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Show THE Committee for the White House Conference on Education Educa-tion held in Washington last November No-vember after state and district meetings throughout the country, has filed a 196 page report with President Eisenhower. The report is comprehensive, in much detail and represents months of work by the 35-member committee com-mittee headed by Neil M. McElroy, President of the Proctor Sc Gamble Co., Cincinnati. Here are briefly, some of the highlights: 1 Schools now affect the welfare of the nation more than ever before be-fore and this new importance has been dangerously underestimated. 2 Ignorance Is a far greater handicap to the individual than it was a generation ago, and an uneducated un-educated populace Is a greater handicap to the nation. 3 Schools and education have taken the place of the frontiers in the hope of personal advancement. 4 The new concept of education which has grown up in our schools taking the place of readin' wrilin' and 'rithmetic is of itself a law against waste and represents aspirations of the American people. 5 Schools have lagged far behind be-hind these aspirations and fail to close the gap between educational ideals and realities. 6 There is real danger that In attempting to fit children for a fruitful life, to do everything a little, schools may end up by doing nothing well. It is essential that schools pursue a policy of first things first. 7 There are 8,674 school districts which operate no schools. Most school districts are too small of 59,270 school districts, only 8,679 are large enough to employ 40 teachers; in 37,871 fewer than , 10 teachers are employed. A school district should have at least l'.'OO pupils and 40 teachers to make it an efllcient administrative unit. At a different extreme, many big city school systems are too kue for either educational or financial efficiency; there is a need to consolidate con-solidate rural school districts, and a parallel problem to decentializa large urban school districts. 8 Each high school should have a minimum of 300 pupils and 12 full time teachers. There are gains in economy and efficiency up to 700 pupils. Minimum size of elementary schools should be 175 pupils and 7 teachers for a 6-grade school. Improvements in efficiency and economy can be made up to 300 pupils and 12 teachers. 9 Here are goals for education: A general education as good or better than offered In the past, with emphasis on physical and , social sciences; development of patriotism and good citizenship, to foster moral, ethical and spiritual spir-itual values; vocational education tailored to each pupil and needs of the community; domestic skills, music, dancing, vocational reading and hobbies; health services; special treatment for handicaps, physical education; instruction to meet needs of abler students; instructions in-structions about foreign nations, programs for mental health, to foster wholesome family life, organized or-ganized recreational and social life, courses designed to promote safety, better driving, swimming, civil defense. |
