USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1945 > Part 7
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Realizing the shortages of semiskilled and unskilled labor, the students in our special classes were, during this year, brought into the pursuit of the war effort through the con- ception, planning for, and establishment of a project, new to the country, whereby these special class students entered pro- ductive employment on a part-time cooperative basis and be- came participating, wage-earning members of society.
Most of the teachers who had not entered the armed forces played particularly important roles in the work of Civil Defense as instructors and leaders in the forces of Air Raid Wardens, Women's Defense Corps, Auxiliary Police, and Auxiliary Fire- men. They, because of their abilities and training, and be- cause they are well organized, were drafted to perform the most
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enormous task ever undertaken by unpaid volunteers, that of registering, during a four-day period, the entire population for rationing. Two other rationing programs were success. fully effected during that year.
The School Committee, discovering that there was a short- age of available personnel for teaching vacancies caused by Selective Service, enlistments, and offers of high salaries in in- dustry, gave authorization to the Superintendent of Schools to re-employ, after resignation due to marriage, those women teachers, at their current salaries and in their same positions, who had married members of the armed forces.
The year 1943 found the Allied Nations taking the offensive in the war, by virtue of the speed with which the armed forces of these nations had been effectively trained for their tasks of complex warfare, and the speed and efficiency of industry in placing at the disposal of the armed forces adequate, proper, and accurate materials of war. In consequence, the problems of our educational system were again somewhat changed.
At the Vocational School, due to the effectiveness of the program in training men for the skilled tasks of industry, a call came for so-called supplementary courses. Such courses provided for advanced training for skilled workers in industry. that they might more readily understand the backgrounds and processes of the industries, to the end that speedier and better production would result. Classes of men, and later of women, were accommodated from several nearby industrial plants, in intensive supplemental courses of eight hours daily for periods of four to six weeks. The federal government provided all ex- penses of the instruction and the employers paid the students a full factory salary while pursuing the courses. These courses were extremely beneficial to the war effort.
It was found that in spite of the successful preinduction training program carried on for the regular students of the Vocational School nevertheless certain ratings in the armed forces were available only to those persons holding high school diplomas. As a result of careful thought, study, and delibera- tion, arrangements were made for the establishment of the Somerville Vocational High School. This new department of the school was organized, with its own course of study, with all academic subjects, including social studies and science, on the high school level, and the shop and related work courses were
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advanced in amount and standard. Only graduates of junior high schools or those who had been pursuing regular high school courses were eligible to participate in this course. After three years of successful accomplishment students will be awarded diplomas from the Somerville Vocational High School.
In the senior high school the aims and objectives of the Victory Corps, authorized, established, and pursued during the closing weeks of 1942, were continued and extended during 1943. The preinduction training program, which was extended and advanced through specialized courses of mathematics and science during the early months of 1943, was further developed by the inauguration of an accelerated course to enable qualified high school seniors to complete the work of the senior year between September and February. This was accomplished by utilization of free and special periods as recitation periods, by adjustments of programs, and by more study outside of regular school hours. Students who were successful in this accelerated course were eligible to take advantage of the specialized train- ning programs offered by the Army and Navy, known as V-5, V-12, and A-12.
At the junior high and elementary school levels, altera- tions and changes in curricula were few in 1943, compared with those of the senior high and vocational schools, but the necessary changes in emphasis were recognized and provisions made therefor. Constant attention was given to the teaching of the basic subjects that form the foundation for all advanced learning, and to the contribution which the subjects offer in helping the pupils to understand more clearly the problems facing the country not only today but tomorrow. The influence of the war was reflected to a marked. degree in the social studies. The whole geographical conception of time, space, and distance changed due to aviation and methods of transporta- tion. Increased emphasis was placed on English, mathematics, and science due to the important roles played by these subjects in mechanized warfare.
While all efforts were being exerted to speed the end of the hostilities of the war, there were those connected with ed- ucation who, while not attempting to be too optimistic over the duration of the war, believed that foresight should be ex- ereised and at least a beginning should be made in studying the problems connected with the educational system of the postwar days.
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It was very evident to thinking persons that the culmin- ation of the military activities of the war and the establish- ment of a permanent peace would not be the end so far as those associated with the educational processes are concerned, and that an educational system must be established which should provide conditions favorable to world-wide democratic values and which should allow all the people of the world to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, with the greatest emphasis on liberty.
During the year 1944, the continuity of the educational pattern formulated in theory in 1940 for the successful term- ination of the military activities of the war, and for the plan- ning and functioning of those activities necessary to bring about a permanent and lasting world peace, was successfully followed and after careful consideration and thought extended as necessity required. Much preparation was made for the de- velopment of a postwar program of education.
In an attempt to prevent the creation of a federalized youth service, the Somerville schools developed a wisely planned and vigorously implemented program for improvement, adaptation, extension of the educational services for the youth of our community.
In the High School the Victory Corps activities and the pre-inducton training program were continued and intensified. The accelerated course (originally established to prepare for V-5, V-12, and A-12) was continued so that boys becoming eighteen who were capable of progressing more rapidly through intensified study, were enabled actually to earn their diplomas prior to being called for induction into the armed forces.
In view of the fact that many of our boys, in addition to carrying on their very strenuous duties as members of the fighting forces of the war, pursued correspondence courses formulated and given by the United States Armed Forces In- stitute, the School Committee authorized the granting of credits towards the points necessary for an earned diploma, not only for the completion of the USAFI courses but for military train- ing and experience.
In the junior high schools the curriculum was surveyed and appraised, and an investigation of our individual commu- nity needs was made by a competent committee with a view
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to recommending any necessary modifications in our program of studies, to the end that our curriculum would provide the type of education best suited to the requirements of the times.
In the elementary schools, in addition to the continuance of constant analysis and revision of teaching content, methods, and techniques for improvement and intensification thereof, principals and teachers concerned themselves with the newer methods and scientific studies to the degree that social effi- ciency could be attained in every classroom and the capacity of every child could be developed to its fullest extent. Masters conducted specialized work in their districts in accordance with our continuing policy of using for experimentation any aid, device, or technique which it is felt may be helpful in improving the work and accomplishment of the child, resulting in giving the child a sense of worthy success. Such activities included (1) intensive work in reading in all grades, (2) sim- plification of rules in English, (3) improvement and exten- sion of our already excellent Safety Program, and (4) use of Basic English as a reading aid.
During the year the newly organized Book Council did much valuable work in studying scientifically all available new materials, and made numerous recommendations concern- ing adoptions and deletions with reference to the authorized list of textbooks. After three years of constant study of all avail- able basal reading systems, with resulting eliminations, the council finally recommended a new Basal Reading system, which was adopted by the School Committee.
At the Vocational School two items of importance were reported. Due to the resignation of the Teaching Principal of the Continuation and Junior Vocational Schools to affiliate with the Veterans Administration as a Vocational Counselor l'or returning veterans of World War II, the School Committee accepted the suggestion of the Vocational Division of the State Department of Education that all vocational activities be combined under the direction and supervision of the Director of the Vocational School. The Vocational High School, which was set in operation in September of 1943, successfully en- tered its second year for eligible students in September of 1944.
While too much optimism about the termination of the militaristic activities of World War II was not in evidence during the year 1944, cognizance was taken of the fact that the ultimate result would be in favor of the Allied Nations, and
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much serious thought, study, and effort were given to the principles, philosophies, and curricula which would provide the foundation of our postwar education program. During the year a committee composed of school personnel was at work mak- ing serious study of the general policies suggested by the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education Association, supported and concurred in by the Department of Secondary Schools of the National Education Association.
Throughout the review of the activities and accomplish- ments of the five-year period preceding the current year, 1945, it has been shown that our Schools-At-War program has perme- ated every activity of our school system, but that part of the work which develops those important requisites of patriotism, thrift, and good citizenship, through the tangible medium of war savings, eventually came to be known as the Schools-At- War program.
The marked activity manifested by the school children in this field is attested by the total sales of War Bonds and Stamps, which reached a grand total of $681,100 from the time of Pearl Harbor to the close of the year 1944. Every school in the city had received during that period a proud array of special citations from the Treasury Department, awarded for successful completion of campaigns to purchase specific equip- ment for our Armed Forces. "Treasure Hunt", "Back Your Own Hero", and "Military Objective" campaigns all lent color and provided pointed interest for the pupils in their home front efforts to "back the attack". The purchase in one concerted drive of a $110,000 C-47 Ambulance Plane, named "Schools of Somerville, Mass.", was a thrilling accomplishment.
However important to the war effort the sale of War Bonds and Stamps might have been, the whole subject assumes . a larger aspect when it is recognized that the advantages ac- cruing to the pupils through their participation in the Schools- At-War program will serve as a solid foundation for their practice of citizenship when peace has come. Through these habits of thrift the pupils are building the road to individual security and national safety; they are learning to cooperate with their neighbors for community welfare; and they are de- veloping their sense of civic obligation. These qualities will be needed as never before by men and women in the world of tomorrow.
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The review of the work of the schools during the five-year period, 1940 through 1944, bears out the statement previously made by the Superintendent of Schools, that it has always been the intent of the legislators and the administrators of the Somerville schools to keep abreast of the best thought and practice of the educational world, and often to take the lead in the conception and establishment of new phases of education. Credit can justly be taken for pioneering in many areas of activity in the past.
The year 1945 has been an extremely active period for our school committee and school personnel, and the accomplish- ments of the schools of the community give ample evidence of constant and steady progress. The work of the year shows evi- dence of further pioneering and experimentation being made in the actual development and establishment of certain phases of our postwar educational plan.
V-E Day brought us to the realization that at least one phase of our postwar education program must immediately be made operative. Provision had to be made at once for giving attention to the educational needs of the returning veterans from the European theater of war. But before any veterans were returned to take advantage of the offerings, the summer recess intervened, and during that period the grand news of the capitulation of Japan was broadcast to the world on V-J Day.
Now that the war had been won, realizing that the cul- mination of the military activities did not terminate the task of those charged wth the duty of providing education for the youth and even the adults of our country, it was evident that our real task had just begun. The necessary philosophies and ideals had to be developed to the end that there would be es- tablished a permanent peace.
We have moved from wartime frontiers to peacetime fron- tiers. The type of peace that was ours before the war is not sufficient now. We must have a different type of peace. It must be lasting and permanent; therefore, it must be different.
To this end, public opinion must set its goal and establish the machinery necessary to attain that goal. Much time will be required to develop and make operative the proper kind of world government. Education will assume its proper place and
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do its share in formulating the kind of educational system which will be needed to fulfill the requirements of the peace. The requirements will call for much educational change, the nature and direction of which can be controlled.
Education in America has shown that it can promote and extend physical and mental health, develop intelligent methods of proper use of resources, increase effectiveness in production, develop character, and produce good citizens. It should, then, be able to help formulate effectively the policies and procedures for the necessities of world peace.
Our American system of education, based on local control and initiative, is worth saving and must be saved. Unless our postwar education is based on a wisely planned and vigorous- ly implemented program for improvement, adaptation, and ex- tension of educational services to youth, developed by local and state authorities, our system will not be saved, but will be replaced by a federalized system of youth service, the ineffec- tiveness of which we have already experienced in the C.C.C. and N.Y.A. projects.
We must, then. meet our responsibilities by (1) antici- pating the needs of youth in these postwar years, (2) moving to meet the needs as they develop, (3) planning for meeting the needs by obtaining adequate funds from local and state sources to make the service possible, (4) preparing the teach- ing profession to make the necessary changes in curriculum and administration, (5) permitting the maintenance of suf- ficiently flexible secondary schools adequate to the tremen- dous educational job to be done, and (6) transforming our secondary schools under local and state control into agencies serving all American youth, whatever their educational needs, through the entire period of adjustment to adult life.
Further provision must be made for differences in intelli- gence and aptitude, occupational interests and outlooks, social and economic status, parental difficulties and cultural back- grounds, personal and avocational interests, and differences in mental health, emotional stability, and physical well being.
This education must be dedicated to the proposition that every youth . of our community, regardless of sex, economic status, or race, shall experience a broad and balanced educa- tion which will (1) equip him to enter an occupation for which
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his abilities are suited, (2) prepare him to be a useful and aggressive citizen, exercising his right to the pursuit of hap- piness, (3) stimulate him to cultivate the ability to think ra- tionally, and (4) help him to develop an appreciation of the ethical values of all life in a democratic society.
It cannot be imagined that the foregoing is other than a l'air statement of some of the principles and philosophies of good schools in the postwar period. If that be so, then it must be remembered that "Good Schools Cost Money". A sound in- vestment in good schools will bring forth a sound return, not only to our community but to the country at large. A solid foundation of a well educated people will support our democ- racy and maintain a high national income. When it is antici- pated that the annual national income in 1946 and 1947 will reach better than 125 billions of dollars and that expenditures for alcoholic beverages, transportation, foodstuffs, and auto- mobiles will be doubled to six, twenty, thirty-two, and eight billion dollars respectively, should there be any question about increasing expenditures of approximately 21/2 billions of dollars for the improved education of thirty million of our youth in the same proportion that we increase the above mentioned ?
In December of 1944 the Superintendent of Schools, in submitting a report similar to this, called the attention of the public, under a caption "Recapitulation and Recommenda- tions", to a number of matters which, in his opinion, needed attention from the School Committee, the Mayor, and the City Government. These matters had for a considerable time been of serious concern to the Superintendent, but he deemed it in- advisable until then to recommend long-term planning because of the indefiniteness of the length of the global conflict and the extent and direction of future necessary revisions of both objectives and curricula.
It then appeared advisable to propose and urge careful thought, study, and deliberation by the School Committee to the preparation and development of a long-term plan of action which would result in the establishment of a system of educa- tion for the present and future citizens of our community, which would be commensurate with what is considered an ade- quate education for all its constituents and which would be within the ability of the taxable factors of the community to afford and maintain.
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The School Committee of 1945, immediately after its or- ganization with Thomas J. Burke as Chairman and Nelson W. Irving as Vice Chairman, recognizing the importance of its obligation to formulate the necessary legislation to make pos- sible the development of a comprehensive system of public ed- ucation to meet the probable increased needs of all children and adults during the postwar years, devoted its attention to those recommendations made by the Superintendent in his re- port for the year 1944 which it believed to be most urgent.
Much time and deliberation were expended on the con- sideration of the studies with recommendations which came from the various subcommittees of the Superintendent's Com- mittee on Postwar Education, particularly those concerning (1) the intensification and elaboration of the health program in the schools, (2) the possibilities of changes in aims and objectives for education, with resultant changes in organiza- tion and curriculum, particularly at the secondary school level, and (3) the possibilities of a long-term building program which would provide adequate replacements of several anti- quated school buildings which are quite unsuited for modern educational needs and demands.
As a result of this effort, authorization was given for ex- perimentation with the junior high school curriculum, in or- der that authentic information would be available at the time when definite plans would be discussed and determined as part of the Postwar Education Plan. A complete statement of the curriculum changes made effective in September, 1945, will be found in a later portion of this report.
Approval was given for changes in the curriculum of the evening schools which set higher standards, with a consequent increase in the required time for pursuing the work for a di- ploma. This is in line with the attempt to provide a course in evening high school instruction which will provide as near as possible an education equal to that resulting in the award of a day 'high school diploma.
A further authorization, on an experimental basis, was granted for the intensification and elaboration of the health program in the High School. The resulting program of experi- mentation is outlined later in connection with the statement of the Secondary School activities of the year.
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The School Committee sanctioned and approved the pro- gram for Postwar Building Projects, outlined by the Super- intendent of Schools to the Mayor's Postwar Planning Com- mittee, in accordance with the suggestions made in the report for 1944. A statement of the proposed projects is made later under the heading "Buildings and Repairs".
The new salary schedule, devised during 1944 to be effec- tive January 1, 1945, as was noted last year, raised the max- imum salaries of all classroom teachers, who, in the opinion of the members of the School Committee, needed immediate attention. It appeared that the School Committee intended, at a later date, to make provision for those in the higher brack- ets whose economic and social obligations are, in many in- stances, greater than those of the classroom teachers. Upon request of the group whose salaries had not been increased by the new salary schedule, consideration was given to a pos- sible adjustment. A recommendation for an additional 5%, com- puted upon the basal salary of 1942 (effective January 1, 1945) for those whose salaries had not been increased in an amount of 15% since 1941, failed of adoption because of the adoption of a counter order similar in nature, but calling upon a special committee to provide for an amount to be included in the bud- get for 1946 consisting of a 5% increase for those who had not received 15% since 1941, but limiting such increase to $125.
Such an increase will give those in the medium and upper brackets a total advance over their salaries of 1941 of but five to ten per cent, and further than that the increase has been delayed at least a year after all other city employees (many of whom receive more for services which require less training. and experience) received a total increase of fifteen per cent.
An outstanding act of the Committee during the year in the interest of the welfare of the teachers was the unsolicited revision of the cumulative sick leave rule. Realizing that (1) the loyal, conscientious, professional attitude of the teachers and their unwillingness to absent themselves from their teach- ing duties, with a consequent loss to the pupils, prevents the teachers from using any more of their usual sick leave allow- ance than is absolutely necessary, and that (2) some with per- fect attendance over a period of years found themselves in a position of losing a considerable portion of a year's salary, due to an illness of lengthy duration, the Committee
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studied the situation in order to arrive at an equitable solu- tion. The resulting action provides for the unused portions of the fifteen-day sick leave to become cumulative so that such accumulations may be used to an amount of one hundred days in ten years. It might appear that such a plan would increase the costs of education, but experiences of other communities using such a plan indicate that the cost of such cumulative sick leave over a period of years is less than that of regular sick leave allowances.
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