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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1961)
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 16. 1961 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. ORE. Educator Believes Americans Would Rebel At Longer School Year By A. ROBERT SMITH Mail Tribune ' Washington Correspondent Washington - Would the American people support the idea of operating the public " school system ! through much i of the s u m- mer - instead of allow i n g school build ings and teach ers to be idle three months out of the year? This ques tion seems relevant in view of the Kennedy Administration's appeal for federal aid to edu cation to improve the condi tion of education and reduce the shortage of classrooms and tevchers. - One leading educator shakes his head. Dr. William G. Carr, executive secretary of the Na tional Education association believes loo many American families would rebel at the idea of the long summer school vacation being reduced from three months to one. Dr. Carr doesn't look upon tne traditional u-montn scnooi year as an educational issue It is more of a social or cul' tural issue. It Is what most families are used to. It makes planning a family vacation simpler. No Strings Attached The question came up dur ing a radio broadcast In which Dr. Carr was interviewed by a panel of newspaper correspon dents on the Voice of Amer ica's weekly program, Press Conference U.S.A., which is beamed throughout the world. There were no strings attach ed to the character of the questions the reporters could ask, and the program was not rehearsed. Dr. Carr once taught at Pacific University in Oregon., He is the operating director of the nation's largest teacher organization. . Teachers would be better off if they could work at their profession the year around, Dr. Carr believes, instead of having to take summer jobs to supplement their salary for leaching nine, months. But if the school year were lengthen ed, teachers would of course have to be paid higher sal aries. There is a teacher shortage basically because the salary incentive is insufficient, Dr. Carr believes. Money is only one of the incentives for teach ing, he is quick to point out, but teachers are not unlike others in desiring a reasonably high standard of living com mensurate with their educa tional training and value to society. ' "If we could hold all of the persons who are prepared to teach, we would have no shortage," he stated. Caused by Inducements The difficulty is caused by inducements made by private business firms which offer more attractive situations, par ticularly in salaries, he ex plained. One of the hopes of the NEA is that federal aid to education will result In teach ers receiving higher salaries. Under the Administration's plan, the federal grants would go to the states without any strings on how It should or could be used, either for build ings, salaries or other adminis trative overhead expenses. If this creates a larger pool of revenue in each state for edu cation, the idea is that a greater amount could be al located for teachers' pay. The use of teaching ma- I i rh ' 4ftf: " i" i i 1 v" ' tt r T 1 ,1 XL SSr mt LW'M I v , it.' Cwx 4?4 It ; fiaMM Tflt fpflffi chines will never cure the teacher shortage, he maintain ed, because the machine only is a tool that a teacher can employ. It can strengthen the teaching program but not plug the teacher gap. Dr. Carr conceded that using school buildings more than nine months would help some what in overcoming the short age of classrooms that, exists in some areas of the country. Bue he shied away from advo cating this as any cure. Local school boards could extend the school year beyond 180 days now"he observed. But he wondered whether the school board members could get reelected if they do so. Dr. Carr agreed that pupils today must learn more than their fathers and grandfathers about a host of new subjects, especially in the technical fields. But despite the emphasis now being attached to im proving the educational sys tem of the country, he steered away from suggesting any change in that practice which is a carryover from the days of rural America-the 9-month school year "which permitted the kids to go out and help harvest the crops. He said that to lengthen the school, year would oppose the trend in employment, which has for years been to reduce the number of hours worked each week. He's afraid people would not stand for it. It seems to come down to this. If the public education system is to meet the needs of an expanding population and advancing demand for well informed citizens, more funds must be allocated to education, either from local or federal sources. The question for parents, teachers and school boards to decide is whether this can be done ade- nnatol with, the tradit onal iew.il ""f 9-month year; or whether the any longer long summer vacation crops to harvest - is a luxury the with country can no longer afford. IBILtfDX 12" and 2' Mixed Big Double Loads - Summer Prices S & H Green Stamps MEDFORD FUEL CO. Telephone SP 2-2111 HOME IN STREET Unublf to pay Ills rent, R. C. Johnson, 41-year-old unemployed sandblaster, moved Into the street in Nash ville, Tenn., with all the family possesions. Here he and his son, Robert, 16, try to keep warm as they guard the furniture. Johnson, father of five, said he sent his wife and other children to a friend's house, "because it was too cold out here." "I tried to find us another place, but couldn't. I guess you might say I'm kinda up against it," he said. (UPI Telephoto) Nursing Home Picture Grim THE DANMOORE HOTEL . 1217 SW. Motriion St. . PORTLAND, OREGON All tranilont gueitt. All thoia who come, return. Rarer not high, not low. .Free garage, TV a and radiof. Reputation tor efeanllnaii. , Children Under : Seven No Charge Washington -flJPD- The aver age' nursing home is a grim place for old folks to spend the waning days of their lives. So says the Senate Subcom mittee on the Aging in an official report on a nationwide survey of nursing home con ditions, ... . The report estimates that there are now about 37,000 nursing homes of all types in the United Stales. They can accommodate a total of about 850,000 patients. Only about one-fourlh of them provide 'skilled nursing" care - and! high in many cases that is more nominal than real. The aver age age of the patients is 80. Charges for nursing home care vary widely, ranging from as little as $2 a day to as mucn as $13.85 a day. The subcommittee found that a "small minority" of the beat commercial nursing homes do provide "good nurs ing care, ' occupational and recreational therapy and med ical service" and are "cheer ful, clean and safe." But costs in such homes are "relatively LOCKER BEEF Cut Wrapped and Quick Frozen RIGHT FROM THE PACIFIC! FRESH CAUGHT! GOOD IN SALADS! CRAB LB. 35 Fresh Beef Tongues Beef Hearts Bacon Squares Chuck Roast 49' Fresh 25 lbl 29 1 9 ,B Hickory Smoked Big FREEZER SPECIAL 25 lbs. BEEF Only s1298 Cut, Wrapped and Quick Frozen CHRYSTAL MEATS 4th and Fir SP 2-7315 At the other extreme, and also in the minority, are the poorest nursing homes, which are "overcrowded, nauseating and unsafe and which pro vide no medical or rehabilita lion services. The vast majority" of nurs ing homes, the subcommittee said, "fall in between these two categories "They are moderately safe, provide nursing care varying from Indifference . to .warm sympathy, are generally clean and meet minimum standards of space, nutrition and fire protection." . But they provide "little rec reational activity beyond a lone television set." Attend ance by physicians is "rare" and little if anything' is done to rehabilitate or restore the aged patients to self-sufficient activity, according to the re port. "' These average nursing homes, the subcommittee said, promote "passivity and immo bility" in their patients. De prived of the active rehabilita tion program which could re store a large percentage of them to mobility and mental clarity, the patients soon lapse into a slate of living death. Their minds and muscles ato phy from disuse, and they be come permanent Invalids, con demned to a bleak existence of staring at the ceiling or a television set until death at long last mercifully releases them, according to the report. The subcommittee said the problem can't be solved mere ly by passing laws requiring nursing home operators to provide better services. Money is the rub - the average pa tient just can't afford to pay as much as it would cost to provide the kind of care he needs. Do Best They Can "Most nursing home opera tors do the best they can with in the limits of their income," the subcommittee said. "It is Inherently Impossible for even the most altruistic nursing home proprietors to provide registered nursing servlra, routine medical care, rehabili tative and recreational activi ty, and still make even a small profit." ; The subcommittee recom- mended that Congress step in with "major legislative steps" to improve nursing home care, j Specifically, it said, the U.S. Department of Health Frlnm. ' tion and Welfare should dc-j velop "minimum standards' for patient care in nursing homes designed lo restore and maintain the physical and i mental independence for pa- i lients." Then Congress should "con-; sider adoption of a program i of federal financial assistance" ! to nursing homes which up-i grade their services to meet ! the minimum standards. j CONSISTENT DUCK Memphis - (I'PD - Eleven year-old Don High has a duck named "Biddie" with a record of some kind. Don and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. D. High says the mallard has laid 81 eggs in 81 days. 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