Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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Education in a Time of Crisis By Lazrus Lazaropoulos :n • H OW to save the tax payers’ money in these days when ev- erybody has less of it than he used to, appears to be the chief interest of the average citizen just now. The demand for economy is a natural outgrowth of general distress and righteous indignation against waste and corruption. Every newspaper and magazine is loud with outcries against any extravagance of the federal, state, and local govern- ments. But its usual target is that which is most needed by the people during a depression — the educa- tional institutions. They have chos- en the wrong remedy, and I shall strive to prove that they have chos- en the wrong department to attack. One of the most unfortunate fea- tures of our preesnt economic situa- tion is the effect on education. I have read of several hundred dis- trict schools being closed altogether in one region of what, usually is a prosperous state. In other places I have been informed that the school year has been shortened from eight months or nine months to seven or even six months. Some boards of education have reduced salaries so drastically that the really good teachers have gone elsewhere, leav- ing only the inexperienced and the incompetent. In certain cities teach- ers have gone without pay for months at a time, so that their mo- rale has been greatly lowered. The result of all these things is, to put it plainly and bluntly, that our boys and girls are not being as well ed- ucated as they were, that they are not being prepared for every day work as they ought to be, and that they are not being trained as effec- tively as is necessary for the trying days that are bound to come in the future. In the greatest crisis in the na- tion’s history the people of the Unit- ed States need education more than all else. The young people of Amer- ica must be taught to understand the economic system which has de- veloped in the past century. Espec- ially must they understand that democratic government can succeed only by the “consent” of those who are goverend. But “consent” can- not be given by the people to the acts of their representatives unless they themselves understand the po- litical and economic problems that face them. There is only one sure way to guarantee that the nation may be governed by the “consent” of the people and that is by educa- tion. Furthermore education is the bas- is of prosperity. The fact that pub- lic education takes a large portion (about 28%) of the public expen- ditures of Massachusetts causes some people to think of education as an expense rather than as a prof- itable investment. Prosperity is based upon the earning and spend- ing of the masses, not of the few. Rather than being a drain upon bus- iness, our school system is one of the finest aids to business, a supporting- bulwark in our e conomic structure. During the year 1930-31, $84,468,- 319 was spent for public schools in 22

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1893, during which untold changes have taken place. With the passing of each year something new, some- thing different, is either discovered or invented. We marveled at the novel phonograph, but today we come into contact with any section of the world through the magic me- dium of radio. By a simple turning of the dial we can see and hear our favorite program which is being rendered many miles away. Not only is radio employed for enter- tainment but for the purpose of crime detection and for news broad- casts, which furnish a contact with the outside world. Recently we heard over our radio the fact that Professor Piccard ascended into space for ten miles to bri ng to us and science valuable information concerning the stratosphere. To ac- complish this amazing feat the sci- entist and his coleague hermetically sealed themselves within a hollow steel ball suspended from a gas bag which was their sole agency for elevating power. Though the mod- ern liner recruires only four or five days to cross the ocean, Lindbergh spanned the three thousand miles in approximately thirtv-three hours and the Graf-Zeppelin circumnavi- gated the globe in twenty-one days. It is not, however, for speed alone that the air is used. Transportation by air has now advanced to the stage where it is a speedy, safe, and economical means of conveyance. Between the majority of the larger cities of the United States one may travel on schedule by air. On land as well as by air we have progressed amazingly since 1893. The automobile has replaced the horse and buggy of the gay nineties to such an extent that a horse is an uncommon sight about the streets. Travel by automobile is the sole means of transportation for the greater part of the American peo- ple. It now becomes a question in many discussions in this confused world, whether the automobile is a necessity or a luxury. It is still wiser to cross the ocean in a liner, in spite of our advance in other lines of travel. The ocean- going craft of today is a luxurious floating palace skimming over the depths of the sea, defying its moun- tainous swells and severe storms, to arrive at its European destination in less than five days. So many have been the inventions in the innumerable fields of science for the past forty years that no one man alive could relate each one to you successfully. The three progres- sions on land, sea, and air previous- ly mentioned are a mere microscop- ic resume of the broader fields which they represent. To predict the changes of the next forty years, which we, the coming generation will experience, is at once perceived impossible. There occurs this summer the op- ening of the greatest exposition ever imagined. It will set a new standard for exhibitions of its class, a worthy expression of the energy, enthusi- asm. and resources of the New World. 21

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Massachusetts. This money was spent in productive channels laying a foundation for future prosperity, and given not only to teachers, but also to printers, masons, carpenters, coal dealers, paper manufacturers, and countless others. Towns having new schools attract new residents who contribute to local prosperity. Largely because America spends most generously for education she has the largest income and wealth of any nation. Free public educa- tion builds prosperity. A somewhat popular pastime with certain people has been that of ridiculing the “frills” of modern public education. In most cases they do not specify particular subjects, being content with generalities. “Frills” commonly mentioned are art, manual training, music, house- hold arts, and health work. Obvi- ously, with a greater percentage of our children entering our schools, especially the high schools, it is nec- essary to provide a broader pro- gram than in the old days when on- ly those destined for college spent a long time in school. English, his- tory. geography, and science were “frills” once. More money will have to be spent on education and more subjects will have to be taught as the decades roll on if society is to progress. Taxation in the United States is simply a payment for services de- manded and received, and there should be no different attitude toward paying taxes from that toward paying for any service or commodity. The average tax bur- den is smaller in the United States than in any other leading country. So long as we demand more and more service from the government, we must expect rising taxes. The problem is going to be one of devis- ing means of raising the necessary funds equitably and with as little discomfort as possible. The time has long since gone when tangible property was the chief from of personal wealth and the chief source of personal income. Yet, the Massachusetts land owner is bearing about 51% of the total burden of local and state expendi- tures and is paying about 70% of the direct taxes, while the people with larger incomes or with more wealth in the form of intangible property are bearing little of the burden. The future will have to bring a just, easily-administered, searching program of taxation which will bring it about so that every citizen shall contribute in pro- portion to his ability to pay. The best we can do is to insist on effi- ciency and on just distribution of the tax load. During the year 1930-31 the sum of $84,468,319 was spent by the lo- cal and state government .on gener- al public schools below college lev- el. The average number of school days throughout the state was 182. The number of pupils in average membership in public elementary and secondary day schools was 719.675. Thus the average cost per pupil in 1930-31 was $117.37 for the year or 64c a day. Though school costs have been steadily rising, it should be borne in mind that the same is true of other governmental departments and also of our personal expendi-