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Show NATIONAL lOITORLAl -&g? tMte) UCL UTAH STATMrASSOCIATIOM (Last week we republished an editorial written by Nora.... " Lyman, of the Washington County News. ..This wsek we pub-.... " lish the "other side." written by Dr. D. A. Symond, Beaver.... !. County Board of Education member and president of lhe.... ....Council for Utah Education). The article we recently read from Washington County is another example of the confused thinking many of us have to "o through before we, the voting public, finally face the bare grim facts about our children's schools. The facts are these: 1. Our public school system is faltering. It is less and less able to bring sound education to our children at a time when they urgently need the means to help them meet the demands of our increasingly complex and technical world. 2. Our public school system is run for OUR children; controlled by OUR elected representatives (the school board); paid for by OUR money, as we instruct OUR elected representatives repre-sentatives (in the legislature) to fill the needs. 3 If the public school system is faltering and failing; if our superintendents have to hire second, third, and fourth-rate fourth-rate teachers; if our buildings are fire traps, or the bats share lhe buildings with our children; if our schools are going on double session to provide at least a half-day of school for each of our swelling population of youngsters it is up to us the voting citizens to do something about it. What sorry purpose can be gained by mentally manipulating manipu-lating today's budget with the pre-electric-light budget of 1870? Why this fumbling fearful balking at tffe cost. Let's) put the figures down in black and white. Let's take a good honest look at them. Then let's decide how we want this problem prob-lem handled. Across the United States the average cost per j pupil per year has gradually risen from $265 in 1953-54 to almost al-most $300 in 1956. (All the states are facing this problem). After other legislatures have met, the average cost per' pupil in the United States will doubtless be over $300. In 1947-48 Utah spent as much money per child as the national average. In 1953-54 we spent $208 per child or $57 per pupil less than the national average. The trend is continuing. continu-ing. Fear of anything that demands more money keeps our oleeted representatives and senators and our governor rigidly cautious even in the face of impending disaster to our schools and our children. A bill has been proposed for $5100 per classroom unit (per 27 pupils). We in Beaver County are proud to have that bill co-sponsored by our senator, Carlyle Gronning. $5100 per 27 pupils means $188 per pupil per year. This seems to be a rather basic minimum education to be guaranteed each child in our state. If we had that basic minimum, we could, with the allowable local effort, raise our per pupil expenditure almost al-most to the national average. We could make a decent stride toward making our children's education worthwhile. Yet we have recently heard our governor and several of our legislators legislat-ors recommend $4650 to $4800 per 27 students as "being enough." It would seem that many of our lawmakers feel the voting public is happy with progressively deteriorating schools and standards of education. As far as the brave statement that "Money isn't the answer an-swer to everything you'd better look somewhere else." This is sophomore double talk. Of course we must replace our defective de-fective school personnel. We must encourage teachers to be teachers 24 hours a day to love and honor their profession; but we must help that profession get its share of the top students stu-dents from our high schools and colleges. The average Utah teacher is paid less today than the average tradesman with equal or less years in his trade. It is small wonder so few of our youngsters dream and plan to be teachers. Let's don't kid ourselves. Money WILL answer MANY of the problems. It's up to the voting public to elect school board members that will use that money wisely. It's up to the voting public to elect legislators and administrators that will provide the necessary money within the honest limits of our state's economy. .Yes, it's up to the voting public. You know what that is j it's YOU and ME. D. A. SYMOND, M.D., President (CUE) Council for Utah Education. |