SCHOOL ACTIVITIES 



By JOHN K. COX 



Director, Rural School Rolcrtions 



PROGRESS REPORT 



THE State Advisory Commission in its 

 Dec. 8 progress report on school reor- 

 ganization reveals that Illinois has only 

 6,166 school districts now as compared 

 to almost twice that number in 194S when 

 the School Survey Act was passed. A good 

 deal of voting is yet to take place. Most 

 of the changes so far and until March I 

 are the result of recommendations made or 

 action inspired by the County School Sur- 

 vey Committees. 



The commission reports 168 new com- 

 mimity unit districts as of Dec. 8, which 

 figure is already out of date. For these dis- 

 tricts already established rural people voted 

 favorably by better than 2 to 1. Urban 

 voters gave them a 7 to 1 edge. A spokes- 

 man for the State Superintendent's office 

 recently said that a single salary schedule for 

 grade and high school teachers had been 

 adopted in practically all of the new com- 

 munity unit districts now in operation. 

 Equal salaries for grade and high teachers 

 will do much toward strengthening our grade 

 school program and attracting much needed 

 and better teachers into the elementary field. 

 Under the single salary schedule for grade 

 and high school teachers, teachers of equal 

 training, equal experience and equal re- 

 sponsibility on the job will receive the same 

 salary. 



The average size of these 168 new unit dis- 

 tricts is 117.4 square miles. The average en- 

 rollment is 791.33 with 220.97 of those 

 pupils in the high school branch. The 

 average assessed valuation per pupil is 

 121,120. 



REPORT FROM INDIANA 

 Indiana followed rather closely the town- 

 ship pattern in her school reorganization 

 (rf several years ago. The worst objection they 

 are finding to that system is the prevalence 

 of the small high school. The information 

 discovered in a study there is remarkably 

 similar to the results we have found in such 

 studies in Illinois. 



"An eight-month survey just com- 

 pleted by the Indiana School Study Com- 

 mission reveals that small schools cost 

 more and are less effective. In the 96 

 townships studied, where the average 

 daily attendance at high schools was 

 under 100 pupils, the median cost per 

 pupil was found to be $79 higher than 

 in similar schools with daily attendance 

 of 200 or more. 



"The most serious deficiency of the 

 small high school, the commission re- 

 ports, is that 'the school program is too 

 narrow and restricted to meet their needs 

 for living in a modern complex world." 

 Not only do the smaller schools spend 

 two and three times as much as they 

 should per pupil, but they also have 

 more difficulty getting and keeping 

 qualified teachers." 

 *Neu> York Times, November 21, 1948. 

 WHAT SHOULD A SCHOOL TEACH? 

 Edward Tuttle, editor-in-chief of Row, 

 Peterson and Company, recently handed me a 

 copy of a portion of a letter which had been 

 written by a former high school student, now 

 a voter and father, to his former principal. 

 The ex-high school student wrote as follows : 



28 



"I wish I had been taught more about 

 family relationships, child care, getting 

 along with people, interpreting the 

 news, news writing, paying oS a small 

 mortgage, household mechanics, poli- 

 tics, local government, carpentry, the 

 chemistry of food, how to budget, the 

 value of insurance, how to enjoy opera 

 over the radio, how to detect shoddy 

 goods, how to distinguish a demagogue 

 from a statesman, how to grow a garden, 

 how to paint a house, how to get a job, 

 how to be vigorous and healthy, how to 

 be interesting to others, how to be popu- 

 lar, how to be thrifty, how to resist 

 high-pressure salesmanship, how to buy 

 economically and intelligently, and the 

 danger of installment buying." 



NEW SCHOOL BUILDINGS 



Some building of new school houses is 

 necessary in the next few years in many 

 communities due to the wearing out of old 

 buildings, the increased enrollment because 

 of the higher birth rate, and school reor- 

 ganization. Higher building costs now are 

 only partially offset by lower interest rates. 

 However, building is a "must" in some areas 

 now. Many suburban areas are affected. 

 Chicago had 6,000 more elementary pupils 

 this year than last and the five-year incre- 

 ment is expected to reach 50,000. Mrs. 

 Mulberry of the Chicago school board has 

 supplied some information on their cottage 

 type housing. I am including the infor 

 mation here because there may be some rural 

 interest in securing similar two-room re- 

 movable housing in rural areas. Here it is 

 as it came to us: 



"The buildings were designed by the 

 bureau of architecture to be demount- 

 able in sections that will permit re-use 

 of the buildings many times as needed. 

 "The buildings are 24 feet by 80 feet in 

 size. Each building contains two class 

 rooms that are 23 feet wide and 27 feet 

 long. There is a wardrobe adjacent to 

 each class room from which an exit 

 door is provided. Toilets for boys and 

 girls and a heater room are also in- 

 cluded in the building. 



O. M. irilo, ovHbor of "Th* farm Bwroov 

 Throuyh Tbroo Omtadmt," awfogrophs a copy 

 of his book for Don L. Clarkm, Sangamon 

 county, formor lAA board mentbar, at form 

 Buroav convention. 



Milton W. Warron 



1 



lAA Director Dies 

 Month After He 

 Leaves Office ' 



FARM BUREAU ranks suflFered the 

 loss of a loyal leader in December 

 with the death of Milton W. Warren, 

 Mansfield, Piatt county, who had just 

 retired from the 

 board of directors of 

 the Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Association. 



Mr. Warren who 

 had been in ill health 

 for more than a year, 

 died Dec. 17, at his 

 home. Services were 

 held Dec. 20 in 

 Mansfield. A dele- 

 gation from the lAA 

 board of directors 

 including President 

 Charles B. Shuman and Vice-President 

 F. E. Morris as well as farm advisers 

 from the district attended the services. 

 Mr. Warren retired last December as 

 lAA director from the 19th district after 

 three years of service. During his serv- 

 ice on the board he was a member of the 

 finance committee. During 1948 Mr. 

 Warren was unable to devote his full 

 energies to his work because of ill health. 

 Mr. Warren succeeded Mr. Shuman 

 on the board in November when the lat- 

 ter was elected president of the lAA. 

 Mr. Warren operated a 450-acre farm 

 devoted to general farming. 



Mr. Warren was long interested in 

 Farm Bureau and served eight years as 

 a director of the Piatt County Farm Bu- 

 reau and 12 years as its president. He 

 was on the Production Credit Associa- 

 tion board at Champaign for six years, 

 on the AAA committee for seven years 

 and for several years on the board of the 

 Mansfield Co-op Locker board. For more 

 than a decade he served as a member of 

 the Mansfield high school board of di- 

 rectors. 



A hard and conscientious worker in 

 his community and school affairs, Mr. 

 Warren made a major contribution to the 

 welfare of his neighbors through his un- 

 selfish endeavors. The loss of his in- 

 fluence and leadership will be greatly 

 felt in the community as well as in Farm 

 Bureau affairs. 



Mr. Warren' is survived by his wife. 

 An only son was killed in an auto acci- 

 dent at the age of 17 several years ago. 



Get 'em Young! 



A good time to vaccinate pigs is when 

 they are 6 to 8 weeks old. At that age 

 they are cheaper to vaccinate and are 

 easier to handle. 



L A. A. RECORD 



Miss Judy Barth, 



A* WF. Bartffi, Hon 

 plctur 



A barnyard can b 

 by this picture 



Sch 



Dennis Happ, Chan 

 tor soason with sn 



FEBRUARY. 19< 



