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east corner is located in a well-defined 

 neighborhood but in open country. 



The one-room school in the north- 

 east corner of the district is situated in 

 an area with bad roads. The larger dis- 

 trict, however, would be in position 

 through its greater influence to get bet- 

 ter roads for that area. Eventually, that 

 attendance unit could be merged with 

 one or more other grade school attend- 

 ance units in the district. 



Advantages of Unit District 



Some of the advantages of the unit 

 district in areas largely rural are readily 

 apparent but most of the benefits grow 

 out of the cooperative relationship pos- 

 sible in the larger district. Several 

 main advantages are: 



1 . The district can be operated to a 

 greater advantage for all concerned. 



2. More and capable supervision with- 

 in the school. 



3. It can spread the tax load more 

 evenly over the district. 



). A simplicity of record keeping. 



Greater economy might result from: 



a. A decreased expense for elections 

 and legal services. 



b. Equipment owned by the larger 

 district might be shifted to the 

 various attendance units, such as 

 motion picture machines, a 

 larger library, maps, certain musi- 

 cal instruments, etc. 



c. Special teachers, such as those of 

 music, public speaking, physical 

 education, art, handicrafts and 

 even school nurses hired by the 

 unit district could serve any or 

 all of the attendance units on 

 regular schedules. 



Another economy but of sufficient 

 importance to receive special atten- 

 tion is the saving on transportation 

 under the unit district system. Costs 

 per pupil for transportation in Illi- 

 nois are more than double those in 

 Ohio, Indiana, and many other 

 states. 



This is because many school buses 

 in Illinois run over the roads but 



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don't haul enough pupils per bus. 

 Ohio, Indiana, and most of the other 

 states haul both grade and high 

 school students together. Where 

 a bus has been stopping to pick up 

 two high school pupils it could pick 

 up four or five grade school pupils 

 as well. In other words, with some 

 study of the problem, it would be 

 possible to provide transportation 

 service for both grade and high 

 school students at very little more 

 cost per bus unit that it costs now to 

 haul only high school students. 



7. The unit district system makes it 

 easier for pupils to progress from 

 grade school to high school. 



8. The unit district provides an oppor- 

 tunity to coordinate the entire 

 school program, not only the course 

 of study but the sports and other 

 activity programs as well. 



Cites Disadvantages 

 Several disadvantages to the unit dis- 

 trict have been expressed. They are 

 mainly as follows; 



1. It is difficult to establish the unit 

 district under present laws : New 

 legislation in 1947 is expected to 

 simplify that process. 



2. The superintendents of new unit 

 districts are likely to be chosen from 

 the ranks of high school administra- 

 tors who will emphasize the high 

 school at the expense of the grade 

 school. However, the school boards 

 of new unit districts will represent 

 the interests of from 2 to 21/2 times 

 as many elementary pupils as high 

 school pupils. It is possible that an 

 able administrator with his overall 

 view of educational standards, 

 teacher abilities, etc. could give the 

 grade schools a great deal more 

 service than many are now getting. 

 There would be a scarcity of good 

 elementary school administrators if 

 we reorganized on the dual system 

 basis. Higher salaries and more 

 recognition of the elementary field 

 will gradually result in increasing 

 the numbers of able school admini- 

 strators with more elementary school 

 experience. 



3. The unit district with one pupil 

 transportation system would tend to 

 keep grade school pupils at school 

 for a long day. 



It may be that a few lessons can be 

 learned from other states which make 

 a practice of hauling both grade and 

 high school students. However, the 

 grade school children would not have 

 to be on the buses very long because 

 their attendance centers are near at 

 hand. Also additional but smaller 

 buses, together with local adjustments 

 that can be made, would perhaps go a 

 long way toward eliminating other ob- 

 jections. 



APRIL, 1946 



II 



