The shop facilities in our secondary schools are inadequate. Potential dropouts must have the opportunity to learn skills they feel are useful. We still have too large a proportion of outdated and outworn textbooks, although there has been improvement within the last year.

Physical facilities in many schools are inadequate or in disrepair. Numerous schools are so overcrowded that they must hold classes in places never meant for classes. It is surprising to find, in a modern city like Washington, school buildings with leaking roofs, rotting floors, lack of ventilation, and unsatisfactory restroom facilities.

We shall now present more detailed testimony on each of these needs of our chools.

I. STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO

I am Toni Chapman, a sophomore at Cardozo High School, speaking on the student-teacher ratio.

According to Board of Education statistics, 75 percent of all District classes have more than 30 students. In junior high schools the figure is 96 percent. In our elementary schools, 19,566 pupils are in classes of over 35.

Members of HSSBE have found specific instances of overly large classes. The principal of Banneker Junior High School reports that most academic classes in his school have an enrollment of 40 students per class.

Some HSSBE members are in a French IV class at Woodrow Wilson High School which has 40 students. The teacher says that students do not have the opportunity for essential conversational practice in a class of this size. Teachers in other schools have expressed the problems they have in teaching large classes. A history and remedial reading teacher at Garnett Patterson Junior High School states: "Evaluation is difficult in large classes. Not only is it difficult to determine what each student merits, but it is almost impossible to give each an opportunity to prove his worth." An English and history teacher at Woodson Junior High School says: "Lessons planned for one session are rarely completed." A math teacher at Calvin Coolidge High School says: ** ques

tions are left unanswered in class because it is physically impossible to answer all of them."

Another personnel problem that has been receiving publicity lately is the student-counselor ratio. Counselors have been accused of not counseling properly, but we think that much of the problem is that there are not enough of them. Many schools report conditions like that at Paul Junior High School, where there is only 1 counselor for 1,300 students.

II. SCIENCE EQUIPMENT

I am John Ponds, a student at Anacostia High School, speaking on science equipment, and after that on shops.

Lack of adequate and up-to-date science equipment is reported by almost all schools. At Gordon Junior High School there is only one adequately equipped science room. Some HSSBE members at Western High School take chemistry in a room where the blackboard is so cracked that symbols written on it cannot be read.

The principal of Dunbar High School says of his school's physics lab, where motors date from 1890: "The Smithsonian could move it lock, stock, and barrel, and people would go to see it."

The chemistry teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School states: "Our allotment for the purchase of chemicals and equipment is miserably low, about 50 cents per student. One dollar per student is necessary to cover essentials." He also says that he can hold in his hands the equipment he has received from a request he made in February of last year, 15 months ago.

An eighth-grade honors science class at Paul Junior High School is using textbooks meant for vocational students. At the same school, many interested students are prevented from taking the more challenging science courses because of lack of laboratory space.

The District has not been able to profit by the National Defense Education Act because the funds requested to match with those of the Federal Government have not been provided.

III. SHOPS

Last year 4,056 students left school before getting a high school diploma; of

ment among dropouts is well known. If potential dropouts were given education in subjects of practical value, they would not only have more chance of getting a job if they did drop out, but also an incentive to continue their education. Therefore, the importance of renovating and repairing shops in both juni highs and high schools must be stressed.

When we visited Randall Junior High School, the principal was ashamed t show us the printshop. We could see why: it was small, crowded, dingy, and hopelessly outmoded. In the same school, sewing machines that had been con demned because of their age and disrepair are still in use.

A teacher of mechanical drawing and printing at Anacostia High School and a teacher of carpentry at Shaw Junior High School both comment that their students would be "* * * laughed off the job" if they were to use handtools like those with which the school shops are supplied.

At Dunbar High School, where 25 percent of the students are in the basic track, there is no shop except a printshop across the street from the school. The school building is not strong enough to support heavy equipment.

IV. TEXTBOOKS

I am Doug Burke, speaking on textbooks.

Last year our group emphasized the textbook situation in our schools because it was a very pressing problem at the time. The Congress appropriated an extra $135,000 especially for textbooks, and the age at which a textbook was considered outmoded was reduced from 10 years to 5 years. However, there are still many cases of insufficient and outdated textbooks.

A Kramer Junior High School science teacher says: "We are desperately in need of good, modern, durable textbooks."

At Western High School, the appropriations for library books, magazines, and periodicals are completely inadequate. Only the highest priority textbook needs can be met.

Banneker Junior High School reports a particular need for materials for pupils in remedial classes. Instead of using elementary texts, they should have reading material especially adapted for teenagers.

V. PHYSICAL CONDITIONS-A

I am Toni Michelle Chapman, a sophomore at Cardozo High School, speaking on physical conditions.

Enrollment in the District of Columbia schools is increasing so rapidly that many schools are faced not only with unfavorable student-teacher ratios, but with actual lack of space for classes to meet. At Coolidge High School, one HSSBE member started the year in an algebra class of 45 students. Chairs had to be brought in and crowded into the aisles against fire regulations.

A first-year French class at Western High School started with 46 students. Many had to drop the course.

At Garfield Elementary School, classes are held in the auditorium, the cafeteria, and a small spare room in the basement. This year the father of a fourth grader complained because his child had never been in a real classroom. Pre sumably the student has been reassigned to a regular classroom. Let's hope he wasn't put into one of the second-floor rooms where birds fly in through holes in the windows, mice run across the floor, and rain leaks in through the ceiling. At Garnett Patterson Junior High School, double music classes must be held in the auditorium so that the music rooms can be used for academic classes. Paul Junior High School holds classes in the cafeteria. Langley Junior High has classes in the teachers cafeteria and in the auditorium. Some schools have classrooms used as auditoriums. Other schools have no auditorium space at all. Harrison Elementary School holds assemblies in the front hall, against fire regulations.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS-B

I am Jeff Bock, a student at Western High School, also speaking on physical conditions.

In Pierce Elementary School, visiting Congressmen saw a damp basement room

shifts. Harrison Elementary School has 10 classes on double shifts. This is the third year of part-time instruction.

Two years ago, as a result of the delayed appropriation of money for the District, the new Evans Junior High School construction was held up and as a further result this school will not open on time, causing double shifts at Miller Junior High School.

A social adjustment class at Shaw Junior High School meets in a basement -room. The teacher says: "These social adjustment kids need all kinds of special help. They should have cheerful, bright rooms. Many of them live in this kind of dungeon. They shouldn't have to come to school in it."

The roofs of the gyms at Shaw and at Western High School leak onto the gym floors. An HSSBE member at Woodrow Wilson High School, taking a gym class in the armory, was cautioned not to sit on the floor because there are termites infesting it.

Western, Randall Junior High, Shaw, and many other schools face a lack of space and ventilation in locker rooms. Students in many schools are not able to take showers after gym.

At Langley Junior High, a wall is cracked and rain drips into lockers. At Woodson Junior High, in heavy rain, there is "serious leakage through the base of walls."

Hine Junior High School has only two restrooms for students. Both are very old and unsanitary. Western High School also has a serious problem with antiquated restrooms.

The lighting system at Dunbar High School consistently fails to meet minimum requirements for candlepower.

A fire or other catastrophe might occur in one of these substandard buildings before new facilities are built.

VI. CONCLUSION

(Douglas Burke, Woodrow Wilson High School)

It is clear to us that we are not getting as good an education as we ought. The facts we have gathered have made it apparent that many of the problems cannot be solved without money.

Visitors to many of the District of Columbia schools come away saying that conditions are shocking. Congresswoman Edith Green said, "These conditions are a disgrace in a society that calls itself affluent." Congressman Albert Quie said, "It is a blight on the prestige of our country to have these conditions in the Nation's Capital."

It is a blight on the student as well.

We urge passage of any bills that will give the District of Columbia more funds.

Specifically, this request includes raising the Federal payment and increasing the borrowing authority to encompass the present school needs.

Mr. Chairman, we thank you very much for this opportunity to testify before your committee. We would be glad to answer any questions that you may have.

Senator MORSE. I also submit for printing in the record in behalf of my very able colleague on my right, Senator Prouty, of Vermont, a report entitled "The Forgotten Youth; Vocational Education in the United States," part 1 of a study of the needs and problems of the 80 percent of our high school population, many of whom will enter the work force without specific skills sufficient to earn a living, prepared by the staff of the Senate Republican policy committee, Bourke B. Hickenlooper, chairman, David S. Teeple, staff director, dated March 4, 1963.

(The report referred to follows:)

THE FORGOTTEN YOUTH

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Part 1 of a study of the needs and problems of the 80 percent of our high school population, many of whom will enter the work force without specific skills sufficient to earn a living.

(Prepared by the staff of the Senate Republican policy committee, Bourke B. Hickenlooper, chairman; David S. Teeple, staff director)

INTRODUCTION

“Ignorance and illiteracy, unskilled workers and school dropouts—these and other failures in our educational system have bred failures in our social and economic system: juvenile delinquency, unemployment and chronic depend |

ency

Thus does the administration rationalize its demand on Congress for a $53 billion Federal aid to education program.

Facts indicate precisely the opposite to be true: that is, failures in our social and economic system have bred failures in our educational system. And the basic failure of public education today has been the systematic refusal to acknow edge-in all of our major urban areas of population-social and economic changes that have been going on during the past four decades.

We have witnessed a massing in urban centers of youths whose background. heritage, and living standards challenge the social environment in which they now live. The academic program which met the needs of an urban community 25 years ago no longer meets the basic needs of that community today. Yet the curriculum is still static in concept. The result has been the loss of old skills: new ones, needed to meet changing industrial patterns, are not taught Unemployment among the young is rising and will continue to rise unless maior changes in our educational system are brought about to meet these changed social and economic conditions. The Democrat administration's school aid proposals fail completely to face up to these basic changes and to provide even a semblance of a solution.

We recognize the need for a higher degree of skill and training in our colleges and graduate schools and encourage efforts both private and public-to pro vide the quality instruction needed at these levels.

The administration's message, however, continues to place its primary em phasis on "glamour" aspects of education leading to the college entrance exami nations. It endorses, in effect, trends already observed in American education to classify all other educational courses as being just a shade lower in dignity than the academic course.

This and succeeding studies are aimed at examining the needs of the 80 percent of our school-age population who will enter the work force without a college degree.

All Americans willing to work should have the opportunity to look forward to earnings that will enable them to establish a home and to rear a family in decency and dignity. As they lead productive and useful lives they contribute to the growth of America. Theirs are the problems largely ignored in the ad

ministration's school message.

THE PROBLEM FOR YOUTH

In urban areas unemployment, particularly among the young, is rising. Chances of the urban youth, who has just graduated from high school or who has dropped out of school, finding his first job are lessened by the influx of rural youth who can no longer look forward to on-farm employment. In the past 5 years, on-farm job opportunities have fallen off by 800,000-and these youths have had to turn to the cities for a livelihood.

During these same 5 years, the net increase in job opportunities has risen by an estimated 1.5 million. Despite this increase, the young, unskilled worker

The principal increase in job openings is in the service category, ranging om sales clerks to skilled computer mechanics. There is a growing demand E or every type of skill in this broad area.

The American education system, as it is now constituted, does not provide the ast majority of high school graduates or school dropouts with these skills. [any may profit from academic studies but they should also be taught how to epair a TV set, operate an office machine, handle a cash register in a superarket, maintain a building, or other skills necessary to get a job.

The Labor Department estimates that the demand for these and other skills vill increase 150 percent by 1975 while the demand for the unskilled worker vill decline by some 50 percent.

Our public schools are the obvious place where the needed skills could be equired. Salable skills are not being taught to enough graduates and to even lewer dropouts.

A decade ago the high school graduate or school dropout could reasonably expect to find a job in some phase of industry. This annual addition to the work force was partially absorbed in this type of industry or on the farm. This situation no longer prevails. Today he is more likely to find himself an unemployment statistic than a productive worker.

In 1960, for instance, 700,000 16-to-19-year-olds who were not in school were unemployed. This constituted 15.5 percent of the 16-to-17-year-olds and 14.1 percent of the 18-to-19-year-olds as compared with the 6.8 percent of the adult work force unemployed.

While unemployment statistics for the young continue grim, an ironic paradox has developed. There is a growing problem among employers who are looking for skilled help but who cannot find it. These employment opportunities are not in the low-pay field, according to a recently published survey. For instance, butchers in one New York meat wholesale house are earning $10,000 a year. A skilled cook-not necessarily a chef-can expect to earn between $10,000 and $12,000 in many New York restaurants and aboard American ocean liners. Skilled kitchen help of any kind is hard to find and consequently draws good pay.

American furniture manufacturers are increasingly turning to Europe to find skilled help because too few cabinetmakers are entering the work force in this country.

Skilled sheet metal workers are at a premium in most urban centers.

An apprentice draftsman with no experience starts at $80 a week in Chicago. Similar wage scales are found in other major American cities.

Landscape gardeners, cosmetologists, cartographers, TV repairmen, plumbers, electricians, appliance repairmen, mechanics, and many types of sales people can start at nearly $5,000 a year, including overtime.

A Chicago auto mechanics union official reports that a body-and-fender man can expect to earn $10,000 a year in almost any garage but adds that his local cannot supply enough men to meet the needs.

A spot check of classified ads in one major Chicago newspaper for Sunday, February 24, 1963, showed a demand for 5,042 skilled workers. Like situations prevail in other urban centers.

Businessmen throughout the country tell the same story: there just aren't enough skilled workers being added to our labor force each year to meet their needs. In some extreme cases this has resulted in business failure.

American luxury liners are fighting a losing battle with their European competitors partly because they cannot match the skilled service offered by the European lines.

During the past 5 years, 3,500,000 new jobs have been created, primarily in the service category. As every new shopping center is built, literally hundreds of new jobs are created, ranging from parking lot attendants through sales personnel to skilled mechanics and artisans. These jobs are in addition to those already existing in the community.

The Labor Department estimates that during the decade ahead demand for skilled workers will increase by 150 percent. If this projection is borne out it will mean that another 13.5 million such jobs will be created. But each of these jobs will demand more acquired skill.

Our educational system should and must be the source for these skills. As it is geared today-in its static adherence to curriculums of the past which no longer meet the demands of today and the future-it is not qualified to meet this