The Coolidge examiner., 1936-10-02
PWA Has Done
Much To Foster
State Schools

More than a hundred thousand
young people in the state of Ari-
zona have entered or reentered the
various elementary, high and col
legiate schools of the State, this
month. Until enrolment is COM
pleted, the exact or even close ap-
proximate number cannot be known
of course, but the accommodations
will be notably better and more
commodious than for a number OF
year. past, thanks to the outlay
of Federal Funds for educational
building construction in Arizona un-
ler the authority of the Public
Works Administration.
Arizona has for many years held
an outstanding position in both the
quality of it's school facilities and
the class of instructional oppor-
tunities offered During the years
that are more or less affectionately
referred to as the depression the
construction of new school build
ings could not keep pace with the
growth in attendance, not alone IN
Arizona but throughout the nation.
1t is almost impossible to esti-
mate the extent of the contributions
made by the Public Works Admin
istration in meeting the needs
which became apparent, yet seem
ed to be insurmountable under the
economic conditions prevailing.
Overcrowded class rooms, deferred
repairs, and necessary alterations
to the buildings in the face of re-
duced incomes; all problems press
ing for attention and relief could
not have been solved without the
intervention of this agency or one
comparable in scope.
Arizona can well acknowledge
the improvement in school facil-
tiles brought about by the allot-
ment of Public Works funds in the
form of rents and the extension OF
credit in the purchase or under
writing of bonds at low rates Of
interest This acknowledgment is
specifically related to Grants Of
more than Eight Hundred Fifty
Thousand Dollars ($S5O,000) and
Loans of a Million Seven Hundred
Fifty Thousand Dollars ($1,750,-
000); a total of more than Two and
one half Million Dollars spent for
new Schoo. and college buildings
and equipment.
1t would be tedious to recite the
individual allotments of construc-
ton funds, but we can apportion
the work in saying that Phoenix
has five units within the city cost
ing One Hundred Seventy Thousand
Dollars; Mesa, Ninety-five Thous-
and Dollars; Maricopa County
rural schools, over Sixty-four Thous-
and; Tucson City Schools, One
Hundred Thousand. Kingman and
Parker High Schools, Seventy
Thousand for the two; Flagstaff
and st. Johns elementary schools
over Hundred Thousand Dollars
for the two. Most of this work is
completed or will be soon after the
opening dates for the fall and win
ter terms.
And here in Coolidge we have one
of the finest high school buildings
in the State, thanks to PWA and
a progression school board.
In addition to these elementary
and High School projects, the UNI
versity Of Arizona at Tucson has a
building program of more than One
Million Dollars; the State Teachers
College at Flagstaff, Three Hundred
Eighty Thousand Dollars and the
State Teachers College at Tempe, a
program of Four Hundred Seventy
Thousand Dollars.
These projects as sponsored by
the several communities and insu-
tutions of the State of Arizona, and
financed by the Federal Govern
ment through the Puh.ic Works
Administration, mean vastly more
than the sum of dollars alone. They
mean encouragement for depressed
and anxious boards of education,
better educational opportunities for
the children and youth of the State,
a better morale in scores of collater-
al activity. the moreover the as
surance that a paternhl govern
ment does indeed cherish the i'll
terest of its citizenry; and that
education is still a major industry
frxy