Annual report. [1946]

Bureau of Government L 165.04 AI2w 1946/7 B 671,319 i

Artwork by Jules Trattner and Eugene Whitehorno ebesOf the teaching staff. FrontispieeebyPeter~oleJDepart..a ment of Vhisu ductoDtroiIt Public Shols

L EA RN IN G TO LIVE The Superintendent's Annual Report For the 105th year of The Detroit Public Schools Published by the Authority of the Board of Education City of Detroit 1947

LEARNING TO LIVE Bree at Governmmr L /63. AZ, / -94Z / ~et~c~c~t A ý,Cw t?/b~~~0 1946-47 A. DOUGLAS JAMIESON President CLARK D. BROOKS, M.D. FRANK A. GORMAN MRS. LAURA F. OSBORN Vice-President BURT R. SHURLY, M.D. HOWELL VAN AUKEN JOHN H. WEBSTER ^^nt~~~n$"$H$"$"$H$"^~~~~3~~ ^7c^^^~ J^^n.-fdt^-ffi~c ARTHUR DONDINEAU Superintendent IVAN E. CHAPMAN First Assistant Superintendent CATHERINE MORGAN Assistant Superintendent HERMAN J. BROWE Deputy Superintendent H. L. HARRINGTON Assistant Superintendent PAUL T. RANKIN Assistant Superintendent MARQUIS E. SHATTUCK Assistant Superintendent 56. 1e iJ J/n$H 66ra4 ^i^U^^dd d- ^^wMyz^d^^^^ EDWARD M. LANE Secretary and Business Manager C. T. ANDERSEN Assistant Secretary MAGDALENE B. KONKEL Acting Assistant Secretary

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4 LEARNING TO. LIVE "Learning To Live" is the daily business of 220,000 boys and girls in this city's public schools. If tomorrow is to keep faith with the peace of today, Detroit must make its greatest investment in youth.

S'~ 1... Background to Learning 5 YOU, the citizens of Detroit, are quite properly concerned with the fact that the present often gives an inkling of what the future will be. Your public schools accept a good share of responsibility for the necessary job of building well for tomorrow. Inasmuch as today's boys and girls are the citizens of only a few years from now, it is important that they get a good education in the beginning. Detroit offers such an opportunity to all children. Your schools share with the home, the church, and the whole community the vision of the sort of adult citizens that boys and" girls ought to become. Toward the achievement of this vision, we must implant in our children the ability to get along well with others, a sound mind in a healthy body, an appreciation of the privilege of making the laws, the responsibility of participating in civic life, and the capacity and will to build for world peace. Such civic qualities-all of which are means to achieve the vision-can be realized to the fullest for all youth only with public understanding and support of the schools. This suggests that Detroiters are not without important obligations towards their schools. It is not enough merely to pay the annual tax bill for education. Citizens also contribute through a good understanding of their schools, so that they can better interpret them to their children and to other citizens. Too, people will profit from a knowledge of what is currently taught, the quality of tbday's teachers, and the part education plays in making for better times. But greatest appreciation will follow the realization that in the long run education is the only defense of peace. Although the war ended two years ago, the job of converting to a full peacetime program of education is not complete. There are many reasons why this is true. Adequate school housing is a number one problem in Detroit today; but progress in relieving this need is slow. Recurring delays in school building construction are frequent because of a scarcity of materials and an inadequate supply of skilled help. And then there is the matter of how to pay for the buildings that are needed now. While school construction costs are now more than three times what they were in 1937, school income during that period has scarcely doubled. Full conversion is complicated by other important problems. The great increase in the birthrate which always accompanies periods of prosperity and war years is already being registered in the kindergarten and the first grade. Schools Serve All the Children What to teach is as challenging a problem today as is how best to teach it so as to develop citizens with world understanding. The schools are currently faced with the real problem of a declining labor market for youth. This, fortunately for children, puts them back in school where education can serve them best. Education, to be effective, must be geared to the varying ability of boys and girls. Just how well Detroit's schools do the job of educating youth today must be answered by the performance of the schools' product judged against certain fundamental

6 LEAR~NING TO LIVE 6 LEARNING TO LIVE facts affecting the quality of that product. Judgment based on a single set of observations is one-sided. It requires the careful consideration of all of the facts in order for one to reach a sound, and fair opinion. A Big Investment In Detroit, schools are big business. There are 327 buildings including seventy classified as temporary structures. In terms of cash, the citizens have more than $109,000,000 invested in land, school buildings, and equipment. It requires 7,450 teachers and administrators, and 3,700 non-teaching employees, such as janitors, engineers, lunchroom workers, and clerks, to operate the schools for the 220,000 pupils in attendance. These figures do not include the personnel and membership of Wayne University. The Board of Education employs help from practically every classification--electricians, plumbers, thermostat repairmen, buyers, psychiatrists, physicians, truck drivers, store keepers, projectionists, stage hands, and animal keepers. To get the best qualified help, the Board pays top wages; actually, it takes close to $200,000 to meet the daily payroll for the 11,000 men and women in its employ., These data are offered as informational background against which the story of the opportunities, the progress, and the future plans of this city's great school system is here told. Learning To Live includes something of the day-to-day story -the professional labors of a sincere group of employees who realize that the extent to which our school program moves forward depends largely on the understanding the public has of its great school system. If teachers could segregate their pupils into small, select groups, the job of teaching and learning might be a quite different and quite easy one; but Detroit's schools must serve all the children of all the people-the rich and the poor, the Mongolians along with the Caucasians,.those of varied faiths, and those of no faith, children of limited experience, and youngsters from broken homes. In this city's elementary schools alone there are nearly one hundred nationalities represented among the 145,000 children enrolled in the first six grades. Couple with this the important fact that children differ widely in their ability to learn, and you have something of the complex picture presented by the boys and girls in today's classrooms. Tests conducted by the Psychological Clinic of the Detroit Public Schools show that while eleven per cent of these elementary children score A (the highest) in intelligence, there are thirteen per cent at the lower level of intelligence, with one-half of the boys and girls in the C or average ability group. Regardless of the many differences every attempt is made to understand the child, in order that the teacher may know what to expect of him and then see that he gets an education in accordance with his ability to learn. Of course, the job is not easy, but it is important and must be carried through for each boy and girl. Our teachers are expertly trained in child psychology. In addition, teachers generally are specialists in a single subject matter field. The Board of Education's new salary schedule, guaranteeing teachers a better professional wage, has enabled your schools to select the best qualified teachers from the entire country. From this brief background it becomes apparent that Learning To Live in today's world is an increasingly complex task. The story of how Detroit's schools educate youth for the years ahead is reviewed in the succeeding pages of this report. 1

2... Education for Understanding Learning Begins in the Elementary School 7 6VER since 184e Detroit has provided free public education for its youth. Going to school is a full-time job for boys and girls nowadays. It requires being away from home during the day and association with a large group of children each of whom must follow a planned program. The kindergarten is the child's introduction to the elementary school. First impressions and experiences are of major importance in determining the individual's later success. For this reason, teachers of fiveyear-olds are selected for their understanding of individual differences; their friendly skill in the guidance of each child in assuming his identity in a large group; and their resourcefulness in equipping individuals with a vast amount of useful information and with many valuable habits. One has only to listen to the continuous questioning of the five-year-old to know that he is ready and eager to learn about everything that comes to his notice. To satisfy this need the kindergarten teacher brings to the group accurate information about innumerable topics. For example, science has a great appeal to young children. The teacher supplies facts from reliable source material. Through discussion, observation, and experimentation, the child acquires a wide range of worthwhile learning. His interests and curiosities are encouraged and, in his first year of school, he not only becomes well-informed, but he builds up an anticipation of the school years to come. The kindergarten provides for the cul tural, social, and physical needs as well as the intellectual. The program includes literature, music, and art. There is provision for language development - the vocabulary is increased and the individual gains ease and skill in self-expression through group discussions. Large equipment is provided for cooperative play. The children enjoy periods of song, story, and rhythms. They draw, paint, and construct. They join in dramatic play and form a band. Through a wide variety of such experiences they learn to work together. Kindergarten Stresses Self-expression The kindergarten provides a happy atmosphere in which the individual gradually learns to be a contributing member of a large group. Habits of courtesy, consideration, and cooperation are developed. An attempt is made to have each child feel secure and happy in his relationship to the school community. Thus the kindergarten half day is a busy one. The lessons learned do much to prepare these future students for the more formal work of grade one. Throughout the more than 105 years of the Detroit Public Schools the fundamentals of reading, writing, and arithmetic have constituted the basis upon which the education program has been built. Just as the automobiles of 1895 and 1900 were considered splendid for those days, so were the reading books of McGuffey considered the best for their times. Children learning to read from those primers of nearly a hundred years ago were prompted by McGuffey's instructions to the teachers

8 LEARNIJING TO LIVE 8 LEARNING TO LIVE of that day, "The three requirements of the good reader: to read with a loud and full tone, to pronounce every syllable promptly and distinctly, and to mind the pauses." Learning to read came largely by means of repetition and rote memory. Recent scientific research has greatly improved both the methods of teaching reading and the content of the readers themselves. The Three R's Are Basic Today's children learn to read because they feel a need for reading and because they enjoy the books put into their hands. The beautifully illustrated, colorful stories of the modern primers are well within the interests and experiences, of six-year-olds. Great care is taken in the repetition of words and in the construction of the stories so that reading for most first graders is a happy experience. Reading is meaningful from the start. Use of a simple picture dictionary is introduced as early as grade one. Today's reading lesson in the early grades may, on occasion, be a short story composed by the children themselves as a result of their own experiences. This helps bring about a real incentive for study and mastery of words. Although in the first grade pupils do many things besides learning to read, sufficient time is given to reading to insure a good start. Since reading is a tool subject, essential to the acquisition of the subject matter of later grades, it is given much time and emphasis throughout the primary grades. Although there has been substantial progress in the teaching of reading, there are invariably a few children who do not master this skill readily. For these pupils the Detroit schools have a remedial program. Special'help by expertly qualified teachers often does much to-aid the childinadjusting. Circulating book kits and permanent sets of basic readers are made available to each school. These offer reading material adjusted to varying abilities. Learn to Read, Then Read to Learn Throughout the grades the emphasis in the teaching of reading is on both learning to read and reading to learn. Thus the business of learning to read is far more than a mechanical process in which children learn to "pronounce words and observe pauses." Reading, rather, becomes the means for the acquisition of information in building attitudes and creating understanding. Parents may be reassured that the -fundamentals, of which reading is first in importance, get major emphasis in Detroit's public schools. Just how successful is our instruction in reading? Standard tests given throughout the nation to hundreds of thousands of children serve as a means of comparison. Such a standard test in reading administered to Detroit's eighth graders during the past year showed that our eighth grade students are reading better than the average eighth graders throughout the nation. School people feel that this is highly significant, for upon the mastery of reading depends the educational advancement of the child. Handwriting is taught as an essential language skill. It is no longer referred to as penmanship or the art of writing, but rather as a tool which serves the purpose of expressing thought. Out-of-school interests, reading and study, visual aids, creative activities, and socialized discussion supply content for purposeful writing in all the grades of the elementary school. Though purpose and content are given due consideration, attention is also directed to the mechanics of writing. The writing act itself requires analysis of error and corrective practice to insure ease of writing and ease of reading. Therefore, a period

EDUCATION FOR UNDERSTANDING 9 each day is devoted to handwriting instruction in the elementary grades. The physical, emotional, and mental differences in children make it necessary to adapt handwriting instruction to individual capacities. From the beginning, first with print and later with connected writing, children are guided in detecting their own errors and in working to overcome their specific difficulties. Handwriting booklets with self-help lessons, blackboard demonstrations, and group and individual instruction help children to eliminate errors and to show grade-by-grade improvement in both legibility and fluency. Spelling Is Key to Writing Spelling, too, is a language skill. Knowing how to spell enables one to express his thoughts in writing so that others may read and understand them. Educational research has determined what words are generally understood and needed at the various grade levels. Spelling booklets including these words and learning exercises have been prepared for children in grade 1A through 6A. Though many words are learned incidentally and in relation to other school activities, study periods are scheduled daily to promote greater spelling proficiency. Checking for correct spelling in all writing situations gives emphasis to the fact that spelling is a language skill. Automatic control over spelling enables one to concentrate on organization and content in writing. Children cannot be expected to learn all the words they will need in later life. Speaking, listening, and reading vocabularies always surpass one's writing vocabulary. The 'elementary schools strive to help pupils master the spelling of those words which are most commonly used in writing. In addition, they help children develop study habits and learning techniques which stimulate interest in new words and develop power to attack the spelling of those words with confidence. Arithmetic Extends to Life Experiences The important subject of arithmetic is now taught in a manner that makes the subject meaningful to children. Children no longer learn their arithmetic by the method of repeating or doing over and over again things which they do not understand. Very early in their work with numbers children now learn, through the use of play money-pennies and dimes, dollar bills and ten dollar bills-how numbers are built up on tens and hundreds. They understand why 9 and 7 total 16 by first thinking of 9 cents and 7 cents as a dime and 6 cents. They learn what it means to carry from the ones to the tens when they add two numbers like 28 and 36 by changing the 14 ones to one 10 and 4 ones. They study fractions by working with parts of real things, and in so doing learn to employ numbers to show what they have done. Changing to higher and lower denominations becomes for children in our modern schools a matter of breaking the parts of a fraction into smaller parts or putting smaller parts together to make larger parts. The whole arithmetic course is taught with the idea of having children understand how numbers are used. A New Day a New Lesson Important in the teaching of arithmetic today is the fact that all new things are related to real things, such as money, rulers, containers, tickets, plates, cups, and egg crates. Children don't just read about things in textbooks but instead actually handle them. This means that children work with materials that are familiar and interesting to them.

10 LEARNING TO L;IVE 10 LEARNING TO LIVE Naturally the problems which children solve in the classrooms today are closely related to the world about them. Today's arithmetic deals largely with the problems of the home and community. In the new program of arithmetic teaching, teachers want children to learn to figure quickly and accurately. School people know that once children have understood what they are learning, it is easier for them to become speedy and accurate in working with numbers. The major aim of education is the development of the individual child with particular stress on good citizenship. Obviously, a brief report such as this cannot deal in detail with all the subjects taught in the schools. A good knowledge of reading readily leads children to interests in such important subjects as history and geography, the sciences, music, art, literature, and health education. These deal with the betterment of the child's life now and in the years ahead. Today's elementary schools must do a good job in the teaching of certain subjects which were quite foreign to the schools of yesterday. These changing times mean that today's elementary schools must do considerable towards the teaching of homemaking. The major purpose of such instruction is that of helping each child to develop skills, ability, understanding, and appreciation which will help make his personal experiences in family life more satisfactory, and more wholesome. Of equal importance is the fact that instruction in homemaking also tends to help the pupil better understand his relations with his family and his friends. Much emphasis is placed on health education including the need for proper, rest, adequate exercise, and wholesome food. It seems only natural that in this highly motorized city particular emphasis be placed on the study of safety education. In fact, safety is stressed beginning with the kindergarten. Special safety activities promoted in cooperation with business and industry do much to correlate the need for good safety habits and the practice of 'safe conduct. Detroit's public schools have long excelled in library service to pupils and in library instruction. Each of the city's 210 elementary schools has either a school library or the services of a traveling book collection. Visual education is being used in increasing amount in order to bring supplemental instruction, current events, and world affairs, as well as historical events, into the classroom where they may be further discussed. Approximately 160 sound motion picture projectors are now in use in our schools. The board's film library contains a large selection of subjects. A great deal of time is spent by teachers and school administrators in the study of the curriculum. This frequently leads to the writing and publishing of many of the textbooks and workbooks used in the elementary school. Teaching techniques are continually being studied and improved. Nearly all of the city's elementary schools now make use of a daily conference period. This offers an opportunity for individual help in the child's attempt to develop a feeling of confidence, of security, and of belonging to a group and to society. Varied home conditions-environment, background, health habits, community interests, social attitudes and friendship patterns-are matters of material concern for study and development in the conference period. Thus the total program of the elementary schools is blended with education for understanding of the individual and for the child's understanding of the world in which he lives.

3.0.. Education for Discovery The Intermediate School Is a Stepping Stone 11 IN Detroit the intermediate school was established by the Board of Education in 1918. From the conventional study of fundamentals, and the program of education for understanding of the elementary schools, the child passes to one of education for discovery in the intermediate schools. It is at this educational level, sometimes referred to as the junior high school, that pupils are classified into one of three groups. They are asked here to indicate what road they hope to travel in future years. The intermediate program is divided into education for (a) pupils who are certain to leave school as soon as the compulsory school law will permit, (b) those who are certain to continue their studies in the high school, and (c) those whose future in school is uncertain. Detroit has twenty intermediate schools, a majority of which have been built since 1925. It is the educational needs of the early adolescent child that are of particular concern to the intermediate schools. More citizenship training, increased attention to pre-vocational and vocational interests, a better understanding of racial and religious groups, training for wise use of leisure time, and special attention to health education are included in the diversified type of education offered in these schools. It is in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades that the knowledge of the behavior of young adolescents is brought into particular use. Teachers who are grounded in the theory and application of this knowledge comprise the instructional staff of these schools. The pre-high school years represent the period when individual differences among children become particularly apparent. By means of a choice of curriculums, opportunity. is afforded for discovery, stimulation, and development of individual differences in each child. This does much to contribute to the student's well being and particularly to his growth. The work of the seventh grade is broadening and general in scope. The work of the eighth grade is exploratory in nature, and the work of the ninth grade provides the student with further opportunity for study and activity along the lines of his individual inclinations and aptitudes. It is in the intermediate school that the pupil of thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen years of age is introduced to specially trainedcounselors who give expert guidance in helping the child discover his potentialities. This helps materially in the planning of a program of study, most profitable to the individual student. Membership in the intermediate schools of Detroit has been steadily declining since the peak enrollment of 1936. The lower birthrate of the depression years is now apparent in this division of the school system. Too, these schools were built largely in the newer neighborhoods of the 1920's where the residents were people with growing families. Those children are now matured and for the most part they and their families have moved farther out, with the parents remaining to live in the older neighborhood. There are, however, a few intermediate schools that are receiving pupils transported by bus at board expense from areas where school facilities are inadequate. Class size

12.LEARNING TO LIVE 12 LEARNING TO LIVE has been continuously reduced in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades over the past several years. In 1942 the average class had 42.8 students, in 1945 class size was 40.0, and in 1947 it was reduced to 38.3, thus giving better opportunity for each child to receive the individual attention of the teacher. The pupil-teacher ratio has been reduced in the intermediate schools from 31.5 in March, 1942, to 27.3 in 1947. This represents one of the bright spots in Detroit's educational picture. It is through a reduction in class size and pupil-teacher ratio that more attention can be directed to children who especially need individualized help Juvenile Welfare Important Four years ago the Board of Education released one teacher to each of the intermediate schools for purposes of studying attendance problems with the aim of reducing juvenile delinquency. The work of the attendance teachers has been most satisfactory. During the past year attendance has been slightly in excess of 93 per cent; a very good figure since there are always absences due to illness and other causes beyond human control. Two of Detroit's intermediate schools are actively engaged in the Detroit Citizenship Study, the product of a $425,000 grant, now in the third year of a five-year program. This Study has already won the cooperation of students and faculty to the point where the program is beginning to show positive results in the betterment of citizenship in these schools. Continued study is being given to the problem of reading difficulties among seventh, eighth, and ninth grade students. Mathematics for daily use is being stressed for all students. History and geography receive considerable attention; in fact, they have undergone a renewed emphasis during the past year, in part because of the return of veterans from the war areas. Safety education receives continued study in the intermediate school where youth is sometimes thought of as being in the "reckless age." Radio is playing an important part in the instructional program, and especially in motivating students to better speech. It also offers an opportunity to bring into the classroom actual historical events, such as proceedings of the United Nations. Visual education continues to fortify instruction in practically all subjects. Each intermediate school has a well-equipped library which is widely used by every grade. Detroit's schools can be said to be community conscious. This is as it should be, for the public owns the schools and is entitled to full knowledge of their opportunities, progress, and plans. Intercultural and inter-racial relations are matters of particular concern to Detroit. Special emphasis has been placed on acquainting youth, especially youngsters of intermediate and high school age, with the need for an understanding of our world neighbors and of the people with whom we must live at home and in nearby states. The fact that the war years brought many new people to this city means that our problems of living together as good neighbors are numerous. Their solution lies largely in education.

4... Education for Development Life Patterns Take Shape in High School 13 cA high school education continues to be the goal of a large per cent of Detroit's boys and girls. Observations and experiences of young men and women as members of the armed forces during the past few years have served to re-emphasize the need for more and better education. Thousands of discharged veterans have returned to Detroit's classrooms. Undoubtedly their experiences have been influential in *emphasizing to their youngeIr brothers and sisters and friends the need for getting all the education possible early in life. At any rate, membership in Detroit's high schools and in its technical and trade schools shows a substantial gain for the first time in several years. At the present time, nearly 1,800 veterans are enrolled in the city's high schools and the Board of Education Veterans Institute. A majority of these students are working for high school diplomas. High Schools Have Wide Appeal The Board of Education operates nineteen high schools; fifteen are of the comprehensive or "regular" type, two specialize in business education, one features the technical curricula, and one specializes in vocational work with emphasis on cooperative education for eleventh and twelfth graders. Three of the city's public high schools offer post-graduate work. In addition to the cooperative program offered at the Wilbur Wright High School, three comprehensive high schools include cooperative work-study programs for a limited number of students. Part-time employment for such students is arranged in nearby offices, industries, and retail stores. Students enrolled in the cooperative curriculum spend four hours a day in high school and a like time on the job; for the latter they receive compensation and some school credit. At the Wilbur Wright and the Aero Mechanics schools the cooperative program calls for two weeks of employment and two weeks of schooling during eleven months of the year. Which Road Next? High school youth are at the age where they begin to see a need for patterns. Will they go on to college? Would a commercial curriculum best serve, and what are the job possibilities for youth if he specializes in technical education? Such questions are matters of serious concern to both students and parents as the young people enroll in high school. The problem of guidance is one of special importance to youth at this age. Each Detroit high school has counselor service for all of its students. In addition, the Guidance and Placement (employment) Department at the Board's central office offers free service by experts in these fields. There is continued study and research going on in the city's high schools in an attempt to improve this valuable service. At the Northwestern High School a guidance center is the core of a five-year demonstration project. This means that all guidance matters may be considered directly within the school. Students may be counseled, receive aptitude tests and medical and dental examinations, apply for employment permits, and be referred to part-time jobs through this center. Students may also

14 ~LEARNING TO LIVE 14 LEARNING TO LIVE confer with the visiting teacher who is conversant with home problems. In addition, expert psychiatric service is available to students. This new guidance center project is offered in addition to the regular counseling service of the school. The center is being studied from the standpoint of its possible ultimate adaptation to all of the city's high schools. Its effects upon the holding power of the school, the adjustment of students in classes and to high school life generally, and adaptation of the student to the curriculum are being carefully and continuously evaluated. Various cooperating agencies, including the Department of Health, The Children's Fund of Michigan, and the Citizenship Education Study, are providing counsel and other services for the center. Upon enrollment at the Northwestern High School, students and their parents are made acquainted with the various curriculums of the school-college preparatory, business education, and general. Counselors, however, attempt to adjust each child's program to the needs of the indidivual, thus the curriculum lines are not emphasized. As a further aid in the general counseling of high school students, the counsel and services of the attendance teacher are made available. It is the duty of these specialized teachers to investigate absences, screen attendance cases, make referrals to the Attendance Department and to the visiting teacher. It is through the attendance teacher that counselors are largely advised of special home problems, a knowledge of which is so often valuable in the satisfactory adjustment of the student. Under the direction of the Psychological Clinic of the schools, a visiting teacher does extensive work with maladjusted students who need special study. Citizenship Gets Al Priority The business of teaching citizenship to Detroit's youth is probably the most important single job of the schools, for without good citizenship there could be no government and no free democracy. The Detroit Board of Education is fortunate in that it is the recipient of a half million dollar grant for the establishment of a five-year-study to determine better ways of teaching citizenship to school youth. Of eight schools singled out for participation in the study, two are high schools. This is the third year of the study. It proposes to examine pupil behavior and to incorporate school practices that are related to changing democratic values, solving social problems, meeting basic human needs, improving the quality of human relationships, and acquiring the skills and abilities necessary in a democratic society. All of these skills are designed to provide a basis for more mature planning and discussions on the part of both teacher and pupil. It is a cooperative project within the schools. In the high schools in which the study is active, units on democracy have been developed by teachers of English and the social studies. In this study American History is being taught largely as a means for understanding democracy. The study has already instituted a project with a view to the improvement of the teaching of thinking as related to problem solving. The Citizenship Study is taking into consideration something of the composition of the community mind. People frequently think of citizenship in terms of voting, or the rise and fall of criminal acts, the increase or decrease in contributions to the Community Chest, and similar social projects. The community phase of the study includes an attempt to collect from police records,

EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT 1 15 voting records, the records of the Public Lighting Commission, and similar sources, d~ata which have bearing on aspects of citizenship within the neighborhood of the school. Findings of the Study will be made ýavailable to schools throughout the nation. The Study is operated as a separate unit of the Detroit Public Schools with offices separate from the Board of Education, but working in full cooperation. For several years -the R.O.T.C., operated under the guidance and supervision of the War Department, has constituted a part of the curriculum of the Detroit schools. At the present time it is operative in fourteen of 'our high schools. Boys fourteen years of age or older and members of the tenth grade or above, with a "C" average during the previous semester, are eligible for enrollment. There is no obligation of military service entailed through this training. A credit of three hours per semester is allowed toward graduation. Safety Education a "Must" Of late years the high schools have especially emphasized safety. They have instituted with considerable success a safe-driving project with the cooperation of parents. The driver-training program and layout at the Pershing High School is serving as a model from which five additional high schools will develop programs in the near future. Under specialized instruction a twenty-lesson course is offered, supplemented by a progressive instructional program. Six training cars furnished by the Board made possible the training in safe driving of 300 students to continue at the high school level. A few Braille students are enrolled in the Northern High School. In addition, three high schools provide sight-saving instruction and thirteen teachers specialize in speech correction work at the upper grade level. Six secondary schools offer instruction in lip reading, and three classes are conducted by speech teachers in special preparatory work for older students who wish to complete a high school education. The Detroit Board of Education is not content to mark "finish" on the graduation record of its high school seniors. As evidence of this the June, 1947 class of more than 6,000 graduates was canvassed to determine individual plans for the post high school years. Thirty-six per cent of the graduates indicated intention of accepting employment at once, while thirty-one per cent planned to enter college. It should be noted that the number of graduates entering college- usually runs between fifteen and twenty per cent. About one graduate out of eight of those canvassed had no immediate plans for the future, while five per cent indicated a desire to enter business or trade school. High Schools Are Accredited Detroit's academic high schools and Cass Technical High School are members of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. This means that graduates of these high schools may enter college without further examination. Just how well do Detroit Public High School graduates perform in college? In June of 1947 the University of Michigyan disclosed that duringa

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18 LEARNING TO LIVE 18 LEARNING TO LIVE known that Central High School had eighty young men and women enrolled as freshmen at the U. of M., whose academic performance was considered in the awarding of this high honor to Central. The High School of Commerce was awarded honorable mention along with fourteen high schools throughout. the state. Technical, Trade Education Popular Detroit's Public Schools include a division of Technical and Trade Schools. Such schools attempt to meet the needs of specific training for employment. The Aero Mechanics School is the most recent addition to the technical schools. It trains airplane engine mechanics and airplane mechanics. The Apprentice Training School, formerly known as the Building Trades, is organized to give related instruction to apprentices. It enrolls adults, usually between the ages of eighteen and twentyfive. Their attendance is on a part-time basis, and employers generally pay students while attending this school. The Cass Technical High School maintains an instructional program organized around eleven curriculums. Eac 'h curriculum is pointed towards an occupation or industry area. Included are machine shop, mechanical drafting, electrical, automotive, aeronautical, architectural drafting, science, home economics, printing, art, and music. Six schools are designated as trade schools, and meet the educational needs of students between the ages of fifteen and eighteen who wish to enroll in a pre-employmnent school. Instruction is organized around basic trades or occupations. The Wilbur Wright Vocational High School is organized for cooperative training and is open to boys who have completed the ninth grade. Practically all of the graduates of. this school enter industry by' way of organized apprenticeship. Detroit's' technical and trade schools offer training in a. wide variety of occupations and trades, including aeronautics and aircraft instruction, auto' mechanics, baking, cooking, brick laying, costume illustration, floor decorations., optical lens grinding, pattern making, power machine operation, radio repair, retailing, tailoring, jewelry and watch repair, and woodwork. Plans are under way for expanding and intensifying the vocational education program for girls and women. Teachers employed in Detroit high schools must have a Master's Degree, which means a minimum of five years of college training. They must teach in the field of their specialization in order to qualify under the North Central Association. The performance of high school graduates attests to the quality of instruction offered in the city's high schools.

5.0. Educati~on for Adjustment Special Schools and Classes Accommodate Special Needs 19 I T is a matter of considerable pride to the Board of Education that for many years there has been no evident educational need in Detroit for which the schools have not offered an educational service. The blind and partially sighted, the deaf and hard of hearing, the crippled, the epileptic, the mentally subnormal, the tubercular, and the child who may be bedfast and thus unable to attend school-each may'receive instruction either in a special school or class devoted to the individual needs or at the home bedside. It is gratifying to know that although there are 'more than 200,000 children in Detroit attending regular day schools, the city does not overlook the educational needs of approximately 9,000 children who for reasons entirely beyond their control- must be enrolled in the special schools and classes. No Need Is Overlooked The work of Special Education covers all phases of instruction for atypical children. Four clinics are operated-one for crippled children, a glandular clinic which provides special service for problem and retarded children, the White Special Clinic for children with convulsive disorders, principally epileptics, and a Speech Clinic for pre-school children with speech handicaps and for other children with special speech disorders. The services of these four clinics constitute an integral part of the wvork of the Department of Special Education. Of significance is departmental work aimed toward the conservation of the normal directed to boys and girls who have only partial vision or perhaps a degree of hearing, as well as to those iwith a speech impediment. During the year the department entertained a special demonstration lighting project at one school. This helped focus' attention on the conservation of eyesight through proper lighting conditions. It is with regret that the department must report that the number of cardiac children (heart cases) demanding the attention of the schools is on the increase. Likewise, there has been an increase of approximately twenty per cent in the requests for home teaching-the greatest single number of cases are afflicted with rheumatic fever. The orthopedic (crippled) department' has an enrollment in excess of 1,300. This represents an increase slightly in excess of five per cent. Every attempt is being made to salvage any fragment of hearing measurable in children. A special program in acoustics training has been continued with the aim of helping every child having any degree of hearing deficiency. In the School for the Deaf all the pupils are given audiometer tests each year. It is encouraging to know that nearly 600 pupils were brought to the deaf clinic by parents, teachers, and visiting teachers for a hearing examination during the school year. Work with individual hearing aids for children is showing considerable progress. It i's felt that more consideration should be given to the use of these aids in the future. Nearly 50 Years of Service Special education was introduced to Detroit in 1899. It was not until 1936 that

20 LEARNIN G TO LIVE 20LEARNING TO LIVE the Board of Education instituted a special school for epileptic children. This was, and is, the only school of its kind in the world. In this school considerable emphasis is placed on personal and social adjustment of children through the guidance program. Boys and girls afflicted with epilepsy are emotionally disturbed by an ailment which sets them apart from their friends and other children of their age and grade. The clinic reports continued success in its efforts to control the seizures of epilepsy. New drugs and combinations of drugs are found by the school to be increasingly effective if properly administered. As one result, many of the children in attendance are able to be returned to their neighborhood schools following study and treatment in the White Special School. All medical treatment is given with the permission and cooperation of the home and the family physician. Special Help for Convalescents In the selection of children for open air and open window rooms, teachers and principals are thought of as having an equal responsibility with the family and its physician for the protection of school children. These special rooms serve largely children who are convalescing from a long illness, who are undernourished, or who have a minor heart ailment. The program includes ample opportunity for rest and a needed morning lunch, that the children may build up their bodies as quickly as possible. The Special Education Department is particularly interested in speech, since this is one of the most important factors in personA - l ajutent%+rP1.. VTh 'e% Vprog r `'1ram of speech deficiencies, poor hearing, malformation in the structure of the speech organs, certain emotional disturbances., and poor speech environment contribute greatly to the causes of speech defects in children. During the past year nearly 10,000 boys and girls were enrolled in speech classes conducted in the public schools throughout the city. It is. interesting to know that the enrollment includes about twice as many boys as girls. Music Helps Reduce Tension Classes for the mentally handicapped have recorded an increase in enrollment during the year. Stress has been placed on the correction of physical defects. The guidance program for these handicapped -children has been continued with substantial success. In another field of special education, ungraded classes are in operation for unadjusted children. It is felt that more emphasis might properly be placed on music as a means of reducing tension in children enrolled in this phase of special education. The Ellis School of Observation for Boys, as well as the Moore Special School, is serving a real need in the educational adjustment of ungraded and of discipline cases. The Moore Summer School is operative- for problem boys in an effort to keep them off the street. Visiting teacher service continues to help in the schools' understanding and adjustment of the boys. They are paid by the State. During the year the Department of Special Education was privileged to cooperate with the Wayne County Board of A..Auditors in -., the, *Ir studyv111 "%-andAevloin vo

6. ducati~on for Improvement Evening Schools Extend Learning O-.pportunities to Adults 21 U3HE idea that education is con-_ tinuous throughout life is giving evidence of somewhat general acceptance. Citizens of all types are beginning to realize that the adults of today must solve most of the problems of today if the American way of life is to survive. That there is cause for concern generally is to be inferred from the fact that this nation has more than ten million functionally illiterate adults. The United States census of 1940 reveals that one man or woman out of every ten over twenty-five years of age, resident in Michigan, has not completed more than four grades in school. While this nation had- more high school graduates in 1940 than any other country, yet the voice of the people in making vital decisions affecting the public welfare was, in fact, the voice of a ninth grader. When it established the Department of Adult Education in 1875, the Detroit Board of Education formally recognized the value to be derived from a continuance of education for all people. Originally planned for those men and women who were required to leave school in order to seek employment at an early age, Adult Education devoted its first years to the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic. The work of the department became increasingly popular. Progress was rapid;' following a reorganization in 1915. High school diplomas granted by the Adult Education Department have been recognized by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools since 1931. This gives the graduates a standing equal to that of a graduate from any high school in During the school year just ended, the over-all growth of the Adult Education Department, sometimes referred to as the Evening School Division of the Board of Education, recorded an increase in excess of ten per cent. Evening -scihools constitute a major part of the adult program in Detroit, although during the past two years the department inaugurated-a great many daytime classes in order that adulIts who do not find it convenient to attend school evenings may continue their education during the day. The board operates twenty-two schools throughout the' city where adult men and women may continue a formal education. The curriculum includes elementary offerings as well as advanced high school work. English for the foreign born, citizenship pre paratory classes, and regular elementary classroom work from grade one through grade eight constitute much of the program. Approximately ten per cent. of the membership is enrolled in the elementary division of the schools. The remaining ninety per cent seeks specialized training for job advancement, cultural or formal educational training to meet particular needs including those who are workin 'g *for a high school diploma, and hobby or recreational training. Never Too Old to Learn Who attends Detroit's evening schools? A cross section of the membership represents a cross section of the citizenry. Children of high school age enrolled in regular day school are not permitted to attend except in rare cass werespcifc-cedi iMnededto ee

22 LEARNING TO LIVE 22 LEARNING TO LIVE a specific need. The membership always includes many unusual individuals who are in attendance at tremendous sacrifice to themselves and often their families. An Asiatic woman who had been sold twice as a slave in her youth, a colored grandmother of more than eighty years who sought "to learn. to read her Bible,"' an inventor with a dozen or more patents to his credit who realized the need for more mathematics, and a mother who merely wanted to "keep up with daughter in day school"-these are some of the people who sacrifice that they may "learn to live." The problems which confront society- substandard living conditions, political apathy, immigration of foreign born, racial discrimination, juvenile delinquency, industrial strikes, exploitations of minority groups -constitute a challenge. To' each individual the problem is a vital one which requires sacrificial effort for its solution. While it is the youth of today that will solve such problems of tomorrow, yet it is the adult of today that must deal with them while youth is maturing. For this reason and for others, the adult education program of the Detroit Public Schools develops increasing popularity, as its- growth over the seventy-one years of its history testifies. All Interests Are Served What type of courses are offered for men and women of experience? A sampling may read like this: swimming, riflery, chemistry, algebra, electrical construction, blueprint reading, pottery making, music of all forms, knitting and sewing, public speaking, bridge plain, 0mllner,_ hid pycoloyde baIng n nlsh hs r ofrdah schools, supervises from sixt y to seventy extension classes in the afternoons and evenings in schools both public and parochial, churches, and community houses, clubrooms, and similar places of meeting. Instruction in such subjects as homemaking, cooking, sewing, consumer economics (scientific buying), and clhild care constitute the major part of this work. During recent months the department has been faced with two new problems born of the war years. The organization of classes for refugees and displaced persons, and the devising of ways and means for reaching the mass of illiterate and near illiterate in-migrants from other states has constituted real challenges for the department. The' war refugees largely consist of young people who are literate and who are educationally 'hungry. The inmigrants from the other states, w~hile able to speak English, must first be sold on the need for literacy, and then guided through the slow and painstaking procedure of learning to read and write and speak properly. All of this calls for expert instruction. It is of interest to observe that teachers serving the Adult Education Division simply must be good. A teacher who doesn't impress the class favorably tonight finds she doesn't have a class tomorrow night. So the pick of the crop constitutes the staff of the evening school division. In Detroit many adults are from time to time attracted to the field of avocational and cultural education. Hobbies and other leisure time activities are rather widely developed in this connection. Crafts, arts,

EDUCATION FOR IMPROVEMENT 2 23 skills continues to be a major appeal of the Department of Adult Education. The closing of war plants and the somewhat decreased demand for employment have made many men and women doubly conscious of the need for doing their job better than their competitors. As one result there has been continued interest in the so-called skill classes offered in the city's evening schools. Varied Problems, Varied People An increasing number of local residents are foreign born and not yet naturalized. Demands for instruction. leading to naturalization in the courts increase and decrease largely in accordance with the backlog of applicants at the naturalization offices. During the year just ended ten classes in "Cnaturalization preparatory" were conducted by the department for nearly 1,200 men and womnen. Leadership Training in 1944 the state legislature, meeting in extra session, appropriated a quarter of a million dollars for an experimental program in adult education. Annual renewals of the appropriations have followed. Detroit has enjoyed a share of the appropriation on a matching basis to further develop its adult education program. Practically every known agency interested in adult education has been contacted in an attempt to'stimulate and coordinate programs of mutual interests, and thus serve more people in more ways. Forums and discussion groups seemed to be the answer and so a program was built around this objective.. A large number of than ~500 such groups attracted in excess of 56,000 men and women to their meetings during the year. A sample' of the subjects discussed is illuminating: the Detroit Plan for Industrial Peace, Improving Your Neighborhood., Russia and the Atom Bomb, What About Argentina, Noted Negro Educators, and Sales T ax Amendment!Z. An extensive labor program was conducted under the department's director and specially trained 'instructors. The adult education program over the year proved to be especially effective in its offerings dealing with home and family living. This gave an opportunity to develop within adults a realization that each man and woman is individually and collectively responsible for developing better citizens and a more livable community. Leadership training classes were conducted during the year in order to promote effectively a program of home and family life. A total of more than 12,000 people attended meetings devoted to this field of interest during the year. For many years the Department of Adult Education has been responsible for the operation of summer schools planned to accommnodate children from the fifth through the twelfth grades. During the preceding summer,.9.1,000 boys and girls were registered. Approximately a third of those registered were interested in high school work, and a third in intermediate school work. Forty schools opened for this summer service offered work in the cultural, exploratory, and academic fields both with and without credit.

24 LEARNING TO LIVE 24 LEARNING TO LIVE service is delegated by the superintendent to the director of adult education. A staff of five clerical workers is now required to handle this increasingly popular service. It is operated on a cost basis, the scale of charges being computed on the type of services required. Auditoriums, for example, cost more than a single classroom. A classroom in turn costs less than the use of the swimming pool or gymnasium. During the year, approximately 10,000 permits were issued for community use of school buildings. The permits of some agencies, such as the Boy Scouts, have covered twenty or thirty buildings of an evening. A large number of churches have for many years held regular Sunday services in school buildings. Civic, charitable, and political organizations regularly make use of the city's school buildings for public purposes. Board regulations require that meetings be orderly and free from motives of private profit or overthrow of the government. Collections and admission charges are discouraged but are permitted in a limited way if proceeds are intended to pay the cost of services involved or to apply to charitable, religious, civic, or similar projects. The use of school buildings by the community embodies no cost to the taxpayer. Yet it represents a quarter of a million dollar job each year.

7.0.Progress Through Research 25 O PERATION of the schools requires the services of many departments other than the more evident divisions of the school system. This report, confined to thirty-two pages, does not permit a description of all of these varied and valuable services. It will suffice here to outline the services of one department as somewhat representative of all of the contributory departments of this vast school system. Scientific research, more than any other single factor,' has been responsible for the progress of America over the past quarter of a century or more. Practically nothing has been left to chance or to the whims of the "what was good enough for father theorists." In the field of education a major responsibility f or progress has rested with educational research. School people are-,continually stri~vin g to find better ways of teaching, and to develop more efficient tools of learning. The Detroit Board of Education maintains a Department of.- Instructional Research, whose function is the use of scientific methods of inquiry and investigation of educational problems as a means of, bringing about improvements in supervision, administration, and teaching practices in the schools. Research in education., like research in other fields, avoids conclusions based on personal opinion. Rather, opinion must be supported by scientific observation. Research Aids Reading Progress An examination of research in reading will serve to illustrate something of how the department functions.q-Mo~re time is s-pent years ago a plan was inaugurated in a few Detroit schools, designed to give special attention to children entering the first grade who were not yet ready to carry on the activities required in the regular reading classes of this grade. The'Research Depart-- ment, in cooperation with the. Department of Language Education and the, schools' Psychological Clinic, developed a Reading Readiness Test and a pupil's Personality Inventory to be used in diagnosing the individual strengths and weaknesses of children at the age, of six. Specialized materials and methods were developed to provide for better adjustment of children in their first contact with reading instruction. Through this study and scientific application of its findings,.continuous improvements are being made in helping the child to adjust to the important job of learning to read in grade one-a fact substantiated by careful follow-up studies by teachers and principals over a period. of three years.A Scientific Measure In all the elementary 'grades, Detroit teachers use standardized reading tests to measure exactly the. pupil's progress in learning to read. These tests enable the teacher to find out particular strengths and weaknesses of individual pupils so that special help can be given to each child in accordance with his needs. Teachers keep an extra close check on reading progress in the beginning grades. For 'example, in grades one and two each child is given a standardized reading test every eight weeks, and in grades three to eight the pupil is given from three to six different reading tests

26 LEARNINGG TO LIVE' 26 LEARNING TO LIVE the eighth grade, the typical child in the Detroit. schools has taken thirty-nine different standardized tests, in addition to the numerous teacher tests which are given from week to week or month to month. A special reading survey was conducted in February of this year. A standard test was given to all 8A pupils in the public schools. The major purpose of this survey was to determine how well Detroit pupils read in comparison with pupils in other school systems throughout the nation. Results of nearly 8,000 tests administered to as many pupils, revealed that the average reading ability of Detroit's 8A pupil is one month (one-tenth of the school year) above the national average. Is Algebra Worthwhile? In the field of mathematics, investigations of the department over a period of years show that there is an unusually high rate of failure in ninth grade algebra. Teachers report that a large number of students need special help in order to meet the requirements of the course. They also report that a large number of students gain little that is educationally worthwhile from formal instruction in algebra. With these practical criticisms and considerations as a starting point, the Department of Research, in cooperation with the Department of Exact Sciences and with the various intermediate and high schools in the city, undertook an extensive study of algebra aptitude. A test was developed to determine pupil chances of doing satisfactory work in the regular ninth grade algebra course. The test was then used experimentally in several high schools to determine how accurately predictions could be made regarding the degree of success the pupil might realize upon undertaking the study of algebra. Extensive information was collected and summarized for each of approximately 600 ninth grade students who were tested before and after they had taken an algebra course. Results disclose that reasonably accurate predictions can be made regarding the probable success of a particular student in the study of algebra. Mathematics courses are being developed which, it is thought, will prove more useful to the majority of students whose educational goal does not demand the study of algebra, and whose interests and aptitudes make it unlikely that they would profit from a study of this subject. No system of education can be better than its teachers. In view of this, the teacher selection process in Detroit undergoes continuous development in line with the findings of research and the study of personnel practices. During the year the department, in cooperation with the Division of Personnel and the Psychological Clinic, inaugurated a'comprehensive study and appraisal of the procedures now used in selecting applicants for teaching positions. The major job in this study was that of determining what particular factors in the previous history of the teacher applicant had the greatest value in predicting the applicant's success in Detroit's classrooms. A city-wide testing program under the direction of the Department of Research provides for all schools a series of tests in reading, arithmetic, English, and handwriting. Vocational subjects are represented by tests in Household Mechanics, Freehand Drawing, General Woodwork, General Metals, and Shop Safety Procedures. In addition to the three R's of the elementary schools, tests are provided for the secondary schools in reading, English, algebra, chemistry, and physics. Progress through applications of the findings of research has become somewhat of a byword in Detroit schools.

8... Buildings for the Future* 27 PROVIDING a seat for each of the 220,000 boys and girls enrolled in the city's public schools is the number one problem of the Board of Education. The major cause of the housing crisis is the construction and occupancy of thousands of homes in the outlying areas heretofore largely unsettled. Occupancy of the rapidly developing districts to the west, northwest, and the northeast is primarily by families of war veterans. This means they are for the most part new families, and their children are of pre-school age or are candidates for enrollment in the kindergarten or the early elementary grades. Detroit has had for more than one hundred years a school housing problem of one type or another. Today, the schools within the three-mile area are largely older buildings and are beginning to need major repairs. Several of the buildings are fifty or more years old and will soon need replacement. Some conception of Detroit's school housing needs can be gleaned from the fact that in January, 1946, the Board reported plans for thirty-four building projects at an estimated cost of $11,600,000. By June, 1947, four of the thirty-four projects were completed at a cost of $7a5,000 although the estimated cost for the four buildings was only $386,000. This suggests one of the larger problems, if not the major one, in the school building situation today-the tremendous increase in building costs accompanied by a limitation in the income of Detroit schools. While the four building projects completed as of June gave limited relief, yet the number of children inadequately housed continues to show a substantial increase. A tabulation of housing The Dr. Zina Pitcher Elementary School just completed, is representative of the modern trend in Detroit's school architecture. A five mnzillion dollar building program currently underway includes three new elementary schools and additions to eight, as well as an addition to one high school. *Relief for the school housing problem can be visualized at a glance in the large map reproduced on pages 16 and 17'

28 LEARNING TO LIVE 28LEARNING TO LIVE conditions as recent as June, 1947, revealed that there were 2,265 children in the elementary schools on hall-day sessions, as compared with 1,434 in January, 1946. At the same time, 4,735 were being transported as compared with 4,102 on the previous January. In addition to this, 7,582 were housed in temporary or obsolete buildings, as compared with approximately a like number of six months previously. In all, the June, 1947, housing report showed 14,582 children in the elementary schools inadequately housed, as compared with 12,875 inadequately housed as of January, 1946. Secondary Housing Needs Great The high school housing problem offers a need of major concern. In January of this year there were 24,662 children on hall-day sessions. This number is approximately the same as for January, 1946 and represents one-hall the enrollment. It should be borne in mind that while these students are on hall-day sessions, yet they receive all of the academic instruction that would be possible were they on a full program. They are, however, required to do practically all of their studying outside of the school building. In addition to the four completed building projects of the school year just ended, the Board has twelve projects for new buildings or additions for which contracts have been let and work is under way. These projects represent a cost in excess of $5,200,000, although they were originally estimated at $3,100,000. The cost increase results partly from the necessity for enlarging the building plans because of increases to a high school. The eleven elementary buildings here referred to will increase the capacity by 4,300 pupils. In the area served by these eleven elementary buildings, there were in June of this year 2,296 children transported at public expense, 1,25:3 on hall-day sessions, and 1,465 children housed in temporary school quarters. Of the estimated building needs included in the thirty-four projects submitted in January, 1946, there remain eighteen unaffected by the present program. In addition, however, it has been necessary to add another twenty building projects because of the rapidly increasing number of children of school age in certain of the newer, undeveloped areas of the city. A study of the two-page map of the city as reproduced in this report reveals that in the areas west of Greenfield Road, designated (H-I-J) there were in 1940 a total of 22,350 families. Six years later., however, the number of families had increased in this area to 37.,930. The 1947 school census is still in the process of tabulation, but will undoubtedly -show a further substantial increase in the number of families in this northwest area. Families Double In Year In the area north of Six.Mile Road lying between Woodward and Greenfield, here designated as area "G. pages 16, 17, there were 9,886 families in 1940. This number had increased to 16.,560 in 1946. In the extreme northeast part of the city, designated as area "C" on the map, there were 17,228 families in 1940. L~ast year the,

BUILDINGS FOR THE FUTURE 29 Boulevard Area Presents Problem The Detroit Board of Education is faced with another and somewhat different problem on which it has not been able to make progress. In January of last year there were a total of twenty-eight schools over forty years old. As a matter of fact, seven of these schools were past fifty years old, and one is more than seventy-five years old but still diving service. These buildings accommogate 13,800 boys and girls. Not all of these "over-age" buildings need to be replaced, but all are in need of substantial modernization. When it is possible for the Board to launch a building reconstruction program, there will be opportunities for combining some of these districts and thus eliminating certain of these schools. Citizens of Detroit must recognize two restraints forced upon the Board of Education in its attempt to meet the current building crisis. In the first place, the public schools are limited in their income by a tax ceiling. In the second place, the State of Michigan, through its legislature, controls the annual amount of state support for education. It is only through a liberalization of either or both of these sources of income that the public can expect to have school buildings in quantity and quality sufficient to serve adequately the recognized needs of the day.

30 LEARNING TO LIVE Receipts and Expenditures, 1946-47 OUTGO What are the sources of income and just how does the Board of Education allocate its revenues? A somewhat detailed story of the school budget for 1946-47 is told in Chapter 9. The illustrations on this page will help readers get a quick overall con- 1 / tribution of income as follows: salaries for instructional purposes, S- 8$26,233,000; operation of the school plant covering such items as "" labor, coal and electricity required an expenditure of $4,477,000; Smaintenance of the school plant including repairs to buildings and l equipment, and plumbing and heating replacement and repair. calls for an expenditure of $1,876,000. Auxiliary agenciesAttendance Department, public transportation, and so forth, Income of the Board of Education is derived from three principal $1,390,000; free textbooks and supplies, $608,000. An item of sources. In 1946-47 local taxes contributed $95,619,000 of a total $1,015,000 covered a variety of expenditures including business and budget slightly in excess of $37,000,000. The state was the second educational administration and fixed charges. Capital costs, major contributor to the extent of $12,850,000. Other sources of purchase of buildings and land, as well as alterations and equiprevenue including the federal government accounted for $1,373,000. ment required $1,908,000 for a total expenditure of $37,006,000.

9...Income and Outgo 31 IPUBLIC education in Detroit is big business. In fact, it represents the largest single item in the annual local tax bill of Detroiters. The employment of approximately 192,000 men and women, the maintenance and operation of the city's 32~5 school buildings, the furnishing of books and supplies, and the enforcement of the school attendance laws, as well as paying the costs for the daily transportation of several thousand pupils who are. not served by,a school in their immediate community, requires the* annual expenditure of more than $40,,000.,000. From what source does the Board of Education receive its income and how does it plan its expenditures? During the school year 1946-47, the Board received income from two main sources: (a) local taxation as reflected in the personal billing of taxes to each property owner, and (b) contributions from the State of Michigan. In the fiscal year ended June 30, the Board levied the sum of $~25,964,~246 against local property for the support of the city's public schools. But this did not represent all of the income required to pay the bills. The State of Michigan contributed the sum of $12~,850,000 as the state's share in meeting the cost of the local schools. * In addition, the Board of Education received a small amount of money from special purpose grants and from the federal government. *This~j figure is as originally budgeted by the Board of Education. As a result of the November election in which the constitution was amended to return onehalf of the state sales tax to the public schools, the From the local property tax levy for the support of public schools in Detroit, an item of $25,964,O00 i's realized by the apportionment of 8.65 mills for the support of the public schools. In addition, the debt service rate (to pay off past obligations) represented an item of 1.492 mills. The item of 8.65 mills actually represents the maximum for which the Board- can levy during the year in question for current school purposes. The maximum for school and county purposes in Detroit is set by law at fifteen mills. The contribution of the state towards -the support of Detroit's Public Schools 'is listed under the heading "General Purpose Grants." This includes a primary interest fund, the general fund, and currently (for the, first time in the history of the state) monies from the state sales tax as provided in a recent amendment to the constitution. Of the $39,84~2,179 income of the Board of Education, an amount totaling $1,835,391 is set aside for the operation of Wayne University. An additional amount in the sum of $1,000,000 is earmarked for the Employees' Retirement System. The matter of distribution of income constitutes a subject of major concern. The Board cannot legally spend more than it receives. It should not receive money substantially in excess of what it spends. Consequently, the budget job of the public schools is one requiring the most exact estimates of the administration. The first item of expenditure in any school system is that to cover the- employment of teaching personnel. In Detroit it was estimated that $25,,438,625 would be required to pay the

32 LEARNING TO LIVE' 32 LEARNING TO LIVE tain other instructional costs bring the salary item to a total of $26,232,894.** The second largest item of expenditure is for the operation of the plant, including the cost of labor, fuel, lights, and the like, which totals $4,477,194. Maintenace of the school plant, covering such items as painting, repairing of buildings and equipment, window replacement, plumbing and heating equipment replacement and repair cost $1,376,493. An item of $1,389,724 is included to cover the cost of auxiliary agencies such as the Attendance Department and transportation. School supplies and free text **The additional income from the state sales tax permitted the Board of Education to make an adjustment in salaries during the school year. It required $1,980,000 of this increase in income to meet the salary adjustments. The balance of the revenue fronr the sales tax was used to offset a deficit in state aid receipts and capital cost purposes. books furnished in the elementary grades account for an expenditure of $608,000. Other items such as business and educational administration, fixed charges including rent and insurance, miscellaneous charges-lowcost milk, the extended lunch program, and a small item to cover lunches for indigentsbring the total expenditures to $3,5,098,788. Capital costs covering the purchase of buildings and land, alterations, violations, assessments, new heating plants and boilers, new equipment, and improvement of grounds call for an expenditure of $1,908,000. In addition to this budget there is an item of $4,276,706 which covers self-liquidating activities; that is, activities which pay for themselves such as high school book stores, athletic events, summer schools, and lunchrooms. Budget Summary, 1946-47 Revenues Local Taxes................................................... Less Reserve for Delinquency.................................. General Purpose State Grants (Primary, General Fund, Sales Tax)............................. Special Purpose State Grants..................................... Other Revenues............................................ Total.......................................... $25,964,246t 345,067 $25,619,179 12,850,000 754,000 619,000 39,842,179 Less: Wayne University Net Costs.................................... 1,835,391 Retirement System Appropriations............................... 1,000,000 2,835,391 Balance Available for Elem.-Sec. Schools.......................... $37,006,788 Operation Instruction Salaries: Expenditures Day Schools................................. $25,438,624 Other............................... 794,270 $26,232,894 Operation of Plant................................ 4,477,194 Maintenance of Plant...............................1,376,493 Auxiliary Agencies (Attendance, Transp't., etc.)....... 1,389,724 Textbooks and Supplies............................ 608,000 Business Administration........................... 395,328 Educational Administration......................... 299,414 Fixed Charges.................................... 89,241 Miscellaneous..................................... 230,500 $35,098,788 Capital Costs Buildings and Land............................... 1,517,500 Alterations, Equipment, etc........................ 390,500 1,908,000 Total............................ $37,006,788* tThis is produced by a tax rate of 8.65 mills. In addition, the debt service rate was 1.42 mills. *In addition, certain self-liquidating activities such as the lunchrooms are budgeted in the amount of $4,276,706.

10... Looking Forward W HAT about education for the years ahead? Are Detroit's schools planning for the important job of building better human relations as well as helping individuals to help themselves more effectively in the business of making a living? Does the educational thinking for 1950 include plans for the increasingly important task of developing good citizens? Here, briefed, is a sampling of the blueprint for progress in the Detroit schools of tomorrow. Top priority at the moment must be given to the need for more school buildings so that educational opportunities will be available within a reasonable distance of every home. Each child should have a seat in a school that will provide a full day's learning. As rapidly as funds and new buildings permit, the administration will continue to reduce class size so that every pupil will have ample opportunity for individual teacher help. Detroit's schools of the next few years should have more and better teaching equipment if they are to avail themselves of every opportunity for progress. The success of the schools' on-the-job training suggests an expansion of the cooperative program in the high and vocational schools. It will do much to relate further the work of the classroom to the jobs of business and industry. The program of the Department of Research must be continued and further expanded particularly in the field of curriculum development and the improvement of instruction. Continued emphasis should be placed on the Adult Education program in order that it may more adequately meet the needs and interest of out-of-school citizens. A further reduction of illiteracy and an expansion of the educational program leading to the naturalization of every foreign-born resident are "musts" in Detroit's schools of the next few years. The majority of school children do not continue their education in college. This means that tomorrow's educational program must include further expansion and adaptation of the curriculum to meet the day-to-day needs of the individual pupil who either does not complete his high school education, or upon graduation plans to go directly to a job. Probably the most important single job of education is that of developing good citizens. It is hoped that Detroit's public schools may continue to profit from such grants as that of the William Volker Foundation for improvement in the teaching of citizenship. The repeated question "Is the schools' product adequately educated to meet the tasks of life?" suggests that the educational program for the years ahead must make provision for the increased cooperation of business and industry. Detroit's schools look to the important job of expanding and improving the counseling program downward to include the elementary grades. Guidance continues to be a problem of major importance at all levels of instruction and particularly for individuals who are about to leave school. If this eity's schools are to do the best job possible in the important years ahead, they must be assured of adequate finances. It seems important, therefore, that the state's responsibility in the support of its public schools be more clearly understood by those who are responsible for determining the amount of money which the state shall make available for educational purposes annually. Public agencies, such as the press and the radio, could contribute a real service to society were they to focus public attention on the need for the legislature's full understanding of the problems of the schools. Failing in this, it would appear that the community must examine carefully the possibility of further financing the schools from local sources. Finally, Detroit's public schools look forward to improved educational opportunities for all people through a better understanding of the schools by the public, and, likewise, a better understanding of the public by the schools.

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