Evening star., 1934-02-04

measure.
The federation already Is on record
many times as opposed to the principle
Of assessing abutting property owners
for street improvements.
The bridge question, which was
shelved at the last meeting in favor
of schools. was once more brought
forward by Thomas j. LleWellyn,
chairman of the federation's Commit
tee on Highways. Parks and Water
ways. This time consideration of a
bridge to supplement the Pennsylvania
Avenue Bridge across the Eastern
Branch was postponed until the next
meeting, but the federation approved
the construction Of bridge to replace
Chain Bridge.
Another resolution of this commit
tee to indorse the plans of United
States Engineer J. D. Arthur, jr.. ror
improvement of the northern front of
the Washington channel was defeated
by vote Of IS to "a. Principal OBJ.
jections raised against the report were
that 1t would cost the taxpayers of the
city money for purely Federal
project. and that it vas proposed to
continue the practice Of unloading
brick from Occoquan on that water
front. described by some of the dele
gates as an "eyesore."
Other Resolutions.
On motion of the Law and Legisla-
Hon Committee. the federation unani-
mously voted to ask the Commission
ers to make it an invariable policy to
appoint District residents to District
Jobs, where qualified persons could be
found. Fred S. Walker of Park View
N this connection objected to the re-
cent appointment of resident of St.
Paul, Mimi, to the job of supervising
feeding of school children here.
Other resolutions adopted by the
federation indorsed the establish
ment of boys clubs in schools in all
sections OF the city where such facil-
titles are needed and urged additional
funds for the Community Center De-
partment to pay for this, and also
FOR other community center activities
now supported by private funds:
recommended appropriations for the
construction of branch libraries for
Petworth and Georgetown; suggested
that all fire plugs in the city be
painted white. that brush and shrubs
around the plugs be kept cut down,
that stairways be lighted while under
construction and that steel instead
Of wooden frames be used in the con-
struction of reinforced concrete STAIR
ways. and that housing for traffic
signals be painted white. and asked
that citizens associations be notified
by the Alcohol Board of Control of
all applications fled for liquor
licenses.
The text Of the Federation of Citi-
sens' Associations report on the
school situation follows in part:
your Committee on Education has
had before it for consideration, a
resolution of the Sixteenth Street
Heights Citizens Association urging
erection of an addition to the Paul
Junior High School and senior high
school for that section, and, also. a
resolution from the Citizens Associa-
ton of Takoma, D. c., urging the
erection Of a northern high school
in the Manor Park section.
I'VE have also received suggestions
from members of the committee seek
ing to remedy the overcrowded con-
ditions Of the high schools. Your
committee appreciates the necessity
for increased facilities in Junior and
senior high schools and desire to
take this opportunity to call the at
tention of the federation to the pres
ent situation, with the hope that the
influence of this body will be exerted
rd dy-ir dofpPtc
are so apparent at the present time.
Next to public health, there Is
nothing more important to the people
OF the District of Columbia than pub
lie education The most powerful and
the most potent factor in civilization
b good citizenship and the most pow
erful influence toward good citizen
ship is education. ="
5000 Added Yearly.
I'm so far as the District of Colum-
bia is concerned, we are now told
that there will be millions of dollars
surplus in the Treasury to the credit
Of the District at the end of this
fiscal year. In the face of this the
=. Budget Bureau continues to eliminate
recommended items and further pare
&. the school budget. Every year 5000
pupils are added to the schools en-
rollment. According to the figures of
the superintendent of schools as Of
November /, 1888, the capacity of the
. white Junior high schools was $3.50
: and the enrolment was 11,129. In
the high schools the unofficial figures
a6 Of February l, 1884, show a ca
pacity Of 9,700 and an enrolment of
1925. an excess of 2.125 pupils.
fThese figures are for the five white
high schools only.) Eastern and
Western High Schools are operating
On double shifts.
. "The recommendations Of the
Board Of Education for the fiscal
year 1885 were as follows. Alice Deal
1. Junior High, 10-room addition; Eliot
Junior High. 10-room addition; COM
pletion of Jefferson and Anacostia
Junior High Schools: Powell Junior
High, gymnasium for boys; Manor
Park Senior High School, plans and
specifications: Woodrow Wilson High
School, completion; land for Junior
high school In the vicinity of Massa-
ehusets avenue and Macomb streets
All these items were omitted, either
By the Commissioners or the Budget
= Bureau. with the exception of the
. Powell Junior High gymnasium, which
was reeppropriated out of unexpected
balances, and portion of the recon-
mended sum for the Woodrow Wilson
High School The school figures as
whole are s2,689.000 below the Board
: Of Education estimates and s1,523.-
900 below the Commissioners esti-
mates.
Situation II Critical.
we know that the situation in Ger
taan high schools is critical: that Ger
tain pupils have been required to at
tend elementary schools when the
temperature in the school rooms is so
low as to endanger their health: that
within the last few days certain junior
high school class rooms were closed
because the cold weather made 1t i'm
r,oaGihle m heat them Certain il1niOr