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Show Baffle Creek: Breeze By K. B. At this writing, it seems as though the Legislature will adjourn ad-journ again without doing anything any-thing tangible about Utah's critical criti-cal school situation. After spending $60,000 for a '- L it searching survey sur-vey of the present pre-sent condition of our public schools, the law - makers were not able or willing to study the report re-port as a basis for much needed need-ed educational legislation. Utah's rapidly rapid-ly increasing school population poses two definite defin-ite prdblems more teachers and more class rooms. The first of these is of course, a "must." Teaching loads in this state are now unreasonably heavy; and cannot be increased without dis-asterous dis-asterous results. Our buildings could be adequate for some years to come, however, if they were used to capacity for at least eleven months of the year. The important question we must answer definitely and soon is: how long can we afford to maintain costly school buildings and build more of them ,and then use them only an average of 3 1-2 hours a day? The fact that we have never kept schools in session for more than 36 weeks out of the year, is no reason why we couldn't and perhaps very profitably. Can anyone any-one think of one good, justifiable reason why all children and all the teachers should be on a twelve-week twelve-week vacation at the same time? Certainly no business enterprise could long stay out of the "red" under such a wasteful arrangement. arrange-ment. School administrators and I was once one of them remind me of the Road Supervisor we once had in Pleasant Grove. It was in the days when the first horse-drawn horse-drawn road graders came into use. We had just experienced an unusually un-usually heavy snow storm, and the city streets were almost impassable. im-passable. I called the Road Supervisor, Sup-ervisor, and asked if the newly purchased road machine might not be used to clear away the snow, so our Model T's could negotiate the thoroughfares. "No", said he, in a very disgusted disgust-ed tone of voice. "Why not," said I, "I'm sure the new machine would do the job all right." "Just because", he answered, as he banged up the receiver, "Just because, we ain't never done it before." Road equipment and road main- tenance have improved a lot since the days of the horse - drawn grader. Likewise, times have changed a lot. since the day when the school year was set at 36 weeks, so teachers and students could work on the farms in the Summer. So long 'til Friday. |