CONTINUE 

 QUEST FOR 



BETTER SCHOOLS 





Where Should the Greater Emphasis Be 

 Placed— On the School Buildings and 

 Equipment? Or on the High Quality 

 Of a Teaching Staff? School Experts 

 Try To Find Answer. 



vm 



/^-i^ 



How can we impress motorists with 

 the necessity of stopping when 

 approaching a school bus from 

 the front as well as from the rear 

 if the bus is stopped for loading 

 or unloading children ? 



How can we acquaint people with the 

 fact that safety regulations for pupil 

 transportation apply as much to rural 

 roads as they do to concrete highways? 

 These were some of the questions raised 

 at the schools conference held in the 

 Sherman Hotel during the lAA annual 

 meeting. 



Others included: What is to be done 

 with the offices of township trustee and 

 treasurer under widespread school reor- 

 ganization? How can the county super- 

 intendent of schools best fit into the re- 

 organized 1 2-grade school system ? Where 

 should the greater emphasis be placed, 

 on building or on what is done in the 

 schools? Is this the time to build school 

 buildings? 



Attended by 250 farm leaders, the con- 

 ference included seven members of the 

 original lAA State Schools Committee as 

 well as 20 members of county school 

 survey committees. Also present were a 

 number of prominent guests representing 

 statewide organizations. 



These included President Paul Grigsby 

 and Wendel Kennedy of the Illinois Edu- 

 cation Association; Mrs. Amber May, 

 Illinois Congress of Parents and Teachers; 

 Mrs. Paul Burdette, Illinois Federation of 

 Women's Clubs; N. J. Ziener, Illinois 

 Chamber of Commerce; Lee Wolfe, Illi- 

 nois Manufacturers' Association: Dr. D. 

 E. Lindstrom, College of Agriculture, 

 University of Illinois: Toe Ackerman, 



Abova: Ralph L. Otirandar, (foregreuntl) MtHenry county, ritai 

 fo ask a tfu»*ilon In schools conference. Below: Luther Black, 

 Springfield, addrettet the meeting. At speaker's table ore (leff 

 to right) M. f. f aimer, Scott county; Chairman tar I M. Hughes, 

 McHunry county; Joe Mason, ffflngham; and Roy fetherttou, 



Springfield. i ■ 



Farm Foundation; Luther Black, acting 

 secretary of the State Advisory Commis- 

 sion and assistant to the State Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction; and Roy 

 Fetherston, secretary of the Illinois Asso- 

 ciation of Schools Boards. 



The conference was called to order by 

 Earl Hughes, member of the lAA board 

 of directors and member of the school 

 survey committee in McHenry county. 



Luther Black presented a summary of 

 the progress of the school reorganization 

 program. "There are fewer than 6,500 

 school districts in Illinois as of Nov. 1, 

 1948," said Black. "This includes 157 

 community unit districts. Four years ago 

 there were 269 small two and three-year 

 high schools in the state. This year there 

 are only 29 open and operating. Two 

 hundred-forty have been closed in the 

 4-year period." 



Joe Mason, superintendent of the Ef- 

 fingham community unit school district, 

 was asked to discuss the greater possibili- 

 ties for service under the 1 2-grade unit. 

 "The strength of the unit organization is 

 built upon a continuity in the program," 

 said Mason. "Better unified school fa- 

 cilities and increased efficiency should be 

 the result of the unit organization as op- 

 posed to the dual system." 



Chairman Hughes then called on M. J. 

 Fulmer, superintendent of the Scott 

 county 1 2-grade unit, to give some of his 

 experiences in the new community unit 

 district. 



"Scott county was one of the first to 

 organize into a community unit district," 

 said Fulmer. "We are going along at 

 present, very well and progressing satis- 

 factorily. Our plan for enforcement is 



very flexible. We still have 19 one-room 

 schools in the county as we are trying to 

 move slowly and dose schools only as 

 they need to be closed. If it is more con- 

 venient for all concerned to retain the 

 one-room rural schopl, or if it is the will 

 of the people, then we do not close the 

 school. However, with the exception of 

 one, we have only six grades in any rural 

 school. 



A short session followed in which most 

 of the discussion centered around greater 

 safety on school buses. The chairman 

 asked the first question. 



Hughes: Shouldn't, or couldn't, the 

 state highway department cooperate on 

 the question of school bus safety on the 

 highways ? McHenry county had two 

 such accidents in one school tji^'^i'ict re- 

 cently, and we believe that people are 

 not familiar with the laws regarding pass- 

 ing of school buses. 



Black: This question merits the con- 

 sideration of all concerned. The state 

 highway department already has a man 

 for this purpose, but it is necessary for 

 the people in a given locality to take the 

 responsibility of stressing school bus 

 safety to their children and to insist upon 

 the proper protection of their children to 

 the proper authorities. The law is that a 

 driver has to stop for a school bus which 

 is stopped for loading or unloading, re- 

 gardless of from which direction he is 

 coming. Of courseT^the bus driveflslr^ 

 quired to give certain signalsT 

 state department is willing to go the limi t 

 in giving information to bus drivers and 

 the public at large. 



Mrs. Burdette, DuPage county i Do 

 people know that they should stop when 



I 



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L A. A. RECORD 



lANUAI 



