MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
THURSDAY, MARCH 14. 1963
Apbropiricse Books
By FREDERICK H. TREESH
. United Press International
. Steve spent Sunday eve
ning with Diane and Biff at
their house. They played
ping-pong and knock hockey.
Steve left at nine because he
wanted to be in bed early. He
wanted to get plenty of rest
so that he'd be in good con
dition for the game on Thurs
day. J i .
On. the way home he passed
Wilma's house. All the lights
in her apartment were on. He
saw couples dancing. He
could hear a record player
blaring. Suddenly in the dis
tance Steve heard the wail
of a siren. In a few minutes
three squad cars pulled up in
front of Wilma's house.
"It's a raid!" Steve thought.
He watched the policemen go
into the house. After a while,
they came back with several
teen-agers. Steve recognized
some of the boys from the
gang. Willie was with (hem.
Wilma was brought out last.
She was struggling and kick
ing. It took two policemen to
get her into the car. "Wow!"
Steve thought to himself. "I
wonder what happened."
Missel. School
v Willie was absent from
school on Monday. Before
school began on Tuesday,
Steve saw him in the school
yard. He told Willie that he'd
seen the raid. He asked 'him
what had happened.
.: "Somebody tipped the cops
off," Willie said, "and told
them that we were smoking
reefers. I was in Court all day
yesterday but the judge let
me go free because it was my
first offense. Wilma and a
couple of the fellows from the
gang got sent away.
; "You were smoking reef
ers!" Steve explaimed.
"I only took one puff,"
Willie replied
i "You took one puff too
many," Steve told him. ,
Does the story above sound
as if it were from a book of
pulp fiction?
It's not. It's a chapter from
a junior high school textbook.
It was written by a New
York City school teacher who
is angry and frustrated at the
lack of available texts which:
Lists Books Need
1. Are comprehensible by
teen-agers who i?ad only at
the grade school level.
2. Depict city life realis
tically and deal with subjects
which can be related to by
students who have never seen
a farm or a suburban split
level, children whose father
isn't Anglo Saxon, doesn't
carry a briefcase and doesn't
catch the 8:09 train to the
office.
The teacher is Richard H.
Turner, who teaches in a slum
area "blackboard jungle"
where there are serious
academic and disciplinary
troubles. The academic cli
mate isn't very nice, but what
really rankles Turner is that
the available educational ma
terial is wholly unsuitable to
his "culturally deprived"
charges.
The problem is this: The
students don't read well
enough to use standard texts
for their age group. And by
reducing the reading level of
texts, you come down to
grade . school "Come, Spot,
come" or "See Dick run"
books which worldly wise
teen-agers reject as kids stuff.
Different Mores
Aggravating the situation is
the racial or ethnic back
ground of the, slum district
school population which fails
to relate to, or even rejects
hastily, books depicting hap
py, Anglo-Saxon, middle class,
suburban, -home-owning fami
lies. As Turner puts it:
"Our crying need has been
for texts which combined a
low reading level with a high
interest level, and at the same
time fulfilled our curriculum
Dennis the Menace
'XtAlOOVmW K GRAPES.' I WANT SOMETHlK' fASTg!
requirements.- And since the
teenagers we teach have diffi
culty relating to the kind of
life which is glowingly and
unrealistically depicted in
standard texts, still another of
our needs has been texts
which do depict the kind of
life to which they can relate."
The problems which Turner
and thousands of other big
city teachers are confronted
with daily are beginning to
gain attention as potential na
tional disasters if remedial
steps are not taken soon.
A report of the Educational
Policies commission, issued
last April warned America's
cities that unless they find a
way to better educate "cul
turally deprived", persons half
their residents in' 1970 will be
"ignorant, incompetent, mal
adjusted charges of the com
munity." The so-called "culturally
deprived" children in the
United States now number
several million. Large num-j
bers of them are Negroes re
cently moved from the South
but there are Puerto Ricans
hew to the mainland and "hill
billies," rural whites mainly
Sought by
Educator
from the South, moving !"
large numbers to Chicago,
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit
and other cities of the mid
west. In the southwest and
west there are the Mexicans.
In short, the problem of ed
ucating these disadvantaged
youngsters is real and imme
diate in at least 10 or 12 ma
jor cities.
"Those of us on the firing
line (in slum district class
rooms) are fighting the cul
ture of the country," said
Turner. "The Negroes, the
Puerto Ricans . , . these kids
are left out. They're left out
of books, they're left out of
television, they're left out of
movies, except in a distorted
way. They're angry, and I
guess I'm angry with them."
Writs Ntw Books
Turner, launching a one
man counter-attack against
the problem generally, wrote
a series of six paper-back text
books for use at the Junior
High-Senior High level.
They are designed to meet
the students' pre-employment
needs in the areas of reading,
personal finance, social prob
lems encountered on the job
and in other personal relation
ships. .
The series, known as the
Turner-Livingston Reading se
ries (New York University
Press), is written at fifth grade
level in a dialogue style. They
treat city life realistically and
avoid a preaching approach to
social attitudes. ,
Because they are aimed at
students from a diversity of
racial and ethnic backgrounds,
the books avoid pictures of
people, a retreat from the
"blue-eyed blonde" approach
of standard texts.
But if the style and ap
proach of Turner's books are
unusual, some of his subject
matter is outright, controver
sial. He knew it would be, but
he wrote it that way for a
reason. He writes about such
things as steady dating, ciga
rette smoking and narcotics
addiction along with topics of
a more conventional nature.
Students Drink
"These kids are 13 1 to 17
years old. They drink, smoke
and play cards," Turner said.
"Some educators objected
to my reference to steady dat
ing, but to these kids steady
Exchange of Letters I ndicate
Problem Facing Dr. Rafferty
Happy' Camp An indica
tion of the rocky road that
lies ahead of Dr. Max Rai
ferty, elected superintendent
of public instruction in Cali
fornia last November, has be
come apparent here following
an exchange of letters be
tween Dr. Rafferty and John
H. Sugden Jr., superintendent
of the Happy Camp Union
Elementary School district.
Late in February, Dr. Raf
ferty sent a form letter to the
presidents of school boards in
California offering sugges
tions in three general areas:
better reading instruction, de
voting more time for subject
matter in schools, and the
question of whether history,
geography, and civics should
be labeled separately or
grouped together under the
label of "social studies."
The letter drew a lengthy
reply from Superintendent
Sugden, who voiced the opin
ion that California schools
are already doing well in the
first two areas, and then dis
puted Dr. Rafferty's reason
ing on the matter of social
studies.
Contract Expires
Sugden concluded his reply
with this remark: "My con
tract: expires on June 30,
163, and if you are interested
in the position, I suggest you
apply through proper
channels.
"In the meantime, I am the
district superintendent of
schools in this district and I
plan to, as I have in the past,
exercise these responsibilities
to the fullest ..."
Dr. Rafferty's first sugges
tion to the state's school
board presidents was that
they see if their teachers are
using an essentially phonics
approach to' reading instruc
tion. Sugden replied that he felt
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if Dr. Rafferty were to open
the doors of most primary
classrooms in California and
walk in he would find the
phonic approach already in
widespread use "as well as
other proven and successful
methods." ,
More Advice Given ,
Dr. Rafferty's second piece
of advice for school board
presidents urged them to "see
how much time is being spent
in the classroom collect' 'g
money for worthy causes,
taking the lunchroom count,
listening to administrative
announcements over the pub
lic address system and excus
ing the pupils to go to assem
blies or athletic contests."
Sugden replied, "I am
aware of the time misspent in
classrooms and have been for
sometime. I am constantly on
guard against misused time
as are other California
schools."
"Calling a Spade a Spade"
was the title of Dr. Rafferty's
third suggestion. He said, "I
am going to be doing my level
best during the next four
years to urge schools to teach
history as straight history
and call it history." He decried
the idea of "mixing" history.
geography and civics together
dating is the very height of
morality.
The six books are titled
and deal with these life ex
perience areas: "The Person
You Are," "The Family You
Belong To," "The Friends You
Make," "The Town You Live
In," "The Job You Get," "The
Money You Spend."
Turner says his books are
far from a solution to the task
of teaching secondary students
who can barely read. But
they're a step-one of the few
-in the right direction, he be
lieves. Combines Talents
Turner combines in his text
book wrltlnc Dersnnal pvnpri.
ence in the classroom and as
a professional writer. He au
thored several television
scripts, including "Snnw .Inh "
starring Joan Blondcll on
Playwrights '86 and "Once A
norsepiayer, produced by
the.Rheingold Theater.
He also has acteri in. Hirpt.
cd and produced plays in resi
dent theaters and summer
stock in several east coast
cities.
Turner, 42, who has taught
in Slum Aireo
in "difficult" schools in Man-1 since World War II, hopes I writing textbooks specifically
hattan, Brooklyn and Queens soon to devote full time to for city school use.
if" A ' 1 n: ;S
" ' ' ' ; J ' ,
NOT LIKE HOME Terry O'Neill, 17, her parka was quite out of place in the 80
Alaska's entry in . the 1963 Miss America s degree weather and switched to more com-
Junior Miss Pageant, is a bit puzzled by the fortable bermuda shorts. Her home is in
balmy weather in Mobile, Ala. She found Fort Richardson, Alaska. (UPI) "I
Atiyeh Attacks
Musa's Views on
Tax Proposals
Salem (UPll A blistering at
tack on Senate President Ben
Musa's tax views was issued
today by Rep. Victor Atiyeh
(R-Portland), sponsor of Gov.
Mark Hatfield's tax bills.
Musa said that Oregon's in
come tax should be a fixed
percentage of the federal in
come tax for the sake of sim
plicity. .
Atiyeh termed Musa's state
ment an "eleventh hour des
peration pronouncement" that
"contributes nothing but dis
cord to the working relations
of the two lax committees."
Musa, when advised of
Atiyeh's attack, said "it's un
fortunate he didn't talk to me
about it." Musa said that
when he made the suggestion
he said it might be the way
to collect taxes, but he did not
call for such action at this
time.
Self-Promotion Charged
' The Portland Republican
charged Musa was attempting
to "promote himself ... at
the expense of both parties
who have worked long hours
on the serious problem of taxation."
Atiyeh said Musa's state
ment had contributed to a de
lay in the session and "confu
sion on compromises which
are being affected through the
cooperative attitude of House
Speaker Clarence Barton and
Tax Committee Chairman
Richard Eymann."
Atiyeh charged "the senate
president has violated every
ethic in the book," and said it
was "deceit" for Musa to call
for one tax program in his
legislation and another in his
public utterances.
under the title of social stu
dies. "I've found that when
you try to teach these things
all mixed up together, the
children end up the same
way," he remarked.
Sugden's reply stated that
when he was in school, his
tory, geography and civics
were rote taught with no em
phasis placed on their mean
ing or interrelationship.
"Someone felt that for bet
ter understanding and be
cause of their interdepend
ence, they should be grouped
and studied together for more
meaning," Sugden said. "This
grouping was then called
'social studies' which, by your
terms, is like calling a spade
a heart.
. "Now I am sure that
neither you nor I want Cali
fornia schools to go back to
rote learning for history or
geography or civics. So what
you really want is for us to
stop calling a spade a heart
and start calling it a diamond
or a club. Frankl, I don't care
what you call it. I'm only In
terested in teaching all these
subjects to children in a
meaningful way.
Addressed to Board
Referring to the fact that
Dr. Rafferty addressed the
letter to school board presi
dents rather than superin
tendents, Sugden remarked,
"Long ago many of us recog
nized, as should you, that
improvement of Instruction
comes from improvement of
teaching, not by school boards
and other lay people spying
or tearing down the existing
system, even if it does need
change and Improvement.
Change and improvement are
continual processes like edu
cation itself."
Ironically, Sugden once
lived in La Canada, in south
ern California, where Dr. Raf
ferty last served before being
elected state superintendent.
Sugden was graduated from
La Canada Elementary school
in 1941. Dr. Rafferty served
as superintendent of the new
ly unified La Canada school
district in 1962.
07 Is Discovered
On Mobile Home Park
Hollywood -OIPD-Fess Park
er has taken part of his mo
tion picture and television
earnings to buy into a swank
mobile home park In Santa
Barbara, Calif. Now he says
he's got a real problem.
Oil was discovered on the
property and he can't decide
how much of the land should
L ,H , Ij
i' !
MARCH 17TH
Weekend Issue
WASHINGTON POLITICS:
"IfK't Irish 'Cabintl' "
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY:
"Royally on the Hocks"
SPORTS WORLD:
"Now Anyon Con Cared Fish"
CRIME REPORT:
"Shoplifting Newejf Crime
WW
Plus Other Stories
and Features in
Family
Weekly
with your copy of the
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be set aside for drilling and
how much for housing.
a