Evening star., 1947-09-29
By Colt HendIey Jr.


A fight to get an FIN radio sta.
ton, controlled by the Board OF
Education, for exclusive use of the
public schools in their educational
programs, is In the making.
Full use of radio in education
long an almost ignored field in the
public schools, can be obtained by
the school system only by having its
own station, according to DR.. Clyde
M. Huber, head of the Radio Com
mittee of the public schols.
DR.. Huber said he intends to open
the campaign to get a station this
year. He feels that radio is an es-
sential part of the teaching process
AS much so as books.
Cleveland Has School Station.
Such a school owned station is
not without precedent, DR.. Huber
pointed out. Cleveland, Ohio, is a
pioneer in the field of utilization
of radio in schools, with the Board
|of Education operating station
WBoE.
The Federal Communications
Commission has granted operating
licenses to number of other city
school systems, including New York,
Chicago and San Francisco, and
dozens of other applications are
pending. At one time more than
100 noncommercial stations were
being operated by colleges and uni
versities, but this number has
dropped to 80 or 40 in recent wears,
Discussion of radio station fol-
the public schools never has come
before the Board of Education for
discussion. members said. And it is
doubtful If it would bring favorable
reaction at this time, they indicated
because the board is concentrating
on getting as much money as pos
sible to build new schools, to get
more teachers and, through the COM
bination, to relieve the crowded
classroom conditions.
Plans are Outlined.
DR.. Huber plans to get the idea OF
a school FIN station into the discus
sion and planning stage In spite OF
the objections that may be raised
to any immediate action.
whenever person interested In
radio in education wants an ex-
ample, he turns to Cleveland where
most of the pioneer work and the
greatest advances have been made
DR.. Huber said.
For a start, plans probably will
aim to get the District to the point
In radio utilization reached in Cleve-
land. During typical month there
a high school pupil might hear as
many as II to IA broadcasts a month
divided among a half dozen SUBJ
jects from station WBOE. These
plus other special broadcasts of gen.
eral interests raise the classroom
listening time quite high. The lower
grades also have about the same
program.
All of these programs are tuned
in by the teacher as she sees fit
so they will be of supplemental
value to the regular work, rather
than an interference. Many are
strictly educational in nature, while
others are the usual types of radio
programs in which the pupils par
tlcipate-orums, drama ana mu-
sical programs.
Station Has FUN Schedule.
The station. by attempting to
cover all levels of study and all
fields of study, has a full day !
schedule mapped" out.
The use of radio in education in
the Districts public schools got its
start back in 1910, when former
School Supt. Frank w. Ballou ap-
pointed a committee of school Of
lf1cers and teachers to establish POL
icies and standards. DR.. Huber was
made head of the committee and
has held the job since.
The work started enthusiastically
DR.. Huber said. Radio stations here
co-operated and a fairly good pro-
gram was organized. School chill.
dren were given opportunities to
prepare and participate in their
own broadcasts and special pro-
grams were given for school chill
dren.
The war and undercover opposi-
ton to a station owned by the
Board Of Education by certain civic
and business groups soon stopped
Receivers Are Lacking.
AS 1t stands now the schoo,
Radio Committee is getting a work.
able program of utilization of radio
in education into shape within the
Limitations of the equipment the
schools have and the facilities sta
tions can afford to offer.
Lack of radio receiving equipment
in the schools is the biggest handi.
cap the Radio Committee has to face
in pushing a radio education pro-
gram, DR.. Huber said.
Money is not appropriated either
for receiving sets or for personnel to
direct the program. DR.. Huber's
radio work is in addition to his Job
as resistrar at Wilson Teachers COL
lege and he is assisted part-time by
several volunteer teachers.
Some of the newer schools, such
as Coolidge High School and Jeffer-
son Junior High School, did have
radio receivers installed when built
DR.. Huber stated. Others depend on
the nt-Teacher Associations and
[SEMENT.