates, do
not even compare. Citing the differ
ence between them when he was adj
dressing Dr. Frank w. Ballou, super
| intendent, the chairman said:
| You have big stone pillars with.
colonial front on the E. A. Paul Junior
High School and there is nothing of
| that kind at the mcfarland Junior
High School.
I'm the Macfarland Junior High
School the corridor is lined with glazed
brick. You have marble. or what APP
pears to be marble, in the entrance
ways to the Paul Junior High School,
and you have the corridors all tiled for
or 5 feet, as against the glazed brick
| in the mcfarland School. You have
all kinds of fancy doo-dads in the audi
forum of the Paul Junior High School,
and the mcfarland auditorium is just
plain, sensible auditorium. You have
bronze grillwork covering the radiators
| in the Paul School, and all that sort OF
| stuff"
Harris Defends Plans.
Mr.. Simmons cited the four rooms
which the school authorities discovered
were missing" when the building was
completed, and despite Mr. Harris ex-
I
the Paul contained two more class
rooms than the committee thought 1t
was appropriating for, the chairman
retorted:
Here you are confronted with the
proposition of putting four School
rooms in a building and cutting out a
bunch of frills and expensive =, and
| you cut out these school room IND put
in bronze grills and marble corridors
and stone columns at the front OF the
/ building, and you put in tiled toilet
for the principal of the school better
! than the one we put into the White
House Offices for the use of the Presi-
dent. Why did it not occur to you to
cut out some of that stuff and give
the children some class rooms?'
Because" Mr.. Harris replied. Il
thought we ought to build buildings
that probably will last rs or 30 years
They are going to be here that long, so
why not put good material in them?
It is not an ultimate saving when you
put in a cheap school and you have to
rebuild it in few years. / claim am
saving money ultimately to the City OF
Washington by doing that"
Cites Cheaper Installation.
In response to Mr.. Simmons queries
Mr.. Harris explained that the corridor
thing in both the Paul and the Adams
schools, to which Mr.. Simmons OBJ
Iected. actually was cheaper than the
glazed brick by virtue of the difference
in installation labor costs. He explained
further that the Mcfarland School
with class rooms only and an auolto-
rum that was added after the build
ings completion, cost 100000, while
the Paul, providing two more class
rooms, a cafeteria with complete
kitchen equipment, terrace instead OF
asphalt floors, a boys dressing room
and shower, a girls dressing room ano
shower, as we'll as the modern finish
details. cost 100000.
Stephen E. Kramer, first assistant
superintendent of schools, entered the
discussion when he contended that the
mcfarland School was the most crit
icized" school building in Washington
because OF its extreme plainness," ano
added:
THE Government is spending mil.
lions of dollars on the Avenue on these
new Government buildings, and it seem:
to me we ought TO consider the problem
of having our school buildings cred
liable to our city"
Wants Maximum Buildings.
When Mr.. Simmons admitted every.
body enjoys seeing something beauti'
full" Mr.. Kramer asked If beauty is not
factor in education. and the Nebras'
kan replied:
IF you have not any consideration
for the taxpayer-and l have given uI
hope of that-you should at least have
some consideration for the children
who need these class rooms and neeC
more school buildings, and instead O.
squandering a lot of money in thi!
kind Of thing in these other buildings
let us at least endeaVnr tn find ont how
much money you can put into build
ing that can be economically built anc
find out how many buildings you car