Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1932, Page 6

A-b Ao b vidvana drar, L. URGES EXTERSION OF JNIR Hiks William J. Cooper, Federal Education CommiSsioner, - Speaks on Forum, Establishment of free four-year junior high schools on a Nation-wide scale was urged last night by William John Cooper, United States commissioner. of education, in an address in the National Radio Forum, arranged by The lt:r and broadcast over a National Broad- ork. Cooper's recommendation was based on a survey of European schools which he made during the Summer. He dealt at length with the various Eu- ropean methods of schooling and stréss- | ed the value of physical education, onf . which he sald great emphasis is laid abroaa. Above the junior high schools, Com- missioner Cooper recommended estab- lishment of four-year collegiate schools with small tuition fees, “flexible as in Germany, where at least a fourth of the fees are used to help pay for tui- tion of pupils who ecannot afford to go 1f compelled to pay * * * The full text of Dr. Cooper's address follows: : The text of Mr. Cooper's speech fo)- ows: “The most essential need of our edu- cational system at the present time is finance. There is practically no ques- tion about that. especially in our larger cities, where the costs of living are ‘What we can learn from Europe high. 1n this respect is not directly significant. Europe appears to be a little r\n-t.l-m"r advanced in coming through the de- pression. Most European school systems segregate the secon school popula- tion from the elementary at an_early date. This is impossible for us. Before the war Germany did this at the very outset of education by having some pupils attend a vorschule, which was more or less private. and the rest of the pupils attend a volkschule, which was public. This in itself made a ‘classi- fication of pupils on the basis of the wealth of their parents. In some cities these schools began at slightly different hours, so that the boys and girls would not even meet on the streets. There has been a significant change wrought in this system by the war. The vor- schule is now forbidden, except where it is held with the approval of the minister of education. The volkschule has been changed by adding a grund- schule of four years, which offers the same course of study for everybody. A few people still send their children to private schools, but as a matter of course in time the grundschule will con- tain virtually everybody. c “The grundschule aims to develop gradually ‘the aptitude of the child by transforming the instinct which urges WILLIAM JOHN COOPER. | xe b { | exem lI.nl —Star Staff Photo. language thoroughly. I doubt if we| Wil ever be able to Fet such a powerrul | incentive into our foreign language | “In England I was especially interest- ed in the physical education work. All of the old schools have well established schedules of games. Of these perhaps | cricket is the mast important, endjat| the conference the other European countries were interested in England's program of physical education. They were anxious_to incqrporate some simi- lar program info their own schools, but it did not seem that cricket was mak- ing very much progress. It is essentially an English game and will probably re- main in England. “ Visits Westminster School. “I Wi able to visit Westminster Bchool, which is one of the older sec- ondary_schools. It was the last part 'of the term and the headmaster was busy with an examination. I saw practically no boys and did not see the headmaster at all, Th@building is nothing like our modern school buildings, -having been built long before any of them were thought of. Most of the boys enter this | school at about 16 years of age. Its en- | follment at the present time is 365.° It' 1s one of the most famous of the Eng- lish public schools, which are not public him to play and indulge in ph‘{llul movement into & deliberate will to work.” In order to do this successfully the school must try to penetrate the mind of the child, and, having the ideas, then express them in the language of childhood. Most of the physical work included in the curricu- lum, such as games, walks and gymnas- tics, form s basis for education, which is supplemented by exercises the chil- dren see about them. Two New German Schools. “There have been also established in Germany as result of conditions fol- lowing the war at least two new schools: “(1) The Deutsche oberschule, which places the emphasis upon elements in German culture. The chief subjects are German, history and the history of grt, and two modern forelgn languages. is not necessary for one to learn Latin and Greek in this school, and yet this school will lead to the university or other higher institutions of learning. “(2) A fundamentally new institution 4n the larger centers of Germany is the aufbauschule. 7This school is only six years in length instead of nine years, and boys may enter it from the seventh Erade of the volkschule, thus res ffg n the common school system almost the entire length of the eight-year: course. It aims to make it poasible for the brighter boys to prepare themselves for college. In all German states, now, girls may be admitted to schools in- tended primarily for boys when their homes are not within reach of a girls’ secondary school. Usually they consti- tute separate classes, however. Only in very small centers are girls educated with boys, and in general coeducation does not exist at all. I rather think that if there is any point to this for us it tends to favor the establishment of the four-year junior high school. That is, & junior high school which takes one to the end of the compulsory school period. Such & school could be maintained by & city free of charge, and the school above such junior high schools, possibly a four-year collegiate school {ncluding the other two years of high school and the first two years of college, might have a small tuition fee. This tuition fee should be flexible as in Germany, where at least & fourth of the fees are used to help pay for tuition of pupils who can- not afford to go if compelled to pay the 240 reichmarks required of most stu- | Boy dents. This school would be a finishing school in commercial work, in agricul- ture, in homemaking and in the trades. It might well be a school to which pupils would be admitted on scholarships, and’ to which other pupils would pay for & certain part of their instruction. This may provide a method of financing our high schools during the depression. i Basic English Suggested. “In France I did not have the op- portunity to visit any schools, since I was there in the vacation period. From what I learned of their schools at the ministry of education I concluded that the war had made virtually no changes in French education. I was impressed by the influence of France itself on these schools. Foreign languages are not taken by these people so much. as. in Germany, and the desire to .speak | French and to have French spoken is very strong. This is seen clearly in conventions. For instance, I attended | two conferences. one in London on secondary education, and one in Nice on the newer aspects of education., Af both of these conferences French was unquestionably & leading language. There were more papers at the Nice conference delivered in French than there were in English, and at the sec- ondary conference in London there were., s many papers and more speeches made in French than in English. Many of the Germans who attended these conferences spoke English and French very well indeed. The same! thing was true of other Europeans and | of Orientals. In fact. I was jmpressed | with the fact that” English fs rapidly becoming the first foreign langiage in a number of countries. I think| the international language problem | could be solved. if basic English could] be learned as the first foreign language in the secondary schools of many of these countries. Basic English is a language containing only 850 words. It is, as a matter of fact, more like colloquial American than it is English, because a ward is used with 8o many different meanings, But it would open up to the pupils’/atcess s large body of scientific and literary material, in that his learning of this language might constitute an introduc- tion to the English tongue. The main objection made to it seems to be due to a feeling that it would give prom- inence to one of the commercial coun- tries of the werld. “I find algo that these foreign-countries i Jearn foreign languages better then -we do, prggably due to the fact that stu-{ dents Yealize the need of speaking them. If one takes a train in almost any ‘part-of “Europe, inside of ‘sx or eight hours at the most he will cross = frontier and be completely surrounded Bt i s B 1t do in this country to learn the 10| dates' frof at all. Boys are enrolled in the schools ltke Westminster at birth, and prefer- ence is given to the sons of graduatgs, which makes it almost impossible for an outsider to get in. “I also visited the Bec School. This is one of the larger of the London County Council schools, having a site of 7 acres and enrolling 540 boys. The building is comparatively new and ap- gmhmua in arrangement our own uildings. There are in all 18 class rooms, three science laboratories, an art | room, s handicraft room devoted largely to woodwork, an assembly, a dining hall where a midday luncheon is served, a gymnasium fitted with modern appli- | ances, hs for use after the gantes | and a well lighted library. There are | Rhyin: fields on each side of the school ouse utilizing abeut 5 acres of the site, On these I 4aw splendid-work in tennis and volley ball in Tess, but in View of the fact that I was at the school near its close I did not see any of the classes | taught excepting the physical education | work on the outside. Boys are admit! to this school within & month or o of their 10th birthday, and are required to stay, once admitied, until the corre- sponding period in the 16th year, or if they fail in the examination until their 17th vear. 1 they remain through the end of | (WO the year in which their 19th birthday | occurs and pass the examination, they are ready for the university. Each parent or guardian of the pupil is re- quired to sign an agreement to that effect, and also to make the headmas- ter strictly ‘in loco parentis’ during the time thé boy is ‘enrolled in school. ‘There are strict regulations regarding ' the withdrawals. The Fee for Pupils. “The fee for pupils-whose parents re- side in the County of Londan is ap- proximately $50 a year for those under 12 years of age and $65 a year for those ovet 17 years of age. If ene-lives'in other counties than London, the fee is considerably higher. Practically every European secondary school has a fee system. Once admitted to a school a boy must participate in the games and physical education work unless a doctor files a certificate to the effect that the boy is unfit for this work. He must-also do promptly and. effectively his home | 12, if there is no schoo! accessible. elementary school, usually followed by a six-year secondary school. which means that the secondary school be- gins at 13 years of age with all the puplils. “In Cgechoslovakia, which has devel. oped as an independent nation entirely since the war, the elementary school for every one extends to 12 and for most to 14 years. The smaller group who enter the eight-year secondary s administration of education. atatistics of schools there are, are gathered by the secretary of the in- terior. The secondary school for the Canton of de Vaud.begins at 10 years, for the Canton of Suneva it begins at 12 years, with an elementary school system continuing to 14, and for the Canton of Geneve it begins at 12 years. There is practically no uniformity due to the fact that the people of Switzer- land are partly French, partly German and ly Italian. “The Austrian system of education is so much like the German that it really needs no further comment. They have only an eight-year secondary school system as against the German nine- year system, but,both begin the sec- ondary period at lo years of -g:. “In Italy there is g'marked difference. Italian compulsory fchool law makes it necessary to attend only until one I‘; there is a school accessible, he must at- tend until 14. At 11 years old the sec- ondary school begins, ana while these schoois are varied, the regular school which leads to the university consists of a 5-year gymnastum followed by a 3- year lycee. I did not vistt Rome and so did not consult the minister of educa- tion, but I do know that 10 years ago next month the Fascist! marched on Rome and took possession of the gov- emment. They at once made Giovanni Gentile minister of education and he put into effect some of the doctrines which he had been preaching. The Italian schoals, for instance, have been united with the Oatholiz Church in that the Raman Catholicism is the religion taught in them, but it is not taught by the priests. Lay teachers have charge of it, schbois are also very Fascisti in thélr administration. On the walls hang the pictures of the King and Mussolini along with the crucifix. In general, the Ita Tebuild' the Italian tion on the model of the best days of ancient Rome. In the northern part of Italy where I visited, there was at each railway sta- tion when I disembarked from the train solaiers ‘in full uniform.. This was the only place in Furope m which I saw ihis manifesta '[;};:edtflles all tigll])enol! rg’ut’larzelpl'" “Too Many Lawyers.” “Out of all this do we get any werth- while lesson for the United States? In the first place, you will observe that there 15 everywhere in Europe & marked .| tendency to limit secondary instruction. As a matter of fact, the positions which require secondary education of the type given in European schools are those places filled by about 8 per cent of the population. Generally they have about 10 per cent of the population in_the secondary schools. We had in the high schools of this country the last yearsfor which statistics were available 53 per cent of our eligible population in sec- ondary schools. When one takes into consideratidy, the sparsely settled areas in the country, it means that 75 or 80 per cent of our city population go on work. He should join some school so- [IFOm the elementary school into the clety, and is strongly urged to jcin the | Scouts if he is under 13 and the | school cadet corps if he is over 13 years of age. He may take music and other subjects by paying extra tuition fees. condary. schools in- Eure, are usually much smaller than those in the United Btates. I found that a school with an actual enrollment of 700 was regarded by the schoolmasters as a monstrosity. They think “that for a school to be so large that a principal cannot know the boys individually and personally_is not & school at all In QGermany 1 did find secondary schools, & few of them. approaching a thousand in number, but in no other part of Eu- rope was that the case. “We also called at the St. Paul's School for Girls after school was out. | This school enrolled 450 girls. A num- | ber of the pupils were still about the | building, as were the teachers. This school is perhaps 50 years old; the build- | ing does not seem o be quite so old. | They have foundations in for a new | science building which will eompletely medernise their plant. Its equipment, other than in science, is quite modern. ItAs connected-in a generalway with the St. Paul's 8chool for Boys, which dates from about the sixteenth century. The admission fee to this school is ap- proximately $60 per term with extra tuition for music. Girls who attend this séhool, mist reside in .the school board- ing house unless they live with their parents or near relatives. The rules for admission, attendance and withdrawal are alco quite rigid. In fact, these are all lolmewhut strict for any secondary sch-ol. ‘Cne of the things which one learns from the sécohdary schogls of England is that they are priinarily collsge” pre. paratory, and not general as aré our schools, where students who plan to go into life immediately upon gradu- ating are educated along with: those who are preparing for the universities. The schools for students who wish stenography, are home making, trades and industrial work are entirely sep- arate and under the control of a dif- | shouls ferent ‘minisiry. In fash, the English ForShe secanaaz sehoo svstems virssaly Ve greatly during. = probably at a standstill now due to a cut in the budget which was made & year or 5o 4go. Different in Smaller Nations. “In the smaller nations of Europe, | and by that I mean Holland, Belgium, | Czechoal and Bwitzerland, the seconary sehool is a little di eft. In Belgium, for instance, the secondary scheol age begins at ‘12 and the pop- ulation is strictly.limited. to wish to go-on:to the. ual thosa—who rest go on through an eight-grade common achool from this x actuslly 1 aystem, and normal ‘sehools angs.in- there 5. & sixegrade 1anm:fld was, #flo .erflfi high school. A great many of these are preparing for college. What does_this mean? For a few occupations we have figures. There are in this country to- day more physicians per thousand peo- ple thant in any other country in the world. Yet our medical schools are strictly limited, so much so that some of our boys and girls go abroad to study medicige. -3 do not belleve that we need any more “medical achools or medical departments in" this country. I think there are probably enough physicians being turned out at the present time. There are_undoubtedly. too many law- yers, especially if they were ali prac- ticing law. As a matter of fact, a great many men who manage businesses are trained in law and make their start in that way. The American Bar Associa- tion is now attempting to limit the men who can get into this field. They have practically succeeded in shutting out those who read law in an affice and then appear for the bar examination. The evening schocls also are in some disfavor with the Bar Association, and it is likely that in the course of time this occupation will be as limited as medicine. “I can think of only ope fleld in ng em| it is the fleld of den%lstryA I;d‘ matter of fact, practically everybody gives some attention to his teeth. At the present time there are not sufficient dentists in the eountry to do this work if every one Rad the money to have the needed wark done. But this is a matter of adjust- |ment. In the course of a few years there will be more dentists and cheaper rates. I believe also that there will be mor..clinios at which one may have h: teeth’ cared for, = A ‘Secondary education, then, is all a question of whether America’ is ready to accept education as worth while in | itself, and not put quite so much em- *gmt;‘on the ‘dollars and cents value Py Emphasis on Religion, S lis. I think the same prin- le’lepli pplies to business. Why would it the dry cleaning to have in addition to bis knowledge of h's trade a good cul- tural education? Or for the man who delivers the groceries to one's home to have 4n’ n to his knewledge of the grocery business a knowledge of how the. Government of the- Upited States viaw AR objectionable for the man who does | VY dsnmasas voa Ny an edueatien I think it will be worth "1 found one tmportant difference be- tween urh et and the schools of Tolieln. ‘B host TP the “schocis of Bu: sompiad oy by oing ough bome ol Jome 1 lflm?.ly In t!?em!cnoou of the ted States no public school has any truction in . Whether in the course of time Europeans turn out peo- le of better character measured by the st standards we can devise only time will tell. But it does not seem to me at the present time that they are likely to do s0. Somehow or other we get our religion outside of the school if we wish it and we.do not get any 1f we do not desire it. It seems that i Europe re- ligion is an old and established thing. Getting it is like getting everything else worth while. In this country it is not so. “But I did not go to Europe with 8 view of finding out things which might be introduced into the schools of the United States. Rather I went there to attend the two conferences on education and to get a better {des of how thelr schools worked. This 1 was quite able to do in spite of the fact that so many of them were closed. The ministries of education were usually able to give me ty fair notion of their schools and worked. In Germany I found the tendency toward a common school system in the four-year grundschule. This was encouraging because it meant that they, faced with the problems of democracy, were trying our plan. In France I found that the Ecole Unique was having & much harder time but was making some progress, This school like- wise embodies some of our principles. In all of these countries now there is & tendency to send all the boys and girls, either together or separately, into & common school system for at least & short period in their academic career. “In Germany since the war there has been a marked increase m the enroll- ment in the university. This again re- sembles & problem which we have with us. They are training wo many people to fill the higher positions. For instance, this year Germany has ciosed one-half of its institutions for the preparation of teachers, and there are many persons lified to teach who are unemployed. ope is not yet up to us in the free- KAMP KAHLERT GLOSESITS SEASON 400 Girls and Women Return to. Washington From Y. W. C. A. Center. Some 400 girls and women have re- turned to Washington from & Summer’s vacation at Kamp Kahlert, Md., where ha f they have been enjoying a casefully planned program of character by under the direction of workers from m Young Women's Christian Associa- The camp. located on West River, is nearly self-supporting, the Community Chest meeting the smsll deficiency in its budget. . . Although the most noticeable benefit the vacation in camp | the resulting . from was a decided improvement in the health of the girls, Mrs. M. Florence Dunlap, camp - director, said & scien- tific program was worked out to give them mental stimulation. Every effort was made to interest the 1s in creative wril reading, and ability to carry on ussions. For | those with artistic leanings instruction was given in dramatics, arts, crafts, sketching, clay modeling and singing. Others spent much time swimming, playing tennis and in archery and boating. The effectiveness of this pro- gram in im the mental and physical health of the girls is evidenced, ther advanced there I am wondering what effect it will have upon the school system. Will '.hofl b" able then to main- o1 tain their schools for boys only or will the women demand admiasion to these schools. These are some of the problems dom of women for active competition with men. When this movement is fur AL which T should like to study when they happen.” E o camp council. body h the Winter & of i gt g bl ESPlejEAp Xabbey ; SCHOOL COSTS COMPARED Dr. Paul B. Mort Reports in Na- tional Survey. A comparison of the financing of education in the 48 States was pre- sented in a report read by Dr. Paul R. Mort to the board of consultants of the Natiopal Survey of School Finance, which has been meeting in the office of the Becretary of the In- terlor, under chairmanship of United States Commissioner of Education Wil- lam John Cooper. Dr. Mort is saso- clate director in charge of the survey. Mort also submitted a report needed research in the field of 1 finance. It is expected O probieims Tor Mavastigation by gred nves - uate students in education. A scqre of INGERSOLL MILLIONS DWINDLE TO $257,295 Decline of “Dollar Watch” Riches Laid to Unfortunte Invest- ments in Accounting Report. By the Associatea Press. YORK, September 27—The fortune that Robert H. Ingersoll made with the “dollar watch” reputed at one time to have exceeded $5,00,000, had dwindled to an estate of $57 IT'S at the time .of his desth in 1928, an accounting filed. in Surrogate’s Court showed todsy. | Unfortunate investments, it was in- dicated, had reduged the estal SIT that was left was real cotate. in Michigan, and Idaho and the household €eis of i Pork soenne SRR e T 10, i, AneTiment l;fli::: Plr!er ';;.ooun: her ad; Seven relatives were left small sums under the will, which provided that the residue- of ‘the estate be used to set up a foundation for the education of worthy poor boys. THE imirer, PEAT AROMA educators, financiers and business lead- (! the board of cansultants ers made up attending the meeting. RIS FIRST LADY PLANS TRIP ‘Will Attend Girl Scout Sessions at Norfolk Upon Iowa Return. White House aides said today Mrs.| Herbert Hoover had arranged tentative plans to attend the closing sessions of the National Girl Scout convention at Norfolk, Va., arriving there eithcr next Thursday or Fridsy. s President Hoover' on bis trip. to, e rip to Des Moines, Towa, next Tuesday, and White House aides said she probably would make a brief trip to the Girl Scout gathering at Norfolk shortly after her return he LIFETIME FURNITURE ends with September Friday will be the last day of the Sale of Lifetime Furniture. We urge ou to sum up your furniture needs and come to Mayer & Co. before g'riday atsix. Every suite and piece of Lifetime Furniture 1s specially tter hurry now! Friday will be the final day: low priced now. £2 B . Fine Karpen Upholstered Groups at Savings Karpen construction, you know, is guaranlg;ed! And it is these fine Karpen Living Room grou that are sale-priced now. You will find a-beautiful display of luxuriously comfortable Living Room Groups at Mayer & Co. . . . every one at a specially lowered price during the sale. $99.50 Two-Piece Group Just imagine a 2-piece Karpen group for $99.50. Sofa and armchalr in tap- estry or in your choice of solid color rust or green velvet. An unusual value. 511950 Two-Piece Group The Karpen groups at $119.50 ‘are gracefully de- signed with sofa and arm- chair to match in a small figured ruet velvet or tap- estry. Two Karpen pieces. 51295 Two-Piece Group This is a carved frame style upholstered in a de- lightful figured blue dam- ask. Sofa and armchair with luxurious comfort and rare good looks. Other Beautiful Karpen Groups $137.50 Up Participate in the Savings Before Friday Night PARKING—DRIVE TO IIWWCI'-YOUE CAR WILL BE PARKED MAYER & CO. Seventh» Street Between D and E Harris Spun —that imported tweed look and” feel . .. without the imported cost Men don’t get excited about every * new idea that comes along. But once in a while it happens—and you've got to hand it to a Scot=man this time! $75 used to b€ as little as you could get off with if you wanted a tweed suit or topcoat with the real peat aroma that stamps the real-thing. But we turned Scotch ourselves when we bought—and we bring you a real imported Harris-Spun Suit at $34.50—identified by the PEAT ARO- MA—which is a real imported, power- loomed Harris Tweed. And we have a $75 Harris Tweed Suit made by a.famous New Haven tai- lor, which we’ll put beside ours—and ask you “Can you see the difference in money?” Another Grosner promotion! $34.50 GROSNER of 1325 F STREET . CHARGE AGCOUNTS INVITED