even if we have to perhaps write off 5 or 6 million Americans who are beyond that age now who would not be called up for military service. Would you have any ideas on that, sir?

Secretary RIBICOFF. This is the first time I have heard this comment. I have never had occasion to give it thought or consideration, and for this reason, I feel unable to comment.

Mr. PUCINSKI. We are drafting them at the age of 23 or 24 now. Secretary RIBICOFF. I do not have the facts or statistics or material on that. This is a phase that you could pursue independently. Presently, we have nothing on this subject to answer you one way or the other.

Mr. PUCINSKI. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for being with us today.

Mrs. GREEN. May I say that we will have hearings the rest of this week and next. It is very possible that other questions may rise, and we might ask you, Mr. Secretary, to come back to answer some of these questions.

Secretary RIBICOFF. Anytime you want me, just call, and we will be delighted to come back.

Mrs. GREEN. Thank you very much. We have appreciated your time, your comments, and your information.

The next witness to appear-and my apologies to him for this delay-is the Superintendent of Schools in the District of Columbia, Mr. Carl F. Hansen.

Secretary RIBICOFF. By the way, let me say before Mr. Hansen comes up that I think you are dealing with one of the great superintendents of schools in the United States. I know of very few people who understand this problem as well as Mr. Hansen. If this bill is passed, I would like to see a pilot project right here at home where we can take a good look at it, and I know of no man I would rather give it to than Mr. Hansen.

Mrs. GREEN. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I share those views. That was one of the reasons we were particularly anxious to have him appear before the committee.

I have read with a great deal of interest the possibility of a workstudy program in the District of Columbia, and the Urban Service Corps.

Secretary RIBICOFF. He has a lot of good ideas.

Mrs. GREEN. Thank you very much.

STATEMENT OF CARL F. HANSEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Mrs. GREEN. Mr. Hansen, we welcome your appearance. We are very much interested in the comments or recommendations you have to make on this legislation.

Mr. HANSEN. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I am honored to be here and to make observations about the proposed proposals.

I have prepared a statement which I should like to discuss with the committee. I believe you have copies of the statement.

Mrs. GREEN. Yes, we do.

Mr. HANSEN. My testimony is in full endorsement of H.R. 7178. My point of view in respect to the proposed legislation is based pri

marily upon experience as a school administrator. What I will have to say in defense of the proposal is, therefore, limited to the aspects of the problem which have come to my attention and in which as a school system we have given much attention, with some promising and some disappointing results. Looking at the problem of juvenile delinquency from the point of view of a school administrator in the District of Columbia, I find these persistent and appalling facts testify to the urgent need for solutions.

First, there is the problem of illegitimate pregnancies among girls under 16 years of age. The table in my statement shows the incidence of pregnancy from 1954-55 to the school year 1959-60 among girls under compulsory school age in the District of Columbia.

(The table referred to follows:)

Pregnancies among girls under compulsory school age

Mr. HANSEN. I will not read the table but simply point out to the committee that here has been an increase in the incidence of pregnancies from 1954-55 to 1959-60, illustrating a persistent and most difficult problem, which certainly does involve aspects of delinquency, if not infringement of statutes.

This situation is not in the least improving. Over the past 6 years the severity of the problem has been such that it has been necessary to establish a staff committee to develop a plan to provide for the education of girls during their period of pregnancy and immediately following, and to consider making special provision for their education following the birth of the children.

In addition, our school system has conducted during recent years a program in sex education, personal and family living, which extends from the kindergarten through the 12th grade. The major aspect of this program is to improve and stabilize the home, develop respect for the home as the key social institution, and to help children who do not have normal home experience to understand in the school setting what a good home may be.

Now, while we hope that programs of this kind may ameliorate the breakdown in family living, the destruction of morals which ensues, and the loss in human welfare entailed in this result, we are certain that these efforts are less than sufficient. The condition continues to grow, help is needed, research and action programs are needed in a multiple attack upon the causes of this type of delinquency. The leadership of a Federal agency is a prime necessity.

My next item of discussion concerns gonorrhea cases among schoolage children.

According to the last report from the District of Columbia Department of Public Health from the period of July-December 1959, which is a half year, 460 cases were reported.

The following data are self explanatory.

(The data referred to follow :)

Gonorrhea cases reported by all sources, school age and under, statistics obtained from District of Columbia Department of Public Health, Biostatistics and Health Education Division, Feb. 18, 1960, and July 7, 1961

I might point out that wanton destruction of school property and any other property for that matter is properly classified as juvenile delinquency. At least the assumption is that most of this damage is done by juveniles, that is, youths and children under the age of 21 years. In the District of Columbia, despite strenuous efforts to reduce the problem, including education, the installation of window guards, and increased police protection, the cost of window breakage over a period of 3 years remains at a very high level. In the 3-year period 60,213 windows were broken. The replacement cost was $212,414.30. Within recent days there is evidence that an increased amount of destruction is occurring almost by planned activity by unknown individuals who seem to be moving from one place to the other in the city. Even with the closest amount of police supervision it has been impossible to isolate the source of this destruction.

In addition to window breakage, our school system has suffered two severe fire losses as a result of arson, in one case by an elementary school child and in the other case by a youth slightly beyond the compulsory school attendance age. Here again it must be said that the methods of prevention and control of behavior of this kind are yet to be found despite many efforts made by the schools, communities, and by official bodies within the District of Columbia.

Now I will discuss dropouts.

During the first three advisories of the school year 1960-61, 850 pupils withdrew from junior, senior, and vocational high schools to accept employment before graduation. Even a larger number, 1,269, withdrew for reasons other than to accept employment. These are young men and women who for the most part are neither in school nor employed. Modern conditions require that a solution to the dropout problem be found at the earliest possible moment. In this school system many attempts are being made to reduce school leaving, but so far no generally successful solution has been discovered.

It is axiomatic that there is a relationship between school dropouts and juvenile delinquency. This point needs hardly to be pursued statistically. There is clear evidence that many of the behavior problems confronting the city schools result from the presence of unemployed youth on the streets and in and around school buildings. It is difficult to measure the hazard to the public in the fact that there are literally hundreds of young men and women neither in school nor employed, and the loss in human values both to the youth concerned and to the community of which they are a part is incalculable. The leadership and assistance of Federal agencies is necessary if this problem is to be resolved.

Before summarizing my testimony in support of legislation I want to say that when we talk about delinquency in the District of Columbia public schools, we must do this against a background of over 122,000 children and youth who attend our schools regularly and in the main with decency. There is much strength to build on in a community like Washington. Many deeply concerned people, many contributing voluntarily many hours of service and much money, are helping to improve conditions for the rearing of youth. Many of our young people themselves show a deep concern for the problems of their peers and participate in discussion groups in dealing with these problems.

But the blight upon the community is severe. It will not disappear under present procedures. Until the causes are corrected conditions will worsen until the stability of the community may be threatened. And I may say, if I may pause for just a moment, that this point cannot be overestimated.

Even the modest proposals in H.R. 7178 will be a step in the direction of testing planned solutions, organizing the findings and making them available to the entire Nation.

Therefore, even though it would be naive to expect that the action proposed in H.R. 7178 will correct the problem with which we are concerned, I earnestly hope that the committee will support the bill and that it may be enacted into law at the earliest possible date.

This report includes additional appendages which I will not discuss in full. I should like to point out that the range of attempts to solve the problem undertaken by the District of Columbia school system is indicated in one of the supporting reports. I submit this in an effort to show the committee that despite a variety of projects, we are still far short of meeting the problems. We think that there is indicated, therefore, the necessity for a coordinating agency, for the influence and leadership of the Federal Government, in order to make it possible for local communities to attack their problem themselves. Mrs. GREEN. Thank you.

All of the statement with the summary of projects and the chart will be made part of the record immediately following your statement.

(The material referred to follows:)

Public schools of the District of Columbia-Window breakage over a 3-year period, July 1, 1957, through June 30, 1960

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS PROJECTS RELATING TO THE PREVENTION AND CORRECTION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

I. To provide better education

The correlation between failure in school subjects and juvenile delinquency is known to be very high.

1. Four-track curriculum.-For the bright and the slow, special subject offerings. To increase value of remaining in school by teaching at the level of ability to respond, particularly basic curriculum in high school for retarded and slow learners.

2. Amidon system.-Demonstration in basic, organized, teacher-directed education at elementary level. Aim is to teach every pupil to use basic tools, thus to remain in school because he is successful in school.

3. Ford Foundation project.—Improvement in reading, speech, and other aspects of communication arts in special emphasis at first grade levels in seven downtown schools.

4. Improvement of services.-Recent gains in District of Columbia schools include free lunches for needy children, smaller elementary school classes, more psychologists, more special teachers, supervisors-yet staffing continues to be inadequate.

5. Urban Service Corps.-For systematizing volunteer services to supplement professional staffing. Summer project: free milk to needy children.

6. The Macfarland guidance project-Talent searching.-The purpose of the 6-year project is to discover and develop latent abilities. A remedial program attempts to bring the underachievers up to their expected levels of achievement in reading and arithmetic. A cultural program supplies experiences which these children have been denied. Additional counseling and guidance services are supplied to assist the child in making better adjustments to his environment. II. To reduce the number of dropouts.

1. The job-conditioning program. The job-conditioning program is an experimental project designed to meet the needs of early school leavers and graduates with marginal training, skills, and aptitude. A prospective applicant visits the job-conditioning teacher. Together the applicant and counselor go over the boy's school record, scores on standardized tests, and other pertinent data. A visit is then made to the U.S. Employment Service where mechanical aptitude and manual dexterity tests are given. When these results are in, a