Interest Grows in Work of 

 School Survey Committees 



WITH school survey committees at 

 work in 93 counties in Illinois, 

 more and more folks are becoming 

 interested in the work that these public- 

 spirited groups are performing. 



In the first place, each school com- 

 mittee is made up of nine members, 

 five representing rural districts and four 

 from urban districts. These members 

 were elected by the school directors and 

 board members of their respective 

 counties. 



School survey committee members 

 work without pay, but their responsi- 

 bilities are great and their duties are 

 clearly outlined in the School Survey 

 Law passed by the last session of the 

 state legislature. 



Here are the powers and duties of 

 the committees as outlined in the law: 



(a) To study the school distrirts 

 of the county and their or- 

 ganization for the purpose of 

 recommending desirable re-or- 

 ganization which in the judg- 

 ment of the committee will 

 afford better educational op- 

 portunities for the pupils and 

 inhabitants of the county, 

 more efficient and economical 

 administration of public 

 schools and a more equitable 

 distribution of public school 

 revenues ; 



(b) To confer with school author- 

 ities and residents of the 

 school distrirts of the county, 

 hold public hearings, and fur- 

 nish to school board members 

 and to the public information 

 concerning re-organization of 

 school distrirts in the county; 

 and 



(c) To make reports of its study 

 and reconrtmendations, includ- 

 ing a map or maps showing 



' existing boundaries of school 

 distrirts and the boundaries of 

 proposed or recommended 

 schoo^ distrirts, concerning the 

 re-organization and financing 

 of the school distrirts of the 

 county. 

 The law also calls for public hearings 

 in each proposed new district followed 

 by a vote. Some of the reasons why 

 the County School Survey procedure is 

 necessary were stated in last month's 

 issue of the lAA Record. 



16 



In less technical language the com- 

 mittee will study the assessed valuation, 

 enrollments, tax rates, teacher supply, 

 roads, community sentiment, and other 

 things which have to do with the effi- 

 ciency and economy of the schools. 

 They will collect figures and study maps 

 pertaining to the school districts and 

 transportation problems. 



This data will provide them with a 

 back log of information which will 

 guide them in making recommenda- 

 tions for a re-grouping of districts in- 

 to a more efficient, economical pattern, 

 wherever feasible. 



Copies of the recommendations 

 of the county school committee are 

 to be submitted to each school 

 board member in the county in a 

 tentative report. Following the 

 submission of the tentative repon 

 to the people for their study, pub- 

 lic hearings will be called in each 

 proposed new distrirt. At these 

 public hearings comments and sug- 

 gestions from local people on pro- 

 f>osals made by the committee will 

 be sought. Copies of the report 

 will also be sent to the members of 

 the State Advisory Commission, 

 who also may make suggestions. 

 The county committee will then make 

 a final report based on their tentative 

 report but with a proper regard to sug- 

 gestions growing out of the public 

 hearings and these coming from the 

 State Advisory Commission. Within 

 nine months after the final report is 

 distributed to the school board mem- 

 bers of the county, the people in any 

 reorganized district proposed by the 

 Committee will have an opportunity to 

 vote on the proposals of the county 

 committee. 



In reality where the county commit- 

 tee proposes a larger district, that rec- 

 ommendation legally applies to the 

 establishment of a larger district for 

 administrative and financial purposes 

 only. The county committee's recom- 

 mendations legally have nothing what- 

 ever to do with the number of schools 

 operated in the proposed larger district. 

 The local people will determine 

 whether the distrirt proposed by 

 the cotiunittee shall be created and 

 the board members representing 

 them will decide how many schools 

 should be operated and what 



schools can reasonably be closed 

 for the sake of efficiency and 

 economy. 



Although the proposals of the 

 county committee legally extend only 

 to the recommendation of larger dis- 

 tricts that can provide better ed- 

 ucational opportunities while elim- 

 inating unnecessary waste yet the com- 

 mittee should, in view of their fund of 

 information and impartial over-all 

 viewpoint, make recommendations re- 

 garding attendance units, location of 

 building sites, etc., in the proposed new 

 districts. While the new districts are 

 not obligated to follow such recom- 

 mendations, local people may find such 

 recommendations from the county com- 

 mittee helpful. 



PRES. SHUMAN ATTENDS 

 FEED SHORTAGE MEETING 



Charles B. Shuman, president of the 

 lAA, attended a conference on the food 

 and feed shortage Feb. 19 in Washing- 

 ton called by Secretary of Agriculture 

 Clinton P. Anderson. Other leaders at- 

 tending the conference were President 

 Edward A. O'Neal of the AFBF; H. 

 A. Praeger, Kansas Farm Bureau presi- 

 dent; Vice-President Howard Hill of 

 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation; Herbert 

 Voorhees, New Jersey Farm Bureau 

 president, and W. R. Ogg of the Wash- 

 ington AFBF office. 



In the discussions, the major recom- 

 mendation made by Farm Bureau of- 

 ficials was that the promises and pledges 

 made to farmers by high government 

 officials be kept. 



Farm Bureau representatives also 

 voiced opposition to all suggestions to 

 reduce the ceiling price on heavy 

 weight hogs. An increase in ceiling 

 price for hogs weighing less than 240 

 pounds was favored, provided the in- 

 crease was made possible through up- 

 ward adjustment of retail prices and 

 not through an increase in subsidy. 



Farm Bureau representatives opposed 

 all proposals which necessitated an in- 

 crease in subsidy payment. 



It was also recommended that more 

 railroad cars be made available for ship- 

 ment of corn from areas of surplus to 

 deficit regions. 



FRUIT GROWERS 

 WILL MEET APRIL 4 



Annual meeting of the Illinois Fruit 

 Growers Exchange and Fruit Exchange 

 Supply Company has been set for April 

 4. The meeting will be held in Car- 

 bondale in the Old Science Building 

 on the campus of Southern Illinois 

 Normal University. . 



L A. A. RECORD 



