OCR Text |
Show Your Public Schools o by Willard H. McGuire, president I fe. I National Education Association -V Great Opportunities 'Free' At Your Public Schools A young man just released from jail recently telephoned a newspaper reporter and wanted to know where all the opportunities were. "Where," he asked, "are all the 'programs' for people like me?" The reporter, Nickie McWhirter, wrote the following fol-lowing reply: "Well, there is one truly remarkable 'program' I know about. It's called 'free public education.' It goes on for 12 years, with time off for a good long vacation every summer. It teaches people as young as five all the way up to maybe your age all kinds of things such as how to read, write and work math problems all useful things to know every day, on any job. "It teaches history; chemistry chem-istry ; literature; and biology. There are classes in typing and bookkeeping; the graphic graph-ic arts; cooking; sewing; auto mechanics; and instrumental & vocal music. There are people to show you how to use hammers, saws, lathes, drills and almost any tool you can think of. The 'program' buys the tools. You get to use them, free. "Do you like sports? The schools have them, just for fun or for serious pretenders to glory. The schools hire coaches to help you polish your style and improve your skills. Schools have gymnasiums, gymna-siums, baseball and football fields, plus more sports equipment than anybody you know ever had, even rich kids. Lots of schools have swimming pools and tennis courts. They're free. "All the books and other supplies you need are free, too. If you're poor, the school will even feed you lunch, or breakfast, or both. Transportation is free. You won't ride in a chauffeured limo, but buses are OK. You're guaranteed a seat, and you never have to buy gas. "Besides hiring experts to help you learn things that are useful or interesting all by themselves, the public schools employ special teachers to help you if you're having trouble learning. learn-ing. They provide specially trained people to help you with speech or hearing problems. There are psychologists psy-chologists and social workers work-ers to listen and suggest ways for you to work out any problems you might have. All you have to do is ask. "After you've been in this 'program' for a while, you can decide on a lifetime job or career. It can be anything you want. Nobody tells you what you have to do. |