1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE; P.M. Papers Monday, June 29, 1959 Low Education Budget Seen as Menace To National Security and Survival ST. LOUIS, June 29 -- This year's $10 billion expenditure for the nation's pub- lic schools falls $8 billion short of what is required for a good educational program. This is the conclusion of a new report by the Educational Policies Commission, a joint undertaking of the National Education Association and the American Association of School Administrators, headed by Virgil M. Hancher, president of the State University of Iowa. The report, released at the NEA convention here today, is titled National Policy and the Financing of the Public Schools. It calls for a "massive" addition of funds for public education, with a "significant" share of that increase to be provided by the Federal government. On the issue of whether Federal money threatens local control of the schools, the report has this to say: “Initiative and control imply freedom of choice. But lack of money limits that freedom in most American school systems today. Too often the schools mist choose not the best alternatives, but the cheapest." "The prosperity, security, and very survival of the nation," the report says, "are staked, in the long run, on the public schools. "These are national tasks, their accomplishment a national affair. Yet alone of all the vital national concerns, education is not recognized as an obligation in which the national government mst carry a significant share." The Commission's estimate of the current deficit in school spending is based on actual spending in the 1958-59 year. It takes no account of mounting school enrollments which promise additional burdens in the years ahead, nor of current shortages of school facilities and classrooms. (more) Note: An advance press copy of National Policy and the Financing of the Public Schools 15 enclosed along with a reproduction proor of a graph illustrating the Commission's major recommendations. Low Education Budget "The public schools, in the American tradition, are locally controlled and locally operated," the report notes. "The assumption has been that the schools which communities provide for themselves will be adequate for the nation." "But today," the report goes on, "the national need for high qualify in public education has become more urgentthan ever. America's success in fulfilling her new responsibilities of leadership may well determine the future of free peoples everywhere. Yet most localities today are hard put to finance the schools on which that success depends, and in too many places unsolved financial problems mean inadequate education. This is a tragedy for the undereducated, a menace to the society, and an incongruity in the world's richest nation." The Commission notes that government has a moral responsibility to the individual to provide for him the opportunity to develop his full powers. But beyond that, it holds, "the interests of the nation -- its political effectiveness, prosperity, and security -- teday lend new urgency to that moral principle." "The modern economy demands not muscle, but skill and intellect," the report says. Industrial laborers and farm workers, who constituted half of the working population at the beginning of this century, will represent but 12.6 percent of the population by 1965. Conversely, professional, technical, white collar workers, and skilled craftsmen, who represented but 40.9 percent of the working population in 1900 will, by 1965, com- prise 75.6 percent... Schools, even more than natural resources, are the basis of pros- perity. "Just as educational level and prosperity are associated, so ignorance and poverty generally go hand in hand," the report warns. "Where ignorance generates proverty, poverty perpetuates ignorance, and the whole nation is the weaker." The complexity of modern weapons and modern warfare, the report adds, have made it essential that most military personnel be in effect, skilled workers, and that many be professional and scientific persons, so that adequate schooling has become essential to the national defense. Similarly, on the political front, an educated electorate has become essential to national security, the report holds. "The effectiveness of the American political system demands that the people understand national and international issues, the relationships between them and the manner in which they arise, are dealt with, and abated. In promoting these understandings the schools have a basic role." The Commission, in earlier studies, has developed a formula for estimating the minimum cost of operating good schools. This formula holds that the minimum annual per-pupil expenditure for good schools is about 12 percent of the salary which must be (more ) Low Education Budget paid to a qualified beginning teacher It is through the application of that formula that the Commission arrived at its estimate that current public school spending is about $8 billion a year short of meeting the need. Current expenditures for the public schools, the Commission found, are 2.4 percent of this year's total Gross National Product. An increase of about 1.7 percent would supply the needed $8 billion and wipe out the deficit, the Commission notes. It holds that the states and local communities which rely heavily for revenue on real estate taxes, do not have the economic strength necessary to finance their own schools adequately. Other forms of capital investment have overtaken real property, which now represents a relatively small portion of the nation's wealth, the report says. "Te traditional expectation that each state can and will finance its own system of education," the report adds, "is no longer realistic.” But the Federal government, the report notes, has a much superior capacity to obtain new revenue from newly created wealth. "The performance of the Federal government as a tax-collecting dgency has reflected the superiority of its position. It has a single tax jurisdiction covering the entire country. Its taxes are highly responsive to changes in income and to the ability of the taxpayer to pay them. It is free from the limitations and disadvantages which en- cumber the states and localities." "Improvements in state and local financing of education are needed and can be achieved," the report says, "but they cannot be expected to occur rapidly or uniformly, and it is doubtful that, even at the optimum, they would meet all the needs." "Therefore," the report concludes, "in the light of the responsibilities of Ameri- can education, the tax structure of the nation, and the needs facing the schools, the Federal government should participate in the general financing of public schools." "The choice now before the American people mst be faced and resolutely made. The inadequacies of the schools' financial base are fully apparent. They must be over- come. This problem will not yield easily or simply. The decisions will be hard. But the times are hard." This report is one of a series in line with the Commission's purpose of examining major issues in education and making recommendations for handling them. Other issues studied recently by the 20-man Commission include education for manpower, communication and education, and criteria for judging quality education. Benjamin C. Willis, general superintendent of schools in Chicago, Ill. is slated to succeed Dr. Hancher as chairman of the group on July 4. He is presently vice-chairman. New vice-chairman will be John H. Fisher, superintendent of schools in Baltimore, Md. Dr. Fisher will become dean of the School of Education, Teachers College, Columbia Univer-~- sity, September 1. James E. Russell is Commission secretary. Former members of the Commission include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ralph J. Bunche, and Lawrence G. Derthick, U.S. Commissioner of Education. ttt _ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. . ADams 4.4855 (See detailed list attached) FOR RELEASE: A. M. Papers Monday, June 29, 1959 For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Joseph Hanlon School Bell Awards Recognize Excellence In Reporting on Education ST. LOUIS, June 28 -- School Bell Awards for distinguished interpretive reporting on education were presented tonight to 27 winners in the fields of publishing and radio-television. The awards, walnut-based bronze medallions depicting in relief an old- fashioned school bell, were presented to the winners at the opening session of the National Education Association convention in Kiel Auditorium. The presentations were made by Sylvia Ciernick, president of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) and editor of publications for the public schools of Dearborn, Mich. NSPRA is the coordinating agency for the awards, made each year by eight national education organizations. Six of the awards went to national magazines, as follows: Look -- for outstanding continuous coverage of education by a weekly or bi-weekly magazine. Coronet -- for outstanding continuous coverage by a monthly magazine. Saturday Evening Post -- for best single article by a weekly or bi-weekly magazine ("Don't Stop Criticizing Us Teachers"), by Earl H. Hanson. Changing Times, The Kiplinger Magazine ~~ for best single article by a monthly magazine ("Jobs in the Education Field"). more School Bell Awards -2- The Saturday Review -- for comprehensive coverage through a special issue by a weekly or bi-weekly (Accent on Education issue). Parents' Magazine -- for comprehensive coverage through a special issue by a monthly (U. S. Schools - A Report on the Progress and Problems of Education issue). A second award, for a cover illustration, was presented to The Saturday Evening Post, for the cover by Norman Rockwell published last June 6. In the field of television the awards went to: National Broadcasting Co. -- for documentary interpretation ("Our Children and Their Schools") in the Outlook series. Columbia Broadcasting System -- for documentary interpretation ("Lost Class of '59"), produced by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly. Columbia Broadcasting System -- for discussion ("Is America Anti- Intellectual?") in the Great Challenge series. National Broadcasting Co. -- for dramatic interpretation ("The Twenty- Cent Tip") in the Loretta Young Show series. Columbia Broadcasting System -- for dramatic interpretation ("The Case for Room 310") in the Armstrong Circle Theater series. In radio, award winners were: Columbia Broadcasting System -- for documentary interpretaion ("The Edu- cated Woman"), produced by Robert Allison, narrated by Edward R. Murrow. National Broadcasting Co. -- for discussion program ("A Hard Look at U.S. Schools"), four-part series produced by Doris Corwith. American Broadcasting Co. -- for continuing news coverage ("Edward P. Morgan and the News"), broadcast daily. School Bell Awards in the press division went to: The Associated Press -- for comprehensive coverage by press association or feature syndicate (coverage by G. K. Hodenfield, education editor). more School Bell Awards The Christian Science Monitor -- for continuing coverage of education prob- lems of national significance by a newspaper. Chicago Sun-Times -- for coverage of an education problem of national sig- nificance through series of articles ("The Truth About Russia's Schools Today"), by Ruth Dunbar. New York Times Sunday Magazine -- for continuing coverage by Sunday news- paper supplement. Parade -- for best single article by a Sunday supplement ("Use Your Mind, Think, Search"). Herbert Block - for interpretation through editorial cartoons (Herblock cartoons in The Washington Post and Times Herald), syndicated to 200 other newspapers. Walter Lippmann -- for editorial comment by 4 nationally syndicated columnist ("The Pursuit of Excellence") in his Today and Tomorrow column. In the category of books and special reports the awards went to: "The American High School Today," by James Bryant Conant, published by McGraw-Hill. "The Pursuit of Excellence," report of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, published by Doubleday. In the field of public service advertising in behalf of education the winners were: United States Steel Corp., for the film, "Plan for Learning." International Latex Corp., for the editorial advertisement, "Roots of Child Delinquency.” Socony Mobil Oil Co., for advertisements titled "What Makes a School System Good?" A special award was presented to Station WHEN-TV, Syracuse, N. Y., for one-hour special program, "Your Money or Your Schools," a documentary explaining the annual budget for Syracuse schools. more School Bell Awards The eight national organizations which sponsor the School Bell Awards, and the representatives who selected award recipients were: AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS Martin Essex, Akron, Ohio, President Finis E. Engleman, Washington, D.C., Executive Secretary COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS George E. Watson, Madison, Wis., President Edgar Fuller, Washington, D. C., Executive Secretary NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECRETARIES OF STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATIONS Phares E. Reeder, Charleston, W. Va., President James L. McCaskill, Washington, D. C., Administrative Director NATIONAL CITIZENS COUNCIL FOR BETTER SCHOOLS Robert Heller, Cleveland, Ohio, Chairman Henry Toy, Jr., New York, N.Y-, President NATIONAL CONGRESS OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS Mrs. James C. Parker, Chicago, Ill., President NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES Ruth A. Stout, Topeka, Kans., President William G. Carr, Washington, D. C., Executive Secretary NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, Inc. Robert E. Willis, Bradenton, Fla., President William A. Shannon, Evanston, Ill., Executive Director UNITED STATES OFFICE OF EDUCATION Lawrence G. Derthick, Washington, D. C., Commissioner NOTE: Complete list of awards is attached. For release A.M. papers, Monday, June 29, 1959 1959 SCHOOL BELL AWARDS NATIONAL MAGAZINES For distinguished continuous coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 by a weekly or bi-weekly magazine of general circulation: Look Magazine, Daniel D. Mich, editor. Coverage included: "Education Fall 1958" by Lawrence G. Derthick and George B. Leonard, Jr», published October 14, 1958 "A Hard Look at Our High Schools” by James B. Conant, published February 3, 1959 "Comeback of the Male Teacher" by Jack Star, published Feb. 17, 1959 "What Is a Professor?" by Richard Schickel, published March 31, 1959 For distinguished continuous coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 by a monthly magazine of general circulation: Coronet, Lewis Gillenson, editor. Coverage included: "Bargain-Basement Education Is No Bargain” by Martin L. Gross, pub- lished October 1958 "Teachers On a Treadmill” by Jack Mulligan, published January 1959 "No 'Bargain-Basement Education’ for Us!" by Jack Cushman, published June 1959 For the best single article on education published during the school year 1958-59 by a weekly or bi-weekly magazine of general circulation: The Sat Ev Post, Ben Hibbs, editor, for the article "Don't Stop Criticizing Us Teachers’ by Earl H. Hanson, published April 11, 1959 For the best single article on education published during the school year 1958-59 by a monthly magazine of general circulation: Times, The Ki r azine, Herbert L. Brown, Jr., editor, for the article "Jobs in the Education Field, published February 1959 For distinguished comprehensive coverage of education through a special issue published during the school year 1958-59 by a weekly or bi-weekly magazine of general circula- tion: The Saturday Review, Norman Cousins, editor, for its "Accent on Education” issue, published September 13, 1958 For distinguished interpretation of education through a cover illustration published during the school year 1958-59 by a magazine of general circulation: The Saturday Evening Post, Ben Hibbs, editor, for the cover illustration by Norman Rockwell, published June 6, 1959 (more) School Bell Awards For distinguished comprehensive coverage of education through a special issue pub- lished during the school year 1958-59 by a monthly magazine of general circulation: Parents’ Magazine, Mrs. Mary E. Buchanan, editor, for its special issue, -5. Schools =-- A Report on the Progress and Problems of Education," published October 1958 TELEVISION For distinguished documentary interpretation of education during the school year 1958-59 aired over a national television network: “Our Children and Their Schools," one-hour program in the Outlook series, produced by Reuven Frank, narrated by David Brinkley, televised August 31, 1958, over the National Broadcasting Company network, Robert E. Kintner, president "Lost Class of '59," one-hour program produced by Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly, televised January 21, 1959, over the Columbia Broadcasting System network, Frank Stanton, president For distinguished discussion on education during the school year 1958-59 aired over a national television network: "Ts America Anti-Intellectual%" one-hour program in The Great Challenge series, produced by James Fleming, moderated by Eric Sevareid, televised March 1, 1959, over the Columbia Broadcasting System network, Frank Stanton, president For distinguished dramatic interpretation of education during the school year 1958-59 aired over a national television network: "The Twenty-Cent Tip," half-hour program in The Loretta Young Show series, produced by John London, televised over the National Broadcasting Company network, Robert E. Kintner, president "The Case for Room 310," one-hour program in the Armstrong Circle Theatre series, produced by Robert Costello and Jacqueline Babbin, televised October 1, 1958, over the Columbia Broadcasting System network, Frank Stanton, president RADIO For distinguished documentary interpretation of education during the school year 1958-59 aired over a national radio network: "The Educated Woman," one-hour program produced by Robert Allison, narrated by Edward R. Murrow, broadcast April 30, 1959, over the Columbia Broadcasting System network, Frank Stanton, president . For distinguished discussion on education during the school year 1958-59 aired over a national radio network: "A Hard Look at U.S. Schools," a series of four half-hour programs produced by Doris Corwith, broadcast August 6, 1958, August 13, 1958, August 20, 1958, and August 27, 1958, over the National Broadcasting Company network, Robert E. Kintner, president For distinguished continuing news coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 aired over a national radio network: "Edward P. Morgan and the News," daily program broadcast over the American Broadcasting Company network, Leonard H. Goldenson, president PRESS For distinguished comprehensive coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 by a press association or feature syndicate: The Associated Press, Frank J. Starzel, general manager, for its coverage of education news by G. K. Hodenfield, education editor For distinguished continuing coverage of education problems of national significance during the school year 1958-59 by a newspaper: The Christian Science Monitor, Erwin D. Canham, editor, for coverage throughout the year of such issues as teacher salaries and shortages, curriculum, class size, school district reorganization, academically talented students, and many others For distinguished coverage of an education problem of national significance through a series of articles published during the school year 1958-59 by a newspaper: The Chicago Sun-Times, Marshall Field, Jr., editor, for the 1ll-part series, "The Truth About Russia's Schools Today," by Ruth Dunbar, published October 26-- November 7, 1958 For distinguished continuing coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 by a Sunday newspaper supplement: The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Lester Markel, editor, for more than 20 major articles on educational problems of national significance published throughout the year For the best single article on education published during the school year 1958-59 by a Sunday newspaper supplement: Parade, Jess Gorkin, editor, for the article "Use Your Mind, Think, Search," published February 15, 1959 For distinguished interpretation of education through editorial cartoons published during the school year 1958-59: Herbert Block for his "Herblock" cartoons on education published in the Washington (D.C.) Post and Times Herald and some 200 other newspapers through distribution by the Hall Syndicate (New York). (more) oT ee For distinguished editorial comment on an educational problem of national significance published during the school year 1958-59 by a nationally-syndicated columnist: Walter Lippmann for his Today and Tomorrow column, "The Pursuit of Excellence" distributed June 1959 by the New York Herald Tribune, Inc. BOOKS AND SPECIAL REPORTS For distinguished coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 by a book: "The American High School Today" by James Bryant Conant, published 1959 by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. For distinguished coverage of education during the school year 1958-59 by a special report: "The Pursuit of Excellence: Education and the Future of America," a special report of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc., published 1958 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. PUBLIC. SERVICE ADVERTISING For distinguished public service advertising in behalf of education undertaken during the school year 1958-59: United States Steel Corporation, for its 27-minute motion picture "Plan for Learning," showing dramatically, in terms of one community, how communities can design and build the schools they need. The corporation has made the film available to communities for showing. International Latex Corporation, A.N. Spanel, Chairman, and W.0. Heinz, president, for its widely-reprinted editorial "Roots of Child Delinquency," which originally appeared in several major national magazines. Socony Mobil Oil Company, A.L. Nickerson, president, for its public service advertisements entitled "What Makes A School System Good?" appearing in Augusta (Kansas) Gazette and Trenton (Michigan) Times, September 25, 1958 SPECIAL CATEGORY For the most outstanding local or state reporting of education during the school year 1958-59 by a magazine, newspaper, radio, or television station, in coopera- tion with a school system or education association: Station WHEN-TV, Syracuse, New York, Gordon Alderman, program and production manager, for its one-hour special program “Your Money or Your Schools," produced in cooperation with the Board of Education, Syracuse Public Schools, and telecast June 7, 1959. This live documentary program presented the school budget for the coming year to the community at large. 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Myrtle Bonn FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEA Convention to Stress Quality in Education; More Than 10,000 Expected in St. Louis June 28 ST. LOUIS, June 26 -- Quality education -- through adequate financing, an improved curriculum, better trained teachers, and more efficient school or- ganization -- will be the chief concern of more than 10,000 teachers and school administrators when the annual convention of the National Education Association opens here June 28. The six-day meeting of the world's largest professional or- ganization runs through July 3. Reports on four special projects developed during the past year are expected to highlight the sessions. They deal with the role of the schools in educating the academically talented student, the causes and prevention of juve- nile delinquency, the development of a policy on working conditions for teachers, and methods of financing the schools. Key convention speakers include Dr. Charles Habib Malik, president of the UN General Assembly; Henry J. Kaiser, Jr., director of the Kaiser Industries Corporation, Oakland, Calif.; The Honorable Brooks Hays, former member of the House of Representatives from Arkansas, and immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Other highlights include: Address by John W. Gardner of New York City, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education, on "The Im- pact of Change In Education." This will be followed by a panel (more) NEA Convention discussion with Ethel Alpenfels, New York University professor; Lee A. DuBridge, president of California Institute of Technology, Pasa- dena; Martin Essex, president of the American Association of School Administrators and superintendent of the Akron (0.) Public Schools; and Walter Heller, chairman of the department of economics at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Discussion before principals, curriculum supervisors, and rural educators on the topic, "Should the U.S.A. Have a National Curricu- lum?" by Paul Hanna, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. Discussion of "The National Defense Education Act: Policies, Prob- lems, and Promises," by Herbert A. Smith, president of the National Science Teachers Association, now on leave from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans., to the U.S. Office of Education, Washington, Be Ce Report on the 1960 White House Conference on Children and Youth by Mrs. Rollin Brown of Los Angeles, Calif., Conference chairman and former president of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. Speech by Earl J. McGrath, former U.S. Commissioner of Education, now with Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, on "Seeing Each Other As We Are." In addition, the teachers and administrators will study such pressing problems as educational television, teachers in politics, world affairs educa- tion, teacher ethics, tenure and academic freedom for teachers, current status of federal legislation affecting education, the increasing cost of education and the national economic picture, and teacher education. NEA departments that will meet during the convention include those con- cerned with art, business, exceptional children, rural education, mathematics, science, speech, social studies, vocational education, home economics, kinder- garten and primary education, and physical education. The annual School Bell Awards, honoring distinguished reporting of edu- cation by all news media, will be presented at the opening general session. Ruth A. Stout, director of field programs for the Kansas State Teachers Association, Topeka, Kans., is president of the NEA. President-elect is W. W. Eshelman, supervising principal, Upper Dublin Schools, Fort Washington, Pa. Executive secretary is William G. Carr of Washington, D. C. # # # 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Myrtle Bonn FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEA Convention to Stress Quality in Education; More Than 10,000 Expected in St. Louis June 28 ST. LOUIS, June 26 -- Quality education -- through adequate financing, an improved curriculum, better trained teachers, and more efficient school or- ganization -- will be the chief concern of more than 10,000 teachers and school administrators when the annual convention of the National Education Association opens here June 28. The six-day meeting of the world's largest professional or- ganization runs through July 3. Reports on four special projects developed during the past year are expected to highlight the sessions. They deal with the role of the schools in educating the academically talented student, the causes and prevention of juve- nile delinquency, the development of a policy on working conditions for teachers, and methods of financing the schools. Key convention speakers include Dr. Charles Habib Malik, president of the UN General Assembly; Henry J. Kaiser, Jr., director of the Kaiser Industries Corporation, Oakland, Calif; The Honorable Brooks Hays, former member of the House of Representatives from Arkansas, and immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Other highlights include: Address by John W. Gardner of New York City, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education, on "The Im- pact of Change In Education." This will be followed by a panel (more) NEA Convention discussion with Ethel Alpenfels, New York University professor; Lee A. DuBridge, president of California Institute of Technology, Pasa- dena; Martin Essex, president of the American Association of School Administrators and superintendent of the Akron (0.) Public Schools; and Walter Heller, chairman of the department of economics at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Discussion before principals, curriculum supervisors, and rural educators on the topic, "Should the U.S.A. Have a National Curricu- lum?" by Paul Hanna, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. Discussion of "The National Defense Education Act: Policies, Prob- lems, and Promises," by Herbert A. Smith, president of the National Science Teachers Association, now on leave from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans., to the U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D. Ce Report on the 1960 White House Conference on Children and Youth by Mrs. Rollin Brown of Los Angeles, Calif., Conference chairman and former president of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. Speech by Earl J. McGrath, former U.S. Commissioner of Education, now with Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, on "Seeing Each Other As We Are.” In addition, the teachers and administrators will study such pressing problems as educational television, teachers in politics, world affairs educa- tion, teacher ethics, tenure and academic freedom for teachers, current status of federal legislation affecting education, the increasing cost of education and the national economic picture, and teacher education. NEA departments that will meet during the convention include those con- cerned with art, business, exceptional children, rural education, mathematics, science, speech, social studies, vocational education, home economics, kinder- garten and primary education, and physical education. The annual School Bell Awards, Honoring distinguished reporting of edu- cation by all news media, will be presented at the opening general session. Ruth A. Stout, director of field programs for the Kansas State Teachers Association, Topeka, Kans., is president of the NEA. President-elect is W. W. Eshelman, supervising principal, Upper Dublin Schools, Fort Washington, Pa. Executive secretary is William G. Carr of Washington, D. C. + t # 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Torrey Baker FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEA Convention Views TV Highlights; John Secondari Is Commentator WASHINGTON, June 25 -- Excerpts from TV network shows of the past year which illuminated some facet of education are to be shown next week at the anmal convention of the National Education Association in St. Louis. John Secondari, chief of ABC's Washington Bureau, will be the on-stage commentator when the film is presented next Thursday night (July 2) in the vast Convention Hall of the St. Louis Municipal Auditorium. More than 10,000 educa- tors from all parts of the country are expected to attend. the one hour film Titled TV Panorama: Open Hearing on Education, draws not only on discussion and documentary programs, put also on dramatic pre- sentations. "There have been at least 50 network television shows during the past year that have helped significantly in bringing about public awareness of various critical problems in education today," says Roy K. Wilson, NEA director of Press and Radio. "T'm not referring only to the many fine discussion and documentary pro- grams -- but also to a number of dramatic shows -- even Westerns -- that have dealt with some aspect of education that needs public emphasis,” he pointed out. "ry Panorama is being presented to the teaching profession in an ef- fort to show graphically some of the ways in which ABC-TV, CBS-TV, NBC-TV, and the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company have served education,” Wilson stated. (more ) NEA Convention Views TV Highlights Included in the film are portions of Open Hearing, Bold Journey, College News Conference, Naked City, The Rifleman, Meet the Press, Chet Hunt- ley Reporting, Today, Wagon Train, The Loretta Young Show, Outlook, Wisdom, Bachelor Father, Where We Stand, Small World, I've Got a Secret, Lassie, School Year '58, World of Ideas, Sam Levenson Show, Father Knows Best, Armstrong Cir- ———— a EEE BPs ecane . eetT a d ee cle Theatre, and Youth Wants to Know. ~ 23,1954 @ fom the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Joseph Hanlon FOR RELEASE: P.M. Papers Tuesday, June 23, 1959 College Teacher Shortage Greatest Where Need Is Most Acute -- Math, Engineering, Science WASHINGTON, June 22 -- The shortage of well-qualified college teachers is most critical in those fields of learning about which public concern has been greatest -- engineering, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. The situation has been getting progressively worse over the past six years. Data for the 1958-59 year appear to show that the downward trend has been checked -- but at a distressingly low level. These are the conclusions reached by the Research Division of the National Education Association in a report made public today: Teacher Supply and Demand in Universities, Colleges, and Junior Colleges, 1957-58 and 1958-59. It is the third in a series of such studies which have been made each two years since 1955. Dr. Ray C. Maul, assistant director of the Research Division and author of the report, said that somewhat more than half of the institutions surveyed expected the situation to worsen in the next 10 years. The report attempts to project the need in institutions of higher learning for new full-time teachers over the next 10 years. Starting with an estimate of (more) Complimentary press copies of Teacher Supply and Demand in Univer- sities, Colleges, and Junior Colleges, 1957-50 and 1950-59 are available from Research Division, 1201 - Lot reet, N.W., Washington 6, D. C. Other copies: $1. College Teacher Shortage 2- 26,900 needed as of next September, an increase is projected for each year up to 1969-70 when, it is estimated, 35,700 will be needed. Resources are not now in sight to provide for this expansion of the teaching staff, Dr. Maul says. "The evidence would seem to indicate," he adds, "that the needed numbers, if obtained, will be at the expense of qualifications. "Tt seems clear that the institutions of higher education will not be staffed with the needed number of competent teachers," he adds, "unless their financial re- sources are vastly expanded. "With a continuance of the present level of support the employing officer has no choice but to choose between an insufficient number and an inferior quality of teachers." For purposes of the study, in assaying the qualifications of college teachers, they were arranged into arbitrarily chosen categories: those with an earned doctor's degree; those with a master's degree plus one additional year of graduate study; those with the master's degree; and those with less than a master's. As a bench mark the study had the data accumlated in the 1954-55 study, which showed how many teachers were in each category. Subsequent studies, including the latest one, examined the status of new teachers, to determine whether the newcomers tended to raise or lower the general level of preparation. In considering the top category -- those with doctor's degrees -- it was found that 40.5 percent of all college teachers had that degree in 1954-55. But when new teachers were considered separately it was found that of those employed in 1953-54 only 31.4 percent held doctor's degrees and the percentage declined in each subse- quent year to 23.5 percent in 1956-57. A year later it rose to 25.3 percent, but this year it fell off again to 23.8 percent. The trend in the other categories has been what might be expected in the light of the data about those with doctor's degrees. New teachers with less than a master's (more) College Teacher Shortage -3- degree were 18.2 percent of all new college teachers in 1953-54. In 1958-59 teachers in that category were 20.8 percent. The study discloses that nearly half of those who receive doctor's degrees are already occupationally committed at the time the degree is awarded. In the humanities, social sciences, and in education, particularly, the recipients of the doctorate generally are well settled occupationally before the degrees are awarded. This is not true in the sciences. Three out of every four who graduate in chemistry, for instance, are available for a new occupation after obtaining a de- gree. When those new holders of doctor degrees who are available for a new occupa- tion are considered, it is seen that the appeal of education as the career of choice varies widely, depending on the field of learning. Nine out of every 10 history majors enter educational work, but only three out of 10 in chemistry and one out of three in engineering. Of particular interest, insofar as the staffing of institutions of higher edu- cation is concerned, is the percentage of all doctor's degree graduates who contri- bute to the instruction program either by continuing in the work in which they were previously engaged or as new entrants. The survey shows that in English, foreign languages, and history, 75 percent or more become educators. Then the percentages fall off rapidly. In accounting it is 70.3 percent; mathematics, 56.1 percent; biological sciences, 42.1 percent; engineering, 30.2 percent; physics, 26.6°percent; psychology, 26:5 percent, and chemistry, 15.8 percent. @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Beatrice M, Gudridge A list of the delegation from California is attached WASHINGTON, June 22 -- Thirty California educators, accompanied by three leaders of the California Student Education Association have been invited to participate in a major national educational conference in Kansas this coming week, The question for discussion will be: "What should teachers learn to qualify for teaching?" Specialists in "methods" (professionals in teacher education) will join forces with specialists in "subjects" (liberal arts educators and teachers from the field) at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, June 23-26, to hammer out agreements as to the total content for a modern-day collegiate curriculum which will properly pre- pare elementary and secondary teachers for their careers. The meeting will be under the overall sponsorship of the National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards (NCTEPS) of the National Education Association, Co-sponsoring the Kansas Conference are eight professional associa- tions, concerned with either teacher education or the scholarly disciplines, They include the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Associa= tion of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Council of Learned Societies, Commission on Teacher Education of the Association of American Colleges, Council on Cooperation in Teacher Education of the American Council on Education, National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, and National Council for Accredi- tation of Teacher Education. # # # CALIFORNIA REPRESENTATIVES AT KANSAS TEPS CONFERENCE Louise Ambs Supervisor of Education Southern California Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists Box 969 Glendale, California John Clark Supervisor 131 North Sacramento Street Willows, California Ruth D. Copeland (Mrs.) Elementary Teacher 8035 E. Seventh Street P. 0. Box 192 Downey, California Elizabeth Corson Elementary School Supervisor 502 College Avenue, Apt. 2 Modesto, California Charles Cozad Junior High School Counselor 1436 G Street Napa, California Donald Ericksen Chairman, Division of Arts and Social Science Reedley College Reedley, California Esther Ferry (Mrs.) Junior High School Teacher P. 0. Box 1165 Jackson, California Lelia Glandon (Mrs. ) Junior High School Teacher Box 367 Sutter Creek, California Della Gregory (Mrs.) Elementary Teacher 3458 Snowden Avenue Long Beach, California Alfred Grommon (Dr.) Associate Professor of Education and English Stanford University School of Education Stanford, California Russell Hadwiger High School Teacher 810 Cajon Avenue Redlands, California Charles E. Hamilton (Dr.) Executive for Teacher Education California Teachers Association 693 Sutter Street San Francisco, California Robert S. Hurst Student Pasadena City College Pasadena, California (Home: 407 Winthrop Drive, Alhambra, Calif.) Lloyd Ingles (Dr.) Professor of Zoology Fresno State College Fresno, California William R. Johnson Elementary Teacher 64 Bartolomea Way Monterey, California Everett Jones Junior High School Teacher 519 Napa Street Vallejo, California Carl A. Larson Specialist in Teacher Education State Department of Education 721 Capitol Avenue Sacramento, California Rick Lindquist Student Los Angeles State College 5280 Gravois Avenue Los Angeles, California (Home: 3677 West 4th Street, Los Angeles) (CALIFORNIA REPRESENTATIVES CONT'D) Anna Jean McCammon (Mrs. ) Elementary Teacher 2915 East Broadway Long Beach, California Edith Merritt (Dr.) College Teacher 65 Robin Hood Drive San Francisco, California Mary Virginia Morris Elementary Teacher 4160 Rosewood Avenue Los Angeles, California Alice Neilsen College Teacher Director of Elementary Education Pacific Union College Angwin, California Jean Pogue High School Mathematics Teacher 12 Jefferson Street Watsonville, California Robert Poppendieck (Dr. ) Division of Higher Education Office of Education U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Washington 25, D. C. Helen Putnam (Mrs. ) President California School Boards Association 900 B Street Petaluma, California James Relph Student University of California 4185 - 2nd Street Davis, California (Home: 1217 Sierra Ave., San Jose) Laura H. Roberts (Mrs.) Elementary Teacher 2515 Panorama Terrace Los Angeles, California Manfred H. Schrupp (Dr. ) Dean of Education San Diego State College San Diego, California Sister Elizabeth Ann Dean, Graduate School of Education Immaculate Heart College 2021 North Western Avenue Los Angeles, California Sister Stanislaus Marie, S.N.J.M. Director of Education College of the Holy Names Box 907 Los Gatos, California G. Wesley Sowards (Dr.) College Teacher Stanford University School of Education Stanford, California J. Alden Vanderpool (Dr.) Consultant in Teacher Education California Teachers Association Southern Section 1125 West 6th Street Los Angeles, California Fred Wilhelms (Dr.) Professor of Education San Francisco State College San Francisco, California @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Myrtle Bonn FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Local Driver Education Teacher Receives Summer Scholarship WASHINGTON, June 18 -- The National Commission on Safety Education of the National Education Association today named recipients of 46 summer scholarships to driver education teachers in 23 states. Note to Editor: For names of scholarship recipients from your community, see attached list. Each scholarship is for an intensive summer session graduate course in driver and safety education at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich. The courses start immediately following the Third Annual Conference of the Ameri- can Driver and Safety Education Association scheduled for June 17-20 at Michigan State. The scholarships, administered by the NEA Commission on Safety Education, were made possible through a $2500 grant by the American Trucking Association of Washington, D.C. Recipients may select one of eight advanced courses offered in the field. Cost of tuition, room, and meals are included in the award. (more ) Local Driver Education Teacher "These scholarships are further evidence of efforts being made to improve and extend driver education," Norman Key, executive secretary of the NEA Commission, said. "They also demonstrate how these gains can be made through cooperation be- tween business-industry groups and education." In making the grant, John V. Lawrence, managing director of the American Trucking Association stated: "We agree wholeheartedly with the view expressed by the National Commission on Safety Education, that an exceptionally effective educa- tional program is needed if we are to rely on driver education to prepare people to become safe drivers and good highway citizens. "Tt is because we share this conviction that we have made this fund avail- able for assisting qualified teachers of driver education who should periodically bring themselves up to date in the fields of traffic safety, traffic engineering, personality factors in driver education, highway traffic administration, public safety and enforcement." CONNECTICUT Old Greenwich: John E. Powers, 22 MacArthur Dr. West Hartford: William E. Tansey, 182 Selden Hill Dr. FLORIDA Riveria Beach: Jimmie H. James, 595 George St. ILLINOIS Bloomington: Warren P. Quensel, 1316 N. Linden Rock Island: Chester A. Schultz, 24 Brittany Lane Springfield: Donald K. Blount, 832 West kth St. Springfield: George P. Mathis, 929 S. Walnut Cedar Falls: Richard G. Boyer, 921 W. 13th St. Decorah: Charles I. Patridge, Oneota Rd. R.R. # 5 Des Moines: Richard E. Frey, 1314 E. Sheridan. Marshalltown: Lloyd E. Christensen, 411 N. lst Ave. KANSAS Turon: Denzell B. Ekey, Box 68 KENTUCKY Lexington: Jess L. Gardner, 364 Mockingbird Lane MASSACHUSETTS Taunton; Walter E. Skwarlo, 37 Hodger Ave. MINNESOTA Chisholm: Harold D. Ruparcich, 300 W. 9th St. Duluth: Harry C. Brown, 4519 W. 7th St. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: David H. Sahler, 4115 Liberty Hill Rd. MISSOURI Florissant: James W. Bowman, 10 Nanette Dr. Kansas City: Joseph B- Crouthers, 3615 E. 53rd St. Kansas City: Nevin E. Wasson, 4515 Norwood Owensville: Clarence E. Gawer, 609 S. 1st Springfield: Garrard E. Carter, 2002 Ron., R.R. #9 Springfield: Nathan L. Weems, 1001 S. New, (more) NEW JERSEY Livingston: (Mrs.) Virginia M. Reddy, 3 Twin Oak Rd. NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Ramon R. Martinez, 1520 Gerald Ave., S.E. Albuquerque: Stephen A. Salisbury, 2417 Blake Rd., S.W. NEW YORK Horseheads: Gene F. MacDowell, 149 Catalpa Dr. Oriskany: Richard D. Ellis, Judd Rd. Campbell: Ernest C. Hudak, 8 Struthers-Liberty Rd. Lowell: John C. Evans, R. R. #1 Salem: Ervin F. Coleman, R. R. # 4 OKLAHOMA Lone Wolf; Larry P. Martin, Box 158 PENNSYLVANIA Chambersburg: John G. Rajtik, 158 S. 6th St. Noblestown: Alexander J. Kramer, Box 162 Waynesboro: Robert C. Rankin, 247 W. 2nd St. TENNESSEE Maryville: Earl W. Henry, R. R. #5 Austin: George W. Boone, 2804 Roe Dell Lake Jackson: Russell Johnson, 204 Forest Dr. Salt Lake City: DeVon Anderson, 2037 Bryan Ave. Salt Lake City: Robert D. Goff, Extension Division, University of Utah Salt Lake City: L. R. Ivins, 2405 E. 3300S. West Jordan: Robert H. Bailey, Box 511, R. R. #1 VERMONT Bellows Falls: John A. Miller, 15 Henry St. WASHINGTON Seattle: Mark M. Knoll, 2111 = 2nd Ave., W. Spokane: John J. Stantus, R. R. # 6 WISCONSIN Waukesha: Robert G. Simon, 201 Estberg Ave. Ht 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information Roy K, Wilson or M, Ruth Broom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Local Students to Take Part in Future Business Leaders of America Convention in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, June 8 -=- The lobby, meeting rooms and corridors of the famous Mayflower Hotel here will be buzzing with business talk come June 13 when more than 800 high-school and college students from all over the U.S. arrive for the eighth annual convention of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Delegates to the FBLA conclave include the following student(s) from On Monday, June 14, delegates will begin studying aspects of the convention theme "Good FBLA Public Relations Opens Windows on the World" in general session meetings and discussion group sessions. Two prominent communications experts - Harold Fellows, chairman and member of the board of the National Association of Broadcasters, and Charles E, Shutt, Washington manager of Hearst Metrotone Telenews, Inc. -- are scheduled to address the group. The District of Columbia's Assistant Commissioner A, C, Welling, will welcome delegates, and Lyle W, Ashby, deputy executive secretary of the National Education Association, will extend greetings from the world's largest professional organization. The FBLA, which has chartered over 2000 chapters all over the U.S., is a national youth organization for high-school and college students who plan to make careers in business. It is sponsored by the United Business Education Association, a department of the NEA. It won't be all work and no play for FBLA conventioners. One of the exciting features of the conclave is the election of national officers. Oldtime political campaigners (who have held many a session in Washington hotels) will have to move over when these young adults start their serious “politicking.” The air will be filled with campaign speeches and busy managers will be swarming everywhere displaying posters and banners in every available space. In addition, friendly competition will be generated in a whole series of contests between individuals and between state delegations. In time-out periods delegates will see the sights of Washington and will take part in social functions. An awards banquet, and a talent parade will be held at the close of the convention on Wednesday evening, June 17. # # # 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. ADams 4.4855 For further information: Beatrice M. Gudridge or Dorsey Baynham FOR RELEASE; Sunday papers June 7, 1959 Nationwide Meeting On Teacher Preparation Opens In Kansas June 23: 1000 Expected WASHINGTON, Jume 6 -- A renowned physicist, a university chancellor, a dean of education, and a world-famous news correspondent will add depth and scope to a nationwide conference on teacher education designed to bring agreement on ways to strengthen the educational preparation of American teachers. Convening at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, June 23-26, the meeting will be under the overall sponsorship of the National Commission on Teacher Educa- tion and Professional Standards (NCTEPS) of the National Education Association. More than 1000 participants, including representatives from liberal arts and from professional teacher training colleges, teachers and administrators from elementary and secondary schools, state department of education personnel, state and national education association staff members, and lay representatives, will attend. The conference will be the second in a series of three annual meetings bringing together specialists who often find themselves at odds over what con- stitutes the best preparation for teachers. Lead-off session on Tuesday evening, chaired by Kansan Ruth Stout, NEA presi- dent, will hear Max Freedman, Washington correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, and Dr. I. James Quillen, dean of the school of education, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. (more ) Nationwide Meeting in Teacher Preparation =-2 Dr. Franklin D. Murphy, chancellor of the University of Kansas, will address delegates on Wednesday night, speaking on "Educational Dimensions for a Revolutionary Epoch." Dr. Jerrold R. Zacharias, professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, will speak on Thursday evening on "Substance and Method," using a film to illustrate his theme. Dr. Arthur F. Corey, executive head of the largest state professional organiza- tion of teachers in the United States, the California Teachers Association, will address a general session on "Quantity Teachers for Quality Schools." The Kansas Conference, like last year's conference in Bowling Green, Ohio, will feature not only the cooperative approach between specialists in "methods" courses in teacher education and specialists in "subject matter" courses, but also something new. This year's group meetings have been planned on a "clinical" basis to explore the total curriculum program in the college training of future teachers. The first day two representatives, one from the college of liberal arts and one from the school of education, from each of 30 outstanding teacher training insti- tutions in the United States will describe the programs at their particular insti- tution to 30 sub-groups. The colleges will include such institutions as Carleton College, Northfield, Minn., Ball State Teachers College, Muncie, Ind., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. Conferees will divide into four sections of about 250 persons that evening, each section being addressed by a panel made up of a scholar, a professional educator, a classroom teacher, and an administrator. Panels will speak on "The Education of Teachers - If I had My Way." On Thursday 12 colleges, including the University of Wisconsin, Bethany Col- lege, Lindsborg, Kans., the University of Illinois, Urbana, and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, will present programs of specialization -- science, social studies, languages, English, etc. -- in the various teaching fields. (more ) Nationwide Meeting in Teacher Preparation -3 According to T.M. Stinnett, TEPS executive secretary, this second-year conference on professional preparation for teachers assumes new importance in the light of recent recommendations by President Eisenhower's Science Advisory Committee in the report, "Education for the Age of Science." Dr. Stinnett noted that the committee urged "scientists and engineers in universities and industries to seek to establish organized programs of collaboration with high-school and college teachers in order to reduce the gap in communication and understanding between these groups, rendering assistance and providing teaching material to teachers and their students, and bringing high-school and college students and teachers into more direct contact with scientific and scholarly work in univer- sities and industry." Dr. Stinnett also pointed out that the NCTEPS conferences anticipated the Killian committee's recommendation that a research program be sponsored by an appropriate foundation or agency and organized on a national scale to bring to~ gether a key group of scientists and scholars to collaborate with teachers and educators on the problem of designing more adequate curricula for the education of high-school and college teachers. Delegates to the Kansas Conference will devote the last day of the meeting to hammering out areas of agreement and disagreement, which will be incorporated into a tentative report. Next year a nation-wide follow-up study, winding up the three-year examination of modern teacher education, will be made at a series of regional conferences. It is expected that areas of agreement reached in the tenta- tive report will be considerably broadened at that time. Sixty cooperating organizations and nine co-sponsoring organizations, repre- senting virtually every academic field, are uniting in planning the Kansas Conference. ttt @ from the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Roy K, Wilson or Beatrice M. Gudridge FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEA Convention Opens June 28 In St. Louis; Theme Stresses Quality In Education WASHINGTON, June 4 -- Quality in education will be the dominant theme when the 1959 convention of the National Education Association opens in St. Louis, Mo,, June 28. The annual meeting of the world's largest professional organization runs through July 3. Between 10- and 12,000 persons including 5700 official delegates, are expected to spend six days discussing and pointing the way toward more quality teaching in American schools. The predicted number of delegates would set a re- cord for official representatives in attendance. The convention officially begins with an address by Ruth Stout, NEA president, on "Quality Teaching Opens Windows on the World," and ends on an inter-~- national note with a speech by Charles H. Malik, president of the General Assembly of the United Nations. In between participants will hear talks by key leaders in education and related fields. In 475 discussion groups, delegates will debate the problems of a balanced school program and how teachers can organize to provide a more effective curriculum, S (more) Note to Editor: Printed copies of the complete convention program will be mailed to you June 19. NEA Convention 2- For the first time, findings of a current NEA project on the development of policies for working conditions of teachers and administrators will be presented. Kenneth R. Brown, professional services executive of the California Teachers Associa-~- tion, is director of the project and will present preliminary studies. His report will be discussed by a panel representing school administrators, teachers, school boards, and state education associations. Scheduled to be released at the convention is a new report by the Educa~- tional Policies Commission, "National Policy In the Financing of the Public Schools." The Commission is headed by Virgil M. Hancher, president of the State University of Iowa at Lowa City. Progress reports on two national projects of the NEA will also be presented to the convention. Coordinating these discussions will be Charles E, Bish, director of the Project on the Academically Talented Student, and William C. Kvaraceus, director of the Juvenile Delinquency Project. Other highlights include: @aAddress by John W. Gardner of New York City, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education,on "The Impact of Change In Education," This will be followed by a panel discussion with Ethel Alpenfels, New York University professor; Lee A. DuBridge, president of California Institute of Technology, Pasadena; Martin Essex, president of the American Association of School Administrators and ’ guperintendent of the Akron (0.) Public Schools; and Walter Heller, chairman of the department of economics at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. @ Discussion before principals, curriculum supervisors, and rural educa- tors on the topic, "Should the U.S.A. Have a National Curriculum?" by Paul Hanna, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. @ Discussion of "The National Defense Education Act: Policies, Problems, and Promises," by Herbert A. Smith, president of the National Science Teachers Association, now on leave from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans., to the U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D.C, (more) NEA Convention 3- @ Report on the 1960 White House Conference on Children and Youth by Mrs. Rollin Brown of Los Angeles, Calif., Conference chairman and former presi- dent of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers. @Speech by Earl J. McGrath, former U.S. Commissioner of Education, now with Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, on "Seeing Each Other As We Are." In addition, the teachers and administrators will study such pressing problems as educational television, teachers in politics, world affairs education, teacher ethics, tenure and academic freedom for teachers, current status of federal legislation affecting education, the increasing cost of education and the national economic picture, and teacher education, Departments that will meet during the convention include those concerned with art, business, exceptional children, rural education, mathematics, science, speech, social studies, vocational education, home economics, kindergarten and primary education, and physical education. The annual School Bell Awards, honoring distinguished reporting of educa- tion by all news media, will be presented at the opening general session, For play, convention participants will hear a concert by the U.S. Navy Band, attend an Ozark Supper in St. Louis’ Forest Park, and hear a production of - Opera Under the Stars. Business activity will include theelection of officers and the adoption of new resolutions. Current NEA president is Ruth A, Stout, director of field programs for the Kansas State Teachers Association, Topeka, Kans. President-elect is W. W. Eshelman, supervising principal, Upper Dublin Schools, Fort Washington, Pa. Executive secretary is William G. Carr whose office is at the NEA headquarters building in Washington, D. C. # ## @ fom the NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 6, D. C. For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Anne Lewis FOR RELEASE: Sunday Papers May 31, 1959 Teacher Salaries Advanced Last Year, But Not Above "Blue Collar" Level WASHINGTON, May 30 -- Salaries of teachers still rank with the earnings of skilled and semi-skilled workers, the Research Division of the National Education Association reports. Its latest study, The Economic Status of Teachers in 1958-59, shows an increase of more than seven percent in the national average of teachers' salaries from 1957 to 1958, but the salaries continue to rank far below those of other professional groups. Part of the 35-page summary of salary trends gives comparisons of the earnings of teachers with other professions--doctors, lawyers, chemists, engineers. Current figures on the earnings of these groups show the financial advantage that college trained persons have in professions other than teaching. Generally, these professions have annual starting salaries of between $4000 and $5000 and average salaries of $8000 and upward. Beginning salaries of teachers range from $3000 to $4000 and average less than $5000. In 1958 the average calendar-year salary for teachers was $4792-compared to $4991 for employes in manufacturing. Between 1957 and 1958, teachers' salaries, like those of other workers on fixed salary schedules, advanced faster than those of most workers. However, these increases were not enough to lift the salaries of teachers from the "blue collar" to the professional level. (more ) Teacher Salaries Se ee SSE, The research report includes a state-by-state analysis of the earnings of teachers, the average incomes of consumer spending units (a consumer spending unit may mean one person living alone, a family or any other group living together and sharing expenses), and the weekly earnings of production workers in manufacturing. The figures show that in 41 states average teachers' salaries for the school year 1957-58 were below the statewide average income of all consumer spending units. The report, an annual study of the NEA Research Division, was prepared by Dr. Hazel Davis and Mrs. Jean Flanigan. Note: Complimentary press copies of Economic Status of Teachers, 1958-59 may be obtained from Division of Press and Radio Relations, National Education Association, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington 6, D.C. Other copies: 50¢. 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 4, D. C. For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Anne Lewis FOR RELEASE: A. M. Papers Tuesday, May 26, 1959 Teaching. Career: Ranks First With Scholarship Winners WASHINGTON, May 25 -- Some of the nation's brightest high-school seniors are rating teaching first as their future career, Paul E. Elicker, executive secretary of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, said here today as he an- nounced the winners of $24,500 in college scholarships. This is the fourteenth year of the National Honor Society Scholarship Program. The 1959 roster lists 523 winners, of which 73 will receive cash awards, and the re- mainder will receive either honorary scholarships or certificates of merit. Dr. Elicker said that teaching ranked first among vocational chaleus ‘of the scholarship finalists. Engineering and science ranked second and third respectively. All of the finalists are college-bound seniors who are members of the National Honor Society, a selective scholarship group for students with "A" and "B" averages. It has more than 9000 chapters in senior and junior high schools throughout the country and in American schools in 17 foreign countries. The winning students were put through a scholastic and ability screening that might unnerve a doctoral degree candidate. An original group of over 45,000 National Honor Society members was reduced to 2300 after a preliminary test last October. The 523 who won scholarships, awards, or merit certificates attained a percentile rank of 99.96 on another test given in March. The second test is prepared and administered by the Scholarship Board of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals and is considered the most difficult nationwide test given to high-school students. The highest score this year was 80 out of a possible score of 105. Those students who received scholarships and cash awards were screened for service, leadership, and their need of financial help in college. Winners of major scholarships were Leroy Earl Eimers of Ripley Central School, Ripley, N.Y., $2000 L. G. Balfour Scholarship; Michael Ellis Goldberg, Eastchester High School, Eastchester, N. Y., $1500 A. K. Oliver Scholarship provided by Scholastic Magazines. Ruth Carol Barnes of Torrington High School, Torrington, Conn., and Donald Joseph Wood of North Central High School, Indianapolis, Ind., won Boeing Airplane Company People-to-People scholarships for all-expense jet air trips to Europe. Receiving $1000 scholarships from Boeing were Ruth Carol Barnes of Torrington, Conn., Paul Lawrence Bondor of Chaney High School, Youngstown, 0., Anne Elizabeth Cosse of Floral Park Memorial High School, Floral Park, N.Y., and Jane McKinley Sayer of Mount St. Mary Academy, Newburgh, N.Y. Of the remaining winners, 55 were winners or alternates on $500 scholarships given by the L. G. Balfour Co., Josten Co., Scholastic Roto, and Boeing, and 10 others received $100 cash awards from Boeing. Although the recipients were scattered throughout the country, one-third of them attend schools in New York state. Four winners are enrolled at the Bronx High School of Science. The National Honor Society Scholarship Program is administered by the Scholar- ship Board of the National Association of Secondary-School Principals, a department of the National Education Association. ### 1201 SIXTEENTH STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON 46, D. C. ADams 4-4855 For further information: Roy K. Wilson or Anne Lewis FOR RELEASE: A. M. Papers Wednesday, May 13, 1959 NEA Defense Commission Releases Report On School Controversy in Ambridge, Pa. WASHINGTON, May 12 -- An atmosphere of fear, mistrust, and suspicion caused by a breakdown of communications between the teachers, administrators, and board of edu- cation, prevails in the Ambridge, Pa., school system, the National Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Education of the National Education Association announced this afternoon when its investigation report was presented at a special meeting of the parties involved. The report, entitled "Ambridge, Pennsylvania -- A Study of Deteriorating Rela- tionships in a School System," attributes the complex situation which has been in effect for many years to five major factors: 1. A failure on the part of the board of education to recognize clearly its functions as the policy-making agency of the school system, its responsibilities, and limitations. A failure on the part of the school administrative staff to give consistent, objective, and democratic leadership in the administra- tion of the schools. A failure on the part of the Ambridge Education Association, the teachers' association, to adhere strictly to proper channels of communication and to keep its members alert and informed as to the association's plans and objectives. A failure on the part of some members of the professional staff and the board of education to set aside animosities and grudges and to place the educational welfare of the children ahead of the advance- ment of their personal and political ambitions. A failure on the part of the commmnity to demonstrate constructive interest in the welfare of the schools. (more) Ambridge An industrial commnity on the east bank of the Ohio River 17 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Ambridge has a population of approximately 16,000. The school system is composed of a junior-senior high school and five elementary schools. The total enrollment is approximately 3,000 students, with 1,200 enrolled in the elementary schools and 1,800, including 1,000 tuition students residing in districts outside the borough, enrolled in the junior-senior high school. The request for an investigation by the NEA Defense Commission was made by the Pennsylvania State Education Association and the Ambridge Education Association at the end of the 1957-58 school year. Although relationships between the teachers, administrators, and board of edu- cation have been deteriorating over a period of years, the NEA Defense Commission report states, the issue was brought to a head in the spring of 1958 when the board of education voted to eliminate the non-teaching period for teachers in the junior- senior high school in an attempt to help reduce an anticipated deficit in the proposed 1958-59 operating budget. The teachers, who were not consulted in advance concerning the elimination of the non-teaching period, a practice generally approved in education, took their com- plaints to the press without first going to the board of education to discuss the issue. The NEA Defense Commission report also cited charges and counter-charges by the three groups involved, and noted that the board of education, the administrators, and the teachers all appeared to be divided within their individual units. According to the report, the teachers claimed feelings of insecurity in performing their duties, difficulty in presenting problems to the administration and the board of education, and difficulty in getting the board to consider inequalities in teaching salaries. The administrators charged, the report noted, that teachers were bypassing them in going directly to the board of education, and board members charged that some of the teaching staff were trying to tell board members "what to do.” All three groups made charges that "political" involvement was a major factor in the strained relationships, but they were unable to agree on the persons primarily responsible for introducing the issue of involvement in political activity for per- sonal gain. The Defense Commission's Special Committee made the following recommendations to the teachers, the administration, the board of education, and the general public: (more ) Ambridge = 3 = The teachers 1. The Ambridge Education Association should hold more frequent general meetings, including informative sessions in which recommendations made by the Council, the advisory body, are presented to the general membership and discussed. 2, The AEA should discuss matters affecting the entire teaching staff with the superintendent of schools before presenting them to the board of education. Teachers should follow proper channels in making pro- posals or voicing complaints, and should not take them initially to individual board members or to the board of education as a whole. 3. The teachers' organization should use discretion and good taste in the composition of press commmnications, which should pertain solely to the issue in question. 4.