Biennial report, Public Schools of North Carolina

              Publication No. 241
BIENNIAL REPORT
of the
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC
INSTRUCTION
of
NORTH CAROLINA
1940-41 AND 1941-42
Part I
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Issued by the
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Raleigh, North Carolina
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
(See p. 99 for full recommendations)
1. Increase in State Funds {Requested):
1943-44 1944-45
Vocational education $ 806,111 $ 860,111
Rehabilitation maintenance 12,000 12,000
Industrial Arts 50,000 50,000
Vocational camps 5,000 5,000
Adult education 48,000 50,000
Textbooks 400,000 400,000
Public School support
—
(a) Present program 30,326,177 31,186,915
(b) Plus ninth month 33,781,022 34,746,378
(c) Plus 15 per cent for salaries 34,380,608 35,325,292
(d) Both (b) and (c) 38,326,271 39,386,065
2. A State-supported Nine Months School Term. The sum of $3,454,845
is requested for the support of the ninth month of the school term.
3. Salary increase. "That a 15 per cent increase in salaries effective
with the school year 1943-44 be granted to all school employees."
4. Vocational Education. See requests under 1 above for expansion of the
vocational education program.
5. Compulsory Attendance. The present maximum age of enforcement
should be raised from 14 to 16 years, and machinery for the enforce-ment
of the law should be provided.
6. Health and Physical Education. The program of health and physical
education should be expanded to cover the entire student enrollment.
7. Adult Education. An additional annual appropriation of $18,000 is re-quested.
The work should be expanded.
8. Exceptional Children. A small appropriation should be made for carry-ing
on an experimental program in one or two selected areas of the
State.
9. Supervision of Instruction. The qualification of newly-elected superin-tendents
should be raised to include professional training, and serious
consideration should be given to the question of supervision of in-struction
in the various administrative units.
State of ISTorth Carolina
Superintendent of Public Instruction
E.ALEIGH
Clyde A. Erwin
Swperintendent
:N'ovember 1, 1942.
To His Excellency, Governor J. M, Broughton
and Members of the General Assembly 19J^3:
Honorable Sirs :
Pursuant to law, I am submitting this Report of the Superintendent
of Public Instruction for the biennium ending June 30, 1942.
In this Eeport an effort has been made to give an overall picture of
the public school situation as it obtained at the end of this biennium.
The Report also indicates the progress made in improving the educa-tional
opportunity afforded the boys and girls of this State during
recent years.
I believe that you will be pleased with what has been done during the
past several years toward the improvement of our educational facilities.
There are still other points in this great State activity that need strength-ening,
however ; and to these needs, as they have been outlined under the
section ''What the Schools Need," I wish to call your special attention.
Very respectfully yours.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
duozi
CONTENTS
Page
I. What the Schools Do.
Introductory Statement 5
Social Studies - -. 6
Language Arts - 9
Science 11
Health, Safety and Physical Education 13
Art .- - - 20
Music - - - - - 22
Mathematics 24
Business Education - 25
Industrial Arts .- 25
Vocational Education 27
Agriculture .-- - -- -- 29
The N'ational Defense Training Program for Out-of-School
Youth _...._ -..- 32
Home Economics Education 35
Trades and Industrial Education. .-. 37
Vocational Training for War Production Workers 38
Education for NYA Youth 39
Distributive Education 41
Rehabilitation 43
Occupational Information and Guidance..-. 45
School Libraries 47
Adult Education 54
II. How the Schools Operate.
Administrative Agencies — 67
Sources of Funds- 63
The Physical Equipment 70
School Transportation 73
Textbooks 74
The Size of the System 78
Administrative Services 84
The Teaching Personnel 89
III. What the Schools N"eed.
Historical Background 95
Achievement During the Broughton Administration 97
Hecommendations 99
Increase in State Funds 100
A State-supported Nine Months' School Term 101
Salary Increase 102
Vocational Education 103
Compulsory Attendance 103
Health and Physical Education 106
Adult Education 107
Exceptional ( Uiildren 107
Supervision of Instruction 108
WHAT THE SCHOOLS DO
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
The biennium (1940-42) which this Report covers marks the end of
that period in the history of public education in this State characterized
as the eleven-grade program. True, some administrative units, largely
city, have from funds realized from local sources supported a twelve-year
program of instruction ; but the State school system as a whole has been
defined by law as consisting of "eleven years or grades," with the first
seven years or grades styled the elementary school and the last four
years or grades, the high school.
The General Assembly of 1941 enacted a law, chapter 158, which pro-vided
for the extension of the public school system to embrace twelve
grades, the cost of the same to "be paid from the appropriation made for
the operation of the State eight months' school term in the same manner
and on the same standards."
The act reads in part as follows : "That upon the request of the county
board of education or the board of trustees of a city administrative unit,
the State School Commission shall provide for the operation of a school
system to embrace twelve grades in accordance with such plans as may
be promulgated by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction in
any high school district for which such request is made at the time the
oi'ganization statement is submitted."
Going from an eleven- to a twelve-year system is a matter of first-rate
significance from the standpoint of instruction. The fact that pupils
have an added year of maturity is significant in their development. The
twelve-year program makes it possible for children to have more time in
the elementary school to complete what has heretofore been undertaken.
This added year of work and maturity will mean much in the achieve-ments
of students on the high school level. They will have an oppor-tunity
to complete the public school program in a manner which will
make it possible for our schools to compare more favorably with schools
in other states, most of which have twelve-year programs.
A bulletin. Publication ISTo. 235, suggesting a twelve-year program for
the schools in the State, has been issued. This publication was prepared by
committees on language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and
health and physical education, art, music, vocational education, indus-trial
arts, and guidance. After setting up the objectives of the twelve-year
program and stating some problems relating to the organization and
administration of schools, the various committees outlined a course to be
followed from grade one through grade twelve. Space does not permit
6 Biennial Repokt of State Supekinte.ndent
a detailed statement of what Avas undertaken in each subject or at each
grade level. It may be stated, however, that the additional year or grade
was put in the elementary school as an eighth grade. It may be stated
also that the committees made their plans and suggestions for the ele-mentary
school in terms of grades one through eight, spreading the work
to be accomplished over a period of eight years rather than seven years,
as under the old program. Significant changes were made in most of the
subjects in the elementary school.
The high school course of study was not changed substantially, the
subjects remaining about the same for the four years of instruction fol-lowing
the eight-year elementary school. However, it was decided that
only one year of mathematics in the high school should be required for
graduation ; that no foreign language should be required for graduation
after 1942-43; and that physical and health education should be a
required subject in the ninth grade, or first year of high school under
the twelve-year program. The new high school program provides for
vocational education, including home economics and agriculture ; busi-ness
education ; industrial arts ; music ; art ; physical and health educa-tion
in addition to those subjects which have been spoken of heretofore
as the fundamental subjects.
The program of instruction under the new twelve-year plan will enable
students in North Carolina to graduate from a high school offering an
opportunity more nearly equal to that which students in many other
states have enjoyed for many years. The enlarged program will unques-tionably
contribute greater knowledge and efficiency in developing better
prepared citizens of the State.
SOCIAL STUDIES
]^o subject of the public school program today offers more opportuni-ties
for developing an understanding of the interrelationships of people
and the use of democratic techniques than the social studies. In social
studies courses students draw upon many subjects in the curriculum
—
mainly history, geography, science, civics, sociology, and economics—in
finding facts which are needed for the solution of a problem.
The public schools have felt their responsibility in making democracy
a real experience in the classroom. The need for each individual to be a
participant in democratic living has been recognized. However, recent
and present international developments have impressed this responsi-bility
even more deeply upon teachers and administrators. The schools'
obligation to give pupils information and experiences needed for eifec-tive
democratic living is being met in two ways : First, in the organiza-tion
and operation of the school; and second, in the regular classroom
Cotton plantation scene by a seventh grade group.
instruction in the elementary school and in special social studies courses
in the high school.
The twelve-year curriculum accentuates the necessity for the develop-ment
of understandings concerning our economic, social and cultural life.
Emphasis is placed on factual information, with pupil participation in
the cooperative planning and executing of school work of all kinds. The
program also emphasizes the need for studying the immediate environ-ment
and the State in general.
The social studies program is designed not only to provide information
about man and his environment, but most important of all to train boys
and girls for critical thinking and cooperative living. Activities that
train individuals to use all available facts in solving a problem; to
practice tolerance; to recognize the sense of inter-dependence of man
and his environment ; to suspend judgment until sufficient evidence has
been obtained ; and to take a reasonable stand on local, State and national
policies are becoming more and more characteristic of the social studies
program.
In the revised course of study geography and history in the elementary
grades are closely correlated and in some cases fused. Separate subjects
are given in the high school. The general topics for each year are : First,
Living Together in School and Home; Second, Living Together in Our
Community; Third, Community Living Now and Long Ago; Fourth,
Selected Peoples of Other Lands ; Fifth, The Story of the United States
;
Sixth, How the Present Grew Out of the Past; Seventh, L^nited States
8 Biennial Report of State Supeeintendent
History and Eelationships with Neighboring Lands ; Eighth, The Story
of ^ISTorth Carolina ; Ninth, Living Together in Our Democracy ; Tenth,
World History; Eleventh, American History; Twelfth, Modern
Problems.
In 1941 a curriculum bulletin, Teaching Democracy in the North Car-olina
Public Schools, was furnished to each school in the State. This
publication was the result of the cooperative endeavor of the Division of
Instructional Service and the 171 school administrative units of the
State. It is designed to assist local schools in developing democratic pro-cedures
in all of our educational endeavors. Some of the topics discussed
in this bulletin are: Planning to Preserve a Democratic Society; The
Role of the Public School in Advancing Democracy; Education for
Democracy in the Public Schools with Materials for Programs for Years
1-12 ; Symbolism and its Place in the Program ; Activities Productive of
Democratic Traits and Skills; Analyzing Propaganda; Handling Con-troversial
Issues ; and Developing Leadership.
Through bulletins, administrative unit group meetings, and profes-sional
study groups, the public schools are striving to make the social
studies work functional and meaningful in the life of the individual,
vital in community understandings and developments, and effective in
better understanding national and international relationships. To this
end instruction has been cognizant of current happenings, but not
absorbed in them to the extent of losing a perspective of the struggles
Much youthful thinking, planning and doing went into the preparations of this circus.
Ingenuity, resourcefulness and cooperation made it a successful, enjoyable adventure.
North Carolina Public Schools 9
of the past in our country's development. Literary readings, a wide use of
the newspaper, magazines and radio forums are encouraged, particularly
on the high school level.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading, speaking, and writing are rated among the chief attainments
of pupils of any school age. Today, more than ever before, the need to
speak, to write and to read well is recognized by people in all industries
and professions. Educators have been giving increased attention to these
needs and have developed scientific means of determining reading diffi-culties
to the end that they may be eliminated. Many children in our
State need special help in developing skills in the language arts that they
may measure up to standards for the country and have equal facility as
they compete with other citizens in an economic world.
Our need in the field of language arts has served as a theme for many
of the investigations, research studies, and discussion groups held
throughout the State during the past two years. As a partial result of
the use of more scientific methods in studying the individual child and
his readiness for speaking and reading at any grade or growth level,
more is known about the beginning point in the child's progress in speak-ing
and reading; and there is a more accurate knowledge of the child's
abilities, capacities, deficiencies and handicaps as related to his daily
progress in the language arts.
During the past year special committees and groups representative of
every phase of the language arts work in the public schools as well as of
the several divisions in school organization—primary, grammar grade
and high school—have been at work on the detailed problems involved
in pupil instruction in the subject areas included in the language arts
program. Studies of records, reports of testing programs, and actual
observations of children at work have revealed deficiencies and difficul-ties
in the way of pupil progress. Intensive work by these committees has
been centered largely on developing a teacher's guide for diagnosing the
situation as it concerns the individual pupil and in providing the every-day
experiences the pupil needs in his efforts to master the techniques,
skills and practices of the language arts curriculum. Eecords of progress
and achievement in some schools and recommendations for all schools are
included in publications issued by the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
With this basis of procedure—a thorough-going and scientific study of
the situation regarding the language arts and improved methods of in-struction
and evaluation—progress is being made in raising the level of
Even first graders work in committees when the job is as attractive as building a play
house for a family of dolls. Much discussion, evaluation, and "research" were necessary
before this job was completed.
the speaking, reading, and writing achievements of the pupils in both
the elementary and high schools of the State.
In the twelve-year program emphasis is given to the importance of a
continuous, progressive development of a language arts curriculum
adapted to the needs of the individual pupil. Instruction in language
arts is not assigned to special teachers except in the high school grades.
In a sense every teacher is an English teacher, and only on this theory
can the school program be effective in meeting the needs of pupils in
their efforts to become efficient in the use of language—in acquiring
and in making practical uses of adequate speaking, reading and Avriting
vocabularies.
The proposed eight-year course for elementary schools and the four-year
course in language arts for high schools suggests suitable and effec-tive
experiences which may be adapted to the growing needs of the pupil.
Realizing that growth comes through experience, the school programs
now provide a great variety of activities in tbe fields of dramatics,
public speaking, journalism, visual education, the radio, research (library
reading), and experimentation. Also, in an integrated program with the
fine arts and with the social and natural sciences, there must be guidance
which leads to success in acquiring the skills involved in speaking, read-ing
and writing. Guidance and encouragement, as well as appreciation,
are necessary in the accomplishment of worthy goals in creative work
in the language arts. Sympathetic evaluation of attempts to do creative
work is a great stimulation to success on the part of the pupil.
North Carolina Public Schools ll
The study of foreign languages is limited to the high school years,
grades 9-12. Foreign language is no longer required of every pupil for
graduation from the high school. However, provision is made in every
high school for offering one or more foreign languages. A committee
from the foreign language section of the North Carolina Education Asso-ciation
prepared, during the summer of 1942, a report setting forth
the reasons for offering foreign languages in the high school. This report
is included in Publication ISTo. 235. The report should be helpful to
principals and teachers in guiding pupils in the selection of their courses
in high school. French and Latin have been the two languages usually
taught. Within the last two years, however, there has been a very rapid
increase in the number of schools offering Spanish. German is offered in
only two or three public high schools.
In summarizing, it should be recorded that the work in the language
arts field during the past two years has been increasingly successful. A
larger number of pupils have achieved success in this field. However, the
actual results for the total school population are not wholly satisfactory.
Therefore, the emphasis should be placed on discovering the beginning
point for each pupil and measuring success by the progress of the indi-vidual
according to his own needs and capacities. Mastery of skills in
language arts and a growing interest in the use of these skills should
serve to raise to a higher level the present standards in speaking, reading
and writing.
SCIENCE
The need for science information as a part of each individual's equip-ment
is being met in the public schools by renewed emphasis on the
teaching of science.
A new science course of study for years I-YII was distributed in 1941
to every administrative unit. This guide in science, with the addition of
the eighth-year outline under the twelve-year program, gives each ele-mentary
teacher, years 1-8, suggested topics or units for the year's work,
specific page references to a selected list of source readings of both text-book
and library type, and a summary of essential understandings on
each of the topics. This material, which many teachers in ISTorth Carolina
assisted in preparing, recognizes that the individual today is living in
an ever greater world of science, with prospects for more demand upon
him to use, understand and appreciate its applications as a part of daily
living. Therefore, provision is made for natural science to take its right-ful
place as a regular subject in the child's program, year by year.
The topics suggested for each year help the teachers to maintain a
balance in the several major fields from which science is drawn. In each
12 Biennial Repoet of State Supekintendent
year's program the child has experiences and study relating to the uni-verse,
in which he learns in simplified forms facts concerning astronomy
and geology which deal with the earth in relation to the sun, moon, stars,
and planets; and the earth and its rocks, its soils, its contours, and its
physical structure. Another group of topics, dealing with the '^Behavior
of Living Things," draws principally upon biology and nature study in
relation to adaptation of animals and plants to their environment and to
their interrelation and interdependence. A third subject pertains to chem-ical
and physical processes in which are included elementary under-standings
from chemistry and physics, particularly those which deal with
the great laws underlying the conservation and changes of matter and
energy, and the sources and uses of power.
Provision is made for expanding and enlarging science ideas, facts or
concepts from year to year, avoiding repetition or omissions, and for the
functional or useful approach of the subject being studied. Typical of
the ten to twelve units for each year are the following : Year I—Animals
that we know and hear about get ready for winter in different ways, as
the squirrel, birds, bears, snakes, woodchuck. Year II—Some way the
sun, moon, and stars help us. Year III—Seeds and how they are scat-tered,
as the maple, dandelion, oak, ash, burdock, milkweed. Year IV
—
Plants with and without green color. Year V—Migration of birds and
other animals. Year VI—Our body needs. Year VII—The solar system.
Year VIII—The use of electricity in the home.
The use of experiments for the proof of scientific facts extends from
The science corner in the classroom furnishes inspiration at small cost.
North Carolina Public Schools 13
the first through the twelfth years. Those for years 1 to 8 are simple in
nature. Textbooks on the State approved list, and other books of experi-ments
only, give a great many experiments covering the topics indicated
in the course of study.
Each science teacher in the secondary school has the outline which the
teachers use in the elementary school. This provides a continuous pro-gram
and close articulation between the elementary and secondary school.
Where high school students wish to review a topic or to study one omitted
in the preceding years, the elementary outline provides source material
for them. A study of separate science subjects does not begin until the
second year of high school.
Two years of science are required for graduation from the secondary
schools, one of which must be in biology. General science is offered in the
ninth year, biology in the tenth, with chemistry and physics in the elev-enth
and twelfth years, respectively. Each accredited high school is
equipped to offer three or more sciences. Schools are attempting to build
up equipment for science and to provide rooms which are equipped for
doing a better type of science teaching. Supplying this equipment is an
obligation of the administrative imit, and more and more it will be nec-essary
to provide for this in the capital outlay budget where a school
wishes its students to have access to the needed materials and equipment.
The War Emergency
In keeping with suggestions made by military authorities, special
emphasis will be placed upon physics in order to equip high school stu-dents
for service in the armed forces.
HEALTH, PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SAFETY
There is ample evidence that school programs of health, physical edu-cation
and safety are improving. This improvement can be seen qualita-tively
and quantitatively with regard to the following
:
Sanitation—While many schools are not satisfactory with regard to
toilet facilities, drinking fountains, sewage disposal and lavatories, much
improvement has been made.
Health Services—Due to the load already carried by county and city
health departments, no appreciable increase can be noted in the health
services to school children except as noted under the title of "The War
Emergency" below. The dental services provided by the Division of Oral
Hygiene of the State Board of Health have been especially worthwhile
and deserve special mention.
14 Biennial Repokt of State Supekintendent
Health and Safety Instruction—The new adoption of health textbooks,
a 'better understanding on the part of teachers brought about through in-service
training of teachers and through better teacher-training pro-grams,
more interest on the part of administrators, and an increase in
the amount of time allotted, all contributed to an improvement in health
instruction. In the high schools more special teachers of health and
physical education have been employed than ever before.
Physical Education—Each year there is evidence that more school-teachers
are becoming concerned about the physical education program.
The thirty-minute per day time allotment required for elementary schools
is complied with by most schools, and teachers are more and more accept-ing
responsibility for guiding and directing the physical education activi-ties.
The State course of study in health and physical education has
provided materials for teachers' use in planning and conducting the
j)hysical education program.
A large percentage of the high schools of the State, prior to the declara-tion
of war, had employed special teachers of health and physical educa-tion
for the required work in the eighth and ninth grades. As a rule, the
city schools which employed additional teachers out of local funds have
been more successful in providing adequate health and physical educa-tion
than the rural schools. However, many of the small schools, even
without adequate personnel, have provided some opportunities for
health instruction and physical education activities for all the boys and
girls.
All work and no play would make a dull school day.
North Cakolina Public Schools 15
Safety—Safety education, by legislative enactment, is required in the
public schools of North Carolina. The State Department of Public
Instruction, in carrying out the provisions of the law, provides a special
bulletin. Publication ISTo. 174, Health and Citizenship Education, A
Suggested Procedure for Teaching Safety and First Aid. This bulletin
is available to every teacher in North Carolina. In addition to this,
safety supplementary readers are available for use in the elementary
grades and in the high school.
In the elementary gi'ades, in addition to the formal teaching that may
be carried on, safety is correlated with other school subjects and is
made a part of the daily experiences of the children. The routine school
experiences are so planned that children are not only protected from
hazards, but also are made conscious of safety to the extent that the habit
carries over into life outside of school.
In the high schools safety is sometimes taught as a part of the civics
course. Sometimes it is correlated with health and physical education,
and occasionally it is included in the sociology course. In other schools
a special course in safety and driver-training has been set up. Most of
the small schools have been unable to set up special courses in safety
without omitting some other subject generally included in the curriculum.
There is a need for more teachers who have had special training in
safety education. At present few of our colleges give adequate courses
in this field.
The War Emergency
In response to a request from Governor J. Melville Broughton and in
compliance with suggestions drawn up by a special committee appointed
by the Governor, an Emergency Program of Health and Physical Edu-cation
was initiated by the State Department of Public Instruction
after the United States entered the War. In addition to the regular
program carried on by the schools, it was proposed that health and physi-cal
education be set up as a required part of the curriculum for all boys
in grades ten and eleven in eleven-year systems and grades eleven and
twelve in twelve-year systems. It was rcommended that the courses
include the following:
1. A complete physical examination of all the boys, the examination
to be one comparable to that given by the Army.
2. A follow-up program to correct remedial defects revealed by the
examination. The health service, it was stated, should be financed by
parents when financially able; and when not, this service should be
taken over as a community responsibility by health departments, welfare
,«» «aj>5fat-^»i. t^W^'SAW^j s^'^"
AL*
agencies, civic organizations, or by
voluntary services of the medical pro-fession.
3. A program of health instruction, in-cluding
a study of nutrition, care of the
body, sanitation, first aid and prevention
of communicable diseases. It was sug-gested
that health instruction, including
first aid, safety, home nursing, and nutri-tion
be provided for all girls.
4. Physical education—games, athletics
and sjiorts; rhythmics; swimming and
life saving, wherever possible ; out-of door
activities, such as camping and hiking;
informal activities and everyday skills,
such as walking, cycling, etc. ; and condi-tioning
activities such as calisthenics or
setting-up exercises.
5. Courses in safety, including fire pre-vention,
safety against air raids, incendi-ary
bombs, home and school safety, safety
in recreation, industrial safety, traffic
safety and driver education were recom-mended
whenever facilities and personnel
made it possible.
The extent to which schools responded
to the emergency recommendations is
shown by the tabulated results as indicated
in the Principals' Annual Reports, all
of which are not in at the time this report
is being prepared. It should be remem-bered
that the success of the program Avas
achieved in spite of the fact that over half
of all the men teachers of physical educa-ff
Ja<,s>KCS>b»Ul«ib -^HWSVttBn
The physical fitness pro-gram
not only im-proves
bodily activities
during the growing
period; it also prepares
youth for war-time ac-tivities.
Physical examinations and health check-ups constitute an important phase of the
child health study.
tion resigned their jobs before the close of the scliool year and over
ninety per cent at the end of the year.
No. Students
Given medical examinations
18 Biennial Report of State Supeijintendent
classes of high schools, as shown on Principals' Annual Reports, indicate
that a large percentage of those examined have some physical defects.
The table below shows some of the results in percentages.
Percentage of High School Boys and Girls Found with
Physical Defects Among 13,814 Examinations
Per Ct.
Dental defects 85
Defective vision 16
Hernia (not all serious) 2
Diseased tonsils 14
Ten per cent underweight 16
Ten per cent overweight 7
Heart abnormalities 1.5
Other facts revealed in the examinations
:
Tuberculosis—17 clinical cases of tuberculosis were found from
an X-ray examination of 1,408 boys.
Wasserman test—6,757 Wasserman tests revealed 41 positives.
Dental Examinations—The ISTorth Carolina Dental Society made a spe-cial
dental survey in sixty counties of l^orth Carolina. Fifteen thousand,
seven hundred and eighty-six boys of the junior and senior classes were
examined. Of this number approximately 85 per cent needed dental
attention. The survey revealed that 46,991 fillings were needed, 14,028
permanent teeth had already been lost, and that 3,196 teeth needed to be
extracted. It was also revealed that over 25 per cent of all those examined
had diseased gums.
Follow-up Work for Correction of Defects—It is early to determine the
amount of corrective work that folloAvs the medical and dental examina-tions,
due to the fact that many of the schools closed soon after the com-pletion
of the examinations. Incomplete reports, however, show that con-siderable
amount of corrective work has been done, both before and after
schools closed. One school, for example, reported three hernia operations.
One of the boys needing treatment for tuberculosis has been sent to a
sanatorium.
School-Health Coordinating Service
As was stated in the preceding Biennial Report, the Division of School-
Health Coordinating Service was organized during the early months of
the fiscal year 1939-40. This Service is jointly operated by the State
tin
M^M^
Teachers make use of microscope in study of communicable diseases.
Board of Health and the State Department of Public Instruction with
financial assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation. The staff includes
a coordinator (director), a nutritionist, five experienced white nurses,
a physical and health education adviser, an associate physical education
adviser, a ISTegro physician, and a !N"egro health education worker.
The program, as originally set up, was to cover a five-year period;
continuation at the end of this period was to be determined in accordance
with the success of the work and upon legislative appropriation. The
aim of the Service is to coordinate the facilities of the State Board of
Health and the State Department of Public Instruction to the end that
better programs of health and physical education may be developed in
the public schools of North Carolina.
During the school year 1939-40 the School-Health Coordinating
Service concentrated most of its activities in six counties—Hyde, Tyrrell,
Halifax, Washington, Wayne and Craven. Additional work was carried
on by some of the nurses in Northampton, Clay, Cherokee and Graham
counties. During the school year 1941-42 follow-up activities were em-phasized
in Halifax, Orange, Person, Chatham, and Stanly counties.
Wayne County was the center of the main portion of the work during
the latter part of the school year 1941-42.
During the summer of 1941, with the assistance of a grant from the
General Education Board, Child Health Conferences (summer teacher-training
courses, six weeks in length) were held at three educational
institutions—the University of North Carolina, Woman's College of the
University of North Carolina and the North Carolina College for Ne-groes.
During the summer of 1942 Child Health Conferences were con-
20 BiENNiAi, Report of State Superintendent
ducted at the above-named institutions and at Bennett College, Greens-boro,
N. C. Scholarships provided by the General Education Board cov-ered
the tuition and a stipend for living expenses for those attending the
conferences. Among the 110 persons who attended the white institu-tions
and the 99 !N^egroes who attended the Negro institutions were
teachers, public health nurses, State Department officials and school
administrators. Thirty-five persons from Mississippi, Florida, Virginia,
Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and Arkansas, who were
given special fellowships by the General Education Board, also attended
the summer conferences.
In conjunction with the course of instruction provided, a demonstra-tion
Child Health Camp, composed of twenty to thirty malnourished
children, was conducted at each of the institutions. The Camp was used
as a medium for child health study and as a demonstration of the effects
of an adequate diet at a low cost.
ART
More and more, art is being recognized in the public schools as one of
the fundamental subjects in the child's total school program, years
one through twelve. The day of "studio art," in which a few talented
pupils were thought to be artists and taught to paint and draw, has
passed away and in its stead art in a broad interpretation is seen func-tioning
in every phase of living.
Each individual uses art as a consumer in his personal choices, in
home decorations, in architectural design, and in selections and combina-tions
of colors. Therefore, each person enrolled in the public schools,
years I-XII, should have guidance in art principles, in order that he
may have more discriminating taste, an outlet for creative desires, and
a worthy recreational activity.
A new course of study, Art in the Public Schools, which emphasizes
the importance of art instruction, outlines suggestions, and the kinds and
amounts of materials needed, was prepared during the summer of 1942
and distributed to the schools during the fall. The contents of this
bulletin include : Major Purposes of the Art Program in Relation to the
Child; A Working Plan for the School; Procedures in Teaching Art;
Sources of Themes for Art Expression; and Directions for Doing a
Large Number of Crafts, typical among these being: making flower
blueprints, wood carving, carving in plaster of Paris molds, charcoal
drawing, finger painting, homemade lantern slides, marionettes, clay
modeling, papier-mache work, painting on glass, block printing, and
weaving rugs and fabrics.
n n
Soap sculpture and other art by fourth grade pupils.
Art in years I-VIII is taught by classroom teacliers. In the secondary
schools, where teaching is by subjects, it is more difficult to bring in art
activities as a part of other subject courses. There were 32 high schools
in 1941-42 with regularly trained art teachers devoting full time to that
subject. It is believed that the new art course of study will promote
more art work in the school through its suggestions for the regular
teachers. The same types of art experiences are included in the secondary
school program as in the earlier years, with additions and special atten-
22 Biennial Report of State Supe2jintendent
tion given to interior liome design, textiles, costume design, meclianical
drawing, arcliitecture, landscaping, advertising and display, photography,
cartooning and caricature, and painting. The high school course has art
work outlined for each year IX-XII in twenty-four different activities,
such as interior design and drawing and painting, with each year's work
planned on an advanced level.
An encouraging feature of the art work in the schools is the great
variety of materials from which art products are made and the use of
local resources in art projects This great variety was exemplified in a
recent exhibit of art products made by public school students out of local
materials displayed at the National Convention of Governors in North
Carolina. Students chose their own media of expression. Some of the
items were products of brass and copper, book-ends of wood, wooden
buttons, plates, large novelty pins symbolizing the tobacco leaf, bracelets
carved of wood with the State dogwood flower design, hand loom made
rugs of usable sizes, hand hooked rugs and mats, hand woven cloth for
scarfs and purse bags, hand woven cloth designed and made into luncheon
sets and towels, papier-mache objects in toys, pieces of hand-turned and
wheel-turned pottery, leather tooled bookmarks, metal plaques and
trays, paintings, block printing, sketching and lithograph work.
While schools have been resourceful in using local products, some
materials must be purchased for an art program. Where the administra-tive
unit's budget provides at least a minimum basic supply of art mate-rials
to be provided for each school, opportunities for students are more
equal and advancement of j)upils is faster.
MUSIC
Evidence of rapid growth in music achievements in the schools is
shown by the activities all through the year and by the annual reports
at the close of the term. This is in a measure due to the fact that schools
are now provided with materials of instruction (free textbooks and sup-plementary
materials in music) which are in daily use in the schools;
that the number of public school music teachers has increased; that a
well-organized and definite course of study is available to every teacher;
and that allied institutions and organizations are joining hands with
other education forces in an effort to provide every child with definitely
organized and sequential music experiences throughout his twelve years
of public school. While it is the obligation of organized education to
provide experiences in music for every school child, it has also become the
responsibility of the home and the community to foster and promote the
development of the innate musical interests and abilities of the
children.
North Carolina Public Schools 23
With the opening of schools in 1942-43 there will be available a new
curriculum bulletin in music education. This bulletin is designed to aid
or guide teachers in their efforts to improve the instruction in our schools
and offers manv illustrations of succesful practices and procedures in
meeting the needs of the individual child.
While the main purpose of the music education program in the public
schools is to develop the child's innate musical interests and abilities,
consideration is given to the basic thesis that the child is being taught
through music. Therefore, the abilities and needs of the individual child
are paramount rather than the forcing of the child into a specific
musical mold.
A second consideration in the practical working out of the program
has been the advancement toward the attainment of the primary objec-tive
of all music education in the public school ; that is, the awakening
and the development of every child's interest in and enjoyment of worth-while
music. This explains the wide range as well as the diversity of
music experiences planned for—the singing of songs, the reading of
songs, rhythmic activities, listening to music, learning how music is
written, creating music, and interpreting and integrating music in con-nection
with other life activities.
Many varied situations are provided in whicli children may use their
learnings in music. During the biennium there has been great progress
in the several types of musical activities outlined in the curriculum, with
special emphasis on festivals and other group endeavors. Likewise, there
This simulated orchestra played with piano during scene before the temple entrance
in Egyptian Harvest Festival.
24 Biennial Re^>oet of State Supekintendent
has been an increase in the number of schools providing adequate equip-ment,
such as the phonograph, radio, piano, and the instruments of the
orchestra or band.
Music education is attaining its rightful place in the school curriculum,
and as a result of plans for a more adequate series of definite and inte-grated
experiences in music, the number of children achieving success
in this area of learning is increasing each year. To be able to sing well,
to particij)ate in instrumental music, and to understand and enjoy good
music rendered by others is the right of every child, and success in con-tributing
or in listening never fails to bring joy and satisfaction to the
learner.
MATHEMATICS
The instructional program in mathematics will undergo changes in
both the elementary school and the high school as a result of the twelve-year
public school. The twelve-year program makes it possible to give
a broader program in mathematics and at the same time to place in-creased
emjihasis upon those skills which all students need in order to
adjust themselves properly to the quantitative side of life. Arithmetic
will be emphasized in the eight years of the elementary school. The
type of work formerly included in the seven-year elementary school will
be given during the eight years of elementary school work under the new
program, thus allowing more time for the acquisition of knowledge, skills
and habits which should characterize pupils who have completed the
work of the elementary school.
In the high school general mathematics will be offered in the ninth
grade (a required subject), followed by algebra or general mathematics
in the tenth grade, geometry in the eleventh grade or a coordinated
course in plane and solid geometry, and advanced algebra, trigonometry
and solid geometry in the twelfth grade.
War Implications
Since the United States entered the World War last December, repre-sentatives
of the armed forces of the nation have called attention to the
fact that young men drafted for military service were lacking in a
knowledge of the fundamentals of arithmetic and other mathematical
subjects. Accordingly, added emphasis will be given to arithmetic and
also to algebra, geometry and trigonometry, especially for students in the
tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades, as a part of their preparation for
military service or work in war industries.
The attention of mathematics teachers has been called to a ^'War-time
Program in Mathematics and Physics" and to other publications
giving the essential elements in mathematics needed by young men Avho
The course in typewriting is the most popular business subject.
will enter the armed forces of the nation. Also, instructional materials
showing the use of mathematics in military and industrial activities
have been sent to all high schools.
BUSINESS EDUCATION
Interest in business education continues to grow. During the last
biennium, courses in business education were introduced into a large
number of schools. According to the preliminary reports submitted for
the session 1941-42 there were 456 teachers of business education in the
various high schools of the State. The courses taught by these teachers
included stenography, typing, general business, commercial arithmetic,
commercial geography, business law, salesmanship, business corre-spondence,
and a few other minor topics. No commercial teachers were
reported in five counties. The most of the teachers were employed in the
larger city administrative units, though many rural schools also provide
for business education.
The largest number of teachers employed in any one school was eight
in ISTew Hanover High School. At the other extreme was one rural school
which employed a teacher who taught a course in commercial geography.
In most schools the courses in business education usually include
stenography, typewriting, and perhaps a year of general bookkeeping.
A plan is now under way to revise the State Course of Study in Busi-ness
Education, Bulletin No. 187, to make it more helpful to the teachers
of business education in the high schools.
INDUSTRIAL ARTS
Democratic citizenship involves active participation in the work and
industrial pursuits of the community. Industrial Arts experiences can
assist in the basic education of all school pupils by affording them oppor-tunities
to develop insights and skills necessary for intelligent under-standing
and appreciation of industrial forces. The development of this
26 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
area of education is essential for boys and girls irrespective of later
vocational choice, because it provides opportunities for realistic studies
and experiences involving common industrial materials, processes, prod-ucts,
occupations and interrelated socio-economic problems wliicli so
vitally influence individual and group well-being.
As a phase of general education it is a necessary foundation and back-ground
upon which later more specific vocational-industrial education
can be built. Studies indicate that the exploratory and try-out oppor-tunities
provided by a functional Industrial Arts program vitally influ-ence
the efficiency and effectiveness of trade and industrial education
courses on the vocational level.
The objectives of Industrial Arts are best achieved through shop and
laboratory experiences involving a breadth of contacts with a wide
variety of tools, materials, machines, films, books, trips and individual
and group studies centered upon many aspects of modern life and indus-try.
Because of the range of materials used, Industrial Arts offers
splendid opportunities for creative expression and problem solving
characteristic of the skilled craftsman, inventor, and technician. Indus-trial
Arts experiences have important functions to perform in the
development of an adequate program of public elementary, secondary,
and adult education in North Carolina.
Industrial art experiences develop insights and skills and provides opportunities
for creative expression.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
The World War has greatly accelerated the active interest of the
people of North Carolina in the program of vocational education. The
demands for persons with special training for definite contributions to
the war effort have placed upon the Department of Agricultural Educa-tion,
in addition to preparing boys and adults to become more efficient
producers and rural dwellers, the responsibility for training out-of-school
youth in several shop activities which will enable them to make a direct
contribution to the war effort.
The Department of Trade and Industrial Education was given the
added obligation to organize and direct a special program for training
workers for the essential war industries.
The Department of Home Economics Education has been called upon
to take the leadership in giving courses in the improvement of food
habits, nutrition, conservation of foods and the better utilization of
all materials of food and clothing in connection with the national
emergency.
In the Department of Distributive Education emphasis has been radi-cally
shifted from teaching techniques of salesmanship so as to increase
sales volume to teaching store workers how to meet situations which have
arisen because of price ceilings and shortages, such as suggesting substi-tutes
and keeping the customer in a good humor even when their
requests are denied. This department has cooperated closely with the
Office of Price Administration in an educational program relative to
price controls, etc.
students of vocational agriculture are a vital force in the war food production program.
Members of the vocational agriculture class repairing farm machinery.
The desire of youth to adjust their educational careers to the demands
of the war, both on induction and in their civil life contributions, has
greatly accentuated the interest of the public in the activities of the
Department of Occupational Information and Guidance. The widespread
utilization of the services of this department by the school people of the
State has been very gratifying.
The greatly accelerated industrial activity within the State in the war
industries has necessarily increased the number of industrial accidents,
and has stepped up the demands for the vocational rehabilitation of
handicapped persons. The growing shortage of labor has placed a great
burden upon this department to train handicapped persons for efficient
performance in industry. The above factors have resulted in more than
doubling the number of handicapped persons rehabilitated in 1941-42,
over the number rehabilitated during the first year of the biennium.
In addition to the regular programs of the Division of Vocational
Education referred to above, the war training programs provided for
by Federal appropriations have been made the responsibility of the
Division. The reports of the several departments give more specific
information. Also is included a report on the training program for out-of-
school youth, the program of vocational training for war production
workers, and the training program for NYA youth.
North Carolina Public Schools 29
AGRICULTURE
Yocational Agriculture was formally introduced in the liigli schools
of Worth Carolina under the Smith-Hughes Vocational Educational Act
in 1917. Today there are 489 departments of vocational agriculture; 405
of these are located in white schools and 84 in N'egro schools, with an
enrollment of approximately 33,000 pupils for the school year 1941-42.
The program for vocational education in agriculture helps to round
out more nearly our educational program, particularly in the rural
schools where farmers constitute the major group. The ultimate objective
is to train persons who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter
upon the work of the farm for proficiency in specific farming occupations.
More specifically, vocational agriculture is designed to prepare boys for
the business of farming and for a happier and more useful life on the
farm, to give farmers and farm boys training that will make them more
efficient in their life work, and to make the country a better place in
which to live.
Systematic class instruction is available to four groups of students
:
1. Farm boys, fourteen years of age and above, who are regularly
enrolled in high school. These are called all-day students.
2. Farm boys, who have stopped school and who feel the need of in-struction
and information on farming, may attend short courses of
20 or more lessons. This group is called part-time students.
3. Farmers and farm women, who want specific instruction on certain
problems concerning the management of the farm and home,
may attend short courses. The length of the course, the date and
time of meetings can be arranged to suit the convenience of those
attending. These classes are usually taught at night. This is the
evening class group.
4. Farm boys who are enrolled in schools in the immediate vicinity of
the school with a teacher of agriculture. The teacher of agriculture
can arrange to meet groups of boys at these schools for one or more
lessons a week where there is a demand for this type of work.
This is the day-unit group.
Records show that approximately 65 per cent of the boys who have had
one or more years instruction stay on the farm.
Teachers of agriculture cooperate from an educational standpoint
with the program of the AAA, Land-Use Planning, Extension Service,
State Department of Agriculture, Rural Electrification Authority,
Farmers Cooperative Exchange, Food and Feed Program, and the Agri-cultural
"Workers Councils.
30 Biennial Report of State Supeibintendent
The work of a teacher of agriculture may be divide into three phases:
1. Classroom instruction for high school, evening class and out-of
shool boys.
2. Community work.
3. Supervising the practical work of the students.
The Department of Agricultural Education has cooperated in the
N^ational Defense Program by offering courses in mechanical operations
to out-of-school rural youth throughout the State. Instruction in the
defense training classes is designed to prepare rural boys for vital posi-tions
in industry which will need millions of workers and for mechanical
jobs on the farm. These training classes have put the teachers of agri-culture
on a 16-hour per day schedule.
Future Farmers of America
The Future Farmers of America organization is an integral part of
the program of vocational agriculture. This is a IN^ational organization
for students of vocational agriculture with active state associations
located in 47 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
!N"orth Carolina has the second largest membership in the !N"ational
organization. Approximately 15,000 farm boys are members of the
'^t
Early Morning exercises—White Lake F.F.A. Camp.
North Cabolina Public Schools 31
EXPANSION OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURAL PROGRAM
32 Biennial Report of State Supeeintendent
Seven JSTorth Carolina boys were awarded tlie American Farmer Degree
in 1941 and thirteen applications have been submitted for 1942, Sixty-five
boys were awarded the Carolina Farmer Degree for 1942.
The following contests were sponsored : Supervised Practice, Star
Farmer, Public Speaking, Livestock and Crops Judging, Food for Free-dom,
and Chapter Contest. These contests were conducted on local,
Federation, district and State bases.
Fifteen thousand copies of Tar Heel TalJcs, the F.F.A. State publica-tion,
were mailed out at regular intervals.
The two State-wide F.F.A. camps operated for a period of nine weeks
with a total attendance of more than 3,000 members for the 1942 season
and approximately 350 boys at camp during each week of the season.
The camp program consisted mainly of recreation and leadership train-ing
activities.
The motto of this organization consists of only four lines, but these
lines are filled with practical philosophy reflecting a spirit and sincerity
that shows the true viewpoint of farm youth, the '^backbone of a
nation." The motto is as follows
:
LEARNING TO DO
DOING TO LEARN
EARNING TO LIVE
LIVING TO SERVE
THE NATIONAL DEFENSE TRAINING PROGRAM
FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH
The Out-of-School Youth Defense Training Program provided train-ing
for out-of-school youth between the ages of 17 and 25 in order to
create a reservoir of youth with preliminary training who might go into
National Defense industrial employment as the occasion demanded, or
who might be better qualified to serve agriculture as it becomes increasing-ly
mechanized. These courses also were to function as devices of the selec-tion
and guidance of individuals into advanced or specific training
courses. The Division of Vocational Education was charged with the
responsibility for the conduct of the program. The local teacher of voca-tional
agriculture was responsible for the program in the local com-munity,
in cooperation Avith the county superintendent, the principal, and
the local advisory committee.
General preemployment OSY courses which ofi"ered basic instruction
in Education were
:
Courses in auto mechanics help train workers vitally needed for the war effort.
1. Auto Mechanics, consisting of the operation, care, and repair of
tractors, trucks, and automobiles, including both gas and diesel
engines.
2. Metal "Work, including welding, tempering, drilling, shaping,
with emphasis on farm machinery repair.
3. Woodworking, consisting of rough carpentry work in the con-struction
of farm buildings and equipment.
4. Elementary Electricity, including operation, care and repair of
electrical equipment, and wiring for light and power.
These courses operated for a total of 120 hours over a period of
8 weeks.
The following number of schools having vocational agriculture de-partments
conducted one or more classes in OSY defense training:
Learning to care for children is important training today in homemaking courses.
Per Ct.
White scliools 311 out of a total of 405 departments, or 76.8
Negro schools 72 out of a total of 84 departments, or 85.7
Total 383 out of a total of 489 departments, or 78.5
Listed below is the total number of classes in each course, with the total
enrollment
:
North Carolijja Public Schools 35
A large number of these boys have found employment in defense
industries and others have found local employment, taking the place of
those who have gone into the armed services. Examples of the results of
this training are the following: Fifty-nine of the 63 boys who com-pleted
the metal course in the Hillsboro school are now in defense
industries along the Atlantic coast in shipbuilding and aeroplane con-struction;
75 boys out of 200 who attended classes held in the China
Grove school are now in defense industries; 16 boys from the Franklin
High School in Macon County are in the Glenn Martin aeroplane factory
in Baltimore.
A total of $501,546.28 has been spent in the State for equipment and
instructional costs, $242,463.55 of this amount being spent in providing
additional equipment in the school shops. Funds for this program were
made available by an act of Congress passed in June 1941.
HOME ECONOMICS EDUCATION
Conditions today challenge us to put forth every effort to safeguard
the family and the home. With family life disrupted by men in the armed
services and women working outside of the home in defense plants or in
activities for civilian defense, it is imperative that we guard against
neglect of small children and maladjustment of youth. Likewise, in these
days of advancing cost of living, it is more than ever necessary to plan
and buy wisely, to produce and conserve food, clothing and equipment,
to prepare foods that insure strong healthy bodies, and to be prepared
to care for the sick in the home. Home economics includes training ii;
all these aspects of homemaking. Girls are learning to do their share.
Through home practice and home projects they are applying this training
in their daily living.
If we are to preserve our way of living in a democratic society more
Right—Good food makes strong bodies. Bottom—Renovation adds beauty and gives
joy to the creator.
36 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
bojs and girls must receive instruction in family living, so tliat they
will be good family members today and good parents tomorrow.
Adults, also, asked for more training, and instruction was given in
whatever area of homemaking the group felt a need. Nutrition and meal
preparation, clothing construction, first aid and home care of the sick
and child development classes were offered in many communities last
year.
GROWTH IN VOCATIONAL HOME ECONOMICS EDUCATION
North Cabolina Public Schools 37
In 1941-42 there were approximately 820 home economics departments
in high schools of this State offering instruction to about 57,400 students.
Of this number 359 departments were reimbursed from State and Federal
vocational funds. The table on page 36 shows the growth in voca-tional
home economics over a period of years.
TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION
Trade and Industrial Education has continued its growth even though
the ISTational Defense Program has been carried on at the same time in
many of the same shops under the supervision of trade and industrial
education local directors. This is shown by the table appearing below.
Young people realize as never before that they must know how to do
some particular job in order to secure the most advantageous employment
;
and adults employed have found it necessary to continue their technical
training in order to secure promotion in industry.
Trade and industrial shop courses are offered in the high schools of
fifty of the largest centers in the State. Training in diversified occupa-tions,
where students get their shop experience in industry on practical
jobs and receive their technical information related to the job in school,
is provided in thirty-eight centers with an enrollment of 1,017. This
j)lan gives the student a chance to use the equipment in industry under
Learning to cut gear on a milling machine
38 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
real working conditions. The school may offer opportunities in all the
trades represented in the community, while industries get the best stu-dents
selected for their particular use and these are given related
training by the school, thus working to an advantage for all concerned.
An enrollment of 11,215 employed workers were taught in 655 classes
in technical subjects to become more efficient on their jobs and thus
eligible for promotion.
GROWTH OF TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION IN
NORTH CAROLINA
Year
North Carolina Ptjblio Schools 39
industry. Training for suj)ervisory personnel provides job instructor
training, upgrading of supervisors, and in-service training of instructors.
Training for the military branches provides training for Signal Corps
workers and for men in uniform vi^ho need industrial skills.
There is being offered training in the following different skilled
occupations
:
Aircraft "Woodworkers Machine Tool Operators
Aircraft Metal Workers Patternmaking
Aircraft Welders Radio and Communication
Armature Winders Sheet Metal Workers
Auto Mechanics Ship Builders (Wood)
Blacksmith Ship Fitters' Helpers
Blueprint Reading Ship Welders, Electric
Garment and Textile Workers Supervisor's Training
At the end of the present biennium there were 3,000 persons enrolled
in 263 different sections.
There is no definite starting or stopping time for classes ; students
come into training every day and as they complete their training, they
|
are referred to jobs in war production industries. With a complete turn-over
of students about every eight weeks, 15,000 workers are being
trained yearly.
The 250 instructors were recruited from industry. The main factor
considered in their selection was that of work experience and standing
in their trade. Each instructor ranks as a skilled worker in the subject
which he teaches.
The major industries to which workers have been referred for place-ment
are : IST. C. Ship Building Co., Wilmington ; Barlour Boot Works,
ISTew Bern; Elizabeth City Ship Yards, Elizabeth City; the Wright
Automatic Machine Co., Durham; The Edwards Co., Sanford; The
Glenn L. Martin Co., Baltimore; the Norfolk Navy Yard, Norfolk;
and the Newport News Drydock and Ship Building Corp., Newport
News.
EDUCATION FOR NYA YOUTH
Under a cooj^erative agreement between the National Youth Adminis-tration
and the U. S. Office of Education, educational facilities for NYA
youth are provided by the public schools. The Division of Vocational
Education is responsible for the administration and supervision of the
NYA Educational Program. Contributing to NYA youth educational
needs is the supervisory staff of the several departments of vocational
education : Trades and Industries, Home Economics, Agriculture, Occu-pational
Information and Guidance, and Distributive Education.
40 Biennial Report of State Supeeintendent
As this cooperative plan operates, the State Director of Vocational
Education and NYA representatives confer on (1) the program of work
projects, (2) the nature of the instruction to be given and (3) conditions
under which instruction will be offered. As a result, the total resources
of the ]^ational Youth Administration and the State Department of
Public Instruction are available for work exi:)erience and training for
I^YA youth.
Training is provided in two types of work projects : resident and non-resident.
Full-time instructors are provided by the schools in resident
centers and for nonresident projects. NYA youth are paid for work
production on NYA projects but attend classes on their own time. Three
types of training are provided in this program: (1) Extension Trainingi
Supplementary to Work Experience, (2) Preparatory Training for
Occupational Adjustment, and (3) Instruction for Civic and Vocational
Intelligence.
Under Federal legislation the program of NYA Education, supported
by appropriations included under Public Law 146, was discontinued.
Beginning with the fiscal year July 1, 1942, the training programs for
j^YA youth will be included in Vocational Training for War Production
Workers, Program No. 1, provided for in Public Law 647. (See p. 38.)
Therefore, specific vocational courses intended to prepare ISTYA youth
NTA out-of-school youth learning radio.
i^-~
North Carolina Public Schools 41
in the shortest time possible for filling war-time jobs are now offered by
the public schools.
TOTAL NYA OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH ENROLLMENT IN CLASSES—AGES 17-25
42 Biennial Report of State Si!pb3?intendent
Program A. War-time Emergency Training for New Store Worhers,
which is part-time preemployment replacement training to provide
trained workers to replace those who have entered military service or
who have gone into defense industries.
Program B. Special War-time Training for Experienced Salespersons
to familiarize them with the war regulations and adjustments affecting
the sale of merchandise and the service of stores.
Program C. War-time Training Program for Owners and Managers of
Distributive Businesses to give an understanding of the laws, regula-tions,
orders, and control under which retail businesses must operate
during the war emergency.
Program D. A Training Program for Store Supervisors and Depart-ment
Heads to assist them in the induction and in-service training of
the large number of new persons who will enter retailing as replace-
IN-SERVICE TRAINING FOR ADULT WORKERS
Year
A training class in furniture merchandising.
merits and to train experienced salespersons to serve customers in a
war-time period.
REHABILITATION
The Rehabilitation Program provides or secures vocational guidance,
appliances, treatment, training and placement for physically impaired
individuals 16 years old and over who are vocationally handicapped.
Wlien a person has been given part or all of the above services to the
extent that it has resulted in his having a permanent job with a self-supporting
wage, he is considered rehabilitated.
This Program has advanced from a low of 18 rehabilitations in 1912
at an average cost of $647.08 per person to a total of 844 in 1942 at an
average cost of $208.32 per person. It is therefore evident that it costs
less to rehabilitate a person for life than it does to maintain him at
public expense for twelve months.
This Department is now engaged in getting as many physically
impaired persons as possible into defense training classes and in training
them in essential war industries.
This machine age and the ever increasing toll of injured in employ-ment,
because of the unprecedented demands of industry in the war
effort, provide a steady stream of persons needing this service. Under
the Social Security Act, Vocational Rehabilitatiou is permanent and
continuing. Eecent amendments to this Act make available $3,500,000
annually in Federal funds to the states for this work. There is every
reason to believe that this amount will be increased substantially because
of the tremendously increasing need for these services.
Left: W. T. has to walk on his knees, since he came to the Department too late in life
for corrective treatment. He was trained as a watchmaker by the Rehabilitation Depart-ment,
and now operates his own watch repair shop and jewelry store from which he
makes a comfortable living for his family. Right: Billy was for years a wheel chair
case. After a series of orthopaedic operative procedures, he was able to walk and was
trained as a radio mechanic by the Rehabilitation Department of the Division of Vocational
Education. He now owns his own rado repair business in which he has trained several
handicapped persons.
* Decrease.
PROGRESS IN VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION
Year
North Carolina Public Schools 45
OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE
An Occupational Information and Guidance Service was set up in the
State Department of Public Instruction July 1, 1939. The primary-purpose
of this service is to assist schools in the development of better
guidance programs. During the past three years field work has been
carried on in all but two or three of the 100 counties. County-wide con-ferences
on guidance have been held in 84 counties and some services
have been extended to most of the city units. Some of the more specific
functions and purposes of the guidance service are
:
1. To prepare and distribute special bulletins dealing with plans,
courses of study, and literature on studies, investigations, and
surveys in the field of occupational information and guidance.
2. To aid in initiating a guidance program in schools previously
doing little work in this field.
3. To assist in evaluating the program in schools already doing con-siderable
guidance work, and to offer suggestions for expansion.
4. To meet upon invitation with educational or civic groups for the
purpose of discussing general problems and phases of guidance.
5. To cooperate with other agencies interested in the broad aspects
The guidance program assists the individual in securing and interpreting occupational in-formation
which is essential in making sound vocational choices.
46 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
of various youth problems such as the State and l^ational Voca-tional
Guidance Associations, civic clubs, employer and labor
groups, the Occupational Information and Guidance Service
in the U. S. Office of Education, and The ISTorth Carolina Edu-cation
Association.
6. To promote the training of teacher-counselors in occupational
information and guidance, and to advise with teacher trainers on
all matters pertaining to the improvement of the program in the
State.
7. To conduct, in cooperation with local authorities, group confer-ences
for the purpose of improving local programs of guidance.
8. To answer by correspondence requests from schools and other
interested agencies for sources of occupational and guidance
information.
A functional guidance program includes certain definite services
which should be available for each pupil in all schools regardless of
size. The important areas of a guidance program are: (1) an individual
inventory, (2) a study of local, regional and national occupational
information, (3) an exploration of additional and further training
opportunities, (4) counseling, (5) placement, and (6) follow-up of all
school-leavers. A guidance program should also reveal facts which point
to needed changes in the curriculum.
What kind of guidance programs are to be found in North Carolina
high schools ? The 1942 final report submitted by each high school prin-cipal
includes, for the first time, a section pertaining to guidance. A
summary of 927 of these reports reveals evidences of guidance programs
as indicated by the per cent of schools having or engaging in the follow-ing:
Individual cumulative record folders 58.8 per cent; standard
achievement tests at regular intervals 27.8 per cent ; file for occupational
information 38.1 per cent; file on further training opportunities 25.4
per cent ; regular course in occupations 15.3 per cent ; individual counsel-ing
about educational and vocational plans 55.3 per cent; assistance
in placing all pupils in next steps 43.5 per cent; and follow-up of all
graduates and dropouts 38.4 per cent.
In addition 552, or 56.3 per cent, of the 927 high schools reported that
someone had definitely been placed in charge of the guidance program.
Three hundred and six schools, or 37.2 per cent, indicated that one or
more staff members were assigned to do individual counseling. For these
schools 3.8 hours per week had been included in the regular schedule
for individual counseling.
North Carolina Public Schools 47
SCHOOL LIBRARIES
The realization that school libraries are essential in a good program
of instruction is demonstrated by their growth in this State during the
past decade. The growth in the elementary schools has been especially
significant. From a program of purely recreational reading of more or
less unscientifically selected books to a program of directed recreational
and informational reading of carefully selected and graded books related
to individual and class interests shows the growing philosophy which
makes elementary school libraries actively used every day. The emphasis
in the high school has likewise changed from the library used primarily
by the English department to the library used by every subject group in
the school. This growth cannot be shown by any statistical table, but
visits to school libraries and an examination of book orders would readily
make it apparent. Statistics can show, however, that marked growth has
taken place. An over-all view of school libraries can be obtained by a
study of the table, ^'General Statistics on Public School Libraries." The
information in this table is based on reports received from schools which
operate school libraries and does not include small schools or others
which do not have library book collections. In 1930-31 only 36 per cent
of the children enrolled attended schools operating school libraries. Ten
years later in 1940-41, 81 per cent of the children were enrolled in
schools providing library service.
High school students seek information on current problems and find satisfaction through
library materials.
48 BiENNiAi, Report of State Supebintendent
GENERAL STATISTICS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBR.ARIES
North Carolina Public Schools 49
GENERAL STATISTICS ON PUBLIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES—Conftnued
50 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
by trained librarians to them. The library assistance from WPA termi-nated
with the closing of schools in 1942. Students on INTYA projects
numbering more than 400 assisted in the library program under the
direction of the librarian, as did fully 3,000 pupils who gave their
services because of their interest in the library. Student assistants in
many schools have organized as clubs and are promoting the formation of
a State organization of student library assistants. The trained librarians
have been handicapped in the promotion of the library by numerous
other activities assigned to them and by the limited time that many of
them have assigned for library work with the boys and girls and for
technical library organization. The number of teacher-librarians with
some library training as shown in the table below includes those nomi-nally
responsible for the library but not assigned any school time for
carrying on the work. The remarkable increase in trained personnel in
ISTegro schools has largely been made possible through the cooperation
of the North Carolina College for Negroes in establishing a school of
library science there. Training to meet certification requirements for
teacher-librarians in white schools is provided at Appalachian State
Teachers College, East Carolina Teachers College, "Woman's College,
and the University of ISTorth Carolina. The University also offers a full
year of library training to meet certification requirements for full-time
librarians. At the beginning of the session 1942-43 Appalachian State
Teachers College institutes a program of twenty-four semester hours in
library science for the training of full-time school librarians.
North Cakolixa Public Schools 51
superintendent's general report. The number of volumes per pupil is
based on average daily membership. The figures in the table on "Circula-tion
of School Library Books" were taken from the annual library reports
submitted by individual schools reporting school libraries.
NUMBER OF LIBRARY BOOKS OWNED
52 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
The increased expenditures also reflect tlie interest in the library and
the need for books in good teaching situations. These figures are tabu-lated
from the annual library reports of individual schools. As books
are used they tend to wear out ; other materials become out-of-date and
need to be discarded. These two reasons explain the present annual
figure of approximately 75,000 books lost and discarded each year. The
average replacement cost for elementary school library books is 90c per
book; the average replacement cost for high school library books is $1.40
per book. It takes approximately $90,000 a year to maintain the libraries
at their present standard without increasing the number of books avail-able.
The cost of library supplies for organization, cataloguing, mending,
and circulation amounts to about $45,000 a year, or an average of about
20c per book added to the library collection. During the past biennium
approximately $50,000 each year was available from State funds for
school library maintenance purposes, including book replacements, maga-zines,
mending and binding, and consumable supplies.
North CAsoiLiNA Public Schools 53
There is no level in the school program from the first year through the
twelfth year where libraries are not needed and used. There is no subject
from the A of art through the M of music and mathematics on through
the Z of zoology where books and libraries are not needed and used.
Libraries hold inherently knowledge for today and continuing education
for tomorrow.
School Libraries in the War Effort
School libraries have participated actively in the war program by
making currently significant material readily available; by stimulating
interest in war information through displays ; and by engaging in salvage
campaigns, first aid classes, the Victory Book Campaign, and other
programs. The librarians themselves have in many instances headed the
school campaign program and the libraries have served as clearing
places.
A well informed community is an intelligent community. The library's
chief contribution is through making significant material available and
through stimulating its use. The State Department of Public Instruc-tion
sent to more than 500 school librarians suggestions for materials and
displays on war participation topics, including Civilian Protection, Con-sumer
Education, I^utrition and Health, Safety and First Aid, Defense
Bonds and Stamps, Industrial Training with emphasis on defense
job training, Latin America, Countries Engaged in War, Social and
Economic Planning, Armed Services, and Democracy. Reports from the
school librarians indicate that practically all of them had displays on
three or more of these topics. Some emphasized each topic with gratify-ing
circulation of the books and pamphlets displayed. The displays
usually consisted of bulletin board material and books related to the
Our world neighbors are brought nearer by library book displays.
54 BrENNiAL Report of State Superintendent
topics. In some schools a table was reserved for the display of books and
pamphlets on the topic promoted during the week. Marked interest was
shown by pupils, and many teachers featured the information in their
classes.
Bibliographies of material available locally on the topics above and
on related topics were prepared by librarians for use in class discussions
and school club work. Printed bibliographies from the United States
Office of Education, from the American Library Association, and other
national agencies on Industrial Training, Shop Work, Aeronautics
Education, Latin America, China, Canada, and other similar topics have
been made available to schools. Similar bibliographies to meet needs of a
specific school or reading level have been prepared by the State School
Library Adviser in the State Department of Public Instruction.
The school libraries were particularly active in the Victory Book
Campaign to supply additional books for USO Clubs, Camp Day
Rooms, and to armed forces being transported by trains and ships. The
libraries served as receiving centers and the librarians assisted in sorting
the books preparatory for shipment to designated dispensing points.
In many localities the school library room has been used for first aid
classes, for ration centers, and for paper salvage centers. The librarians
have participated in the campaigns and in some instances have directed
certain of them. Certainly the boys and girls have been more conscious
of the significance of the programs as a result of the school library
participation.
ADULT EDUCATION
In 1937 the Legislature authorized the State Board of Education "to
provide rules and regulations for establishing and conducting schools
to teach adults." The Act further provided that said schools should
"become a part of the public school system of the State and ... be
conducted under the supervision of the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction." In accordance with this Act a State program of adult
education was set up with the following governing principles as basic
regulations
:
1. Teachers shall be elected by the board of education in each
administrative unit on recommendation of the superintendent.
2. Teachers must hold regular North Carolina teachers' certificates,
exceptions to these qualifications to be made only in cases of
demonstrated ability in the field of adult education.
3. Adult education teachers shall be paid according to the State
standard salary schedule in accordance with the certificate held.
North Cakolina Public Schools 55
The State will pay 50 per cent of the salary; the other half must
be paid from local fimds set up in the school budget.
4. No uniform curriculum is to be prescribed. The program shall be
democratic in its attempt to meet the varying needs of individuals
and communities. The type of instruction to be offered in any
community can best be determined by the school superintendent
with the aid of local community school councils.
5. The administration of the program shall be left almost entirely
with superintendents. Assistance in organizing and directing the
work of the teachers will be provided from the State office.
During the last two years the following 31 school administrative units
have conducted adult education programs
:
Asheville, Buneombe County, Burke County, Catawba County, Cleveland County, Char-lotte,
Dare County, Durham, Durham County, Forsyth County, Gastonia, Gaston County,
Graham County, Greensboro, Guilford County, High Point, Kannapolis, Kinston, Leaks-ville,
Mecklenburg County, Mitchell County, Moore County, Richmond County, Robeson
County, Rowan County, Salisbury, Rutherford County, Surry County, Swain County,
Winston-Salem, Wilmington.
While Adult Education in l^orth Carolina is basically a literacy
movement, the war naturally had its effect on courses and subjects
taught. In addition to the regular literacy program, courses in first aid,
practical and home nursing, and nutrition were offered to hundreds of
adults anxious to meet war-time requirements for civilians. Homemak-ing
and parent education were very popular. Some school units supple-mented
the program further by offering work in crafts, citizenship and
public affairs, dramatics, gardening, music, public speaking, parlia-
Craftsmanship in industrial occupation brings personal satisfaction and material gain
to many adults.
56 Biennial Rb:port of State Superintendent
mentarj procedure, and business education. Througli short courses many
persons were given the training necessary for employment created by the
emergency. In some instances young men eligible for the Service asked
for refresher courses in science and mathematics prior to their induction.
Three units are now, 1941-42, offering high school subjects to adults
who desire to graduate and thus better qualify for military service or for
employment. As a means of noting the rapid growth of the program,
the accompanying table is presented.
NOKTH CaBOLINA PUBLIC SCHOOLS 57
representative of tlie i^orth Carolina Public Forum Office which is a
branch of the University Extension Division. A plan has been Avorked
out whereby the Forum Office sends trained and competent discussion
leaders, together with materials, anywhere in the State at the standard
charge of twelve dollars per visit. Under this plan units having a hundred
dollar budget may put on eight forum sessions and spend four dollars
for supplies, or a program half this size could be conducted on a fifty-dollar
budget.
The entrance of the United States in the war stimulated interest in
public discussion. Topics, such as Emergency Powers and Private Rights,
American and British Relations, Consumer Purchasing and Problems
of Family Finance, Maintaining Civilian Morale, Is Isolation Possible ?,
and many others related to the emergency, were discussed by over a hun-dred
organized forum groups. Interest in this particular phase of adult
education is growing very rapidly.
During the 1941-42 year Union County conducted a unique experiment
in forum organization. The principals in the school system, with the aid
of a representative from the State Forum Office, first studied the art of
conducting a public forum. Having acquired the method, each principal
then agreed to study and become well-informed on one current topic and
to lead a discussion on that topic in each of the other school communities
in the county. As a result of the project, three thousand adults had the
experience of learning cooperatively, lay leadership was recognized and
developed in communities, and community interest in public affairs was
strengthened.
Adult education classes encourage interest in world affairs and help develop ability
for intelligent participation.
58 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
NUMBER OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 1941-42
(From High School Principal's Annual Reports)
SUBJECTS
(Grades 8-12)
Language Arts
English I.
English II
English III
English IV
English V
Dramatics
Speech
Journalism
Other courses, including Spelling, Writing,
Reading, Creative Writing
Mathematics
General Mathematics and Algebra I
General Math, and Algebra II
Plane Geometry
Advanced Algebra
Trigonometry _
Solid Geometry
Other courses, including Arithmetic, Mod-ern
Math., Practical Math., Social
Math., Review Math., Textile Math.,
and College .-Algebra (See Bus. Courses)
Social Studies
Citizenship ._
World History
American History
Economics
Sociology
Problems of Democracy
Geography
Ancient History
Modern History
Negro History
Other courses, including N. C. History,
Current History, Government, Social
Culture, and International Relations..
Occupational Information and Guidance.
Bible
Recreational Leadership
White
No.
Schools
741
742
725
724
23
73
44
46
107
728
741
619
187
20
18
10
721
486
699
606
607
28
432
32
20
5.5
31
55
No.
Students
48.717
41,032
35,479
29,875
2,440
2,043
1,212
1.080
12,078
46.986
35.569
15,345
5,908
634
535
330
41.080
15.625
34.255
16.314
16,341
703
12,106
1.551
856
3.353
1,774
3.578
23
Negro Total
No.
Schools
250
223
214
206
4
15
2
6
48
218
214
182
62
3
215
180
202
167
172
28
103
12
8
20
No.
Students
15,345
11.242
8,838
6,323
220
395
85
170
2.976
12.965
10,312
5.739
2.527
72
111
14.025
7.125
7.544
4,064
4,639
805
2,586
1,017
401
859
278
91
169
No.
Schools
991
965
939
930
27
88
46
52
155
946
955
801
249
23
18
16
936
666
901
773
779
56
535
44
28
20
60
34
59
1
No.
Students
64,062
52,274
44,317
36,198
2,660
2,438
1,297
1,250
15,054
59,951
45,881
21,084
8,435
706
535
441
55,105
22,750
41,799
20,378
20,980
1,508
14,692
2,568
1,257
859
3,631
1,865
3,747
23
North Caeolina Public Schools 59
NUMBER OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING VARIOUS SUBJECTS, lMl-42-~Continued
(From High School Principal's Annual Reports)
SUBJECTS
(Grades 8-12)
Sciences
General and Elementary Science
Biology -_
Chemistry
Physics
Other courses, including Senior Science,
Museum, and Nature Study. ,
•Health, including courses in Personal Hy-giene,
Home Hygiene, Home Nursing,
Nutrition, First Aid, Safety, and Driver
Ed
Physical Education
Art
Music
Band
Glee Club and Chorus
Orchestra
Vocal and Instrumental
Vocational
Agriculture I
Agriculture II
Agriculture III and IV
Home Economics I
Home Economics II
Home Economics III and IV
Industrial Arts, including Drawing, Gen-eral
Shop, Metal Work, Woodwork,
Photography, Printing, Household Me-chanics,
and Electricity
Vocational, including Trades, Vocational
Shop, Weaving, Sheet Metal, Welding,
Drafting, Machine Shop, Auto Mechan-ics,
and Radio
Diversified and Distributive Education . .
.
Business Education
General Business
Typing I
Typing II
Business Arithmetic
Elementary Bookkeeping
Advanced Bookkeeping
White
No.
Schools
611
730
315
354
12
147
318
35
43
36
6
69
392
364
356
615
603
311
107
No.
Students
27,338
35,078
8,165
7,008
431
13,073
36,500
3,996
2,276
2,201
250
7,185
7,474
5,420
7,083
20,207
15,104
5,095
,397
33
60 BtENNiAi, Report of State SuPE:BiNTETfDENT
NUMBER OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING VARIOUS SUBJECTS, 1941-42-
(From High School Principal's Annual Reports)
-Continued
HOW THE SCHOOLS OPERATE
ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES
State Agencies. The public schools of North Carolina operate in the
main under the direction of five State agencies
:
The State Board of Education
The State Board for Vocational Education
The State Textbook Commission
The State School Commission
The State Board of Health
The first four agencies listed devote their time and energies to the
public schools exclusively. They are each independent, with special
defined duties outlined by legislative enactment under constitutional
authority. In addition to these agencies, the State Board of Commercial
Education has been established and empowered to regulate the business
schools and colleges of the State.
The latter agency is concerned largely with health in general, but
under an arrangement with the Rockefeller Eoundation a Division of
School-Health Coordinating Service has been established jointly by the
State Board of Health and the S'tate Superintendent of Public Instruc-tion
with a view to further improving health teaching in the public
schools. Then, too, the State Board of Health, through its Divisions of
Oral Hygiene and Sanitary Engineering, has been working with and
through the schools with the aim of improving the general health and
sanitary conditions of the public schools.
Each of the above-named agencies maintains an office staff with offices
in Raleigh. The administration of the rules and regulations of the State
Board of Education, however, together with necessary duties devolving
upon the State Superintendent by virtue of his office as an elected State
official, is carried on through the Department of Public Instruction. The
State Board of Education is composed of the following seven elected offi-cials
: the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State,
the Treasurer, the Auditor, the Attorney General, and the Superin-tendent
of Public Instruction as secretary.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, in accordance with
law, is authorized to "direct the operations of the public schools and
enforce the laws and regulations in relation thereto." (Sec. 5392, Con-solidated
Statutes.) Subsequent legislation, however, has transferred
certain specific duties formerly performed by the Superintendent to other
62 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
State school agencies. The Superintendent is represented on these other
agencies, as vice chairman of the State School Commission and as
chairman of both the State Board for Vocational Education and the
State Textbook Commission. These two latter organizations plus the staff
employed by the Superintendent operate as the Department of Public
Instruction,
Local agencies. The local administration of the public schools is
through county and city administrative units. The governing authority
in each of the 100 county units is known as the county board of education.
These boards usually consist of three or five members, but in certain
cases, according to special legislation, there are more than five members
on the board. Board members are nominated biennially in the party pri-maries
or conventions and are appointed for terms of two, four, and
six years by the General Assembly. The executive officer of the county
board is the county superintendent, who is appointed by the board for
a term of two years, subject to the approval of the State School Com-mission
and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The county
FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS
CURRENT EXPENCE
North Carolina Public Schools 63
board, with the advice of the county superintendent, appoints the local
committees for the school districts.
The governing authority of each of the 70 city units is styled "board
of trustees." Membership on these boards is governed by the laws creat-ing
the charter districts, the name by which these units were formerly
known. The administration of the schools in these districts is similar to
that in county units.
In both county and city units there is a tax levying body which is
responsible for the provision of all funds other than those which are
obtained from the State. The county commissioners have this responsi-bility
in county units, whereas in city units the city commissioners pro-vide
the funds by taxation or otherwise for any school support beyond
that provided by the State and county.
SOURCES OF FUNDS
The State, through its law-making body, assumes the cost of operating
the eight months school term on certain standards of cost. The local units
as a whole or certain districts within local units are responsible for
financing any school costs for the eight months' term not included in the
State budget and in addition the total cost of any school facilities pro-vided
beyond an eight months' term.
The State funds are administered by the State School Commission and
are appropriated for certain specified objects of expenditure classified as
current expense. Local funds—county, city and district—may be used
for supplementing State funds as well as for capital outlay and debt
service obligations. The Report of the State School Commission gives
the basis for the allotment of State funds to the county and city units.
The accompanying table gives the expenditure for certain selected
years for current expense objects. Other tables present figures showing
expenditures by items from State funds for the two years of the biennium
ending June 30, 1942, and the total expenditures from all funds for each
of the past four years.
Current Expense. As the folloiwing table shows, the recent trend
in expenditures for the current operation of the public schools has been
improved. The total current expense, estimated for 1941-42, was $36,-
117,127.23, an average estimated expenditure of $46.27 per pupil in
average daily attendance.
64 BlENNIAI, RePOKT of StATE SUPERINTENDENT
North Caeolina Public Schools 65
66 Biennial Report of State Supe:eintendent
TOTAL SCHOOL EXPENDITURES. ALL FUNDS—FOUR YEAR COMPARISON BY
North Cakolina Ptblio Schools 67
TOTAL SCHOOL EXPENDITURES, ALL FUNDS-FOUR ^i^EAR COMPARISON BY
68 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURES STATE EIGHT MONTHS SCHOOL FUND
1940-1941
Classification by Objects and Items White Negro Total
A. State Aid Paid Odt by Unitb:
61. General Conbtol:
612. Salary: Superintendents
612. Travel: Superintendents
613. Salaries: Clerical Assistants
614. OflSce Expenses
615. County Board of Education
Total General Control
62. Insthuctional Service:
621. Salaries: Elementary Teachers
622. Salaries: High School Teachers
623. Salaries
1. Elementary Principals
2. High School Principals
Sub-Total Salaries
624. Instructional Supplies
Total Instructional Service
63. Operation of Plant:
631. Wages, Janitors
632. Fuel (coal and wood)
633. Water, Light and Power
634. Janitor's Supplies
635. Telephones
Total Operation of Plant
65. Fixed Charges (Compensation):
653. School Employees
654. School ChUdren
Total Compensation
66. Auxiliary Agencies:
661. Transportation:
$ 475,982.88 $ $ 475,982.88
39,854.25 39,854.25
124,999.95 124,999.95
42,816.64 42,816.64
9,958.62 9,958.62
% 693,612.34 $ $ 693,612.34
$11,189,481.12 $4,231,862.55 $15,421,343.67
4,048,052.32 813,933.45 4,861,985.77
477,240.35 103,783.29 581.023.64
1,190,998.25 220,170.30 1,411,168.55
$16,905,772.04 $ 5,369,749.59 $22,275,521.63
60,301.12 11.927.69 72,228.81
$16,966,073.16 $5,381,677.28 $22,347,750.44
$ 435,425.79 $ 58,482.36 $ 493,908.15
488,247.24 123,168.34 611,415.58
117,000.85 18,576.63 135,577.48
43,195.68 10,485.40 53,681.08
12,550.83 1,201.61 13,752.44
$ 1,096,420.39 $ 211,914.34 $ 1,308,334.73
$ 7,959.08 $ 931.84 $ 8,890.92
4.549.94 574.55 5,124.49
$ 12.509.02 $ 1,506.39 $ 14,015.41
1-5. Operation
6. Major Replacements
7. Principal's Bus Travel
Sub-Total
662. School Libraries
Total Auxiliary Agencies
Total State Aid Paid Out by
Administrative Units
B. State Aid Paid Direct:
Workmen's Compensation Tax
Surety Bond Premium
Grand Total—State Aid
C. State School Commission
Total Expense
North Carolina Public Schools 69
SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURES STATE EIGHT MONTHS SCHOOL FUND
1941-1942
Classification by Objects and Items White Negro Total
A. State Aid Paid Out by Units:
61. General Control:
611. Salary: Superintendents
612. Travel: Superintendents
613. Salaries: Clerical Assistants
614. Office Expense
615. County Board of Education
Total General Control
62. Instructional Service:
621. Salaries: Elementary Teachers
622. Salaries: High School Teachers
623. Salaries:
1. Elementary Principals
2. High School Principals
Total Auxiliary Agencies
Total State Aid Paid Out by
Administrative Units
B. State Aid Paid Direct:
Woriimen's Compensation Tax
Surety Bond Premium
Grand Total-State Aid
C. Study of Twelve Year Program
Total Expense
$ 476,466.80 S S 476,466.80
42,769.21 42,769.21
140,479.02 -. 140,479.02
50,128.56 50,128.56
9,913.91 9,913.91
$ 719,757.50 S ..._ $ 719,757.50
$11,510,736.39 S 4,618,637.80 $16,129,374.19
4,214,854.62 924,403.70 5,139,258.32
477,399.30 107,908.00 585,307.30
1,237,834.80 247,798.00 1,485,632.80
Sub-Total—Salaries
624. Instructional Supplies
70 BiEXNiAi, Repokt of State Supb2untendent
THE PHYSICAL EQUIPMENT
School Plants
Since it is no longer possible to secure Federal aid for school plant
purposes, except in war activity areas, the State Literary Loan Fund has
continued to increase in popularity as a source for borrowing funds for
school buildings. Applications for loans exceed the amount of money
available from this convenient source for financing school building con-struction.
While it is also no longer possible to make loans from any of
the Special Building Funds, money from prepayments on these funds
was available during the first year of the biennium. Loans from the
Rural Rehabilitation Corporation Fund also have been most helpful in
the financing of vocational educational buildings. Funds for financing
the larger buildings have been obtained from bond issues, the interest
rate on Avhieh has been unprecedentedly low.
In order that present school plants and those to be constructed in the
future may be less subject to destruction by fires, which annually jeopard-ize
the lives of many children and patrons and which are responsible for
large property losses and much disruption of the educational programs,
studies have been made in an attempt to discover the causes of the more
serious school fires. An analysis w^as made of the fires that occurred dur-ing
the five-year period from 1935 to 1940. Fires destroying property of
considerable value occurred in 12 of the 70 city units during this period.
Sixteen of iLe 100 county units had fires destru^ing valuable buildings.
An attractive building well-located and properly landscaped is a community asset.
North Carolina Public Schools 71
The other fires occurring in the State were minor in nature and many of
the buildings involved were small, antiquated structures, some of which
were not in use. While analysis fails to reveal any specific cause responsi-ble
for school fires, the evidence seems to point toward defects in the
original construction. Buildings planned and supervised by registered
architects and constructed by registered engineers were the valuable
ones destroyed.
The appraised value of school property in North Carolina for certain
selected years from 1919-20 to 1940-41 indicates something of the accom-plishments
that have been made in the field of school plant construction
during the past two decades. The average school property value per
child enrolled indicates on a pupil-value basis the availability and type of
school plant facilities in the State.
The transportation problem for hundreds of students has been solved by the use of bicycles.
North Carolina 134
Kentucky 124
South Carolina 110
Georgia 109
Alabama 84
Tennessee (lowest) 80
War Effects
During the first 18 months of the biennium school plant construction
proceeded satisfactorily and normally; a number of modern plants were
under construction. The advent of the war, however, caused a virtual
cessation in normal building activity. The construction of buildings in
new centers is no longer encouraged, and much of the school building
effort is directed toward replacements of burned or condemned struc-tures.
Small auxiliary buildings and additional rooms are also being
provided. Increased emphasis is being placed upon maintenance, beautifi-cation
and repair programs. The maintenance of the status quo in school
plant facilities is one of the prime objectives during the war period.
The establishment of a number of military centers and other activities
related to the wai' have caused a disruption of the educational programs
in several school units of the State. The Federal Government has sought
to relieve the affected communities of undue hardships caused by these
emergency conditions by making substantial grants for new buildings,
maintenance and operation, and transportation. Wilmington, the location
of a large ship building enterprise, has received contributions in the
amount of $614,000; grants totaling $167,000.00 have been made to
Fayetteville to provide for children who have moved into this area
because of the expansion of Fort Bragg ; and Onslow County, site of the
Marine Barracks, will receive valuable aid, approximately $300,000.00.
Craven County, New Bern, Carteret County and a few other units are
being considered for assistance as a result of military activities.
In anticipation of postwar building programs, surveys of needs are
North Cakolina Public Schools 73
being conducted and information on important building needs is being
assembled in order to avoid the necessity for hastily prepared plans once
normal building operations are resumed.
SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION
The public transportation of school children is necessary for the estab-lishment
of large school districts with large size buildings. The growth
in this phase of public education in Worth Carolina, therefore, has paral-leled
that of the increase of large modern school buildings in rural and
small town areas.
Prior to 1919-20 there was very little school transportation at public
expense. Compared with the great network of transportation routes
throughout the State today, even the record of 150 vehicles transporting
fewer than 8,000 pupils during 1919-20 appears very small indeed. From
that small beginning, as the table shows, the transportation system has
expanded under local efforts and support to the year 1932-33 and after
that year at State expense until in 1940-41 there were 4,727 buses
engaged in hauling 341,135 pupils to and from school each day. The
total annual cost of this program of public school transportation was $2,-
631,679.76. On the basis of the number of pupils transported the annual
cost was $7.71 per pupil, or, based upon a school term of 160 days, 5 cents
per pupil per day for the trip to school and return home.
More girl drivers are being used now since boys are taken into the service.
74 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
North Carolina Public Schools 75
76 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
Boohs Rebound. All the books placed in circulation by tlie State Text-book
Commission have been new books. After these books have been used
three or four years, they begin to wear out and the Commission is faced
with the necessity of discarding or rebinding the usable copies. Many
books must be discarded, but a reasonable number can be rebound as indi-cated
by the accompanying figures.
North Carolina Public Schools 77
Boohs Owned. The number of books owned represents tbe usable
books on band during each of tbe years indicated. All books sold, lost,
and worn out are not included in tbese figures.
78 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
increasing very rapidly. It is estimated that purchases during 1942-43
will amount to about $75,000.
THE SIZE OF THE SYSTEM
The size of the Xorth Carolina public school system may be measured
by a number of yardsticks : amount of money expended, number of pupils
enrolled, the value of school property, the number of teachers, the length
of school term, and others. Since, however, some of these items are pre-sented
under different heads elsewhere in this report, they are not
repeated here.
Number of Elementary Schools. The number and size of the schools
actually taught serve to indicate both the instructional and administra-tive
problems involved. It has been the experience in ITorth Carolina that
small schools do not and cannot offer as broad a program of instruction
as can be offered in the larger type school. For this reason the trend has
been toward a smaller number of small schools and a larger number of
large size schools. This trend has brought along with it an increase in
public transportation facilities, a subject discussed elsewhere in this
report.
The accompanying table indicates this trend as it applies to the ele-mentary
schools (grades I-VII).
North Carolina Public Schools 79
and it will be noted that the trend in size as indicated by number of
teachers is also toward the larger type. There were in 1940-41 a total of
982 public high schools in North Carolina.
80 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCE
y E AR
PER CENT
IN ADA. PER CENT IN A.D.A.^ AND ABSENCCI
PO 40 fin 80 I 00
than the census. The accompanying table indicates the enrolment by
races and for elementary and high schools during the years specified.
School Attendance. The extent to which pupils enrolled attend the
public schools is indicated by average daily attendance figures; and by
such figures in relation to enrollment the holding power of the schools
North Carolina Public Schools 81
is measured and their size ascertained. Figures showing the percentage
of enrollment in attendance indicate that North Carolina boys and girls
attend school even better now than prior to 1933, when the eight months
school term was established.
Enrollment by Grade. Still another measure of the size of the
public school system is the enrollment by grades. It is necessary to know
the grade enrollment in providing the instructional services. As figures
indicate, the greater portion of North Carolina pupils is in the lower
grades. There is a tendency, however, for the enrollment in the lower
grades to decrease, whereas the trend is upward in the higher grades. A
comparison by number and per cent clearly indicates this trend for the
races separately.
82 Biennial Repobt of State Supebintetndent
North Carolina Public Schools 83
AVERAGE SCHOOL TERM
TERM IN DAYS
i?n 130 I4.Q l-'^O 160 ^Q
the highest point prior to the financial depression, by 1931-32. Two
years later, 1933-34, the State eight months school term became effective,
thus increasing again the average term, to 159.3 days. Since that year
this average has gradually increased as a result of special taxes
voted for a nine months term in city units. It will be noted from the
table that the average term for white and N'egro schools is approximately
the same.
Enrollment By Term. Contrary to the beliefs of many people,
when the argument for a State-wide eight months school term was
advanced, that the children would not attend school for the longer term,
the figures on enrollment by term and per cent of enrollment in
attendance show conclusively the opposite effect. As has been shown
school attendance was decidedly better in 1939-40 and 1940-41 than
prior to 1933-44, the year that the eight months school term became
effective. The accompanying table shows that there are very few children
—white and Xegro—enrolled in schools having terms of less than eight
months. As a matter of fact, the number of children attending schools
84 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
NoKTH Carolina Public Schools 85
Department. Furthermore, it should be stated that, in many instances,
the services listed here indicate the initiation or beginning of that
particular service to the schools, and that in the final analysis the local
boards of education, superintendents, principals, teachers, and other
school employees actually make them effective. The schools have been
provided for the children of the State; and it is to their welfare and
training that all our efforts are directed. The first section of this Report
is in fact an expansion of the services outlined here.
I. Addresses, Talks, Discussion Leaders.
The Superintendent and some staff members are available for com-mencement
exercises, P.-T.A. meetings, civic clubs, teachers' meet-ings
and schoolmaster clubs, women's clubs and organizations, radio
appearances, and discussion leaders.
II. Administrative and Professional Services.
A. To the public schools
—
1. Assistance in making county-wide surveys of the school situa-tion—
sites, buildings, school attendance, consolidation and
transportation for the improvement of educational facilities.
a. Cooperating in the selection of sites in the location of new
buildings.
b. Cooperating in the improvement of school grounds.
c. Making suggestions concerning additions to buildings.
d. Making available plans and specifications for small
buildings.
e. Measuring the utilization of school plants and suggesting
ways by which a broader use of existing plants may be
made.
f. Assisting in securing equipment and supplies, including
library and laboratory equipment and supplies.
2. Assistance in adjusting and settling disputes and misunder-standings.
a. Interpreting school laws and regulations.
b. Suggesting possible solutions of school problems.
c. Securing rulings from the Attorney General.
3. Assistance in the better organization of schools.
a. Setting up requirements for accreditment.
b. Preparing teacher schedules and classroom work programs.
c. Introducing new courses, including vocational education
and war-time classes.
d. Inspecting schools and giving suggestions for their im-provement.
86 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
e. Furnishing assistance in the organization and use of school
libraries.
(1) Advice on the selection and purchase of desirable
books and other library materials by preparing general
and special lists : e.g., N'.C.E.A., Twenty-five Dollar
Per Grade Elementary Library, Our Democratic
American Heritage.
(2) Advice regarding the library room and its equipment;
e.g., Design and Equipment of Consolidated School
Lihraries.
(3) Advice regarding employment of school librarian, both
to the superintendent and to the librarian.
(4) Check of school library facilities in relation to require-ments
for accredited school and recommendations for
meeting requirements ; e.g., summary sheet.
(5) Preparation of materials for promoting library usage;
e.g.. North Carolina School Library Handbook (25c),
Book Week Bulletin, program on school libraries for
P.-T.A. program bulletin.
(6) Visits to schools and talks to groups; such as P.-T.A.,
Rotary, teachers meetings, and the like.
4. Assistance in the improvement of the training of teachers and
instructional service.
a. Developing and directing definite programs of pre-servlce
training in the colleges and normal schools.
b. Sponsoring continuous yearly summer school programs for
teachers.
c. Assisting in the organization of extension classes.
d. Conducting group and district teacher meetings.
e. Assisting in the employment and placement of teachers.
f. Issuing certificates to teachers on basis of credits earned.
g. Determining the training of teachers and principals in the
administrative units.
h. Preparing courses of study and guide books for teachers
and administrators.
5. School budget and accounting service.
a. Giving salary ratings of teachers and principals in accord-ance
with the State standard salary schedule.
b. Determining salary costs of schools in accordance with
allotment of teachers and on basis of State salary schedule.
c. Furnishing statements showing amounts due State Literary
and Special Building Funds.
North Carolina Public Schools 87
d. Verifying amount of funds paid administrative units with
public accountants.
e. Assisting in the preparation of budgets and applications for
loans.
f. Assisting in the proper accounting of school funds.
g. Furnishing forms for making reports, budgets and keeping
records.
6. Financial Assistance.
a. Eecommending loans from State Literary Fund for build-ing
and equipping schoolhouses.
b. Assisting in securing loans and grants from Federal agen-cies
for repair and construction of school plants.
c. Administering vocational funds for salaries of teachers of
vocational subjects and of war-time workers.
d. Aiding in the distribution and administration of private
funds
:
(1) Jeanes Fund for employment of Negi'o supervising
teachers.
(2) Slater Fund for equipping N'egro high schools.
(3) Rosenwald Fund for purchasing library books for
Negro schools.
(4) General Education Board funds for health teach-ing,
and for purchasing equipment in Negro colleges.
7. Textbook Service.
a. Assisting in the selection and adoption of textbooks.
b. Purchasing and distributing free elementary textbooks.
c. Furnishing through the State Textbook Commission nec-essary
books for units having rental systems.
d. Providing library books for sale.
e. Furnishing necessary forms and instructions for all trans-actions
under both free and rental plans.
B. To institutions of higher education
—
1. Assistance in matters pertaining to teacher training.
2. Assistance in the administration of regulations of the N. C.
College Conference.
3. Assistance with any other problems in which college-department
regulations exist.
C. To P.-T.A.'s, parents and other citizens
—
1. Assistance in the organization of parent-teacher associations.
2. Assistance in campaigns to raise money for equipment, libra-ries,
beautification of grounds and other school needs.
88 BiEXAiAL Report oi' State Superintendent
3. Assistance in campaigns for holding local tax elections for
the improvement of schools.
4. Participation in programs initiated by the organization.
D. To Architects
—
1. Help in developing plans and sketches of school plants.
2. Assistance by reviewing and approving plans for school
plants.
3. Assistance by supplying information concerning current prac-tices
in planning school plants.
III. Informational Service.
*1. Issues and distributes bulletins—reports, courses of study, direc-tory,
laws, etc.
2. Issues Pnhlic School Bulletin and State School Facts.
3. Prepares material and information for the use of members of the
General Assembly.
4. Issues statistical information and mimeographed material giv-ing
facts about the schools.
5. Issues form letters and statements to school executives concerning
the administration of the schools.
6. Writes letters in reply to specific inquiries relative to the public
schools and higher institutions.
lY. Special Services.
1. Develop and administer part-time commercial classes.
2. Organize and administer day-school and evening adult classes for
industrial workers.
3. Promote a program for finding, training and placing civilian
cripples.
* During the current biennium the following publications were issued
by the Department
:
a
.H « -o a.
Oh^^; ?^ 5- Title of Puhlication
226 4,100 Educational Directory of North Carolina, 1940-41
227 25,000 Science for the Elementary Schools, 1941
228 20,000 The Tar Heel State (1942 edition)
229 30,000 Teaching Democracy in the North Carolina Public
Schools, 1941
230 3,500 Public School Laws, Session of 1941 and Prior Sessions
NOETH Carolina Pxjblic Schools 89
231 1,400 Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruc-tion,
Part II, 1938-1939
232 7,500 The Constitution of :N'orth Carolina, 1941
233 4,200 Educational Directory of North Carolina, 1941-42
234 3,000 A Eeport on Special Education, 1941
235 500 A Suggested Twelve-year Program for the ISTorth Caro-lina
Public Schools, 1942 (Mimeographed)
236 27,500 The North Carolina Twelve-year Public School Program,
1942
197 5,000 North Carolina School Library Handbook, Third Edi-tion,
1942
THE TEACHING PERSONNEL
North Carolina has always been conscious of the importance of the
teacher in public education. Progressively and rapidly quantitative
standards for the teacher have been raised until no state in the entire
United States has higher standards for its elementary teachers than
North Carolina. Only three states require more training for a beginning
secondary school teacher than North Carolina. But the "War is making
serious inroads into the teaching personnel. Men teachers have been
selected for military services. Other men have gone into more lucrative
civilian and war jobs. Many women teachers are enlisting in the WAVES
and WAACS. Other women teachers are going into various types of
civilian and war jobs. Undoubtedly 1942-43 will see a break in the
upward trend in the scholarship of the teachers, a trend that has been
constant and uninterrupted for the past two decades. This will be espe-cially
true of the white teachers. Only a general reconsecration to the
importance of the teacher will prevent a very serious lowering and
breakdown of the high standards which have been reached in teacher
education and in the present scholarship level of the teachers.
The purpose of this section on "The Teaching Personnel" is not to
discuss the work of the teachers, but to reveal the progress which has
been made in the education of teachers during the past two decades.
There is little need for discussion. The story is told mainly through
statistics organized into certain tables.
Number of Teachers Employed
The table on the number of teachers, principals, and supervisors
employed shows an increase of more than 50 per cent. According to
present population trends, the saturation point has about been reached in
elementary and secondary school enrollments. Any substantial increase in
90 Biennial Report of State Supeeintbndent
personnel in the future will come througli a change in the present basis
for teacher allotment.
North Carolina Public Schools 91
TRAINING OF TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS
For more than twenty years the principal's certificate has required six
semester hours of appropriate professional education heyond an under-graduate
degree. Since 1931 a degree from a standard four-year college
has been one requirement for certificates issued to beginning high school
teachers. As of July 1, 1940, a degree from a four-year college became
one of the requirements for a certificate issued to a beginning elementary
teacher. These facts, together with the further fact that most of the
teachers and principals have now had four years of college work, justified
the State in projecting part of its teacher education on the graduate level.
Accordingly a Graduate Certificate, requiring among other conditions a
master's degree is now being issued teachers. That certificate was issued
as of July 1, 1941 for the first time. About 350 teachers held the certifi-
92 Biennial Report of State Superintendent
cate for the school year 1941-42. As of July 1, 1942 a Principal's Certifi-cate
is being issued, one requirement for which is a master's degree.
In-service Teacher Education
One may summarize the history of teacher education requirements in
North Carolina by saying the qualifications for entering the profession
were very, very low at first, with additions and gradual increases in
requirements until the present level had been reached. As late as 1917 the
chief agency for training elementary teachers was the elementary school
itself. Until that date most teachers in the rural elementary schools had
been certified by passing an examination which itself was based upon
the subjects of the elementary school. Even as late 1922 two years of high
school education could be offered in lieu of successfully passing the
examination, A little later than that all certification by examination
was abolished, substituting therefor college credits. By 1940 a degree
was required for beginning elementary teachers.
The nature of this process of teacher education made necessary a
program of in-service education. The chief agencies for this type of
education have been the summer schools in this and other states and the
programs of extension work offered by certain colleges. The importance
of these agencies may be revealed in the tables on summer school enroll-ment
and enrollment in extension work. The effectiveness of the work may
be seen in the table giving the training of teachers and principals.
North Carolina Public Schools 93
Year
1921-22
1924-25
1929-30
1931-32
1933-34
1935-36
1937-38
1939-40
1940-41
1941-42
94 Biennial Repobt of State Supebintendent
WHAT THE SCHOOLS NEED?
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Before setting forth the needs of the public schools, let us review
briefly the public school situation as it obtained from 1933, when the
State assumed responsibility for the financial support of an eight months'
school term, to the present.
The General Assembly of 1933 had one of the most difficult problems
to solve that ever came before a ISTorth Carolina law-making body—that
of providing the money for operating all State governmental agencies
and institutions, including the minimum school program. The General
Assembly of 1931 had already assumed the cost of operating the Consti-tutional
six months' term with additional aid to schools operating for
eight months. But due to a breakdown in the local tax structure of the
State, these latter schools were finding it increasingly difficult to keep
their doors open. Taxes simply could not be collected, and hence the repre-sentatives
of the people in the General Assembly were faced with the
task of keeping the schools in operation during the financial crisis.
The situation was met squarely by the General Assembly, however, and
with sacrifice and hard work on the part of the school people the doors
of our public schools were kept open for the boys and girls of the State.
School spending of all sorts was reduced. State standards for the mini-mum
program were set up. Administrative changes were made, and a
financial policy was established with the acknowledgment that the
support of the public schools was a State responsibility.
The annual cost of operating the public schools was reduced from
approximately $24,000,000, to $18,000,000. The General Assembly made
an appropriation of $16,000,000 annually for this purpose, and the
remaining amount was obtained from fines, forfeitures, penalties, and
poll and dog taxes in the local units.
Written into the law was a provision to abolish all taxes levied in
the local districts for the operation of the schools. Administrative units,
however, were given the authority to vote de novo for supplementary
taxes with which either to operate the schools for a ninth month, or on a
level higher than that provided at State expense, or both. Under this
legal authority only seven units were successful in voting the additional
taxes necessary; and consequently 119,145 children who had attended
schools operating nine months prior to 1933 were denied that oppor-tunity
during the year 1933-34.
The growth and improvement in the State public school system f