Evening star., 1942-12-07
Defense Schools
Reassignment
Discussed
House Committee
May Shift Program
To Commissioners
BY MARION WADE DOYLE.

BY MARION WADE DOYLE.
Three superintendents of schools
held a conference this morning with
Chairman Randolph of the House
District Committee to discuss his
demand that the national defense
training program be removed from
their jurisdiction and placed under
the District Commissioners.
II will be available for comment
later this afternoon" said Supt
Of Schools Frank w. Ballou.
Also attending the conference
were the two directly responsible
for the program, Lawson j. Cantrell
assistant superintendent of schools
in charge of vocational schools, and
DR.. G. C. Wilkinson, assistant su-
perintendent of schools in charge
of divisions 10 to 13.
Dissatisfaction Charged.
Saturday night Mr.. Randolph re-
leased a letter he has written to
the Commissioners, charging that
the Army, Navy and airlines are
dissatisfied with the number of
trainees being turned out by the
program here. The Board of Edu-
cation has also not spent as much
money as it could have on the
classes, Mr.. Randolph continued. He
said the board already had a great
deal on its hands and suggested the
program be separated from the
School Board and put under the
Commissioners.
William D. Wallace, supervisor of
the program, said Saturday night
the program would be more success
full if District officials did not insist
on paying defense training the low
wages of District teachers instead
of the prevailing industrial rates
that the ONCE Of Education had
ruled should be paid.
The law itself. as issued by the
United States Office of Education,
provides for either teaching or in
dustrial wages to be paid to national
defense training instructors.
INSTRUCTORS employed for this
program" the law reads, shall be
paid the going wage of a teacher
or industrial worker in the State or
local community to which they are
assigned"
Explains Interpretation.
Mr.. Cantrell explained this morn
ing that his Office had interpreted
this law to mean that defense train
ing instructors should be paid as
much as high school teachers of lib
eral arts. His defense training in
structors are paid $40 day, the
same rate paid to the average Dis
trict high school teacher. This rate
is little higher, Mr.. Cantrell added,
than the rate paid to vocational in
structors in the vocational schools
of the system.
The provisions for two types of
wages, either industrial or teaching
salary, was made by the United
States Office of Education to pre-
vent high school teachers f1ocking
from the regular schools to the ma
tional defense program, it was ex-
planned by L. S. Hawkins. director
Of the war production training pro-
gram of the United States Office of
Education.
To keep vocational instructors from
leaving other parts of the system
to join the new program, he said,
the Office ruled that former teacher
should be paid what he was getting
before he became an instructor in
the defense training program. On
the other hand. Mr.. Hawkins in
terpreted, If a skilled workman in
industry offered to teach the classes,
he should be paid what he got in the
industrial plane.
Only few of the instructors in
the defense training program here
came from other educational insti-
tutions, a school official said. Most
of them did come from industrial
plants and factories.
Charge Answered.
In answer to Mr.. Randolph,s
charge that school officials had not
availed themselves of the full fund
of money available for the program,
Mr.. Cantrell said his Office had
asked for as much as it needed to
pay instructors the wages he be-
iieved they were supposed to have
paid.
He plans to ask the Ofice of
Education for more money to buy
equipment, he said. but he is strug-
Cling first to get priority rating on
the supplies.
I'VE have a fine program that has
served the purpose as we'll as it
could under the circumstances"
he concluded, "and it needs no
defense"