Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-19

by Gen. Lane made public by I
cused the Engineer Commissioner
of seeking to impose military
school methods" on the city's
public school system.
The PTA leader objected
specifically to proposals by Gen.
Lane to denote tagging students,
abandon coeducational high
schools and drop some facilities
such as auditoriums and gyms
from new schools.
He predicted that mass de-
motions would cause utter
chaos"
More Teachers Urged
He also renewed a PTA plea
for funds for more teachers. as
Serting that concern with school
standards, educational facilities
and teacher salaries will get us
nowhere if we do not receive i'm
mediate substantial help for our
overburdened teachers"
Mr.. Gilliland was one of sew
eral civic leaders who last week
were sent copies of an eight-page
memorandum by Gen. Lane
dealing with the city schools. In
the memorandum the Engineer
Commissioner said, in effect.
that the schools could afford to
teach only those children ''who
have the capacity to take adj
vantage Of it."
Gen. Lane attacked, in par
ticular, the school systems pro-
motion policies, which he indi-
Gated both in the memorandum
and in a speech a week earlier
were allowing too many children
to pass along without meeting
grade standards. He called for
q tightening Of standards, as
well as a shutting Of pupils next
fall according to achievement.
Negro pupils. especially. would
be affected. he said in the speech.
Lane Urges Action
Gen. Lane, questioned today
on whether he was proposing
definite action on his proposals,
said:
Discussion that doesn't lead
to action is idle. -
He added that he felt his
|pupil-regrading idea would be
carried out next September, but
that "it is probably too late" to
work out some of the other ideas
that soon. He made the latter
statement specifically with refer
ence to the proposal for sepa-
rate boys and girls high schools.
School officials have already
branded the demotion plan as
unsound.
Mr.. Gilliland, in a letter sent
to Gen. Lane and made public
today, devoted particular atten-
ton to Gen. Lanes demotion
proposal.
Other Points Questioned
The PTA leader denied that
the District schools have a policy
of chronological promotion
strictly by age-which Gen. Lane
said cannot be followed lin a
good school system"
But he said rather than mere
ly requiring children to repeat
courses or go to summer school
when they fail, as suggested by
Gen. Lane, the schools urgently
need more teachers for special
remedial instruction.
If an average child is held
back with younger ones, he
warned, he may become "a bully
and frustrated juvenile delin-
quent." He said this might be
avoided by more special classes.
He also said making a child
repeat a grade when he was lag
ging in only one or two subjects
would seem to be an unneces-
sary waste of effort, both on the
part of the child and of the
school system"
Mr.. Gillilland also challenged
a statement by Gen. Lane that
teaching must be authoritarian.
Private Schools Compared
Teaching in military and Ger
tain private schools may be es-
sentially authoritarian, although
some of us may argue that this
philosophy may stand a bit of
tempering. even in such schools"
be declared.
Those who do not respond to
such a system may drop out.
or be dismissed, or perhaps be
excluded by entrance examina-
tions in the first place. All these
good, bad or indif-
ferent, must be accepted by the
public schools"
The PTA leader cited what he
called the irony" of "a military
academy with superior students. |
superior instructors and superior
deciding that a class
much below 80 is desirable for
the academy, while the same
people who made those decisions
for the academy feel that the
public school teacher
ian Just as well take care of 40
including the problem