Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1958-02-27
Conservatives

ment you on your, fine reporting
of that meeting plus the very
fair evaluation of it in your edi-
torial of February z, 1858.
1t seems to me that the
schools must take into consider
alton the conservative point of
view, the liberal point of view
and any other major and minor
ity expressions of opinion about
the schools. From there on in,
the school people must arrive at
a curriculum and school pro-
gram that is designed for all the
children of all the people re-
CARELESS of which group hap
pens to be in political control at
any one period between cleo
tons. / am very much convinced
that we should have a strong,
consistent conservative party of
some sort in this country. How
ever, for the schools to be tied
too closely to one or the other
political philosophy would de-
prive the children of an all
around liberal and conservative
education to which they are en-
titled.
was particularly interested
in the presentation of Professor
Kendall.
Professor Kendall was ex.
pressing mainly personal opin-
ions and principles of the Con-
sentative Club. The actual facts
based on impartial studies made
on a regional or national basis
seem to arrive at different con-
illusions. For example, elemen-
tary and high school students
graduating from our public
schools today do better on ma
tional achievement tests which
measure how well the child has
learned his fundamentals, than
these children did ten, twenty
thirty or more years ago. Like
wise, the boys in World War II
read better and showed better
scores on the Armed Forces
tests than the boys did in World
War I. There are also a half
dozen different studies put out
by the College Entrance Board
Examination people and other
people, some of whom are indie
pendent from the NEA, and
these studies show that public
school graduates trained under
programs of modern education
are doing not only better than
in former decades but they are
doing better than the private
school graduates In schools
which generally follow more of
the traditional type of education
and a strictly college prepare
tory program.
My children are being edu-
Gated in the public school of
Montgomery County. The one
who went to college obtained
very good scholarship based on
his quality of performance. In
cidentally, he learned to read
under the so-called modern
methods of Bethesda Elemen-
tary School and he can outshine
his father and mother both in
speed and in comprehension as
well as most of the students in
his college freshman class from
the upper 20fo of the high
schools throughout the country,
public and private. These are all
other peoples evaluations of my
son based on objective tests and
not my own.
You will also be interested in
a reaction of Professor G.. w.
Denemark of West Hyattsville,
Maryland, who has written his
reactions in the Washington
Post Letters to the Editor" for
Monday, February 10, 1858.
1t would be very interesting
for these main issues to be
thrashed out in a number of To-
cal P-TA and other meetings and
then for your paper to conduct
a sampling survey of the com.
on some of the key is.
sues. However, you should be
warned in advance that the Con-
sentative Party in its last state
ment of principles warns PEG.
pie against making decisions on
a vote of the people or on the
basis of polls.
Edwin w. Davis
Associate Secretary for
GnaosoI Ckx.sHs<..