Evening star., 1946-09-08

high schools, II {
senior high a
S hools, S vo- & III
cational high &
schools, 2 teach DR.. Corning.
ers colleges, in the veterans high
school centers and in special Amer
icanization, health and occupational
schools.
Youth on the march! This in
spring spectacle is made possible
because in America we believe that
the State and the individual are
best served by providing educational
opportunity for all the children of
all people. This is basic concept
of the American philosophy.
Youth Deserves the Best
Consider the value to all of us of
this stream of youth. In the first
place they are our boys and girls,
our choicest possession. Their train
ing and growth will largely deter
mine their futures. They deserve
the best. But, more selfshly, the
state is interested The very kind
of citizens and the kind of society
we shall have are being determined
in large measure by the kind of
training which today's youth re-
'ceives. The training of our youth
is our future in the making. Nat
urally we are all interested.
Since the training of our youth
Is so vital q concern to all of us
it is important on the occasion of
the opening of new school year
that we consider whittier all these
young people are bound. What of
the schools? Are they ready to
function effectively in preparing our
future citizens? A complete analysis
is not possible within the limits of
a single article, but consideration
can be given to some important
factors.
The schoolhouse itself is a basic
consideration. A well-designed and
adequate plant does not guarantee.
but it Is conducive to, a well-rounded
school program. On the other hand,
a crowded, badly planned plant
limits the scope Of the educational
Offering and prevents many services
which are essential in the training
Of youth. H.,
Conditions Both Good and Bad.
The condition of our school plan
in Washington is both good and bad
Gen. Gordon r. Young, Engineer
Commissioner, In his six-year plan
|of development for Washington
summarized the situation as follows:
"Our public schools are character
lied by remarkable mixture of
modern and antiquated buildings
and equipment and by an acute but
unbalanced shortage of space"
Our better buildings are a great
credit to the community. However,
many children are attending school
in buildings that are so obsolescent
that health and safety are leopard
lied and so inadequate that a
complete program of education is
impossible Moreover, the phenom-
email growth and the shifting of
population, coupled with wartime
building restrictions, have resulted
in an extreme shortage of school,
house facilities.
Some buildings and many class
rooms are critically overcrowded.
But even more serious than the out
moded buildings and the overcrowd-
ing is the fact that when the school
bell rings this month more than
$500 children will be permitted to
attend school only in the mornings
while another $500 will take the
same places in the afternoons.
Six-year Program Plan.
The Engineer commissioners plan
for a better Washington proposes
to remove these school plant de-
ficiencies within the next six years.
The realization of this plan is so
vital to the children and to WASH
ington itself that it deserves the
intelligent interest and active sup
port of governmental agencies, of
individual citizens, and of the COM
munity at large.
Important as an adequate school
plant is. the building and it's equip
ment do not make school. The
professional staff is the life blood
of the system. The adequacy of the
training which youth will receive
will be determined very largely by
the training. skill, personality and
interest of the instructional staff.
In Washington this army of youth
will be served by corps of teachers,
the vast majority of whom are well
prepared, skillful and devoted to
their work There is a serious
problem, however. Throughout the
country and notably here in the
Nations Capital the economic
status of teachers has been so much
lower and more uncertain than that
of other professional workers that
many very capable people have re-
signed to accept more remunera-
tive positions.
Not Choosing Teaching Careers.
The most serious phase of this
problem is that young people of
ability are not choosing teaching
as career. The teachers colleges
throughout the Nation have pitt
fully small enrollments. Many cap
able young people are unwilling to
submit to the rigorous grind of
preparing for teaching when at the
end of it all they will receive less
in financial return than workers in
other fields of whom less extensive
training is required.
This is serious problem which
communities must face squarely.
The young people in Washington will
have substandard schooling unless
the schools are able to hold and
attract teachers of top-ranking
ability, personality and professional
zeal.
The schoolhouse and the teacher
are vitality important factors in the
school process. 1t also is important
to consider what is to be taught. The
curriculum must constantly be re-
viewed to determine whether it is