Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-09-29

School officials today v
Districts current teacher c
Commissioners.
The Board Of Education
city heads for an immediate
Ito hire some more elementary
teachers. The board also pro-
posed that . special appropria-I
ton be sought from Congress In.
January.
The board acted after hearing
"a formal report from School
Supt. Hobart M. Corning outlin-
ing the school systems current
teacher plight. Members also
listened to a chain Of angry
iparent-teacher association
Spokesman who complained about
icrowding and pupil and teacher
Ishufiing at q number Of schools.
Since public schools reopened
lon September IL, administrators
have been stunning teachers in
ian effort TO meet serious crowd
ing In some schools.
Just the week before OPEN
ling, officials notified principals
|of 10 schools they would be short
lone or two teachers apiece be-
cause Of q need to transfer them
elsewhere. Since then additional
transfers have been made.
Number Not Disclosed
The shortage Of teachers. first
made known publicly by The
Star, is based on a lack Of funds.
DR.. Corning yesterday did not
disclose just how many addi-
tional teachers are needed to
meet the immediate crisis. Of
ficials today began working. on
an estimate both Of the number
Ineeded and the cost. The esti-
mate presumably win be sent as
soon as possible to the District
Building.
DR.. Corning presented the
board, however. with q general
picture Of the current situation.
together with an explanation Of
how 1t came about.
The superintendent said about
d third Of the city's elementary
schools now are operating seri-
ously above the standard class
lsize Of SO.
In addition, he disclosed, 2He
lot the city's elementary classes
lare mixed grades.
I Oficials had expected the city't
Elementary teacher needs to bt
met this fall without charging
1.-THE regular teacher force, Or,
Corning said. One expectation,
The said, was that some junior
land senior high teacher salaries
might be spared for elementary
luse.
Several Unexpected Factors
/ However, several factors caught
Ioficials OF guard, he explained.
Enrolment has increased more
than expected. including an un-
usually large influx Of students
from outside the city. The super
Iintendent also said there has
been a very excessive" migra-
Ition to new residential areas,
which could not be foreseen.
| He also ascribed some Of the
difficulties to the working of in
ltegration, under which a stable
number Of students have moved
to different schools. These moves
also were not all practicable. be-
cause In many such cases stu
dents have q choice of moving
or remaining. he pointed out.
| DR.. Corning said it Is not un-
usual for the school system to
thaye to shuttle teachers in the
fan, but the amount Of such
Ishufling has been greater than
usual. he said. because Of these
special problems.
The school superintendent;
referring to protests against
linked grades, said they are not
Ideal but that the school system
always has some of them. He
said they are not "a wholly UNI
desirable teaching and learning
situation" because elementary
pupils are grouped according to
ability and achievement anyway,
1876 Last Year
I The school system had 1886
mixed-grade elementary classes
last year and $50 the year before,
he said.
/ Dr.. Corning told the board he
has directed secondary admins
TRAITORS to report on the number
Iof salaries they can spare by
letting some temporary teachers
Igo. He said such salaries will be
transferred to elementary use. 4
Secondary school PTAs already
have registered vigorous objec-
|tions to any cutback in teachers
on the higher level.
/ DR.. Corning made no recon-
Imendation for action on the
teacher crisis. But under ques-
ltioning by board members. he
agreed q request for emergency
funds could be justified on the
basis of unforeseen needs. The
mine members voted unanimously
Ito ask the Commissioners for
funds ito secure the services OF