Evening star. [volume], May 17, 1951, Page A-14, Image 14

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Coming's Program for Future
Placed Before Education Board
oy uoir Handley, Jr.
The Board of Education today
had before it a plan for the future
of the District public schools, sub
mitted by School Supt. Hobart M.
Corning and his staff.
The 70-page report outlines the
unfinished business facing the
School Board, if it is to create the
best school system in the United
States The report also reviews
the progress made in the last five
years.
It apparently was Dr. Coming’s
answer to critics that he was neg
ligent in long-range planning for
the schools.
Up for re-appointment next
March for a third three-year term
as superintendent. Dr. Corning
has been under heavy fire recently
from some board members, par
ticularly Adelbert W. Lee, board
vice president.
When he submitted the report
yesterday. Dr. Coming was ap
plauded by the board members—
something he has not heard often
in the past year.
Only Report for Year.
The only cloud came when Mr.
Lee asked Dr. Corning if he in
tended the bulky report to be in
lieu oi an annual report.
“This is the only one that will
be presented this year,” the school
superintendent replied.
Mr. Lee said he had been dis
turbed in the past because no
annual reports have been made
by Dr. Corning, as the board rules
require.
The School Board voted Dr.
Corning permission to print the
report so that copies will be avail
able for use of the school system
and, to a limited extent, to others.
Funds are available.
To finance the perfect school
system, Dr. Corning recommended
the board begin a stern fight to
change its fiscal procedure.
He advocated—as he has before
—that the pay-as-you-go system
©f financing school construction
be abandoned. Instead, he said
the schools should be able to bor
row funds, as all other school sys
tems do, and pay them back over
the years. The Federal Govern
ment would be the lender in the
case of the District, of course.
Wants Money From Sales.
In addition he recommended
that when the board disposes of
an old school no longer needed it
be allowed to use the money ob
tained from the sale of the prop
erty. At present the money goes
back to the Federal Government.
He also recommended early ac
quisition of school sites in unde
veloped areas before the cost of
the land goes up even further.
Main recommendations made
by Dr. Corning included creation
of city colleges from the now
existing teachers’ colleges, which
offer only training for teachers; a
new central administration build
ing, upward revision of the
teachers’ salary scale so that top
flight teachers can be hired and
o VI rl vorlilotirtW ft f r inn n/
classes in the elementary schools.
Dr. Coming also held out the
possibility of the school system
owning its own radio and tele
vision stations.
He said it is possible that he
will present such plans some day.
Later, at the board meeting, he
commented that whether the pub
lic schools should own such sta
tions is a question that deserves
careful study.
“The philosophy of the Wash
ington schools states that the
child is the center of the educa
tional process,” Dr. Coming de
clared.
“However complicated the prob
lems of administration and man
agement may become, their solu
tions will be of no avail unless
they are related directly to the
betterment of youth. All services
are carried on and all plans for
the development of the schools
are designed for the single pur
pose of improving the education
of the child.”
Need for City Colleges.
Concerning the need for city
colleges, Dr. Coming declared:
“The citizens of Washington
have very limited opportunities
for higher education at public ex
pense, as compared with the
available opportunities in other
States.”
He pointed out that, in each of
the States, there is an impressive
list of publicly supported institu
tions, with the average number in
each State totaling 6.4. Thirteen
States, having populations less
than the District, contain 41 pub
licly supported institutions, he
added.
He said Wilson and Miner
Teachers’ Colleges are functioning
, well but have serious limitations.
Not only do they confine their
training to teachers, but they do
not offer courses leading to mas
ters’ degrees or in specialized
neias.
Dr. Corning said he will present
specific recommendations to the
School Board later concerning city
colleges.
“One of the most urgent needs
of the Washington schools is the
replacement of the present office
facilities for the Board of Educa
tion and for administrative offi
cers,” Dr. Corning said.
Now in 29 Buildings.
Administrative officers are scat
tered throughout 29 buildings,
other than the Franklin Adminis
tration Building at Thirteenth and
K streets N.W., he explained. This
militates against unified and
smooth running administration, he
added.
Would Include Auditorium.
A new administration building
6hould have offices for all super
visory personnel, an auditorium
seating 500, a cafeteria, at least 10
conference rooms of various sizes,
a professional library, adequate
meeting room for the Board of
Education and large areas fori
storing records, he said. In addi
tion, there should be in connection
with this building facilities to
house the warehouse, cabinet shop,
maintenance department and
parking facilities for at least 100
cars.
Dr. Corning said that 10 school
buildings now are used exclusively
for offices. The estimated value of
these properties is about $900,000,
he added.
If these could be sold—and the
money retained to pay for a new
Price Rise of Chalk
And Pencils Adding
To Schooling Costs
The price you have to pay
for chalk, pencils and crayons
is running the cost of the Dis
trict school system up and up,
School Supt. Hobert M. Corn
ing says.
To prove his point, Dr.
Corning made a comparison
of prices paid in 1945 for
ordinary classroom articles
with the price paid today.
Crayons, formerly costing
12 cents a unit, now cost 13 Va
cents, an increase of 12 Vs pen
cent. Chalk has riven 45 per
cent from a cost of 20 cents
to 29 cents. Pencils have
jumped 70 per cent from $1.20
a unit to $2.04. Ai;t paper has
increased from 38 cents to 52
cents, a jump of 37 per cent.
administration building—the cost
to the Government would be neg
ligible, he pointed out. In addi
tion, such a move would place back
nn t.hA fjtT mils nf t.hA TVstrint
considerable valuable property.
Other Recommendations made
by Dr. Corning follow:
A psychiatric clinic for children
should be established as soon as
possible. Studies are under way to
plan such a clinic, which would
treat children suspected of need
ing such help before the trouble
gets too advanced.
Teacher recruitment should be
pushed and examination centers
set up in various parts of the
country to spur the search for good
teachers. At present, applicants
must come to Washington to take
examinations for jobs with the re
sult that few do if they happen to
Live at some distance.
Would Limit Class Sizes.
Class sizes should be limited by
board rules. The present standard
of 36 pupils in the elementary
schools to one teacher is too high,
and since a ratio is an average,
many classes are larger than 36
pupils to one teacher. A more
effective procedure would be to
limit the size of a class.
Library services should be ex
tended to the junior high and
elementary schools. Junior highs
have libraries, or rooms converted
to libraries, but no librarians, al
though they do get money for
books. Elementary schools do not
get a library allowance.
Adult education should be ex
panded.
The vocational training program
should be expanded to provide
hraminer in oil drills __:_i
for employment in the District.
Kindergartens for handicapped
:hildren should be established.
Special classes for slow-learning
pupils also should be set up. Both
must wait until classroom space
is available.
Health education and the health
program should be improved.
Studies are underway to see how
this should be done.
Junior ROTC for Cadets.
The High School Cadet Corps
should become a part of the Junior
ROTC. The board already has
authorized Dr. Coming to negoti
ate with the Army to see if this
:an be done.
The in-service training program
for teachers should be expanded
to include training for other
school employes also. Plans are
peing drawn now to give courses
for cafeteria managers and work
?rs, for the clerical workers and
for the custodial force.
Children in the elementary
schools should have hot lunches
available to them. Only secondary
schools now have cafeteria^. A
plan to provide hot food for the
?rade schools, using centrally lo
oted kitchens and delivery serv
ice, should be explored. This could
be done after the cafeterias are
;entralized under a food director,
as provided in legislation now be
fore Congress.
In summing up the problems
faced by his administration. Dr.
Corning pointed out that since
1945 19 new elementary schools
or additions to buildings and 5
new junior high schools or addi
tions have been added to the
school facilities. This provided
additional space for 10,872 grade
school pupils and 3,396 junior
high students.
In addition there are appro
priations now on hand for 12 new
buildings or additions, some of
which are under construction.
94,600 Children Enrolled.
The present school enrollment
totals 94,600 children plus 7,000
persons in the adult program. Of
these, 59,000 are In grade school,
34,500 in secondary schools and
1,100 in teachers’ colleges.
There are 6,000 more children
in elementary schools today than
there were in 1945, Dr. Coming
said. Junior high school enroll
ment has remained approximately
the same as in 1945, while the
number of high school students
had dropped 2,500 since 1945, a
Nation-wide trend, he added.
me scnooi system has 3,413
teachers, counselors and librar
ians, 151 more than in 1945, he
continued.
Concerning improvement in the
curriculum of the schools, Dr.
Coming cited many changes that
had been made in the courses of
fered. He said that renewed em
phasis was being given to the
fundamentals—reading, writing
and arithmetic—with excellent
results.
Social studies, science and busi
ness education have been revised
completely, he said.
Bengal Tornado Hurls
Men, Cattle Through Air
By the Associated Press
DACCA, East Pakistan, May 17.
—A total of 210 bodies have been
recovered so far in Faridpur Dis
trict, Bengal, ravaged last Saturr
day by a tornado which hurled
men and cattle -through the air
and caused at least 1,000 casual
ties.
Most of the casualties were
caused by flying pieces of iron
roofs and falling debris, officials
said.
IBoard Defers Closing
Of Corcoran School,
Votes Gage Transfer
The Board of Education will
transfer the Gage Elementary
School from white to colored stu
dents and change the Slater
Elementary School into an annex
for the Washington Vocational
High School on June 30.
The decision came yesterday at
the board’s regular meeting, after
School Supt. Hobart M. Coming
recommended such changes.
The board refused, however, to
close the Corcoran Elementary
School, as Dr. Coming *had asked.
Mrs. Harriet McClemons of the
Corcoran PTA, pleaded with board
members to keep Corcoran open,
since the pupils would have to
cross too many busy streets if
they were assigned to other
schools in the Georgetown area.
Enrollment at the Corcoran
School has declined to 93. The
capacity of the building is 288,
and Dr. Corning said it is un
economical to keeD it oDen anv
longer.
Will Study Closing.
The board voted to hold up
action on closing the school at
least until it has had a chance
to look into the matter further.
It will come up again at the next
board meeting.
Gage was transferred to colored
students because of low enroll
ments also. The use of Slater as
an annex to the vocational high
school will give the nurses’ train
ing program there much-needed
extra space.
The lengthy meeting was marked
by Woolsey W. Hall, board mem
ber, accusing A. Kiger Savoy, asso
ciate superintendent, of inter
fering with the principals’ right
to give efficiency ratings to their
teachers as they see lit.
For the first time this year,
teachers will be rated by their
principals. Previously they were
rated by the director of a division
of schools, a school officer higher
in rank than a principal.
“My information is that you told .
the principals not to change any
rating without seeing you,” Mr.
Hall told Mr. Savoy. He referred
to it as a “most dishonest, vicious
thing," adding:
"The principals have the right
to reflect tjieir opinion of the work
by marking their teachers without
going to Mr. Savoy.”
Might Need Guidance.
Mr. Savoy said he thought Mr.
Hall was being a little hard on
him. He explained that, at a meet
ing of principals recently in the
Parkview Elementary School, he
told them that, in case they
planned to change a rating from
that given the previous year, they!
might confer with him.
He said he did this because this
is the first time the principals
have been allowed to make ef
ficiency ratings and that he felt
they might need guidance. He
said he had not attempted to
change any ratings the principals
proposed.
The discussion came about dur
ing consideration of the mppeal of
Miss Jessie C. Wilson, a grade
school teacher, who wanted her
rating in "tact, courtesy, self-con
trol and poise” upgraded. The
case was continued to another
meeting.
The board appointed Albert
Lechner, 4628 North Twenty-third
road, Arlington, Va., to the long
vacant post of supervisor of the
Penny Milk Program and of sur
plus food distribution. Mr. Lech
ner is assistant manager of the
Howard Johnson restaurant at
Fairfax Circle. The school job
carries a starting salary of $3,825.
Under Lee’s Criticism.
The position has been vacant
since the board took over opera
tion of those two programs last
fall. The operation of the pro
grams has been criticized in the
past by Adelbert W. Lee, board
vice president. Only last week, a
clerk who has been handling the
job submitted her letter of resig
nation, charging mismanagement.
In another action, the board re
tired Mrs. Rosa N. Hampton, head
of the art department for the col
ored schools, after more than 30
years’ service in the District
schools. Dr. Corning read a trib
ute to her, saying she was "truly
a gifted lady.”
The board further:
1. Named Albert E. Steinem,
board member, to represent it on
the District Recreation Board for
another year. Mrs. E. C. Magde
burger was named his alternate
again.
2. Voted to call a special meet
ing soon to consider what salary
increase should be sought for
teachers. Dr. Coming is working
now with various teacher groups
to come up with a recommenda
tion that will represent the opin
ion of all. An immediate increase,
at least equal to that Federal
employes may get, will be sought,
and the whole salary scale will be
overhauled.
Report on Athletic Director.
3. Asked Dr. Corning to report
on the advisability of establishing
the post of athletic director for
4. Hea^d a report from Dr.
Corning in which he said the
aviation courses in the high
schools will be evaluated by an
outside expert, with a view to ex
panding and revitalizing them.
5. Heard a report from Dr.
Corning that, if results of the
present experiment of teaching by
television is successful, as it ap
pears to be, he will recommend
that television sets be bought for
all schools,and television instruc
tion be expanded.
6. Retired Mrs. Elsa L. Finney,
13500 Georgia avenue, Silver
Spring, a grade school teacher,
after 29 years’ service.
Mrs. Stewart Is Better
HOLLYWOOD, May 17 (#).—
Actor Jimmy Stewart’s wife
Gloria was somewhat improved
today, but her physician, Dr.
Mark Rabwin, said her condition
remains serious. Mrs. Stewart has
had five blood transfusions since
she gave birth to twin girls May
7 by Caesarean section. The 32
year-old Mrs. Stewart underwent
two operations for intestinal ob
struction after aha gave birth to
the twins.
Pupil Cost of Public Schools Averages $253.99 a Year Here i
% _
How much does it cost the Dis
trict to keep your child in public
school for one year?
School Supt. Hobart M. Corning
said the District spent an average
of (253.99 on each pupil during
the past school year. A compari
son of 21 cities having a popula
tion of more than 300,000 revealed
that six cities spend more than
the District does per child, he
added.
The $253.99 per child goes out
this way:
The sum of $6.90, or 2.72 per
cent, goes to pay for administra
tion costs; $4, or 1.57 per cent, is
for auxiliary services; $175.61, or
59.14 per cent, is for instruction;
$34.76, or 13.69 per cent, for opera
tion of plant; $12.33, or 4.85 per
cent, for maintenance of plant,
Possible Butter Shortage
Seen for Fall and Winter
ty th« Associated Pross
Signs of a possible butter short
age next fall and winter showed
ap in a Government report today.
The Agriculture Department
said stocks of butter in cold stor
age on April 30 totaled only 32,
>iuuuuo. xuai/ wad lefcjj
than a third of the stocks of
109,020,000 pounds a year earlier.
April through June is the season
yhen butter production normally
;xceeds consumer demands. The
excess goes into storage to help
jffset a normal production decline
luring the fall and winter.
In April, more butter moved out
)f storage to meet demands than
noved in. Thus the month con
tributed nothing toward reserves.
Even with the larger reserves a
fear ago, butter supplies became
tight during the past fall and win
ter. The department said con
sumers are buying more of the
product than a year ago.
A major reason for the apparent
putter deficit is the fact that a
arger portion of the milk supply
s being consumed in the fluid
!orm than a year ago.
To develop its sugarcane in
lustry, Panama has hiked the im
)ort duty on gasoline.
- •
land $20.39, or 8.03 per cent, for re
tirement pay.
Dr. Corning said, however, that
although the $253.99 expenditure
for each child is an average for
all, the figures differ on each
level.
If your child is in kindergarten,
it costs the schools $84.74 to keep
him there. Elementary schools
spend $138.60 per child, junior
high schools, $203.66; vocational
high schools, $356.62, and senior
high schools, $298.95.
Although the District stands
seventh in the list of 21 cities as
to the average spent per pupil,
its standing varies in the different
categories.
[ The District was 16th in ad
ministration expense, 10th in in
struction costs, fourth in opera
tion of plant, 11th in maintenance
of plant, 20th in auxiliary services
(these include transportation of
handicapped children, instruction
of deaf, etc.) and third in retire
ment costs.
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