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Joseph Eis, a former president of Mont*
gomery County Council of PTA’s, brings up
a new batch of material for him and his
three colleagues, also former County PTA
Council chairmen who helped found TOTS,
Truth Is Goal
4 Ex P-TA Heads
Tell About TOTS
“We now find it impossible,” four former presidents
of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher As
sociations said this week, “to sit back idly listening to unin
formed, misleading, and sometimes deliberately false state
ments made about our school system.”
In a joint statement the four
—David L. Wood, Joe Eis. Les
lie M. Abbe and John A. Mcln
tire noted: “Periodically, it
seems, an effort is necessary to
save our schools, and we have
joined hands to set the record
straight.”
Pointing to formation of their
new group, “Truth On The
Schools (TOTS),” that will car
ry their aims forward, the four
noted TOTS “is made up of peo
ple who have worked for many
years with the school budgets
of Montgomery County; we
have long been concerned with
quality education.”
Formation of the group fol
lowed airing of charges in the
current campaign for many lo
cal offices and four seats on the
county school board that school
and county officials are “waste
ful,” “extravagant” and that
many educational “frills” are
practiced. The statement of the
four TOTS co-chairmen de
clared:
“For some years, the obvious
needs of education have exceed
ed available funds so we as lead
ers of the P-TAs have a long
established history of working
hard to get the most value pos
sible out of each dollar made
available for schools.
"Ten years ago, when our tax
rate was lower, we had crowded
school rooms, split shifts, and
on the average, a much weaker
teaching staff. Frequently, in
those days, the fall semester
got under way with 25 percent
nonqualified teachers.
“During this same decade we
have had a period of unprece
dented growth. Most of the new
families moving into our county
have been young couples with
school age children. While the
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Additional copies may be obtained from
the following: Bank of BeHiesda; First Fed*
eral Savings and Loan Association;
Hospitality, Inc.; Metropolitan Federal
Savings and Loan Association; Perpetual
Building Association; Suburban Trust Co.
Co-Chairmen of TOTS
population about doubled, school
enrollment soared 169 percent.
More than 40 percent of our
Montgomery County population
is 18 or younger. And the end
of this growth period is not in
sight.
“Also, it was in this same
period that the Communists
shot ahead of America in space.
Americans began to show more
concern with mathematics and
science—this has meant special
teachers, courses, laboratories,
books, TV programs (strongly
endorsed by the Bethesda Cham
ber of Commerce, incidentally).
“In addition to being faced
with the compound problems of
incredible growth, catching up
with our needs, and the demands
to improve the quality of educa
tion, we needed to plan ahead—
build school buildings large
enough to take care of tomor
row’s enrollment, as well as to
day’s. It was thought wise to
buy land before land values
went up. From no program a
\ few years ago, the future site
acquisition program now has
more than $2.9 million commit
ted to future school sites. Sin
cere efforts have been made by
competent and conscientious
people to keep out “frills.”
“In this 10 year period we
have built many needed school
buildings, but P-TA members
generally have agreed with the
school board that no school gys-
I teni can be better than its teach
ers. Consequently a large part
of the last tax increase was to
provide better salaries for teach
ers. Our choice now includes not
only local teachers, but appli
cants from fine school systems
in other parts of the country.
“Has the effort in the past 10
to go over in their campaign “to set the rec
ord straight in the school hoard campaign.’'
Others, from left. David L. Weed, Leslie M.
Abbe and John A. Mclntire.
years paid off? It surely has.
Basic buildings have been pro
vided, split shifts have been
eliminated, advance planning
has saved many dollars in se
curing property, we have excel
lent teachers, our pupils rank
among the highest in the nation
on standard tests. Our high
school graduates are regarded
highly by colleges and universi
ties throughout the country.
They win a disproportionately
high number of scholarships.
"While we were behind 10
years ago, we caught up, have
kept pace with the youth popu
lation surge, and have been able
to save dollars by planning
ahead. Quality is high.
“These excellent results were
brought about by hard work on
the part of many dedicated peo
ple—on the school hoard, the
county council, in the P-TAs,
etc.
“Naturally, it has cost money.
While our taxes are far below
those in many comparable com
munities in America, the rate of
increase has of necessity been
high.
“So now we have a group
formed that is concerned mainly
with taxes. Inasmuch as most
of our county taxes go to
schools, it is natural that econ
omy minded people should want
to attack the school system.
“While it certainly is under
standable—and desirable— that
every taxpayer should be con
cerned with how his tax dollars
are spent, it is equally under
standable. we think, that the
people who have worked so hard
and so conscientiously to im
prove education in Montgomery
County should be bothered
about the way this concern has
manifested itself in Montgomery
County. We would hate to see
the school system so painstak
ingly and carefully built up now
fall into the hands of its ene
mies and be damaged or de
: stroyed.
“Inasmuch as the tax increase
came shortly before an election,
it Is painful to see. politicians
seek political advantage by cap
italizing on a normal annoyance
over taxes. When dedicated peo
ple have tried so hard for so
long to keep "fat” out of the,
school budget, it Is distressing
to hear so many loose and un-
SENTINEL
Thursday, October 18, 1862
Report Says
School Costs
Are Lowered
Revisions in procedures and a
close eye on expenditures has
held the line on spending or
sharply cut expenses in the
county’s Department of School
Services, according to Paul A.
Henry, director.
In a report of activities by
the department during 1961-62,
Henry pointed to the saving of
over $163,000 in tax dollars
through revisions in past pro
curement procedures.
Henry’s annual report says a
revision in purchasing methods
resulted in a decrease of SIOO,-
988 in the cost of the same mate
rials and equipment purchased
in the previous year.
This amounts to a saving of
almost 7’ 2 per cent in the total
outlay of the 1960-61 year, the
report points out.
Another $62,526 in savings
was realized through the use of
Board of Education vehicles for
informed charges on that score.
While some minor examples can
no doubt be cited in an area like
ours where so many new school
buildings have been needed in
recent years, a thorough, hon
est and truly impartial study
will show tiiat great care has
been exercised to squeeze the
best value possible out of each
dollar made available for edu
cation.
“In this era of Communist
challenge, virtually no one will
attack education as such. But it
is a well known fact that the
tactics used by opponents of ed
ucation is to call everything be
yond the one-room red school
house a frill, to urge that in
creases in teachers’ salaries be
delayed, to ask that the pur
chase of modem science texts
be postponed, and to fight the
inclusion of a laboratory or a
library in the plan for a new
school building.
“Did you see the articels in
Readers Digest? The strategy is
to oppose federal aid for school
construction, to cut back on edu
cation funds on the state level,
and to slow down efforts made
in the counties.
“The self-assumed non-parti
san label by such people is pain
ful when it is obviously being
used by partisans. The Non-
Partisan Taxpayers League is as
non-partisan as the Dixie Demo
crat-Republican coalition against
the Democratic Administration.
(If the so-called Non-Partisan
League should come out and en
dorse partisan candidates, would
this not be a violation of the
Hatch Act for the Federal em
ployees involved?)
“Professional writers who do
battle with bosses who bear
down too heavy on the blue pen
cil sometimes groan, “Where
were you when the paper was
blank?” The men who have
worked with the school board
and the county council over the
school budget for so many years
could well ask this question of
The hastily-formed Non-Partisan
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Never Too Early
To Write Santa!
Don’t say this Rockville
youngster doesn’t plan ahead:
she’s already dispatched her
letter to Santa.
A tipster told us the letter
was signed “Peggy” and what
did Peggy ask for? Food for
play stove, football helmet,
shoulder pads, jersey size 10,
.26 Winchester rifle and 2-ln-l
pitch and pass pack.
Be sure to read the Sentinel
around mid-December. We’ll
be publishing lots of letters to
the old gent in the North Pole.
hauling fuel oils rather than
using commercial carriers as
was done in 1960-61.
Further savings came from
the continuing use of a school
system motor vehicle repair
shop which Henry says has con
tinued to reduce the cost of min
tenance for school buses since
the system went into operation
in 1958-59.
According to his figures, ve
hicle maintenance in the past
year averaged $351.33 per year
compared with $524.28 in 1957-
58 when buses were repaired in
privately owned shops.
Taxpayers League. Indeed, we
invite these people to furnish
the assistance that is needed
year after year—budget after
budget— not just at election time
—in seeing to it that Montgom
ery County gets the best pos
sible value for each tax dollar
allocated to education.
“As past presidents of the
County Council of P-TAs, we
plead with the voters of the
county not to place the educa
tion of all our children into the
hands of those who oppose edu
cation, those who are concerned
with cutting their own tax bill
than In providing quality educa
tion, or those who say that they
can do the job better cheaper,
without telling you exactly what
they Intend to save and how.
“After all, where can you bet
ter invest your dollars than in
the future of America—which
means in the youth of Amer
ica?”
A5
41 Accounts lll^lltlwl
10A s>Wy wSif
170 Insured
I f up to SIO,OOO §f
m U . Per by an Agency il
£*"• •#-s•fa/t 1
Current Dividend Rate. Saving* received by 20th
Paid 4 limes a Year. earn dividend* from Itt.
S/jGfkf Save and Withdraw by Mail—
Villi* Wa Pay Postage, Furnish Envelopes
Resources over $14,000,000 |j
Visit Our New Home .--COUNTY FEDERAL i
Free Perkin,. "Well. Up" Window j j, Loan Auecletien
iH KH — 1 * Commerce Lane, Rockville, Md. .
In ' g 111 I j ° P *" my • eeoun * ' n Amount J
Referendum
To Be Held
On S&L Law
Voters in Montgomery County
and throughout the State will be
asked to approve by referendum
a new regulatory savings and
loan bill passed at last year's
session of the General Assem
bly.
The law, will be put
to referendum on the recom
mendation of Attorney General
Thomas B. Finan, who earlier
had refused to place it on the
ballot because of irregularities
in petitions seeking the refer
endum.
Lacking court action invali
dating the signatures, however,
Finan's office this week dis
closed the measure will go to
the voters after all.
Nurses Aide Class
The Montgomery County Red
Cross is now recruiting volun
teers fo” the evening class of
Volunteer Nurse’s Aides sched
uled to begin in early Novem
ber. Interview appointments
may be made by calling JU.
8-2515.
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK
YOU WON'T EVER NEED UGF?
Yes, you ... because 1 out
of every 5 people in the area
will be served this year by UGF.
Give today because you might
need UGF tomorrow. And re*
member, when you do glva,
you're not just contributing to
UGF . . .
YOU'RE PAYING YOUR OWN WAY
when you
GIVE THE UNITED WAY
Reiistered TJndr D. C. Charitable So
licitation Act: Registration No. 0-07*4.
Prepared aa a Civic Service by Robert
M. Gamble, Jr. ( Inc., Adv. Agency.
‘ Americanism 9
To Be Theme
Of 6 Jamboree s
An “American Family Jam
boree” will be held Sunday in
Burtonsville from 2 p.m. until
dark to observe American
Appreciation Day.
Sponsor of the event that will
feature food and entertainment
will be the Silver Spring chap
ter of Young Americans for
Freedom headed by George
Saah. Members of the Silver
Spring Junior Chamber of Com
merce will sell American flags
at the outing.
Included in the entertainment
will be Little Jimmy and the
Rangers (country music), Billy
B. Burras and his wagon train,
offering rides to the kiddles In a
real Conestoga wagon, "Shorty,”
the nine-foot tall clown (Red
Tannen), a 15-piece orchestra
and a country store selling
baked goods. There will be no
admission charge.
An unbelievaable offering of fine, beautifully tailored,
seat-lined all wool skirts—in solids, tweeds, plaids;
Values to 15.00.
Specially 0,00
Priced Q
Worth’s
On*the-Pike
11616 Rockville Pike
Open ‘til 9 p.m. Monday thru Friday; Saturday ’til 6
‘
William E. Brooks jr., son
of Mr. and Mrs. William E.
Brooks, 102 Calvert rd„ Rock
ville, is now attending Air
Force basic training at Lack
land AFB In San Antonio,
Tex. Airman Brooks Is a re
cent graduate of Richard
Montgomery High School.