HERALD AND NEWS, Klamalh Falls, Ore.
Friday, June 7, 1J
Letters To The Editor
PAGE A
V
County Education Would Benefit
: .While advocates of both sides of the pres
ent county school consolidation proposal have
been decrying the attitude that money is the
'most important element in the consideration,
it is nevertheless apparent that major empha
sis is being put by both sides on the economic
factor.
It is unfortunate that this is so, but it is a
fact. As a result, there is a great deal more of
confusion than would exist if leaders and
speakers devoted more effort to the other
;issues involved. Inasmuch as both sides are
using different sources of figures to present
jtheir argument, we are hopeful that voters
.will completely disregard the claims made bv
bolh sides, get their own figures, or forget
about the economics of the situation altogeth
er. It is acknowledged here that the last-mentioned
course of action is pretty hard to
swallow.
The important thing to remember is that
if consolidation has merit, otherwise, to justify
a favorable vote Monday, there is not enough
difference in cost regardless of which set of
figures one uses.
: One real important factor for voters to
keep in mind is that voters, the various school
board associations, the various citizens com
mittees, and knowledgeable individuals have
studied and advanced several proposals for
solution to the school problem in this county.
All plans have been rejected by: the voters, or
the school boards,-or the citizen groups. It
would not be reasonable to stamp the Monday
ballot proposal as a "last chance" but we are
coming dangerously close to exhausting the
alternatives in our situation.
, Opponents of the single county unit have
made much of the cost factor (probably with
good reason) and statements to the effect that
consolidation would arouse bitterness, enmity
and open warfare between the city- people
and their rural neighbors.
One cannot make light of cither charge,
but wc are inclined to discount both.
None of us like td see our taxes go up, but
they do, anyway, despite our individual efforts
to keep them down. We arc certain that no
self-respecting citizen of Klamath County is
going o allow education to suffer for Jack of
a few tax dollars. For the most part, that is
what we are talking about here only a few
dollars a year more for consolidation, if it is
effected. The cost would bo so small, it ap
pears, that it pretty well dilutes the argument
against consolidation on the basis of econom
ics. As to the charge that a consolidated situa
WASHINGTON
ARA
By F11.TON LEWIS JR.
A Nebraska Republican charg
es that the Area Redevelopment
Agency has so much money tt
doesn't know what to do.
' As a consequence, the AltA lias
proposed grants that are eco
nomically indefensible, according
to Kep. Halph Beermami. The
t4j5,50O.On irom Congress tins
ear, is considering a loan of
$18 million to build a soy bciin
processing plant in Dorchester
County. Maryland. This is de
spite the act that present facili
ties are operating at only 80 per
cent of eatacity. Experts Irom
private industry ainl the Depart
ment of Agriculture call Ibe proj
ect absurd.
' In New York. Ihe AHA has
tentatively agreed to underwrite
; 63 per cent of a $20 million sugar
;beet project. Agriculture. Secre
tary Orvillc Freeman has prom
, Ised Cayuga County a 50.000-ton
sugar beet quota if the loan goes
tlirough.
'. " Nebraska farmers have idle
acres on which beets can be
grown without federal aid. So do
farmers in other states. "Actu
ally," Bocrmann says, "farmers
can grow all the beets tliey want
It is processing plants we need "
And private capital won't fur
nish those until It is assured
that the annual U.S. sugar quota
set by the administration-won t
bo drastically cut.
1 Republicans, alter a thorough
research Job on AHA, discovered
(hat 24 per cent of the loans ap
proved between July I, lata ami
March 25. IKtU went to finance
motels and hotels. They claim Uiat
was not Uto intent of Congress.
One "distressed area" listed Is
Mineral County. Nevada, where
the median family Income Is $5.
(MS a year. The county's potu
lation rose 13.8 per cent between
!M0 and litiO. while population In
the county seat rose M per cent.
Republicans cite a Feb. I loan
In tlx Ponehartrain Hotel hi De
tion will lead to bickering and cleavages with
in the county: We have seen enough of these
situations to realize that for some individuals,
this will be true. But, we have enough faith
and confidence in the people of Klamath
County that we deeply appreciate the extent
of their maturity and common sense that
would not let such a terrible situation develop
on a widespread basis.
There appear to be sufficient safeguards
in the selection of school board members and
administrative people to assure orderly,
broad - based representation on the consoli
dated school boards. That will preclude any
group or faction of the county's population
exercising too much control over the destinies
of a particular school unit within the couuly
complex.
We have a great deal of respect for the
argument that consolidation tends to dilute
the opportunity for close "local" control. But,
it is our belief that the benefits of consolida
tion, particularly as related to educational op
portunity, transcend the "local control" con
sideration. It is not entirely clear, at this time, just
what is the effect of a recent act by the Ore
gon Legislature that revokes Klamath County's
exclusion from reorganization laws of the
state. Even the schoolmen cannot get together
on interpretation of what the new law means
or requires. It is not conceivable that the aver
age citizen will be able to ascertain the signifi
cance of the legislature's action. However, it
seems reasonably clear that the new law can
not change the situation in Klamath County
physically. The same arguments prevail
against the various plans that have been advo
cated in the past, and it is not feasible to think
that the law will change any of those objec
tions. Wc have tried to be objective in this issue.
We have recognized the validity of viewpoints
of those who share a difference of opinion
on the consolidation proposal. Letters to the
editor and news stories we have carried have
tried to present as clearly as possible the ex
planations and statements of those who should
be knowledgeable in the subject. It is not nec
essary that we repeat these various pro and
con arguments in a long editorial here. We
have made an honest attempt to study the sit
uation from the wide range of material avail
able. Based on the information available to us,
wc arc of the opinion that voters Monday
should react favorably to the consolidation
proposal, and vote "yes."
REPORT
Development Absurd
troit for $l.a'.H.525 to help finance
a 432-unit motor hotel and provide
t.ifl new jobs. Detroit's hotel or
eupancy rate last year was only
54 per cent, however.
A sizable grant was made to
Duluth. Minn., "to supplement
convention, entertainment, rec
reation and cultural facilities."
The cost for tlic 22 permanent
jobs created figures nut to $277,
272 er job.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, who prom
ised voters be could do more for
Massachusetts, bus seen Ins juici
est plum snatrhtd away.
Soon alter Kennedy canio to
Washington as a freshman
legislator live months ago. Ihe
Commissioner of Internal Reve
Letters To
Burden
I am a resident of (lie city of
Chiloquin and a taxpayer in Ihe
count) school system.
I can't see where a single school
district is going to be of any
advantage to the people of the
county.
I went to Kl! 2J years ago
and granted tney need a new
school. But it seems to me that
w hen our county school board pro
posed several Ideas to the Kl'
School Hoard and to Elementary
Board No. I and Uiey were ail
turned down that we should not
have to help txnld a school lor
Klamalh Falls.
I am tin1 mother of (our chil
dren, three of which have already
graduated ftom Clulitquin High
and I might nild received line
educations.
We will not receive a better
curriculum under a one unit dis
trict so don't see why we siioukl
nue, Mortimer Caphn, announced
that he was shutting down his
Northeast Regional Office, locat
ed in New York. All its functions,
he said, would lie transferred to
Hoston.
Congressional reaction was vi
olent. Hcniblicaus and Democrats
alike cliarged the sw itch was po
litically motivated. Tliey present
ed government statistics to prove
that the move could not be jus
tilled for any reason but poli
tics. Congress called Caplin's boss.
Treasury Secretary C. Douglas
Dillon to explain the move. Ap
parently. Dillon couldn't come up
with enough reasons, for the an
nouncement w as quietly made that
UiS would slav in New York
The Editor
have to dig any deeper in our
pockets.
As 1 have lieard setcial limes
all we want is your money. I say
let the people of Klamath Kails
vote a tax or two to build their
schools as the people in the coun
ty do.
We tkm't have a swimming poo
lor our school, our athletic pro
gram is self-supiHirting 'or we
don't have sports' ami our chil
dren don't gel any help for our
bunds.
Also we don't squander money
for Greyhound buses, 'our bus
drivers work nl other jobs also1,
but Ihey still haul our boys to the
games.
In closing I al.-o want to ask
people to think before tliey mark
tltcir ballot Nit I hope they see
whore (boy will be putting an
extra burden on tlie rural people
II they vote yes on Monday. June
10
Mrs. Roger tt Wright.
Chiloquin.
Letters To The
History
The need for reorganization of
Klamath County school districts
is not new. The problems that
demonstrate this need have not
solved themselves even though
they have been considered in the
past. It would be interesting
to look at some of the past ef
forts at reorganization.
Without question the outstanding
reorganization work in this county
was the county unit plan creat
ing the present Klamath County
school district. This included all
the area of Klamath County ex
cept that of District No I.
Soon the Klamath Union High
School district was superimposed
over District No. 1 and the por
tion of the county district adja
cent thereto (or high school pur
poses. This is the present or
ganization and well demonstrates,
as most educators agree, the inef
fectiveness of union high districts.
Early in 1053 tlio boards of
the above three districts jointly
requested a study and survey he
made by representatives of the
stale department of education.
The survey was to study building
needs, population trends, and the
degree of efficiency that could be
attained under the present system.
This survey pointed out the unique
organization of the districts found
in nu oilier county in Oregon. To
quote from the report. "Every
one familiar with the district or
ganization in Klamath County is
aware of the fact that under the
present system there are very
definite handicaps because of the
three di((erent typos of school
districts and their overlapping
responsibilities. To meet fully the
needs of Uie schools of the coun
ty within the next ten years or
less, at a reasonable cost and
to provide fur the maximum ef
ficiency, a certain amount of dis
trict reorganization seems inevi
table. Any system in which Ihe
elementary schools arc under the
jurisdiction of one board and the
high schools under the jurisdiction
al a separate board is not only in
ellicient as far as cost is con
cerned but makes it very difficult
to provide tlio necessary coordi
nation and sequence in curriculum
development and instructional ef
ficiency throughout the system.
Experience has shown that the
most ellicient school system is
possible when all of the schools
both elementary and secondary
within a geographic unit come
under the administration of one
Utard ami a superintendent chosen
by that board. This condition docs
not exist in Klamath County.
This could be attained by district
No 1 joining Uie county schitol
district If this were done the
union Inch school district would
ho dissolved automatically and all
ol the schools o( the county both
ir the city and rural areas would
come under a single board which
would provide for unified admin
istration "
In 'Xu the School District I(o
orc,aiu,ition act was passed hy
the state legislature with its nu
or objective the "I nitiod Di.
tint." A county looriMiiiM'ion
committee was cstabhslicd toi th.
put pose of proposing a plan ot
icoi ganization to the otc;s tor
their approval. The plans studied
hy the committee were:
1. A single district tor tlic coun
ty - Two districts consisting o(
tin present school District No 1
and liie present county unit ele
mentary district
:l. Two districts consisting of
Ihe approximate Kl IIS district
and t!y county unit high school
4 Three districts consisting o(
S D, No I. a suburban district,
ami the county unit high school
district.
5. Two districts w ith boundaries
to be determined, that would di
vide the south suburban area be
tween the two districts on the
present pupil tax rcsponsibilityr
Plan No. 4 above was soon elim
inated - since it would create a
very poor district as far as the
assessed valuation per pupil was
concerned. No. 5 can be recog
nized as the presently proposed
"gerrymander" plan. This plan
was found undesirable since it
arbitrarily divided a social unit,
was only a stopgap measure with
no long range benefits, and offered
little permanent tax equalization.
Plan No. 1 was criticized for its
difficulty of administration. H
seemed to offer the best possibility
for improvement of education
and the most efficient
use of building and facilities. In
total disregard of the acute need
for reorganization this committee
had not agreed on any plan by
llllil when it was dissolved hy
legislative exemption of Klamath
County from the act.
In Ihe fall of 12 a citizens
committor again found that re
organization should be accom
plished prior to a major building
plan. The schoul board associa
tion, consisting of the three
tioards, tried hard to find an ac
ceptable plan. The single district
again apicars as the most de
sirable educationally, and t h e
most efficient cost wise.
As a result the boards of Dis
trict No. I and the county dis
trict were petitioned and will hold
an election dune 10 to organize
all the schools in Klamath Coun
ty into a single county unit dis
trict. Tlie voters will have an op
portunity to express their desires
on this date. Be sure to study all
issues concerned and then express
your wish on the ballot.
Ray Garrison.
2'J38 Hope St.
Equitable
One sometimes hears it said
tliat it is not fair to expect people
who live at Henley, or Merrill, or
Bonanza to help pay for the edu
cation of children who live in the
city.
It is very hard to say where
fairness starts or stops in the
area of taxation. It seems to me
In lie most unfair that the school
district of Gilchrist, a very rich
area, would have to be taxed to
help educate the elementary chil
li: in of the sprawling suburban
urea: a much poorer district in
proportion to the number of chil
dren per tax dollar. However, this
has been going on (or years with
out protest.
Certainly it has been commonly
rtrognized hy all that where a
suhstantial portion of the educa
tional lax burden falls on the
people within a certain area, tlien
that district must be large enough
to provide for enough of an equal
ization factor to furnish the op
portunity lor an equality of educa
tion for children within the area
There are those who are very
q uck to say it is the duty of
tlio city to educate the siiliinhnn
i lildrrn ami otiiers equally quick
to say that these children belong
to tlie county I think this is a
p ireiy academic debate and that
it is tlie duty and prnilcce of all
ot the wealth within Klamath Coun
ty to educate all of the chil
rlren within Klamath County.
A single county unit school dis
tuct would provide an eqiut.ih'e
taxing unit and a line and dil
uent school district lor adminis
trative purposes
T A Patterson.
2i01 Lawrence.
Flexibility
Tlie county-wide set-! disir.t
consolidation election on June '.'
will culminate many- weeks ot
Editor
study by the school boards of Dis
trict 1, District 2 and the county.
During this time every conceiva
ble form of reorganization was
presented for study, thoroughly
analyzed, and, except for the sin
gle unit district plan, eventually
discarded.
It slwuld be significant to the
voters in School Districts 1 and
2 that the boards of directors of
both districts have unanimously
gone on record as favoring this
form of reorganization. In doing
so they have viewed the benefits
of reorganization from the long
range standpoint rather than the
near term.
Tlie heart of our present prob
lem is centered in tlic Henley
KL'HS area, which is, of course,
the populous sector of Uie county
and the one where these problems
are likely to be continually pres
ent, in the foreseeable f u t u r'e.
These problems are created by
Ihe population growth in the Henley-suburban
Klamalh Falls dis
trict. Only by removing the dis
trict boundary between these two
areas and placing them under
one school board with full author
ity for the education of all of Uie
students through all the elemen
tary and secondary grades can
the necessary flexibility be ob
tained to solve these problems.
Although tlie immediate effect
of a school district consolidation
would be a slight increase in mil
lage rates in tlic county versus no
appreciable change in the suburbs
and a small decrease in Ihe city,
if tlie Henley district grows fast
er than the metropolitan Klam
ath Kalis area, as has been the
exiericnce in similar cases else
where, this situation could easily
be reversed in a few years with
the present urban area bearing
the brunt of the tax load. As a
result, those in the county who
have been predicting "hard feel
ings" and "bitterness" if consoli
dation is approved and charging
the city with asking the country
to underwrite the cost of its edu
cation, can hardly be considered
either far-sighted or realistic
about Ihe future growth of Klam
ath County.
Opponents of consolidation in
some instances have, perhaps un
knowingly, used half-truths and
withheld some of the facts while
proposing an alternative plan
which tliey have represented as a
painless panacea. Tlie implica
tion has been that reorganization
can be had very quickly and sim
ply by action of Die Klamath
County Board of Supervisors act
ing as a District Boundary Board.
However, we may all rest as
suied that no major school dis
trict lumndaiy change will ever
be maile by this body without a
vote of the people.
'l iie odds are that tlie school dis
trict consolidation to he voted on
.lime 10 is tlie only plan of reor
ganization we will have a chance
to vote on for a long time to
com. If it is defeated our
chance for a unified school sys
tem in tlie city and suburbs goes
witii it. and we must continue to
make do as Itest wc cat wit.i
o.r oatmided. inflexible Vr.ion.
II. .h School system
St it is extremely imortanl
titat every citizen express lum
seif at the polls next Monday.
The opponents of live measure
cm be expected to turn out in
tercc. Consequently those wlxt bc
l:ee in improving our edmat.on
al standards and orcaniat.on
here in Klamath CiHinty must be
equally anxious to cast their bal
lots in faor of tlie proposition if
it is to cam
C. S Huston.
Member. Bw.d o Director..
KUIS District No 2
No Charity
This is an open letter to the
people in Klamath County who
care more for the education of all
of our children than for area preju
dices. We are for the Single Coun
ty Unit System as the answer to
the present and future school prob
lems in Klamath County.
For one district to have crowd
ed facilities while the adjoining
district might have an underfilled
school is a ridiculous waste of
taxpayer money. If two districts
adjoining each other are over
crowded, it also seems a waste
of taxpayer money for them both
to embark on two separate build
ing programs, when a joint build
ing between them, in the area
that needs it, would be more eco
nomical. If, according to one of
the many plans backed by oppon
ents of unification, a greatly en
larged Henley High is to be built,
why can't city and county build it
together?
Many of us in City Elementary
District No. 1 are not too happy
about being held up as the "city
slicker out to skin the farmer."
Many of us do not live wiUiin or
even very near the city limits.
District Nu. 1 extends north as far
as the Algoma area and west to
include Lakeshore. We are proud
of our schools and they aren't
crowded or underfinanced. We
aren't asking for "charity to bail
us out," as has been said so often.
But K.U.H.S. is crowded. We in
Elementary District No. 1 supply
only one half of the students that
jam K.U. The County Elementary
District provides the other half.
We feel that if our joint popula
tions need another school, we
should build jointly to solve the
problem.
Some people ask. "Is the fight
for unification worth all the emo
tional upset and bitterness?"
Will there be less bitterness
among the people of Bly. Bonanza,
Chiloquin, Gilchrist, Malin, and
Merriil if the county alone has to
build a new Henley High of twice
the size, than if it is built in part
nership w ith City Elementary Dis
trict No. 1?
Will there be less bittcrnoss be
tween the county and the suburbs
if the people in this area are
paying one tax on one side of
the dividing street and another tax
on the other side?
Will the bitterness over a tax
raise now, to back all the chil
dren of the county, be more or
less than the bitterness of a coun
ty that will have to build for and
maintain 500 to 6C0 additional stu
dents and also build for and main
tain all additional students result
ing from the steadily expanding
suburban area in their district?
The single county unit district is
the only solution to our school
problem that gives permanent
equalization of taxation and that
allows the best utilization of ail
the facilities present and future.
It is said that Klamath County
h too big to administer as one
district. From a population stand
point? With less than l.ooo stu
dents this is not so. School dis
tricts are often bigger, i Salem
15.000; Eugene l.l.ono; Portland
7.1.000.1 Geographically speaking?
At tile present, tlie Countv School
I 31
By SYDNKV J. ilARRIS
Tliere arc two contradictory,
but equally strong, desires in the
modern human being who lives
in a mobile society such as ours.
One is tlie desire to "belong";
the other is the desire to "stand
nut "
How successfully we can re
solve the tension between tliese
two contradictions is the measure
of a society's growth and sta
bility. And such tension can most
easily be seen, lor instance, in
the world of fashion and style.
Edward Sapir, writing some
years ago in tlie "Encyclopedia
of Social Science." describes
tlie "contradictory functions of
fashion." Style on Ihe part of
women is alwavs an cftort to
arbitrate, to strike a balance, be
tween the desire to stand out in
the crowd and the need to belong
and be accepted by the group.
A woman would not customar
ily go out for an evening in a
hat or gown that was 10 years
outmoded; she wants to be in
the current fashion. On the other
hand, if her hat or gown is too
much like some others at the
same party, she feels humiliated
or cheated out of her individu
ality. What she is looking lor. in
Sapir's phrase, is "adventurous
sjtety."
The contradiction was put in
more basically p.ychoiocical
terms by I.m Yuung.'in his witty
epigram: "All women's dresses
are merely variations on the
eternal struggle between the ad
mitted de-ire to dress and the
unadmitted desire to undress."
Sit icty. like ail institutions,
tends Urn ai d cotitoi mity, toward
unitormrty. toward group solidar
ity Yet the individual, w.i.ie
needing the comlort of "helonc
ing." also possesses tlie opposite
ure lo be dilferr:H. to stand out.
to ase-rt his uniqueness in one
v av or anotlter
Chan; u-n or., i.tr. !e un
derstood only as a p-vi-hoio a
District stretches from one end of
Uie county to the other with ad
ministration offices in Klamath
Falls. This would not change.
The utilities, rail lines, timber
lands, and present and future man
ufacturing plants are here be
cause of us all. Our farming and
business and social lives are all
interdependent on each other.
Should not all of our children ben
efit from all of our combined re
sources? People in the rural area have,
more than once, asked what could
they possibly gain from unifica
tion other than a bigger tax bill.
Here are some advantages of a
single county unit system: From
the point of better education, a
large district could afford travel
ing teachers and possibly science
labs on wheels that could stay 2
or 3 days at each school in order
that the smallest high schools
could offer subjects that arc not
at present a possibility.
In many areas the telephone sys
tem can provide a direct phone
line intertic between schools so
that such subjects as languages
can be offered with a traveling
teacher calling al the schools 1 or
2 days a week to examine stu
dents and help out on problems.
This is being done in California.
Another item of interest would
be an expanded county instruction
al materials center containing
more projectors, record libraries,
book libraries, educational films,
science equipment, and other
teaching materials that the indi
vidual school districts can now
only afford on a limited basis. This
center would work like a bookmo
bile program with the various
teachers ordering their materials
one week for delivery the next.
Wc feel that the Single Counly
L'nit is an offer of partnership for
the present and the future. If this
is really too unpleasant to the out
lying districts we do not wish to
force this partnership upon Uiem.
The vote on counly unification will
answer this question.
One thing that many of us in
City Elementary District No. 1
feel, however, is that we cannot
property work our education sys
tem unless wc have jurisdiction
over our grades 1-12. We would
like to be able, like the county,
to get rid of the outdated union
high school system and have a
unified grade school-high school
district so that wc, too, could util
ize our buildings and financing
without having lines of legal juris
diction interfering. Wc must in
Ihe near future get our education
al house in order and satisfy
state reorganization plans by hav
ing 1-12 jurisdiction over our stu
dents. Wc urge bolh rural and subur
ban, and City r.lementary District
No. 1 residents to consider the
long range picture and then vote
your ow n conscience, but do vole.
A "yes" vote means all the dol
lars for all the children and a
grades I through 12 educational
system. A "no" vote means that
any school reorganization that
will result will be without regard
to equalization of any future popu
lation or financial growth. Vote
June 10.
Bruce and Maxine Wirth.
STRICTLY
PERSONAL
means of giving expression tn
both these tendencies at once
the w omen all w ear sack dresses
or cloche hats at the same time,
and yet each one endeavors to
look as distinctively different as
possible.
A good society seeks to pre
serve as much diversity as
possible within tlie unity of tlie
group. And although the United
Slates prides itself on being the
land of "individualism." we too
often limit this to our economic
liie alone, and discourage indi
vidual expression in ideas, in
ways of living, in the eccentrici
ties and idiosyncracies that
give a people color and vitality
and charm.
A country without a "beat
movement" of some sort, without
its rebels, its innovators, its
iconoclasts, would be spiritually
and intellectually petrified. And
economic individualism could
not long thrive in such a climate
ot social conformity.
Al
manac
By I niled Press International
Today is Friday, June 7. the
l.vhh day of 19W with 2n; to
follow.
Tlie moon is foil.
The morning stais aie Venus.
Jupiter and Saturn.
Tlie evening star is Mais.
On this day in history :
In 1IM. delegates meeting in
Baltimore lor tlie Hepub'.ican'mn
xenlion nominated Abraham I,in
ivin and Andrew Johnson tu head
tiicir ticket in the Noiember elec
tions ,
In Mary Pu-klnrd made
her motion picture debut with the
ideas of "The Violin Maker o:
Gremor.a "
In fM. Cen Dm.!. i D E.-er-hower
took up hi- dut:cs as presi
dent of Coli.mh.a l.r.ner-itv in
New York